Trying to Please Everyone: Or Converting multiple Pop Culture Utopias into a Timeline.
- Thread starter Marco Incognito
- Start date
- The Day After
Did not air on ABC, Brandon Smith workin for another company at the time. As a result the film is not toned down at all and several scenes delected are now included, makiing the film so much more horrifying. This includes ery graphic and very accurate shots of what happens to a human body during a nuclear blast. Examples included people being set on fire, their flesh carbonizing, being burned to the bone, eyes melting, faceless heads, skin hanging, deaths from flying glass and debris, limbs torn off, being crushed, blown from buildings by the shockwave, and people in fallout shelters suffocating during the firestorm. The fictional town of Hampton, Kansas is used instead of Lawrence, Kanses.
- Threads
Known by its OTL working title Beyond Armageddon. Is still praised by critics though is less seen as without The War Game being banned previously, there is less fueling the need to see this film.
- When The Wind Blows
Is largely same as OTL though the animated film is a bit shorter, which removes some pacing problems.
- WarGames
Called the Genius OTL. The Film's original idea is used in that the protagonist is the student of the scientist character(played here by John Lennon, who expressed interest before his murder). The Supercomputer is named Uncle Ollie ITTL(or Omnipresent Laser Interceptor). This is due to the originally idea of it being a space laser. While rejected OTL for being farfetched ITTL there's been a push towards space Exploration due to the Presidencies of Humphrey, Reagan and Glenn.
- The War Game
Was released in theatres fully in 1965, having been completed a little earlier and specifically released on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. OTL the Wilson government restricted it until a 1985 release.
Did not air on ABC, Brandon Smith workin for another company at the time. As a result the film is not toned down at all and several scenes delected are now included, makiing the film so much more horrifying. This includes ery graphic and very accurate shots of what happens to a human body during a nuclear blast. Examples included people being set on fire, their flesh carbonizing, being burned to the bone, eyes melting, faceless heads, skin hanging, deaths from flying glass and debris, limbs torn off, being crushed, blown from buildings by the shockwave, and people in fallout shelters suffocating during the firestorm. The fictional town of Hampton, Kansas is used instead of Lawrence, Kanses.
- Threads
Known by its OTL working title Beyond Armageddon. Is still praised by critics though is less seen as without The War Game being banned previously, there is less fueling the need to see this film.
- When The Wind Blows
Is largely same as OTL though the animated film is a bit shorter, which removes some pacing problems.
- WarGames
Called the Genius OTL. The Film's original idea is used in that the protagonist is the student of the scientist character(played here by John Lennon, who expressed interest before his murder). The Supercomputer is named Uncle Ollie ITTL(or Omnipresent Laser Interceptor). This is due to the originally idea of it being a space laser. While rejected OTL for being farfetched ITTL there's been a push towards space Exploration due to the Presidencies of Humphrey, Reagan and Glenn.
- The War Game
Was released in theatres fully in 1965, having been completed a little earlier and specifically released on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. OTL the Wilson government restricted it until a 1985 release.
Good stuff. Hopefully this makes TDA more appreciated.
I think Threads works better but I digress. While it’s a shame the film won’t be as popular compared to OTL, I could imagine it might gain a cult following and boost in popularity sometime in the 2010s.
I think the longer scenes at the begging were meant to ground us into the lives of the couple, but that’s fair.
No particular comment on both of these other than they’re good and interesting.
Re-visiting on Universal Monsters, would this mean that the 2004 Van Helsing film would be butterflied away as well as The Mummy Returns and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor?
Van Helsing needs some work on the script and a reduction of the number of CGI shots.
Same with Mummy Returns
Tomb or the Dragon Emperor needs to have Rachel Weisz return or not make the film , and need to stay in Egypt to wrap up the Trilogy .
The ideas used in Dragon Emperor could make a good movie but create some new characters and do not tie it to the Mummy Films .
Van Helsing would be butterflied away as it would likely be a later film in the Cinematic Universe. Like how Marvel set up a Supervillain in Thanos to fight all the heroes. Universal would set up a hero to fight all the villains. The Mummy Returns would probably have a different ending, averting the bad cgi. While Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is possibly. Butterflied away.
What about the scrapped fourth Mummy film? Would it not exist ITTL?
I had not heard about a fourth Mummy film .
What information do you have on it?
It probably would've taken place after the third film and feature Aztec mummies in the scrapped film.
Life of Reilly: A Look at the Clone Saga(1994)
Before my overhaul of Marvel Comics in the 1990's, I needed to tackle the Clone Saga. Its success or failure at that crucial time shaped whether the company would survive or go under.
Life of Reilly: A Look at The Clone Saga
"It was Terry Kavanagh's idea to bring the Clone Back at a story conference in 93'. I was an assistant editor and we did the "Return of the Parents" storyline and the high ups wanted their own "Death of Superman" or "Knightfall". Terry didn't want to say his idea. He dismissed it before he said it because he thought it was stupid but we all wanted to hear it. Nothing was out of bounds. Terry finally said the idea we all groaned. Then J.M Dematteis started to pitch ideas for it and we all go excited about it. The editors weren't sure and Tom DeFalco thought it was stupid. Then he ended up deciding to write it himself. DeFalco planned out the whole thing to end by Amazing Spider-Man #400, which it did, concluding with Ben Reilly as the new Spider-Man.
"I admit the office didn't say a word, but finally I got Mark Bernardo to spill the beans to me about all the stuff that was going on with the Mysterious stranger. He told me the Clone was coming back and honestly I was skeptical. It was a terrible idea but he said that they had a plan for it. The Fan part of me was screaming to let the clone stay dead. The Marvel editor part saw it as a chance to write Spider-Man out of the marriage without having to sell my soul to Mephisto."
-Joe Quesada
"Power and Responsibility" was the arc that first dealt with the clone and gave his backstory and what he'd been doing all this time written by JM Dematteis. He had woken up in a smokestack, confused and tried to go see Aunt May before realizing he was a clone. He decided he had to make a new life. Then a new character named Judas Traveller took over Ravencroft Asylum in order to lure Spider-Man to him.
"No one, writers, editors, no one, knew what the hell the deal was with Judas Traveller. J.M. Dematteis had plans for him though. Honestly that kind of supernatural character doesn't fit in Spider-Man's world. That's why we turned down Mephisto appearing in the series too. That was Quesada's idea."
Traveller's challenge is he will kill the inmates if Spider-Man doesn't come, but if Spider-Man defeats Traveller he will free them. What he doesn't know is there are two Spider-Man and so they form a team. Part two in Amazing Spider-Man #394 by JM DeMatteis and illustrated by Mark Bagley and Larry Mahlstedt. The two Spider-Men fought their way through their enemies while Peter fights Traveller, who speaks to a mysterious figure known as Scrier. Traveller casts illusions that make Peter fight his clone, thinking he's a hallucination. The clone channels the fan reaction to the more aggressive Spider-Man, talking about how Peter has changed. He's not the same person. He used to be fun. He used to tell jokes. Traveller released the inmates, forcing the two Spider-Man to stop their fight and team up to defeat villains like Carnage. Peter nearly kills an inmate in his rage and realizes how far he's fallen. Traveller escapes in the chaos and he is revealed to be none other than Mysterio.
"Yeah, J.M. Matteis was furious. To explain, someone else was writing the issue and didn't explain the plan beforehand, so here he was starting the whole saga of who is Judas Traveller and the next writer up and reveals he was Mysterio the whole time. Matteis did end up doing more with him when he wrote Spawn for a bit and honestly he was used much better there. Matteis turned him into the literal Judas and made him an antagonist to Spawn that even was able to rip Al Simmons out of the Spawn persona at will. If I remember he ended up being killed by the six pieces of silver he originally betrayed Jesus for being melted down into Silver bullets used to kill him."
-Todd McFarlane
After the arc, two Spider-Man titles were created, The Amazing Spider-Man following Peter and the Spectacular Spider-Man following Ben. Ben Reilly picked a fight with Venom, not knowing that Venom and Peter Parker had put aside their rivalry as Venom was not evil, only hating Spider-Man. Ben was not aware of this and does not believe Peter would make a deal with a villain and attacks Venom, leading to a fight. This is the first battle of Ben's career as the true Spider-Man(unlike OTL he is wearing the classic Spider-Man suit). Ben lost the first fight, being seriously injured but then went back to the drawing board, developed new web shooters and a plan to take down Venom which just barely worked, ending in Ben and Venom collapsing next to each other, both defeated, then Ben got up. It was the proof that Ben was a worthy successor, defeating one of Peter's most dangerous enemies.
And for better or for worse that was the status quo for 17 years, Peter Parker enjoyed his life with his family, moving elsewhere, still occasionally jumping in as Spider-Man, while Ben lived out his solo adventures in the Big Apple. Both Spider-Men would find successors to continue their legacy.
Assassin's Creed keeps Rosa as a love interest to Ezio due to her actress, Lita Tresierra surviving her OTL car crash. The game also has an entry in Feudal Japan in the 1600s., and an American Revolution set game that is a lot better.
Red Dead Revolver was released by Capcom as an Arcade game style third person shooter about a cowboy fighting supernatural forces and gaining some abilities such as flight(OTL the game was cancelled then the rights bought by Rockstar Games). The game has a pretty niche fanbase, leading to the protagonist appearing in Street Fighter V as DLC(similar to Erron Black in Mortal Kombat X). Rockstar made its own cowboy centered series under an alternate title. It should also be mentioned Grand Theft Auto ITTL fleshed out the Cops and Robbers theme of the original, making it as fun to play a cop and giving the game more of a PvP gameplay style. This translated into the alternate Red Dead Redemption as well, making it a Lawmen and Outlaws type game.
The first Saint Row has the protagonist gang wear green. It was also released on more consoles. Saint Row 2 is a prequel set in the 70's showing Julius and King rising to power with Playa surviving the explosion. Saints Row: Money Shot was actually made. Saint Row: The Third has freegunning which is basically Assassin's Creed freerunning and a DLC: Enter the Dominatrix, which is a parody of the Matrix. It also killed off Tobias and Laura. Saints Row IV had more dead characters returning. Saints Row Undercover was a PSP Port of Saints Row 2.
Not much to say on Sim City, only that a certain infamous game is playable without a paywall due to not being made by EA.
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls(2013-2019)
I may have gone too far in making a spinoff to a Girl's TV Show set in High School a bit edgy. Oh Well.Nothing here goes beyond what kids show's of the era hadn't already done. I chose to do this because it was a pretty good break between doing all of My Little Pony in one go. This way I can saw, "Oh yeah there was this spinoff", and then finish the rest later.
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls was created in response to large amounts of fanarts imagining the cast of My Little Pony Adventures as humans. The term Equestria Girls also became popular following the release of a parody of Katy Perry's California Girls. The series had also moved from the Hub to Discovery Kids, which supported the release of a new spinoff which would be wholly original to them.
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls was created in response to large amounts of fanarts imagining the cast of My Little Pony Adventures as humans. The term Equestria Girls also became popular following the release of a parody of Katy Perry's California Girls. The series had also moved from the Hub to Discovery Kids, which supported the release of a new spinoff which would be wholly original to them.
Films
A TV movie was released titled Equestria girls. The Premise revolved around a Ceremony at the Crystal Palace shortly after Twilight's coronation. Celestia reveals her old apprentice Sunset Shimmer would be visiting. Twilight responds to the name with shock and explains to the other members of the Mane Six. Sunset Shimmer and Twilight were Celestia's students together and got along somewhat. Despite Sunset Shimmer being somewhat of a bully, Twilight looked up to her like a big sister. It is revealed Sunset disappeared after an argument with Celestia but was believed to have vanished into a portal.
When Sunset does emerge from the portal they seem much more calm, claiming to have learned their lesson as they told Celestia in a letter sent by Flash Sentry, a knight that Celestia sent to keep an eye on her by Celestia. That night a thief steals Twilight's crown and she is awoken by a guard noticing the thief and giving chase. Twilight pulls off the thief's cloak and reveals them as Sunset, who flees back into the portal. Without thinking, Twilight gives chase immediately with her friends following. Twilight finds herself in a world similar to our own, but inhabited by human versions of the cast. It is also discovered that the Human versions of the protagonists are actually superheroes(minus Twilight's who is absent), subverting the expected trope of turning the franchise into High School drama series like the recent Monster High(which was now being countered by a series adaptation of the adult humor parody game Monster Prom) and Ever After High among others. Many saw this as a shallow effort to sell toys, even if the costumes themselves were well received. Sunset is introduced as the Supervillain of the story with a role and abilities compared to the X-Men's Dark Phoenix(Though unlike OTL, Jean Grey has stayed dead, which someone dampens this as a criticism). Their main plan appears to use the Element of Magic, embedded into Twilight's crown to channel their power and find a way to bring the full extent of their abilities into Equestria and takeover that world and gain revenge on Celestia.
While the Mane Six interact with their Superhero counterparts, they themselves learn to master their own abilities, leading to a final battle in which Sunset Shimmer is defeated and depowered. Twilight speaks to Sunset, who surrenders and appears to be emotionally broken from their defeat, being taken into custody(rather than the OTL quick seeming redemption).
The Second Made for TV film was much more well received, released a season later. The film introduced new antagonists in the Dazzlings, Sirens which were imprisoned in the human world centuries ago by the Equestrian Wizard Starswirl the Bearded. The trio witnessed the final battle of the last film and formulate a plan to absorb more magic and regain their abilities. While Twilight is called back to aid the human universe, it is generally agreed that the star of the film is Sunset Shimmer, who is shown to genuinely be attempting to reform but is struggling due to no one really having forgiven her. Sunset is shown to still have a journal from Celestia that she used to speak to her during her time in the human world and she uses this to ask for help. Twilight arrives and begins formulating a plan to defeat the Dazzlings. While spending the night together Twilight and Sunset have a private moment where the two bond in a genuinely touching scene. This is expanded on post movie, in which after the Dazzlings are defeated, and retreat, surprisingly not reappearing in the franchise for years afterwards, Twilight and Sunset have heartfelt goodbye. It is revealed that Sunset and Twilight are dating at the film's ends, often using the journal to talk with each other.
"Yeah, Honestly the reason we went with that was because we needed a way to connect this spinoff with the main series. The Cutie Mark Chronicles spinoff was very closely connected with the main show and they crossed over all the time since the main characters were related and lived together. We didn't have that with Equestria Girls. They were a universe apart, so because there needed to be a connection to validate the spinoff show, we went for an emotional connection rather than a physical one and made the protagonist of the spinoff the girlfriend of the protagonist of the main show."
-Showrunner Megan McCarthy
The third film introduced a roadblock in this relationship with the introduction of the human world's Twilight, who is a scientist investigating the strange occurrences caused by the first two films with the added backdrop of a competition with a rival school named Crystal Prep, the Principal of whom is the human counterpart of Season 3 Antagonist King Sombra(Unlike OTL this is an event that Sunset knows about but never paid attention to before). Throughout the competition, Twilight inadvertently steals the abilities of the Mane Six through a scientific device she created to study their abilities, transforming in the end into a form later referred to as Midnight , which Sunset fights and is able to calm down into surrendering after obtaining a superform referred to as "Daydream Shimmer" officially but not in universe. An End Credits scene has the Equestrian Twilight return after being delayed by the Season Finale's events and meeting their human self.
The Fourth and final Film was Legend of Everfree, which involved the protagonists going to a summer camp. After this film, the series lived on in shorts. A flashback reveals that Twilight and Sunset had a conversation about how twilight fears that her responsibilities would mean spending time away from Twilight. Sunset is shown to have an attraction towards the Human world's Twilight, being nicknamed "SciTwi" by fans due to being a scientist. This is not helped by Twilight being somewhat realistically traumatized by her experiences in the last film and relying heavily on Sunset's support. Paranormal events begin to occur and SciTwi blames herself for them, though they are revealed to be the spirit of the entity Gaea Everfree possessing the camp counselor Gloriosa Daisy. Evidently human sacrifices were conducted on the land by Daisy's family that ceased 100 years ago when the parents of the family died before revealing the ritual to their children. In gaining abilities from finding the Human World's Equivalent to the Tree of Harmony, Sunset gains an ability to read minds through touch. This usually resulted in a flashback. Though viewers joked that Sunset was holding onto someone for minutes on end due to the flashback's length. It was shown later on that from an outside perspective, the process lasts a second with only a quick flash in Sunset's eyes that from an outside perspective is similar to a car light reflecting off the eyes.
When Sunset does emerge from the portal they seem much more calm, claiming to have learned their lesson as they told Celestia in a letter sent by Flash Sentry, a knight that Celestia sent to keep an eye on her by Celestia. That night a thief steals Twilight's crown and she is awoken by a guard noticing the thief and giving chase. Twilight pulls off the thief's cloak and reveals them as Sunset, who flees back into the portal. Without thinking, Twilight gives chase immediately with her friends following. Twilight finds herself in a world similar to our own, but inhabited by human versions of the cast. It is also discovered that the Human versions of the protagonists are actually superheroes(minus Twilight's who is absent), subverting the expected trope of turning the franchise into High School drama series like the recent Monster High(which was now being countered by a series adaptation of the adult humor parody game Monster Prom) and Ever After High among others. Many saw this as a shallow effort to sell toys, even if the costumes themselves were well received. Sunset is introduced as the Supervillain of the story with a role and abilities compared to the X-Men's Dark Phoenix(Though unlike OTL, Jean Grey has stayed dead, which someone dampens this as a criticism). Their main plan appears to use the Element of Magic, embedded into Twilight's crown to channel their power and find a way to bring the full extent of their abilities into Equestria and takeover that world and gain revenge on Celestia.
While the Mane Six interact with their Superhero counterparts, they themselves learn to master their own abilities, leading to a final battle in which Sunset Shimmer is defeated and depowered. Twilight speaks to Sunset, who surrenders and appears to be emotionally broken from their defeat, being taken into custody(rather than the OTL quick seeming redemption).
The Second Made for TV film was much more well received, released a season later. The film introduced new antagonists in the Dazzlings, Sirens which were imprisoned in the human world centuries ago by the Equestrian Wizard Starswirl the Bearded. The trio witnessed the final battle of the last film and formulate a plan to absorb more magic and regain their abilities. While Twilight is called back to aid the human universe, it is generally agreed that the star of the film is Sunset Shimmer, who is shown to genuinely be attempting to reform but is struggling due to no one really having forgiven her. Sunset is shown to still have a journal from Celestia that she used to speak to her during her time in the human world and she uses this to ask for help. Twilight arrives and begins formulating a plan to defeat the Dazzlings. While spending the night together Twilight and Sunset have a private moment where the two bond in a genuinely touching scene. This is expanded on post movie, in which after the Dazzlings are defeated, and retreat, surprisingly not reappearing in the franchise for years afterwards, Twilight and Sunset have heartfelt goodbye. It is revealed that Sunset and Twilight are dating at the film's ends, often using the journal to talk with each other.
"Yeah, Honestly the reason we went with that was because we needed a way to connect this spinoff with the main series. The Cutie Mark Chronicles spinoff was very closely connected with the main show and they crossed over all the time since the main characters were related and lived together. We didn't have that with Equestria Girls. They were a universe apart, so because there needed to be a connection to validate the spinoff show, we went for an emotional connection rather than a physical one and made the protagonist of the spinoff the girlfriend of the protagonist of the main show."
-Showrunner Megan McCarthy
The third film introduced a roadblock in this relationship with the introduction of the human world's Twilight, who is a scientist investigating the strange occurrences caused by the first two films with the added backdrop of a competition with a rival school named Crystal Prep, the Principal of whom is the human counterpart of Season 3 Antagonist King Sombra(Unlike OTL this is an event that Sunset knows about but never paid attention to before). Throughout the competition, Twilight inadvertently steals the abilities of the Mane Six through a scientific device she created to study their abilities, transforming in the end into a form later referred to as Midnight , which Sunset fights and is able to calm down into surrendering after obtaining a superform referred to as "Daydream Shimmer" officially but not in universe. An End Credits scene has the Equestrian Twilight return after being delayed by the Season Finale's events and meeting their human self.
The Fourth and final Film was Legend of Everfree, which involved the protagonists going to a summer camp. After this film, the series lived on in shorts. A flashback reveals that Twilight and Sunset had a conversation about how twilight fears that her responsibilities would mean spending time away from Twilight. Sunset is shown to have an attraction towards the Human world's Twilight, being nicknamed "SciTwi" by fans due to being a scientist. This is not helped by Twilight being somewhat realistically traumatized by her experiences in the last film and relying heavily on Sunset's support. Paranormal events begin to occur and SciTwi blames herself for them, though they are revealed to be the spirit of the entity Gaea Everfree possessing the camp counselor Gloriosa Daisy. Evidently human sacrifices were conducted on the land by Daisy's family that ceased 100 years ago when the parents of the family died before revealing the ritual to their children. In gaining abilities from finding the Human World's Equivalent to the Tree of Harmony, Sunset gains an ability to read minds through touch. This usually resulted in a flashback. Though viewers joked that Sunset was holding onto someone for minutes on end due to the flashback's length. It was shown later on that from an outside perspective, the process lasts a second with only a quick flash in Sunset's eyes that from an outside perspective is similar to a car light reflecting off the eyes.
Specials
Post Films the Specials included a Christmas Special in which due to an antagonist, a victim of Sunset's bullying, Wallflower, erasing everyone's memories of Sunset's reformation, Sunset is forced to solve a series of crimes blamed on them. The conflict is not resolved by Christmas and so Sunset travels to Equestria and spends Christmas alone with Twilight, who is also alone as due to the Equestrian Equivalent to Christmas not directly lining up with the actual Christmas, everyone is occupied. Twilight does help Sunset discover a magical artifact likely being used by the antagonist and Sunset returns to thwart to undo the curse. Though exposing the culprit, Sunset has their memories painfully ripped out of them in a scene many have called Painful to Watch, though purposefully so as Sunset screams the names of everyone as they forget them and is left amnesiac. They are then taken back to Equestria to recover their memories through magic. This served as a way for the main show to introduce Sunset in a way that feels natural. Sunset basically meeting the Mane Six for the first time, being introduced to those who did not see the spinoff as an old friend of Twilight's and a fellow student of Celestia. Sunset eventually began to less frequent, due to returning to the human world and the spinoff more than Twilight did.
Other Specials include "RollerCoaster" which dealt with a haunted theme park but to the surprise of many fans, hinted at the "AppleSpark" pairing, or the romantic relationship between AppleJacka and Sparkler, evidently making it canon. There was also "Eternal Sunset" in which Sunset was trapped in a Groundhog Day loop during a Music Festival, which they repeatedly try to escape. this featured the long awaited return of the Dazzlings, who were surprisingly not the antagonists, something which Sunset resolves immediately just by touching their hands. In fact they contribute to thwarting the true antagonists, a K-Pop band singer with a terminal illness, unaware that Sunset was reliving the day as well. The Dazzlings, now depowered, effectively joined the main cast. There was also a series of Interactive shorts(I.e. of the youtube variety in which choosing one option leads to another, however these events would not be mentioned again. Minor events change, such as a School Play going horribly wrong or perfectly depending on player choices and relationship between characters becoming extremely positive or extremely negative(though its always hinted that the characters would have to work hard to repair any relationships that get as bad as possible). None of the protagonists will die from player choices or lack thereof but can be injured, leading possibly to hospitalization. Several minor characters introduced for the interactive shorts including the antagonists however, can in fact die.
Following the cancellation of both the spinoff and the main show, The Equestria Girls series lived on in Comic Form, depicting the lives of the characters after High School, including the relationship and eventual marriage of Twilight and Sunset.
Other Specials include "RollerCoaster" which dealt with a haunted theme park but to the surprise of many fans, hinted at the "AppleSpark" pairing, or the romantic relationship between AppleJacka and Sparkler, evidently making it canon. There was also "Eternal Sunset" in which Sunset was trapped in a Groundhog Day loop during a Music Festival, which they repeatedly try to escape. this featured the long awaited return of the Dazzlings, who were surprisingly not the antagonists, something which Sunset resolves immediately just by touching their hands. In fact they contribute to thwarting the true antagonists, a K-Pop band singer with a terminal illness, unaware that Sunset was reliving the day as well. The Dazzlings, now depowered, effectively joined the main cast. There was also a series of Interactive shorts(I.e. of the youtube variety in which choosing one option leads to another, however these events would not be mentioned again. Minor events change, such as a School Play going horribly wrong or perfectly depending on player choices and relationship between characters becoming extremely positive or extremely negative(though its always hinted that the characters would have to work hard to repair any relationships that get as bad as possible). None of the protagonists will die from player choices or lack thereof but can be injured, leading possibly to hospitalization. Several minor characters introduced for the interactive shorts including the antagonists however, can in fact die.
Following the cancellation of both the spinoff and the main show, The Equestria Girls series lived on in Comic Form, depicting the lives of the characters after High School, including the relationship and eventual marriage of Twilight and Sunset.
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Timeline 191: 1932-Present
Here is a post covering Timeline 191 in its own entry with a bit more detail. Elements of What Madness is This? by Napoleon53 have been folded in, namely the Charles Oswald character and backstory.
Timeline 191
Timeline 191, Also known as the Southern Victory series, began in 1931 with the release of a short story Collection. This particular story was written by Winston Churchill as"What is Lee had not won at Gettysburg?" which was a What If story set in a world where the Confederacy had won its independence. While originally Churchill planned to end the story with both the US and the CS being absorbed into Britain through an alliance, he decided to hold off and do research on the Civil War. It was from this that he learned of Special Order 191, which was lost and began to wonder if it hadn't been. From this idea, Churchill wrote up the first story "Southern Victory", which became a novel. Dwight D.Eisenhower provided realistic battle strategies in a private correspondence.
Southern Victory(1931)
The Story begins with the messenger about to leave but realizing he's dropped a cigarette carrying the details of Special order 191. he picks it up and rides off. Without knowledge of the battle, Robert E.Lee defeats John B.McClellan and occupies Philadelphia. Britain and France recognize the Confederacy and the US is forced to do the same. The Emancipation Proclamation is never implemented, sitting on Lincoln's desk in a first draft. In the 1865, election Lincoln loses. Meanwhile in the Confederacy, they expand by buying land from Mexico, and even purchase Cuba. A second war breaks out but the British and French refuse to aid the Confederacy unless they abandon slavery, which they do under their new President Robert E.Lee. A second war begins and the US is humiliated. Lincoln becomes an avid socialist as a result.
Jumping forward to the first World War, the conflict begins again. This time Theodore Roosevelt(whom Churchill met and was good friends with) leads the Union against the Confederacy(led by Woodrow Wilson). This time with Britain and France being occupied, the Union wins. it as this point the story ends.
Settling the Score(1955)
While Southern Victory was a success, Churchill was occupied by his career in politics. However, after the Second World War, he decided to return to depict the Alternate World War II. Churchill began writing in 1955. Now fully aware of the Consequences of several earlier events he could reflect on them. For example in Russia, he made mention that the Communist Revolution failed and mentioned Lenin and Trostky. However, Churchill wanted to represent Stalin in the story and to this extent he created "Joe Steele" as Stalin who had been born in America. the adopted son of George Custer, who was a General in the first book and had been credited with weaponizing "Barrels" or Tanks in the Timeline 191 universe. George Custer's son Michael however preferred the name Joe Steele and upon realizing the truth of his origins, that he was adopted, he kills George Custer and has Theodore Roosevelt assassinated by Annie Oakley during the Victory Parade in New York(that ironically ended the last Book). Roosevelt shrugs off being shot but then begins to proclaim "It takes more than one bullet to kill a..." before he is shot, a reference to the actual assassination attempt on him. Joe Steele then helps to lead a Socialist revolution in the US, while assisting Socialist leader Eugene V.Debs. Finally in 1932, he is elected President after orchestrating the assassination of Franklin Delano Roosevelt by sitting his mansion on fire. Churchill at least wrote FDR crawling out of his wheelchair and moving towards Steele as he watched, as if trying to kill him with his last breath. Churchill would joke about coming up with sadistic ways to murder his friends.
Featherston and the Confederate armies as depicted in the book
There was a Stalin analogue, but Churchill realized he needed a Hitler. He decided he would come from the South. Thus Jake Featherston was born. Featherston was a minor character in the first book, just a Confederate Soldier, but he was turned into a failed artist and his history made to parallel Hitler's life. Though Hitler himself is shown to be just a Colonel in the story. Steele and Featherston's rivalry echoed that of Hitler and Stalin with a battle of Pittsburgh paralleling the battle of Stalingrad. Churchill also focused on the conflict in Europe. He depicted a parody of himself running Britain during the war. Germany ultimately wins the war in Europe as Einstein never fled Germany because there were no Nazis. The nukes are used on Paris and London and the war finished. In North America, Featherston survives a nuke of the Confederate Capitol but flees on foot, where he is found by several African American soldiers, who brutally shoot him down in revenge.
The Story ends with Churchill writing a story about what if it had gone differently. Joe Steele had recently died and his right hand and General Patton had taken over. Patton himself hated this part of the story because he couldn't think of any universe, real or not, where he was a dirty Commie. The book mentions that Japan had kept growing and implied a cold war between Japan and America.
Flag of the United Socialist States of America
Back in the USSA(1997)
Churchill died in 1965, however this was far from the end of what he had started. Writers Harry Turtledove and Kim Newman loved the universe Churchill had created and wrote a book continuing the story, Back in the USSA. Released in 1997, the book covered the rest of the Cold War post 1955 unto the present. The two introduced Charles Oswald, the alternate John K.Kennedy, and gave him a full backstory. Realizing that British people, including Irish individuals were prosecuted in Churchill's story due to the hatred the US has with Britain, Kennedy would likely have changed his name. As such in this new setting, Kennedy's family lived in a walled off ghetto. John F. Kennedy slipped out one day and played with a young bot until an officer spotted them and beat young John. This incident led JFK to change his name to Charles Oswald after he and his brother murdered their family. This allowed Oswald to rise in the ranks and eventually succeed Patton. Oswald became a new antagonist in the series after the big egos of Steele and Featherston, though he was far more charismatic during the Cold War. His storyline concluded with him threatening to start World War III by launching nukes until a rebellion led by Richard Nixon finally stopped him.
Other elements focused on includeThere was also a focus on Britain which became an analogue of OTL Japan as it recovered from World War II before becoming an analogue to America in this world. There's also Russia, which was similar to OTL Britain. Given the book consisted of several short stories, the details were more sparse, but interesting tidbits include Anne Frank serving a Martin Luther King Jr type role while Dr.King himself fulfills an Elie Weisel type role. Alfred Hitchcock releasing a Knights of the Round Table film similar to the Seven Samurai. The cold war ending with Emperor Hirohito's death, China becoming Communist as a parallel to China, and Kurt Vonnegut in a Gorbachev type role in the USSA.
Fan Works
The Timeline 191 series was a huge inspiration for Alternate History with Alternate History.com providing several timelines based on it such as "After the End." and a Redux by Napoleon53 that adds a lot of juicy details now considered canon. This includes George Washington Carver normalizing selling Cocaine to children, the Union carrying out genocide in Mexico and the rise of insane prophet Billy Graham. These later contributed to the release of the mod for the game Hearts of Iron IV(TTL's Kaiserreich with Timeline 191 thrown in).
HBO Adaptation
Following the conclusion of their time on Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B.Weiss announced their production of an adaptation of "Timeline 191". The production included several black actors in the creation process and HBO ensured that the Confederacy would not be portrayed sympathetically but as the undisputed antagonists, despite this there was some controversy following the announcement. Season One covers The Great War. Season Two covers the intervening period between the World Wars. Season Three cover World War II with Sean Penn as Jake Featherston. Season Four shifted focus to Charles Oswald, played by James Marsden, and Season Five focused on wrapping up the Cold War. Marsden did something thought impossible and surpassed Sean Penn as Featherston. The Cover for Season Four is now iconic, depicting the visage of Charles Oswald(JFK) wearing sun glasses and smiling sadistically as atomic bombs reflect off his lenses with his face covered in blood and the headline: "What Madness is This?"
Adrian McLoughlin as Joe Steele
Sean Penn as Jake Featherston
James Marsden as Charles Oswald
Part of the Advertisement for Season Four of "Timeline 191".
Timeline 191
Timeline 191, Also known as the Southern Victory series, began in 1931 with the release of a short story Collection. This particular story was written by Winston Churchill as"What is Lee had not won at Gettysburg?" which was a What If story set in a world where the Confederacy had won its independence. While originally Churchill planned to end the story with both the US and the CS being absorbed into Britain through an alliance, he decided to hold off and do research on the Civil War. It was from this that he learned of Special Order 191, which was lost and began to wonder if it hadn't been. From this idea, Churchill wrote up the first story "Southern Victory", which became a novel. Dwight D.Eisenhower provided realistic battle strategies in a private correspondence.
Southern Victory(1931)
The Story begins with the messenger about to leave but realizing he's dropped a cigarette carrying the details of Special order 191. he picks it up and rides off. Without knowledge of the battle, Robert E.Lee defeats John B.McClellan and occupies Philadelphia. Britain and France recognize the Confederacy and the US is forced to do the same. The Emancipation Proclamation is never implemented, sitting on Lincoln's desk in a first draft. In the 1865, election Lincoln loses. Meanwhile in the Confederacy, they expand by buying land from Mexico, and even purchase Cuba. A second war breaks out but the British and French refuse to aid the Confederacy unless they abandon slavery, which they do under their new President Robert E.Lee. A second war begins and the US is humiliated. Lincoln becomes an avid socialist as a result.
Jumping forward to the first World War, the conflict begins again. This time Theodore Roosevelt(whom Churchill met and was good friends with) leads the Union against the Confederacy(led by Woodrow Wilson). This time with Britain and France being occupied, the Union wins. it as this point the story ends.
Settling the Score(1955)
While Southern Victory was a success, Churchill was occupied by his career in politics. However, after the Second World War, he decided to return to depict the Alternate World War II. Churchill began writing in 1955. Now fully aware of the Consequences of several earlier events he could reflect on them. For example in Russia, he made mention that the Communist Revolution failed and mentioned Lenin and Trostky. However, Churchill wanted to represent Stalin in the story and to this extent he created "Joe Steele" as Stalin who had been born in America. the adopted son of George Custer, who was a General in the first book and had been credited with weaponizing "Barrels" or Tanks in the Timeline 191 universe. George Custer's son Michael however preferred the name Joe Steele and upon realizing the truth of his origins, that he was adopted, he kills George Custer and has Theodore Roosevelt assassinated by Annie Oakley during the Victory Parade in New York(that ironically ended the last Book). Roosevelt shrugs off being shot but then begins to proclaim "It takes more than one bullet to kill a..." before he is shot, a reference to the actual assassination attempt on him. Joe Steele then helps to lead a Socialist revolution in the US, while assisting Socialist leader Eugene V.Debs. Finally in 1932, he is elected President after orchestrating the assassination of Franklin Delano Roosevelt by sitting his mansion on fire. Churchill at least wrote FDR crawling out of his wheelchair and moving towards Steele as he watched, as if trying to kill him with his last breath. Churchill would joke about coming up with sadistic ways to murder his friends.
Featherston and the Confederate armies as depicted in the book
There was a Stalin analogue, but Churchill realized he needed a Hitler. He decided he would come from the South. Thus Jake Featherston was born. Featherston was a minor character in the first book, just a Confederate Soldier, but he was turned into a failed artist and his history made to parallel Hitler's life. Though Hitler himself is shown to be just a Colonel in the story. Steele and Featherston's rivalry echoed that of Hitler and Stalin with a battle of Pittsburgh paralleling the battle of Stalingrad. Churchill also focused on the conflict in Europe. He depicted a parody of himself running Britain during the war. Germany ultimately wins the war in Europe as Einstein never fled Germany because there were no Nazis. The nukes are used on Paris and London and the war finished. In North America, Featherston survives a nuke of the Confederate Capitol but flees on foot, where he is found by several African American soldiers, who brutally shoot him down in revenge.
The Story ends with Churchill writing a story about what if it had gone differently. Joe Steele had recently died and his right hand and General Patton had taken over. Patton himself hated this part of the story because he couldn't think of any universe, real or not, where he was a dirty Commie. The book mentions that Japan had kept growing and implied a cold war between Japan and America.
Flag of the United Socialist States of America
Back in the USSA(1997)
Churchill died in 1965, however this was far from the end of what he had started. Writers Harry Turtledove and Kim Newman loved the universe Churchill had created and wrote a book continuing the story, Back in the USSA. Released in 1997, the book covered the rest of the Cold War post 1955 unto the present. The two introduced Charles Oswald, the alternate John K.Kennedy, and gave him a full backstory. Realizing that British people, including Irish individuals were prosecuted in Churchill's story due to the hatred the US has with Britain, Kennedy would likely have changed his name. As such in this new setting, Kennedy's family lived in a walled off ghetto. John F. Kennedy slipped out one day and played with a young bot until an officer spotted them and beat young John. This incident led JFK to change his name to Charles Oswald after he and his brother murdered their family. This allowed Oswald to rise in the ranks and eventually succeed Patton. Oswald became a new antagonist in the series after the big egos of Steele and Featherston, though he was far more charismatic during the Cold War. His storyline concluded with him threatening to start World War III by launching nukes until a rebellion led by Richard Nixon finally stopped him.
Other elements focused on includeThere was also a focus on Britain which became an analogue of OTL Japan as it recovered from World War II before becoming an analogue to America in this world. There's also Russia, which was similar to OTL Britain. Given the book consisted of several short stories, the details were more sparse, but interesting tidbits include Anne Frank serving a Martin Luther King Jr type role while Dr.King himself fulfills an Elie Weisel type role. Alfred Hitchcock releasing a Knights of the Round Table film similar to the Seven Samurai. The cold war ending with Emperor Hirohito's death, China becoming Communist as a parallel to China, and Kurt Vonnegut in a Gorbachev type role in the USSA.
Fan Works
The Timeline 191 series was a huge inspiration for Alternate History with Alternate History.com providing several timelines based on it such as "After the End." and a Redux by Napoleon53 that adds a lot of juicy details now considered canon. This includes George Washington Carver normalizing selling Cocaine to children, the Union carrying out genocide in Mexico and the rise of insane prophet Billy Graham. These later contributed to the release of the mod for the game Hearts of Iron IV(TTL's Kaiserreich with Timeline 191 thrown in).
HBO Adaptation
Following the conclusion of their time on Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B.Weiss announced their production of an adaptation of "Timeline 191". The production included several black actors in the creation process and HBO ensured that the Confederacy would not be portrayed sympathetically but as the undisputed antagonists, despite this there was some controversy following the announcement. Season One covers The Great War. Season Two covers the intervening period between the World Wars. Season Three cover World War II with Sean Penn as Jake Featherston. Season Four shifted focus to Charles Oswald, played by James Marsden, and Season Five focused on wrapping up the Cold War. Marsden did something thought impossible and surpassed Sean Penn as Featherston. The Cover for Season Four is now iconic, depicting the visage of Charles Oswald(JFK) wearing sun glasses and smiling sadistically as atomic bombs reflect off his lenses with his face covered in blood and the headline: "What Madness is This?"
Adrian McLoughlin as Joe Steele
Sean Penn as Jake Featherston
James Marsden as Charles Oswald
Part of the Advertisement for Season Four of "Timeline 191".
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It wasn’t. It ended purposefully in 2019 as OTL. It was a creative choice to end it there.
I haven’t covered that yet because I needed a break from the ponies.
Universal Monsters: 1931-1934
Universal Monsters: 1931-1934
Dracula(1931)
The film is based largely on the stageplay running at the time, even bringing in Bela Lugosi, who had played the role onstage. Bram Stoker's book had previously been adapted in 1922 with Max Schreck in the lead role[1].
When Universal gained the rights to Dracula, seeing the success of the 1922 version, they planned to turn it into a spectacle akin to their earlier films such as Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame. Pullitzer Prize winning Novelist Louis Bromfield was brought in to write the script. Dracula became two actors, an old man when first seen that then when he began to feed on Jonathan Harker, he would change as if restored to youth by the blood. By the time Dracula reached London, he was now a handsome man played by Bela Lugosi. The films begins with Jonathan Harker travelling to Transylvania. An iconic shot exists here as the coachman arrives, his face concealed by darkness in his hat and coat, when a flash of lightning briefly illuminates his face, showing an eye and a sharp fang.
Jonathan Harker is forced to stay in the castle as Dracula changes into a handsome man gradually and Harker feels weaker. In their first meeting, a scene from the novel is recreated. Harker cuts his finger and Dracula looks hungry, then Harker's crucifix lands in the way and Dracula recoils. Harker comments that the paper cut isn't that bad. There is also a scene where we see Dracula's shadow behind Jonathan but it is revealed Dracula is in front of him. Dracula falls in love with Harker's fiancee Mina from a picture. When Jonathan says Mina is his fiancee, the shadows show Dracula's shadow strangling Jonathan's, it then pans to reveal that Dracula and Jonathan are still standing there, the incident being in Dracula's head.
Another horrific scene is when Harker is lured by what he thinks are women that he thinks are fellow prisoners. The three women attempt to seduce him and then turn into Vampires when Dracula appears and calls them off. He then throws what appears to be a baby at them. The scene is quick and he simply says "if you must eat. Eat this!" and hurls something quickly into the corner of the room and the three Vampire brides go after it. Harker screamed in horror. Many viewers are reported to have fainted in the theaters.
Dracula then boards the ship known as the Demeter and gradually kills the crew onboard. Upon arriving in England, he begins to feed, largely on Lucy Westenra. He at one point kisses Mina passionately while putting her under hypnosis. The film has an added credit to include Cinematographer Karl Freund, who had to take over several times from director Tod Browning and is created as a second director. A large mirror was used to reveal that Dracula has no reflection, something done in the play. Edward Van Sloan played Van Helsing and despite it being one of his most famous screen roles, didn't think much of it. Bernard Jukes was brought in to play Renfield, having played the role on Broadway.
The film is fairly faithful to the original book. Dracula begins to turn Lucy Westenra into a Vampire. Van Helsing is brought in when Lucy becomes sick and despite his efforts to counter Vampirism, Dracula takes her. Van Helsing is assisted by Dr.Seward(Who is a combination of the book's Dr.Seward, Quincy Morris, and Arthur Holmwood). Van Helsing and Dr.Seward then kill Lucy Westenra in vampire form after her death. Dracula then goes after Mina in revenge. Jonathan Harker is seen escaping from Castle Dracula and making his way back to London. Dracula discovers his escape and flees. The team consisting of Van Helsing, Dr.Seward, Mina and Jonathan give chase to Castle Dracula. They arrive just as the Sun is coming up and a final battle ensues in which the Brides are killed. Van Helsing confronts Dracula in his coffin and delivers a stake through his heart.
The Highest paid member fo the cast was Helen Chandler, who played MIna, at $750 a week. She also didn't care much for the role despite it being one of her most famous. The opening scene was shot in Hungary and the prayers by the peasants were hungarians. New scenes were shot on a prop ship turned into the Demeter.
Bela Lugosi expressed fear that he would be typecast in the film, which were softened by two actors playing the character. He decided he would play the next role offered to him.
The Film also received a spanish adaptation with the same sets. Many, including James Rolfe, see the Spanish Version as being superior due to different direction.
When Universal gained the rights to Dracula, seeing the success of the 1922 version, they planned to turn it into a spectacle akin to their earlier films such as Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame. Pullitzer Prize winning Novelist Louis Bromfield was brought in to write the script. Dracula became two actors, an old man when first seen that then when he began to feed on Jonathan Harker, he would change as if restored to youth by the blood. By the time Dracula reached London, he was now a handsome man played by Bela Lugosi. The films begins with Jonathan Harker travelling to Transylvania. An iconic shot exists here as the coachman arrives, his face concealed by darkness in his hat and coat, when a flash of lightning briefly illuminates his face, showing an eye and a sharp fang.
Jonathan Harker is forced to stay in the castle as Dracula changes into a handsome man gradually and Harker feels weaker. In their first meeting, a scene from the novel is recreated. Harker cuts his finger and Dracula looks hungry, then Harker's crucifix lands in the way and Dracula recoils. Harker comments that the paper cut isn't that bad. There is also a scene where we see Dracula's shadow behind Jonathan but it is revealed Dracula is in front of him. Dracula falls in love with Harker's fiancee Mina from a picture. When Jonathan says Mina is his fiancee, the shadows show Dracula's shadow strangling Jonathan's, it then pans to reveal that Dracula and Jonathan are still standing there, the incident being in Dracula's head.
Another horrific scene is when Harker is lured by what he thinks are women that he thinks are fellow prisoners. The three women attempt to seduce him and then turn into Vampires when Dracula appears and calls them off. He then throws what appears to be a baby at them. The scene is quick and he simply says "if you must eat. Eat this!" and hurls something quickly into the corner of the room and the three Vampire brides go after it. Harker screamed in horror. Many viewers are reported to have fainted in the theaters.
Dracula then boards the ship known as the Demeter and gradually kills the crew onboard. Upon arriving in England, he begins to feed, largely on Lucy Westenra. He at one point kisses Mina passionately while putting her under hypnosis. The film has an added credit to include Cinematographer Karl Freund, who had to take over several times from director Tod Browning and is created as a second director. A large mirror was used to reveal that Dracula has no reflection, something done in the play. Edward Van Sloan played Van Helsing and despite it being one of his most famous screen roles, didn't think much of it. Bernard Jukes was brought in to play Renfield, having played the role on Broadway.
The film is fairly faithful to the original book. Dracula begins to turn Lucy Westenra into a Vampire. Van Helsing is brought in when Lucy becomes sick and despite his efforts to counter Vampirism, Dracula takes her. Van Helsing is assisted by Dr.Seward(Who is a combination of the book's Dr.Seward, Quincy Morris, and Arthur Holmwood). Van Helsing and Dr.Seward then kill Lucy Westenra in vampire form after her death. Dracula then goes after Mina in revenge. Jonathan Harker is seen escaping from Castle Dracula and making his way back to London. Dracula discovers his escape and flees. The team consisting of Van Helsing, Dr.Seward, Mina and Jonathan give chase to Castle Dracula. They arrive just as the Sun is coming up and a final battle ensues in which the Brides are killed. Van Helsing confronts Dracula in his coffin and delivers a stake through his heart.
The Highest paid member fo the cast was Helen Chandler, who played MIna, at $750 a week. She also didn't care much for the role despite it being one of her most famous. The opening scene was shot in Hungary and the prayers by the peasants were hungarians. New scenes were shot on a prop ship turned into the Demeter.
Bela Lugosi expressed fear that he would be typecast in the film, which were softened by two actors playing the character. He decided he would play the next role offered to him.
The Film also received a spanish adaptation with the same sets. Many, including James Rolfe, see the Spanish Version as being superior due to different direction.
Frankenstein(1931)
The Success of Dracula led Universal to put into production more Horror Films. Lugosi hoped to be cast as Henry Frankenstein. Producer Carl Laemmle Jr wanted him to play the monster, a role Lugosi tried and hated, quitting the role. Many consider this to be among the worst decisions Lugosi ever made, the truth is the role evolved into what it is now after Lugosi's departure, beforehand being a generic unspeaking monster and killing machine. Lugosi commented "I was a star in my own Country. I will not be a Scarecrow here". Makeup tests were also quite terrible, compared to Paul Wegener's makeup in the film The Golem. Director James Whale was brought onboard from England and given a selection of any franchise he wanted, choosing Frankenstein due to his fondness for the story. Whale compromised with Lugosi by giving him a role as the cruel hunchback assistant to Dr. Henry Frankenstein, the name of which was changed to Igor and he was given a bigger role. Whale also added more humanity to the monster.
Production designer Kenneth Strickfaden was able to secure Tesla Coils for the production from Tesla himself, who was all for the production. His involvement in the film has led to speculation that parts of it were in fact symbollic for Tesla's own complex history, fighting and finally gaining recognition, stepping out of Edison's shadow.
"Have you never wanted to do anything that was dangerous? Where should we be if no one tried to find out what lies beyond? Have your never wanted to look beyond the clouds and the stars, or to know what causes the trees to bud? And what changes the darkness into light? But if you talk like that, people call you crazy."
Despite Tesla's insistence it was safe, a double was used for moments of the creation scene due to Karloff being afraid of being burned by parks.
The film plotwise is the same as OTL with a few added scenes that explain minor plotholes. For example the Doctor murdered by the Monster had an assistant that he sent away to retrieve supplies. Soon after the Doctor is murdered and the assistant was the one who found his body. The father of the little girl who the Monster throws into the river actually sees the Monster flee the scene before finding her body. While in the OTL Film he seemed to conclude that he was murdered after finding her drowned. The film also has more of a soundtrack unlike OTL.
Production designer Kenneth Strickfaden was able to secure Tesla Coils for the production from Tesla himself, who was all for the production. His involvement in the film has led to speculation that parts of it were in fact symbollic for Tesla's own complex history, fighting and finally gaining recognition, stepping out of Edison's shadow.
"Have you never wanted to do anything that was dangerous? Where should we be if no one tried to find out what lies beyond? Have your never wanted to look beyond the clouds and the stars, or to know what causes the trees to bud? And what changes the darkness into light? But if you talk like that, people call you crazy."
Despite Tesla's insistence it was safe, a double was used for moments of the creation scene due to Karloff being afraid of being burned by parks.
The film plotwise is the same as OTL with a few added scenes that explain minor plotholes. For example the Doctor murdered by the Monster had an assistant that he sent away to retrieve supplies. Soon after the Doctor is murdered and the assistant was the one who found his body. The father of the little girl who the Monster throws into the river actually sees the Monster flee the scene before finding her body. While in the OTL Film he seemed to conclude that he was murdered after finding her drowned. The film also has more of a soundtrack unlike OTL.
Murders in the Rue Morgue(1932)
Without the film being rewritten to accommodate Bela Lugosi as in OTL, he was given this film as a compromise for being dropped from Frankenstein. The film keeps its original director George Melford and is a more faithful adaptation of the Edgar Allen Poe story, albeit extended to a full mystery concerning a circus performer using a killer Ape.
Cagliostro(1932)
After an attempt to write a horror film around the opening of King Tut's tomb, the project was transformed into a story about Cagliostro, based on the real life mystic figure Alessandro Cagliostro and turning it into a story of a 3000 year old Magician who murdered women to keep his youth. Cagliostro was played by Boris Karloff[2].
The Island of Dr.Moreau(1932)
Paramount's effort to counter Universal's Horror franchises. The film is not renamed "The Island of Lost Souls" ITTL. This adaptation transforms Moreau into more of an evil mad scientist type for him to serve as the antagonist. Many see the real star as sex symbol Kathleen Burke, who stars as Lota, a woman who in actually is a transformed Panther that the protagonists befriends and who is tragically killed protecting him from a more savage beast man at the film's conclusion just as they prepare to leave the burning island.
The Mummy(1933)
The film that became Cagliostro OTL. John L.Balderston, wrote a story inspired by the opening of the Tomb of Tutankhamun. The film plotwise is similar in plot to OTL's Brendan Frasier film though different enough due to less action and different scenes. This is because Cagliostro existing meant that having Karloff as a mystic walking around would have been too similar to that film. The film is instead about the mummy going after and killing those who opened his tomb as well as falling in love with the reincarnation of his lost love in Ancient Egypt. It ends when the woman recalls her past life and summons a spell that leads the Mummy to be destroyed by the Egyptian Gods.
The Invisible Man(1933)
based on the H.G.Wells novel and Philip Wylie's 1931 novel The Murderer Invisible, which was used to adapt more violent and gruesome scenes, which the HG Wells book lacked. James Whale directed the film with Boris Karloff in the lead(OTL Whale's wanted to take a break from Horror Movies, only to end up returning. Here that break does not happen. As a result Universal continues its trend of releasing Three Horror movies a year(if you count Spanish Dracula as its own separate film).
Phantom of the Opera(1933)
A film starring Lon Chaney(unlike OTL he did not die of Pneumonia caught during a filming and lives a bit longer). The film was largely an effort to create a sound version of the original silent film. Bela Lugosi starred as Daroga, who is given a new backstory and is a more prominent role, playing a detective but also appearing quite sinister to those who do not know him. Lugosi hated makeup and so would not have starred in the title role(while this may seem strange, it should be mentioned that the Phantom OTL had a full face mask and skull like features underneath. The half mask design was something created by Andrew Lloyd Webber for the Phantom of the Opera Musical as the original full face mask interfered with the microphone).
Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde(1934)
A film starring Bela Lugosi as Dr.Jekyll and Lon Chaney as Mr Hyde[2]
The Black Cat(1934)
The Black Cat was the first film to bring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff together on screen. This time as bitter old enemies seeking to destroy each other(OTL the battle between Lugosi and Karloff became one sided as Karloff eclipsed Lugosi. Here it's more of a fight as Lugosi will have more prominent film roles under his belt). The two would serve as on screen rivals, notably in Dracula vs Frankenstein, which was almost made at this time but production was halted as both monsters had sequels coming up. The two would crossover following their respective sequels.
Footnotes
[1] known OTL as Nosferatu. Here the creators successfully obtained the rights to Dracula.
[2] interestingly OTL, Universal's only dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde film was Abbott and Costello meet Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde).
[2] interestingly OTL, Universal's only dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde film was Abbott and Costello meet Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde).
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History of the Marvel Universe(Behind the Scenes): 1996-1999
History of the Marvel Universe: Behind the Scenes
Fabian Niceiza and Scott Lobdell were working on X-Men, the then biggest book in the country and Tom DeFalco was nearly fired during The Clone Saga. Terry Stuart approached Nicieza for his marketing side of Marvel to help control the sales and marketing and presented an Org chart that gave DeFalco more control. This was the Marvelution, the publishing of more things and the buying out of Malibu Comics for their printing equipments. This allowed them to actually make and release comics with Marvel owning everything down to the wood pulp to maximize prophets.
The higher ups wanted The Clone Saga to continue but DeFalco still fought back. Spider-Man #400 saw Peter Parker's life change forever. Mary Jane was pregnant and Aunt May was dying. Her old age finally catching up with her. Spider-Man appeared before her but she told him to takeoff is mask so she could see her nephew. Peter was shocked to learn that she knew. She explained that she had found out some time ago. Peter and Aunt May said goodbye and she finally passed on.
Mark Gruenwald
Sales and Marketing wanted the story to continue but DeFalco refused to undo the death of Aunt May. DeFalco told Mark Gruenwald, his soon to be successor, about his plans in case he was removed. Sales and Marketing was looking at Age of Apocalypse and wanted that but for Spider-Man. A successful event with a lot of tie ins. The Clone Saga was finished, and fans were responding well to the two Spider-Men. Someone proposed that they introduce more Spider-Men but instead of clones they look into other Universes, thus the concept of the Spider-Verse was born. An event was to threaten the Spider-Men of every reality. Spider-Man was never intended to be such an important universal figure so the antagonist would have to be someone with a grudge on Spider-Man himself, and so it was decided that the antagonist would be...Spider-Man. More Specifically a version of Spider-Man merged with the Carnage symbiote. This allowed Tom DeFalco to use some of his clone saga ideas as this Peter Parker went insane from the revelation that he was actually the clone, allowing the Carnage Symbiote to bond to him after the death of Mary Jane in childbirth shortly after Aunt May. The fact that he had discovered a way to travel between universes was revealed to have occurred when the Fantastic Four tried to take the Carnage Symbiote off of him, allowing Spider Carnage to escape and find a way to travel across universes, where he was now murdering Spider-Men across the multiverse, warranting his defeat.
Tom Lyle had been promised a Spider-Man title and he was given his own alternate universe title, which worked as he was an inexperienced writer. Dan Jurgens was also brought in as writer on the Spider-Man book with Bob Budiansky. Both disliked Reilly and so chose to write Peter. Peter was still acting as Spider-Man though it was written that he would retire. The Final issue having Mary Jane give birth. Editorial wanted Mary Jane to miscarriage but the creators fired back sayings "I am not going down in history as the one who killed Spider-Man's baby ". That idea was scrapped. In the cover of Ben Reilly someone had randomly inserted a scene of a skeleton in a Spider-Man costume being found in a smokestack. This single action nearly threw a wrench in the entire saga of Ben Reilly, but it was quickly revealed to just be a fake and a ploy from the returning villain the Jackal to manipulate Ben Reilly. The Jackal cloned Norman Osborn and while many creators were adamant about reviving the character after such a definitive death. This was subverted when the clone was actually friendly due to lacking the influence of the Goblin formula and helped Reilly, only to die in the process, saving him from the true mastermind, an alive Harry Osborn. Reilly decided his origin didn't matter, being a hero did. Mark Gruenwald finally did succeed DeFalco as Editor in Chief in 1996.
Mark Waid had been on the X-Men book and was working on Onslaught at the time, revealing the villain Onslaught to be a dark manifestation of Xavier's psyche which was defeated(fortunately there is no Heroes Reborn situation ITTL).
Valiant released their latest event, Chaos Effect in 1994, which repeated the Valiant strategy. The first issue "Alpha" was free and the series concluded in Omega. The event had better than OTL marketing and was more successful. There was a problem with Marvel UK. During the trip in Europe which Shooter had paid for the staff to travel to, they had bolstered the sales fo the company. Marvel UK had a different release schedules and rather than importing American Comics, they created their own. One of the creations of these British artists was Death's Head. Marvel tried to keep Death's Head, including having him cameo in Doctor Who comics. Despite this Death's Head soon came to be owned by Hasbro and became a Transformers character. Without him Marvel UK started to slump.
Valiant was writing a story set on the Org of Plasm which needed to be fed and so its people became conquerors. Earth is attacked but one warrior Lorca, turns against his people and allows humans to gain abilities to fight back. The series did well and there was also merchandise, including a card game. Other titles included War Dancer, Charlemagne, Dark Dominion and more which crossed over. The name Shooter registered for his idea "Plasm" triggered a copyright battle with Marvel UK over the character of Plasmer, which had not yet been introduced but the trademark had been registered. Valiant was also making a deal with Mattel for toys. Unfortunately, Marvel UK pounced on the opportunity and rushed out a Plasmer book to support their legal case and battle Valiant. Valiant offered to change the name to one of several options, preferring "Warriors of Plasm". Marvel UK intentionally held off choosing one and when Valiant went with "Warriors of Plasm" they sued. The Judge scolded Marvel UK for this shameless act.
Liefeld's infamous Captain America Sketch
On the Image side they partnered with the Video Game company Akklaim due to sharing the same demographic. Akklaim bought Image. Todd McFarlane's Spawn was the most popular character. He was the top choice for Video Games and for toys. McFarlane had created his own company McFarlane Toys and then McFarlane Entertainment. It should serve as no surprise when he formed McFarlane games. As inexperienced as the film studio may have been, a Spawn film was made and an Emmy winning animated series. Then Marvel came to Image to make a deal. A tradeoff. Such an idea was not a first. DC and Marvel had traded characters and it was decided that such stories would be non canon regardless. McFarlane disliked the idea but Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld did like it and so it went through. Gruenwald's favorite character was Captain America. He'd worked on the character for 14 years and was not about to give it up. Liefeld wanted to write Captain America and the two fought over it. In the end, Liefeld would never write Captain America.
At Image, it was discovered Liefeld had been in charge of finances, which was odd as he was notorious for sleeping during important meetings. He was found to be using Image resources including money to pay off personal debts and not paying his employees. Silvestre nearly pulled Top Cow out of Image as a result until there were plans for Image to fire Liefeld. Liefeld. asked for a week's notice after being told and was granted it. He then quit and claimed to be parting with Image on good terms of his own choice. Image corrected the statements and said he was fired, not that he quit. Liefeld intended to form his own company Awesome Comics, but it was never to be. Liefeld was in Afghanistan, gaining material for what he imagined to be a story retelling Captain America's origin story and setting it during the war in the Middle East. He was not meant to see combat but the base he was present on was attacked. Reports say a soldier was shot and killed in front of Liefeld, who donned the deceased soldier's uniform and weapons and charged towards the enemy, firing wildly. he was killed almost immediately. He was 29 years old[1].
The Rest of Image mourned the loss of Rob Liefeld. McFarlane seemed to subscribe to the idea that Jim Shooter had him murdered, including an image in the Spawn comics of a likeness to Shooter himself on a black screen and simply the word "Shooter?". While Liefeld had impacted the medium of comics, for better and for worse, the Image empire seemed to continue to grow after his passing. All of Image was seeing success from McFarlane's Spawn Empire, Silvestre making Witchblade into a live action series, Valentino had become the head of Image and was turning it respectable. Jim Lee was brought in to replace Liefeld. Outwardly Image seemed fine but inwardly it was falling apart. Before every internal problem was solved by talking it over, this was due to each having so much creative control. Lateness was a problem, including the often reliable Erik Larsen. McFarlane rallied against the gimmick cover idea he himself had started with Spider-Man: Torment and so stayed on. Larry Marder was brought in to fix the Image problem by Valentino and he succeeded by introducing new rules such as only finished books could be advertised. Akklaim wanted to reboot all the Image characters but this was shot down by Valentino. Instead new writers and artists were brought in and the release of books reduced.
Valiant began to attempt to move once more into license territory, including Sliders and Magic: The Gathering. The cards for Magic: The Gathering were released in Comic shops and the world was large enough to provide a great deal of exploring. Fans of the game were also comic fans, including the creator Richard Garfield. Garfield was now working on the next expansion and Ice Age, followed by an Arabian Knights expansion. In Valiant's original books were Quantum and Woody, created by Mark Bright, who had created the famous Shockwave cover for the Transformers, and Christopher Priest, one of the creators of Milestone Media, which published through DC. Issues sold well despite the flooded marketplace and no recognized names. Mildstone's biggest success was Static Shock, who was absorbed into the DC Universe.
Isaac Perlmutter
Carl Icahn
That's when Carl Icahn enters this story. One of the inspirations for Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, Icahn suspected something about Marvel and that there was a secret plan. Icahn began trying to buy Marvel as well. Perlman also wanted to buy Marvel but this time Icahn outbid him, leaving him with nothing. Icahn was outbidding all others including Perlmutter. This was not a good thing as he was actually one of the worst people who could have bought Marvel, being one of the first google results for the term corporate raider. Icahn cared more about short term prophets, intending to introduce several projects to destroy a company and then leave with his money. He had done this with TWA, an airline company which he was ousted from for selling shares to their companies. His clauses led TWA to bankruptcy. If he won control of Marvel, he would most likely run it to the ground, establish legal clauses digging it into permanent bankruptcy and then left. At the same time, no one wanted Perlmutter either. This was an Alien vs Predator situation. Whoever won. Marvel lost.
There were three competitors, Icahn, Perlmutter, and Perlman. Perlman called on the banks which he had a good relationship with. Perlman eventually backed out and made a deal with Icahn that when Icahn won(if Icahn won), Perlman would have some control but would face no legal punishment for the illegal actions he had undertaken in his efforts to buy Marvel. This left Icahn and the team of Toybiz, Perlmutter and Arad. With Icahn backing Perlman, the former could now buy Toy Biz, which is what Perlman wanted. If Icahn won, Toybiz would be transformed into a shell company existing solely to sell Marvel products. Hoping to avoid this, Toy Biz entered as a fourth contender in the Marvel Wars. No one trusted Icahn. In order for the bank to consider Toy Biz, they needed to put up $545 Million Dollars as a starting bid, which they did. This was something that Perlman hoped they wouldn't be able to do when he got the banks involved, using the money to scare away any other would be buyers, as even Stan Lee was in talks with Disney to buy Marvel, seeing them as "The Devil You Know" in this situation as Stan Lee and Walt Disney had gotten along well and Lee thought Disney would at least do a better job than Icahn or Perlmutter. Time was running out as the deal would expire. Matters were hampered as all the lawyers involved happened to be jewish. This meant that when the Passover was coming up, and with most of the people involved being Orthodox, they would not work for that week. If the deal was delayed for the week the deal would be lost. The race was on for the deal to passover before passover(something entirely factual to OTL despite seeming like something in a Mel Brooks comedy).
Apparently Ike Perlmutter was less devout than the rest because when everyone else stopped for the Passover, he went in to sign the deal behind everyone's backs. This forced everyone to return after Passover and immediately go into trying to start a deal that put a restraining order on Icahn. This wasn't about Marvel anymore. It was a matter of pride. Icahn didn't want to lose to the owners of a small Toy company. So Toybiz made a deal with Icahn and they formed a partnership instead. Perlman was unaware of the deal. Icahn in his pitch for Marvel in the meeting with Perlmutter, declared his intent to close down the company and start completely over with new characters, finding a new company he called "NewCo"(somewhat close to his plan OTL complete with the "NewCo" name for a new company). Unfortunately, for Icahn and fortunately for everyone else, Perlman, while unable to attend that particular meeting due to a scheduling conflict, had told Stan Lee about the meeting and provided him with access. Stan Lee was no longer involved at Marvel but he wanted to see the faces of just who was buying the company and entered the meeting. Neither Icahn nor Perlmutter recognized him as he sat there being the quietest he had ever been and the angriest.
Icahn's lawyers managed to overturn the restraining order between Icahn and Marvel but by now the Judge in charge of the entire case declared in anger that the money used to keep Marvel afloat could not be used to pay lawyers. The restraining order was later reinstated.
Let's take a moment to look at Marvel's Distinguished Competition. DC was doing well with events like the Knightfall event and were creating Mature stories, mature as in complex such as The Sandman that asked though provoking questions and were well written. This led to the creation of Vertigo, an independent imprint. It seemed like Marvel's situation was no concern. DC was still doing well. Holding onto the rights such as they had when they nearly sold to Marvel worked and they had gotten themselves out. That was when DC pitched an idea to Marvel as they realized that Marvel's collapse could either damage DC themselves as it harmed the entire industry, or they would see success due to their fall, at which point DC would likely be able to snatch up their characters. The Previous effort in which Marvel and DC had switched characters had been a success for both, so it could have been a success, plus that event had helped DC out at a time when it was struggling(though Crisis on Infinite Earths was really what helped DC get itself out). It was now their turn to return the favor and help Marvel out. They pitched the idea to finally do Marvel vs DC. Fans would vote on some of the fights. Peter Parker was even brought back as he had been Spider-Man on and off at this time and he was seen as THE Spider-Man to feature in such a historic event. A new imprint was also created: Amalgam Comics, merging both universes. The two competing companies had come together while behind the scenes Marvel was falling apart.
Icahn had usurped Perlman and replaced everyone on Perlman's board. Perlmutter stepped in and pointed out that Perlmutter had made a deal with Perlman previously that if Perlmutter took over the staff would not be changed and Icahn had done that. This clause was actually instated by Shooter when he feared Perlman would takeover Marvel and fire all his employees to replace them as he wanted his staff to have jobs. Perlmutter pointed out that this applied to anyone who replaced Perlman, meaning that he now legally could takeover since the deal was Perlmutter would get Perlman's job if anyone on the board had been replaced. Icahn refused that logic and Perlmutter refused Icahn's own logic. With both being in charge of Toy Biz, the company broke apart and the two started fighting.
This left Avi Arad, the other head of Toy Biz besides Perlmutter and now Icahn, alone and he decided to switch sides and go to Marvel. Arad and Stan Lee wanted the same thing, to see Marvel characters on the big screen and this had been accomplished but both had a sense that something bigger was coming and so with the two of them in a handshake agreement, Marvel Films became Marvel Studios. Arad shared control with Jerry Calabrese. While Calabrese had been behind the failed Marvel Mart, he was genuinely making strides to repair the company after its decline. It was Marvel Studios that would takeover the production of the 90's Marvel Universe and films like Blade. The reason for the films was because any deals made with Toy Biz applied to the comic characters not any versions of the characters from films. Arad was a passionate supporter of Marvel, not a corrupt businessman. He was in Stan Lee's words "a true believer". Now he was planning on going against his own company. The Marvel vs DC event had expanded as DC now owned Wildstorm and so that universe was brought in as well.
Chuck Rozanski
Retailers were struggling to survive following the dip in the mid 90's. These were the people who loved comics, even if love was sometimes expressed through rage. One of these comic store owners was Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics. Rozanski called himself a Counter Culture Capitalist and sold comics independently, possibly being the first to do so, opening his first store in 1974. Originally, comics weren't looked at too closely. They cost six cents after all but now the easier distribution meant the real money came from back issues. When Marvel nearly went under in the late 70's, before being saved by the success of their Star Wars tie in comics, Rozanski had written a book on how the problem had started and even attempted to warn people about it. As a result he was brought into a meeting with Marvel executives to discuss how to prevent such a fate from occurring again. It was at that meeting that Rozanski had met Jim Shooter, who was helping turn everything around, had looked at Marvel's problems and championed Rozanski's ideas. Rozanski believed the health of the Comic Industry was tied to Marvel and he still believed that in the 90's. Razinski did admit that he was part of the problem as he had pushed the formation of Comic book shops, leading to a move away from selling comics on Newspaper stands, which is where new readers came from. This also applied to Comics at the Grocery stores and pharmacies. As such Razinski championed bringing those back in style so long as they offered kid suitable comics. After all Archie had continued to do this. Even Icahn agreed with this, saying the books should be back on the newsstand for 60 cents, though this was not feasible in the modern market. Magazine distributors hated comics, as they cost as much to make as anything else but were worth a fraction of the price and made a fraction of the money.
Marvel decided to bring back Howard the Duck. This was difficult as Steve Gerber, Howard the Duck's creator, was seen as the only one who could do him justice. At the time Gerber was doing a Howard the Duck crossover with Savage Dragon which involved the multiverse. Gerber's idea was to have a panel in which the two briefly encountered each other. Not a crossover in the usual sense but more of a panel in each showing the two meeting. While this went off without a hitch. An editor at Marvel, Bob Harras, wanted Howard the Duck to be in everything which Gerber refused as he saw this as a one time thing for the sake of nostalgia. This was referenced by Gerber in the same story in which Savage Dragon and Destroyer Duck rescued Howard from an army of clones, pulling Howard out of the Marvel Universe and into the Image universe and leaving a clone of Howard who believed he was the real one in the Marvel Universe. In other words, Gerber rescued Howard from Marvel and the Marvel one was just a clone, a clear jab at The Clone Saga.
The Spider-Man Issue
The Savage Dragon Issue
The wrong Howard gets sent to the Marvel Universe.
Perlman had dropped out of the race and so Icahn and Toy Biz now faced off. Each gaining bank support. Toy Biz was less likely but Icahn was the worse option. However, Icahn began to actually look into Marvel. He was provided with evidence that Perlman hadn't been playing up Marvel's problems but downplaying them. Icahn didn't care. He needed to recover the money he lost and refused to lose to a toy company. Perlmutter had made a fortune buying out smaller companies. If he had taken over Marvel he would have insisted on things such as recycling paper clips, and a mandatory drug test. He had done this when he bought out dollar stores, and ignored the argument that several creators took drugs and rejected the idea that Award winning comic writers shouldn't be treated like Dollar store clerks. Perlmutter was the safer option because of Avi Arad. Arad loved the Marvel Universe and wouldn't hurt the company for prophets. Toy Biz started buying shares and settlements of Marvel to prevent Icahn from getting them. Icahn retaliated, declaring war and bringing Perlman back to blame him for the chaos. He wanted Perlmutter's business dissolved.
This is when Joe Calamari came in. Calamari had been responsible for getting Shooter's Marvel children's show idea off the ground. Now Icahn brought Calamari onboard. At a party, Calamari met with comic creators and artists Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti. The two had their own studio that they wanted to distribute Marvel Books. They promised real talent and state of the art technology for the creation process. Calamari convinced Gruenwald to go with this as their previous endeavors such as Marvel vs DC had been successes. However the names given where small ones. They were given: Daredevil, the Inhumans, Black Panther and The Punisher. With these names they formed Marvel Knights. Kevin Smith wrote Daredevil. Quesada did the art. The resulting storyline is considered to be the best one since the days of Frank Miller. Christopher Priest, the man behind Quantum and Woody, took the helm of Black Panther and became "The Best title you're not reading". The Inhumans by Paul Jenkins and Jay Lee made a miniseries that won an Eisner and became mainstream. The Punisher was written by Garth Ennis and received much acclaim. Marvel was saved. In the office, the Marvel Editors disliked the loss of control.
The Court brought in Attorney John J.Gibbons to find a way to settle the dispute between Icahn and Perlmutter. Keeping Marvel together was the best choice. It was then that Rozanski got a call from Jim Shooter. Shooter and Rozanski made a deal to turn Marvel around. Rozanski didn't want to run Marvel, just keep it alive and so he reluctantly got involved if only so he could return to his comic book shop and farm. Rozanski and Shooter looked over the documents as did Gibbons. The trio pored over legal documents before discovering how absurd the Toy Biz contract with Marvel to make toys had been. It was thorough. Marvel action figures were top priority but the list also prevented kites, lunchboxes, play-doh, card games and just about everything under the sun. This was why Perlmutter wanted Marvel so much. Icahn wanted to destroy Toy Biz by preventing them from making any money. Both were in too deep and could not be reasoned with. Gibbons had to decided if Perlman had acted criminally. He had not, just stupid in making terrible decisions and creating the current situation. Fortunately Icahn would shoot himself in the foot.
Icahn put forward a proposition to have Gibbons removed as one of his firms had previously worked for Chase Manhattan, one of the debtors or Marvel. This was laughed off. Gibbons was decided by a judge to be allowed to continue to study the matter. Toy Biz was going to takeover and Gibbons agreed to that. Icahn wanted a deal to save face and get his money back. Gibbons agreed to settle the matter. Rozanski and Shooter had also joined.
In the end, Marvel lived. Icahn was given a 3.5 Million Dollar settlement. He and Toy Biz continued to hate each other. Perlman was hit with problems with his bonds. He shifted to owning different companies and now owns SIGA Human BioArmor, a government defense company. A government defense company ran by a man who ran a Comic Book company and nearly destroyed the entire industry.
Even in Death, Liefeld remained a controversial figure when Jack Kirby's widow revealed that Rob Liefeld had tried to buy the rights to Captain America. It is often said that Liefeld created Agent America when he could not do so, leading Marvel to sue him for the likeness to Captain America. This is not true. Liefeld had approached Captain America creator Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's widow, Kirby having died three years earlier. Liefeld tried to get legal permission to write Captain America first from Jack Kirby and then his widow, both refused. The asking price was too much and so Liefeld created Agent America to attempt to force Kirby's widow into a better settlement. Both she and Marvel sued. Agent America was cancelled.
Another creator with grievances towards Marvel was Steve Gerber. Gerber had created Howard the Duck as a one off gag but the character became unexpectedly popular. Howard the Duck appeared in a back up story in Giant Size Man-Thing before getting his own series, which was M-Rated at Gerber's request and featured plenty more Man-thing. The series was a cult hit and even appeared in newspapers. Disney asked for changes to Howard's design but Gerber refused due to being the rare Writer-Editor that had complete control of his own book, meaning Gerber parodied the request in the book and then ignored it since no one was looked over his shoulder. Shooter granted Gerber ownership of Howard, preventing his appearances in Marvel until the 90's. Gerber even got Jack Kirby to create comics of Destroyer Duck alongside him for absolutely free, Kirby having his own grievances with Marvel at the time. Gerber was however, brought in to help on the Howard the Duck animated film by Ralph Bakshi.
Gerber kept working for Marvel until he moved for Malibu, including the Ultraverse. Ironically, Marvel would buy Malibu soon after. Gerber also heard of Jerry Calibrese and the failed Marvel Mart. Gerber jumped into mocking Calibrese. The question was now how Gerber could get along with the new management. Of the deal with Disney to buy Marvel, Rozanski later said "you know things are tough when the big corporation is the hero of the story." The victors, with the unexpected rescue from Disney, was Avi Arad, who had made peace with Rozanski and Shooter. Arad ousted Perlmutter from Toy Biz as he had taken a beaten with his idiotic idea to give a share of Toy Biz to Icahn. He had also made the mistake of attempting to cancel the half a Million Dollar payments made to Stan Lee every year, a decision that didn't win him any friends as Stan Lee had supported Marvel throughout, even supporting Toy Biz. Lee was still working on the promotional side, work that was seriously needed due to how Marvel had nearly been brought down. The attempt backfired so badly that Stan Lee got a bigger payment deal. This caused Perlmutter to hold a grudge against Lee. The Man who had founded the company that he had almost bought.
Footnotes
[1]This is where things get a little somber. I don't personally hate Liefeld. However, at this time OTL, Mark Gruenwald took a copy of Captain America by Rob Liefeld home. Marvel had been failing and forced to give Image the use of their characters Gruenwald had been writing Captain America for 14 years. After leaving on Friday with the issue, he did not come in for work. He had died of a heart attack. He was obsessed with health, never drinking, never smoking, never taking drugs. The day before he was doing cartwheels in the office. As such in the words of SF Debris and quite literally with no hyperbole: "ROB LIEFELD MADE A COMIC SO BAD IT MAY HAVE KILLED A MAN!"....so with all that said. It seemed like a type of cosmic balance was required to avert Gruenwald's death and in this case that was Liefeld due to the seemingl Karmic nature of the OTL event.
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