Comic Book Men 513 “Hometown Heroes”
Season 5 of Comic Book Men featured some of the biggest stars in comics and pop culture including William Shatner, Stan Lee, Peter Mayhew, Jim Lee and John Romita Jr. Hometown Heroes, the season finale of Comic Book Men, maintained the fun factor as it featured a rare relic from Walt’s childhood, issue #1 of The Son of Satan and a real life hero, Seattle’s own Phoenix Jones.
Things started off with a bang when a customer brought in a rare Andre the Giant Bigfoot mask from the classic Six Million Dollar Man show. The realities of Bigfoot’s existence elicits laughter during the podcast segment before the scene shifts back to The Stash and the deal for the Bigfoot mask. After some bargaining, Walt and the customer come to an agreement leaving everyone happy.
Phoenix Jones, Benjamin Fodor in his civilian identity, dropped by the store after being invited by Ming and entertained the gang with tales of what inspired him to become a costumed crime-fighting vigilante. He recounted his origin, some of his adventures and even revealed that he had an arch enemy. Inspired by Phoenix Jones’ exploits, Bryan, Ming, Mike and Walt decide to join him patrolling the streets of Red Bank.
Before The Stash’s fantastic foursome become real life super heroes, business at the store must be attended to. A collector comes in wanting to take a look at Marvel Comics’ The Son of Satan #1. The Devil’s popularity as a pop culture villain in the 70’s is discussed as well as the route taken by the collector to track down his prized issue. He states that finding it in The Stash was an awesome experience causing Ming to question why he just didn’t use the internet to track it down.
The vintage toy of the week was a 1978 Incredible Hulk Utility Belt made by Remco. When the belt made its appearance at the store it brought smiles to everyone’s faces. Green is the color of gamma rays as well as money and a deal was soon made to acquire the vintage utility belt.
A week after Phoenix’s visit Bryan, Walt, Mike and Ming assume their costumed alter egos and hit the streets of Red Bank. While out on patrol the four rookie heroes learn the ropes and discover how hard being a costumed vigilante can be.
The final episode of Comic Book Men was an enjoyable and fitting end to a great season. With a weekly parade of pop culture royalty, awesome toys and great banter between everyone at The Stash, the show not only demonstrated how much comic books mean to us but also how they’ve become part of the fabric of our lives.
