Barbecue's Bonfire 4/16/2021: The Captain Marvel Triumphant and the Eternia Box Edition

 

   Hey everyone! The weekend is almost upon us and that means it's time for another installment of Barbecue's Bonfire! Last weekend was my daughter's last hurrah before starting back to in-person schooling after over a year so we did things up! Now that we're all vaccinated we decided to make a trip to the Charlotte Comicon on Sunday afternoon. I picked some Marvel Legends I was looking for, a Skeletor patch, and my daughter ended up winning an award!

   We just watched Captain Marvel on Saturday evening (more on that in a moment) so Adora wanted to wear her Captain Marvel costume. I think she first wore it at HeroesCon 2019 and we didn't know if it would still fit her but it still did. Tack on a Feisty Pet to serve as Goose and she was ready. We told her anyone dressed like Captain Marvel got in free (it was free for all kids 12 and under) so she was extra excited. She's sometimes a bit shy but she decided to enter the costume contest. When she went on stage to show off her costume she did some punches, shot some Photon blasts, made Goose growl at the judges, and then leapt off the stage rather than going back down the stairs. She won a judge's choice award, too! Way to go Adora!

More about Captain Marvel, the MCU, and my trip to Charlotte Comicon after the break...

   Here's a quick shot of your old pal Barbecue17 with an Eternia box from the vintage MOTU line. Full disclosure: It's not mine! I do own a loose Eternia (maybe 80-85% complete) but this was an empty box that someone selling at the show had purchased for their collection. I mean, you don't see one of these every day, do you? I had to get a picture with it! Since I had pulled my mask down for the picture I also took the liberty of sniffing the box. Yeah, it seems weird but I was just curious about how it smelled.  

   Charlotte Comicon was a great, smaller show with a pretty good dealer room. Half of it was truly comic books while the other half was action figures, crafts, and other fan merchandise. We had a great time! Things were nicely spaced, most everyone had masks, and there were some really cool costumes. It was great to be doing something that felt kind of normal again, you know? 

  OK, so on to some MCU talk? How about 2019's Captain Marvel to start? We're nearly done watching all of the MCU films with our daughter (it's her first time for most of them) and Saturday night we put on Captain Marvel. She was really into it! About 20 minutes into the movie she wanted to pause so she could ensure her costume still fit and then she proceeded to watch the rest of the film in costume mimicking Carol Danvers' on screen action. I really enjoy this movie, especially the action sequences with Captain Marvel herself, Carol's relationship with Nick Fury. Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson are at their best when they're playing off of each other. It's a fun movie that definitely does well with it's 1990s setting while not going overboard. I'm really curious what the sequel will look like. I think the only negative I have is that Captain Marvel should have been worked in a bit sooner, especially with her importance in Endgame. 

   Over Monday and Tuesday evenings we finally reached  Avengers: Endgame, truly one of the most impressive feats in cinema. I feel like it's demeaning to try to talk about this film in just a paragraph but from my experience I'm still impressed by how this film, the culmination of the 21 previous films, is so good and manages to draw from nearly all of those previous films while giving everyone a chance to shine and still telling a coherent and emotional story. My daughter was thrilled and that, of course, was the purpose of this endeavor. Think of all of the movies that can't quite retain a coherent plot, theme, or feel between installments and try to imagine how Marvel did this with 22 films. Avengers: Endgame is brilliant. It manages to bounce back and forth between being fun, joyful, and heartbreaking. And yeah, I definitely got teary eyed a few times. Most of these characters, especially the main Avengers, have really grown over these films and it was a pleasure to follow along with them whether or not their journeys lead to tears or joy. 

   Let's take a moment to talk about episode 4 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. last week's episode was action packed but also did a great job of showing the differences between the various factions involved. Sam is definitely dedicated to doing the right thing and while him and Bucky don't see eye to eye on Sam giving up the shield, they're definitely a good team who know their strengths and are trying to resolve the Flag Smashers dilemma as peacefully as they can. Walker Cap is a whole other story, though. That final shot of Walker mercilessly bashing in the head of one of the Flag Smashers was chilling. Morgenthau and Walker are both escalating this conflict and with the presence of Baron Zemo and the Dora Milaje thins aren't getting any less complicated. 

Last up let's check out the most popular reviews of the past week:

Mother Boxes from DC Comics Multiverse: Justice League is a review from 2017 that shot up in popularity no doubt due to how well received the Snyder cut of Justice League has been. These were a build an accessory that came with a few of the Walmart exclusive figures back when Mattel still had the DC license. This is its fourth week on the list so folks are still way into this. 

Land Shark from Hot Wheels Premium: Masters of the Universe is proving to be a hit and is on its third week. The Land Shark is probably my favorite vehicle in the vintage MOTU line and Hot Wheels did a heck of a job with it.  

Battle Mode Kobra Khan from Vinyl SODA is the first chase variant from Funko's Vinyl SODA line I've managed to get and I was pretty thrilled to open a can and find him in there. I don't like snakes at all in real life but I love the MOTU Snakemen and I usually put Kobra Khan with them rather than with the Evil Warriors. This is Kobra Khan's second week on the list. 

Aerial Threat from Fortnite: Legendary Series is probably the most boring figure in the line. I'm just not a sports fan but apparently plenty of other people are. His weapons are nice, though, as is his cool zombie soccer ball companion. Apparently people like him because this is his second week on the list. 

Trap Jaw from Masters of the Universe Origins is hanging around for his second week. This guy turned out pretty nice. I actually found series four last week, too, but it'll be a minute before I get around to reviewing all of them.

Orko (Exclusive) from Sideshow was part of last month's March Magic and I'm really happy it's proven to be a hit. I love Sideshow's statues and I'm thrilled that Tweeterhead has picked up the scale and style with their Masters of the Universe Legends line. A review of Hordak is incoming!

That's all for this week! Take it easy and have a great weekend. I hope the weather is gorgeous where you're at! It's beautiful in the Carolinas today!