"Magneto and Titanium Man" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Wings | ||||
from the album Venus and Mars | ||||
A-side | "Venus and Mars/Rock Show" | |||
Released | 1 November 1975 | |||
Recorded | 27 January, 14 and 17 February 1975 [1] | |||
Studio | Sea-Saint Studios | |||
Genre | Glam rock [2] | |||
Length | 3:16 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Songwriter(s) | Paul McCartney | |||
Producer(s) | Paul McCartney | |||
Wings singles chronology | ||||
|
"Magneto and Titanium Man" is a 1975 song by Wings. It is the B-side of the "Venus and Mars/Rock Show" single.
The song is in narrative form, and includes the Marvel Comics characters Magneto, Titanium Man and the Crimson Dynamo in its story. [3] When asked his opinion of the song decades after its release, Stan Lee (who co-created all three characters) said he thought it was "terrific." [4]
The song was included in the setlist for the band's 1975/1976 world tours. [5] While it was performed, comic art of Magneto, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and Titanium Man & the Crimson Dynamo, created by Stan Lee and Don Heck, was projected onto the large screen behind the band. The Magneto figure on the backdrop is by George Tuska and John Tartaglione from X-Men #43 (April 1968, on sale February 1968), the Titanium Man is by George Tuska and Mike Esposito from Iron Man #22 (February 1970, on sale December 1969), and the Crimson Dynamo is by Sal Buscema and Joe Staton from Avengers #130 (December 1974, on sale October 1974). The two backdrop figures are reversed from their original comic book presentation. [6]
McCartney, a Marvel Comics fan and comic book fan in general, met with Kirby on the L.A. leg of the tour, giving him front row seats and back stage passes (his daughter was a big Wings and Beatles fan), and Kirby backstage gave Paul and Linda an original comic drawing he did of them. [7]
The song can be heard coming from a radio, creating an argument, in a scene in the 1976 Mike Leigh play Nuts in May .
The Roots played the song as walk-on music for Michael Fassbender for his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon during his promotional tour for X-Men: Days of Future Past .
The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in The Fantastic Four #1, helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first superhero team created by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and editor/co-scripter Stan Lee, and through this title that the "Marvel method" style of production came into prominence.
Jack Kirby was an American comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew up in New York City and learned to draw cartoon figures by tracing characters from comic strips and editorial cartoons. He entered the nascent comics industry in the 1930s, drawing various comics features under different pen names, including Jack Curtiss, before ultimately settling on Jack Kirby. In 1940, he and writer-editor Joe Simon created the highly successful superhero character Captain America for Timely Comics, predecessor of Marvel Comics. During the 1940s, Kirby regularly teamed with Simon, creating numerous characters for that company and for National Comics Publications, later to become DC Comics.
Stephen John Ditko was an American comics artist and writer best known for being the co-creator of Marvel superhero Spider-Man and creator of Doctor Strange. He also made notable contributions to the character of Iron Man, revolutionizing the character's red and yellow design.
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books, the Silver Age is considered to cover the period from 1956 to 1970, and was succeeded by the Bronze Age.
Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics.
Uncanny X-Men, originally published as The X-Men, is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the X-Men, a group of mutants with superhuman abilities led and taught by Professor X.
Tales to Astonish is the name of two American comic book series, and a one-shot comic, all published by Marvel Comics.
Tales of Suspense is the name of an American comic book anthology series, and two one-shot comics, all published by Marvel Comics. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for such artists as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Don Heck, then featured superheroes Captain America and Iron Man during the Silver Age of Comic Books before changing its title to Captain America with issue #100. Its sister title was Tales to Astonish. Following the launch of Marvel Legacy in 2017, Tales of Suspense was once again resurrected at issue #100, featuring the Winter Soldier and Hawkeye in a story called "The Red Ledger".
The Titanium Man is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Titanium Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense #68 and was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck.
Crimson Dynamo is the name of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics who have all been powered armor–wearing Russian or Soviet agents who have clashed with the superhero Iron Man over the course of his heroic career.
The Marvel Super Heroes is an American animated television series starring five comic book superheroes from Marvel Comics. The first TV series based on Marvel characters, it debuted in syndication on U.S. television in 1966.
The Alley Award was an American annual series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, the award shared close ties with the fanzine Alter Ego magazine. The Alley is the first known comic book fan award.
The Wings Over the World tour was a series of concerts in 1975 and 1976 by the British–American rock band Wings performed in Britain, Australia, Europe, the United States and Canada. The North American leg constituted band leader Paul McCartney's first live performances there since the Beatles' final tour, in 1966, and the only time Wings would perform live in the US and Canada. The world tour was well-attended and critically acclaimed, and resulted in a triple live album, Wings over America, which Capitol Records released in December 1976. In addition, the tour was documented in the television film Wings Over the World (1979) and a cinema release, Rockshow (1980).
Jonathan "Junior" Juniper is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, his first appearance was in Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos vol. 1 #1. He is known to be the first major character death in a Marvel comic and the only Howling Commando ever to die in battle.
The Teen Brigade is either of two distinct fictional teams appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Both teams were recruited by Rick Jones from young amateur radio enthusiasts in order to obtain and divulge strategic information about safety hazards, usually involving the Hulk. These teams were attempting to aid the Hulk in using his super strength for good. They knew he, the Hulk, just desired to help citizens, and did not intend to harm them. The first group was founded in The Incredible Hulk #6. Today, many adolescents are unaware of the Teen Brigade teams. Unless they have access to original comic books, the only Hulk character they may be aware of is in more modern shows or movies.
America's Best TV Comics is a one-shot American comic book packaged by Marvel Comics' parent company in mid-1967 in conjunction with the ABC television network to promote the network's Saturday morning cartoon lineup.
Stan Lee was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which would later become Marvel Comics. He was the primary creative leader for two decades, leading its expansion from a small division of a publishing house to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics and film industries.