Guardian Project

It has been far too long, but I wanted to start up again, particularly to talk about Stan Lee's Guardian Project. A collaboration with the National Hockey League.

What is the Guardian Project? To quote the website:

"Guardian Media Entertainment, LLC (GME) is an unprecedented partnership between SLG Entertainment, LLC(SLG) (led by Stan Lee of POW! Entertainment Inc) and the NHL (National Hockey League.) As a company GME will focus on cultivating the next generation of fans by introducing sports through dynamic storytelling featuring superheroes created by Stan Lee.

"SLG and NHL have entered into an unprecedented partnership to form GME, whereby both will have equity ownership and participation in the new entertainment company. For the purpose of the partnership, SLG will create and produce the Guardian Project and the NHL will use all of its promotional power to market and promote the franchise. GME will work closely with existing licensees and sponsors of the NHL to bring product to the marketplace at an accelerated pace.

"Stan Lee is the godfather of the superhero and is the creator of several multi-billion dollar franchises including SPIDERMAN, IRON MAN, THE X-MEN, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, THE FANTASTIC FOUR and many, many others. Guardian Media Entertainment has devised a plan that will take advantage of new media opportunities in today's marketplace allowing for the Guardian Project to quickly become a well-branded superhero franchise.

"Through the partnership, the NHL will provide unique added value in the promotion and distribution of the Guardian Project. The NHL has over 70 million fans worldwide and has one of the most successful destination sites of all the major sports leagues with over 10 million unique visitors per month. The NHL has relationships with media partners and platforms capable of disseminating marketing messages as well as ownership or indirect influence over a number of consumer retail points. The NHL will further assist the successful branding of the Guardian Project at through: in stadium marketing and promotional events, including the Guardian Project within existing national and local media plans, and supplying in-stadium distribution for merchandise and sponsored giveaways."



There is a lot of negative press out there about this project, but I am not a hater. I am excited about this. I am not the target demographic, nor are most of the haters.

The idea is to have superheros with NHL logos and characteristics of their respective teams and cities in order to help the sport evolve new fans in a new way. Will it work? Who knows. It's never been tried like this before. Sure kids will grab onto an idea and not let it go. But that is with something totally fictional. Take any children's cartoon. Spongebob for example.



Is there anything he is not on? This is not a product geared towards adults (though many adults like him for some reason). He is extremely popular on all sorts of products.



Cups. Hats. Shoes. Even a sexy Halloween costume.



What were we talking about? Oh yeah. Guardian Project.

Kids are the target and it is likely they will love it. The NHL had a press release about the sales during the All Star Game (where the Guardians debuted) saying "All-Star Youth/Infant/Toddler apparel sales were the best in seven years and up 98 percent over the 2008 Atlanta All-Star and up 150 percent over 2009 in Montreal. Sales were partially driven by the success of The Guardian Project™ merchandise with Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes super hero character apparel selling out."

Another popular item is the graphic novel. I've got my copy. In it are stories about the characters. Unfortunately, they are told in five pages. This is unfortunate because it has to establish a problem, introduce the character, have the Guardian show off some abilities, and save the day. It's a highly condensed version of what it needs to be, but that's the only way to do it.

It also develops the back story. A character called Mike Mason has some sort of superhuman ability. His dad, apparently a scientist, enabled his childhood imaginations to come to life in order to protect him from the main antogist, Deven Dark.

All of this was introduced officially during the NHL All Star Weekend in Carolina, January 2011. Each day prior to introduced a new Guardian. They are divided into 6 different divisions, including the Air Force and Army. The other 4 have not been named. I can guess that, based on those involved, there is a chemical group, a matter manipulator group, a strength group, and weapons group. But this is pure speculation as to the names. These are the Guardians in their divisions.

Air Force




Army




Unknown Division One



Unknown Division Two



Unknown Division Three



Unknown Division Four



Currently, the Guardian Project is introducing more on each character one by one with full animation and such. But they are going much too slow for my taste.

Okay, here is some of my initial criticism. First of all, I'm not a tremendously big Stan Lee fan. Don't get me wrong, I like X-Men, Spiderman and such, but I'm always a little put off by these types because their powers are, to me, over the top out of this world. I'm more of a Batman fan myself where the abilities are more grounded in reality. Not that they are realistic, but moreso than matter manipulation and teleportation.

That aside, the introduction was WAY to esoteric.



Did you get what was happening? Who was who, and how the Hurricane solved the problem? No? Good. I'm not alone.

Granted, I like seeing some animation of these characters, but it tried to put too much information into such a small amount of time with no payoff. Think Star Wars Episode V without a IV or VI. I love that movie, but the story doesn't make sense without seeing four or six.

Another huge problem I have with the project is the use of team logos in inappropriate places just for the sake of using them. I understand each guardian has the team logo on the chest with an NHL shield belt buckle. But some don't work. What's worse is the use of alternate logos just for the sake of using them (Senator!)

Still, I'm overall liking the project. It just seemed to do too much. This reveal was very hyped, but didn't pay off for me.

Let's get into the nitty gritty details of each Guardian. Today, we'll tackle the Air Force including the Devil, Flyer, Hurricane, Red Wing, and Thrasher. I'll show you the reveal video that was put out in January (most with identical audio) and a picture. Then, we'll discuss.





I am not a fan of how he is represented in animation or drawing form when he has the whirling wind around him. He needs to stand around more to be aesteically pleasing for me. But I did the hair and the suit. This was a good interpretation in my eyes. His comic is particularly weak.





This is an awesome way to do The Flyer. I like his solar wings (though I'm at a loss as to why this is a trait of this character). The Flyers have always been known as a scrappy group, especially since their glory days after they were an expansion team. I'm not a big fan of the bird pet, but I guess he's okay. The tattoos over the eyes are a nice touch.

Now, as previously mentioned, the stories for everyone are a little weak, but understandiably so. One thing that makes them weak is the lack of a strong villian. They are all easily defeated. Some are a little odd, but I think the Flyer baddies take the cake. This comic shows the Guardian fighting a group of Ben Franklin look alikes. What's weird, this story actually works better than some others!





A lot of other people out there must be total idiots. They are bashing the Devil because he looks like a horse with wings. Umm, well he does look like a badass horse with wings because this Guardian is modeled after the Jersey Devil.

This Jersey Devil.


That's who the team was named after, not Satan Prince of Darkness.

This Satan, not the other Satan.



I'm really confused whenever I read another person's critique of this Guardian and they rip on him for the animal form. What? This is one of my favorite Guardians. The comic with this character is amazing! Major shoutouts to the artists who made this, specifically Mike Lilly, Mark McKenna, and Pete Pantazis and anyone else who deserves credit for this outstanding work of literary art.





The jury is still out for this Guardian in my book. I'm not overly impressed. Or just impressed. Let's go ahead and tip the scale to disappointed. The connecting wheels sounds good, but somehow it doesn't work here. I even think it's a good idea, but somehow I don't like it here. This could be because I've seen an even cooler way for a man to get around with wheels attached to his feet in real life. It's in Cirque du Soleil's Corteo. It's the begining of this clip (the rest is the "Cyr Wheel" act. Very cool. Nothing to do with the Guardian Project, but cool looking nonetheless.



The helmet is also distracting on Red Wing. I don't like that much either. And the comic is horrible. Truly appauling. This was hasitly slapped together as best I can tell. Ugh. Much to be desired. Much more could have and should have been done for this character.





Another favorite Guardian. I am obviously bias, but this is a good looking Guardian. The artwork was well done in the comic, but his story was good too. The layout worked, it all worked. Except that I think this Guardian is Transformer-ish and can change into an actual jet. That I don't like. I also don't like the drawings with the clear face shield. The mirror shield is awesome. The see-through is SO not.

I'd also like the author to take another pass at his dialogue. Since he's a plane, he uses a lot of "Bogies" and "At My 3 O'clock" and "Change In Flight Plan". A lot of the others have just as stereotypical chatter for their character too. I hope they all get a catchphrase enima. I will give props to the writing for the mysterious enemy. Unlike most of the other stories, this one is entriquing and not over-the-top comical.

But overall, I will give credit again to these artists Chuck Dixon, Tony Chargin, Trevor Von Eeden, Thom Zahler and Pete Pantazis. A job well done.

Actually, Dixon and Chargin did a lot (if not all) of the stories for these characters. That's a tough deal, having to create 30 simple yet compelling stories. I'll give credit when due, but I will not ignore what I consider sloppy work. Though, again, I applaud them for doing a fine job overall with this difficult task of creating all of these different character stories given only a handful of pages to do so.

I do wonder what major foes will surface as the project progresses. It is safe to say they will not be named after teams in other sports as many hope for or at least theorize. Why would the NHL support other sports?

I am hopeful they can incorporate some of the now defunct teams. Ghosts of the past. Psychics or dream creatures. The Whaler, Nordique, Jet, Rockie, things like that. Perhaps they could even be just old guys that act as guides to the Guardians.

There is some disappointment there are no women. I can see why no team would want their Guardian a woman, but hopefully some strong women characters can be added as foes or expanded Guardians. The spirit of the Heritage Classic or Winter Classic maybe. A sexy snow angel.



And I want the Stanley Cup represented! A fountain of youth or like the blue potion in Zelda! Drink from the Cup or lift it over your head, and your strength and powers are restored!



Oh well.

TTFN