There are faces you expect to pop up in the grocery aisles from time to time: your Supermen, your Spider-Men, your Batmen and maybe your Hulks. And these days, with various cinematic universes, it's not unlikely to find other super heroic faces staring at you from the candy or hot cocoa aisle.
They're usually in the context of being on a team or currently starring in a hit movie. But sometimes, a solo artist sneaks in and gets a chance to shine. That brings us to the Flash cereal, a.k.a "Lightning Bolts."
It was released alongside the Superman cereal under the Cap'n Crunch banner and is shrouded in mystery. Why were these cereals released? Why does it say "Cap'n Crunch" on the box? Why were Superman & the Flash chosen as opposed to other characters? The answers may have been lost to the annals of cereal history.
But unlike the Superman box, the Flash is flying solo. The back of his box has artwork meant to resemble a trading card, including the most minimal amount of biographical information possible. It feels a little low effort and won't make for multi-breakfast reading sessions but, hey, it's the Flash! Check out this video where I crack open a box:
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It's new fruit snack season! Looks like snack time has gone to the dogs (I'm so funny) with the new DC League of Super-Pets Fruit Snacks. The movie hasn't been released yet but it's already on my very short list of "Reasons to Leave My House." Well, the movie and the fruit snacks.
This one is under the "Funables" brand that seems to be cranking out licensed fruit snacks in their own branded purple boxes. I don't know where this company came from but they've been on fire the last couple of years with character-based snacks including DC Comics, Nickelodeon and other popular folks.
One of their best features is the collectible cards included on each box. I'm a sucker for the "cut on the dotted line" prompt...and that's exactly what I did. And now I'm the proud owner of card 1 of 3. You could say I've invested in Krypto (see, I told you I was funny).
I guess Ace the Bat-Hound and Wonder Pig (or whatever her name is) are the other two cards. While I definitely get excited about fruit snacks, I don't think I'm excited enough to buy two more boxes of these things to get the other cards. But while the excitement lasts, let's take a look inside the box:
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Welcome back to the cereal aisle, Man of Steel! It's been awhile since I've seen him in any part of the grocery store but it's good to have him back. This is an odd one because, like the fruit snacks from years ago, it doesn't seem to tie in with any kind of a movie or cartoon project. It's some kind of collaboration with Cap'n Crunch but other than his name in the top right corner of the box (and perhaps the taste of Crunch Berries), the Cap'n doesn't seem to be very involved.
But instead of the crew of the S.S. Guppy, Supes made it a family affair and brought his cousin along. Flip the box over and the back has Supergirl. The skyline of Metropolis is visible behind them both. The city, and breakfast, has never been so well protected. The box art also gives you a good look at the actual cereal with it's red, yellow and blue "shields" but you always have to wonder how accurate that is.
Well, wonder no more. The box art is fairly spot on with one major exception: the inclusion of orange and green cereal pieces. They don't match the "super" color scheme so you have to wonder what gives. Another "Oops, All Berrys" type of mixup at the cereal factory? Is it the work of the villainous Lex Luthor? Some kind of Kryptonite shenanigan? Perhaps we'll never know.
Superman and Supergirl aren't out there on their own though. This is a two-cereal promotion with the Flash having his own cinnamon flavored cereal. Unfortunately I haven't found of box of those yet. They seem to have sold out at super speed but I'm on the hunt and I won't give up until the Scarlet Speedster joins me for breakfast.
From the ashes of a long, dreary year of sheltering in place, comes the good news of brand new fruit snacks. The Avengers are back! And they're in a variety of fruit flavors! Similar to the "Super Hero Squad," "Marvel Super Hero Adventures" was/is an animated adventure cartoon aimed at the younger audience with kid-friendly designs and age appropriate stories. With those factors in place, a box of fruit snacks couldn't be far behind.
Flip the box over and we get more of the gang. Apparently the show features a ton of characters but, logically, they went with familiar movie characters for the outside of the box and for fruit shapes. Let's take a look:
I noticed they don't list any actual flavors so we'll have to assume that colors are indicative of taste. Hulk = Green = Lime? Let's go with that. Since several of these characters have been killed off of the movie franchise, this might be the last time we see them in the grocery aisles for a while so now is the tike to fill your carts and your bellies. Eat up!
It was 1996 and the Marvel machine was a mere shadow of what it would become. Movies were just a pipe dream then and cartoons were king. The spotlight didn't fall on the Avengers as much as it did Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. With small screen success comes attention from powerful people. And who's more powerful than Ronald McDonald?
...which brings us to the Marvel Super Heroes Happy meal. Now, a more ambitious blog would have a complete breakdown of each of the Happy Meals Toys and perhaps a little bit of information/trivia about them. I don't have that. What I do have is two of the bags used at the time for the promotion (see pic above). I bought them for less than a dollar on eBay and then promptly forgot about them. But when they arrived in the mail today, the happy-go-lucky heroes, with they're word jumbles and brain teasers, inspired me to pop them in the scanner.
The first bag gives us a scenario that involves the visible Invisible Woman who seems to have had the tables turned on her. Her friends are the ones who have disappeared. Can you help her find the Hulk, the Human Torch, Jubilee and Spider-Man? If not, then maybe connect with a smiling Wolverine and help him with his word puzzle.
In yet another Spider-Man/X-Men team-up, Spidey has shot some webs to stick it to his three mutant pals. Can you figure out which line goes to the (still-smiling) Wolverine, Storm and Jubilee? Admittedly, it took me a few attempts.
Grab the scissors and paste and head to the side of the bag. It's time to put these panels of Spidey in the "correct" order. Although the avant-garde side of me would insist that there are multiple "correct" orders and Spider-Man's unique skill set could lead to any number of routes up and down that building. Regardless, let's check out the next bag.
Next up is a game of observation. Find the differences between the right and left side of the room. I'm assuming the obvious ones like Thing/Hulk and Spider-Man/Wolverine totally count. But honestly, it's more difficult finding things that actually do match on each side of the room. Maybe it's more challenging when you're working through a french fry coma.
The other side is more of a group shot of the gang along with a low effort word jumble. It's interesting to note that there only seems to be three X-Men on each bag and only 3/4 of the Fantastic Four. It's always curious to see odd character pairing like this.
If you've been lamenting the lack of mazes on these things, then lament no more. The Thing needs to find the Hulk through this rock wall place. If you've got a spare 6 seconds, give it a try.
You might have noticed the mention of a "Marvel-ous Offer" on the both of these bags. Let's turn the bag over to the final side to see what it could be:
If you like Marvel Super Heroes Happy Meals, odds are you probably like Spider-Man Magazine. All it took was a $1.50 for shipping and handling and this order form from your Happy Meal bag, and two issues of those bad boys would eventually be mailed to you.
So there you have an impromptu look at two 25 year old happy meal bags. If they were to do this promotion today we might still see the Hulk and Spider-Man but the rest would unfortunately be left out in the cold. Here's hoping that another round of hit movies get these guys back on the lunch menu.
There they were...staring right up at me from the shelf on the cracker aisle at Target. After Endgame, we thought the Avengers were done but it looks like they've returned. Now instead of the plains of Wakanda or the streets of Manhattan, this time the battle rages on in your lunchbox.
Looks like the the world's greatest superheroes are teamed up with the Pepperidge Farms Goldfish. Black Widow (deceased), Captain America (retired), Iron Man (deceased) and the Hulk (alive and less angry?) are the attention-getters on the outside of the bag, but what's on the inside?
Our snack lineup consists of the Avengers "seal," Iron Man's mask, Black Panther's mask and Black Widow's symbol. It's good to see Black Panther represented and, at this point, Iron Man is a no-brainer. But if they were going to include symbols, I wouldn't have minded another character to show up instead of just the Avengers "A." I also suspect that the Widow's hourglass symbol might have come from some previous franchise that got the cracker treatment. More research is need to confirm that theory though.
And if you've got some time to kill while snacking, why not treat yourself to a "back of the bag" maze? Pick your favorite Avenger and make your way to the center...hours of fun.
There are also regular shaped Goldfish in the mix so traditionalists don't get too disoriented while chomping down on these new, unfamiliar superhero shapes. Grab a handful during the next Marvel Disney Plus show.
When it comes to qualifying Super Hero Food, I tend to stick to my arbitrary rules ("Iron Man Cereal" vs. Cap'n Crunch with a picture of Iron Man on the box) but just as often I break my arbitrary rules when something catches my eye. And the new Hershey's DC Super Hero Bars did just that.
They're being marketing along with the "Back to School" products which you can see by Superman and Wonder Woman chaperoning the school bus. They're obviously keeping an eye on any potential trouble makers trying to hide out in the back. As you can probably guess, these a Hershey bars that are branded with DC Comics characters.
They're miniature size and, as such, would fit just fine in a lunch box. I guess that's why they're in with the "Back to School" themed stuff. Although I think they would have done just fine if they were released a month later for Halloween. I know a few little superheroes who would love to get these in their Tricks-Or-Treats plastic pumpkin. Let's crack open that bag:
No big surprises in the lineup. We've got Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and, once again, Cyborg has kicked Martian Manhunter right out of the picture. I'm starting to think this replacement Leaguer is gonna stick around. I hold out hope that maybe it will lead to some Doom Patrol candy or whatnot.
With the wrapper off, we see the traditional, sectioned-off Hershey's bar with each section containing a character's logo. But there's more than just the Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Superman and Batman symbols that you see here. So far, I've only opened a few but I've also seen the Batmobile, a "BAM!" sound effect, and some stars that have a Wonder Woman vibe.
Not sure if these are mostly going to end up in lunchboxes, Halloween bags or just in a lot of folk's quarantine candy pile but it's always good to see the League make a prominant appearance in the grocery aisles.
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to promote a new Spider-Man movie, mankind must produce and distribute a new version of that character's fruit snacks. To my knowledge there was no new version of the beloved gummies for "Spider-Man: Homecoming" so let's see what "Far From Home" brings to the lunchbox scene:
As of this writing, Spider-Man is dead and exists as a pile of dust on Titan...so I guess he eventually gets better. The release of these snacks isn't exactly what I'd call a spoiler since I think we all saw his resurrection coming. I mean, you're not exactly gonna be excited about buying faceless, formless (possibly flavorless?) fruit snacks so the return of our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man was a given. Unfortunately his return didn't seem to warrant any new shapes. Let's see the breakdown:
Eh...nothing we haven't seen before sadly...two Spidey faces, two Spidey poses and two Spidey webs...all of them repurposed from previous fruit snacks releases. I understand the need to cut corners from time to time and re-use a shape or two but, c'mon!
This is the MCU Spidey! Let's put some effort into it! How about a Nicky Fury shape or a big Mysterio fish bowl head shape? Seems easy enough. I'd even settle for Ned or Aunt May. But I guess we get what we get. Does a fruit snack by any other shape not taste as sweet?
There are two types of Super Hero Food: one type that ties in with a movie or TV show and another that doesn't. The first kind is a dime a dozen whereas the second is a little more rare. This type seems to be an effort to keep the characters in the public eye and, of course, make a little money.
These are always more fun because they just "are." Justice League Crackers are Justice League Crackers for the sake of being Justice League Crackers. Which brings us to today's entry: Justice League Crackers!
Nabisco Justice League Mini Cheese Nips are the most recent item to make its way into my shopping cart. They are your standard cheese cracker but with the theme of never-ending justice. The usual gang is involved and, wisely, Nabisco decided to go with logos instead of faces. Let's see how the cracker crumbles:
No Green Lantern and, of course, the ongoing Martian Manhunter snub is still in full effect. Also, apparently Cyborg has a logo now and it's not bad. Looks like a "C" with a gear in the middle which is a pretty clean design and translates well into the cracker medium.
The rest of the usual line up get their own crackers, as per their Justice League contracts. All the logos look pretty good and are easily more recognizable than they tend to be in gummie format which makes me wonder why we don't get more character cracker stuff on a regular basis.
There's a group shot on the back along with a nice little quiz. As with most "back of the box" fare, this feels less like homework and more like a little light snack time fun. You can see that the cracker-less Green Lantern makes an appearance at the back of the group shot and even gets his own trivia question.
The twelve packs of these beauties will fit very nicely in your Justice League lunch box with your Doom Patrol Tuna Salad sandwich. Enjoy!
"Teen Titans Go" is a show that exists for some reason. It's not the Teen Titans show I would have liked but my kids love it. They also love fruit snacks. And a brief intro like that can mean only one thing...
The little guys have a new movie coming out and nothing pairs better with promotion than snacks so this box was there to greet me on the grocery aisle. Other than some popsicles from years ago, I haven't seen a lot of TT foodstuffs. Which is odd since they seem like such a no-brainer to slap on a box of waffles or a nice line of steak sauces. But we don't have any of that so let's take a look in inside:
The gang's all here including "Silkie." And I have to admit, I have no idea who Silkie is. I've seen a few episodes (or at least had them playing in the background while my kids watched) and I'm not sure I've ever seen him/her. I'm assuming that maybe the character shows up in the movie? (Feel free to not let me know, it's not that important.)
Eat 'em up while you can because both Teen Titans movies and Teen Titans food are few and far between. Don't even get me started on the lack of Doom Patrol snacks...
Sometimes I'll come across some super hero related food that is
interesting but not quite interesting enough for its own blog entry.
When that happen they get combined into a "Snack Time" entry.
Most of these were spotted at my local "Big Lots!" store. As I've said before, they stock discontinued or low selling items from the previous year so it tends to be a jackpot for the type of weirdo branded foodstuffs that I'm always on the lookout for.
Let's start with some seasonal offerings:
First off, are some large (maybe six inches tall or more) Easter Eggs with Spider-Man and Batman. They've been known to be bros in the past and their team-up continues with offerings of jelly beans and a "figure dispenser."
Next up are "Viewer Eggs" featuring Spider-Man and the Avengers. You look through the hole in the egg to see pics of your favorite crime fighters. Then you crack 'em open and eat the jelly beans inside. What's not to like?
I had never heard of ROAR beverages before but apparently they have Iron Man (apple) and Spider-Man (fruit punch) drinks. I later learned they also have a Captain America (grape) drink floating around out there somewhere but I didn't see one on this trip. A couple of these beauties made it home with me.
And, of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the Avengers have been popping up on bananas lately. And, yes, I'm collecting the stickers. So far I have the Hulk, Black Panther, Iron Man and Cap. I think all I need is Black Widow and Thor to complete the set but maybe there are others I haven't seen yet.
So that's the latest round of snacks...but it's important to stay vigilant in the grocery aisles.
Remember when summer was when the big super hero movies flooded the cinemas? I guess that still happens but now the fall is a contender too. While the Hulk and Thor are bro-ing out in the MCU, the DCEU is still gasping along with their latest "this is a movie" movie: Justice League!
While the reviews aren't great, the film does have one thing that Thor: Ragnarok doesn't have: Fruit Snacks!
Spoiler Warning: Superman is in the movie...but we all pretty much knew that already so this isn't a case of Kellogg's going "broken arrow" on the candy loving movie audience. In a way, you have to admire the lack of any effort to conceal the Man of Steel's presence in the the film because even when you crack the box open, guess who's front and center:
I also can't help but notice who's not there. It looks like Cyborg has taken over for Martian Manhunter in every way since J'onn usually got shafted on these type of endeavors as well. But at least he gets his own gummy. Let's see the chewy goodness:
Seven for seven, not bad. They went the symbol route with everybody which is probably for the best. I also appreciate that they didn't include a "Batman head" shape along with a "Batman symbol" shape at the expense of another character. Very balanced...just the way a breakfast should be.
So when things look dark, overly bleak and with excessive amounts of CGI, just remember you can always find sweet relief in the grocery aisles.
You thought your lunch was safe...and it essentially is. But adventure calls! Once again a hero rises from the deep fried ashes of Valhalla to insure the herbage and spiciness of your meal will be finger lickin' adequate. So grab a spork and let's dive into the latest extra crispy adventure of Colonel Sanders as he teams up with Green Lantern in "Across the Universe."
Our story begins as Ferris Aircraft monitors the crash landing of...something. As those vultures from the press crowd in to get their pound of chicken flesh, a familiar figure emerges with the payload from the downed spacecraft:
Apparently the Colonel has been testing the process of shooting his new Zinger Sandwich into space...for...some reason. I assume he's trying to break into the intergalactic fast food market. But since Ferris can't get the job done he turns to one of his super powered pals for help.
"Every member of the Green Lantern Corp is working on this." Every single member has ceased protecting their respective sectors in order to help move sandwiches around in space. Seems legit. On the brightest (day) side, that comes with the opportunity to have some sweet GL cameos:
The (entire membership of) Green Lanterns determine that for some reason the space buckets are showing up to their destinations empty. Not so much as an herb or a spice (or that one napkin they give you in the drive thru) make the intergalactic trip. An investigation is in order and that can only mean one thing: time to get deputizin'.
So the Colonel gets his own ring but there's a bit of a missed opportunity in that he doesn't give himself his own custom GL uniform. I guess KFC thought his trademark white suit just couldn't be messed with. But that's the only opportunity they missed since their intergalactic investigation led to a few DC Comics cameos:
After a quick stop at the Source Wall, the cop buddy road trip heads to Rann to say high to Adam Strange. And then a quick stop at Thanagar:
to check in with Hawk Girl. At this point it just seems like Green Lantern is showing off all the cool people he knows to the Colonel. Sanders didn't have enough time to be impressed since they picked up enough clues to lead them right to the prime suspect.
So we then get your standard fight scene as Larfleeze gives his usual spiel about how he's greedy and he wants and wants and wants and that he's totally into these new space sandwiches. But the Colonel has heard enough and, as the true businessman, comes up with the most profitable solution.
Yep, the logical solution to this problem is to give Larfleeze his very own KFC franchise to run. Makes perfect sense, right? Well it doesn't if you don't think about it too much. All that's left is to give a little praise for a job well done:
Great job guys! Just like the last couple of issues with the Flash, it looks like they aren't making print copies of this adventure. Digital only, so grab your copy from Comixology.
