Happy Halloween!

Celebrate Halloween Spidey-style by making these candy apples:

Man of Steel Post Game

I've been holding off on cataloging the Man of Steel food tie-ins out of sheer optimism.  My hope was that my local stores immediately sold out of Super Frosted Krypto Krunch and Rainbow Zodsicles and, as such, marketers would double down on the amount of promotional super hero food they release for each franchise.

But apparently today is the day that I face reality and admit that pickings for the latest Superman movie are slim at best.  Other than a half-assed Twizzlers promotion here are the only things I found:

Two custom shaved ice flavors from Bahama Bucks:

And a selection of branded frozen pizzas at Walmart:

You may notice that these are similar to the Amazing Spider-Man and Avengers Pizzas from awhile back (which also were a bit of a letdown).  Oh well, on to the next blockbuster...

Iron Man Cup 'O Noodles

The title says it all.  Iron Man has officially leapt  past the fruit snack world and into the glorious world of noodles.  Which begs the question, "What could possibly be better than Iron Man Noodles?"  Iron Man Noodles from Japan, of course!

Just add water and microwave and you've got the perfect Super Hero Food meal.  The only downside is that there's nothing inside the cup that is particularly Iron Man related:

Just noodles, cabbage, spices and some type of meat.  I've decided not to find out what type of meat.  I think that's for the best.

Berzerker Burgers

Red Robin is offering a couple of Wolverine style burgers and free tickets to promote the new movie:

 

More information on Red Robin's website

 

Iron Man 3 Fruit Snacks

Since the release of the first Iron Man movie I've been praying to the Super Hero Food Gods to deliver me a fresh box of Iron Man Cereal but three solo movies (and one team-up movie) later and I still do without.  The gods seem to be both fickle and cruel as they taunt me box after box of consolatory fruit snacks.  

So it's with dashed hopes and low blood sugar that I dive into the box of new Iron Man 3 Fruit Snacks:

This isn't Shell-Head's first foray into the fruit snack world (as seen HERE and HERE) but this is his first solo mission.  Let's see how it breaks down:

Looks like we've got the words "Iron Man", Iron Man flying, Iron Man's hand/repulsor, the Iron Man mask, the Avengers logo and the arc reactor.  Looks like, once again, the villain is snubbed.  No Pepper either. 

The Avengers logo (and probably the Iron Man mask) seem to be reused from the Avengers Fruit Snacks.  That's to be expected though.  At least Thor didn't horn in on this like he did with the Captain America Fruit Snacks.

Designer Water

Artist Kerry Gammill is widely known for his comic book work but he has also had a successful career in design and concept art.  Some of my favorite examples of his work though fall within the "Super Hero Food" genre.  Here's a design he did for a squirting Captain America topped water bottle:

And here's a look at how it eventually turned out:

 Here's the work he did on a Spider-Man squirting bottle of water:

And the end product:

Sorry for the bad picture, it's an older one.  Here's a design for a Hulk squirter:

I'm not sure if these ever got made but if they did, I never found them.  Check out more of Gammill's work on his website.

Batman Shills for Argentinian Yogurt

Here's another eBay find.  It's a magazine advertisement that has Batman, Robin and Commissioner Gordon selling Argentinian yogurt:

Can anyone translate for me?

Superman Whoopie Pies

Get the recipe for Superman Whoopie Pies from the Sugar Swings! blog

Snack Time: Pop Pop!

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.

Pop Rocks and similar exploding candy seem to have maintained their popularity and now they've entered the world of superheroes.  Both DC and Marvel seemed to have gotten onto the popping train.  Starting with the Avengers:

And the Justice League:

We also stumbled across another entry in the sour straw 

Marvel Aquaballs

So apparently "flavored water" is a thing.  I'm not sure what the difference is between that and something like Kool-Aid, which is essentially just flavored water.  I guess it's all about presentation because AquaBalls seem to be doing well with their orbs of flavor.

The only thing better than a ball shaped bottle is a ball shaped bottle with superheroes on them.  Which brings us to Marvel's offerings.  As you can expect they have an Avengers version:

And an Amazing Spider-Man version:

World's Finest Taffy

Easter baskets are typically filled with a variety of goodies.  The best types are super hero related but they do seem rare.  Many themed baskets typically go with regular, less exciting, candy.  Those baskets that want to try a little harder though make the extra effort of branded candy.  That brings us to today's topic.

At first glance these may seem like your typically super hero baskets filled with super hero headphones...

...but a closer glance reveals each basket has its own super hero taffy.  Blue and yellow for Batman:

And red and yellow for Superman:

Throw in a few chocolate Captain Carrots and you've got a pretty good Easter haul.

The Hulk Shills for Honey-Comb

Cereal commercials tend to follow certain patterns.  Either kids have the cereal and the mascot tries to take it or the mascot has the cereal and the kids try to take it.  Sometimes these patterns are broken up with certain groups sharing cereal or tricking each other out of cereal.  The main point usually tend to be that the cereal is the greatest commodity in the world and everybody wants it.

One variation on the theme is that cereal has the power to solve various problems.  For instance, it can soothe the savage beast.  So when the Hulk finally decided to publicly endorse a cereal this was the obvious theme they ran with.

It was a beautiful 1970's day at the Honey-Comb Hideout.  But trouble soon started when the Hulk showed up enraged from hunger.  His main snack requirement was regarding size so the Honey-Comb Kids had to explain things to him:

It didn't take long for him to get on board and help himself to a heaping bowl:

So after enjoining his fair share of a complete breakfast he goes back from whence he came without so much as a "thank you."  (Although he didn't kill anybody so I guess that's a plus.)

They are are left to do the dishes and change their crap-filled pants.  You can witness the bizarre encounter for yourself:

It would be a few decades later before the Hulk would get his very own cereal.  The 2003 Hulk movie produced an insane amount of promotional tie-ins, the best of which was Hulk Cereal:

It's safe to say that it was the best part of the movie.

eBay Find: Dutch Batman Drink

I just found this sweet Batman bottle on eBay:

The description says that it is Dutch and from 1976.  I'm not sure "Blits" means.  It could be a brand name or a flavor.  Whatever it means, the label seems to indicate that the drink itself was some kind of lemonade:

Treats

Super heroes and Halloween - they go hand in hand. Add in some candy and you've got October's holy trinity. A few years ago the concept was expressed succinctly at the end-cap of my local grocery store. Imagine the look on this beleaguered documentarian's face when I turned down the candy aisle and saw this:

Looks like we've got not one but three separate kinds of bags of branded Marvel Comics candy to give out this year (there's actually 4 types of bags but one was just "candy sticks" and anyone that knows me knows I HATE candy sticks). How will you choose? I think you know the answer to that (spoiler: get them all).

As usual, our featured players include the Marvel Movie Gang™ (minus Wolverine...super cameo in "First Class" though, big guy!). The first bag, like all good bags, is the lollipop bag.

Next up is "Dig'n Dips" a.k.a. "Fun Dip" a.k.a. the greatest candy in the world! Yes, it's essentially just flavored sugar and yes it goes great on/with everything! After a couple of bags of these you'll be able to take on Thor by yourself.

And we end with the grab bag. The secret identities of these various candies may be "Sugar Daddy", Tootsie Rolls and Smarties but they've come dressed up as your favorite super heroes to bring a little extra awesomeness to the Halloween season.

A friend of mine gives out comic books every Halloween. If you can't do that then I recommend giving out these guys.

Superman Returns

A new year calls for a new fruit snack and these seem to make me slightly giddier than the average super hero fruit snack. Yeah, I know I've said that before but, believe it or not, you don't see a lot of Superman food products these days. The Man of Steel's grocery heyday seems to have peaked in the 1980's. Not even the heavily merchandised "Superman Returns" could muster more than a few candies and a half-assed attempt at cereal.

So it's with great enthusiasm that we celebrate the real return of Superman...in candy form!


You may notice he's wearing his pre-New 52 costume (also known as his real costume). That's not terribly surprising since you would think that Betty Crocker wants people to look at this box and say, "Hey I want some Superman Fruit Snacks!" instead of, "Where are Superman's outer-under pants?"


That old school mentality continues with some of the shapes they picked. Sure, you've got the standard "Superman Standing," "Superman Flying" and "Superman's Face" but take a look at that Lois Lane design:


Is that a Noel Neill-style pillbox hat she's sporting? Well, doesn't that just make the fruit snacks taste that much sweeter? You also get the top of the Daily Planet building for your trouble which I'm all for but I can't help but notice a lack of villains in this selection.

I guess you can't have everything. But, personally, I'm hoping that this meager box of fruit snacks is a harbinger of a new wave of great things to come...and I'm not talking about the new movie, I'm talking about the new edible merchandise!

Commercial Break: X-Men Pasta