Thor and Thundarr the Barbarian

 

I remember Thundarr the Barbarian being a pretty cool concept, but that the episodes all had a certain sameness to them.  I am sure a lot of that had to do with how much footage and musical cues were re-used in each episode, a common practice for animated shows of the time.  I wouldn't mind seeing an updated version someday, though.

Ka-Zar and Hawkman

 

Kevin Feige seems to really like beating DC to the punch.  He went forward with Captain America: Civil War once Batman V Superman was announced, ramped up The Eternals when New Gods was considered and now he is going to get the multiverse going before DC's Flash movie does the same.  With that in mind, I really hope that Warner Brothers announces a Warlord movie.  It might never get made, like much that they announce, but at least it might convince Feige to greenlight a Ka-Zar film!

Supergirl and The Hulk

 

It's been announced that Tim Roth will reprise his role as The Abomination at some point in the upcoming She-Hulk series, which will be cool to see.  Still, I would love to see Tim Blake Nelson show up as Samuel Sterns - I mean his head was already pulsing after his accident in The Incredible Hulk, and that was 13 years ago!  He has to have transformed into The Leader by now!  It's not like Marvel Studios to leave such a big plot thread dangling for so long.

Black Lightning and the Fantastic Four

 

Black Lightning is midway through its final season, and I believe we are at the "darkest before the dawn" part of the Pierce family story.  The recent episodes have been filled with marital discord, addiction to drugs and powers, involuntary body swapping (due to one cast member leaving early), and all around mistrust between the main core of characters.   Hopefully the writers have ways to solve most of these issues and the series will end on an uplifting note. 

Captain America Vs. Darth Vader

 

The passing of Captain America's shield and title so Sam Wilson in Falcon and the Winter Soldier was handled well.  I remember thinking that the shield and wings together might be kind of awkward to operate when Falcon took on the Cap role in the comics, but the final episode here made me a believer.  I loved all the shield/wings combo moves that were used, very cool to watch.   I look forward to his future appearances, as well as whatever is next for Bucky and U.S. Agent.

Deadman and the Son of Satan

 

Hopefully we will hear some casting choices for the HBO Max Justice League Dark series soon. I am most interested in who will play Deadman.  It should be someone with both dramatic and comedic chops that does not mind a role that requires heavy makeup.  Someone with a distinct voice pattern would help too - for when his possessed subjects speak and the audience can tell it's Boston Brand pulling the strings.

Elongated Man and Moon Knight in: "The Lost Tablets of Khonshu!"

 

The MK/EM team in back in action once again!  This is the ninth meeting of STF's greatest crimefighting team:

These two previously had a Mardi Gras adventure in STF #3235, MK's desperate treatment for Ralph was conducted in STF #3169... Concern about Eclipso's lasting effect on Ralph arose in STF #3098, Ralph fell under Eclipso's influence in STF #2908, They faced an angry underworld in STF #2831,  Psycho Pirate turned them against each other in STF #2732, Ralph came to the rescue in STF #2518, and they first started working together in STF #2169...

Wonder Woman Vs. Predator

 

I still get a kick out of watching old Wonder Woman episodes on MeTV from time to time.  I would have loved to have seen her face off with more villains from the comics though. Marbe it would have been tough to feature Cheetah on a 70's TV budget, but I bet that they could have pulled off Giganta or Doctor Psycho.  

Nightwing & Flamebird and Nomad

 

Nightwing & Flamebird was such a fun concept in the Silver Age.  The fact that Superman would still fight crime in a place that nullified his powers just showed how heroic he truly was, not to mention that ist showed that he picked up a lot of pointers from his adventures with Batman and Robin.  Then he let Jimmy Olsen join in on the action, solidifying his title of Superman's Pal.  The costumes were pretty cool, too!

The Defenders and The Crusaders

 

I remember the Impact Comics imprint that DC had for a short time.  I thought that the heroes included fit right into the DCU and had hoped they would be folded in to the continuity the way the Charlton characters were.  Alas, it was not to be, and they went on to be reintroduced and rebooted a few more times for other companies.  

Superman and The Phantom meet King Kong

 

God zilla Vs. Kong was pretty much what I expected it would be.  The plot didn't make a lot of sense  and the humans were constantly making silly decisions - but the special effects and monster battles were awesome to behold!  I've watched it twice and thoroughly enjoyed it both times.  I am glad to hear that a follow up is in the works, this time focusing on Son of Kong.  That has some fun possibilities!

Green Lantern and Power Man

 

HBO Max has finally made a casting announcement for the upcoming Green Lantern Corps series.  Finn Witrock will be playing Guy Gardner.  I am unfamiliar with his work, but I hope he has the swagger to play Guy.  I wish he had red hair or at least lighter hair that could be colored red, but I'm not surprised that he doesn't.  The de-gingering of the live action DCU has been going on for a while now. We demand representation!

I always liked John Byrne's rendition of Green Lantern, and wish that he had worked on hat property more often.  Here's a Byrne Spider-Man: Chapter One page I picked up a while back:

Tank Girl and Harley Quinn

 

Now that I put these two together, I wonder why I hadn't considered the pairing before.  They really do seem to be cut from the same cloth.  I was not a fan of Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey, but I am looking forward to Margot Robbie's third outing in the role in The Suicide Squad.  What little has been shown looks to be a little closer to the comics version than we have seen thus far.

Doctor Strange and Zatara

 

Production on Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness has finally begun, and I can't wait to see what the movie has in store for us.  Will The Scarlet Witch be a full on villain or find some redemption?  What other worlds and characters from the multiverse will be included?  How will Baron Mordo and Clea fit in? Most of all, I can't wait to see director Sam Raimi back in the world of super heroes.

Batman and The Vision in: "Defeat and Repeat!"

 

Man, if not for this pandemic, we would have already seen The Batman in theaters.  Now we still have a full year to wait for it!  Let's hope they're using the extra time to perfect the product!  

Batman and The Vison have crossed paths before on the blog.  Once with the Scarlet Witch, and once in a very early B&B Cover...

I was able to pick up a Bob Kane Batman sketch many years ago:

Atari Force and ROM

 Here's a tale of two licensed properties.  Both had talented writers and artists working on their comic series, but one had a distinct difference.  Atari Force was alone with its own story and continuity, while ROM was placed squarely in the middle of the Marvel Universe, with familiar heroes and villains crossing paths with the titular hero.  Perhaps if DC had made Atari Force a pert of the DCU, their comic would have had a wider appeal than it did.

I bought it mainly for the gorgeous JL Garcia Lopez art.  Here's an original sketch of Starfire by him from my collection:

Teen Titans and Ben 10 (And More!)

 

Watching Saturday morning cartoons was a treasured time for me as a kid.  In addition to all of the colorful characters I saw, it was also a rare moment of solitude for me during the week.  I was the second youngest of seven children, so I was always in the midst of a crowd at home. On some Saturdays, I would be able to get up before everyone else and have an hour or two just to myself.  Alone time was a precious commodity to me in those days!

Plastic Man Vs. The Trapster

 

OK, this was a suggestion from either a blog Patron or a visitor in the comments, but I forget who!  So if it was you, speak up and thanks for the inspiration!  

UPDATE! Thank you to David Clerici for the idea for this this clever match up!

Speaking of inspirations, one of the greatest in the comics world is legendary artist Ramona Fradon.  at 94 years old, she is still creating amazing artwork today.  I was very fortunate to get an original piece from her many years back:

Coming tomorrow: STF #3300!

Iron Man and Doc Savage

 For a while as a kid I thought that Doc Savage was  simply another Marvel superhero.  The first time I became aware of him was from his appearances in Marvel Two-In-One and  Giant-Size Spider-Man, after all.  I later realized he had a long history of pulp novels before Marvel temporarily acquired the rights to use him.  It would have been cool to see him stick around a bit longer and mett some other heroes from the MCU.

Spider-Woman and Robin

 

Now that the Disney+ Secret Invasion series is picking up steam with the recent castings of Emilia Clarke and Olivia Coleman, there has been speculation as to whether Spider-Woman will be joining the MCU.  A big reveal in the comics series was when Jessica Drew was revealed to be a Skrull in disguise.  I'm betting that Kevin Feige will not want to use the same hero as the comics did for that moment though.  Also, I'm not sure if Spider-Woman is considered a Sony character that would have to be shared with Disney the way Spider-Man is.

Always happy to feature the amazing art of JL Garcia Lopez on this blog.  This Robin is from JLGL's DC Comics Presents run.  I was very lucky to get a page from the issue of that series he did featuring Deadman, it's a favorite of mine: