Spider-Man in the DC Universe

I pulled the Spidey in the coffin image from the first run of What If?, a series I remember fondly.  I didn't know quite what to make of it when it first came out, but I knew I loved it.  I had read a a few "imaginary stories" in the pages of Batman and Superman, but here was a whole series based on "what could have been" scenarios!  The possibilities of such a title seemed limitless, and indeed is one of the inspirations for this blog.

Sub-Mariner Vs. Blue Beetle

Ted Kord may be a mechanical genius and superhero, but part of his appeal is that he always remains relatable.  He kept his down to Earth personality throughout his adventures, has a great buddy relationship with Booster Gold and mentor relationship with Jaime Reyes.  He's even one of the few superheroes that has had to deal with weight problems - letting himself go for a while and having to work hard to get back into shape.  Is it any wonder that he is such a popular character with comic fans?

Starfire and Gamora

I have enjoyed the dynamic between sisters Nebula and Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, and their participation in Avengers: Infinity War is one of the main aspects of that film that I am looking forward to.  It will be cool to see their interactions with their father, the Mad Titan, Thanos. Something tells me that their familial relations will be key to eventually defeating him.

The Punisher Joins Star Wars

Star Wars: The Force Awakens wasn't perfect, but for the most part I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Star Wars: Rogue One, I felt was great - so I was very excited to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which promised to finally give audiences Luke Skywalker back in action.  Unfortunately that film and it's many missteps have dampened a lot of my enthusiasm for seeing future installments.  I was really disappointed with what was done with Luke (as apparently was Mark Hamill), and with Admiral Ackbar unceremoniously dispatched and Carrie Fisher gone, there isn't a whole lot for fans of the original trilogy to look forward to.  I was enjoying the new characters, but not how they were portrayed in Last Jedi - Poe is suddenly a reckless jerk who gets scores of his allies killed by his actions, Finn is a coward just trying to escape and getting caught up in the cringe-worthy casino subplot with Rose Tico.  Rey comes out relatively unscathed, but she seems to instinctively do everything so well, it's hard to get concerned about the stakes for her character.  Solo: A Star Wars Story may be a decent palette cleanser, but reports from the set and the lead's ability to portray a young Harrison Ford do not fill me with confidence.  Let's hope Episode IX can end the saga on a proper note.

Hellboy and The Creeper

It's going to be interesting to see how different the upcoming Hellboy reboot film will be from the earlier movies by Guillermo del Toro.  Hellboy himself looks pretty much the same, but the story is supposed to be tonally different from what has come before.  I don't think we will ever see a live action Creeper, though.  He's got a look that works great for comics, but I just don't know how it would ever translate to live action (although I admit I have seen some decent cosplay).

Mister Miracle and Forge

Mister Miracle seems to be having a good year, with a new comic series that has been getting rave reviews and now the word of a New Gods film in development. He has such a signature look created by Jack Kirby, I hope that it is done justice in live action.  As a performer, there's no reason that his colorful costume, cape with high collar and all, should not be represented.  If I start seeing footage of Scott Free and Barda running around wearing black leather instead of their iconic looks, I will be sorely disappointed.

Man-Bat and The Invaders

One scene I really liked in Justice League was Batman's battle with a Parademon at the beginning.  So far Batman has been facing off against his human, non-powered adversaries in the movies, and it was definitely time to see him fighting super powered characters on screen.  Now that the door has been opened I'd love to see Man-Bat show up in the next solo Batman flick.  They could have Kirk Langstrom working with Professor Hugo Strange.  Strange's genetic experiments created his Monster Men in the comics and could be a way to bring about characters like Man-Bat, Killer Croc and even Clayface.

Batman goes Back to the Future

Yes, we are all living in the Future.   Now that the future date from Back to the Future Part II has come and gone, and I reflect on the past 30 years, my attitude about time travel has changed.  I used to think it would be great to go back and fix all the bad decisions in my life... but now I would be afraid to do so.  What if some different choice I make has a butterfly effect that causes one of my nieces or nephews not to be born? I'd never forgive myself.  The only way I would do it is if I could exist in the past for short bits as a phantom, unseen and unheard, so I couldn't muck things up.

The Light Brigade

Ever since I created Dark Matter, a team that specialized in the use of darkness and shadow, I have been meaning to put together a group of heroes with light-based abilities to balance them out.  It's good to know that these characters are getting more exposure lately.  There have been versions of Doctor Light and The Ray on the DC CW shows, Monica Rambeau is strongly rumored to be appearing in the upcoming Captain Marvel, Dagger has an upcoming series on Freeform, and Lightray will be a part of Ava Duvernay's New Gods film.

Moon Knight and Elongated Man

Every once in a while, someone visiting this blog will say something along the lines of, "You should be running a comic company, so we could see these stories for real!"  A very kind sentiment, to be sure - but I have to laugh because they don't know what they are suggesting.  My eclectic tastes would favor offbeat team-ups like this rather than more popular crowd-pleasing fare.  The fact that these two heroes have so little in common is just what makes it a fun concept for me, but I have no illusions about the widespread appeal of such a pairing.  At any rate, I like these two together and plan to revisit their partnership again one of these days.

The Atom and The Avengers

Continued from yesterday's cover, we see that the feud between The Atom and Ant/Giant-Man has become The Avenger's problem as well...

The first full trailer for Avengers: Infinity War has been released, and it looks like the claims that it will be Marvel's biggest movie yet are accurate. It promises to be the longest, as well, which given the expansive cast of characters seems like a necessity. The Russo Brothers impressed me with their Captain America sequels, so I have full confidence that this film is going to be a blast to watch.

Giant Man Vs. The Atom

Ray Palmer and Hank Pym have a history on this blog - they were last seen battling Kang and Chronos in a two parter that began in STF #1843 and concluded in STF #1844... which was inspired by one of the back up stories featured in the epic STF #1000... They also found themselves in a sticky situation in STF #65...  and were at odds while Pym was in his Yellowjacket persona in STF #29...

This is only the first chapter of a two-part tale as well - make sure you come back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!

Dazzler meets Josie and the Pussycats

I still haven't watched Riverdale, but it seems to be a big enough hit that more series set in the Archie Comics universe are popping up.  I've read of a new Sabrina series starring Mad Men's Kiernan Shipka, based on the more recent comics, which could be cool.  If that is a success as well, will it be much longer before Josie and The Pussycats get their own show again?

Justice Society of America and Miss America

I love the fact that The Spectre was a regular member of the Justice Society of America at one point.  He's become so over-powerful that I don't think we will ever see him in a team setting again (Well, except maybe for The Damned).  John Ostrander's Spectre series in the 90's touched upon this era a couple of times, and it was interesting to read the flashbacks featuring the other JSA'ers reactions to working alongside Jim Corrigan.

Black Lightning Vs. The Shocker

It was cool to see The Shocker in Spider-Man: Homecoming.  I'd have like to have seen him with a more comics-accurate costume, but at least there was a nod to the look above.  Now that Spidey has faced off against most of his A-list villains in his movies, it will be interesting to see who will show up next.  I'd love to see The Molten Man or The Beetle make appearances.

Scarlet Witch and Metamorpho

I discovered Metamorpho at a very early age and he quickly became one of my all-time favorite characters.  In my mind he was an A-Lister right alongside Superman, Batman and Spider-Man, and I always wanted him to have a higher profile.  He's found a home again in Jeff Lemire's new Terrifics series, which looks very promising.  It's good to see that comics creators are as fond of The Freak Who Never Fails as I always have been.

The Phantom Stranger Vs. Dormammu

It's been interesting to see the cinematic depictions of some of Marvel's truly larger than life villains.  Hela was realized perfectly (visually at least, there were some changes to her back story), as was The Red Skull ans Surtur.  Dormammu wasa  character that I thought would be very difficult to pull off, but I was impressed with how he was handled in Doctor Strange.  It gives me faith that we will finally see a proper Galactus on the big screen one day.

The Flash Vs. Speed Demon

Watching John Wesley-Shipp as Jay Garrick on CW's The Flash is one of the highlights of the show for me, and I am always glad when he shows up.  I was a huge fan of Shipp's 90's Flash series and was always bothered that it never got a fair shot - first being put up against the then still new Simpsons, and then often being pre-empted and moved all around the TV schedule.  It never really got the chance to catch on with audiences.  It was a stroke of genius for the producers of the current show to bring back Shipp (along with Mark Hamill, Corinne Bohrer and others) to respect and honor what has come before.  After all, readers of The Flash know the comics have always been about honoring legacies.

Captain Marvel and Starman

Jim Starlin in my mind is synonymous with outer space action.  Sure, he's done great work for Marvel and DC in various genres, but what immediately comes to mind for me are his interstellar epics.  It's great that we are seeing so many of his designs and concepts reach new audiences now that they are being interpreted by the movies.

These two heroes first met in a tale that began in  STF #1678, and continued into STF #1679...

The Tick and Krypto

I recently watched the new Tick series that's running on Amazon Prime.  While the performances and production values are fine, for me this version really misses the mark.  For some reason the show is played very straight, with only Peter Serafanowicz' Tick acting  in a larger than life manner (and not even all that much).  Almost all of the hilarious absurdity that made the comics, cartoon and Patrick Warburton TV series so enjoyable is gone in favor of more standard superhero fare.  Perhaps they wanted to set the show apart from other incarnations, but for me it's a misfire.

Hercules and The Herculoids

This was another no-brainer team-up that I somehow didn't think of, so I am thankful to Blog Patron Tim Stellmach for suggesting it to me. It's very cool to see The Herculoids back in comics again.  DC has been having fun with the Hanna-Barbera properties lately.  Seeing artists like Aaron Lopresti interpreting Alex Toth's designs is a real treat.

Blackhawk and Han Solo

As you can see, Blackhawk is still hanging around the Millennium Falcon, which he first encountered in STF #2005... but this time around he has to deal with the true owner.  It will be interesting to see the origins of The Falcon in the upcoming Solo film.  It was cool to see it all polished and new in the trailer, before years of wear and modifications have been made.

Video Interview - STF: The Lost Issues on Mr. Media!

I was pleased to be invited to be interviewed by Mr. Media himself, Bob Andelman, last week.  We even included a mini-tutorial on one of my covers.  you can view it right here:

The Metal Men and Mr. Fantastic

As a kid growing up, I loved the Metal Men.. I'd have to say that Iron was my favorite.  Not only did he look the coolest with the deep shadows that his dark blue coloring gave him, he seemed to be the most well-adjusted member of the team.  The rest all had certain personality traits that could get in their way.  That's not a bad thing though, it helped to differentiate them and made for interesting conflicts.

Martian Manhunter and The Vision

The brief glimpses of Martian Manhunter in his alien form on Supergirl remain my favorite part of the show.  I still think he belongs on the big screen, though.  Any Justice League sequel will want to distance and differentiate itself from the first attempt, so I feel that the additions of Green Lantern and J'onn J'onzz are a must.  Get an amazing actor like Idris Elba or Denzel Washington to portray the Manhunter from Mars and he could steal the show!

Johnny Thunder and Ghost Rider in: "Same Name, Different Century!"

This cover serves as a follow-up to the recently posted STF #2148. When some visitors (including The Irredeemable Shag, (a Patron of this blog) requested to also pair the Western versions of these two heroes, it got my wheels turning.  I decided to make it a proper sequel (or prequel?) by featuring a vengeful Death-Stalker, who is clearly sore about being defeated the first time around.

Wonder Woman and Captain America in: "'Til Treason Do We Part!"

This marks the 18th appearance of the WW/Cap team... 

I was glad to hear that The Cheetah has been officially confirmed as a villain for the Wonder Woman sequel.  The casting of Kristin Wiig has me scratching my head though.  There's no doubt that Wiig is a gifted actress, but she is most known for her comedy chops.  I've seen her in a few serious roles, but nothing that makes me believe that she would be well suited to play Barbara Minerva.  Perhaps she will be portraying the Priscilla Rich version, though. I'll hope for the best, maybe she will surprise audiences the way Michael Keaton did in Batman.

Iron Man and Mr. Terrific

I am very intrigued about the new Terrifics series from DC.  I'm a big fan of Mr. Terrific and Plastic Man, and Metamorpho is one of my all-time favorite heroes, so it will be great to see them in a regular series again.  The addition of Phantom Girl is welcome as well - I thought that she was one of the cooler members of the Legion of Super-Heroes and I am curious as to why she is out of her time.  Jeff Lemire is a talented writer and the artwork by Ivan Reis and Evan Shaner that I have seen so far looks great to me.  I definitely plan to check the book out once the trades come to Comixology.

Concrete and Thor

I'd love to see Concrete in other media.  Though it stars a near indestructible character, his tales revolve more about emotion and human interaction than action sequences, so a Concrete film would definitely stand out among other comic book movies.  It would still demand a visionary director though, to show how concrete perceives the world with his enhanced senses p Paul Chadwick did a great job illustrating that aspect and it would be very cool to see it translated to the big screen.

Legion of Super-Heroes Vs. Kang

After Loki, Ultron and Thanos, Kang seems like the perfect villain to next face off against the cinematic Avengers.  I think the rights to the character had been tied up with The Fantastic Four, but that situation promises to be solved soon.  King's cross-time tampering would be a welcome change of pace from the usual alien invasions

Daredevil Vs. Predator

This could be a pretty interesting match-up.  Predators are great hunters but they rely a lot on stealth, which would not be nearly as effective as it usually is, given Daredevil's enhanced senses.  The question is whether a billy club and acrobatics can match up against the strength and weapons of a Predator.

JohnnyThunder and Ghost Rider

This could be an interesting pairing, just for the personalities involved.  Two guys named Johnny, each given access to beings of incredible power - for one it is a curse and the other a chance to finally be able to stand among his heroes. Both are fighting for justice, but from very different vantage points.