I've been quite enjoying Superman and Lois on the CW, it's a step above their usual superhero fare. One of the more pleasant surprises has been the inclusion of John Henry Irons. I've been waiting for years for someone besides Shaquille O'Neal to bring the character to life, and this interpretation does not disappoint. While he does operate in a suit of armor, he still isn't fully Steel yet on the show. Hopefully future episodes will show that journey.
Nice cover today! Steel has no chance I’m afraid. Any chance of a Dial H for hero and Power Pack crossover? Interesting to see how all the kids together would handle a crisis. Keep up the fantastic work.
ReplyDeleteRIP, JHI! :-(
ReplyDeleteNice cover Ross. But a great comment. This is not the same Superman we started with on Supergirl's Earth-38. He does seem more interesting. He started with the Fleischer studios suit design which was done very nicely here. But like Lex's mom told Lex- on this Earth, he got an upgrade on his new mother here.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Earth prime Flash became the Flash of Earth-1, he found Central City landmarks were not the same as he knew them. Different Central City.
The Spectre-Oliver did some job on helping to "influence" a new multi-verse.
I have to agree - Steel is in deep trouble here. How about help from Magneto Junior - Cosmic Boy?
ReplyDeleteAnd in the vein of Steel meeting Magneto, how about the Watcher meeting Mirror Master?
ReplyDeleteAlso, what if Lois Lane met Thor first? Batman's first time on Asgard?
This is such a natural pairing that I'm surprised it didn't occur to someone before now. Certainly, John's in deep kumquats, but he's the hero so he'll find a way out.
ReplyDeleteInteresting thing about Superman & Lois, though: It's shaping up to lead into a variation on the "Reign of the Supermen" storyline that followed "The Death of Superman." Besides, John Henry Irons as Steel, Jordan's shaping up to become Superboy, Tal-Rho (Morgan Edge) has just become Eradicator, and the Cyborg Superman was introduced on the first couple of seasons of Supergirl. The only major player missing is Doomsday, and once he shows up the show will become either extra interesting or super annoying.
Speaking of that show being super annoying, I'm rather set off by the writers' determination to ignore the rest of the Arrowverse (discounting David Ramsey's John Diggle guest shot). Even Supergirl doesn't seem to exist here, with nobody having yet mentioned her, or any other Arrowverse hero, even indirectly; and the topic of Kryptonite weapons has not been connected with the DEO, an acknowledgement that would've only supported the ongoing plot.
Even the Diggle appearance was confusing, as his appearances on Batwoman and The Flash suggested that he was getting ready to accept his role as the Green Lantern, but his comments on Superman & Lois indicated the opposite.
The Arrowverse writers used to do a fantastic job of keeping the series intertwined, but since the high point of Crisis on Earth-X, and despite Crisis on Infinite Earths, that seems to have gone downhill completely, with world-shattering events on one show getting ignored on all the others.
Tangentially related: What if Intergang's Thaddeus Killgrave was related to Zebediah Killgrave, aka The Purple Man?
The lack of acknowledgment of Supergirl on S&L bugs me too. When Kara got stuck in the Phantom Zone, nobody thought to ask Clark if he had a second Projector squirreled away or knew how to build one? And Clark and Kara have separate Fortress of Solitudes now? Clark's is in a cave while Kara's is all bright and shiny.
ReplyDelete@Bob & Jay: maybe the inconsistencies are related to the magical meddling of Gator Loki. ;-)
ReplyDeletehey Ross, did you see yesterday's actual comic by Dark Horse "Sergio Aragones Groo meets Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan with Mark Evanier & Thomas Yeats" #1 of 4....
ReplyDeleteit looks as if it was a match-up made by yourself....
and on page 3 of the story (the second page of a two page Comic Con spread) if you look near the spine you can clearly see Captain America and Wonder Woman Holding Hands....
an obvious shout out to your fave power couple from this very blog....
just thought you should should know how known you and your work are known.....
...also Ross, about today's cover it made me think of that old Walter Egan song "Magnet and Steel"....
ReplyDeletei always loved the use of toy piano in that song....
thank you sir for my earworm of the day....
the cover is your usual.... excellence!!!
That Groo/Tarzan news (particularly the WW/Cap egg) is awesome. I definitely want to check out that miniseries when it's in TPB.
ReplyDeleteJack-El, sound like a cool team up. WW/Cap is such a natural pairing that don't think Evanier/Aragones needed my covers for inspiration though!
ReplyDeleteFor shame. Daughter Nate came up with plastics that can temporarily do a job like steel. Metal Men ain't the only ones for surprise pairings.
ReplyDeleteTop ten Marvel Comics that should become MCU movies:
ReplyDelete1.) Defenders- classic line up with Hulk, Dr Strange, Namor, Valkerie, and Silver Surfer
2.) Nova - with Sam Alexander
3.) Alpha Flight - with Wolverine vs Hulk fight
4.) Ka-Zar - basically Tarzan vs dinosaurs
5.) Power Man and Iron Fist - set in the 1970s Tarantino style
6.) Deathlok
7.) Howling Commandos - Blade leading a team of monster characters like Werewolf By Night, Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, etc.
8.) Dazzler - pop star mutant. Could lean heavily towards being a musical.
9.) Foolkiller - based on 90s limited series
10.) Power Pack - Pixar style animated movie
I don't think marvel would set a movie in the 70s since it would make the characters too old today, but I guess it could have that style. I also doubt they would make Foolkiller into a movie because it doesn't fit their brand.
DeleteDr Doom needs his own movie or Disney plus series to cover his backstory before showing up in a Fantastic Four or Secret Wars movie. I think he could carry his own movie but there's enough there for a series. The Fantastic Four could instead start off with Blastarr, Puppet Master, Mole Man, or Molecule Man.
DeleteI bet mcu phase 5 ends with Secret Wars. After dealing with the multiverse it makes sense to have a huge movie with multiverse versions of characters allowing them to bring back any actors from previous Marvel projects (Hugh Jackman, Robert Downey Jr, Lou Ferrigno, Chris Evans, Tobey Mcguire, etc).
Delete@Anon@3:24: Foolkiller (Gragory Salinger, the second man to use the name) actually made his MCU debut on Jessica Jones, and while that series' relationship with the current MCU is uncertain it looks like it's going to be recognized (along with the other five Netflix Marvel series). I imagine they could bring in Mr. T to play Ross Everbest (the first Foolkiller), but if there's going to be a Foolkiller in the MCU going forward it'll probably be Kurt Gerhardt (the third and current one). At any rate, I don't think he'd be headlining his own movie, though he could be a supporting character, or the lead in a Disney+ limited series.
ReplyDeleteAs for Power Man/Iron Fist, I'd definitely favor bringing back both characters from their Netflix series into a single Disney+ limited series, to finally finish off their character arcs the way they did for Daredevil, Punisher, and Jessica Jones.
@Cavemouse: Agreed, re: Doctor Doom. I'd put him in a Disney+ limited series, myself.
As for the Fantastic Four, my fanfic script starts them off against Mole-Man, with a few twists (at least one of them multiversal), so you can probably guess where I stand on that.
@Anon@10:45: We don't even quite have all of Phase 4 announced yet, with the Blade and Fantastic Four movies still with unspecified release dates, Deadpool 3 in an unspecified status, and probably at least one or two other projects yet to be announced, so your wish could come true even sooner than you think.
And by the way, Lou Ferrigno was at Washington State Summer Con last month, which I attended, and at his open panel someone asked him if he'd be willing to come back as the Hulk. He said he'd be excited to do that, if he was asked. Hugh Jackman, RDJ, and Chris Evans have all stated that they're done with their respective characters, so they'll be harder sells (other than the latter two appearing on What If...?).
I think any of the actors would return for the right amount of money or something interesting. They wouldn't necessarily be returning to the same character since they might be playing a slightly different version from the multiverse. But I like that they dismiss the notion of returning, that way it could be a pleasant surprise if they do suddenly pop up in a new movie.
ReplyDeleteHow about Gator Loki vs. that great white whale from the 5th Dimension?
ReplyDeleteMopee Dick!
What a switcheroo this would've made during Acts of Vengeance. Gladiator vs. Steel and GL John Stewart vs. Magneto!
ReplyDelete