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Continued from yesterdays cover, we come to the middle part of our 3-part epic. It looks like Johnny was able to get free from Kang, but not before his teammates were taken. Maybe now that the Heroes for Hire are on the case, we can get this situation settled. Make sure you come back for Part Three tomorrow to see the exciting conclusion!
Presenting part One of a Three-Part Epic! A blurry image of Kang from early promotional materials for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has made the rounds, and it looks promising. It's small and he is only seen in a reflection - but it does seem to look like Kang will indeed have the classic appearance from the comics. I enjoyed Jonathan Majors in the final episode of Loki, and I think he will be even better here.
Make sure you come back tomorrow to see where the story goes in Part Two!
Kang first encountered the JSA in STF #2294...
This would be a fun team up if only to see how Logan gets along with each side of this team. I was happy to use a Steve Dillon Wolverine image here. He really made an impression on me, especially his work on The Punisher. I was lucky enough to pick up an original page by him several years back:
Here's another cover that comes about as a result of a conversation in the comments section of this blog. Thanks for the idea, Emsley Wyatt! I figured this would be a somewhat cluttered cover, and it is - but I managed to get everyone in there. Let's just hope that Doctor Strange is a bit more careful with his spell casting than he is in Spider-Man: No Way Home!
I have a soft spot for Power Pack, but I don't know that they'll ever join the MCU. It's tough to do a series of movies with young kids, as they grow so fast between installments (something I'm sure that DC/Warner Bros. is dealing with for Shazam: Fury of the Gods). Maybe a Disney+ show would be better since they can present a longer story that doesn't take as much time to film.
I really dug Jack Kirby's take on the villains of DC Comics. He had a real knack for inhuman yet expressive faces and DC has no shortage of those. I only wish I had seen more - it would have been cool to see him tackle Solomon Grundy, Sinestro or Two-Face.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I'd like to take this time to thank each and every visitor to this blog. Your enthusiasm and encouragement keeps me going and I love reading your comments, thoughts and suggestions. A special thanks go out to the Patrons, who truly go the extra mile in supporting this ongoing project - we wouldn't be getting close to twelve years if it wasn't for you! I hope everyone reading this is spending the holiday with the people you love and that the coming year is filled of peace, health and happiness.
I saw this combination discussed on a recent comment section and it stuck with me. Victor Von Doom would be a worthy foil for Kirk and crew. And of course there was one particular episode of the original series that seems like it would make for a perfect launching point for such a tale.
I always think that it must me a challenge for writers to depict genius-level characters. As smart as they may be, they have to convincingly give dialogue, ideas and motivations to someone that supposedly has much more knowledge. The best writers will do more than throwing in random large words and mentioning lofty accomplishments. I guess it helps to have surrounded yourself with intelligent people in real life.
With Blade on the way, Agatha Harkness set for a spin-off series and Werewolf by Night rumored to show up in Moon Knight, Marvel seems ready to get the supernatural side of the MCU into swing. Can it be long before Ghost Rider makes an appearance in some form or other? I can see Marvel watching DC planning a cinematic Justice League Dark and wanting to beat them to the punch with a supernatural team of their own. Bring on Gargoyle, Man-Thing, Son of Satan and Jennifer Kale.
This may look like a relatively simple cover, but it was quite tricky to create. In order to get the Super-Skrull to be trapped within Darkseid's beams, I had to remove Orion, who was originally there, then recreate the missing beam parts, then isolate that into a couple of layers and place them on top of one another, before inserting the Skrull and then adding in the background elements. Here are some stages of development:
I'll try to include some more of these "behind the scenes" looks on some future covers as well.
I saw Spider-Man: No Way Home yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was great to see villains from the other Spider-Man franchises return to challenge the MCU's Peter Parker. The first half doesn't have a lot of action and some characters make some pretty stupid decisions, but all of that is forgiven as it sets up an incredible second half. I can only imagine how much more I would have enjoyed the movie if so many plot points had not been revealed in advance by a scoop hungry internet. The best part of the movie for me were the final few minutes, I love where Spider-Man is left and I really look forward to where he goes in the movies from here.
Something tells me that these two would get along famously. They both seem to have similar attitudes. Plant them in the middle of an Imperial entanglement and just watch the sparks fly. There's plenty of opportunity for over the top action and mayhem here.
Regular visitors to this blog will know that Flash is of course referring to events covered in STF #2535... Looks like Jim Gordon is needed back home!
I am happy to feature the gorgeous artwork of Gray Morrow here. I was lucky enough to pick up a page by him several years back - and interested to find out (for this project anyway) that he worked on standard 8 1/2 x 11 size paper:
Every once in a while I will put on one of the Tintin episodes from the animated series released in the early 90's. I missed them when they first came out, but they can be found on some streaming services now. The animation is simple, but works perfectly with Herge's designs, which are adhered to closely. The series adapted the original stories, so the show always brings back pleasant memories of reading them as I was a kid. I highly recommend the show to any Tintin fan.
With all the talk of superhero multiverses lately, the rest of the world is just catching up to the cool crossover possibilities that visitors to this blog have been aware of for a decade plus! Here's another concept that might be cool to explore in the screen - the medieval heroes of Marvel and DC in the world of The Lord of the Rings! Well, I'd be interested in checking it out anyway!
These two Knights first crossed paths way back in STF #138...
I was glad to see Cress Williams suit up one more time as Black Lightning on The Flash a couple of weeks back, but unfortunately, he was not given very much to do in the episode. Let's hope that DC and Warner Bros realize the value of the character and find a way to bring him into the DCEU. I'd have him heading up a proper team of Outsiders (a concept teased in the CW show and Young Justice animated series that never really materialized in either instance), but those studio executives never consult me.
These two heroes previously met in STF #2239...
We've seen Adult Groot in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Baby Groot in the sequel, and Teen Groot in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. What stage will Groot be in for the third Guardians film? It's supposed to take place a few years after Endgame (and Thor: Love and Thunder, in which we may get a Teen Groot appearance). It will be interesting to see the personality tweaks that he will be given.
This is a match up that I would like to see. The Man of Steel up against the combined powers and abilities of The Avengers would be a sight to behold. Superman has battled Amazo before, but he was more familiar with that villain's power set - this battle would be even more challenging for him.
The Goon is another property that seemed ready to make the leap to animation some years back, but I haven't heard much about since. I know a short animation test was created that made the rounds and I remember it looing pretty cool. Perhaps the comic wasn't high enough profile and the project was discontinued, or perhaps the wheels of production are moving glacially slow and there's still a chance we will see it someday - I'm hoping the latter is the case.
This is the kind of oddball pairing that really gets me interested. They are two of my favorite C-List heroes with almost nothing in common besides their pursuit of justice. Add in artwork by the legendary Steve Ditko to tie the whole tale together, and you have a done-in-one comic that would be tough to pass up - well, for me anyway!
The Metal Men first clashed with the U-Foes in STF #3101... and I liked the match up enough that I felt that it warranted a re-match. I am once again reading rumors of a Metal Men movie in the works, but this time it looks like the plan is for an animated film rather than live action, as previously announced. I have a little more confidence that the feature will actually be made if that is the case.
It seems like the ill-conceived live action Powerpuff Girls series is in some trouble. A pilot was filmed, but rejected and sent to be reworked after backlash from those who had seen it. Then Chloe Bennett, who was playing Blossom left the production altogether. Will the CW still continue to pursue this project or take the hints that this just isn't going to work out?
Principal filming has completed on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and I have one major question about the production: Just who is Bill Murray playing in the movie, anyway? I'm trying t think of a Marvel character he might be portraying, but I can't come up with anything that convinces me. My only real guess is that maybe he is playing an older version of Scott Lang that shows up due to some Kang related time travel shenanigans.
The scene in Spider-Man: Far From Home where Spidey is fully immersed in Mysterio's illusions is one of the coolest on screen comic book moments that I have seen. The constantly changing dream-like environment with giant looming Mysterio tormenting Peter Parker immediately brought me back to so many cool sequences from the villains appearances in the comics. I haven't heard that the character is among the returning villains for Spider-Man: No Way Home - but I wouldn't mind being pleasantly surprised.
Domino was a character that was getting popular just as I was getting out of the X-Men titles as they were getting a bit too convoluted for me. I knew that she had good luck abilities similar to Shamrock and Longshot, but not much else. I'm not sure how accurate the depiction in Deadpool 2 was, but I enjoyed Zazie Beetz' performance and her powers were visualized very well - I hope' she'll be back when Deadpool comes to the MCU.
Microforce first appeared in STF #1690... and I thought that this team would be a candidate for another cartoon adaptation. There's been rumors of an Atom film being prepared by Warner Bros. I'd love to see it if only to see how DC will handle a shrinking superhero story differently than Marvel's Ant-Man movies.
Thank you to Mike Shirley, a Patron of this blog, for suggesting this match up! It really does seem like a natural for a man known for getting out of inhospitable places to go up against a hunter that won't stop until he lands his prey. Let's just hope that Dutch gave Snake a few pointers on this particular threat, I think he may need them!
Valkyrie always seemed to me to be the closest equivalent to Wonder Woman in the Marvel Universe (aside from the obvious homage, Power Princess of course), so I thought that she should have a bigger presence. Now that she's a popular character in the MCU (well a Valkyrie at least, I'm not sure if she's officially Brunnhilde or not), perhaps that will change.
Wonder Woman previously met Valkyrie in STF #1357...
I was glad to use a WW image by the truly talented Jai Lee here. I was lucky enough to pick up a Wolverine sketch by him several years back:
Thanks to Tom Brennan, a Patron of this Blog, for suggesting this match up! I had been meaning to use the Sentry again, and Captain Marvel is certainly more than a suitable adversary for him.
I am always glad to use artwork by the amazing Jerry Ordway. I was lucky enough to pick up a couple of pages by him several years back (inks by Mark McKenna and Paul Ryan):
I haven't heard much about the Static movie since it was announced, but I am definitely looking forward to it. Michael B. Jordan will be producing alongside Denys Cowan and Reginald Hudlin, so it has a lot of talent behind it already. Hopefully we will hear about a director and casting soon.
Continued from yesterday's cover, we see that Kamandi's visit has taken quite a dramatic turn. Will we see this line-up of X-Men when they finally make their MCU debut? I'm not sure that Marvel is interested in doing a First Class type movie, but I know I would love to see it. We'll see what the status of mutants is after Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is released, I guess.
You know what I'm thankful for today? All of the awesome visitors who make time to stop by and check out these covers. I am especially thankful to those who leave comments and let me know what they think.
I've had a few requests for a Thing-led poker night cover, and I finally got around to it here. I had fun deciding who Ben Grimm might include. He already had a poker buddy in Lando Calrissian from STF #1943, and back in my MTIO: The Lost Issues days he met Jonah Hex, Wildcat and Hellboy... I'd love to be a fly on the wall for this game.
Presenting the ninth appearance of the Hawkeye/Huntress brother-sister act. If you have been following their adventures here, you'll know that they have been piecing together missing parts of their childhood, and it looks like their hard work is about to pay off. The Hawkeye Disney+ show starts today, I'm looking forward to checking it out.
Happy to use Brett Breeding artwork here. He is responsible for my favorite piece of art that I ever commissioned:
One of the cool things about seeing different artists' interpretations of Batman is how they each choose to depict the Bat-Cave. It's still the coolest superhero HQ in my mind, and I'm sure its fun for each new illustrator to put their own spin on it. I'm looking forward to whatever version we will be getting in next year's The Batman movie.
I remember thinking the premise to X-Factor was a little odd. The original X-Men disguised themselves as mutant hunters in order to secretly help mutants, it didn't make a lot of sense to me. They didn't stick with that set up for too long, fortunately.
Glad to use a Solomon Grundy image here by the very talented Scott Kolins here. I was lucky enough to pick up a couple of original pages by him (Flash #200 inked by Doug Hazlewood and Thing: Freakshow inked by Andy Lanning):
Continuing yesterday's battle, it looks like Carol Ferris has the upper hand. I still hope to see the Squadron Supreme appear in the MCU some day. I loved their arc on the animated Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and it would be even cooler to see them in live action. Thanks again to Blog Patron Ken Roskos for suggesting this match up.
Presenting Part One of a Two Part Epic! Thank you to Ken Roskos, a Patron of this Blog, for suggesting this match-up. It's too bad we never got to see Blake Lively transform into Star Sapphire in a Green Lantern sequel. Oh well, maybe the villainess will appear in the HBO Max GLC series. Come back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!