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We have finally seen some quick footage of Doctor Fate in the upcoming Back Adam, and he looks very cool. My only point of curiosity is that the helmet did not seem to have any eyeholes in it in certain shots, I wonder what's up with that. Pierce Brosnan looks great as Kent Nelson as well. I'm hoping my theory of this being a one-off appearance for Brosnan, with him passing on the Fate mantle by the movie's end is not true, I'd love to see him continue the role beyond one film.
Tintin must have acquired that beacon when he first met The Silver Surfer in STF #2087. Let's hope our friend Norrin has a good reason for leaving him stranded. I'm guessing that the Surfer will not be introduced into the MCU until Galactus is, and that seems like something that will unfold slowly over several years, so it's probably too soon for any casting rumors floating about. If they want to go with a big name, I still think that Keanu Reeves could be cool in the role.
The Disney + She-Hulk series hopefully will include Jennifer Walters taking on superhero-related court cases. That will provide an opportunity to feature characters that might never get a movie or series of their own. Dazzler would be a great candidate for this, I'm sure there's something in her performing career that might require legal expertise.
For years I have been trying to find clean copies of the Fantastic Four cartoons that originally appeared on Hanna-Barbera's World of Super Adventure. I've only ever seen wobbly VHS copies of them. I was hoping they would show up on Disney+, but they aren't among the various FF cartoons offered there. Recently my hopes were raised when I saw that HBO Max had the original Jonny Quest and some other HB cartoons on there. Still no FF though. These cartoons were taken directly from Stan Lee's first stories and stuck close to Jack Kirby's designs, I'd love to see crisp versions of them someday. I wonder who is holding on to the rights?
One of the reasons that I am looking forward to the Disney+ She-Hulk series is that we'll finally get some understanding as to what's happening with Bruce Banner. In Avengers: Endgame, he was in Professor Hulk mode and seemed to have merged his physical and intellectual sides. The next time we saw him was in the post credit scene for Shang-Chi, where he was in his Banner form again. All I ask is that he's back as a rampaging Hulk by the time Ben Grimm is introduced to the MCU - a Thing/Hulk battle must happen!
Having a cat join the ranks of the rage-based Red Lantern Corps was an inspired idea. They definitely do seem to have motivations all their own. I'm not sure which color Corps my cat Ace would join. Is there one that taps into the power of nap times?
Since the timing for a new Team Cover coincides with an Anniversary Issue, I thought that it was only fitting that I had two STF teams facing off against one another. Combining the 4th appearance of The Light Brigade with the 3rd appearance of Dark Matter seemed like natural choices given their opposite natures and the Cloak & Dagger connection. For the back-up tale, I finally teamed Batman with comics' first character, something I have been meaning to do for years.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has been plagued by delays in its filming schedule for various reasons, but I hope that it is finally getting back on track. It will be interesting to see how the plot plays out, especially how Namor fits into things. I thought he was to be the main antagonist but recently I've heard that he will have a smaller introductory role, similar to that of T'Challa in Captain America: Civil War. I've yet to see a bad Ryan Coogler movie, so I trust the director to deliver an entertaining final product.
Coming Tomorrow: STF #3600!
This pairing comes from a idea by comics' historian and Patron of this blog, Marc Tyler Nobleman. Like many kids, I thought "Hey, that isn't Black Lightning!" when Black Vulcan appeared on The Super Friends. It only makes sense that he should be given a unique back story of his own to further differentiate himself from DC's premiere electrical hero. With Vulcan right in his name, the story suggests itself! Thanks, Marc!
I'm a huge fan of the Apollo program and love learning new details about the 11 missions. Also being a lifelong fan of comics, it always pleased me that Snoopy had an association with the space program, even becoming NASA's mascot. It's cool to see two of your passions join forces.
Upon completing this entry, I made one new rule for myself going forward: No more barbed wire and chain link fences! Man, this was a tough one to do. Separating the fencing from the background was very painstaking and took much longer than I had expected. Then I realized it wasn't working to just stick the Squad members behind that layer, and I wound up having to digitally separate them and add back in to make sure nobody was too obscured by any foreground elements or each other. This turned out to be a pretty challenging cover, but I am happy with the final results.
This cover not only marks the 10th appearance of the Hawkeye/Huntress team, but also the 12th appearance of the Moon Knight/Elongated Man team. I figured it was time for these two pairings to team up their partnerships. As I mentioned in an earlier comments section, STF #3600 will feature the first time that two team groups created for this blog will be clashing with each other. After so many covers, Earth-STF continuity is beginning to fold in upon itself!
Considering all the times the government manages to lose track of a rampaging green monster, this could be a regular gig for The Question. But where has the Hulk found himself this time - Sakaar, The Microverse, the future? Vic Sage has got his work cut out for him here.
The first image of Aldis Hodge as Hawkman has been released and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I love the huge size of the wings and I can't deny that the suit is comics-accurate - But of all of Hawkman's various looks over the years, they decided to go with that one? I remember when the garish red and gold outfits with the metallic wings were introduced for Hawkman and Hawkwoman - and I also remember them being ridiculed and rejected by the fans, which is why they didn't stick around for very long. It's a head scratcher that they were used for inspiration. At least give him feather wings and green pants!
Hawkman and Hawkgirl here are by Bryan Hitch and Ed Benes, respectively. I was lucky enough to pick up original pages by both of the talented artists several years back:
Harley Quinn has had a lot of portrayals since her debut on Batman: The Animated Series, in live action, animation and video games - with mostly positive results. One element that I usually feel is not quite there, though, is her voice. Arleen Sorkin gave her such a distinctive accent, pitch and cadence that it set her apart from any other character and I'm sure contributed to her immediate popularity. Most new interpretations feel a bit watered down to me. One notable exception is from voice actress Tara Strong, she sticks closely to the Sorkin template.
I'm not sure what the set up might be to a story like this, but I know that I would certainly be interested in discovering the resolution. Sometimes it's more about the visuals, and a tale the features a Hell-spawned hero on a flaming bike waging war on a society of super intelligent apes would definitely provide lots of cool opportunities.
DC keeps teasing movie plans for Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, separately and together, but nothing yet seems to stick. The latest rumor is that Donald Faison's mysterious role when he joins DC's Legends of Tomorrow with be that of Booster. I suppose that's something, but I have long since given up on that show having much if any fidelity to the actual DC comics line. Let's hope we are pleasantly surprised, either with the TV role or concrete movie plans.
I remember reading New Teen Titans in the 80's an being frustrated that Wally West was having issues with his Kid Flash powers, eventually getting sick and considering retirement. I was convinced DC was preparing to kill him off. Little did I know it was actually Barry Allen on the chopping block. His death was a gut punch, but at least Wally was safe, and indeed ready to level up. Years later, Barry was finally brought back, which is great - but now DC doesn't know what to do with Wally. They've gotten rid of his family, killed him, turned him into a murderer, and replaced him with an alternate (and of course non-ginger) version of Wally West. If all they are going to do is character assassinate him, I'd prefer if he was just left alone. Hopefully one day he can be successfully revived and rehabilitated just as Barry was.
I'm always happy to use an image by my favorite DC Cover Artist, Nick Cardy. Here's a sketch of his I picked up many years back:
Back in another life, I used to do a lot of acting. About the only person I knew that made it big had been Connie Britton, who I went to acting school with back in the early 90's. One of the last shows I did was an off-Broadway production of a play called Open House. We ran for over a month, and I had a good time acting with and hanging out afterwards with my character's romantic interest, played by my friend Stephanie. The show ended and I only saw Steph once more when she came to see me in a night of one acts a little later. I stopped performing and she moved out of the city so we lost track. Fast forward about 16 years later and I'm watching Doom Patrol. There was something familiar about Hammerhead, the manifestation of one of Crazy Jane's personalities - and the credits confirmed it. She shaves her head for the role, but that is indeed my old pal Stephanie. We later caught up on Facebook, it's nice to see her with a cool comic book related recurring role. Looks like she got a part on the new MacGuyver series as well.
I haven't heard any confirmation other than the fact that Kevin Feige stated he enjoyed Krysten Ritter in the role of Jessica Jones, but I hope that the rumors are true that she could be among those returning from the Marvel Netflix shows to join the MCU. She could definitely show up in Echo or a new Disney+ Daredevil series (although those two may be one and the same show with a last minute change of title, according to other rumors). Now that Tony Stark is gone, the MCU definitely needs someone with a dry wit like Jessica to poke holes in the A-List heroes.
I've always loved The Creeper. A tabloid TV host with a healing factor that dresses in one of comics' most outlandish outfits for crimefighting while feigning insanity to throw off his opponents just shouldn't work - but for me, it does! It's too bad that he's probably impossible to bring to live action due to being such an oddity. Still, watching James Gunn take on some of DC's obscure characters makes me think there might be a chance. I wonder if he'd be interested in tackling Jack Ryder's alter ego?
I'm kind of surprised I hadn't featured this pairing before, but better late than never! It also gives me the opportunity to feature the artwork of the very talented Mike Grell. I enjoyed his work on Green Arrow back in the day, and I was glad to be able to pick up a sketch by him:
I'm excited to see what new animation styles will be employed by Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Part One. The rumor is that Miles Morales will be visiting a bunch of different realities, each with it's own visual appearance. After the amazing work done in the first film, I can only imagine what the animators have in store now that they have the wind of an Oscar win at their back.
Wildcat met the Peter Parker Spider-Man back in STF #2100...
I am always happy to use the unique and moody art of Matt Wagner on this blog. I remember first seeing his artwork on a Demon mini-series in the 80's, and I have been a fan ever since. Even back when original art prices were more reasonable, I was never able to afford a cover or splash page by him, but I was able to pick up this preliminary sketch that he did for one of my favorite Green Arrow covers:
Rose is of course referring to when these two heroes first crossed paths way back in STF #268...
The trailer for the Disney+ Moon Knight series looked pretty cool. I was surprised at the accent that Oscar Isaac was using in the role, but I guess that's a good way to distinguish between his different personalities. The quick bits of action were pretty impressive, they did a great job of translating his outfit to live action. I can't wait to see Werewolf by Night and what other supernatural elements or characters that may be introduced in the series.
So far on Superman and Lois, we have seen the introductions of John Henry Irons and The Eradicator. Jordan is quickly gaining powers to become somewhat of a Superboy as well. Can it be long before we see some version of a Cyborg Superman on the show? They do seem to be embracing the Death and Return of Superman era of the comics. It even looked like we were going to get Doomsday, before they pulled a switch and revealed it was Bizarro inside the suit.