Sunday, July 31, 2022

Doctor Who and The Silver Surfer in: "Empire, Interrupted!"

 

With so much talk about The Fantastic Four coming to the MCU, I'm surprised that we have not heard a peep about when the Silver Surfer is set to appear.  He is one of the only big silver age characters that they still have to bring into the fold.   I know Marvel and Keanu Reeves have been trying to find a way to work together, and I think he's be a pretty good fit for Norrin Radd.

These two space travelling heroes previously joined forces in STF #3188...

Saturday, July 30, 2022

The Rocket Pack

 

It wasn't released publicly, but the descriptions of a teaser trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 that was shown at Comicon have been making the rounds.  It sounds like Rocket Raccoon's origins will be a central focus of the film.  As this will be James Gunn's final outing as director and the last appearance of this team of Guardians, there's no telling where the story will go, or who will still be around once it's done. I do hope that Rocket survives to be featured in future Marvel projects.

Friday, July 29, 2022

Sub-Mariner and Arion: Lord of Atlantis

 

The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever teaser trailer was released at Comicon, and it looks great - I have every confidence that director Ryan Coogler will deliver another impressive movie.  My only complaint is how Namor looks.  I get the switch from an Atlantean aesthetic to an ancient Mayan one, to differentiate the character from Aquaman - but where is the signature haircut?  What's up with the full beard and mustache and the big distracting peg through his nose?  Other than pointy ears, they made no attempt to have Tenoch Huerta look anything like the classic comic character. First we get a bald Black Adam and now this - even Iron Man has never had his classic widows' peak helmet design! Hollywood really must not like that look.

This cover comes about from a suggestion by Brian C., a Patron of this blog.  Thanks Brian!

Thursday, July 28, 2022

Nightwing & Flamebird and Power Man & Iron Fist

 

I thought that it was time to have a meeting between the coolest crimefighting pairs of the Silver and Bronze ages.  Sure the stories may now appear too quaint or the costumes too bright and bold to pull off in a modern setting, but I always got a kick out of reading about all of these guys. 

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

The Spectre and Wolverine in: "First Act of Vengeance!"


 This marks the third the third chapter in this saga.  Wolverine was judged by The Spectre in STF #1774, and then chosen as his replacement in STF #3332. But now that he has the power, where does he go from here?  If I were Magneto or Sabretooth, I'd be keeping a low profile.

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

The Unknown Soldier Vs. The Red Skull

 

Ross Marquand did such a good job taking over from Hugo Weaving as The Red Skull, that I wouldn't mind seeing the villain return to the MCU.  Who knows how that can happen, but with Kang causing timeline havoc for the next few years, anything is possible.   It might be cool seeing Sam Wilson clash with The Red Skull in the recently announced Captain America: New World Order.

Monday, July 25, 2022

Batman and Spider-Man enter The Wacky Races

 

The last time the Spider-Buggy appeared, Blog Patron Bob Greenwade suggested Spidey and Batman Join the Wacky Races.  I laughed to myself because I had at that point already created this cover, and it was just waiting it's turn to be posted.  Great minds think alike, Bob!

Batman and Spider-Man have a bit of history on STF: The Lost Issues...

The Spider-Buggy went up against the Bat-Bus in STF #3624...
Batman got his first look at the Spider-Buggy in STF #1628...
The Batman/Spidey movie premiered in STF #1014
Spidey and JJJ joined forces against Batman in STF #937...
They were joined by some Amazing Friends in back in October 2011...
The shared a Golden Age adventure in September 2011...
Spidey wore his black outfit for their  July 2010 meeting...
And here is where they first crossed paths.


And don't forget that The Spider-Buggy has seen action with Superman, as well...

Sunday, July 24, 2022

Dick Tracy and Bullseye

 

 I enjoyed the Dick Tracy movie back in the day.  It's been decades since I've watched it, I wonder if it holds up.  One thing I remember that bothered me was they used so many different Tracy villains in one single film, killing most of them off - it seemed like a waste of potential there.  I still think a Dick Tracy streaming series would be a great idea, that way each villain could get an arc or at least an episode to themselves.

Saturday, July 23, 2022

Hawkman & The Atom and Jack of Hearts

 

This is another of those covers where the final product looks relatively simple to achieve.  Take a splash page featuring JOH, and then drop in the other two heroes on top of it, right?  This wasn't quite that easy, as I had to do a lot of prep work with the initial image before anything could be added to it.  I thought this would be a good candidate for a little behind the scenes view of a cover in progress.  I hope you enjoy these mid-creation peeks, I'm considering making this a semi regular feature of the blog going forward for whenever there's a cover that has a deceptively tricky element in its creation.



Friday, July 22, 2022

Boba Fett Vs. Aliens

 

I'd love to know what happened behind the scenes on The Book of Boba Fett.  While I really enjoyed the episodes they appeared in, having The Mandalorian and Grogu show up halfway through the series and reduce Fett practically to a minor supporting character was a very odd choice.  I can't believe that was the original plan.  Will we see Boba Fett back on Disney+?  I'm betting yes, but only as a guest star. 

Thursday, July 21, 2022

Nova and Captain Kirk

 

I've been looking for more Star Trek content to watch, but the new shows on Paramount+ have not really grabbed me.  I did find a great substitute though - The Orville: New Horizons on Hulu.  I enjoyed The Orville when it appeared on Fox a few years back, but this new iteration of the series is even better.  The cast is largely the same, but there are three big differences: Longer episodes, a clearly bigger budget and the humor is dialed way down, making it more of a straight sci fi show.  I highly recommend it.

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Spider-Man and Blue Devil

 

There's been a lot of talk about Secret Wars being the next huge crossover event that the MCU is building towards.  The Russo Brothers have even indicated interest in directing such an epic.  But which Secret Wars story will be adapted?  The original series that I remember from my youth had The Beyonder summoning a bunch of heroes and villains to Battleworld where they duked it out.  Then there's the newer Secret Wars series that was hitting just when I stopped regularly buying comics, so I don't know too much about it - just that it seemed to involve the multiverse, with lots of different versions of Marvel heroes running around.  That seems in line with what the MCU has been doing lateley, but then again the Russo Brothers seem to lean into the more classic tales from 30 years ago or more, so who knows what's  in store?  Perhaps it will be something with elements of both events.  I'm sure we'll have several more years to speculate.

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Darth Vader Vs. The Hulk

 

Obi-Wan Kenobi fell into the same pattern that a lot of Disney+ shows seem to - strong first episode, three episodes of filler, an improvement in the fifth episode and then a great finale.  Hopefully future series will work on these common pacing issues.  Still, there was a lot to enjoy.  For me, that was anytime Darth Vader was onscreen.  He had some excellent standout moments, his voice was spot on, and the final Vader/Kenobi confrontation was everything I was hoping for.

Monday, July 18, 2022

Vixen Marries Hercules

 

I've put this couple through enough - for the lucky seventh appearance of the Herc/Vixen romance, I've decided to give them a happy ending and finally have them tie the knot. Wonder Woman marrying Captain America has proved to be one of my most popular covers, so I felt this blog could use another wedding, even if the path there may not have been a completely smooth one for Herc and Mari.  Will it be smooth sailing for the happy couple from here on out?  Only future covers will tell that tale.

Sunday, July 17, 2022

Harley Quinn and Ghost Rider

 

The Joker: Folie a Deux has been announced as an upcoming sequel to the Joaquin Phoenix film starring the Clown Prince of Crime.  The title refers to two people suffering from mental conditions, and rumors of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn have made the rounds.  That part has been denied - but not necessarily that Harley won't be in the movie, just that Gaga would not be in the role.  I have my reservations about whether such a perfect first film even needs a sequel, but that one was much better than I had expected it to be, so I will withhold judgment until I learn more or see some footage.

Saturday, July 16, 2022

Snowbird and Firehawk

 

We saw Shaman on the blog yesterday, now we see what his teammate Snowbird is up to.  All of the Members of Alpha Flight are interesting characters, and I'd love to see them utilized more.  Even in animation, they have only made a couple of appearances.  Who knows how far down the list they are on Marvel properties to bring to the MCU, but I hope the wait isn't too long.

Friday, July 15, 2022

Shaman and Dawnstar

 

For those of you who were wondering why Dawnstar was not a member of Wing Command, well, she's from a different century - but that doesn't mean that she can't visit!  

I used an image of her by the incredibly talented Gary Frank.  I was lucky enough to pick up an original page of his many years back:



Thursday, July 14, 2022

The Avengers and The Crime Syndicate

 


The Avengers first crossed The Crime Syndicate's path in STF #738,  and I thought for this reunion it might be interesting to watch the two teams have to work together.  Just how long will their fragile truce last and what crisis would require such a partnership?  The answer is only 60 cents away!

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Power Girl and She-Hulk (Vs. The Psycho Pirate)

 

I'm looking forward to She-Hulk: Attorney at Law on Disney+.  There were some complaints about dodgy CGI in the trailer, but I've seen updated footage that allays those fears, I think it will look fine.  Still, I do wonder why they couldn't just paint Tatiana Maslany green and give her a wig and some small props at least for the close up shots.  It seems that would be cheaper and simpler, but perhaps it would be too hard to match it up to the CGI shots they do use if they went that way.


Power Girl and She-Hulk first met in STF #1482...

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Commissioner Gordon and J. Jonah Jameson

 

I thought that it was time that two of comics' most enduring supporting characters shared a cover.  I like in comics when we are reminded that it's not always up to the heroes to come to the rescue - sometimes the non-powered, un-costumed folks have to jump into the fray as well.  As Aunt May said in Spider-Man 2, "I believe there's a hero in all of us."

Monday, July 11, 2022

Batman and Quicksilver in "A Split-Second Miscalculation!"

 


Batman's Bat-Planes have had many looks in the movies.  My favorite is still The Batwing from Batman '89, jut an ingenious design.  Affleck's ride wasn't as stylized, but still pretty cool.  The Japan sequence in The Dark Knight is a favorite of mine, but I was a little let down that he just used a normal looking plane there, couldn't it at least have been black?  Still, it was better than whatever they had Christian Bale flying around in for The Dark Knight Rises - I thought that was kind of ugly and resembled an unfolded cardboard box.  Let's hope Robert Pattinson has better design sense when he decides to take to the sky.

Batman and Quicksilver first crossed paths on one of my earliest covers, an MS Paint effort from 2010...

Sunday, July 10, 2022

Superman and 3-D Man

 

3-D man didn't make a lot of appearances, but I always thought he looked pretty cool and that more should be done with him.  Kurt Busiek tried a rebrand with Triathlon in his Avengers run, but that version of the hero didn't seem to catch on.  That character, Delroy Garrett, eventually took on the 3-D Man name and appearance, but hasn't appeared very much since then.  I say bring the Agents of Atlas back with him as a member, just as his predecessor was.

Saturday, July 9, 2022

Wonder Woman and Xena in: "Kang's For The Memories!"

 


I still think it's crazy that we have never seen a Wonder Woman animated series yet.  She certainly has an interesting enough supporting cast and rogues gallery to pull it off.  I'd love to see a show that explores her history from her origins through the various decades to the present day.

Wonder Woman and Xena previously shared a live action adventure in STF #2527...

Friday, July 8, 2022

The Sinister Six Vs. Nightwing

 

There was talk of a Nightwing movie in the works for a while, but I don't know if that project is alive anymore.  Perhaps if Batgirl is a hit with audiences, Warner Bros will take another look at the property.  Will there be a mention of Dick Grayson in that movie?  With Michael Keaton's Batman due to show up there, we might get a clue as to what the boy wonder's cinematic future holds.

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Falcon and Dove

 

For the conclusion to our Three-Part Epic, we see that thankfully, Hank Hall's injuries were not fatal - but in the meantime, there's still work to be done!  It might be interesting to see how this pairing operates together without Hawk's participation.

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Hawk & Dove and The Falcon (Part Two)

 

For the second part of our Three-Part Epic, we see that despite joining forces, the battle still has taken a tragic toll.  Dark times, indeed - but where will our heroes go from here?  make sure you come back tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion!

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Hawk & Dove and The Falcon (Part One)

 

Presenting Part One of a Three-Part Epic!  I felt that it was time to put the bird themed heroes together.  The Falcon possesses skills that strike a nice balance between these two.  He battles with the ferocity of Hawk and the precision of Dove. Make sure you come back tomorrow for the middle chapter!

Monday, July 4, 2022

Miss America and Miss America

 

This is a pairing that I have been meaning to get to for years, and what better day to do so than today? I hope all of my USA visitors have a great holiday today, enjoying time with family and friends! For those outside the USA, I hope you have an awesome day too!

Sunday, July 3, 2022

Blue Beetle and Wolverine

 

There was a rumor about Ted Kord showing up in the upcoming Blue Beetle movie, to be played by Jason Sudekis.  Alas it was quickly debunked, but the casting seems so perfect to me that I hope maybe fans can will it into existence like happened with John Krasinski as Reed Richards. Kord Industries will be playing a big role in the film, so I suppose there is still hope that he can show up.  Maybe just a mid-credits scene where he arrives to help Jaime Reyes with some kind of tech issue.

Saturday, July 2, 2022

Astro Boy and Iron Man

 

I was watching the latest season of Stranger Things, and there was something about the new cast member, Joseph Quinn.  Then it hit me - he looks and acts like a young Robert Downey Jr.  I know Marvel is all into their de-aging technology, but if they ever want to have another Tony Stark a few years down the road, this actor might be able to pull it off on his own.

Friday, July 1, 2022

Sub-Mariner Vs. The Metal Men

 


There was mention of a Metal Men movie in the works a while back, but I would be shocked if that was not one of the many DC in-development projects scrapped as a result of the change in leadership at Warner Bros./Discovery.  Still, I hope they do eventually make it to the big screen.  Perhaps a Pixar-type CGI movie would be the way to go with Doc Magnus' team of robots.