Monday, October 31, 2022

Sandman and Sleeping Beauty Vs. Freddy Krueger

 

Happy Halloween! Looks like Freddy has found the perfect victim for his particular brand of night terrors.  Little did he know she was under the protection of one Wesley Dodds... but will the mystery man have what it takes to save the princess?

Freddy previously crossed paths with a different Sandman in STF #1016...

Sunday, October 30, 2022

Doctor Strange and The Creature Commandos

 

I really enjoyed the Disney+ Werewolf by Night special, but I had to think that once again, Marvel has beaten DC to the punch in bringing the horror corner of its universe to the screen.  The Creature Commandos recently made an fun animated appearance, and I'd love to see a version of them in live action.  Then again, they are just the type of obscure, oddball characters that James Gunn seems to like to work with, so maybe there's a chance now that he's calling the DCU shots.

Saturday, October 29, 2022

Captain Marvel Vs. Godzilla

 

Dwayne Johnson seems determined to have Black Adam and Superman battle it out on the big screen.  While that would be cool, and has happened in the comics, I still think a fight with Shazam should take precedence.  That said, given the delays in Shazam: Fury of the Gods, the rapidly aging "kids" in the cast who would be in their late teens and 20s by the time shooting begins, and the ongoing shakeups at the DC Film division, I have serious doubts that a third Shazam film will be made at all.

Friday, October 28, 2022

Black Panther and Black Adam

 

Black Adam had a decent opening but did not break any records (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever just may, though), so Dwayne Johnson's hope to reshape the hierarchy of the DC Universe has probably hit a snag.  Now it's been reported that James Gunn and Peter Safran have been put in charge of DC Films, and will be shepherding all Movie, TV and animation projects for at least the next four years.  I'd say everything is truly up in the air again until we hear some new announcements.

Thank you to Marc Tyler Nobleman, Comics Historian and Patron of this blog, for suggesting this pairing!

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Thor and The Atom

 

Al Pratt was a short redhead that was pretty much the least powerful member of the group he was associated with... it's no wonder that I identified with him!  He may not have had a great rogues gallery or the greatest costumes, but I could never help rooting for the guy.

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Red Hulk and Captain Atom

 

Well, the cat is out of the bag and it has been officially announced that Harrison Ford will be taking over the role of Thunderbolt Ross from the late William Hurt in the upcoming Thunderbolts movie.  There is no confirmation yet that Ross will at some point in the film transform into Red Hulk - but Marvel would be crazy if they did not take full advantage of the ability to have Ford Hulk out!  Suddenly, this movie has gotten a lot more interesting to me.

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Mr. Fantastic and Cyborg / Lois Lane and The Watcher

 

Still no casting announcements for The Fantastic Four?  I figured that we would have heard something by now.  The upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is being touted as the end of Marvel's cinematic Phase Four, and there are strong rumors that Dr. Doom will be teased in that film, so I have to believe that we'll start hearing some FF news once it has been released.

Cyborg has been allies with Reed Richards ever since he temporarily took Ben Grimm's place in the Fantastic Four as depicted way back on a cover from 2012...

Monday, October 24, 2022

Spider-Man and Nightshade

 


Nightshade was one of the more interesting characters that DC Comics acquired from Charlton - but they never seemed to really know what to do with her.  She served time on The Suicide Squad and made various guest appearances over the years, but after a while I lost track of her.  Perhaps a long stint with The Birds of Prey or Justice League of America would have given her more recognition.

Sunday, October 23, 2022

The Spectre Vs. The Beyonder

 

It's years away and not even the next Avengers movie on the schedule, but Avengers: Secret Wars already has plenty of rumors swirling around it.  Will the Russo Brothers return to direct, or will Ryan Coogler be tapped for that job?  Will we see the return of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans?  What about appearances by Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Edward Norton, and other actors that have played Marvel heroes before?  Will the movies ending re-set the MCU completely for the phase to follow?  Will the Beyonder appear, and if so, who will play him? I think there will be plenty of speculation about all of this for while to come, but I'm not expecting answers any time soon.

Saturday, October 22, 2022

Daredevil and The Flash

 

It's too late to remove Ezra Miller from the already-shot Flash movie, but Warner Bros. will certainly have a new actor in the role of Barry Allen for any new projects.  For the first time I am hearing rumors of a replacement - George McKay.  I only know him from the movie 1917, but he was pretty good in that and certainly looks the role.  If he can pull off a convincing American accent, I'm all for it.  We'll see if this rumor pans out.

I was glad to use a Daredevil image here from the amazing David Mazzuchelli. I was very lucky to be able to pick up a DD sketch by him several years back: 



Friday, October 21, 2022

She-Hulk and Starfire

 

She-Hulk on Disney+ was definitely a mixed bag, and I wound up somewhere in the middle.  I liked the first and final two episodes, but found the rest to be pretty much a waste of time.  It definitely felt like a rough draft of a show that needed to be tightened up and to have writers with more of a legal background brought in.  Also, for a comedy, I wanted to laugh more (Madisynn was the comedic highlight for me).  Still, I liked Tatiana Maslany in the role, actually enjoyed the slightly lighter take on Daredevil and the breaking of the fourth wall in the final episode reminded me of the classic John Byrne run on the character which brought a big smile to my face. Oh, and seeing Mark Linn-Baker back on TV was great, I loved him as Jen's dad.

Thursday, October 20, 2022

X-Men and the Justice Society in: "The Swap!"

 

This weekend, Black Adam will bring the JSA to the big screen, though I'm not sure how closely they will follow the comics.  This seems to be a new group, under the direction of Amanda Waller - so sort of a more heroic version of Task Force X, I guess.  Will there be any mention of an original team?  Will there be any ties to the Justice League?  I guess we will find out soon.

The JSA and X-Men have met a few times before.  They faced a crisis in Westchester in STF #2404, They were manipulated by Apocalypse in STF #1675, and first crossed paths in STF #1400...

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Sgt. Fury on the Planet of the Apes

 

There's talk of more Planet of the Apes movies on the way, but I'm not sure where in the timeline they should take part in.  I really enjoyed the last three installments, but they ended at a natural place.  Do audiences really want to see a movie about the apes finally crushing down the last remaining sickly humans?  Maybe it would be better to jump forward in time and depict an all-ape conflict.

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Sandman, Little Nemo and Nightmare

 


Word is still out on whether the Netflix Sandman series will come back for another season.  Apparently the  ratings were okay, but the high cost of the series is a still a factor.  I thought it was pretty well done,  though some episodes were more to my liking than others.  I did appreciate how closely they stuck to the comic stories.  Dream of a Thousand Cats was one of my favorite Sandman tales, and I really enjoyed how that was adapted.

Monday, October 17, 2022

Vigilante Vs. Kingpin

 

I have to admit that Freddie Stroma won me over Peacemaker.  At first, I felt his portrayal was a bit too broad, but he leaned into it with such conviction that I had to laugh.  Still, the supporting hero is so far in personality and back story from the Adrian Chase/Vigilante of the comics that I really wish they had just created a whole new character.  That way we could have still had Stroma's amusing antics without having to radically alter a pretty dark and serious ant-hero from the comics.

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Sherlock Holmes in The House of Mystery

 

Never mind Moriarty, Sherlock may have just met his match right here.  I heard some mention of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law teaming for a third Sherlock Holmes installment, and I'm all for it.  While the series hasn't reached the heights of the Jeremy Brett or Benedict Cumberbatch versions (or even Basil -ahem- Rathbone) for me, I still find the first two films entertaining and it's always good to have more Holmes content.  At least we know for sure Enola Holmes has another movie coming up on Netflix.

Saturday, October 15, 2022

Zatanna and Brother Voodoo


I'd heard of  a couple of live action features starring Zatanna in the past few years - a solo film and a Justice League Dark movie - but with all of the restructuring going on at Warner Bros/Discovery, I don't believe either is moving forward at the moment.  The solo film was to be straight to streaming, which they are trying to get away from and the JLD movie was part of a production deal with JJ Abrams that hasn't

seemed to have really worked out.  I'm guessing we see Brother Voodoo on the big screen first.

Friday, October 14, 2022

Atomic Skull Vs. Red Skull

 

The Atomic Skull may have one of the goofiest villain costumes in comics (he later got a cool upgrade that was perhaps a bit too close to Ghost Rider's look), and may have never left the C-List of Superman Rogues... but I've always really liked the character.  Despite his appearance, he's appeared in some pretty fun stories.

Thursday, October 13, 2022

The Shroud Vs. Doctor Light

 

The Shroud seemed like another Marvel Batman knock off to me when he first appeared, but he has managed to carve out his own identity.  I always enjoy the concept of a hero embedding himself with villains and biding their time for the perfect time to strike.  I've lost track of him recently, The last time I remember reading about him he was a little off his rocker in the pages of Daredevil.

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Batman and Spider-Man (Vs. Clayface & Mysterio)

 

Mysterio was very well realized in live action.  Will Clayface ever get a big budget silver screen treatment?  Considering how Hollywood likes to keep making Batman and his rogues darker and more grounded, I'm not holding my breath.  It would be cool to see though. 

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

They joined the Wacky Races in STF #3755...
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.

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

The Hulk and The Blues Brothers

 

I recently watched The Blues Brothers again, and I am impressed at how well the movie holds up.  Of course the musical performances are all amazing and timeless, but the performances and comedy still entertain.  There are so many memorable lines from the film, some that I had forgotten came from it.  I still get a kick out of Jake and Elwood's tiny apartment, not too far off from some of the places I stayed in NYC back in the day.

Monday, October 10, 2022

Hawkeye and Mary Marvel

 

Another odd pairing here, but I liked how the poses fit together and think that this scenario would make for an interesting tale.  And hey, it's not like we haven't seen Hawkeye mentoring young brunettes in archery before.

Sunday, October 9, 2022

Superman and Rick Jones

 

I'm a little surprised that we have not heard from Rick Jones in the MCU.  With strong ties to The Hulk, Captain Marvel and The Avengers, he's one of Marvel's most enduring supporting characters, and it would be cool to see him find a place on the big or small screen.  Maybe the lack of solo Hulk projects has been a problem, not to mention all but writing Mar-Vell out of existence in favor of skipping right to Carol Danvers.

Saturday, October 8, 2022

The Synthetic Six

 


I have a group of robot heroes on this blog in Robo Force, but I thought for this team I would use heroes that were once fully human, only to begin new lives in powerful artificial bodies.  I think that such a fate would drive me bonkers, so I have to admire that these characters choose to use their new forms to help others.

Friday, October 7, 2022

Hercules and Vixen in: "Hunted... On The Honeymoon!"

 


This marks the eight appearance of the Herc/Vixen team, and we see that there may be a few hiccups on the way to wedded bliss.  Hey, this is comics, nothing ever seems to go completely smoothly with superhero weddings!  Hercules in the MCU has some very fun possibilities - and the actor chosen to play him has me wanting to see more.

Thursday, October 6, 2022

Beta Ray Bill and The Metal Men

 

I was laughing to see yesterday's comments lead to a conversation about Beta Ray Bill, knowing that he was scheduled to show up today.  Hey, have you guys been peeking?

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Harley Quinn Meets Throg and Cosmo

The new season of the animated Harley Quinn has ended, with another season in the works.  While I enjoy the show, I do have to take exception with the depiction of most of the heroes on the show, especially Commissioner Gordon and Batman, everyone is played off as some kind of a fool. I try to see the series as Harley's interpretation of events, though, and the version we viewers see is one that has been filtered through her crazy psyche.

 

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Blonde Phantom and Wildcat

 

I've already established that Tigra is Wildcat's niece on this blog, and I thought it might be nice to give the JSA's resident pugilist a sister as well.  I come from a big family - I have four brothers and two sisters, so stories about relationships between siblings have always appealed to me.

Monday, October 3, 2022

Captain Britain and Firestorm (Part Two)

 

For the conclusion of this two-part tale, we see the reason for Brian Braddock's actions in the previous issue.  Let's hope our heroes can get control of the city's residents before it's too late. There was some talk of Henry Cavill moving over to the MCU to play Captain Britain, but now all the chatter seems to be about him returning to play Superman in a few cameos.  Stories seem to change every few days, so who knows how things will all pan out.

Sunday, October 2, 2022

Captain Britain and Firestorm (Part One)

 

These guys have two of my favorite costumes in comics, so I thought it might be cool to see them together.  I'm not holding my breath waiting to see live action versions of either one, though!

This is only Part One of a Two-Part Epic, so make sure you come back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!

Saturday, October 1, 2022

Indiana Jones meets King Kong

 

There's been a bootleg trailer for the new Indiana Jones movie floating around, but I'll wait for an official clean copy is released to watch it.  Still, it's receiving positive praise  and Harrison Ford's emotional speech to the audience at D23 about how proud he is of it have me cautiously optimistic.  The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull may not have been well received, but hopefully this final installment will give Indy the proper sendoff that he deserves.