Black Lightning and The Jack of Hearts

 

Jack of Hearts powers have always seemed a little unstable.  What kind of changes might come about as a result of a collision with an electrically based hero like Jefferson Pierce?

Star Trek and Batman & The Outsiders

 

Is Halo appearing anywhere these days? I've always thought that she was criminally underused.  One reason might be her convoluted backstory.  Hopefully DC will realize her potential one of these days.

Batman and the Outsiders and Power Pack

 

Two great 80's teams, together at last.  I'm not sure if their current predicament is that cause of Kobra or The Serpent Crown, but it would be interesting to find out.

Human Torch and Black Lightning

 

I'm glad to finally use Doctor Destiny on the blog, an underrated DCU villain.  In addition to his cool creepy look, he was powerful enough to take on the JLA single handedly.  His mind-bending abilities always made for interesting visuals as well.

Werewolf by Night and Black Lightning

 

This cover required a bit of background extension for it to work.  Here is a peek at the behind the scenes progress:

X-Factor Vs. The Outsiders

 

This is the First time that The Outsiders have met X-Factor, but as the X-Men, these groups have a bit of history on the blog - The Outsiders first tried to tame The Phoenix in STF #3454 and first met her in STF #112, and the one hero able to withstand The Phoenix Force was revealed in STF #2526... The X-Men came to The Outsiders assistance in STF #2595... and both teams had an adventure at The Statue of Liberty in STF #2675...

Black Lightning Vs. Venom

 

How do Symbiotes fare against electricity?  Has Venom ever had an encounter with Electro, and found out?  I think this would be an interesting battle to see go down.

Tintin and Batman and the Outsiders

 

Batman has been called the World's Greatest Detective and Tintin can never pass up a good story, so it wouldn't surprise me to see the young reporter get involved with The Outsiders, especially when there's a mystery to solve.  Tintin previously met Batman in STF #752, and first encountered him way back on a B&B cover from 2010...

Black Lightning and Black Widow

 

Here's another pairing that I am surprised to just be getting to. Now that I see them side by side they got together very well visually.  It's not hard to come up with stories that would involve both of them, either.

Captain Marvel and Black Lightning in: "Escape From The Negative Zone!

 

For the conclusion to this three-part tale, we find that leaving The Negative Zone may not be quite as easy as getting there.  Let's hope that our heroes can avoid all the booby traps left by the defeated Annihilus!

Captain Marvel and Black Lightning (Vs. Annihilus!)

 

For Part Two of our Three-Part Epic, we now see which member of The Outsiders the Mar-Vell needed to help complete his mission. Make sure you come back again tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion!

Batman and the Outsiders and Captain Marvel

 Presenting Part One of a Three-Part Epic!  It looks as though Mar-Vell intends to take one of the team far past the boundaries of Gotham - but who will he choose?  Make sure you come back tomorrow for Part Two of this saga to find out!

Justice League of America and Gargoyle

 

There has been lots of discussion about what to do with the next Avengers movie now that Jonathan Majors' Kang is out of the picture.  They could recast and call it a variant, but Marvel seems to want to move on.  Many have said to use Doctor Doom, but he should be with the Fantastic Four.  I'd love to see Nightmare finally make a live action appearance, he certainly has enough power to become a franchise wide threat.  Plus, Ironheart, which was to debut Mephisto, has been shelved indefinitely, so there's an opening for a mystical adversary.

Black Lightning and Thor

 

This cover took some prep work before I could add in Black Lightning - here's a look behind the scenes at the process:

Black Lightning Vs. The Green Goblin

 

I hope that Norman Osborn has developed some protective defenses against electrical attacks after working with criminals like Electro and The Shocker, or he's about to find out that Jefferson Pierce is not one to back down from a threat.  Black Lightning is used to having to deal with Tobias Whale, another powerful businessman with a megalomaniacal streak, so he's more than ready to take on the likes of the Green Goblin.

Black Lightning and Iron Man

 

There's still plenty of talk of bringing Tony Stark back to the MCU, either as an AI program in Armor Wars or Ironheart or back to life in one of the upcoming Avengers movies due to the machinations of Kang.  If Marvel Studios goes through with this, I hope they are very careful about it.  I'd hate to see his emotional sacrifice from Avengers: Endgame undermined.  Robert Downey Jr. isn't getting any younger either, he'll be in his 60's by the time the next Avengers movies are released.  Time will tell if any of this actually comes to pass, I just hope plenty of thought is given if they go this route.

Wolverine and Black Lightning in: "Barfight!"

 

Alas, no Wolverine or X-Men announcements at D23 this week.  I've heard repeated rumors that Marvel is looking at Taron Edgerton for the role.  I wasn't sure about that until I saw some recent pictures of him, where has clearly put on weight and is currently very physically fit.  I don't know if that's for another role or if he's prepping to play Logan, but he's definitely starting to look the part.

Wolverine and Black Lightning previously battle Sentinels in STF #3412...

Black Lightning Vs. Doctor Doom

 

Doctor Doom is going to be a tough role to fill effectively for the MCU.  He's sure to be a major player, and is a monarch as well as a brilliant scientist, so a commanding presence is necessary.  Then again, they'll need an actor that doesn't mind having their face obscured for most if not all of his screen time.  Between the armor, the outfit and the attitude, Doom is one of the trickier villains to bring to live action, but I have faith the next version will be an improvement upon what has come before.

Batman and the Outsiders Vs. Mephisto

 

The Batman has finally been released, and I was thoroughly entertained by it.  (No Spoilers in this review) It's probably the most like a Batman comic of any live action adaptation so far.  Batman is finally a proper detective and the movie is very much a film noir.  The cast was uniformly excellent.  Zoe Kravitz and Colin Farrell are easily my favorite live action versions of Selina Kyle and The Penguin, I look forward to seeing more of both in the movies and on streaming shows.  I wanted more of both Alfred and Commissioner Gordon, but they were also excellently realized, especially in their interactions with Bruce Wayne/Batman.  Paul Dano was very effective as The Riddler, even if the character was a few steps too far away from his comic book counterpart for my taste.  Robert Pattinson himself made for a great Batman, though his Bruce Wayne was missing the bored socialite act - but that is an element that can be explored in future installments, he's still perfecting his dual roles at this point. The fight choreography was very well done, you could actually see what was happening. Gotham looked fantastic and felt like a real place and the score was moody and thrilling.  The Nirvana song worked, but we'll see how much it dates the movie like Prince's contributions to Batman '89 as the years pass.  I didn't mind the 3 hour run time, though that may change with repeated viewings.  I absolutely loved that we got a little bit of Batman voice over narration just like in the comics, and hope we get even more the next time around.  The costume looked better onscreen than I had been expecting, and I look forward to seeing what upgrades he gets the next time around.  I still miss the white eyes, but I don't know if we will ever get them with this ultra grounded version of the character.  In fact, that's my only real quibble with the movie - it is so gritty and down to Earth, that I don't know how any of Batman's more fantastical foes like Man-Bat or Clayface could ever fit in here - let alone connecting it to a larger DCU with Superman and the Justice League and so forth.  Matt Reeves has expressed interest in using Mr. Freeze, though, so maybe this world will broaden its comic book horizons going forward.  Cant wait for it to hit HBO Max in 5 weeks so I can watch it again!

The Falcon and Black Lightning in: "Surviving the Merge!"

 

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...