Challengers of the Unknown and Rocket Raccoon

 

The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy may be completed, but I hope that sometime down the line we see the team again.  I liked seeing Rocket Raccoon take his leadership role, and it would be cool to see him calling the shots on a mission.

Batman Vs. The Green Goblin in: "Breaking the Vow!"

 

Norman Osborne enjoys going after a hero mentally as well as physically, so I can see him pulling out all the stops to mess with Brice Wayne's head.  Batman first faced off against The Green Goblin on an MS Paint B&B cover way back in 2011...

Invisible Girl and Challengers of the Unknown

 

The Challengers have met the Fantastic Four as a team on the blog, as well as Ben (more than once), Johnny and Reed in individual tales.  I felt that it was time for Sue Storm to have a solo outing with the Team on Borrowed Time. 

Doom Patrol and Captain Marvel

 

To think that we could have gotten a scene of the Classic Mar-Vell or a properly realized Supreme Intelligence in the Captain Marvel movie - and we were given a tired looking Annette Bening as a substitute for both.  What a missed opportunity. I do think that Bening is a talented actress, but I have to believe that's not what fans were hoping for.

The Human Torch and Challengers of the Unknown

 

Ah, Paste-Pot Pete, always trying to be taken seriously. Even a name change and costume upgrade weren't enough to get him out of the C-List of villains.  Will this latest scheme catapult him to infamy?  I doubt it, but that's part of his charm.

Vigilante and Nova

 

This is the kind of oddball team up that I really liked to see as a kid. These are two heroes that I would have never put together, but upon seeing them in an action scene, I'd simply have to find out just what was going on.  

Time for another behind the scenes peek.  Vigilante's original partner in this scene had to be removed and replaced - not to mention his lasso... here's a look at the process:

Shazzan and Thor

 

I quite  liked Thor: Ragnarok, and felt that it's injection of color and humor into the franchise struck a nice balance in that film.  Unfortunately, Director Taika Waititi was not able to balance out his follow up, Thor: Love and Thunder quite as well in my opinion.  The humor was far too broad this time around, with Thor going from a character with some funny traits to a complete buffoon.  Natalie Portman is a talented actress, but her attempts at comedy fell flat for me, and clashed with her terminal cancer sub-plot.  It's not a terrible movie, and there are some fun action sequences and a great mid-credits scene - but it felt like it could have used one more pass in the editing stage before sending it to theaters.

Captain America & The Falcon and The Doom Patrol

 

I always liked the connection to The Doom Patrol that Gar Logan provided for the New Teen Titans.  The issue where they run into Robotman still remains one of my favorites, with the cover being among the best in the series.  Changeling/Beast Boy may have one of the least convincing origins in comics, but I can forgive that given his cool power set.  

Doom Patrol and The Avengers

 

I'm looking forward to the fourth (and presumably final) season of Doom Patrol on HBO Max, but I am hoping for a little more character development.  The characters all seem to be running in place, still pretty much dealing with the same personal issues that they have been since the first episode.  It can get a bit mopey at times, so I hope this is the season that they all finally come to terms with themselves and become more confident as a team.

Challengers of the Unknown Vs. The Hulk

 

Pavement sure had some strange properties in the comics I read as a kid.  Characters like The Hulk, Superman and The Thing would often pull stunts like the one above, whipping a sidewalk like it was a towel.  Another move was to roll the street up and wrap your opponents in it.  These were always visually impressive displays, if not always scientifically sound.

Doom Patrol and The Beast

 

The Sentinels are are always fun to see, but I have to admit the do seem to be pretty impractical.  I mean, I can see the use for mutant hunting robots if that's your thing, but I never really understood why they were built to be so giant.  If they are trying to capture mutants, that's hardly a stealthy design - I imagine they are pretty easy to see coming.

Doom Patrol and Iron Man

I remember reading the Machine Man mini-series in 1984 and thinking that Arno Stark, the Iron Man of 2020, was pretty cool.  2020 seemed pretty far off to me then, so he truly felt like a futuristic version.  Well the year has arrived, and Marvel is appropriately featuring the character in their current comics.  Oddly enough, I am also living in 2020, and I hardly feel futuristic - more like an antique!  Nothing like going over past comics to make you feel your age!

Cyclops and Robotman

Cyclops is one of the X-Men that I am most eager to see given anther shot at live action once Marvel brings the team into the MCU.  I found him to be very under-utilized in the Fox films, both the original and the younger "First Class" team. Having him killed off in X3 was not what many fans wanted to see, I'd wager.  Hopefully his eventual return will feature the competent field leader that we know from the comics.

Elasti-Girl and Giant Man

Bruno Premiani doesn't get as much recognition ans some other Silver Age artists, and that's a shame because he is one of my favorites.  He had a great mastery of storytelling and character design.  While he worked on some other characters, I feel he really got a chance to shine with his depiction of the Doom Patrol's adventures.  He's another artist that I really began to appreciate more once I saw his work in black and whit in the DC Showcase reprints.

Animal Man, Man-Thing and Concrete (Vs. The A-V-M Man!)

When I first featured this trio together in STF #2425, more than one commenter felt it only natural that they face off against the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, so - here you go!

Today is my 50th Birthday,  and I honestly still feel very young at heart. This blog has been a part of that - reading, collecting and creating comics brought me a lot of happiness as a kid and this project has helped me stay in touch with the good feelings that the hobby brings.

Captain America and The Doom Patrol

I am glad to see that the whole "Cap as a sleeper Hydra agent" story line seems to finally be coming to a close.  Yes, there have been Captain America gone bad tales before, but they only lasted for an issue or two, rather than dragging on and on and bleeding into other titles.  Hopefully going forward, the comics will feature a Steve Rogers with the heroic qualities that make him an inspiration once again.

Doom Patrol and Deathlok

I was interviewed this past week by Emily Scott and Dean Compton on their show, Her Dork World, His Dork World (you can find the link to listen a few posts before this) .  I was surprised when Dean said he had a team up suggestion for me - Doom Patrol and Deathlok - because I had created a cover featuring that same pairing just a day or two before.  I don't know if Dean has been spying on me or if great minds just think alike, but here it is.  Something tells me that once they settled their differences, Deathlok would be right at home as a member of the Doom Patrol, being somewhat of a heroic outcast himself.

Robotman and Iron Man (Part One)

Only a few promotional images from Captain America: Civil War have surfaced, but I like what I have seen of Iron Man's new armor.  I have enjoyed the various designs that we have seen in the films to date, but I still miss Tony Stark's classic red & gold armor that he wore throughout the bulk of the Silver and early Bronze age.  I have been waiting to see that look onscreen, widow's peak, hip discs and all, and maybe we will one day - but this new look is pretty cool too.

Make Sure you stop by for Part 2 tomorrow!

Challengers of the Unknown and Iron Man

The Challenger of the Unknown are a DC property that never quite hit the big time as far as recognition beyond comics are concerned, but they seem to find a way to return every so often.  I think a lot of it all comes down to their team name - it just sounds so cool, and it's a shame not to use it, not unlike The Doom Patrol.   I'm not sure what the Challengers' current status is in the New 52.  Hopefully they'll find their place in the spotlight again one of these days.

The Doom Patrol Vs. Doctor Doom

Now this is a battle that I would love to see.  I can see Doom setting an elaborate trap for the Fantastic Four, only to have the Doom Patrol stumble upon it first.  These characters just seem like they would naturally go together, beyond just the similar name.  Perhaps if Victor Von Doom had met Dr.Niles Caulder when he was first disfigured, he would not have gone off on the villainous path that he did.