Showing posts with label DC Comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DC Comics. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Doctor Mid-Nite and Moon Knight
These guys both have pretty impractical costumes for crime fighting, but I give them a pass because they just look so cool. An all-white costume is probably not the best choice for a night-based hero like Moon Knight, and Dr. Mid-Nite's duds look kind of heavy and clunky for running around in. That's the beauty of comics though, you don't have to be so beholden to functionality. These outfits look great on the printed page, and that's what matters most.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Blue Devil and The Son of Satan
Blue Devil's original series was a ton of fun and the kind of comic that we don't see enough of nowadays. I have enjoyed the character's appearances in various team titles since his own series ended, but attempts to darken him have taken away some of the original appeal for me. Daimon Hellstrom was always a dark character, but he took on more of a superheoish role than he would later be known for when I first encountered him in the pages of The Defenders. That remains my favorite version of the character, and the later, grittier stories he was involved in didn't do much for me.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Doctor Doom and The Joker
To be honest, I don't know how long that Doctor Doom would put up with a partnership with the Joker, but that would be part of the fun of a story like this. This cover represents the two greatest rivalries in comics, in my opinion. The Joker and Batman are such complete opposites that it is always interesting watching them clash with one another. Doom and Reed Richards on the other hand had quite a bit in common at one time - their great intellects led them to the same courses in college, after all. The drama between them lies in how their personalities sent them on widely divergent paths. I get the feeling that Doom is secretly envious of Mr. Fantastic while The Joker probably pities Batman in his own crazy way.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Captain America Vs. The Justice League of America
I always read about how Batman could beat anybody, given time to prepare. I think that the same argument could me made for Captain America in the Marvel Universe. Cap may not have as many gadgets as Batman, but his "never give up" attitude is unparalleled by any other superhero. Some of my favorite Captain America stories are where he is up against unfathomable power like Kang or The Cosmic Cube... and he still finds a way to win. Chris Evans has done well with this aspect of the character, you really believe this is a guy who could take anything thrown at him.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Daredevil Vs. Solomon Grundy
The movie rights to Daredevil have reverted back to Marvel, and I am very curious to see what approach they take with the character. Something tells me that we won't be seeing any playground battle scenes featuring Matt Murdock in his street clothes next time out. Marvel would be wise to avoid a "hip" soundtrack that only serves to date the movie the next time around as well. I recently watched a great sports movie, Warrior, which starred Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte and Joel Edgerton. Egderton is a great actor and a tough looking redhead who can take on very physical roles. I think Marvel should look very closely at this guy for their next live action Daredevil.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The Guardians of the Universe and Captain Britain
Captain Britain's original costume is one of my favorites. It seems like it shouldn't work but for some reason it just looks cool to me. The Guardians' appearance has gone through a few changes over the years. I am glad that they don't all look pretty much identical to one another anymore. The Green Lantern movie over-thought their design (as they did with the overly glowing GL uniforms) by giving them translucent heads that reminded me of Mars Attacks more than anything else. Don't get me started on the silly giant chairs they were perched upon! Those seemed a bit impractical.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
The Question and Spider-Man
As I was making this cover, I realized that I was featuring a couple of Steve Ditko characters, but without using Ditko artwork - so I decided to sneak in a back-up feature to make up for that. It's too bad that Steve Ditko never once returned to Spider-Man after he left the character. I saw a documentary recently where Stan Lee expressed the desire to get together with the reclusive Ditko for one more Spidey tale. I don't know if he could ever convince him to do that, but I would pick that issue up in a second!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Thor Vs. Darkseid
My main issues with the first Thor film were not enough action due to Thor being de-powered for the middle of the film and the lack of the trademark helmet save for a few seconds at the beginning. From what I have read and seen of the sequel, it looks like there will be a lot more action this time around, which is a good thing. The helmet never made an appearance in The Avengers and I think that's pretty much a lost cause now. I had hoped the new director would use it, but it hasn't shown up in any of the images from the film yet - and they are taken from battle scenes. It makes no sense to me, the helmet they designed looks cool and you can still see the actor's face, which is usually the issue.
Darkseid seemed to be the perfect villain to use for a JLA movie, but now that Thanos has been introduced into the Marvel cinematic universe, I can see Warner Brothers wanting to go in another direction. Something tells me we will still see the Lord of Apokolips on the big screen eventually, he's too good a character not to use.
Labels:
Alan Davis,
Darkseid,
DC Comics,
John Byrne,
Marvel Comics,
Super-Team Family,
Team Up,
Thor
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The Flash and Ghost Rider
For the fastest man on Earth, The Flash is sure taking a slow road to the silver screen. I have heard rumors of a film for years, but nothing solid ever seems to materialize. I used to think that he would be one of the harder characters to set a movie around because of his bright costume and outlandish rogues, but we have seen colorful costumes work well on screen and today's special effects could really make some of his adventures come to life. The 90's TV series went for a darker, street level look inspired by the 1989 Batman movie, but what I would like to see is a true Flash style adventure. Heck, Rise of the Planet of the Apes convinced me that we could see a Flash Vs. Gorilla Grodd movie that wouldn't be played for laughs.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Martian Manhunter and Iron Man
I read some interesting comments by Zach Snyder yesterday that seemed to indicate that Man of Steel would indeed be tied into the eventual Justice League film and that Henry Cavill would be the Superman of that franchise as well. Snyder said that to divulge more would be to spoilerish... so perhaps there will be seeds for the JLA movie in Man of Steel? If Warner Brothers were to take their cues from the First Iron Man movie and include a post credits scene to tease that larger DC Universe, I think The Martian Manhunter might be a good candidate for a cameo. It could be something as simple as a reveal of J'onn trapped in a government facility and the feds not wanting Superman to know of his existence. While I would love to see a Solo Martian Manhunter film, his is the most unlikely to get one out of the original seven JLAers. It might make better sense if his back story was woven into the JLA's origin, just as it was in the animated series.
Monday, November 26, 2012
The New Teen Titans Vs. Galactus
The New Teen Titans #1-50 by Marv Wolfman and George Perez were superhero comics at their best. It is sad that this group of characters has been forced apart when they worked so well together. These days, Dick Grayson is too busy with the Batman crew to think about a team, Starfire, Cyborg, Changeling and Raven all seem to have undergone history transplants and have been scattered to different sections of the DCU, and Donna Troy and Wally West remain missing in action. Is that any way to treat the stars of your flaghip title from the 80's? Hopefully DC will find a way to reunite this crew some day.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Superman and Magnus: Robot Fighter
Nobody can draw a period piece like Steve Rude. His attention to detail and slick retro style really shine when he depicts a scene from yesteryear. I always like how he will give Superman these cool squinty Joe Shuster styled eyes. Rude is currently contributing to DC's Before Watchmen even with a one shot featuring Dollar Bill, written by Len Wein. I have no doubt that once again Rude will accurately and stylishly illustrate the fashions and designs of the time, and it should be a beautiful comic to look at.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Green Lantern (Alan Scott) and Spider-Man
DC received some publicity a few months back with the newly rebooted Alan Scott Green Lantern in the pages of Earth 2 by making this version a gay man. I am all for diversity in comics, but this struck me as an odd move. In order to make it work, Alan Scott had to be de-aged and as a result his two children have been written out of continuity - his daughter Jade, and his son Obsidian... who just happened to already be a quite popular gay character! So diversity wasn't really served here because they just swapped one a gay hero for another... and also lost a perfectly good female hero in the transition as well. It was a strange decision in my eyes, all for the sake of a few headlines on a slow news day. Hopefully Jade and Obsidian will find their way back to the DCU one of these days.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Ragman and The Scarlet Witch
The good news is that The Scarlet Witch will be featured regularly in the new high-profile title Uncanny Avengers, drawn by the very talented John Cassiday. It's been a while since she has had a regular title to star in and it will be interesting to see how she interacts with other members such as Wonder Man, with whom she has quite a history. The only thing that worries me is that the title will be written by Brian Michael Bendis, who seems to prefer the crazy unbalanced Wanda. I really hope he moves her beyond that stage, as I was never a fan of her whacked out homicidal phase.
I'm not sure if Ragman has appeared in the New 52 DCU yet, but I hope he finds a home soon (Justice League Dark perhaps?). DC had been doing a good job of utilizing him before the revamp and it would be a shame to see that all go away.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Blue Beetle and Captain America
When comic companies purchase characters from previous owners and integrate them with their universe, it can be a bit jarring for the reader and might take awhile before the new acquisitions really seem to fit in to their new environment. That was not the case with Blue Beetle. After his introduction to the DCU in Crisis on Infinite Earths with the rest of the Charlton comic characters, Ted Kord seemed to be right at home to me. I liked his inclusion with the JLA and of course his friendship with Booster Gold worked so well it was like it was destined to be. I really wish he had made a return in the New 52, even if only as a mentor type to the New Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes. Reyes just had his second Blue Beetle series cancelled - perhaps it would have fared better if it had featured Ted Kord as well?
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Doctor Fate and Ghost Rider
I see in the latest DC solicitations that Doctor Fate will be making his New 52 debut in the pages of Earth 2. I am expecting quite a different look for him, as all the JSA'er thus far have sported... but it will be a crime if they lose the iconic helmet! I am a fan of Nicola Scott's work, so I am hopeful that she will create a cool visual for him.
Labels:
DC Comics,
Doctor Fate,
Ghost Rider,
Marvel Comics,
Super-Team Family,
Team Up
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Metamorpho and Spider-Man
Metamorpho is nowhere to be seen in the New 52 DCU. The closest we have seen is Element Woman, who looks to be involved with the Justice League at some point, so I had given up on seeing Rex mason anytime soon. However, with yesterday's solicitations, there may be a glimmer of hope. Katana #1 says that we will find the sword-wielding hero trying to "restore The Outsiders to their former glory". Hmmm... so will we see the likes of Metamorpho, Halo and Geo-Force in the future? We've already seen Black Lightning, but it's a youthified version who hangs with Blue Devil. Who knows what the other Outsiders will be like when they make an appearance?
Labels:
Bone,
Charles Schulz,
DC Comics,
Dick Giordano,
Jeff Smith,
Marvel Comics,
Metamorpho,
Ross Andru,
Snoopy,
Spider-Man
Monday, November 12, 2012
Kamandi and Iron Man
Iron Man 3 has released its first trailer, and I like what I see so far. I loved the first Iron Man but thought the second suffered from plot elements that were too similar to the original film - Stark seems to have to learn the same life lesson over again and the film once again ends with him facing off against a foe with a bigger suit of armor. The third installment looks to be a big improvement with the stakes very high for Iron Man. I liked the shot of Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin, and when you look in the background of that scene, you can see a mural featuring Fin Fang Foom in the background... is it too much to hope that comicdom's coolest dragon will make an appearance?
Labels:
DC Comics,
Iron Man,
Jack Kirby,
Kamandi,
Marvel Comics,
Super-Team Family,
Team Up
Friday, November 9, 2012
Kang Conquers the DC Universe
Well, we are over a year into the latest DC reboot and it's a mixed bag. While I am in favor or reintegrating the Vertigo properties that started out in the mainstream DCU and characters like Amethyst, I... Vampire, Resurrection Man, and yes even Vibe getting another shot, there are also a lot of drawbacks to the new direction. There are still too many characters that I loved either missing completely or altered too dramatically for my tastes, and the costume redesigns are about 10% hit and 90% miss in my book. If the reboot was meant to clear up continuity, it failed there as well. I think the desire to start fresh but also retain current Batman and Green Lantern storylines resulted in a half-hearted reboot. I still think they would have been better served by starting completely new, de-aging all the original sidekicks, and eventually finding new roles for later legacy characters like Kyle Rayner, Tim Drake, Cassandra Sandsmark and so on. Or they should have just looked at DC's animated division which has done a perfect job of streamlining the continuity while retaining the classic looks and core personalities of the characters.
Labels:
Dan Jurgens,
DC Comics,
Justice League,
Kang,
Marvel Comics,
Super-Team Family,
Team Up
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Justice League Vs. The Phoenix
I really loved the line up for the new Justice League title that spun out of Legends. It really took advantage of the newly merged universe from Crisis on Infinite Earths by featuring a team made up of heroes from the formerly separated worlds. You had Batman, Black Canary and Martian Manhunter from the original JLA, and then added Dr. Fate (Earth-2), Captain Marvel (Earth-S), Blue Beetle (Charlton), Mister Miracle (Fourth World) and Dr. Light (a brand new character from Crisis). It was a cool grouping and I really wish they had enjoyed more adventures together before the team started swapping out members and became more about situation comedy than super heroics.
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