Expansion Team in: "Whatever Lengths Necessary!"

 

Presenting the sixth appearance of the Expansion Team!  I was very happy to hear that Incredibles 3 is in production, it will be great to see more Elasti-Girl action.  Reed Richards will be back in Avengers Doomsday, but the trailer shows that he still has that stupid mustache.  Either shave it or grow a beard to go with it, Pedro Pascal!

Doom Patrol and Devil Dinosaur

 

It's too bad that Marvel has pivoted away from Kang in the movies.  Sure, he was beaten by ants, undermining his villainous stature, but an Avengers: Kang Dynasty movie could have offered up some fun time travel scenarios.  Imagine Spider-Man in the Time of Devil Dinosaur, Hawkeye teaming up with Two-Gun Kid, or Hulk meeting his future self,  The Maestro. Oh well, maybe we will get another chance after Secret Wars reboots everything!

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 Green Lantern Corps and The Incredibles

 

I quite enjoyed the CGI Green Lantern and Beware the Batman series from several years back. The characters designs were done well and there were some truly impressive action sequences.  Some of the backgrounds could have been a little more detailed - lots of scenes taking place in giant empty rooms with maybe a single desk in them - but other than that the animation was pretty solid.  Hopefully, we'll see some more superhero shows in that format.

Sub-Mariner and The Doom Patrol

 

Namor could have some problems working with others, but I think that maybe he would find some common ground with a team of freaks that are shunned by society. There is potential for an interesting tale by mixing him in with Niles Caulder's team.

Doom Patrol and The Defenders

 

Back in another life, I used to do a lot of acting. About the only person I knew that made it big had been Connie Britton, who I went to acting school with back in the early 90's. One of the last shows I did was an off-Broadway production of a play called Open House.  We ran for over a month, and I had a good time acting with and hanging out afterwards with my character's romantic interest, played by my friend Stephanie.  The show ended and I only saw Steph once more when she came to see me in a night of one acts a little later.  I stopped performing and she moved out of the city so we lost track.  Fast forward about 16 years later and I'm watching Doom Patrol.  There was something familiar about Hammerhead, the manifestation of one of Crazy Jane's personalities - and the credits confirmed it.  She shaves her head for the role, but that is indeed my old pal Stephanie.  We later caught up on Facebook, it's nice to see her with a cool comic book related recurring role.  Looks like she got a part on the new MacGuyver series as well.

Black Goliath and Elasti-Girl

 

I am glad to use a Black Goliath image here that was penciled by Sal Buscema and Inked by Jim Mooney.  Sal Buscema was the undisputed master of illustrating characters delivering or receiving a powerful punch, and Jim Mooney drew some of the prettiest girls in comics.  I was lucky enough to pick up original pieces by both of them several years back: 

Don't let the Larry Lieber signature fool you.  The back of this strip indicates that it was penciled by Sal Buscema and inked by the legendary Joe Sinnott:

Expansion Team (The Animated Series!)

 

It's always cool when one of your favorite comics gets  the aminated series treatment, and I thought that it was high time that one of STF: the Lost Issues' super-groups received that honor.  I know that I would be tuning in!

This is the fourth appearance of The Expansion Team - Elastigirl joined the team in STF #2130, they battled the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in STF #1490, and first got together back in STF #934...

New Mutants Vs. Doom Patrol

 

Well, after numerous delays,  New Mutants has finally been released to theaters.  It has only been getting middling reviews, but I like the characters so I am sure that I will check it out as a home rental at some point.  It looks to be a pretty low budget affair, with minimal use of powers and filmed on a single location.  Then again, Lockheed looked really cool on the commercial, and I am interested in how the Demon Bear is handled.  Has anyone gotten a chance to check it out?

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.

Doom Patrol and Alpha Flight

Alpha Flight is another team like the Doom Patrol that has gone through many changes and incarnations over the years.  Nothing has ever quite been able to capture the magic of the original team that was introduced in Uncanny X-Men for me though - the farther that Marvel strays away from that, the less it has worked for me.  Give me the original line-up any day, I loved the first few years of their comic.

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.

Elasti-Girl and Ant-Man

I am curious as to who the antagonist will be in the upcoming Ant-Man and The Wasp.  Ant-Man's rogues gallery includes villains like Egghead, Whirlwind and The Porcupine - but are any of these guys movie-ready?  It's too bad his greatest nemesis, Ultron, was stolen for the movies by Tony Stark.

The Herculoids and the Doom Patrol

I love that some of the classic Hanna-Barbera characters have found a new home with Future Quest, and hopefully through that they will find new fans as well.  Now that DC is publishing new stories with the likes of The Herculoids, can some real life comic crossovers with DC heroes  come to pass?  I hope so.

The Doom Patrol and The X-Men in "Calling Out Caulder!"

These two teams of societal outcasts using their abilities for good under the direction of wheelchair-bound leaders seem like naturals to spend a story together.  Despite the similarities, the Patrol see their powers as a curse while the X-Men are proud of their mutant traits - which could make for some interesting conflict.

These two teams met once before on the blog in an early MS Paint attempt....

Elasti-Girl and Elastigirl

The Incredibles is one of my favorite Pixar films, and that is saying a lot because I pretty much like them all.  A sequel has finally been announced. and I hope that they can meet the high standards of the first installment.  Pixar has a decent track record for sequels - Sure, Cars 2 was not as great as their usual fare, but I thoroughly enjoyed the follow ups to Toy Story and Monsters, Inc.  I am curious as to how much further down the road the Incredibles sequel will pick the story up.  Will they consider the real world time that has passed, or tell a tale that takes place only a short time after the events of the first film?

The Doom Patrol Vs. Galactus

I can imagine a scenario like this actually taking place in the pages of Doom Patrol.  Niles Caulder was always taking crazy chances and unnecessary risks, and was also known for keeping secrets from the rest of the team.  Sure, it was usually for the greater good, but he really knew how to escalate a situation.

Man-Thing and Cain / Invisible Girl and Elasti-Girl

Here are a couple of team ups that I think are just natural pairings.  Man-Thing looks like he stepped right off of a cover of one of DC's Bronze Age horror titles, so him crossing paths with Cain seems like a no-brainer.  Rita Farr and Sue Storm are both the sole females in a quartet of heroes and I am sure they would have plenty to talk about if they got together.  Put both adventures in one issue and you have a comic that I would have snapped up in a second!

The Doom Patrol and The Fantastic Four

I was really digging how the Doom Patrol seemed to be getting back to basics prior to the New 52 reboot.  Sadly, they seem to be another casualty.  Robotman has appeared in a somewhat altered form, but I don't know how long it will be before we see the proper Doom Patrol in action again.  The Fantastic Four are about to  get a new series, along with the rest of the Marvel Universe with the Marvel Now titles just on the horizon.  I am not sure what the new creative team has in store, but the title looks to be focusing on family and adventure, so that's a good start!

The Doom Patrol and The X-Men

While there hasn't been any solicitation for a Doom Patrol series in the newly rebooted DCU, Robotman at least got a spotlight in the My Greatest Adventure mini-series.  I wasn't crazy about his new design, which seems to be a throwback to Cliff Steele's brief 70's look and I haven't checked out the series so I don't know if any reference to the other members of the Doom Patrol was made.  The X-Men are another team I haven't checked in on in a while, not really wanting to dive into the sea of so many titles and characters to follow.  Hopefully once the huge Avengers Vs. X-Men crossover has ended and the dust settles there will be a more streamlined title that a lapsed reader can easily join.