Cannonball and The Ray

 

When you count the Brave and the Bold and Marvel Two-In-One covers that I began with, this marks the 5000th cover on the blog!

Here are another two heroes that have power sets that go well together.  Place them in a story that requires their special talents and you would have a fast paced page turner on your hands.

Oracle and The Watcher

 

Hey, if you want to be sure that you have all of the most current intel to pull off a successful mission, it helps to have an inside man that knows it all.  I think that watching the behind the scenes machinations between these two against the backdrop of a crisis-style event could make for an interesting tale. 

Justice League of America and The Scarlet Witch

 

Scarlet Witch previously had a destructive meeting with The JLA along with The Vision as the main story back in STF #800...  Well, if she had a hand in destroying them there, it's only fitting that she find a way to bring them back here.  Let's hope they aren't too worse for the wear!

Fin Fang Foom Vs. Mr. Miracle & Big Barda

 

DC seems to be having some trouble adapting The New Gods to the big screen.  Zach Snyder introduced elements in his Justice League movie, but Warner Bros does not seem to want to move forward with his vision.  They also cancelled Ava DuVernay's New Gods movie that was in development, and are most likely not encouraged by the muted reactions to Marvels similar Eternals.  I've got the perfect solution - go with a New Gods animated series first!  That will give the property the proper length to tell an expansive story that features such a large cast of characters.  If it's a hit, audiences will be primed to se a live action version as a follow up.

Doctor Strange and Detective Chimp

 

Mephisto has been teased in the MCU (which has led to rampant speculation) but not actually used yet, and I wonder where or if he will actually show up.  While he is a key villain from the comics with ties to many heroes, he still poses some problems when it comes to adapting him for the movies.  China does not like any depictions of Satan, so that may be giving Disney pause.  Will he appear in altered form, or will he be included with all of his devlish trappings, knowing his presence will keep the film out of a major market?  Only time will tell.

Bishop and The Flash

 

Grant Gustin has teased that the yellow/gold boots will finally be added to the costume in the upcoming season of The Flash, and I hope that comes to pass.  It's always bothered me that the live action depictions of the character have never included them.  Even the concept image of the in development Flash movie showing the updated costume there seems to omit them.  Come on, costume designers - this is one hero that needs extra protection for his feet!

Captain Comet and Thor in: Blake and the Behemoth!"

In my mind, Thor is still Don Blake.  I'm not sure why that aspect of the character eventually went away in the comics.  I like when heroes have secret identities, and this was one of the cooler ones.  Plus, the sight of an unassuming surgeon with a permanent limp striking his cane on the ground and transforming into the God of Thunder was always awesome to see.  I miss that.

Captain Comet and Thor were first revealed to be cousins in STF #2292...

The Flash Vs. Kang

If there's one DC character that Kang would want to go after, it has to be The Flash.  He's been well known for using his cosmic treadmill to travel backward and forward through history, altering events along the way with mixed results.  That's Kang's whole method of operation, and I can imagine he would want to get rid of the competition!

Adam Strange and The Fantastic Four

I was glad to learn that Adam Strange would be part of the Krypton show, but a little disappointed that he has not resembled his comic book counterpart very much thus far.  Hopefully in the second season he will grow closer to the Adam we know from the comics.  Even if they don't put him in a costume, he's got to at least get a jetpack, right?

The Flash Vs. Speed Demon

Watching John Wesley-Shipp as Jay Garrick on CW's The Flash is one of the highlights of the show for me, and I am always glad when he shows up.  I was a huge fan of Shipp's 90's Flash series and was always bothered that it never got a fair shot - first being put up against the then still new Simpsons, and then often being pre-empted and moved all around the TV schedule.  It never really got the chance to catch on with audiences.  It was a stroke of genius for the producers of the current show to bring back Shipp (along with Mark Hamill, Corinne Bohrer and others) to respect and honor what has come before.  After all, readers of The Flash know the comics have always been about honoring legacies.

Ch'p and Howard The Duck

Many a superhero fan began their love of comics with funny animal characters.  It's not surprising that animal heroes would strike a chord with them as they are a bridge between the two genres.  The question is, how realistic to depict them?  For me, it's different for each character - I prefer a more cartoonish Howard and a more naturalistic looking Ch'p.

Captain America and General Glory

General Glory was a Captain America analogue that appeared on the pages of Justice League in the 90's.  While he could have been simply a one note parody character, I likes the stories that were told with him and his relationship with Guy Gardner.  I don't think he made is past the last few reboots though.

Microforce

I was hoping that since The Atom's suit was destroyed on DC's Legends of Tomorrow, there would be a new streamlined version closer to the comics once he rebuilt.  From footage I have seen of future episodes, it looks like he will be back to the clunky Iron Man-type design with the ugly helmet.  What's worse in the upcoming Justice League of America comic, the Ryan Choi Atom appears to be adopting a costume to more closely resemble the TV version.  They're doing it backwards, it's Hawkeye all over again!

Justice League of America and The Beast

The Beast had such a great look up until Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely decided to give him a makeover.  That cat-like design didn't last too long, and while his current appearance is a bit of an improvement, It's just a bit too generic looking for me.  Give me the classic hairline of the Avengers-era Beast again!

Justice League of America Vs. Apocalypse

X-Men Apocalypse was kind of a mish mash of a film, with lots of different elements thrown in.  While I don't know if it worked together as a whole, I did enjoy a lot of the fan service moments that were included like Weapon X, The Phoenix Force and finally proper X-Men uniforms in the final scene.  Quicksilver's big scene was once again fun but simply makes him way too powerful in my opinion.  I'm looking forward to future films in the new costumes that deal a lot less with Magneto and Mystique, which is getting a bit repetitive.  I must confess Mr. Sinister hit right after I pretty much bailed on the X-Men comics, so I don't know what to think of him as the next antagonist.

Constantine Vs. Mephisto

John Constantine's TV series never really got a chance to catch on before it was cancelled, but I thought it showed some potential.  I was glad to see him show up on an episode of Arrow, and I thought he fit in well there.  I don't know if there is anything to the speculation I have read about him visiting Legends of Tomorrow as well, but I think that it would be cool to see.

Spider-Man Vs. The Rogues

It's interesting that Captain Cold and Heatwave have made the leap from recurring villains on The Flash to regular characters on Legends of Tomorrow.  I can understand their inclusion, as it adds to the mix of personalities and lends conflict to the core team.  Wentworth Miller's overacting and chewing the scenery as Cold is almost at Jada Pinkett-Smith/Fish Mooney levels though, and he is a bit hard to take sometimes.

Jonah Hex Vs. Red Sonja

I gotta say, I'm not sure who I would predict winning this match up. Hex might have an advantage at longer ranges, but if he gets into close combat, Sonja would make short work of the gunslinger.  Am I crazy to hope that this battle might ultimately end up as a romance?  Could these two warriors tame each other's hearts?

Metamorpho and Warlock

I wanted to include a couple more of my favorite ugly characters, so I made this adventure a two parter.  I could have extended it even more though, because the list of hideous yet heroic characters is quite long,  I have always liked the concept, I think it speaks to the outcast in all of us - that outward appearances matter only so much, it's what's in your heart and your actions that truly make up who you are. Plus, most of them just look so darn cool!  Of course, Rex is a victim of the New 52, and hasn't appeared since the reboot.  Not in the comics anyway, he did appear on an episode of "Beware the Batman", which gave me a spark of hope that DC is not done with "the freak who never fails" yet...

Martian Manhunter and Warlock

I was happy to see that J'onn J'onzz will be front and center in the upcoming Justice League of America ongoing series.  His inclusion on the roster of Stormwatch rather than the Justice League when the New 52 relaunch debuted seemed off to me and it is good to see him back where he belongs.  Who knew that after all these years, he would be mentoring Vibe again?