Doctor Fate Vs. Nightmare

 

I think the plan is still for a third Dr. Strange movie to be made.  Nightmare would be a great candidate for a villain.  I can imagine a lot of cool dreamscapes and scenarios with him in the mix and it would be fun to see them realized.

Space Ghost and Firestorm

 

Uh oh, Mr. Universe is back to menace the heroes of STF once again! This time though, he's facing one who has met him before - Firestorm battled him alongside Mar-Vell in STF #4735.  Hopefully that experience and the help of Space Ghost will give him an edge this time around.

Merry Christmas from The 4th Wall Four!

 

The comments from the team above say it all!  Thanks for another awesome year! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Metamorpho and Hellboy

 

These two always seemed to have similar personalities to me, so I suspect that they would work well together. Hellboy is always coming across strange looking beings with fantastical powers, so joining forces with Rex Mason would just be another day on the job for him.

Dr. Fate Vs. The Red Skull

 

This is definitely a match up that I would like to see, if only to see Fate open up a can of whoopass on the Skull by the end of the tale.

I am glad to use a Red Skull image hereby the very talented Ron Garney.  I was lucky enough to pick up an original page by him several years back:

The Hulk and Wildfire

 

Wildfire has always been one of my favorite Legionnaires.  You would think that a hero without a face would be hard to identify with, but I found his appearance to be quite intriguing.  Plus, the whole concept that he was made of pure energy and his costume was merely a container to hold him made him very unique.  I think that he, like Ultra Boy, has the potential to spin off into a solo series of his own.

Ambush Bug and Bug

Three energetic characters named bug from three different companies, all with a predominantly green color scheme.  It's only natural that they would gravitate to one another in the the nonstop party known as the STF universe!  With their fun personalities, I'm thinking that a story featuring this trio would be an enjoyable romp.

Doom Patrol and The Hulk

I liked this version of The Doom Patrol, even if the newer members didn't have as much of a "freak" element to them.  I thought that Joshua Clay, Tempest, was a cool character with an interesting power set.  I don't really remember seeing him anywhere in the DCU after Grant Morrison took over the title.  Was he killed off, de-powered, or just forgotten about?

Swamp Thing and The Fantastic Four

Presenting the conclusion to our three-part epic!  Let's hope the FF can reverse whatever treatment the Mole Man had administered!

Word is that JJ Abrams is working on bringing  members of Justice League Dark to the big screen.  Swamp Thing has seen solo action in two movies, a tv series, a cartoon show, and most recently an abruptly cancelled streaming show.  I'm betting that DC does not want to go to that well one more time for now, and we will see him in a team setting next.

Zippy, Howard the Duck and Ambush Bug

It took me a couple of viewings, but I finally spotted the Howard The Duck cameo in Avengers: Endgame.  The question is, did he remain on Earth following the events of the movie, or return to space with the Guardians or the Ravagers?  I'm hoping the former, which would give him a chance to interact with some of Marvel's other heroes.  A scene with Spidey or Doctor Strange could be a real hoot.

Ambush Bug in The Marvel Universe

Maybe even more than the title character herself, I am looking forward to The Skrulls being introduced in Captain Marvel.  They are probably my favorite evil alien race in comics and it will be cool to see what shapeshifting shenanigans they get up to.  I'm wondering if any already established MCU characters will be revealed to have been sleeper Skrulls all along? 

The Lunatic Fringe

This cover comes about as the result of a concept from Reg Aubry and others in a recent comment section of this blog. I liked the idea of an entire team filled with heroes of questionable sanity.  It only makes sense that these off-kilter champions would join together, as many have had adventures with one another in previous issues -

The Badger met Moon Knight in STF #832...

Moon Knight met The Creeper in STF #1022...

The Creeper met The Tick in STF #2309...

The Tick met Ambush Bug in STF #480...

... and I guess they all get together and meet Crazy Jane in this issue!

Thanks, Reg and the rest for a fun team idea!

Ambush Bug Vs. Galactus

I remember the issue of DC Comics Presents where Ambush Bug made an early appearance, which featured Superman and The Legion of Substitute Heroes.  The story stood out for me because of it's humor.  while comics always had funny moments in them, this one was a straight up comedy, with amusing bits throughout the whole issue.  This style would become fairly common in later years with comics like Justice League International and Sensational She-Hulk, but it was quite a fresh change of pace back then.  As a bonus, that issue of DCCP also features a letter from yours truly - 14 year old me pointed out a costume continuity error from an earlier issue that featured Air Wave.

Hellboy and The Creeper

It's going to be interesting to see how different the upcoming Hellboy reboot film will be from the earlier movies by Guillermo del Toro.  Hellboy himself looks pretty much the same, but the story is supposed to be tonally different from what has come before.  I don't think we will ever see a live action Creeper, though.  He's got a look that works great for comics, but I just don't know how it would ever translate to live action (although I admit I have seen some decent cosplay).

Legion of Super-Heroes Vs. Kang

After Loki, Ultron and Thanos, Kang seems like the perfect villain to next face off against the cinematic Avengers.  I think the rights to the character had been tied up with The Fantastic Four, but that situation promises to be solved soon.  King's cross-time tampering would be a welcome change of pace from the usual alien invasions

Ambush Bug Vs. Wolverine

With the Disney/Fox deal looking imminent, folks are already speculating as to when Wolverine will make his entrance into the MCU.  Some have hoped for Huge Jackman to join the festivities in the follow up to Infinity War, but Jackman himself has said his time has passed. I'm thinking Marvel will take their time and start fresh with the X-Men characters, so it will probably be a while before we hear any casting for Logan.  I'm really hoping that when he finally does appear, they will find a way to make the costume work, something that Fox was unable or unwilling to do.

The Legion of Super-Pets and Lockjaw

The prospect of an Inhumans movie is an exciting one, even if it is still years away.  I am especially looking forward to Lockjaw joining Rocket Racoon, Cosmo and Howard the Duck in Marvel's growing stable of animal superheroes on the big screen.  I have always thought the teleporting pooch was such a cool character in concept and appearance and it will be a treat to see him become the next scene stealer.

Insects Incorporated!

Even though I took my super-heroes very seriously when I was growing up, I did enjoy it when comic companies were able to poke fun at themselves.  Marvel's Not Brand Ecch and the all-humor issue of What If? were fun reads.  DC had Ambush Bug to point out the absurdities of a life in the DCU and as a comic character in general.  I always got a kick out of his appearances and I loved watching Henry Winkler voicing him in the final episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.  Has he been back in comics recently?  I'd love to see the Bug's reaction to the New 52.

The Tick Vs. Ambush Bug

These guys seem like they were made to appear together. Aside from the similarity in appearance, the stories that they star in are always chock full of commentary and humor regarding the state of the comics industry.  I can imagine that any tale that featured them side by side would just be a ton of fun.  Heck, call in Patrick Warburton and Henry Winkler to reprise the voices and animate the story!  Now that would be a blast!

Ambush Bug Vs. Deadpool

I think that both of these characters serve an important function for the DC and Marvel comics lines. More than just humorous characters, they are very meta and can comment directly on what's going on in the comic book world they operate in. The fact that they seem to know they are comic book characters allows them to react to the various fads and cliches that the genre goes through.  As seriously as we fans want our hobby to be taken, there is certainly plenty to parody, and it's good that we have guys like these to help us laugh at ourselves.