Black Goliath and The Atom

 

Sometimes you don't need big battle sequences if the science is cool enough in a story. It's interesting to see superheroes putting their heads together to solve a problem rather than stop a crime. I can see these two being intrigued in whatever Starro needs their assistance with.

Nick Fury and The Elongated Man

 

No word yet on whether Ralph Dibny will show up anywhere in James Gunn and Peter Safran's DCU.  Metamorpho has already been cast and I'm guessing Plastic Man will be appearing early on as well since The Terrifics has been teased - so I don't know if Gunn will want to bring a third stretchy hero so soon.  Hopefully I am wrong about that, Elongated Man never gets the respect he deserves.

Captain Marvel and Ant-Man

 

Mr. Mind is one of my absolute favorite villains and despite seeing him in the mid credits scene of Shazam! it doesn't seem he will have a large role in the sequel - if he appears at all.  At least we have confirmation that M.O.D.O.K. will be appearing in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania.  From what I have seen it is a more robotic looking version than in the comics - though I am hoping his helmet pulls back to reveal a giant humanoid face behind it.

Doctor Fate and Mr. Fantastic (Part One)

 

Presenting Part One of a Two-Part tale! I look forward to seeing Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate in the upcoming Black Adam movie - despite thee odd design choice not to have eyeholes on his helmet.  I really hope my prediction is incorrect and that the character is not killed off by the end of the movie.  I have a sneaking suspicion that one way or another there will be a passing of the mantle.

So just who is the foe these two are heading to face, anyway?  Come back tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion!

Mon-El and Gladiator

 

I thought that this would be a suitable set of match ups as these are a couple of pairs of characters that mirror each other.  When I found similar poses, the concept wrote itself.

Mongul here is by  the incredibly talented Kevin Maguire.  I was lucky enough to pick up a couple of original pages by him several years back, one being a pencils-only page which I really like:

Huntress and Mockingbird

 

Continued from yesterday's cover, we see that Clint Barton's time in The House of Mystery has perhaps had some lasting effects... Regular visitors to this blog will know that Hawkeye and Huntress are siblings on Earth-STF, and I figured that is was high time that Helena shared an adventure with her sister-in-law.  I'd like for Bobbi Morse to show up in the Disney+ Hawkeye series, but I think a version of the character appearing on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. may rule that out, since apparently Kevin Feige was not a fan of that series.

Giant-Man Vs. Booster Gold

Hank Pym has had a lot of different looks over the years as Giant Man, Ant-Man and Yellowjacket. I liked the visor that he sported as Yellowjacket and in the costume he is wearing on the cover above.  They had a high tech feel to them and gave him a slightly more menacing presence.  I imagine they had some heads-up display abilities in them, similar to Iron Man's helmet.

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? 

Mera and Namorita in: "Exiled... From Atlantis!"

Mera may have only made a brief appearance in Justice League, but she had the best and most comics accurate looking costume in the film. I look forward to seeing her really get a chance to shine once Aquaman's solo movie hits the theaters.  Her water based abilities looked cool onscreen and I am sure that director James Wan will present some amazing visuals with them.

Mera and Namorita first crossed paths in STF #1264...

Judge Dredd and Demolition Man

I was sorry that the recent Dredd film was not enough of a commercial success to get a sequel green lit.  However, now there seems to be talk emerging of bringing the character to TV.  Karl Urban has done television before, would he be willing to return to the role?  I am already interested, and that would make it even more appealing.

Thanks to Mike Shirley, a Patron of this blog, for giving me this idea for this Sly encounter!

Blue Beetle and The Hulk

I am looking forward to seeing Hulk in full gladiator mode in the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok, and I am a little curious as to how he ends up on the battle planet.  We last see him flying away on an Avengers' Quinjet, but I don't imagine he made the whole trip in that,  Perhaps The Grandmaster abducted him for use in his arena?  Or maybe Dr. Strange's involvement will have something to do with it.

If you're wondering what happened to Booster, he knows to keep his distance after the last time he and Beetle ran into The Hulk...

Bizarro and The Impossible Man

Today's comic book villains are generally very serious and even more deadly.  While there is certainly a place for that, from time to time I kind of miss the antagonists that were more of the pest variety.  Being a mischief maker rather than a homicidal maniac did not have to mean that the stories featuring them would be missing any tension or action... especially when they were as powerful as these two.

Booster Gold & Blue Beetle battle The Sentinels

Fans of the Pre-New 52 DC Universe should be happy to hear that at least a couple of heroes from that reality are returning to comics.  Keith Giffen has announced that Booster Gold and Blue Beetle will be joining the cast of Justice League 3000 through some sort of time travel shenanigans.  Giffen was responsible for many of the Blue & Gold team's classic moments, so I think this is a very interesting development.  Could it pave the way for some more of DC's lost characters to return?

Doctor Mid-Nite and Daredevil in "Second Sight!"

This "Blind Justice" team was one of my first, so I thought it was high time I gave them a revisit.  Casting for the Daredevil Netflix series continues to impress, with Rosario Dawson coming on board in an unnamed role.  Some have speculated that she will be playing Elektra, but my first thought was Misty Knight - a character that could continue into Iron Fist, Luke Cage and the other Netflix/Marvel shows.

Robin and Ultimate Spider-Man

Little did I know when I made this cover that Damian Wayne would be killed off before I even had a chance to post it.  While I do think that it has been problematic that Batman has had so many sidekicks, I have to admit that I was just warming up to the kid before Grant Morrison decided to permanently close out his story arc... or did he?  Morrison's time on Batman has apparently ended with the revelation of numerous Damian clones, leaving the door for a return quite open, it would seem.

Marvel's Age of Ultron event ended with Galactus showing up in the Ultimate Universe, and some are already suspecting that this will indeed signal the end to that line of comics.  I can see that happening, but if it does I am sure there will be some elements that carry over to the mainstream Marvel Universe.  The top of that list is Miles Morales, I just can't see that character going away no matter what happens to the Ultimate line.

Superboy and Iceman

I was glad to see Shawn Ashmore  added to the list of returning actors for X-Men: Days of Future Past.  I liked his performance as Iceman in the original trilogy, but by the end of the third film, we only got to see him fully "ice up" for a few seconds.  Let's hope that we see a lot more of him in complete head to toe ice action this time around!

Captain Marvel and Marvelman

I'm still waiting to see what Marvel is going to do now that they have the rights to Marvelman/Miracleman.  I have still never read the acclaimed Alan Moore issues and hopefully reasonably priced reprints will be available soon.  Will the character be integrated into the Marvel Universe?  There was some speculation that that would happen at the end of the current Age of Ultron series, but that has been since denied (although Angela, formerly of Image's Spawn, will be making her Marvel debut there).  Whatever they decide, it is going to be a big event, and I can't wait to see what creators will be involved.

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.

The Thing and Justice League International

When DC revamped the Justice League in the late 80's I don't think anyone expected the humorous take that was presented. Surprisingly, it worked for me, at least for the first couple of years. I think a big part of the success was the choice of Kevin Maguire on art chores. His knack for facial expressions really amped up the comedic element. I don't think any of the artists that followed him were able to capture the magic in quite the same way. After I while, I did long for the more serious version of the JLA to return, but I am glad that DC was daring enough to experiment with one of its top tier properties in such a fun way.

I haven't been reading the Justice League: Generation Lost series, which is now nearing it's conclusion - but I do like most of the characters involved. Is it worth checking out when it hits TPB form?

The Thing and Booster Gold

Booster Gold is a character that has really been reinvented well in the past several years. I didn't really pay much attention to him when his self titled series first hit, other than guest appearances here and there. When he joined the JLA and formed a friendship with Blue Beetle, his personality really started to come through. Still he was often seen as a buffoon or a lightweight. I am so glad that Geoff Johns, Dan Jurgens and others chose to not just have him settle for that status, ad gave him the great new role of protecting the timeline. It opens up so many story possibilities and gives him a crucial part in the DCU. Best of all, since he has to do his work in relative secret, most other characters still see him as the "old" Booster - which means we don't have to stop seeing his more humorous side. His current series is lots of fun and serves as an example of how all most b-list heroes need is a coat of polish and a new spin every now and then.