Showing posts with label Marvel Comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marvel Comics. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Batman and Nova



I'd be interested to hear any opinions of Nova's most recent series at Marvel. I remember quite liking his original series and various guest appearances. From what I read of his time in New Warriors, that series didn't do him justice in my opinion. Erik Larsen's series was fun, but too short to really gain momentum. I had read some nice reviews of his latest exploits, but It seemed that his series was very tied in with the overall Annihilation group of cosmic Marvel books, and I would have to buy multiple other titles to get the whole story. If the Nova series can stand solidly when read on its own, I might be tempted to pick up some of the TPB's

This is one of the team-ups I would really like to see, Just because the two heroes are so dissimilar in personality and method.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Batman and Nighthawk



I am not sure what Nighthawk's current status is, but I always enjoyed his adventures in The Defenders. I liked the design of his costume, especially the rigid cape. I hope to see a revival of the classic Defenders line-up, I miss Hulk calling him Bird-nose.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Batman and Nightcrawler



I understand that Nightcrawler has been killed off recently in the X-Men titles. I haven't followed the X-universe closely in a while, but that really bummed me out to hear. Kurt Wagner has one of the most unique appearances, personalities and sets of abilities in comics, and deserves better than that. Hopefully, he will join the list of "only briefly dead" heroes and make his way back to the land of the living.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Batman and Night Nurse



Here's another example of a character that had to wait decades before being given another shot. Night Nurse has shown up in the past few years in Daredevil and the mini series Dr. Strange: The Oath in a role that makes so much sense I can't believe nobody has thought of it before. She runs a secret treatment center for superheroes injured on the job. It's a cool concept and I hope to see it used further. I also quite liked her relationship with Dr. Strange, so if he is given another series, it would be nice to see her as a supporting character.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Batman and Nick Fury



I think it is pretty cool how Marvel took their biggest WWII hero and through the plot device of "vita-rays" were able to continue to give him adventures in the present day. Like James Bond on steroids, Fury was always the ultimate in cool because not only did he have the best vehicles and weapons, he also had all the best connections. Good guy to know!

It's too bad that he is being muscled out of the on-screen Marvel Universe, but Sam Jackson is pretty cool, so I can live with his Ultimate Universe counterpart. Still, it is unfortunate that Fury's only live action appearance was performed by David Hasselhoff!

Batman and Ms. Marvel



Ms. Marvel is a character that I am glad to see having been given a boost in the last five years or so. Her recent solo series was unfortunately encumbered with tie-ins from one crossover to another and never really got the chance to find its own identity. Hopefully she will get another chance soon and will still be able to maintain a high profile in the team books she is a part of.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Batman and Four Famous Co-Stars! (Colossus, Superman: Red Son, Crimson Dynamo & Red Star)




I've been wanting to use the B&B #100 cover layout with 4 guest stars for a long time but I could never come up with the right concept. I was trying to think of a Batman/Colossus concept when I thought it might be fun to throw in some more Russia based characters.

Red Star was originally called Starfire, but he relinquished that name to the more popular Teen Titan.

Crimson Dynamo was always my favorite of Iron Man's armored adversaries/allies - I thought his armor had a great formidable tank quality to it.

Superman: Red Son is from the excellent Elseworlds story of the same name. Easily one of Mark Millar's best works, I highly recommend it.

Colossus is, of course, the very popular X-Men member. I used an image by his co-creator, Dave Cockrum.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Batman and Hellboy



Mike Mignola has really done a great job of exercising quality control with Hellboy, whether it be in comics, movies or animation. He has managed to get his creator-owned character out there in a variety of formats, always maintaining a high standard of quality and fidelity.

The comics speak for themselves, scary, funny, gothic action packed mysteries filled with innovative concepts and characters. While the film versions changed a few elements, they got the look perfectly and were a lot of fun. I hope that Guillermo Del Toro completes the trilogy. The two animated movies (featuring the cast of the films on vocal chores) are very well done, I highly recommend them.

Batman and Mr. Fantastic



Mr. Fantastic was always cool because his intellect and personality made him stand out against the other more humorous themed stretching super heroes. I remember liking the fact that that most artists resisted the urge to show Reed Richards stretching his neck, because that would be undignified for a man of his stature.

I am enjoying Jonathan Hickman's take on Reed in the current Fantastic Four series, full of big ideas, but not forgetting the importance of family - which is what the FF is all about to me.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Batman and Agents of Atlas



I picked up the first Agents of Atlas TPB on a whim because I liked the What If? issue it was inspired by and I had read a few positive reviews. I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it. It's a great group of eclectic characters, each with complex layers of history and personality. I liked the second TPB as well and definitely plan to keep following this team.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Batman and Dazzler



Dazzler is a character that has had a hard time finding a niche. As is often the case in comics she was created to capitalize on a fad just as it was dying out. With disco and roller skates no longer a draw, she relied guest stars to prop up her series. After its cancellation, she was given a makeover and membership in the X-Men, but that didn't seem to raise her profile very much. She does have interesting powers and a unique back story, so I think there is still potential to be mined. Perhaps the best angle would be to go back to the original look in kind of a retro chic vibe. I'm a firm believer that every minor character is just one clever writer away from the big leagues. Hey, I live in hope.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Batman and Morbius



I was first introduced to Morbius in one of my all-time favorite Spider-Man arcs, where Spidey grows two extra sets of arms. There have been other attempts to merge vampires with super-heroes or super-villains, but I think Morbius was the most successful. Like the best Spider-Man villains, he was a true threat, but also had a sense of tragedy about him.

I had a hard time finding an image for this cover, and finally located one in an unlikely place - a set of Marvel stickers that came out in the 70's. Boy did that bring back memories. Each sticker featured a character with a speech balloon containing a one liner or a bad pun (For instance Medusa said, "Only my hairdresser knows for sure!") Ah, those were the days.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Batman and Moondragon



I have to admit, the main reason I used to kind of like Moondragon was that she reminded me of Persis Khambatta, the beautiful actress who appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I'd have to check publication dates to see if there is a chance that she was inspired by the actress. Usually she was written with a less than inviting personality, but at least that created conflict and made for some interesting story lines. I'm not sure what her status is these days, the last I remember reading of her was in Peter David's Captain Marvel series some years back.

The Marvel Two-In-One cover I used here is by the incomparable George Perez. I had the pleasure of meeting him briefly this past year, and he could not have been more gracious. His love of comics is infectious and clearly shows through in his artwork.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Batman and Moon Knight



Since Moon Knight is the closest character Marvel has to Batman, I always felt that this would be a natural and interesting team-up. I love the character's look and the multiple secret identity angle is a cool one. Unfortunately too often he is played as borderline (or over the border) crazy and seems to fight the same couple of villains over and over, which has turned me off to his more recent titles. I still think he has great potential, and always check in when a new creative team takes a crack at his adventures. Hopefully someone will find the right balance and recapture some of the excitement of his original series.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Batman and Blade



I never paid much attention to Blade until the first Wesley Snipes film, which I quite liked. It's a great example of how a minor character can really break out if given the right script, director and actor. The Sequel was fun too, although I felt the third one lost a step. The success in films hasn't translated to more popularity in comics, however - perhaps this is a character that is better suited to live action, or maybe it is a matter of just not finding the creative team that clicks yet.

The B&B cover I used as a template here is by Nick Cardy, who for my money was the best DC cover artist in the Silver/Bronze Age (Gil Kane holds that honor for Marvel). Cardy, along with John Romita Sr. also drew some of the most beautiful women in comics.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Batman and Mephisto



One thing I like about Marvel's stable of villains is that they have a lot that are considered line-wide villains. At DC, once you get past Darkseid, there aren't too many villains that can make that claim. Dr. Doom started with the FF, but he has had major story lines with many other big guns (and not so big guns) of the Marvel Universe. Thanos, Kingpin and the Wrecking Crew will pop up in a wide variety of titles. Mephisto is in this group as well. I have read cool stories pitting him against the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, The Fantastic Four, even Daredevil. And of course one very notorious story with Spider-Man that is still quite controversial. So it was only a matter of time before he vexed Batman...

The Mephisto on this cover is by Marvel legend John Buscema - probably the artist I most relate to the company because of the How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way! book that I spent many many hours of my youth studying.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Batman and Marvel Zombies



When I first heard of the Marvel Zombies mini-series, it sounded like a silly concept and I didn't bother to pick up the issues. I then read a bunch of positive reviews as well as some of Robert Kirkman's other comics work and decided to give it a shot. I am glad I did because I really got a kick out of it, as well as the sequel. It has a nice gallows humor to it and Sean Phillips knows how to draw gore without it having too much of a gross out factor. I haven't tried the later series with different creative teams, hopefully Marvel isn't stretching the concept too thin.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Batman and Mar-Vell



Captain Marvel was a character that I discovered in a somewhat backwards manner. The first story of his that I read was The Death of Captain Marvel Graphic Novel. I then sought out his solo series as well as his guest appearances. I always liked his look, he has one of those simple silver age style costumes that really appeal to me.

Marvel recently brought the character back, only to later reveal that it was a Skrull impostor, which is just as well since the stories he was given were less than memorable. Mar-Vell had one of the great send-offs in comics, and a full return would probably dilute that. Still, it would be nice to see him return in some "untold stories".

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Batman and Man-Thing



Man-Thing actually gave me the chills as a kid. First of all, the fact that he looked so darn freaky! Sure, he had "Man" on his name, but of all the various swamp monsters in comicdom, Ted Sallis' alter ego looked the most inhuman. Also his hook - whosoever knows fear will burn at his touch - was a great one in that it affected the good guys just as much as the bad guys.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Batman and Bucky



You have to admit, Bucky is better protected than Robin, at least. Bucky is of course back now and in the role of Captain America. Steve Rogers has also returned and while he hasn't taken his mantle back yet, with a movie on the horizon it is only a matter of time. Hopefully Marvel will find a purpose for Bucky Barnes that will allow him to continue to flourish.

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