Blue Beetle Vs. The Lizard

 

I finally checked out the Blue Beetle movie, and I thought it was OK.  I probably would have been more impressed with it 10-15 years ago, but at this point I felt like I had seen most of the story beats done before in other superhero flicks.  The very generic villains did not help.  I did like Jaime and his family though, and some of the effects were fun to watch, especially with the Bug ship.  I liked the nods to Ted Kord, but wonder if the mid-credits scene concerning him will ever be followed up on.  Blue Beetle is supposed to be one of the few characters that well be crossing over into James Gunn's new DCU though, so I suppose there is a chance.  Maybe in the proposed Booster Gold series?

Batgirl and Black Cat

 

Black Cat first met Batgirl with the Birds of Prey in STF #3029...

This cover required a bit of background repair before I could swap out a canary for a cat.  Here's a look at the behind the scenes progress:

Black Widow and Wildcat

 

It looks like the Black Widow solo film has finally settled on an a release date after a year's worth of delays, as publicity has begun to ramp up for it once more.  Let's hope it is going to be worth the wait - I for one can't wait to see The Taskmaster in action.

I am always happy to feature the work of the great Mike Wieringo on this blog.  He was gone far too soon.  I was lucky enough to pick up a page by him several years back.  I love how no dialog or captions are needed to get the gag:

Red Tornado and Mr. Fantastic

This cover features two artists that rank high among my favorites, and who were both gone far too soon.  Mike Wieringo and Don Newton each had very distinctive and instantly recognizable styles, and it was always a treat to see which projects and characters they were working on next.  Both were also at the height of their careers during their untimely passing.  We were fortunate to have enjoyed a wealth of their talents, and I can  only imagine the further contributions to comic art they would have made if they were still with us.

Bugs Bunny vs. Kraven the Hunter

There has been a lot of talk about Kraven possibly being a villain in the next Spider-Man movie, and his live action debut is long overdue.  Who best to play him, though?  I used to think Jeffrey Dean Morgan, but he seems to be looking a little older and thinner these days.  Gerard Butler could be an interesting choice, he still seems to be in decent shape.

The Expansion Team in: "Stretching Out The Roster!"

I've gotten a kick out of having The Elongated Man join The Flash on the CW.  Hartley Sawyer does well in the role, and certainly has the looks to play Ralph Dibny (wish he had red hair though).  The stretching effects aren't used enough to my liking but have looked pretty good for the most part.  The last episode where he developed a Clayface-like ability to completely mimic anyone's appearance, including their voice was a bit much, though - he has never been able to do that in the comics.

This is the third appearance of The Expansion Team - they were last seen battling the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in STF #1490, and first got together back in STF #934...

Batman and The Invisible Girl (Vs. Hugo Strange & Dr. Doom)

I've been hoping that Hugo Strange would bet a chance at being that main villain in a Batman movie.  I have enjoyed B.D. Wong's performance in the role on Gotham, and that just makes me want to see the character make the leap to the big screen even more.  Besides being a great psychological antagonist to the Dark Knight, his Monster Men experiments could be a way to bring Kirk Langstrom/Man-Bat into the mix as well.

Batman and Invisible Girl first met back in my MS Paint B&B days...

The Question Vs. Mysterio

Given that the Question is all about uncovering mysteries and conspiracies, I think that he would be a great match against Mysterio, the master of illusion and deception.  I'm betting it would be a cloudy issues as well - both of these guys are fond of showing up covered in plumes of smoke.

Zatanna and Spider-Man

I have opted to wait for the Blu-Ray to watch Amazing Spider-Man 2, as did many folks.  After the films' slight under-performance in the theaters, Sony seems undecided as to where to go next with the web slinger.  The third installment has been postponed, and now there have been rumors of a Venom solo film, or a movie featuring the Sinister Six (or a female version thereof).  I'm not sure how they plan to sell these movie when they couldn't with Spider-Man.  Hopefully they will get their act together or just let Marvel Studios take over the rights.

Justice League of America Vs. The Vision & The Scarlet Witch (And More!)

Magical comic characters are coming to the big and small screen, and it will be interesting to see how they are handled.  Scarlet Witch is of course among the the new Avengers slated to appear in the upcoming sequel.  Hopefully her powers will be clearly defined, as they can be a bit murky in the comics at times.  Doctor Strange has found a director in Scott Derrickson, and we should hear about casting soon.  On TV, I saw a trailer for Constantine that included Doctor Fate's helmet, so it seems that show will be a way to introduce more of the magical corners of the DCU.  I'm a fan of all of these heroes on the printed page, and I hope their live action counterparts are just as enjoyable.

Booster Gold And Spider-Man

One of the more interesting rumors with the Spider-Man movie franchise is that there are plans to expand into other Spidey-related movies, including Venom and Sinister Six.  Venom I can understand, and I have  been hearing rumors of a solo film for that character since the first Spider-Man trilogy.  The Sinister Six I have been hoping would be the subject of The Amazing Spider-Man 3.  I don't know how a film with them but without Spidey would work.  Time will tell what the actual plans are, I'm sure a lot will depend on the performance of next Summer's sequel.

J. Jonah Jameson Joins The Green Lantern Corps

I am surprised that there has been no mention of J. Jonah Jameson or The Daily Bugle in connection with the Amazing Spider-Man sequel.  I understand that the movie will have enough on it's hands with the introduction of Electro, The Rhino and Norman Osborn among others, but still the whole newspaper photographer angle seems like a big part of the Spidey mythos to leave out for a second time.  The JJJ scenes from the first trilogy were some of the most well received, and it will be hard to top J.K. Simmons' portrayal when they do try to recast the role.  That shouldn't stop them from trying though!

Black Lightning Vs. Electro / Superman Vs. Thanos

Usually I want film versions of comic characters to look as close to the source material as possible, but in the case of Electro for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, I can understand the need for a change.  I like the old lightning bolt mask on a nostalgic level, but there's no way that would work in live action.  The pictures released of a blue, glowing with energy Jamie Foxx look pretty cool to me. Spider-Man's costume is a huge improvement over the one he wore in the first film, hopefully the script to the sequel will be an improvement as well.

The Flash and Northstar

The flash has one of the greatest costume designs in comics.  Carmine Infantino came up with a simple, sleek uniform that looks great in motion, and it has deservedly stood the test of time.  When Wally West took over the mantle of The Flash, a few tweaks were made.  The material was shinier and the eyes where whited out, but it was still close enough to the classic design for me.  The latest revamp with the New 52 reboot was less successful in my eyes.  I don't see what adding a chin strap and a whole bunch of unnecessary seams does besides make the suit look busy.  The artists like to have the seams glow and crackle with energy when he uses his powers, but to me that usually looks messy and more like his abilities are based on electricity rather than speed.

You could tell that John Byrne was going for that sleek Silver Age type of designs with his uniforms for the members of Alpha Flight.  Their cool, simple looks were very effective and have for the most part remained unaltered over three decades later.

Green Lantern and The Hulk

It has been very encouraging to see the positive reaction to The Hulk as a result of his appearance in The Avengers.  The fact that there is renewed interest in a solo Hulk sequel proves that audiences are willing to give a character a second (or third) chance to get things right.  I hope that DC/Warner Brothers understands this and will be able to give us a Green Lantern sequel that learns from the mistakes of the first entry.

Mr. Terrific, Mr. Fantastic and Mr. Incredible

I put this one together as a goof, but now that I look at the three of these guys together, it occurs to me that they would make for a formidable team!  I love all of the Pixar films, and  The Incredibles is one of the best, hopefully Director Brad Bird will give us a sequel one day.  Mr. Fantastic will get a second chance at cinematic life if for no other reason to retain Fantastic Four movie rights, it seems - hopefully the stretching effects will be a little better realized this time around.  The solo Mr. Terrific title was one of the first cancellations from the New DCU.  That's too bad, because I like the Michael Holt character.  Perhaps he can find another place to shine in the upcoming Earth 2 series.

Superman and Spider-Man

Ah, the Super-Mobile and the Spider-Mobile... never were there two more unnecessary superhero vehicles!  I have to admit, though - despite the fact that their respective heroes didn't really need them, I found them both to be kind of cool.  Those big telescoping hands on Superman's ride were funny and awesome at the same time. Spider-Man's car kind of resembled a dune buggy that my father had when I was growing up, so I thought that was cool too.  I remember there was a cool toy version of the Super-Mobile (probably one of the key reasons for its existence), but I'm not sure if the Spider-Mobile ever had one.