Black Panther and Sgt. Rock

 

I liked the brief flashback scene we got of T'Chaka fully suited up in the first Black Panther movie, and it would have been cool to see more of him in action.  Something tells me that he and Sgt. Rock would have a grudging respect for one another.

Mr. T and Chaselon

 These two have been allies ever since they joined forces in Task Force T back in STF #1082, and I thought it was time to give them a solo adventure - complete with a ring for Mr. T.   Who will be given a Green Lantern ring next?  You can find out right here tomorrow!

Firestorm and Jessica Jones

 

What I am wondering is where Firestorm will fit in the cinematic DCU.  I think that James Gunn is a fan of the hero, but I haven't heard anything about his inclusion yet.  He is admittedly a tough character to pull off in live action, but I hope we can see a more comics-faithful interpretation than the TV Versions we got on The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.

The Roustabouts in: "Satan at the Circus!"

 

For this, the fourth appearance of The Roustabouts, I thought I would raise the stakes a little.  Let's see how the Brawlers Under the Big Top fare against Mephistopheles himself!  It's a good thing that half of their members have extensive experience battling demonic entities.

Doctor Octopus Vs. The Penguin

 

When I first heard that there would be a series on HBO Max spinning out of The Batman and featuring Colin Farrel's Penguin, I kind of scratched my head.  The Penguin didn't seem like a character that warranted his own show and didn't we just already watch the villain's rise to power in Gotham?  Then I saw the movie, and was really taken by his performance.  I wanted more, and this series will certainly provide that - now I can't wait for it to come out.

The Penguin Vs. The Vulture

 

One of the things I am most interested to see in The Batman is Colin Farrel's performance as The Penguin.  He's unrecognizable under the make-up for the role and I've been intrigued with what he's been doing with the character in  the brief snippets we have been shown so far.  

I am always happy to use artwork by the amazing Norm Breyfogle, an artist gone way soo soon.  I was lucky enough to get a sketch by him back in the day:

Photon and Batman

Norm Breyfogle was a truly unique talent.  Batman has had a lot of talented artists working on his titles over the years, but most more or less followed  a house style.  Breyfogle came along and broke all the rules of character design and panel layout.  His Batman tales looked unlike any that I had seen before, but somehow it all worked beautifully.  He joins an elite group in my mind including Neal Adams, Jim Aparo, Trevor Von Eeden,  Marshall Rogers and David Mazzuchelli that helped to evolve the Dark Kinght artistically.

Black Panther Vs. Deathstroke in: "Contract on a King!"

Will we see a caped Black Panther when he next appears on the big screen?  I'm sure that Shuri could design one with a tactical ability that he can use to give it a purpose beyond looking cool.

T'Challa first tangled with Deathstroke in STF #2357...

I hope you checked out Part One... Now, wait a minute - how is this story related to yesterday's tale?  Make sure you come back tomorrow for Part Three of our Five-Part story, and the connection will become clearer...

Dynomutt & Blue Falcon and The Falcon

I thought it was cool that Redwing was presented as a drone in Captain America: Civil War, and liked how the tech was used.  Still it would have been even cooler if they could have found a way to include the actual avian Redwing.  I love the idea of superhero pets and partners. One reason I want to see a Batman Beyond movie is to have Ace the Bat-Hound on the big screen.

Thank you to comics historian and Patron of this blog Marc Tyler Nobleman for suggesting this team-up!

Spider-Woman and Batman in: "Targeted... By The Enforcer!"

Spider-Woman has been given a new, more utilitarian costume in recent years.  I assume it is to make her outfit more movie-friendly should she ever make the leap to the big screen. The original may be hard to translate into live action, but it still looks fantastic on the illustrated page.  it's  great design and I hope we have not seen the last of it.

Spider-Woman met Batman once before, way back in my B&B MS Paint days...

Batman and Prime

I'm a big fan of Norm Breyfogle's artwork, especially his stints on Batman and Detective Comics.  He gave the Dark Knight and his rogues gallery a modern look while honoring the classic designs.  I liked his ability to depict action sequences, I could really get a sense of movement from his characters.  His design sense lent itself well to cover art, too - he really produced some beautiful work there.

Superman and Prime

I always thought that Prime and the rest of the Malibu Comics Ultraverse characters got a bum rap.  Even in the superhero glut of the 90's they were able to stand out in the marketplace with their fun heroes and talented creative teams and even had cartoon tie-ins and crossovers with Marvel Comics.  When Marvel acquired the rights to the Ultraverse characters, I thought that it was the beginning of bigger and better things for them, but it was just the opposite.  For some reason Marvel never really did anything with them and they are now in limbo with the rest of the 90's also-rans.  I wonder what happened there?

Batman and Guardian

This cover is about me finally checking off a box in my head.  I always meant to do a Batman/Guardian cover back when this blog began as Brave and the Bold: The Lost Issues and never got around to it.  It always bugged me and I am glad that I finally put these two guys together.  Gotta love that Byrne designed costume!

The Demon and Doctor Strange in "The Legacy of Morgan Le Fay!"

Out of all of Marvel's upcoming slate of films, Doctor Strange was the one I was least interested with.  I like the character and he has had some great runs, but his comic was never the first one I would pick up. That has changed now with the casting of Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role.  I am a huge fan of his work on Sherlock, and I think that he is a perfect choice to portray The Master of the Mystic Arts.  I hope we'll get an idea of what he will look like in the role soon.

It's nice to see these two working together - when they first met in STF #81, they did not get along so well.

Batman and Lancelot Link

 I got a kick out of seeing a Gorilla Grodd for a brief moment on last week's episode of The Flash.  I am glad that they are going with CGI and thought he looked cool in the quick tease.  We've come a long way since Lancelot Link, where they just dubbed dialogue into the mouths of live action monkeys. I have to confess,  though, that I was thoroughly entertained by the program back in the day.  My memories are vague, but I remember thinking it was hilarious.  I think I even had a coloring book that was based on the show.

I used art by the great Norm Breyfogle on this cover.  Breyfogle recently suffered a stroke and has many medical bills that will come with his rehabilitation.  If you would like to help him out, you can do so by contributing here.

Batman Beyond and Iron Man 2020

The idea here was to put two heroes of the future together, but Arno Stark won't be a future hero for much longer when you consider that 2020 is only 6 short years away.  Isn't the "future" from Back to the Future Part II supposed to be coming right up as well?  Man, it really makes a guy feel old when he catches up to the futuristic tales of his youth!

Batman and Ultron

Ultron is one of my absolute favorite Marvel villains.  From the creepy insect like design to the calculating, emotionless way that he enacts his nefarious plans, his presence in a story always meant that the heroes would have to pull out all of the stops to defeat him.  I was really hoping that Ultron would be the villain in the upcoming Avengers film but it looks like that role will be filled by Loki and and alien race (Skrulls?  Kree? that information has not been released yet).  Hopefully, with a sequel and the addition of Hank Pym, Ultron will make his theatrical debut in a few years.

Batman and Hellcat

I always found Hellcat to be an interesting character due to her transition from a Katy Keene type comic book model to a full fledged superheroine. I enjoyed her bubbly personality and the way she would play off of rougher characters like Valkyrie and The Hulk in the pages of The Defenders.  Because of that, I wasn't a huge fan of attempts to darken the character through her relationship to Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan.  That eventually led to her death, but fortunately this is comics and she got better.  I really liked the costume redesign that I used for this cover which she was given by the very talented Norm Breyfogle.  Unfortunately, she did not use it for long - I wonder if that was because the powers that be thought it was too close to Batgirl?

Batman and The Vision

I have always loved The Vision, since his earliest appearances as a member of The Avengers. His eerie visual and interesting powers and back story made him stand out in contrast with his fellow teammates. Add on top of that his relationship with The Scarlet Witch, and you had a character ripe with years of story potential.

Sadly, like his former bride, The Vision as a character has meandered somewhat for many years now. Being built and rebuilt, separated from Wanda and de-aged, it was hard for me to maintain interest in him, and I finally lost track. I am not sure of his status now, but I hope a writer can soon find a clear direction for this great marvel creation.

Batman and The Micronauts

The Micronauts were probably my favorite of the toys turned comics concept that was popular during my childhood years. This was mainly due to the fact that the toys were so cool looking! Lots of points of articulation and great designs, they were pretty cool compared to most of the other action figures out at the time. I remember my brother had Biotron and I had Acroyear and we used to do mock battles, ah - good times. In the comics, I picked up a few issues if their various series, but was really won over with the X-Men vs. Micronauts mini-series. I'm not sure what the rights issues are like, but it would be nice to see The Micronauts back in action.