Blackhawk and Sub-Mariner

 

So what was that announcement a couple of years back that Steven Spielberg was interested in helming a Blackhawk movie?  Maybe is was just a passing whim, because I never heard any more about it beyond the original headline.  I'd be shocked if interest in the making the film has remained throughout all of the still-ongoing changes at Warner Bros.  It's too bad, because I'm betting that Spielberg could have done something really special with the property.

Werewolf By Night Vs. Swamp Thing

It's great that Len Wein is back writing the adventures of Swamp Thing.  Don't get me wrong, I was a huge fan of what Alan Moore did with the character - but I still look back fondly to Swamp Thing's original series by Wein and Wrightson.  I loved that this horror character shared the same world as Superman and Batman, and their run was a scary, moody delight.

Batman and Flash Gordon

I think that Batman and Flash Gordon would be an interesting team up to see in the comics because of their mutual roots in the old black and white cliffhanger movie serials.  Despite their quite obvious lack of big budgets, I have always found those serials to be quite charming and some of the stunt work and plot twists are pretty effective.  What would have been really cool is a serial from those days combining these two action stars in one epic adventure!

The Thing and Flash Gordon

I was only familiar with Flash Gordon through the cheesy 80's film, so I did not pay much attention to the property. Years later I picked up a copy of the old movie cliffhanger serial featuring Flash and I thought it was a ton of fun. It was when I finally read the incredible stories illustrated by Alex Raymond that I truly became a fan, though. The stories are endlessly imaginative and fast moving, and the art just has to be seen to believed. It's really some of the most beautiful comic work I have ever seen and when you compare it to most other comic work from the same era, it's even more amazing. Flash Gordon brought out the best in his illustrators, and there is also some amazing work from Al Williamson, Reed Crandall (whose art I used for this cover) and others. I have heard that there is yet another film adaptation on the horizon and I hope they go back to those Raymond tales for inspiration.