Shade the Changing Man and Grimjack

Here's a cover featuring a couple of characters that I need to get to know better.  Grimjack always looked cool to me, and I enjoy the writing and art team of John Ostrander and Tim Truman, but I never got a chance to check out any of the comics, what's his best adventure?.  I've read very little of Shade, I think only when he was a member of Suicide Squad.  Is this new version  the same character that Ditko created in the 70's?

A big thank you to Bob Sanders for supporting the blog and suggesting this team-up!

The X-Men and Amanda Waller

I am very interested in what James Gunn will be doing with The Suicide Squad.  As some actors and characters will be returning from the first cinematic outing, it can't really be seen as a reboot, even though it is said that he will be going in his own direction.  One aspect that I really hope he addresses is the depiction of Amanda Waller.  She is a tough as nails character, willing to go to extreme ends to achieve her goals - but the first film went even further and made her into a cold blooded killer, which did not sit well with me.  Hopefully, Gunn will find some way to fix that.

Superman and Ghost Rider

I understand that the upcoming Hulu Ghost Rider series will be featuring the newer Robbie Reyes version of the character.  I liked him on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., so I'll give it a watch.  Still, I hope that the show dives deep into the Ghost Rider mythos and we get to see appearances by Johnny Blaze and Dan Ketch as well.  Heck, let's even get the old time western version in there!

The IMProbables

There were plenty of characters to fill up this team with, I could probably have had twice the number of members.  I wonder why it is such a common theme - diminutive sidekicks or antagonists with amazing magical abilities.  One would think it was for marketing purposes, but I haven't seen many toys or stuffed animals featuring these imps over the years so there must be another reason.

Adam Strange and Doctor Strange in: "Strange Atonement!"

I'm still waiting for Adam Strange on Krypton to in some way resemble the Adam Strange from the comics.  Hopefully it won't be one of those cases where on the final episode he puts on a jetpack and that's all we get.  Krypton's Lobo didn't quite work for me, although he did have a few good moments.  The voice seemed off and I would have preferred a physically larger actor in the role.

This is the third appearance of the Strange boys on the blog.  They were last seen trying to escape from Limbo in STF #2146, and they were first revealed to be brothers in STF #370...

The Teen Titans Vs. Sub-Mariner

It looks like Marvel Studios will have the biggest presentation at next week's Comicon.  We will finally hear some of what they have planned for Phase Four of their cinematic universe.  Dare I hope that Namor is in the mix somewhere?  Titans will also be having a presentation for their second season on DC's streaming service, hopefully there will be some footage of new members joining the team (or the series at least).

Regular followers of this blog may remember that Namorita joined the Teen Titans in STF #1714...

Jonah Hex and Werewolf by Night

Does Marvel Studios own the rights to Marvel's horror characters like Werewolf By Night, The Living Mummy and Satana?  I can just see them going ahead and adding them (and public domain charactes like Frankenstein's Monster or Dracula) to the MCU.  Universal's attempt at copying the Marvel movie formula with a series of connected films starring the classic monsters, Dark Universe, has not gained much traction.  What if Marvel could pull it off instead?

Spider-Woman and Hawkwoman

Jessica Drew is long overdue to join the MCU.  There are plenty of ways to introduce her, given her ties to S.H.I.E.L.D. and  her thematic similarities to Spider-Man.  She's even been wearing a far more movie-friendly costume in the comics for the past few years.  She had her own cartoon in the 80's, surely some of the viewers of that show are now adults in the movie business that would be happy to work on her live action adventures.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vs. The Confessor

I lost track of it in later years, but I was a big fan of Kurt Busiek's Astro City for its first few runs.  The Confessor story arc was among the many highlights of the series for me.  With such a rich world that Busiek (and artists Brent Anderson and Alex Ross) created, I am surprised that I have never heard any talk about adapting it for TV.  It seems like a perfect candidate for either a live action or animated treatment.

Calvin & Hobbes and The Flash

If you are a fan of Calvin and Hobbes, I definitely recommend checking out the documentary Dear Mr. Watterson.  It follows the career of the reclusive Bill Watterson and the influence his phenomenal comic strip has had.  It still amazes me that it has been almost 25 years since the strip ended.  I don't think that it will ever be topped.

Hawk & Dove and Doctor Strange

The Hawk and Dove costumes on Titans look great to me.  Hawk in particular has one of those superhero costumes that seemed to me to be very difficult to translate to live action, but I am surprised and impressed with the results.  It gives me hope for other characters with tricky looks like The Creeper or Moon Knight to be done justice on screen.

The Spirit and Deadman

One of my favorite episodes of Justice League Unlimited is "Dead Reckoning", featuring Deadman. It was the first appearance of the ghostly character in other media, and it did not disappoint.  I loved his animated design and the scene where he uses a gun while inhabiting Batman's body (and Batman's reaction to that).  The best decision was to give Boston Brand a distinct accent, which the voice actors for the various posessed JLAers would use as well, a very effective device.

The Falcon and Metamorpho

Here there be Avengers: Endgame spoilers....

It was very cool to see Captain America hand over his shield and title to Sam Wilson, but it does raise some questions.  I can understand the honor not going to Bucky, given his history of mind controlled acts at the behest of nefarious actors.  But Bucky has super-powered abilities and a bionic arm, while The Falcon has no special abilities despite being skilled with the use of his mechanical wings.  Will he be able to wield the shield in the way Cap did?  Could any human do so without benefit of the Super Soldier serum?  It will be interesting to see how this is addressed in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier Disney+ show.

Moon Knight and Martian Manhunter

The "Detroit Era" Justice League gets a bad rap sometimes, but there were some parts to it that I really enjoyed.  I liked that The Elongated Man got a chance to shine and that his wife Sue Dibny became an important ally to the team.. Most of all I was glad to see J'Onn J'Onzz back in action.  I thought that it was crazy to keep such a cool character off the table for so many years, and it was great to see him finally have a home again.  I am still holding out hope the the CW will give us a live action version of the Detroit JLA team, since most of the characters have been introduced on one show or another.

Superman and The Whizzer

I always got a kick out of the Superman/Flash races, so it might be fun to see the man of Steel go up against some other speedsters.  I also get a kick out of reading  Superman's earliest adventures, and the closer race would be with him at the beginning of his career, before his powers started to dramatically increase during comics' Silver Age.  Plus, I love those cool original boots and "S" shield of his!

Captain America Vs. Predator

Of all of the potential Predator vs. superhero battles, this is the one I think that I would most like to see.  It would definitely be a close match up. Both combatants are at their peak physical form and will do whatever it takes to win a fight.  I'm thinking that Cap would be standing at the end, but not before withstanding a lot of damage from his opponent.

Godzilla Vs. the Iron Giant

Despite Godzilla: King of the Monsters underperforming at the box office, it looks as though Godzilla Vs. Kong will be coming to theaters in a few years.  I know that Kong was given a significant increase in size in Kong: Skull Island, but will he big enough to take on Godzilla?  I'll be rooting for the big ape so I hope he finds the way to even what seem like lopsided odds to me.

Hellboy, Gargoyle and Constantine

For me, John  Constantine has become the best part of DC's Legends of Tomorrow.  The rest of the cast can get a bit too goofy for me, so I like the more serious occult sub plots that he gets into.  I liked his solo series as well, for as long as it lasted.  Now if they could only find a way to bring back The Spectre, who was teased in that show!

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Challengers of the Unknown and Devil Dinosaur

The Challengers of the Unknown seems like a concept that would work well on a show like DC's Legends of Tomorrow.  Like the team on that show, they spend their time going around the world, investigating anomalies. Since they don't have any super powered abilities or overly fancy costumes, the show wouldn't even have to present a watered down version of the team either, as it sometimes does with other DC heroes.  Heck,  give them a series of their own!