T-Shirts
Clothing
Jewelry & Accessories
Home & Office

Our Blog

Archive for the ‘Superheroes’ Category

Explaining Captain America To My Wife…

Monday, July 25th, 2011

fear-itself

SPOILERS: A real conversation with my wife Valerie, while on a run, after seeing Captain America: The First Avenger. After seeing the movie and thinking about comic-to-movie transition, interpretation and continuity and adherence to canon I started thinking about the decrease in comic sales in general. I thought I’d run my thoughts by my wife, for a good distraction from the run while giving me an excuse to talk about comics in general, since I hate running.

Ronando: “Ok, so, … here’s why I think comic sales are partially due to ridiculously complex comic stories. .. and it’s connected to the Captain America movie we just saw.  there’s some like, cool things about the movie that you should… um… that you’ll think are pretty cool.”

Valerie: “… uh huh.”

R: “.. so, you remember in the movie, Cap’s friend Bucky …”

V: “Yeah, the guy that died on the train?”

R: “Yeah. Well, in the comics, he dies and…”

V: “On a train?”

R: “No. No. .. not on a train, it’s complicated. He dies trying to stop a test rocket in World War II but then is brought back several years ago by the Russians, but he lost an..”

V: “Bucky’s a Russian? I thought he was Captain America’s friend.”

R “No! No! He is Cap’s friend, he’s not Russian. The Russian’s fouuund him, but he was missing an arm, and they brain washed him. Here’s the deal. They train him to be an assassin, a sniper, as well as a trainer for the Black Widow Russian agents. The cool thing is that we saw Bucky, for just a moment, using a sniper rifle in the movie. I’m betting that when the Avengers comes out, Bucky will be the Winter Soldier, which is the name the Russian’s gave him when he was working for them.”

V: “So what’s that got to do with a decrease in comic sales?

R: “…. um… I don’t know, I lost my train of thought. Hold on, let me catch my breath.”

V: “Aren’t you supposed to know this stuff? You run a superhero website and sell superhero shirts. You would think that your fans would expect you to know all the…”

R: “Give me a second!! I’m trying to remember the connection, it’s pretty convoluted! I have to backtrack my thoughts. …. Oh! Ok, so, you know I just got my comic shipment from Excalibur comics in Portland. So, in there is a new series called Fear itself. The deal is, if you’re buying comics for the first time in a couple years and you happen to pick one of these up, you have no friggin’ idea what the hell is going on! Check it out, there are these like, 6 or 7 hammers that fall to Earth and..

V: “Like Thor’s hammer?”

R: “Exactly! So, they fall to Earth and..”

V: “But Thor already has a hammer.”

R: “NO! NO! Listen, No, there’s 6 or 7, I don’t know ’cause I started in the middle, that fall to Earth. They’re somehow connected to this serpent that wraps around the Earth, an evil serpent, so anyone who picks up the hammers gets possessed and turns evil. So, you know the Red Skull from the…”

V: “What’s this have to do with Captain America and Bucky?”

R: “…. Ugh! I’m getting there! Hold on. You know the Red Skull from the movie?”

V: “Yeah.”

R: “Well, he has a daughter who’s name is Sin. She’s an evil b!tch who happens to have one of these hammers. So does Hulk and the Thing. So… Ah! Here’s what I was getting at. Bucky’s wearing Captain America’s uniform and …”

V: “I thought Bucky was dead?”

R: “No! NO!! Well… he was, but, remember? The Russians brought him back and…”

V: “Yeah, one armed sniper and spiders.”

R: “… Black Widows!! Ok, so, When Captain America was dead, Bucky..”

V: “Captain America’s dead? They just made a movie of him. Are you sure you know what you’re talking about? I’m totally confused now.”

R: “UGH! Yes I know what I’m talking about. … for the most part. Yeah, sure I’m missing some stuff here and there, but this stuff I know. So, Cap died when..”

V: “OH!! Yeah. He died in World War II, right?”

R: “um… no, not that time. Everyone thought he was dead, but he was just frozen for like 30 years. They brought him back in the 70s when the Avengers found him.”

V: “Wait. In the movie they said he was asleep for 70 years. You said 30.”

R: “Well, that’s because it was 30 years later in the ’70s.”

V: “Wait. … is that real time or comic time?”

R: “Both. … no wait.”

V: “You have no idea how stupid this sounds.”

R: “I do too, I complain about it all the time. Now listen, back in the 70s, when they bring Cap back, it was 70 years. But..”

V: “You mean 30.”

R: “Right, 30, WW II plus 30 years is 1970sish. But, in the movie, which is right here and now, it’s 70 years later! Got it?”

V: “Yeah, but what’s that have to do with Thor’s other hammers?”

R: “Sonofa… hold on, let me figure out where I was going with it. There’s a connection, it’s just hard to concentrate while running in this god forsaken muggy heat. And it’s only 7:00 am still! …. K, I got it. Cap comes back, joins the Avengers in the ’70s, and recently he gets killed and …”

V: “Wait, is this for real killed or assumed killed?”

R: “Well… I don’t really know, I never figured it out since I didn’t read that whole comic line. I don’t know if it was really him or some clone or god knows what, if he really died and something brought him back, but, regardless, for this story, he’s dead-dead. So, at some point Bucky comes in and ..”

V: “But I thought he was a bad guy for the Russians.”

R: “Well, yeah, he was, until he turned good again.”

V: “How’d that happen?”

R: “I don’t know, I missed that story line too.”

V: “And you’re supposed to know what you’re talking about?”

R: “Look, it’s like … comics are like a soap opera but cooler. You can be gone for years and come back and even though you have no idea what the hell is going on, you still have a good grasp of the fundamentals. You know that the old stuff still holds.”

V: “Like Bucky being dead?”

R: “GODDAMNIT! Will you just let me finish? So, in a friggin’ nutshell… Cap’s dead, Bucky’s cleared his head from the brainwashing and is now a good guy AND apparently somehow finds himself wearing Cap’s uniform, in place of Cap. So, he’s fighting off Sin, the Red Skull’s daughter, while Captain America, Steve Rogers is up with S.H.I.E.L.D. talking abo…”

V: “I thought Captain America was dead! You just said, ‘Cap’s dead and Bucky took his place.’”

R: “Ugh! Yeah, well nobody stays dead in the comics. He’s alive at this point.”

V: “Oh, like Batman?”

R: “Yeah, like Batman. And Superman.”

V: “How many times can they die?”

R: “Um… I don’t know. But I think the fans will only give them one chance and that’s it. … But Spider-Man died twice.. he just died in fact.. .but it was the Ultimate Spider-Man.”

V: “The skinny one?”

R: “Yeah.”

V: “Didn’t you say he had a clone and one of them died too?”

R: “Yeah, he died too, the clone, but Peter, and the readers, didn’t know till he died and turned to dust. … So, ANYWAYYY! … where the hell was I?”

V: “Cap’s dead, Bucky took his place, Cap’s alive, Bucky’s fighting the Red Skull’s daughter who has a hammer like Thor’s.”

R: “… wow, I’m impressed you managed to keep track of all that.”

V: “I’m a doctor, I need to know this stuff to stay cool with all the male doctors and medical students. So finish your story.”

R: “K, so…. um… oh yeah, Cap’s alive and he wants to get into the fight. In the mean time, Bucky’s getting the crap kicked out of him. He bashes Sin’s face with the shield, ‘BAMF!!’ And is coming in to decapitate her when she knocks him down and rips his arm off and blasts a hole through his chest. Bucky’s dead-dead-dead. Blue Beetle had a bullet put into his dead, so he’s dead-dead, same with Psycho Pirate where Black Adam explodes Pirate’s head by poking him in the eyes. .. so, it looks like, to me, that Bucky’s dead-dead-dead. … I give it a 80% chance of being permanent.”

V: “hmmm.. .three deads, that sounds permamanent. How can you tell if it’s permanent?”

R: “Um… good question. .. .I think 1) when you see the body, but that’s not a guarantee because we saw Robin’s body and Cap’s body, but not Bucky’s, and all three were dead and are now alive. And 2) …. if the wound is bad enough to the point where the reader goes, “Jesus Christ! Did you read this?” Then they’re pretty much dead. … at least a 65% chance of being dead-dead.”

V: “Wait… Robin’s dead?”

R: “OHJESUSCHRIST We’re not going there. No! No.”

V: “…..”

R: “Ok, so, Cap’s dead… I mean, Bucky’s now dead and there are these 7 planet buster hammers floating around in the hands of possessed heroes and villains. Big Big trouble. The deal is, it’s confusing. Totally confusing if you walked right in the middle of it. The only reason why I know is ’cause Debbie at Excalibur told me about the story and that I should buy them.”

V: “Yeah, you sound confused.”

R: “Shutup!”

V: “Well, if it’s so confusing, then maybe they should have a summary at the beginning of each comic of what’s going on.”

R: “Yeah, they already do that.”

V: “What? They do? Don’t you read it?”

R: “Pffft… no, nobody does. It’s boring.”

V: “You are such a dork! Here you are contemplating on one of the primary reasons why comics are decreasing in sales, referring to a major flaw in the comic publishers and writers and come to find out, they account for it, but you just don’t read it.”

R: “… it’s boring. I hate reading those things.”

V: “Don’t you think that if you read them that you just might understand the comic a little more?”

R: “…..”

R: “Well… yeah…..guess you’re right. … but the stories are still long, drawn out, big galactic, infinite crisis bullsh!t this or House of that! … it just keeps getting more and more convoluted to the point that the story itself is lost in all the convolutedness.”

V: “I don’t think ‘convolutedness’ is a word and I think you’re just being lazy. Didn’t you say that Blackest Night was a big hit? Wasn’t that convoluted? Did you read all of those comics?”

R: “Yeah, it was a big hit. … no, I didn’t get all of them either. The price of comics are freakin’ expensive! $3.99 for a Marvel comic!”

V: “…. wait, isn’t … wasn’t Blackest Night DC?”

R: “… well… yeah, but you still get my point! Look, the price of comics on top of convoluted, super-ark story lines that make you buy a bunch of comics you don’t want to buy compounded with where if you miss one friggin’ issue you’re totally lost, and those stupid ads for Go-Gurt and Spider-Man scateboards all comes down to a decrease in geeks who want to buy comics. That’s all I’m saying.”

V: “Sure took you a long enough time to say it. I still think you’re just being lazy and like to complain. Do all of you comic guys complain this much?  … So, tell me how Robin died.”

R: “No!”

V: “Awww… are you pouting? Do you need a hug?”

R: “No! Get away. You’re sweaty. Leamealone!!!”

*forced hug, then laughs*

R: “I’m still right! You just don’t understand ’cause you don’t have to put up with these writers.”

V: “Uh huh.”

The Next Wonder Woman

Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Who's The Next Wonder Woman?

Who's The Next Wonder Woman?

Let’s face it, comic fans are the biggest whiners on the planet. No, really, we are. But, nobody can say that it’s not justified. Especially with all of the recent complaints about the decisions made by writers and directors when it comes to putting our favorite superheroes on screen. The movie industry has a fantastic track record of JUST NOT GETTING IT. Here’s just a couple of examples, bear with me.

emo_peter_parkerSpider-Man: Sam Raimi seems to think (yes, I’m going there, just hold your flame) that not only is it ok to ignore historical canon but it’s also ok to interpret the comics incorrectly and use outdated material. For the last 30 years, the only person who seems to have thought that Peter was still “puny Parker” was Flash Thompson, and of course Sam Raimi. Which is why he cast Tobey Maguire for the role. It’s as if someone gave Raimi, or his casting director, a couple old Steve Ditko (no disrespect intended whatsoever) comics and said, “there’s your Spider-Man boss, we’re off for lunch.”

peter-parker-not-puny

No More Puny!

No! No! NONONONO! Toby’s a great actor, but he isn’t Peter Parker. For those of you who’ve forgotten, Peter grew up to be a freakin’ stud, he just never knew it. THIS, is Peter Parker!* He’s ripped with muscles, can lift a fridge with one hand and a school bus if he really tried. Hell, I’ve even seen him tip a rail car over with one finger!!! “So what! What’s this have to do with casting Wonder Woman?” We’re getting there, we’re getting there hold on. We’re not done b!tching yet.

What else was wrong with the Spider-Man (2002 – 2007) movies? Let’s just say, “lack of adherence to comic canon!” The one major ingredient to the inspired Geek-Rage when hero movies come out. E.g.

  • Organic web-shooters replacing mechanical web-shooters.
  • Finger talons in place of genuine, “don’t-ask-any-questions wall crawling abilities.”
  • Emo Parker.
  • Parker crying.
  • Skinny Eddie Brock! Yes, yes, we know the reason why Raimi picked Topher Grace (which is a fine actor) but Raimi still got it wrong!
  • Venom! Granted, you can’t include the entire Secret Wars story line, but still… Venom has a white symbol, WHITE! *Shakes fist!*
  • Mary JaneJ! MJ is a supermodel. SUPERMODEL! Kirsten Dunst (who’s a fine actress and very cute) simply isn’t a supermodel. (Sorry Kirsten, but neither are we.)

What did Raimi get right?

  • J. Jonah Jameson! J.K. Simmons was perfect!
  • Aunt May/Rosemary Harris and Uncle Ben/Cliff Robertson
  • Doc Ock
  • Gwen Stacy/Bryce Dallas Howard (smoking hot)
  • Betty Brant/Elizabeth Banks
  • And the costume eventually grew on us.

This same … “formula,” violating comic canon, miscast actors, pulling emo out of a writer’s a$$, is systemic. To spare you the details, here’s the nutshell:

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012): spiderman-andrew-garfieldIn the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), the costume is completely different, again. I can hear you flamers right now b!tching, “How can you judge the movie when you haven’t even seen it?!?” Shuddup already. Not judging the movie, judging the friggin’ costume. Give it a rest. Continuing on; mechanical web-shooters! That’s right, they can’t win when a comic geek’s complaining. If Raimi was such a damn genius, then we wouldn’t be going back to Peter’s sly inventions now, would we? But we are, and thank god for it, but they look ridiculous! If you want to see what the web-shooters are supposed to look like, click here. What else? Oh yeah, Peter’s parents are not only “back” (as seen in the comics) but apparently are there from the beginning! (which is not in the comics). Yeah, sure, it’s most likely a contrived ploy to fit in with the whole S.H.I.E.L.D. bit, but that’s what we hate, contrived, “square peg/round hole” manipulations to meet the directors ends, not our needs. BAH!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: What was right? Hugh Jackman. What was wrong? The biggest gripe I can think of right now is Deadpool. Ryan Reynolds is fine, but that piece of garbage that was supposed to be Deadpool… someone should have been fired and shipped to Iraq for making such an idiot move. What In THEE HELL were they thinking? x-men-origins-wolverines-deadpoolAdamantium blades, optic blast, sewn mouth and teleporting without a device (DP uses a mechanical device to teleport. It’s not an organic skill).

superman_returns1Superman Returns: Returns from what?  Give me a break. Brandon Routh looks great, is tall, looks good and even plays a great Clark Kent, but I’m sorry, he’s no Superman. Simply because he’s not massive enough. Superman is huge, big, muscles everywhere. Brandon Routh has an Olympic swimmer’s body; lean, too lean, like a barracuda, and sure he has some muscles, yeah, but even Hugh Jackman had more mass than Routh, and that’s just wrong. What else? Swim suit shorts. BAH! And you just HAD to change the symbol, didn’t you. Had to leave YOUR mark, your signature, pissing on everything, “Singer was here!”

The list goes on, it literally doesn’t stop. Which brings us to Wonder Woman. Who should play Wonder Woman? The key is first figuring out what Wonder Woman is, and what she is not. It’s not that hard, really. All you have to do is open a couple dozen gorram Wonder Woman comic and start reading.

What Is Needed In A Wonder Woman?

A long list of very simple concepts.

  1. Tall – Wonder Woman is 5’11″. At that height there aren’t that many applicants, but at least it screens out all of the shorter women.
  2. Beautiful – Not just beautiful, but drop dead, traffic stopping beautiful.
  3. Exotic – Not your average bombshell from California or Texas, but more of a Mediterranean look, slightly ethnic with olive skin.
  4. Perfectly proportioned – Yeah, sure guys go nuts over the Pamella Anderson type Thunder Boobs look, but Wonder Woman isn’t about that. She’s statuesque, has curves without being ridiculously over endowed.
  5. Has a build – Yeah,sure guys like skinny girls, but Wonder Woman is an Amazon, which means she has muscles. If you were to put a bunch of comic geeks in a room full of Mt. Dew and Cheetos, you’d hear them say that her strength is arguably just shy of Superman’s. If push came to shove, she can even hold her own against the Hulk. … for a while. Then she’d have to pull an Ultimates Wasp move on him if she wanted to stop him in his tracks.
  6. Can fight – Movie makers never seem to understand that the audience can tell when a woman can’t fight on screen. It’s like, watching a girl throw a baseball (granted, there are lots of highly athletic girls/women out there, (who can throw better than 90% of the guys out there) but this comment is in reference to the very non-athletic girl throwing a ball). What comes to mind is casting someone like Michelle Yeoh in a fight scene.
  7. Can act – Last, but definitely not least, we won’t be fooled by big boobs and panties. … ok, so we can be fooled but we’re going to b!tch about it after the movie’s done playing. Yeah, sure we’ll buy the DVD, but we’ll still b!tch about it. Wonder Woman has to act. We won’t let the movie people get away with just showing us cheese cake! … well, a little cheese cake is ok, but please don’t let the show ride on that alone.

Some Wonder Woman Applicants

We searched the interwebs for relative unknowns or missed opportunities and we found several beauties who we feel come close to the embodiment of Wonder Woman.

Elisabetta Canalis: At 5’7″ Elisabetta is a stunning Italian actress who also happens to be George Clooney’s girlfriend. (Go George!). She appeared in Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and romantic comedy Virgin Territory.

Elisabetta Canalis

Elisabetta Canalis

elisabetta_canalis

Laetitia Casta: Though, only 5’5″, Laetitia has many of the prerequisites to be Wonder Woman, if not another Amazon on Themyscira. She is a French model & actress. She was the official face of L’Oréal, Dior, and Chanel. She’s been featured in Tommy Hilfiger, Guess Jeans, Miu Miu and XOXO ad campaigns and has appeared on over 100 magazine covers including Victoria’s Secret catalogs, ELLE magazine, and Vogue magazine. She also appeared in 3 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues, Rolling Stone, and a Pirelli Calendar and was the face of Ralph Lauren’s newest fragrance, Notorious. Laetitia is no slouch.

laetitia-casta-3 laetitia-casta-1 laetitia_casta-2

Moran Atias: At a STUNNING 5’9″ Moran is mind shattering gorgeous Israeli actress and model. She’s so hot, she could be a waitress or …or an airline stewardess in the 60s. She was discovered in Italy by Roberto Cavalli and was cast in the Israeli “Strauss” commercial and chosen to lead the “Renuar” campaign. She has also won the title of Miss Israel. If you have ever known, or met Israeli women, you will know that they are some of the most beautiful women in the world. Ai chi-wawa!

moran-atias moran-atias-2 moran-atias-3

Ayelet Zurer: Ayelet is another Israeli actress, best known for her roles in Nina’s Tragedies, Adam Resurrected, Munich, and Angels & Demons. Though. Though she is no spring chicken, she (at the very least) has what it takes to play Hippolyta. The one thing we do know about Isralie women. … they can fight. Everyone in Israel is drafted into the military for two years, though, unless you’re a supermodel, then you can dodge it, however it’s considered a big no-no there. … I think I’m going to have to go rent Angels & Demons now.

ayelet-zurer-3 ayelet-zurer-1 ayelet-zurer-2

We could go on and on, but we think you get the idea. Let’s just hope that the people who come together to create the next Wonder Woman TV show or movie does their due diligence to research Wonder Woman and understand who she is and what she represents. If you’re looking to get a good understanding on DC’s retconned Wonder Woman, we highly suggest George Perez’s Wonder Woman: God and Mortals. Another good book to get is Wonder Woman: Hiketeia. And, as usual, your thoughts are welcome. We know many of you won’t agree, but at least we’re trying to set the standard.

George Perez's Wonder Woman

George Perez's Wonder Woman: God And Mortals

* “No More Puny” What comic, issue, what year, and what page is this on? The first Person to send us the correct answer (at facebook @ superherostuff.com) to all of these questions wins a free t-shirt! Winner will be posted here.

Superhero Memorial Day Rememberance

Monday, May 30th, 2011

dead-captain_america
Memorial Day is a United States holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, which was first recorded to have been observed by Freedmen (freed enslaved southern blacks) in Charleston, South Carolina in 1865, at the Washington Race Course, to remember the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. Today, what is now known as Memorial Day, commemorates all U.S. Service Members who died while in military service. The recognition of the fallen victims was then enacted under the name Memorial Day by an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War. Over time, it was extended after World War I to honor all Americans who have died in all wars.

Take a moment to remember fallen Americans in past wars. It’s highly likely that you probably are unable to recall any wars other than Iraq I, II, Afghanistan, Vietnam and WW II, so here’s a list for you to think about: American Revolutionary War, Northwest Indian War, Franco-American War, War of 1812, Texas Revolution, Mexican-American War, Navajo Wars, Cayuse War, Apache Wars, American Civil War, World War I, Russian Civil War, World War II, Cold War, Vietnam, Korea, Gulf War.

We decided to do a Superhero Memorial Day, recognizing all the fallen (who’ve stayed fallen) in the comic history.

Blue Beetle

blue-beetleTed Kord: Teodore Stephen “Ted” Kord is the second Blue Beetle who was originally published by Charlton Comics and later picked up by DC Comics. Ted was created by Steve Ditko and first appeared as a back-up feature in Captain Atom #83 (November 1966). Kord was a genius-level inventor and a gifted athlete who traveled in a beatle-shaped aircraft. Kord did not use any firearms though he had a pistol that shot a blinding flash of light as well as a strong airblast.

max-lord-killsted-kordIn the 80-page special Countdown to Infinite Crisis, (March 2005) Blue Beetle discovers a revived Checkmate organization led by Maxwell Lord, headquartered in a Belgian castle fortress, where Beetle is captured. Lord reveals to Blue Beetle that his intent is to use the organization to ensure that metahumans, including superheroes, will be kept under surveillance and controlled by humans. Lord then gives Beetle an ultimatum to join his organization. When Kord refuses with the reply, “Rot in hell, Max,” Lord murders him with a bullet to the head.

Gwen Stacy

gwen_stacy_cover

Gwen Stacy was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965). A blonde college co-ed, Gwen becomes the first love of Peter Parker (Spider-Man). Both the decision to kill Gwen and the method in which Marvel implemented it remain controversial among fans, but the death became a pivotal point in both Spider-Man’s history and in American comic books in general. Spider-Man writers and fans disagree about who is the character’s “one true love”: Gwen or his subsequent wife Mary Jane Watson, but Gwen was plainly his first love.

In The Amazing Spider-Man #121 (June 1973), by writer Gerry Conway and penciller Gil Kane, the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) holds Gwen Stacy captive on a tower of the George Washington Bridge. Spider-Man arrives to fight the Green Goblin, and when the Goblin throws Gwen Stacy off the bridge, Spider-Man catches her by her leg with a string of web. He initially thinks he has saved her, but when he pulls her back onto the bridge, he realizes she has already died. Peter is unsure whether the whiplash made her faint; the Goblin does state that a fall from that height would kill anyone, and in the 1994 graphic novel Marvels, police confirmed this. In shock and anger, Spider-Man nearly kills the Green Goblin in retaliation, but in the end chooses not to do so. The Goblin still seemingly dies when he is impaled by his own goblin glider in an attempt to kill Spider-Man, and Norman Osborn would not return for nearly three hundred issues.

The death of Gwen Stacy had an enormous impact in the world of comic-book fandom. Before her, except possibly as part of an origin story, superheroes simply did not fail so catastrophically; nor did a loved-one of the superhero die so suddenly, without warning, or so violently. Because of this, some fans and historians take the death of Gwen Stacy as one marker of the end of the period they refer to as the Silver Age of Comic Books.* You can read our Memorable Moments regarding the death of Gwen Stacy here.

Uncle Ben

uncle-benUncle Ben was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. Uncle Ben first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) and was killed in the very same issue. Although his history as a supporting character was very brief, Uncle Ben is an overshadowing figure in Spider-Man’s life, often appearing in flashbacks. Ben Parker was born in Brooklyn, New York. He trained to be a military police officer. He spent time as a singer in a band. He had known his future wife May Reilly since their high school days, but she in turn was naively interested in a boy who was involved in criminal activities. When he came to her one night and proposed to her on the spot, Ben was there to expose him as a murderer, and to comfort the heart-broken May when the boy was arrested. Their relationship evolved into love, and they enjoyed a happily married life. When Ben’s much younger brother Richard Parker and his wife Mary were killed in a plane crash, Ben and May took in their orphaned son Peter and raised him as their own.

Ben was very protective of Peter, going as far as fighting some of the bullies that tormented young Parker. Peter became friends with Charlie Weiderman in high school, a teen even more unpopular than he was. However, Charlie often provoked the trouble with the other teens. One day, he was chased to the Parker home by a group of bullies, led by Flash Thompson and Ben intervened. Ben told them that if they wanted Charlie, they would have to go through him. Flash tried to, but was surprised by Ben’s army training. As soon as the bullies were gone, he told the boy that he wasn’t welcome at the house or with Peter.

In high school, a radioactive spider bite gave Peter superhuman powers. Creating the costumed identity of Spider-Man for himself, Peter sought first to exploit his newfound powers as a masked wrestler and then as a television star. Coming from a television appearance, Spider-Man saw a burglar being chased by a security guard. The guard called for Spider-Man to stop the thief, but the nascent Spidey refused on the grounds that catching criminals was not his job. The robber got away.

When Peter later returned home, he was informed that his beloved Uncle Ben had been killed by a burglar. Outraged, he donned his Spider-Man costume and captured the man only to realize to his horror that it was the same burglar whom he could have effortlessly captured earlier at the studio. As a result, Peter considered himself morally responsible for Ben’s death and resolved to fight crime as a superhero — realizing that with great power comes great responsibility — and vowing never to let another innocent person come to harm if he could help it.

The burglar, a man called Carradine, had gone to the Parker residence to look for a stash of money that had been hidden in the house years earlier by mobsters (unaware that the money had already been devoured by silverfish). Ben had confronted the burglar, who panicked and shot him. Telling May that he loved her, Ben died in her arms.

May later revealed that she felt responsible for the tragedy, as she and Ben had argued a little while before the burglar arrived. She felt that if they had not had the argument, Ben would not have been where he was when confronting the burglar.

Ben Parker’s death was truly avenged when the burglar, Carradine, returned for the money once more, threatening Aunt May. Carradine died from a heart attack upon beholding his old nemesis Spider-Man once again and learning that Spider-Man and Peter Parker were one and the same person. In the live-action feature films, Uncle Ben is played by Cliff Robertson.

Abin Sur

abin-surAbin Sur: Abin Sur first appeared in Showcase #22 (September–October 1959, the same issue where Hal Jordan had first appeared): “SOS Green Lantern”. He was a member of the Green Lantern Corps and is best known as the predecessor of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, whom Abin Sur’s power ring chose as his replacement. In the Post-Infinite Crisis continuity, he was revealed to be a brother-in-law of Sinestro and uncle of his daughter, Soranik Natu. Originally a history professor on the planet Ungara, Abin Sur is appointed Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814 in the mid 1860s. Recruited by the Green Lantern known as Starkaor, he is known to have come to Earth on several occasions. In the American Old West, he teams up with an ancestor of Hal Jordan’s to battle an alien named Traitor (who was responsible for the death of Starkaor). During World War II, he encounters Starman and Bulletman when the three battle an alien being under the control of Mr. Mind. On a later visit, his ring’s power is neutralized by the foe he was tracking. He discovers the unconscious forms of Alan Scott and Jay Garrick, and borrows Scott’s slightly different ring. He used it against his adversary, taking advantage of the ring’s effectiveness against the color yellow. He also visits Earth at some point between the Golden and Silver Ages, when he encountered the Martian Manhunter.

While on patrol, he is attacked and pursued by the being known as Legion while on its way to Oa. Badly injured and with his spaceship seriously damaged, he makes an emergency landing on the nearest habitable planet (Earth). Due to his injuries, Sur was aware that his death was inevitable and he uses his ring to search for a successor. The first possibility was Clark Kent. Since he was not native to earth, he is not chosen. The next candidates were Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner. As Jordan was closer, the ring chose him as the most suitable replacement right before Sur’s death. **

Nightcrawler

nightcrawlerNightcrawler was created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). A mutant, Nightcrawler possesses superhuman agility, the ability to teleport, invisibility in deep shadows, and adhesive hands and feet. His physical mutations include blue fur, two-toed and -fingered feet and hands (not including thumbs), yellow eyes, and a prehensile tail. In Nightcrawler’s earlier comic book appearances he is depicted as being a happy-go-lucky practical joker and teaser, and a fan of swashbuckling fiction. A German, Nightcrawler is Catholic and while this is not emphasized as much in his earlier comic book appearances, in later depictions Nightcrawler is more vocal about his faith.

Kurt Wagner was born with certain unusual physical characteristics, but his power of self-teleportation did not emerge until puberty. Margali Szardos, a sorceress and gypsy queen, allegedly found Wagner an hour after his birth, in a small roadside shelter in the Bavarian Alps. She claimed to have found his alleged father, Eric Wagner, dead of a heart attack on the road outside, and Kurt’s mother lying next to the baby dying. However, this claim was later called into question, and it was subsequently proven that Kurt’s mother is the terrorist Mystique, also known as Raven Darkholme, and his father is the demonic warlord Azazel. Mystique revealed that she threw him into a well after a large mob found out about Nightcrawler’s existence, and Azazel admitted that he secretly saved his son from the fall, giving him to his lover and crony, Margali Szardos, to raise him. Margali took the baby to the small Bavarian circus where she worked as a fortuneteller, as a cover for her activities as a sorceress. Wagner was never legally adopted by anyone, but was raised by all the members of the circus, who had no prejudices against mutants. Margali acted as Wagner’s unofficial foster mother.

Wagner grew up happily in the circus, and his two closest friends were Margali’s natural children Stefan and Jimaine. Long before his teleportation power emerged, Wagner had tremendous natural agility, and by his adolescence he had become the circus’ star acrobat and aerial artist. Circus audiences assumed that he was a normal-looking human wearing a devil-like costume.

Years later, the Texas millionaire Arnos Jardine, who ran a large circus based in Florida, heard of the circus for which Wagner worked and bought it. Jardine intended to move its best acts into his American circus; however, he demanded that Wagner be placed in the circus’ freak show. Jardine drugged him to prevent escape but a young mutant child with the ability to sense other mutants helped Kurt escape. Appalled, Wagner left and made his way toward Winzeldorf, Germany, where his foster brother Stefan was. He discovered that Stefan had gone mad and had brutally slain several children. When they were younger, Stefan had made Kurt promise to kill him if he ever took an innocent life. Two nights after leaving the circus, Wagner found Stefan and fought him, hoping to stop his rampage. In the course of the struggle, Wagner unintentionally broke Stefan’s neck.

The villagers of Winzeldorf, who assumed from Kurt’s appearance that he was a demon who was responsible for the child killings, discovered Wagner. They were about to kill him when they were all psychically paralyzed by Professor Charles Xavier, who had come to recruit Wagner into the X-Men. Wagner agreed to join the group, but before they left for America, he and Xavier went to the Bavarian circus so that Wagner could explain to Margali about Stefan’s death. However, Margali was not there. She held Wagner responsible for murdering Stefan, and created a facsimile of the hell from Dante’s Inferno in which to punish him years later. Yet through the use of Doctor Strange’s all-seeing Eye of Agamotto, she learned the truth, and she and Wagner were reconciled. Wagner was also happily reunited with his foster sister Jimaine, who now lives in the United States and changes her name to Amanda Sefton, later becoming Kurt’s girlfriend. Known as Nightcrawler, Wagner became a member of the X-Men.

Nightcrawler flies with Wolverine and the rest of the team to Westchester when Cable and Hope are detected there. When Nightcrawler finds out about X-Force’s lethal methods that have been kept from the rest of the X-Men, he argues with Cyclops. In Chapter Five of the X-Men: Second Coming storyline, Rogue and Nightcrawler fight an enhanced version of Bastion. When Bastion tries to kill Hope, Nightcrawler teleports to her aid, but Bastion detects Nightcrawler’s mutant powers activating and extends his arm into the space in which Nightcrawler will materialize. Nightcrawler rematerializes around Bastion’s arm, fusing with it, and is mortally wounded. With Nightcrawler’s last breath, he teleports the girl to Utopia. As he dies upon their arrival on the island, Nightcrawler tells Hope that he “believes in her.” Bastion reboots its system shortly after, with a three-fingered appearance.

Ben Reilly

scarlet-spider1Benjamin “Ben” Reilly (Scarlet Spider) first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #149 (October 1975). Ben Reilly was the first successful clone of Peter Parker created by the Jackal, as the first clone, Kaine, had suffered from clone degeneration which made him become unstable. Through arcane science, Ben is imprinted with Peter’s memories and in their first encounter believed himself to be the original. After Peter Parker was captured by the Jackal, both Parker and Reilly found themselves in Spider-Man costumes at Shea Stadium, and initially fought each other believing the other was the imposter. When realizing the stakes, they decided to team up in an attempt to save the Gwen Stacy clone and a captured Ned Leeds. In the process, the clone appeared to be killed in the explosion, and Parker, fearful of the consequences of a second body of “Peter Parker” turning up while he was still alive, dropped Reilly’s body in a smokestack. Ben apparently survived and escaped from the smokestack. When he witnessed Parker and Mary Jane Watson in an embrace, decided to embark on a nomadic life as if no one knew his existence. He dubbed himself the alias “Ben Reilly”, using his Uncle Ben’s first name and his Aunt May’s maiden name, Ben Parker and May Reilly respectively. He unnoticeably took some old clothes Parker had intended to donate to charity, and he left New York deeply depressed.

Ultimately, Reilly dies saving the original Spider-Man from the original Green Goblin, revealed to have survived his last fight with Spider-Man. After being severely beaten, Ben intercepts a Goblin Glider before it can impale Peter. As he lays dying, Ben told Peter that Peter was now Spider-Man and would have to carry on for Ben, and for Peter to tell his unborn child of her “Uncle Ben”. After dying, Reilly’s body decomposed rapidly, revealing Trainer’s deceptions and proving that Ben had actually been the clone. This sacrifice, coupled with the concurrent “stillbirth” of his child, led Parker to reclaim the Spider-Man identity, his last words to Ben’s remains being “Rest easy… brother”.

Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel

triplicate-girlTriplicate Girl/Duo Damsel first appeared in Action Comics #276, May 1961. A native of the planet Cargg, she could split into three identical bodies, as could all Carggites, due to the planet Cargg having three suns. Her costume consisted of a purple dress, orange cape and belt, and black boots. She was the fourth hero to join the Legion of Super-Heroes, and its first non-founder member. Unlike her post-Zero Hour counterpart, Triad, she had brown eyes, not split purple/orange ones. For a long time, she had an unrequited crush on Superboy.

One of her three bodies was killed by Brainiac 5′s killer creation Computo The Conqueror (a rogue computer) early on, and she was thereafter known as Duo Damsel. Her surviving two bodies continued to remember the trauma of experiencing her/their death, with the result that Computo was the one villain whom Duo Damsel was too frightened to confront.

Duo Damsel later donned a unique half orange, half purple costume which could divide with her, leaving one body wearing an orange costume and one wearing a purple costume. The costume was initially designed to aid her in a mission on the planet Pasnic, but the character continued to wear “splitting” costumes such as this throughout most of the original continuity.

Duo Damsel left active Legion service to become a reservist after marrying fellow Legionnaire Bouncing Boy; after this she then appeared only sporadically.

Tomar Re

tomar-reTomar Re first appeared in Green Lantern #6. Tomar was a scientist on the planet Xudar before joining the Green Lantern Corps. He became a pivotal member of the Corps, training new members, like Arisia, and serving in the Honor Guard. He investigated reports of abuses of power by Sinestro on Korugar. He was close friends with Abin Sur, Green Lantern of neighboring sector 2814. He was also the first Lantern to meet Sur’s replacement, Hal Jordan, and the two got along equally well. In the Post-Crisis timeline, that friendship is deepened further in that the rookie Jordan met him soon after being recruited. Jordan was brought to him by his power ring to help with his difficulties with handling the weapon and Tomar-Re not only guided the Terran to GLC headquarters for the optional training program, but also provided valuable emotional support during this difficult time.

Tomar’s most famous mission while serving in the Corps dealt with the planet Krypton. Krypton, a planet in sector 2813, was growing increasingly unstable. It was due to explode, caused by internal pressures deep inside the planet’s core. Tomar-Re sought to use a rare compound called stellarium to absorb some of the tectonic pressure, thus saving the Kryptonians. He gathered the compound, and was en route to Krypton when a yellow solar flare blinded him, and forced him to drop the stellarium. He quickly recovered, but discovered he was blind. He gathered what little stellarium he could without his sight, and proceeded towards Krypton. He was closing in when his vision started to clear. The first thing he saw upon his sight returning was Krypton exploding. The Guardians recovered Tomar and brought him back to Oa, where he healed and rested.

The war against the Anti-Monitor would be Tomar’s final fight, as he was killed by the villain known as Goldface. Before his death, Tomar-Re selected Stewart to be his replacement, thus forcing John’s ring to go to Jordan, who had resigned from the Corps, and returning him to the organization (Green Lantern vol. 2, #198).

The Punisher’s family

the_castle_familyThe Punisher was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (February 1974). The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence, and torture in his war on crime. Driven by the deaths of his wife and two kids, who were killed by the mob when they witnessed a gangland execution in New York City’s Central Park, the Punisher wages a one-man war on the mob and all criminals in general by using all manner of conventional war weaponry. His family’s killers were the first to be slain.

Jack Kirby

jack-kirbyJack Kirby (August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994), born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor. Growing up poor in New York City, Kurtzberg entered the nascent comics industry in the 1930s. He drew various comic strips under different pen names, ultimately settling on Jack Kirby. In 1941, Kirby and writer Joe Simon created the highly successful superhero character Captain America for Timely Comics. During the 1940s, Kirby would create a number of comics for various publishers, often teaming with Simon.

After serving in World War II, Kirby returned to comics and worked in a variety of genres. He contributed to a number of publishers, including Archie Comics and DC Comics, but ultimately found himself at Timely’s 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics, later to be known as Marvel Comics. In the 1960s, Kirby co-created many of Marvel Comics’ major characters, including the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the Hulk, along with writer-editor Stan Lee. Despite the high sales and critical acclaim of the Lee-Kirby titles, Kirby felt treated unfairly, and left the company in 1970 for rival DC Comics.

Bob Kane

bob-kane-michael-keaton-batman(October 24, 1915 – November 3, 1998) was an American comic book artist and writer, credited as the creator of the DC Comics superhero Batman. He was inducted into both the comic book industry’s Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1996. He entered the comics field two years later, in 1936, freelancing original material to editor Jerry Iger’s comic book Wow, What A Magazine!, including his first pencil and ink work on the serial Hiram Hick. The following year, Kane began to work at Iger’s subsequent studio, Eisner & Iger, which was one of the first comic book “packagers” that produced comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during its late-1930s and 1940s Golden Age. Among his work there was the funny animal feature “Peter Pupp” (which belied its look with overtones of “mystery and menace”), published in the U.K. comic magazine Wags and later reprinted in Fiction House’s Jumbo comics. Kane also produced work through Eisner & Iger for two of the companies that would later merge to form DC Comics, including the humor features “Ginger Snap” in More Fun Comics, “Oscar the Gumshoe” for Detective Comics, and “Professor Doolittle” for Adventure Comics. For that last title he went on to do his first adventure strip, “Rusty and his Pals”.

Jerry Siegel

jerry-siegelJerry Siegel October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996), who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S. Fine, was the American co-creator of Superman (along with Joe Shuster), the first of the great comic book superheroes and one of the most recognizable of the 20th century. Siegel and Shuster created a bald telepathic villain named “The Superman,” bent on dominating the entire world. He appeared in the short story “The Reign of the Super-Man” from Science Fiction #3, a science fiction fanzine that Siegel published in 1933. The character was not successful. Tossing and turning in bed one night in 1934, he came upon the more familiar version of the character. Siegel and Shuster then began a six-year quest to find a publisher. Titling it The Superman, Siegel and Shuster offered it to Consolidated Book Publishing, who had published a 48-page black-and-white comic book entitled Detective Dan: Secret Operative No. 48. Although the duo received an encouraging letter, Consolidated never again published comic books. Shuster took this to heart and burned all pages of the story, the cover surviving only because Siegel rescued it from the fire. Siegel and Shuster each compared this character to Slam Bradley, an adventurer the pair had created for Detective Comics #1 (March 1937). In 1938, after that proposal had languished among others at More Fun Comics — published by National Allied Publications, the primary precursor of DC Comics — editor Vin Sullivan chose it as the cover feature for National’s Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The following year, Siegel & Shuster initiated the syndicated Superman comic strip. Siegel also created the ghostly avenger The Spectre during this same period.

In 1946, Siegel and Shuster, nearing the end of their 10-year contract to produce Superman stories, sued National over rights to the characters. In 1947, the team had rejoined editor Sullivan, by now the founder and publisher of the comic-book company Magazine Enterprises; there they created the short-lived comical crime-fighter Funnyman. Siegel went on to become comics art director for publisher Ziff-Davis in the early 1950s, and later returned to DC to write uncredited Superman stories in 1959 under the control of Silver Age Superman editor Mort Weisinger. When he sued DC over the Superman rights again in 1967, his relationship with the hero he had co-created was again severed.

Siegel’s later work would appear in Marvel Comics, where under the pseudonym “Joe Carter” he scripted the “Human Torch” feature in Strange Tales #112-113 (Sept.-Oct. 1963), introducing the teenaged Torch’s high school girlfriend, Doris Evans; and, under his own name, a backup feature starring the X-Men member Angel, which ran in Marvel Tales and Ka-Zar. Siegel wrote as well during this time for Archie Comics, where he created campy versions of existing superheroes in Archie’s Mighty Comics line; Charlton Comics, where he created a few superheroes; and even England’s Lion, where he scripted The Spider. In 1968, he worked for Western Publishing, for which he wrote (along with Carl Barks) stories in the Junior Woodchucks comic book. In 1970s, he worked for Mondadori Editore (at that time the Italian Disney comic book licensee) on its title Topolino, listed in the mastheads of the period as a scriptwriter (“soggettista e sceneggiatore”).

In 1986, Siegel was invited by DC Comics’ editor Julius Schwartz to write an “imaginary” final story for Superman, following Marv Wolfman’s Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series and John Byrne’s The Man of Steel miniseries, which reintroduced Superman. Siegel declined, and the story was instead given to writer Alan Moore, and published in September 1986 in two parts entitled “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” (the story was published in Superman #423 and Action Comics #583).

In 2005, he was posthumously awarded the Bill Finger Award For Excellence in Comic Book Writing. He was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993.

Joe Shuster

joe-shusterJoseph “Joe” Shuster (July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992) was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio.

Shuster was involved in a number of legal battles concerning the ownership of the Superman character, eventually gaining recognition for his part in its creation. His comic book career after Superman was relatively unsuccessful, and by the mid-1970s Shuster had left the field completely due to partial blindness.

He and Siegel were inducted into both the comic book industry’s Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2005, the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association instituted the Joe Shuster Awards, named to honor the Canadian-born artist.

Will Eisner

will-eisnerWilliam Erwin “Will” Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an instructional medium; for his leading role in establishing the graphic novel as a form of literature with his book A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories; and for his educational work about the medium as exemplified by his book Comics and Sequential Art.

The comics community paid tribute to Eisner by creating the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, more commonly known as “the Eisners”, to recognize achievements each year in the comics medium. Eisner enthusiastically participated in the awards ceremony, congratulating each recipient. In 1987, with Carl Barks and Jack Kirby, he was one of the three inaugural inductees of the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.

Notes:

* Gwen Stacy: In the real world, physicist James Kakalios shows in his book The Physics of Superheroes that, consistent with Newton’s laws of motion, the sudden stop would have killed Gwen Stacy. The comic book Civil War: Casualties of War: Captain America/Iron Man (2007) concurred that the proximate cause of death was the sudden stop during a high-velocity fall. An issue of Peter Parker/Spider-Man revisits the issue, and further confirms that Gwen died due to an unforeseen error on Spider-Man’s part: his webbing, at that time, was designed specifically for use by Spider-Man (who had increased strength that allowed him to handle the high-velocity falls that he routinely faced) — but Gwen Stacy’s neck snapped from the sudden jolt.

During a battle with the Sinister Twelve, the Green Goblin captures Mary Jane and takes her to another bridge, throwing her over the side just as he had Gwen; however, this time Peter succeeds in saving MJ by using multiple web-strands, catching Mary Jane by every major joint in the body and thus providing her with enough support to avoid any fatal injuries.

** Abin Sur: During some point in his life, Abin sires a son, Amon Sur, who grew up to become leader of the Black Circle crime syndicate. Amon is angry at his deceased father for abandoning him for the Corps, and decides to take his anger out on all Green Lanterns. Amon is eventually stopped by Hal Jordan’s successor, Kyle Rayner and a second-generation Guardian of the Universe called Lianna. Amon eventually has a confrontation with Hal Jordan himself, who had returned to his position as Green Lantern after being both resurrected and freed from the influence of Parallax. Hal defeats Amon, but Amon received a duplicate of Sinestro’s ring from the Qwardians and vanishes. After Hal finally took Abin’s body home and buried it, a mysterious yellow light appears in the sky after Hal left.

The question was raised of why Abin Sur needed a ship, but in the Green Lantern Origins serial, it is stated that out of paranoia of the prophecy of his destruction, he navigated the cosmos in a ship filled with weapons, not trusting the powers of his ring, as the prophecy stated that his ring would fail him when he needed it most.
Pre-Crisis explanation

In the story “Earth’s First Green Lantern,” Jordan revealed that he wondered that himself and asked his ring to explain.

The ring told the story of how Abin Sur discovered a parasitic energy being species that fed on sentient beings’ “I-factor,” a substance that enabled inventiveness, attacking civilizations and stalling their development. Sur captured them to stop their destruction, but one of their number had escaped and vowed to free his brethren. To do so, he tracked down Sur’s planet and created a disaster to force him to appear to stop it. Since Sur did not mask himself, the being recognized him immediately and followed him to his home. As Sur neglected to charge his ring before going to sleep, he was unable to stop the being from taking control of him.

With the being in control of his body and about to force him to go and free his fellows, Sur tricked the being into thinking that he would not be able to do so because the ring would be low on power after the trip there while in reality the ring’s charge is purely time based. The being decided to have Sur take a ship to the destination, but before leaving, Sur managed to get a hold of his invisible power battery. On the ship, Sur piloted the ship and waited until he moved into a green colored planetary radiation belt which allowed Sur to charge his ring without the being noticing. Thus armed, Sur battled and captured the being. However during the fight, the ship wandered into Earth’s radiation belt. With his ring useless, Sur lost control of the battered ship and crashed. Mortally wounded, Sur sought out his replacement and drew Jordan to him.

According to Jordan, this account prompted him to keep a secret identity as a security precaution and to carefully navigate around Earth’s radiation belts.
Post-Crisis explanation

In Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2 (1986), writer Alan Moore answered the question with a story of how the hero once visited Ysmault, a prison planet for an ancient race of demons, the Empire of Tears, vanquished millennia ago by the Oans. He was on a rescue mission and felt he could not wait for instruction from the Guardians.

While there, Abin Sur met a demon named Qull of the Five Inversions, a humanoid with a gaping mouth in his chest and a tongue-shaped head, crucified by three glowing spikes topped with the symbol of the Green Lantern Corps. This unholy messiah predicted the hero would die when his power ring ran out of energy at a critical moment, while he was fighting an opponent or unprotected in hard vacuum. Abin Sur, worried by this prophecy, began using a starship for interstellar voyages, as an additional safeguard.

A decade later, fleeing his enemy, his spaceship collided with a girdle of yellow radiation around Earth that rendered his starship and his power-ring useless within moments. Had he relied on his ring alone, he realized, he might have tested the planet’s magnetosphere before rashly entering it. Thus, while Legion may have wounded him, it could be argued that it was Qull that was actually responsible for Abin Sur’s death, having sown the seeds of doubt in the Green Lantern’s mind.

flanders-field-soldiers

Info gathered from Wikipedia

Smallville – Beating The Dead Horse

Saturday, May 14th, 2011

smallville-poster

SPOILERS

I’m sorry, but I just have to respond to you Smallville lovers who drank the Kool-Aid. I keep hearing, ad nauseam,

  1. “The producers said in the beginning, ‘no tights no fights.’”
  2. “It’s not about the suit man! It’s about Clark and his origins! Don’tchya get it?”

The problem, is that

  1. You guys don’t get it,
  2. You allow simple concepts such as legal issues and producers statements to make a difference in what SHOULD have taken place. These things are irrelevant as to what SHOULD have happened.
  3. You simply swallow what the TV and movie producers feed you without expecting more.
  4. You get pissed off when somebody disagrees with you!
  5. You think valid criticism is the same as talking out our asses.

doctor-fate-stargirl_l1Here’s the deal, Smallville has been feeding the public soft porn for 10 years. “It’s not about the costume?” Bullshit. EVERY depiction of Clark and Smallville that has been used to market the show has some connection to Superman and the suit. Why do we see Green Arrow’s suit? Aquaman’s? Barry Allen’s? Canary’s? Fate’s, Beetle’s, Booster’s, and every other ridiculous excuse for a suit that the WB put in front of everyone  … but not Superman’s suit? Why was this ok? Because you didn’t speak up and demand more. Because you drank the Kool-Aid and allowed them to get away with something they shouldn’t have. And here you are, defending it still. Accepting something sub par.

green-arrowNotice in this (soft porn) poster (up top) of Clark’s reflection. It’s like every other poster WB puts in front of us, with the hint that they are taking us somewhere (where) with Superman’s outfit. They didn’t. When it comes to writing, the Eastern philosophy is more about the journey; Western is about the conclusion. Smallville had a story to tell, and they told it. What happened last night was the conclusion, the finale, the END of the story and writers have ONE SHOT to deliver. It was time to transition from the Eastern method of story telling and segue into the Western method with was to deliver something that would knock our socks off. They failed, and you defend them.

If it smallville-a-clarkwasn’t about the Superman suit, then the Smallville promoters, producers, writers and marketers wouldn’t have constantly been hinted towards it. If it wasn’t about the suit, then they wouldn’t HAVE FCKING SHOWED IT to us a dozen times like they did, behind the crystals, in Clark’s hands, him actually flying with it IN HAND and then changing in flight, which I have to admit was very, very cool (and gave me goose bumps and choked me up) IF I COULD HAVE ONLY REALLY SEEN IT HAPPEN! But no, we didn’t see it, since it was behind yet more crystals. But we still hoped. Don’t deny it, you did too, you wanted it, you wanted to see Tom wear the suit, don’t lie to us or to yourself.

booster-gold-blue-beetle-smallville-previewBut, you’re right, the story wasn’t about the suit, nor about Superman. But, the finale was, and you’re confusing these two, though they are different. This is where you let flacid arguments sway you from the cold hard truth that Smallville let all of us down. Regular watchers as well as those who tuned in for the very last episode (hmm, I wonder why the tuned in). Smallville dropped the ball, they did not deliver. The soft porn never got us off. Clark, Tom Welling, should have flown in the Superman costume.

michaelshanks-smallville-hawkmanClark should have gotten into the most spectacular brawl we have ever seen (I’m talking about Doomsday/Superman type of fighting). We should have seen Heat Vision, Super Breath, X-Ray vision, feats of strength that would have made us gasp. We should have seen Clark do the impossible. We should have seen Clark surprise even himself. We should have seen Pa Kent and Jor-El gasp from their graves and cry with pride in what Kal has become. Families across the globe should have been on the edge of their seat to see if Clark could save hundreds of people, stop a plane crash and kick Darkseid’s a$$ all at the same time. Mountains should have crumbled and skyscrapers topple, cats and dogs living together. We should have seen Green Arrow and the rest of the Justice League come out and EACH do their thing. Green Arrow should have taken on 50 men in black with guns, only with his bow and arrows. Flash should have… well, he should have run fast and done something. Aquaman could have… talked to some fish. ANYTHING to see them in action. But, what we got instead was Lionel (Lion-El) Luthor’s lame excuse for a presence of Darkseid and Clark… or what looks like Clark, push a big red flaming rock out of orbit. ….. and you defend this. SHAME ON YOU.

And there should have been a strapping, good looking brunette stud of a guy named Bruce from Gotham somewhere ANYWHERE in the story, but there wasn’t. And you people rolled over and accepted it. We deserve better. Thank god they listened and canned the Wonder Woman show, because we simply are not wanting or willing to go through less than perfect stories again. We deserve better. You deserve better.

I love Superman. I tear up when I hear John William’s wonderful theme song of the Superman movies, … the question is, do you? If it wasn’t about Superman and the costume, they wouldn’t have played the theme song.

- Ronando

Should Joe Quesada be Fired For What He’s Done to Spider-Man?

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

I Just Want To Forget...

I Just Want To Forget...

Even though I don’t remember the exact day, I remember that the month was August and the year was 2000. Why do I remember this month and year so well? Because this was the month and year that comic book artist Joe Quesada was hired as the new Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics. I remember discussing with fellow geeks at my local comic book store about how excited we were about this brave new move.

Mephisto Joe Quesada

Mephisto Joe Quesada

For Marvel fans everywhere, the feeling we felt might be compared to the same feeling Democrats across the country felt when Obama was elected President in 2008. This was because we felt Joe Quesada was finally bringing a ray of light during a very dark period in Marvel Comics history. See, when the 1990s hit, the comic industry started taken a dive, and in 1996 Marvel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It wasn’t until August of 2000 when Marvel started recovering from the scare.

If that weren’t enough, the 1990’s also saw a “Clone Saga” in the Spider-Man books, a teenage Tony Stark running around as Iron Man in the Avengers books, and other controversial storylines that polarized fans and led to decreases in sales on many of Marvel’s flagship books. So, like many fans at the time, I felt that Joe Quesada’s charisma and creativity that he displayed in the books that he was drawing and editing at the time (Daredevil, Black Panther, etc.) was exactly what Marvel needed to come out of this hole that they had dug themselves in to. And, for at least a little while, Joe Quesada did actually manage to dig Marvel back up and out of that abysmal hole.

During the first six years in his tenure as E.I.C., Quesada oversaw controversial yet insanely popular storylines such as Civil War, House of M, and others. Sales were up, fans were happy, and Marvel Comics was enjoying a renaissance period after the Dark Ages of the 1990’s. That is, until the autumn of 2007 rolled around.

One More day

One More day

This was the time where Joe Quesada decided to put his own personal interests in front of the interests of the fans who butter his bread; hence the reason “One More Day” dawned on us. For those who may not know, “One More Day” was a storyline that ran through the Spider-Man books in 2007 where Peter Parker made the conscious decision to sell his marriage to Mephisto (who is the Marvel Universe’s version of the Devil) in exchange for the life of his Aunt May, who was dying at the time from injuries inflicted by a shotgun.

“After his Aunt May has been shot, Spider-Man seeks help to save her life. He encounters the demon Mephisto, who offers to save her life if Spider-Man gives him his marriage. Spider-Man and his wife Mary Jane Watson agree, and this part of their history is erased so that, effectively, they have never been married. The storyline set the stage for a restructuring of the Spider-Man titles, resulting in the cancellation of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and The Sensational Spider-Man, with Amazing Spider-Man revamped as a thrice-monthly publication.

The decision to abruptly end Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s marriage and the events of “One More Day” were heavily criticized upon the series’ conclusion, although the artwork received praise. wikipedia

Amazing Spider-Man 545
Amazing Spider-Man 545

This was all done due to Joe Quesada’s eerily extreme hatred for Peter’s marriage. You can read his rant about how much he hates the marriage here at CBR.com. At that moment Quesada imposed his own personal vision of how the Spider-Man universe “should” be onto the loyal fans who’ve followed Peter and MJ over the years, without presumably thinking, for one moment, about the desires of those same fans who were the ones responsible for Marvel’s recovery as well as making Joe Quesada financially well off.

“One More Day” was the shotgun blow to the stomach. What happened next was nothing short of an evisceration as Peter continued on with his life after his agreement with Mephisto, as if his 20 years of marriage (1987-2007) to Mary Jane never even existed. But Joe didn’t stop there! No, 0n top of that, Peter had no job, no house (he lived upstairs in his Aunt May’s home, again). He had nothing! It was like all the character development that had been made with Peter in the last 20-30 years up until 2007 was now obliterated, wiped clean, as if we the reader had made the same exact agreement Mephisto MADE WITH Peter.

From then on out, the Spidey-books were back to the status quo of the 1960’s and 1970’s. This “new” era of Spider-Man continuity is dubbed “Brand New Day”, in reference to the fact that it’s a brand new continuity. To make things even more bizarre, a new love interest is introduced in Peter’s life named “Carlie Cooper”, who is also rumored to share the same name with Joe Quesada’s daughter. Think Joe Q. might be getting just a little bit too personal with Marvel’s flagship character now?

Carlie Cooper

Carlie Cooper

Fast-forward three years later to the autumn of 2010. Spidey book sales are the lowest they have been in years, which you can read about here. Apparently, fans are still resentful about the fact that the marriage was “magically” erased with thirty years of character development flushed down the toilet.

Joe Quesada then makes an announcement that “Brand New Day” is ending in Amazing Spider-Man #647, which can be read here. The clouds suddenly parted and the rays of heaven had shown as many fans, including myself, took this to mean that Peter and Mary Jane were getting back together, and that Peter was getting his old life back . This horrible continuity, hatched by the evil Mephisto and his twin goblin brother, Joe Quesada, was finally coming to an end with a wooden stake in it’s heart!

I Want Your Love

I Want Your Love

… And like all horror movies the bad guys, and bad stories, JUST DON’T DIE! After reading Amazing Spider-Man #647 last week, pretty much nothing’s changed; Mary Jane is still out of the picture, Carlie Cooper is still Peter’s love interest, and Peter is still unemployed. So how is Joe Quesada able to tell us “Brand New Day” is ending, when pretty much the entire status quo of BND is still intact?  How come we’re still giving Marvel our money for this mundane mediocrity? How come fans aren’t asking for Joe Quesada’s head!? Or at least his job?

I don’t know about you but for me, as a consumer of Marvel Comics, I feel like someone has pissed on my leg and then tried to tell me that my leg is wet because it’s raining. Well you know what? It ain’t raining Joe, and I want my $3.99, times a hundred, back! Peter and Mary Jane were the Clark Kent and Lois Lane of Marvel. They had the kind of strong and almost magical chemistry that few couples in the history of comic books, and even real life, have ever had.

For twenty years, Mary Jane was Peter’s rock, and I felt they complimented each other in a way that no couple in the history of comic books, not even Clark and Lois, have ever been able to do. So, for all that to be taken away in one panel and for me to spend my emotional and financial investment over the last three years, waiting for this whole mess to be retconned only to be misled by Joe Quesada is a giant kick in my face while my wallet is emptied. I’m now convinced that Brand New Day will NEVER end as long as Joe Quesada remains Chief Creative Officer.

So, how about it, fellow comic geeks? Do you feel like I do, that Peter Parker’s character has taken a step backwards since One More Day? Is Joe Quesada acting in the interest of the fans, or even in Marvel’s best interest, or is he really just interjecting his own personal agenda, his own twisted vision of Spider-Man without thinking about what the fans want? Most importantly, Should Joe Quesada be set free from his responsibilities at Marvel’s helm or maybe even step down from his post as Chief Creative Officer based on what he’s done to Spider-Man’s character? What do YOU think?

One More Day: MJ & Spidey

One More Day: MJ & Spidey

Written by Douglas Appich

Warlord Of Mars Comic – Preview

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010
John Carter Warlord of Mars #1

John Carter Warlord of Mars #1 - Alex Ross Cover

Warlord of Mars #1, Princess of Mars, just came out from Dynamite Entertainment and looks absolutely fantastic.  The comic series is written by Arvid Nelson and is illustrated by Stephen (Avengers/Invaders) Sadowski and Lui Antonio.  The movie,  John Carter of Mars, comes out 2012.

The character, John Carter, was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912 and first appeared in A Princess of Mars. Carter is an ex-cavalry officer in the Confederate Army who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars, which its natives call Barsoom. He is imbued with superior strength, due to Mars’ lesser gravity, in comparison to Earth’s, along with other surprising “powers” that he has somehow acquired through the transport from Earth to Mars.

John Carter - by Frank Frazetta

John Carter - by Frank Frazetta

He encounters both formidable alien creatures resembling the beasts of ancient myth and various humanoids and finds his true calling in life as a warrior-savior of the planet’s inhabitants. He wins the hand of Martian princess Dejah Thoris of Helium, but ultimately sacrifices himself to save Barsoom. Awakening again after this second death he finds he has been miraculously transported back to Earth, and his original body.

John Carter has appeared in various Big Little Books of the 1930s and 1940s, as well as a number of other comic strips and comic books. In the steps before the live action movie hits the screens in 2012, Dynamite Entertainment has now brought to life the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

John Carter by Boris Vallejo

John Carter by Boris Vallejo

The comic series is written by Arvid Nelson and is illustrated by Stephen (Avengers/Invaders) Sadowski and Lui Antonio, and features covers by Alex Ross, J. Scott Campbell, Joe Jusko and Lucio Parrillo! titled, “Warlord of Mars.” You can buy Warlord of Mars here at Dynamite Entertainment for only $1.00 and pre order #2 & #3 for $3.99.

John Carter Comic - Marvel Comics

John Carter Comic - Marvel Comics 1977

The John Carter series continues with The Gods of Mars (1918) and The Warlord of Mars (1919). Be sure to pick up the soft cover books and read the entire series. It’s well worth it.

In the upcoming 2012 film John Carter of Mars, he will be played by Taylor Kitsch, who you might remember played Gambit in the Wolverine Origins movie. Princess Dejah Thoris will be played by Lynn Collins, who was also in the Wolverine movie, playing Logan’s love interest Kayla Silverfox.

Pages from Warlord Of Mars: #1 Princess Of Mars.

john-carter-warlord-mars-1 john-carter-warlord-mars-2 john-carter-warlord-mars-3
john-carter-warlord-mars-4 john-carter-warlord-mars-5

Covers

john-carter-warlord-mars-cover2

Campbell Cover

john-carter-warlord-mars-cover3

Jusko Cover

john-carter-warlord-mars-cover4

Parillo Cover

Batman Under The Red Hood – The Animated Film

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
Red Hood

Red Hood

The Red Hood first appeared in Detective Comics #168 (1951), “The Man Behind the Red Hood”. In the original story, the man who is to later become the Joker was a master criminal known as the Red Hood. His costume was a large domed red helmet that looked like an eraser with a matching red cape. While attempting to rob a chemical plant, his men were killed and he was suddenly cornered on a catwalk by Batman.

Left with no alternatives, he dove into a catch basin full of chemicals and swam to freedom. He survived due to a conveniently breathing apparatus built into his helmet, however the toxic chemicals in the vat permanently discolored him, turning his hair green, his skin white and his lips red. Upon discovering this, he went insane, and adopted the persona of the Joker.

However, Alan Moore wrote an alternate origin of the Joker in “Batman: The Killing Joke,” in 1988. In Moore’s fantastic, retcon change to the already accepted Batman universe, the Red Hood is portrayed as a former chemical engineer, who is also a struggling stand-up comedian with a pregnant wife. He is approached by the Red Hood gang who want him to lead them through the chemical plant he once worked at, so they can rob the card factory next door. He reluctantly accepts, in order to make enough money to start a better life for his family.

The gang gives him the costume of the Red Hood. The day of the proposed robbery police inform him that his wife died in a freak accident. He attempts to back out of the robbery, but the gang strong-arms him into keeping his commitment. During the robbery, the plant’s security men spot the intruders and shoot the other criminals dead. The engineer tries to flee, but Batman appears and corners him on the plant’s catwalk. Terrified, he jumps off the catwalk into the chemical basin to escape. As in the previous origin story, he goes insane after discovering what the chemicals have done to his face, and becomes the Joker. The Joker himself is reluctant to admit that this iteration of his story is definitive, stating: “Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another… if I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!”

Under The Red Hood
In this recent storyline, a new Red Hood appears in Gotham, written by Judd Winick. To brush up on a bit of history, in 1988 “Batman: A Death in the Family” was written by Jim Starlin where Robin #2, Jason Todd was brutally killed by The Joker. Writer Judd Winick, reintroduces the Red Hood but this time the Red Hood is revealed to be the resurrected Jason Todd out for revenge.

The new Red Hood, who kills as easily as any criminal, assumes control over various gangs in Gotham City and starts a one-man war against Black Mask’s criminal empire. He actively tries to cleanse the city of corruption, such as the illegal drug trade and gang violence, but in a violent, antiheroic way. He eventually comes to blows against Batman and other heroes.

The video is actually well worth watching. The Joker’s voice takes some getting used to, but the storyline and art are excellent.

Text borrowed from wikipedia
- RL

Upcoming Superhero Movies – 2011/2012

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – December 16


Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are back as Sherlock Holmes and formidable colleague, Dr. Watson, in “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.” Holmes has always been the smartest man in the room until the new criminal mastermind at Professor Moriarty (played by Jared Harris, TV’s “Mad Men,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and also played the voice of Ridley in Tales of the Black Freighter) shows up. Moriarty is Holmes’ intellectual equal with a capacity for evil and complete lack of conscience proves to give our renowned detective a run for his money.

Holmes’ investigation into Moriarty’s plot becomes increasingly more dangerous as it leads him and Watson out of London and across Europe, to France, Germany and Switzerland. But Moriarty is always one step ahead, weaving and spinning a web of death and destruction, which, come to find out, is all part of a greater evil plot that will change the course of history…. or, in their case, the future. See, it’s changing our history, or, our fictional history which ties into Holmes’ stories but since it hasn’t happened yet… ugh… it’s just like in the Start Trek movie with changing time and stuff.

Guy Ritchie returns to direct “Game of Shadows,” .. you thought I was going to say Game of Thrones, didn’t you.

In her first English-speaking role, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, who gained international attention in the Swedish film “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” plays Sim. Stephen Fry (“Alice in Wonderland,” “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) is Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s older brother.

“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” is written by Michele Mulroney & Kieran Mulroney. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were created by the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and appear in stories and novels by him. Go out and start reading some Sherlock, it won’t disappoint.

The Adventures of Tintin – December 23

The Adventures of Tintin is a series of classic comic books created by the Belgian artist Georges Rémi (1907–1983). It is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, translated into more than 80 languages and more than 350 million copies of the books sold to date.  Set during a largely realistic 20th century, the hero, Tintin, is a young Belgian reporter who ends up on adventures to far away places. With him is his faithful fox terrier dog Snowy.

Additional cast include cynical & grumpy Captain Haddock, the intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus, two incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson. The author, pen named Hergé, himself is featured in several of the comics as a background character, thinking of Alfred Hitchcock here. Appears to be a promising family flick.

2012

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance – February 17
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter – Feb 22 Read the book. It’s pretty good.
The Avengers – May 4
Men In Black III – May 25
John Carter of Mars – March 9
Prometheus – June 8 Prequel to Alien, directed by Ridley Scott
G.I. Joe 2 – June 29
Amazing Spider-Man – July 3
Batman: The Dark Knight Rises – July 20
Total Recall – Aug 3 starring Colin Farrell
Dredd – Sept 21
The Hobbit Pt.1 – Dec 19
300: Battle of Artemisia
Akira
Dark Tower

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance – Feb 17


Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, Nicolas Cage will reprise his role as Johnny Blaze / Ghost Rider. It is the second film to be released under the Marvel Knights banner after 2008′s Punisher: War Zone.

Set several years after the first film, Johnny Blaze, a tormented soul who is convinced that his powers are a curse, is in self-imposed exile from the world. Blaze is approached by Moreau, a member of the monastic order of Michael, the warrior angel. Moreau seeks a protector for a mother and son duo who are being hunted by a figure named Roarke – a fellow with a detailed knowledge of the Ghost Rider and his different identities over the centuries

Official Ghost Rider Movie page.

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter – Feb 22


This isn’t from the movie, it’s just an ad for the book.

The Avengers – May 4


Written and directed by Joss Whedon, featuring an ensemble cast, including Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury).

When an unexpected enemy emerges who threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, the director of the S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), finds himself in need of a team of superheroes and ends up recruiting Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America to pull the world back from the brink of disaster and destruction.

Tom Hiddleston is back as Norse god of mischief, and adopted brother to Thor, Loki who comes to Earth to subjugate it, to rule the human race as their king. About his character, Hiddleston said, “I think the Loki we see in The Avengers is further advanced. You have to ask yourself the question: how pleasant an experience is it disappearing into a wormhole that has been created by some kind of super nuclear explosion of his own making? So I think by the time Loki shows up in The Avengers he’s seen a few things.”

Cobie Smulders is S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill who works closely with Nick Fury. Regarding her preparation, Smulders stated, “I hired this amazing black-ops trainer to teach me how to hold a gun, take me to a shooting range, how to hit, how to hold myself, how to walk and basically how to look. I don’t do a ton of fighting in the movie, which is why I wasn’t offered a trainer, but I wanted to look like I had the ability to. And I really just got down and dirty with the character, but then I finally went on set; when you’re about to roll, all the “blubbity blue” you’ve been working on kind of messes with you. And you become a little bit detached.”

Note: S.H.I.E.L.D. the espionage and secret military law-enforcement agency was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 (Aug. 1965). The acronym originally stood for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division. It was changed in 1991 to Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate and when the Marvel movies started hitting the scene, it changed once again to Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.

Official Avengers movie page.

Battleship – May 18

Based off the Hasbro game. … no, we’re not kidding.

Battleship is directed by Peter Berg who’s done a lot of TV, Prime Suspect (TV series), Friday Night Lights (TV series) & Trauma (TV series), but not much for producing movies. Alexander Skarsgård, who’s done Straw Dogs, and played Eric Northman in True Blood (TV series). Taylor Kitsch, John Carter, Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine , Friday Night Lights (TV series) and smoking hot Brooklyn Decker, Jessica Simpson clone, plays Sam(antha).

In the Hawaiian Islands, the naval fleet engage in intense battle against an alien race known as “The Regents”. The aliens come to planet Earth, to build a power source in the Pacific Ocean. The film is to show both sides of the story, the aliens’ as well as the humans’ so the audience knows exactly where the opponent’s ships are.

John Carter of Mars – June 8


You might remember Taylor Kitsch as Tim Riggins in Friday Night Lights (TV series), or better as Remy LeBeau/Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. What’s interesting is that Edgar Rice Burroughs, played by Daryl Sabara, actually wrote himself in his own books as a surrogate nephew to John Carter.

John Carter

John Carter

Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote the Barsoom series of John Carter from 1912 – 1964. Captain John Carter is an Earthman, was a Virginian who fought in the American Civil war as a Confederate soldier. After the Civil War, Carter moved to the SW United States to work as a prospector. In 1866 he and his prospector partner strike wealth; but the partner is killed by Indians and Carter takes refuge in a cave where he is overcome by smoke produced by an Indian woman. Carter wakes up to find himself on Mars. While on Mars, Carter was believed to be dead by those who knew him on Earth, but he re-emerges in New York 10 years later in 1876, settling on the Hudson River.

John Carter appeared to die in 1886, leaving instructions for a Burroughs, who refers to him as an ‘uncle’ of the family, to entomb him in a crypt, and leaving Burroughs with the manuscript of A Princess of Mars with instructions not to publish it for another 21 years. He has no memory before the age of 30 and seems never to age. If you haven’t read the books, you can start with A Princess of Mars or you might be interested in the recent John Carter comic book, Warlord of Mars.

Ridley Scott‘s Prometheus – Jun 8

Director Ridley Scott’s sci-fi pic Prometheus has been shrouded in mystery for some time, up till now as the first crop of actor-revealing images appear in this week’s EW. We get a look at stars Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender in spacesuits on an unknown planet, a gigantic head statue, and what look to be primitive forms of the eggs seen in Alien. “What are they?? …. they look like eggs of some sort that house a creature that might kill all of us. .. let’s take a closer look and see.” We also get a peek at Charlize Theron and Idris Elba.

Long said to be a prequel to Scott’s sci-fi/horror classic Alien, the director recently revealed that the last eight minutes of Prometheus will “evolve into a pretty good DNA of the Alien one.” Keep an eye out for the trailer. Prometheus opens in 3D on June 8th, 2012.

Dredd - Sept 21

karl-urban-dredd dredd_movie_image_karl_urban_01 lawmaster-bike-dredd-movie1

In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO

As in, Judge Dredd! Karl Urban, who played McCoy/Bones in Star Trek (2009), Vaako in The Chronicles of Riddick, and Eomer in The Lord of the Rings, is playing Judge Dredd. Apparently, all you’ll see is his lower face since he’s not removing his helmet through the entire movie since it is verbotten, says the comic geeks, to show Dredd without his helmet. Directed by Pete Travis, who directed Endgame & Vantage Point. Also starring Olivia Thirlby, from Juno,

Dec 19 – The Hobbit Pt.1

2013

The Wolverine – Jan 1
Iron Man 3 – May 3
Man of Steel – June 14
RED 2 – Aug
Hancock 2 – 2013
The Flash – 2013
Teen Titans – 2013
X-Men Origins: Magneto – 2013
The Hobbit Pt.2- Dec 1

June 14 – Man of Steel

Henry Cavill is playing Superman in Man of Steel. You can check out our Analyses of the Superman Suit, here.

Man of Steel - Henry Cavill is Superman

Man of Steel - Henry Cavill is Superman

Rumored

Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam
Venom
Flash Gordon
Luke Cage
Justice League – Mortal
Runaways
Lobo
Die Hard 5
Dorothy of Oz
Dracula 3D
Flash Gordon
Gambit
Green Lantern 2
HALO
Star Trek 2
Hellboy 3
Logan’s Run
Oblivian
R.I.P.D. – A recently slain cop joins a team of undead police officers working for the Rest in Peace Department and tries to find the man who murdered him. Based on the comic by Peter M. Lenkov. R.I.P.D. is a Dark Horse publication. Staring Ryan Reynolds. … yes, Ryan Reynolds.
Deadpool (2014)
Sin City 2
Ant-Man (2014)
Kick-Ass 2: Balls To The Wall
Wanted 2
Doctor Strange
Iron Fist
Nick Fury
Silver Surfer
Sub-Mariner
Thundercats

Get discounts & more with our newsletter!