An Idea On How To Shake Things Up In DC Comics

So, I’ve been thinking lately about ways DC could keep things interesting in their comics. More often than not, their ideas include reboots or big epic crossover events or stuff like that. And not to say that plan doesn’t work, but I don’t really think it’s necessary all the time. Instead, I had another idea on how to shake things up: Rotate villain rosters a little. Add variety to the different antagonists that show up in the books. Give us some new dream matches of heroes vs villains we either haven’t seen before or don’t see often.

For example, let’s say that some of the villains in Gotham City actually wised up and realized “Hey, this city sucks and Batman is always kicking our asses! Let’s leave this shit-hole!” Like, what if Poison Ivy decided to find her own home away from everyone to continue her research and whatnot, only to accidentally end up on Themyscira and become a recurring character in the Wonder Woman books? Or if Penguin realized he had an opportunity to become the kingpin of crime in Star City and thus became a villain in the Green Arrow books? Or Bane could go to Detroit to test the power of muscle (with illegal strength enhancement, lol) against metal by fighting Cyborg in his book? And none of these would HAVE to be permanent, so those worried that Batman would lose some of his precious and continuously expanding villains roster wouldn’t need to panic.

But hey, Batman’s not the only hero with villains to go around. And maybe everyone could just kinda swap one or two with another. Maybe Parasite could go try to absorb Flash’s connection to the Speed Force or Shazam’s incredible strength. Perhaps the Injustice Gang could try their luck at their enemies’ teenage counterparts, the Titans? Conversely, what if the Justice League had to engage in a battle of wits and strategy against arguably the devil himself, Trigon, to keep him from rising? What if Nightwing was forced into a situation where he’d have to occupy space with the man who killed him, Lex Luthor? Or hell, why not have Deathstroke, a guy with a healing factor, fight Cyborg, an old enemy from pre-Flashpoint and a guy whose body was saved by technology?

 

Lastly, there’re a few villains that haven’t appeared in a really long time that could be brought back under the right circumstances to fight new heroes. What if Composite Superman returned to fight the Super Sons, Jon and Damian? Perhaps Roxy Rocket could decide to try her luck at becoming a Green Lantern and become a rogue for Jessica Cruz? Or hey, Wally West is back now; how about bringing back Inertia as a rival for him?

 

Anyway, that’s all I got for now. If you think of any other good ones, lemme know in the comments. Ja né!

Pokémon FireRed Text-And-Screencap-Only Nuzlocke Part 4.1 (SPECIAL GRINDING EDITION!!!!)

I love these “previously on”‘s that the journal provides. ^_^

Last time in the Pokémon FireRed Text-And-Screencap-Only Nuzlocke Challenge, I made my way up through Nugget Bridge and Routes 24 and 25, battling Tim Oak and the various Trainers along the way, caught some new Pokémon, met up with Bill, got a ticket to go to the party on the S.S. Anne, fought some Rockets up to no good, and managed to score the Cascade Badge from Misty. This time, I decided to head south to Vermilion City. Unfortunately, while I could’ve otherwise cut through Saffron City…

Danged dehydrated guards. -_-

…yeah, that was a thing. lol So, instead, I took the underground path and came out in Route 6, on the other side of Saffron, and battled my way through some Trainers.

Yeah, as a matter of fact, there are NO Bug-types on this Route.

Funny story: In Yellow version, these two are replaced by Joe and Giselle from the anime. 😛

… …Screw it, play the damn clip. XD

HEY, someone’s actually got an evolved Pokémon! 😀

…Okay, YOU are just cheating. Also, Jeff meets Camper Jeff. 😛

Anyway, to make a REALLY long story short, I made it to Vermilion City, healed up, went to the Pokémon Fan Club, listened to the chairman talk for God knows how long about his Rapidash in ways that STILL haunt me to this day, got the Bike Voucher, and traded it for a bike back in Cerulean. Afterward, I noticed that my overall Pokédex count was low (in terms of captures), and I realized why: Because I can only catch one Pokémon per Route, and the only other Pokédex pages are provided by gift Pokémon and evolving them and the Pokémon I catch. Unfortunately, battling wild Pokémon and once-off Trainers for experience meant filling up my Pokédex enough to get the items that Professor Oak’s aides have would take FOREVER. On top of that, I also wasn’t feeling great about my levels going into S.S. Anne and battling Surge. Luckily…

YOU GOT A THIIIIINNNG!

…YEAH. So, after catching the Pokémon found in the surrounding area…

Milo and Otis reference, AND I used to sort-of have a cat named Milo. Really, it was a neighbour’s cat, but he liked us more. lol

Get it? Edge? He’s a SPEARow?

THIS bitch almost killed Buttery. It was SO close, I thought for sure she was about to be killed. O_O

…I decided to go about training by battling Trainers and then having rematches via the VS Seeker. However, what ended up happening was that I took SOOOOOO many photos of me grinding levels. So, with that said, here’s a quick rundown of some of the highlights. ^_^

My boy! 😀

Why can’t you be like that other Bug Catcher and have an evolved Pokémon?

Came prepared for you this time, asshole!

NOT how I meant!

Okay, Santanico doesn’t have Intimidate, thank goodness, because there’s NO WAY it should’ve worked here had she.

Butterfree’s actually REALLY good at the Para-fusion combo, and the only reason Buttery doesn’t use it is because…I’m going for something else. 🙂

I was expecting this battle to be a little closer, to be honest.

Not sure, but I think this might be the first case of seeing a Fire-type so far.

Anyway, after a while of that, I was rewarded with the following:

Also, since he’s not a mandrake anymore, I think I’ll be renaming him when I reach Lavender Town.

Pretty sure Edge just replaced Damian on my team, but of course, I’ll keep Damian as a back-up Flying-type and an HM Slave for when I get HM 02.

With all that done, I finally decided to return to Vermilion and head to the S.S. Anne. So, sorry this article turned out to basically be one big grind session, but I figured I’d include it just for funsies, and so that you know just how much time was put into preparing. Anyway, be sure to check in next time for Part 4.2 as I take on the S.S. Anne. Ja né!

The results of my training. A shame Milo won’t get Limber until evolving, because he’d otherwise be great for the Vermilion City Gym.

Pokémon FireRed Text-And-Screencap-Only Nuzlocke Part 3

My team at the beginning of this phase of my journey.

Last time in the Pokémon FireRed Text-And-Screencap-Only Nuzlocke Challenge, I headed into Mt. Moon, battled several tough Trainers, added new members to my team, evolved a couple of pre-existing ones, took down several members of Team Rocket, and obtained both the Dome Fossil and Moon Stones. This time, starting off in Cerulean City, I decided to prep my team for taking on Misty by battling the Trainers on my way to meeting up with Bill the Pokémaniac, creator of the PC Storage System. Before that, though, I decided to swoop back to Route 4 (the eastern half of it, anyway) and do some training. And, while I was there, I caught a new Pokémon.

No, I’ve never watched From Dusk till Dawn, but I was trying to come up with a nickname for this, and that was the best I could think of. lol

…I’ll be honest, I have no idea what I’m gonna do with this one. Not because I have any kind of issue with Ekans, just that my team has already become a little Poison heavy, but we’ll get to that in a bit. Still, might be a good idea to have it as a back-up. In the meantime, though, I had…slightly different snakes to concern myself with.

“Which is why I only have a team of 4!” XP

I swear, it’s almost like this Abra is here specifically for the purpose of getting the newbie on your team some experience. That said, probably the best use of Leech Life and Astonish I’ve ever gotten.

…Okay, I’m with Petty Artist on this one: You fucking hack evolved your Level 17 Pidgey into a Pidgeotto, but you didn’t evolve your Level 18 Starter? I honestly can’t think of anyway this guy could insult me as a Trainer any more than thinking I couldn’t handle his Ivysaur at this point.

… …Okay, well, I stand corrected. Tim, I’m gonna kill one of your Pokémon the next time we meet.

Anyway, with that out of the way, I decided to make my way to-

…Hel-loooooo. 😀

Honestly, at this point, Oswald’s kinda become my primary battler for dealing with other Poison-types, unless I’m confident that Buttery can get a quick Confusion in without getting hit.

…SERIOUSLY! What IS it with these people not evolving their Pokémon?! Although it was hilariously adorable when I had Oswald use Focus Energy, and then immediately after, the Nidoran did it, like he was trying to copy his big brother or something. 😛

… … …Why, hello, Pork Laser. It’s been a while. WELCOME TO DIE.

YES! 😀

… … …OH…Wait, does that mean the others were all members of Team Rocket, too? Some of them were kinda young to be grunts, is all.

Seriously, what was your plan? That you were somehow going to beat a guy who had taken down five other Trainers with your two Pokémon? It’s not like you were even higher leveled than the rest of them, either. The girl with the twin Nidoran was tougher than you.

Anyway, now that I’d gotten past Nugget Bridge, I found myself with…a grassy patch on Routes 24. This is where I got a little nervous. Not because there was anything in the grass that could kill anyone on my team, but because it is known for being home to ABRA. And…well, I’ve gotten to know my luck as it pertains to rare Pokémon at this point. If I ran into Abra, there was no way I was gonna catch one before it could teleport away, and that’d be TWO ROUTES locked off on my journey at that point. So, with fingers crossed, I entered the patch of grass, and…

Fuck, I’ll take it! I don’t even care that I named it after Hank Pym, I’ll take it! XD

So, with that done, I let out a sigh of relief…and then recalled that Abra was on Route 25 as well. Because why not at this point? I also knew there were Kakuna on Route 25, too, so I decided that, so I wouldn’t end up wasting that Route on the evolved form of a Pokémon I already had, that I should first evolve Hank.

And since I’d gone to the trouble of getting a Kakuna, I thought “What the hell, let’s go all the way to Beedrill.” So…

Aww, he looks so happy to be fully evolved… … …I wonder if I should tell him I’m planning to use him as my Cut HM Slave? 😛

And thus, with a Beedrill in my box, I headed for Route 25 and waited to see what I’d find…

…Well, I think I know who is gonna be fighting Misty’s Staryu. 🙂

Now that I’d caught a couple of new Pokémon, I decided it was time to make my way to Bill’s, while training my team up for Misty by battling the Trainers and wild Pokémon in the area. And thus, TRAINING MONTAGE TIME!

Hmm, not quite as epic as Mr. Satan’s, but good nonetheless. lol

“Sempai noticed me! And then he blew me the fuck away!” XD

It’s always strange to find someone with the same Pokémon as a Gym Leader one city away, only higher leveled. It’s like “Why wasn’t THIS person the Gym Leader?”

As you can see, Katherine’s kinda stopped being as helpless as she was when I caught her. 🙂

Okay, THIS asshole scared the shit outta me, and here’s why: I totally forgot that Slowpoke learn Confusion at Level 17 in FireRed and LeafGreen. I guess I must’ve had the other Generation III games on the mind, wherein Slowpoke doesn’t learn Confusion until Level 20. As such, I sent Drakeman in to deal with him, thinking the best he could do was Water Gun. When Confusion hit, I thought for sure I was about to see my first casualty. And how I didn’t, I’ll NEVER know. O_O

…Sure enough, I ran into three of these things, and before I could hit them and try to beat them for Exp, they each Teleported away.

With all the Trainers on the way to Bill’s place defeated, I made my way inside. Problem was, Bill didn’t seem to be home. Instead, there was a Clefairy sitting around…with a human face… … …At this point, I was ready to piss myself in terror. Then it started talking. And thus, a thousand Creepy Pastas were written. 😛

Yeah, I’m kidding, I know it’s really Bill. I’ve never understood this line of dialogue, though. Why would he say that?

The technology of the Pokémon world will never cease to astound me. Why can’t humanity be inspired to make Poké Balls and PC Storage Systems like we are with stuff from Star Trek?

Yeah, not gonna lie, I’m kinda with Bill on this one. Maybe it’s just because I prefer to dress like a dirtbag hipster, but whatevs. I’ll take the free tickets to a cruise liner party.

So these must be the “lots of pages to my Pokédex” that Tim was talking about. Don’t get me wrong, I love Eevee and the Eeveelutions (that sounds like a band), but it’s FOUR pages. I had that many when I first got the freaking ‘dex.

Anyway, with that done, I decided to head back to Cerulean City, just in time to notice a house had been broken into. The officer outside said it was Team Rocket…well, no shit. I could see the Goddamn Rocket Grunt standing in the back yard from right there. How do you not see that? Apparently, the police in Kanto are completely inept, OR they’re on the take. It’s one or the other. Either way, I decided I’d need to go all vigilante and take the law into my own hands by dealing with the grunt myself.

…No. The Team Rocket uniform kinda gives you away. In fact, why aren’t you wearing a disguise like your buddy on Nugget Bridge? o.O

One rather embarrassing ass-kicking later. lol

Man, could you imagine if EVERYBODY was able to deal with loss of property that well?

Yeah, we never really did find out what that was about, huh?

And thus, with Team Rocket beaten down again, the Nugget Bridge conquered, a few more pages added to my Pokédex, and some much-needed training done, it was finally time to deal with Misty. As always, I went into battle using the same number of Pokémon as the Gym Leader’s, meaning I needed to decide which two would take on her Staryu and Starmie. I’d already decided that, based on type and overall performance (and luck) thus far that Drakeman would lead against her Staryu, but there was still the matter of her Starmie. Katherine now knew Bite, but I wasn’t sure if she could one hit KO her opponent, nor was I confident in her ability to tank a Water Pulse from a Starmie. I could’ve worked to evolve her into a Golbat, as I had thought about before, but that felt like I’d be committing to making her a full member of my team, and with Oswald and Drakeman in the party already, I was clearly a bit too Poison heavy. As such, I ultimately decided to go with Mikey, matching his bulk against Starmie’s Special Attack. With my two party members chosen, I headed for the Gym…

Not kidding, first time using Bullet Seed, and it hit 5 times. Seriously, Drakeman, you are the luckiest Goddamn Oddish EVER, not to mention one hell of a trooper. Speaking of, btw? I was originally gonna name him Steve. I’m not kidding, if he survives to Lavender Town and that kind of crap keeps happening to him, I’m changing his name. lol

Honestly? Not as bad a policy as some would suggest.

Not gonna lie: I had to use a LOT of Potions in this battle. Also, I wanted to punch myself for not raising Mikey ONE LEVEL so that he’d learn Bite. Once again, my lack of memory of the movepools in this game nearly gets one of my team members killed. Clearly, something I’m going to have to be a LOT more careful of.

Two badges down, six to go. 🙂

With the Cascade Badge in hand, my business in Cerulean City was finally complete… … …BUT, before I called it a day, there was still one last thing I had to do. After healing up and withdrawing my team, I called out Oswald and gave him one of the Moon Stones I’d found in Mt. Moon, and watched as he evolved to his final stage.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the most powerful member currently on my team, and the Pokémon who will lead said team to victory against Lt. Surge.

So, once again, I managed to get through a phase of my journey with no fatalities. Still, I can tell that what luck I’ve had thus far is gonna run out soon, so I’m gonna have to play it smarter next time, as I make my way south to Vermilion City in order to attend the S.S. Anne party and battle Lt. Surge for the Thunder Badge. Ja né!

We’re gonna need a lot more training and a lot less weaknesses to Electric attacks to deal with Surge. But where can I find a really strong and swift Ground-type?

Pokémon FireRed Text-And-Screencap-Only Nuzlocke Part 2

My team at the beginning of this phase of my journey.

Last time in the Pokémon FireRed Text-And-Screencap-Only Nuzlocke Challenge, I started my journey with Mikey, my Squirtle, battled my rival twice, caught some new members to my team, journeyed through the Viridian Forest, and defeated the Pewter City Gym Leader for the Boulder Badge. This time, decided to head for Mt. Moon, where Clefairy supposedly came to the planet from outer space. Before I could get to Mt. Moon, though, I had a few Trainers waiting for me on Route 3, which meant it was once again training montage time!

I’m not denying that, but that’s STILL a really weird thing to open a battle with. lol

…There is no freaking reason why this Caterpie should not be evolved TWICE by now. C’mon, developers.

I almost felt bad for the poor bastard… … …almost. 😛

And, as always, the training proved VERY fruitful. Specifically, I caught new members for the team…

This nickname’s specifically for N. Harmonik. You’re welcome, Aibo.

I thought about Stephanie or Barbara, but they seemed a bit too obvious in my head. And really, more people should know about the awesomeness that is Batwoman.

…and Mikey reached Level 16, which meant it was time to ascend to new plateaus. 🙂

I’ve never understood why Wartortle gets frilly-looking ears and tail, only to drop them when it evolves into Blastoise. lol

Luckily, this time around, I knew well enough to keep Mikey away from Pidgey. I don’t know what it is, but it’s almost like the pigeons have been abducted and replaces with vultures who are out to murder my Starter. lol Regardless, with a full team of six Pokémon, I ventured into Mt. Moon, continuing to battle my way through anything that got in my way. I battled every Trainer in the caves of the mountain, saw every single Pokémon that took up residence there, and even encountered everybody’s favourite group of Pokémon thieves: Team Rocket. They were there to steal Pokémon from unsuspecting Trainers and find the rumoured fossils that were buried in the mountain somewhere, probably to sell them and net some cash. Suffice to say, not a picnic getting through this place.

Okay, this is technically outside, but I decided to get some training in for Oswald, ran into a Jigglypuff, and…well, how could I NOT get a screencap of Jigglypuff using Sing? 😛

Why do all the Pokémon I REALLY want to score lucky encounters with never show up until long after I’ve made my capture for their area? The best one I’ve managed so far is Oswald. No way I’m catching Abra this LP.

Yeah, but at the low levels they’re at here, they kinda suck at it. lol

And thus, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit learned karate. 😛

…Good for you?

Is “We, TEAM ROCKET” just how you guys introduce yourselves? I mean, it’s not necessarily BAD, but I can think of a lot better. lol

Anyway, during my battles, my team naturally grew, both in evolutions…

I also managed to find the Moon Stones. Probably gonna wait until after the Cerulean City Gym to use one and evolve Oswald again.

Not gonna lie, but it occurred to me (a bit late after doing so) that perhaps naming one of my Pokémon after one of the ROBINS wasn’t a good way to avoid deaths. Still, this evolution DOES make me optimistic.

…and in learning new techniques.

So Mikey’s been studying under Mr. Satan to learn the Megaton Punch?

Not everybody did so great, though. Minnie only got up to Level 13 by the time I was out, managing to learn Hyper Fang, and poor Katherine unfortunately didn’t get any use at all. I honestly think I’m just gonna put her in the Daycare (when I get there) and have the guy there raise her up as a back-up Flying-type should the worst ever happen to Damian. But then, I really shouldn’t be surprised. There just weren’t that many opponents in Mt. Moon that would’ve been good match-ups for them. Plus, I may have subconsciously favoured the others in their training since I figured they’d likely stand a better chance against Misty. Still haven’t decided which two I’ll go with, though. That said, Katherine might have one or two moves in her pool that might serve me well in that Gym Battle…

Could this silhouette be a sign of my future…?

Anyway, after fighting my way through the caves, I eventually met up with a guy who had the fossils, and apparently thought I was trying to steal them, so he attacked me. Naturally, I whooped him, and in an attempt to appease me, he offered to share one with me. Again, he thought I was a thief, which I wasn’t, but he was offering me a fossil, so…yeah, not necessarily gonna tell him otherwise in THAT case. 😛

YES, I chose the Dome Fossil, and NO, I’m not making that joke. lol

So, after all that, I made it to Cerulean City on the other side and rested up, once again managing to come through a situation with zero fatalities. However, we’ll see if I can keep that lucky streak going next time, as I challenge the Nugget Bridge and the Cerulean City Gym. Ja né!

Which of these six will battle Misty and her Water-type Pokémon? You’ll have to check in next time to find out!

DC Rebirth Reveal – Some Art And Quick Reactions

…SO, today was kinda nuts. Before I go in-depth on all of the big announcements, since I fully expect more news to come out soon enough, let’s instead take a look at some of the art revealed for the new books and a few quick notes I took for the different titles.

80 PAGES FOR $2.99?! That’s some insane dedication to the price drop!

…So wait, several of my favourite Bat Family characters, all part of a team book, and debuting in the same month as my birthday? I feel like this book is especially for me. 😀 Kinda confused by Clayface’s presence, but whatever.

Supergirl going back to a more classic costume makes sense, especially since we have her show going right now. The only thing that’s kinda weird is that we’re keeping the story arc where her father is the new Cyborg Superman. It’s just…odd.

He’s back in blue! THANK GOD! Also, the reaction to the first story arc’s title, “Better Than Batman” got just the exact reaction I was expecting. XD

Greg Rucka is coming back to Wonder Woman. This is going to be INSANE, and I REALLY can’t wait for Wonder Woman Year One, with art by Nicola Scott. Also, thank God, Wonder Woman’s back in gold. I don’t even care that it’s blatantly copied from the movies, it looks good on her. 🙂

Lex Luthor as the new Superman of Metropolis. That’s literally all you need to know to realize that’s gonna end badly. Throw in Doomsday, and I’ll be surprised if there’s anything LEFT of Metropolis by the time we hit Action Comics #1000.

Interested to see where this new story takes Batgirl, but I hope it eventually returns her to Burnside. Would hate to see everything that’s been going on with her dropped so unceremoniously.

So Hal’s going back to the Corps, while Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz are having to take over on Earth. Interesting set up, and REALLY glad to see Cruz graduating to Green Lantern. 🙂

DC has a REALLY warped sense of humour, revealing that the sons of Batman and Superman will be teaming up in the same week that Batman and Superman threw down. lol

Bryan Hitch, Tony Daniel, and Fernando Pasarin have got some BIG shoes to fill with Justice League, but I like the team. Also, it seems details on JLA are being kept a secret for now.

Relax, people. It’s not THAT All-Star Batman. lol Also, I guess now we know what Snyder’s been up to. That said, gotta admit, I’m a little disappointed to see Ivy relegated back to being simply another rogue for Batman after all the work that’s been done with her as her own character.

Y’know, everybody else is talking about how Damian is on the Titans and how Wally West is still black, and all I can think of is “Thank God, Starfire’s on the Titans and NOT the Outlaws”. 😛

A mostly all-new Outlaws team with characters I don’t care much about. So, in other words, Lobdell is being kept away from anything I love. Good to know. ^_^

Whoa, whoa, whoa, lemme see if I understand this correctly: A Titans book where there’s only ONE person in red??? 😛 Also, who is that in green? Can’t be a Lantern, can it?

They really might as well have just said “We’re going with the same team as from the movie”. I mean, honestly, I don’t even really care that they’re cross-promoting, so why not just admit it?

Oh goodie, David Finch is on Batman. -_- Tom King should prove to be a good choice, though, and I’m interested to see where this goes in the aftermath of Superheavy, especially as it pertains to Duke Thomas.

Interesting set-up with Flash having to mentor not one but SEVERAL new speedsters. Also, I don’t care that Wally is still black. I just hope he’s FUN again. That’s all I’ve EVER wanted.

I’ve never been so excited and so confused for a book. So someone is posing as Oracle? Does that mean Oracle is canon again? Also, that’s clearly New 52 Helena as Huntress. So does that mean she really WAS Huntress before having to fake her death?

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ll go more in depth soon enough, though. Lemme know your own thoughts below, and we’ll see how things pan out from now to May 25th, 2016. Ja né!

Early Predictions/Desires For #DCRebirth – The Justice League And Related Characters

So, I’ve talked about some things I’d like to see from DC Rebirth back before we knew really ANYTHING about it, and I gave general thoughts on the books announced to be part of DC’s new line-up during Rebirth and beyond. Now, it’s time to look at the individual books announced and/or characters involved and talk about what I either expect to see happen as part of this movement to bring back the elements of the books and their characters we and the creators love. Keep in mind, I might’ve discussed some of this already in the aforementioned articles, so I may be repeating a few points. Still, let’s start off with…well, a book I’m a little disappointed to hear something about…And by a little disappointed, I mean my first words upon hearing about it were, and I quote, “SONOFABITCHMOTHERFUCKINGSHITMASSAGINGCOCKGRINDINGMONKEYFACEDCLOWNFART!!!“…I might’ve overreacted slightly. lol

Justice League

Then again, though, when you consider the quality of Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok’s work as of late with Justice League, can you really blame me for that reaction? Well, regardless, with Justice League and Justice League America, what I would recommend doing is having both books be about different groupings of the same team. Like, one book could focus on the original big seven of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter (who I am hoping to God is returning to the League now that his book is ending), and the other can focus on some of the newer members, like Shazam, Cyborg, Jessica Cruz, Mister Miracle, and Big Barda. I’ve actually heard for a while now that there might’ve been a planned crossover between Justice League and JLA, but unless they had this planned with whoever was taking over for Johns, I don’t see that happening right away. And frankly, I’m a little sick of books doing crossovers before they hit 12 issues anyway, so holding off on that might be in order.

Batman

Assuming he retains the memory of it from the events of The Darkseid War, something tells me that a future arc of the new Batman title might revolve around him looking for the Joker now that he knows his identity. I just can’t imagine him gaining ahold of that information and not wanting to use it to maybe put an end to the Joker’s threat before anyone else gets hurt. Still, I’m a bit…leery of that idea. See, for me, the Joker works best when you DON’T know all the details of who he really is and what his past was like, and I can’t imagine DC actually going through with that. As Joker himself once put it, “If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice”. Then again, they’re apparently telling his back-story in the TV show Gotham, which I dislike for various reasons on top of that, so who knows? Like I’ve said before, though, I hope that they decide to make Joker a little more fun in the future. He’s more than capable of being a terrifying villain AND the occasional goofy clown. Other than that, since I don’t see any books involving Robin in the line-up thus far, one has to wonder what’s to become of Damian and the members of We Are Robin, in particular Duke Thomas. Will Damian become Bruce’s full-time partner again in one of the Batman books, or will he step aside and become his own individual while Duke takes his place? Or perhaps Duke will instead take on the identity of Lark, like in one of Bruce’s nightmare scenarios brought on by the Scarecrow’s fear toxin? And what of Jim Gordon? Will he continue to take up the mantle of the All-New Batman? Only time will tell for sure, but we’ll talk more about Batman’s supporting cast and related characters later.

Superman

So, after the newest issue of Action Comics, it looks as though Superman is no longer dying. I could be wrong, but that appears to be the case. He’s also been fully revitalized. So, doesn’t look like the Super League is being built as a possible replacement for the Man of Steel. However, I would be willing to suggest that he’s instead putting it together due to the events where his powers were drained, his identity was leaked, and so on, and that there’d need to be someone who could stand in for him if something like that should ever happen again. Speaking of, though, I’ve got this sneaky suspicion that the public may not remember that Clark Kent and Superman are one in the same post-Rebirth. Why? Well, like I mentioned before, the Spyral satellite has the ability to remove the public’s knowledge of Dick Grayson being Nightwing, which is likely how he’ll return to the role as I’ll get into when I talk about him. If I were one of the heads at DC and decided that Clark’s secret identity being exposed was not a good idea for the long-term, that seems like it’d be a good way out of it. With that said, though, if I may make a request, if that happens and they do that…?

Lois Lane

Keep Lois’ memories of the ordeal intact. This isn’t even me wanting to see Lois and Clark as a couple again (although I do, a LOT), but simply because ever since she found out Clark Kent is Superman, she’s been even more actively involved in stories, for better or worse. Married or unmarried, couple or friends, ultimately, I think history has proven that there are more stories that can be told with her in the know about Clark being Superman than with her being kept out of the loop. But, with that said…yeah, I really do wanna see them together again, especially since the book about the pre-Flashpoint Lois and Clark is ending. In fact, who knows? Maybe they’ll do some kinda merger thing where the Superman and Lois Lane of both worlds blend into one, and both become a balance of their counterparts? Not sure where that leaves little Jonathan, but it could happen. But, for that to happen, obviously, something’s gotta go…

Wonder Woman

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s time to call it quits on the Superman and Wonder Woman relationship. Above all else, the reason I’m just plain sick of it is because the two are rarely, if ever, treated like equals when it comes to their relationship. Wonder Woman is pretty much just Superman’s girlfriend in a lot of stories they’re presented in as a couple. Beyond that, my standard requests are as follows: Restore the Amazons to the compassionate protectors of mankind, and for the love of God, pants or no pants, I don’t care anymore, just give us a brighter colour scheme for Diana. In fact, I’d actually be fine with the design Jason Fabok uses for her in Justice League, but with gold instead of silver. Also, I keep hearing that the movie will be rebooting to the old school Etta Candy, and if I can make a suggestion? Do the same in the comics. You don’t necessarily have to undo making her black. Hell, you don’t even need to make her as overweight as the original. Just something similar, and above all else, make Etta the ninja tackling badass sidekick I remember.

Aquaman

…Okay, not really much to say about Aquaman, other than it’s great to see him back to his old look and kicking ass like normal. I will say, though, that the writers really need to make up their minds as to whether he’s gonna be King of Atlantis or not for the foreseeable future, though. No, my biggest concern for the Aquaman books is something…different.

Mera

…OH, GOOD GOD, WHY?! I got into a little bit of a rant about this on Twitter when I saw this, as you can read here. Suffice to say, no. Absolutely not. Whatever the writers of Aquaman are thinking, NO! BAD writers! Don’t make her Aquawoman. You make her Aquawoman, and I will violently murder the first fish I see. Oh, and just saying this? If they DO make Arthur King of Atlantis again, can we PLEASE have these two be officially married again? Or maybe they already have been when I wasn’t looking, I don’t know, but if they aren’t, please don’t listen to Dan, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to superheroes being married, especially with these two. It makes no sense for them to not be married when all evidence points to her having served in the capacity of Queen of Atlantis at Arthur’s side at least at one point. Also, I’m sorry, but one of these days, we gotta make Mera an official member of the Justice League. How many times does she have to accompany them and their various divisions into action and show just how easily she stands among them before she’s given a seat?

The Flash

Again, not a lot to say about The Fastest Man Alive, other than that I hope that this whole mess involving him being Central City’s most wanted and being hunted by the Rogues doesn’t last long. I AM interested to see what role he plays with Rebirth, however. As Geoff Johns himself has pointed out, nearly every time there’s been a massive change to the universe, a Flash (usually Barry) was at the center of it. Speaking of, I wonder if we’ll ever get follow-up on exactly why Pandora used Barry to reboot the universe at the end of Flashpoint. The whole thing about Pandora’s Box being the reason seems kinda minor when you consider what that turned out to be. I mean, she really needed to reboot the universe just so we can get a Boom Tube that led to Earth 3? But yeah, once again, my bigger concern is with a certain other Flash…

Wally West

Seriously, I don’t care if he’s black, white, yellow, red, purple, green, or fuchsia, we need the FUN Wally West back. The Wally West who is cracking jokes and being the far more fun-loving Flash. And I don’t care if he’s The Flash, Kid Flash, Impulse, whatever, it’s time to pull the trigger on him suiting up and working with Barry. With that said, a lot of people were against the new costume we saw him in during the whole Future’s End tie-in, but honestly, I thought he looked good. The silver DOES stand out in a very dramatic way and makes him look very distinct from the other Flashes.

Green Lantern

Again, I’d kinda like to see Hal Jordan and John Stewart, and maybe even the other Earth-born Lanterns rotate on the Justice League and JLA. Beyond that, though, I get the feeling that Jessica Cruz will be switching out the Ring of Volthoom from Earth 3 for a Green Lantern Ring. There WAS a silhouette of a female Green Lantern in the image for Rebirth, and Jessica seems like the logical candidate. And frankly, I would just be happy to see her conquer her fear and give Volthoom the boot. Still, kinda hope her Green Lantern costume, if I’m correct, incorporates some elements of her Power Ring costume. Oh, and can we PLEASE have a sense of stability in the Green Lantern Corps for at least a year? I don’t think I even need to point this out, but life has been hell for the Corps as of the past few years. The Guardians finally came out as evil, there’s been a shit-ton of members dying left and right, they got better Guardians who still managed to screw the pooch in the end, and now most of them have been banished to another dimension or some shit. But as for Hal himself…he’s gotta lose the jacket. I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t work for him. To be honest, when he and Parallax had their fight recently, Hal looked more like a villain than Parallax did…y’know, until Parallax pulled the whole fangs thing, which still looks fucking stupid. lol

Martian Manhunter

What in the HELL is going on in J’onn’s comics as of late?!?! No, seriously, someone please explain this shit to me! It turned out he was a bio-engineered weapon the Martians were going to use to take over Earth, and that he was hiding that for years, and that might’ve been why he was kicked outta the League during the gap between the first two story arcs of Justice League, but he doesn’t wanna hurt anyone, but he’s not willing to stop the plan, but then he wants to die, and then he does die, but somehow he’s got different aspects of himself that converge into a new Martian Manhunter, who looks…well, I’m not gonna say BAD. In fact, as far as radical redesigns go, at least this keeps some aspects of the old look intact. But still, he tries at first to lead the martian invasion, but then he decides not to, and now he’s got some kinda giant mech, which is both awesome and stupid, I don’t even know, and oh God, my head… … … …So yeah, please DC, just put him back on the Justice League and scale this nonsense down a bit. I had to check my ear a second ago just to make sure there wasn’t blood seeping from my brain and out there from all that.

Cyborg

Okay, is it just me, or does the storyline of the government being untrusting of Cyborg actually make WAY more sense than when they do the same thing with Superman? Maybe it’s because we’ve seen that Vic’s control CAN be overrode, and thus it’s less about trusting that he’s a good guy, but rather concern that it could happen again, especially when he can be plugged into EVERYTHING. Plus, there’s the whole matter of Victor having cybernetic enhancements to benefit him after he lost most of his body, and yet amputees have to deal with ordinary prosthetic parts that don’t work even a tenth as good. I’m not saying everyone should be decked out with his stuff, and it was established from the beginning that the tech used to make him into Cyborg was experimental and very easily could’ve backfired. And yeah, none of this is actually Victor’s fault, he’s just as much a victim in this as anyone else. Still, I can at least understand the conflict here WAY more, and if they wanna continue with that arc post-Rebirth, I wouldn’t mind. However, I WOULD suggest maybe adding more to his rogues gallery. We need his version of the Joker or Lex Luthor, someone who is his opposite in nearly every way, but can challenge him on an equal footing despite his natural advantages.

Shazam

If I haven’t made it abundantly clear by now, allow me to do so: I HATE THIS VERSION OF CAPTAIN MARVEL! And a big part of why I hate him all revolves around the mass changes to Billy Batson. He was supposed to be a sweet, innocent, giving, and (for the most part) selfless individual. It was why he was chosen to gain the powers of Shazam. But when we meet him in THIS universe, he’s a little punk shithead who cons people and is mean to his adoptive family for no reason other than he wants to be! And even after all that, when he finally becomes Shazam and learns more about being a hero, he STILL acts like a little twerp who swears a lot to sound adult and cool, which is at its most jarring when he’s transformed into Shazam, has the wisdom of Solomon, and therefore should know better! But then, I KNOW why they made those changes. It’s the exact same reason they made so many changes to Superman: It was to make him SO much more identifiable and realistic. But, just like with Superman, it was done in a manner so poorly that he no longer resembles the hero he once was in any way. Hell, he doesn’t even have the same NAME! Seriously, DC, if you are serious about this, look back at what made the old Captain Marvel a beloved character and try reintroducing those elements.

Anyway, that’s all when it comes to the Justice League. Check back in next time when I look at the Bat Family and what I hope and/or expect to see become of Nightwing, Batgirl, and the returning Birds of Prey. Ja né!

Interesting Robin and Superman News (WARNING – SPOILERS)

So, with the January solicitations out for DC today, there’s been some very interesting news made apparent, two bits of which caught my attention. If you don’t wanna know what’s going on, I advise you to turn back now, because…

Goddammit, am I glad she’s back. XD Anyway, let’s start with the Robin related news. As most comic book readers know, almost 18 months ago, Damian Wayne, AKA Robin, was killed off in the pages of Batman Incorporated. Storylines following his death had their fair share of highs and lows, many people in both the pages of the comics and real life readers were left distraught, and yours truly was left with the difficult task of eulogizing the poor kid. Hell, one person even made an extremely touching music video for him.

Ever since then, we knew it was only a matter of time before Batman got a Robin again. And I’ve had to remind myself that, no matter who it turned out to be, I needed to be willing to give them a chance, even more-so with the current Robin Rises story-arc coming to a close in December and the promise of a new Robin. The most recent possible Robins were Carrie Kelley (who we haven’t seen in months) and Duke Thomas (who actually appeared as Robin in the Batman and Robin Future’s End issue).

Well, with the solicits up, DC has decided to go ahead and stop all the suspense and make the reveal…which is an odd practice, since now we know how Robin Rises ends. Nonetheless, we have our answer. Ladies and gentlemen, Bat fans around the world, the newest Robin is………………………………………DAMIAN WAYNE! 😀

He’s back, mutha fuckas! XD

Yep, the smug little bastard managed to come back from the grave after all. And if that’s not enough, apparently he’s got super powers, because bullets are bouncing off of him, possibly due to residual energy left over from the Chaos Shard (the object that is apparently responsible for his revival). I guess he really IS bulletproof with nothing to lose. 😛 But yeah, I can’t wait for December to roll around so we can officially welcome Damian back to the realm of the living, and just in time for Christmas, too, so Merry Christmas, Bruce and Damian.

But yeah, speaking of people that have been to the grave and back and are bulletproof, interesting news regarding Superman. Apparently, Superman #38 promises a new costume for Superman. Now, at first I was concerned about the presence of a whole new costume worn by the Man of Tomorrow…until I took a look at the images featuring Superman that were attached to the solicitations. I want you to look at this collage of pics (thank you, BeFunky) and see if you can notice a specific area on Superman that is either hidden or otherwise obscured in each one.

…So yeah, leave a comment below if you notice what I’m talking about, and lemme know what you think of the return of Damian Wayne. Ja né!

What I Bought Yesterday – Supergirl #23, X-Men #4, Batman and Robin #23 (WARNING – SPOILERS)

…

Yeah, I know! I finally remembered to do it on time yesterday, and then I forgot to cover three of the four books I got because I got caught up in other stuff. At this point, I don’t even know why I bother calling my comic recaps What I Bought Today…well, other than because Morgan was awesome enough to make the logos for me, and it’d be a huge waste to not use them. Y’know, I just thought of the What I Bought Today Drinking Game: Every time I fail to release it on the day I bought whatever I’m talking about, take a shot. But before you do that, let’s talk Supergirl #23.

So because I just know people probably are already aware of how this issue ends, I’m gonna get right to it: No, Supergirl isn’t really dead. Well, in the sense that even if she IS dead, chances are she’s got a Get Out Of Death Free Card of some sort coming to her next issue. So why do I know that people are likely talking about this? Well, because this issue shows a female character getting axed off, and ever since DC decided to shove Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend in a fridge a long while back, every time a woman is shown to be killed or even possibly killed, DC’s female fanbase (and yes DC, whether you want to believe it or not, you do have a LARGE female fanbase) sets pitchforks on fire and hunt for the head of DC’s head. Now, don’t misunderstand, a lot of times they’re completely right to do so. All I’m saying is that if anyone thinks what happens in this book is gonna be long-lasting, please think again. She’ll be brought back to life, and that’ll lead to a three-way fight of sorts between Supergirl, Cyborg Superman, and Cyborg Superman’s creator, who is confirmed to be Brainiac when he arrives at the end of this issue because Cyborg Superman apparently screwed him over somehow. Other than that, the book is alright, except that Supergirl gets INSANELY angry at the recreations of the people in her memories, but that could just be because of the fact that she was kinda dying at the time.

X-Men #4 was…eh, alright. They got a new artist for this done-in-one story where the X-Men take the Blackbird to save a jet full of people, and the art isn’t that great. Plus, a lot more of the focus is on Rachel Grey and Storm having personal issues, while Jubilee takes Shogo to hang out with Wolverine in Jubilee’s old neighbourhood. But hey, there’re some genuinely awesome and funny moments out of Psylocke, Rogue, and Kitty as they try to save the plane, and the stuff with Jubilee and Wolverine is heartwarming enough. Plus, this is really just an interlude before Battle of the Atom begins, so it’s not like I expect this to be the quality they’ve been at or will stick with.

Batman and Robin #23, AKA Batman and Nightwing, AKA Acceptance. If you didn’t have tissues when you read this issue, you were frakked. Basic premise: Bruce has been running a simulation nonstop for four days of the night where Damian died, trying again and again to save him, because he can’t accept that there was nothing he could do to save him. Alfred brings Nightwing to help, and I can’t help but notice he’s in the costume he wore before moving to Chicago. However, Dick instead joins Batman in the simulation, and between the two of them, they actually do manage to save Damian, and Batman, Nightwing, and Robin are able to take down The Heretic, ending the simulation. Later on, we see Alfred do his own simulation where he manages to stop Robin from leaving the cave, which Bruce catches. Bruce realizes that he’s been alienating the people around him by making the grief all about him and failing to see that he wasn’t the only one to lose someone, and he and Alfred decide to turn off the simulation, finally beginning to move on. Overall, great way to end this particular arc, and a fond farewell to Damian as we see him be badass alongside his father and partner one more time.

So, that’s all for this week. Next week, hopefully on time, we take a look at how Talon’s dealing with the forces of Bane, and we check in on Batman Incorporated, quite possibly for the last time. Ja né!

Related articles

• Supergirl #23 (comicvine.com)
• Review: Batman and Robin #18 – 23 (Five Stages of Grief Arc) (residinginthefifthdimension.wordpress.com)
• The New 52 Cyborg Superman is Very Different From the Old {SPOILERS} (haveageekasm.com)
• Supergirl’s New Look (novelninja.wordpress.com)
• Why Supergirl needs her own damn movie! (thecomicbookgeekette.com)
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What I Bought This Past Week – Talon #10, X-Men #3, Batman Annual #2, Batman Incorporated #13, Fearless Defenders #7, Watchmen on DVD, The Hexagon Artwork (WARNING – SPOILERS)

Oh hey, it’s Wednesday, and it’s time to take a look at…

…Yeah, I kinda neglected to do this last week, and you’ll understand why when we get to it. Also, it ended up working out pretty well, since I bought something yesterday, and received a little something that I paid for a week ago and was expecting to receive at Harbour Con, but was ready for me a couple of days early. So, let’s start with what I bought last week, Talon #10.

The reason why I didn’t talk about this is because I wasn’t really all that inspired to talk about it. Maybe it was just kinda underwhelming, maybe it was because I had other stuff to talk about, or maybe I’m just used to doing bunches of comics all at once nowadays. Regardless, not much really happened. Calvin Rose got into a fight with one of Bane‘s goons, got cornered by a whole whack of them, but then was saved by Casey Washington’s buddies, which led into a much bigger fight on the horizon with Bane himself. The only thing of real relevance was that Casey managed to get herself free, and I was kinda expecting she would anyway. I will say that I DO feel delighted to know I correctly assumed the lead woman in this story, who is not a superhero, would be able to take care of herself just fine when kept in the Court of Owls‘ headquarters. 🙂

Adjectiveless X-Men #3 had a bit of a delightful mislead: Rather than the box with the ticking timer being a bomb, it instead is an override device that pretty much sets the X-Mansion against Kitty Pryde and the students, though they seem to be able to get out of danger just fine thanks to Bling (Hey, I’m finally learning people’s names! ^_^ ). Meanwhile, the rest of the team go with Sublime and track Arkea to a hospital. It seems she’s been busy with the patients, enslaving their minds, but Psylocke holds her at…erm, blade-point, while she’s in Karima’s body. She seems hesitant to go through with taking her down, though, but Karima manages to regain control just long enough to take Psylocke’s blade and damage herself enough to seemingly force Arkea out, though she leaves herself in critical condition. Overall, another great issue of a series that is definitely my favourite Marvel book thus far, with some awesome moments with Jubilee and her kid, and I honestly kinda hope Karima recovers well enough that she joins the team. Just seems like the logical step to make given how much time they used to establish just how much she means to the X-Men.

So when I learned that Batman Annual #2 was gonna be a tie-in to Zero Year, and then saw the preview pages showing him walking into Arkham Asylum in the costume to be locked away, I naturally was like “WTF?! They locked him up?!”. However, it seems Scott Snyder was kinda trolling us with those first few pages, as Batman’s actually there to test the new security systems. So how does this tie-in to Zero Year? Well apparently, while looking through files at the Asylum, he attracted some unwanted attention by a woman staying there who can walk through walls, referred to as the Anchoress. Essentially, she’s there because she actually WANTS treatment, but over the years, less attention was given to her as Batman started sending additional villains there. She breaks out when she finds out he’s present and nearly traps him in an inescapable prison of his own mind, but thanks to some help from a new guy working at the Asylum, he manages to stop her and return her to her cell, all the while the new guy arranges for the Anchoress’ treatment to be restored. Overall, a nice read, and much better than the last Batman Annual.

Y’know, there’s something to be said about a cover done like this for a book where major change happens. lol

Fearless Defenders #7 promised major change to the status quo, and it has. As you’ll recall, last time on Fearless Defenders, fan favourite Annabelle Riggs died to stop Valkyrie’s rampage as the Maiden of Rage. Well, good news to fans of the character, she’s alive again!…Sorta. I’ll admit, I’m a little confused, but long story short, Valkyrie goes to Valhalla where she finds Clea and asks her to resurrect Annabelle. Clea says it can only be done with a sacrifice of some sort, though it appears to work just fine, and they all return to Misty Knight‘s safe house, Valkyrie stating that Clea would be safer with the Defenders. However, upon arriving, only Clea and Annabelle are present, until Annabelle turns into Valkyrie, Clea stating that the two will need time to get used to some changes. I read that and was like “…Wait, WHA???” over and over for a good fifteen minutes. As near as I can tell, Annabelle’s spirit has been bonded to Valkyrie’s, and they essentially are now, as SongbirdDiamond on Twitter referred to them, the Superior Valkyrie…Except, y’know, not stupid. lol Either way, colour me intrigued.

The End Is Here…

And now, the big one: Batman Incorporated #13, the end of Grant Morrison‘s run on Batman, and……..I feel kinda underwhelmed. Now, before ANYONE calls me out on this, I am NOT saying this is a bad comic by ANY stretch of the imagination. However, I did see a couple of things coming from a mile away, namely that the mystery woman who kidnapped Jason Todd was Kathy Kane, the original Batwoman, and that Talia was going to die, killed by a bullet to the skull by Kathy. All of this is being shown to us as Bruce narrates the events to Commissioner Gordon at the GCPD, following his arrest that we saw in Batman Incorporated #1 of the New 52. He tries to be a bit vague, though, as to keep Jim from knowing that he and Batman are one and the same. However, some inner monologue boxes from Gordon suggests that he’s always had a hunch that they are but keeps it to himself, mainly because it doesn’t really matter to him who Batman really is. Then we learn that some woman (most likely Kathy) has bailed Bruce out and gotten the charges against him dropped. All the while Bruce was contemplating shutting Batman Inc. down, but a returning Alfred gives him reason to stick around: Damian and Talia’s graves, both dug up and their bodies missing. And as this goes on, Ra’s al Ghul has retaken control of the admittedly battered League of Assassins and is now breeding an army of Damian clones.

…The Game Is Over…

So why do I feel underwhelmed by this issue? Well, because this is the LAST issue of Grant Morrison’s run, and despite it ending where it began, with Bruce and Talia and Damian, I’m left with so many frakking questions! How did Kathy Kane bail Bruce Wayne out of all his charges and lift the ban on the Bat Symbol? What’s Jason Todd’s plans now that it’s been revealed he was actually working for Talia but betrayed her? What happened to Talia and Damian’s bodies at the end? If the Fatherless was the actual individual to become Batman 666, why are we getting a ‘What If?’ mini-series about how Damian becomes Batman 666? With so many Damian clones being created, does that make it possible for the real one to come back someday? Is the British Government really going to resurrect Knight somehow? What’s the status of Batman Incorporated as a group now that the book is cancelled? Is there any chance they’ll let Chris Burnham do a Batman of Japan series? And most important of all, WHO’S GONNA FEED BATCOW?!?!

…No More Pretending…No More…! NO MORE!

Now, of course, I expect that all these things will be answered soon enough. However, if Grant Morrison was going to create so many major changes to the status quo, you’d think he’d wanna give the resolution himself, unless of course it turns out he wanted to but for whatever reason he couldn’t. Either way, it leaves a lot unresolved for his LONG run with Batman. Still, as I said before, it ended where it began, and that’s oftentimes the best place for a massive story-line to end.

This city’s afraid of me. I’ve seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood. And when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout “Save us!”… and I’ll look down and whisper “No.”

So, I finally rectified a mistake I’d made for quite some time and bought Watchmen on DVD. And if you’re wondering what took me so long, the answer is simple: I honestly thought I already had it on DVD somewhere. lol Yeah, not sure why I thought that, but whatevs. I have it now. Of course, I’ve already seen it at least a couple of times, and it still remains a great flick. And yeah, I know they made it without the slimey squid, but I don’t really think that’s anywhere near as low as the standards of the 90’s Kid. 😛

Six Winds Blow As One
They Will Turn The Tide
We Are Marching On
Standing Side By Side
And We’ll Carry On
Until All The Fire Has Gone
Blown Away, Away To Lands Beyond

And finally, my friend Nikki-Lee Dyckow drew this picture of The Hexagon, my superhero team (which, I promise, I will get back to eventually). I LOVE this so much, and she even made some improvements, like giving Strix boots that more resemble an owl’s talons, and The Bard a more medieval look…She also gave her slightly bigger boobs, which is a little odd, and was a little disturbing to N. Harmonik, but at least it provided a good laugh from me while explaining it to her. 😀

So that’s it for this week. Next week, we check in with The Movement and their attack on a police headquarters, and venture back to the world known as Earth 2. Ja né!

Related articles

• Fearless Defenders #7 (comicvine.com)
• DC Histories: Grant Morrison’s Batman (ifanboy.com)
• Threat Level Wednesday – Angels, Bats, Wolves, and Physics! (whatchareading.com)
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Favourite DC Superheroes – The Honourable Mentions

So, I took a look back at my favourite DC and Marvel superheroes from my birthday last month. While I still agree with those lists, I do feel as though there were a number of characters that deserved to be honourable mentions for DC. So, that’s what I’m gonna do now. Here are 10 heroes I think deserve to be mentioned with honours. lol

Kara Zor-L, AKA Power Girl

I believe I already covered what it is I like most about this character (no not THOSE…though they ARE nice, lol). For those who didn’t see, I particularly like how Power Girl not only has the abilities of Superman, she also is the head of her own business. Combine that with a never-say-die attitude and…well, THOSE, and you’ve got yourself a winning formula in Power Girl, who I DEFINITELY wouldn’t mind seeing in the Man of Steel movies someday. Kara’s also one-half of the Worlds’ Finest with Huntress, though sadly that book doesn’t present the best depiction of the character. Still, we do occasionally see them as a powerful duo.

John Stewart. AKA Green Lantern

And…

Alan Scott, AKA Green Lantern

I mentioned these two before as being tied as the unofficial #11 in my 10 Favourite DC Superheroes, and I still stand behind that. Though personalities and the manner in which they gained their powers couldn’t be more different, both bring honour to the name Green Lantern, and they are my personal favourites to hold that title. Also, VERY glad to see that John Stewart is now a DLC skin/voice swap for Hal Jordan, though I’d kind of like an Alan Scott one too.

Dick Grayson, AKA Nightwing

The original Robin all grown up. Be he in blue or red, be he in Blüdhaven or Chicago, Dick Grayson will always be a special kind of hero to people. He’s been through having his parents killed before his eyes, leaving his mentor to become leader of his own team, having his wedding broken up, having the love of his life leave him (and the planet for that matter), having to become Batman after Bruce was thought dead for a time, having his old circus troop destroyed, and now having helplessly watched his partner murdered. And yet, in all of this and more, he continues to try to have a positive attitude on the job…Still though, he REALLY needs to go back to blue. lol

Mera

Okay, while I don’t read a lot of the books she appears in, Mera gets on this list for a few reasons. First off, that she neither has nor requires an alias. Second, she’s Queen of Atlantis, which takes up most of the known ocean. Third, much like her husband Aquaman, she has the same natural advantages that he does having operated out of the bottom of the ocean (advanced strength, speed, durability, and sight). Fourth, as I’ve mentioned before, while the power to control water might not seem threatening at first, considering how much water makes up the average human body, that actually conjures up some rather frightening visuals of what she could do if she lost her cool. Speaking of which, while she’s usually a kind-hearted woman, the kind that you could easily get along with, she DOES have an on-again off-again struggle with her sanity. In other words, be as nice as humanly possible to Mera when you see her.

Damian Wayne, AKA Robin

The latest Robin to appear, Damian brought something new to the role. Having the genetics of Bruce Wayne, the skills passed down through the League of Assassins, and many skills and personality traits seen in Dick, Jason, Tim, and Stephanie, Damian could be considered the perfect Robin in a lot of respects…except that he kept killing people. I mean, he meant well, you could tell he cared, but he kept killing bad guys. That just bothered me to no end, though it almost became a running gag wherein if he said “I will kill no more”, he was usually five minutes away from killing someone. Alternately, if he said he WAS going to kill someone, they usually had a good chance of escaping with their lives for some reason. Apparently, he’ll be returning soon for a mini-series that looks at the alternate future where he becomes Batman, and it’ll be awesome to see him again…but dammit Damian, stop killing people. lol

Victor Stone, AKA Cyborg

BOOYAH!…Yeah, I know. lol Anyway, as of the New 52, Cyborg is now a founding member of the Justice League. While this robs him of his history with the Titans, it IS nice to see Vic standing among the big seven that make up Earth’s greatest heroes. Cyborg’s only real flaw is his personal issues, trying to find the balancing point between the machine and the man. Otherwise, you better be packing some serious power when going up against him, or he will flatten you.

J’onn J’onzz, AKA The Martian Manhunter

This one’s mostly based on his DCAU appearances, though I have checked him out elsewhere and been left confused by something: Martian Manhunter has heat vision in the comics, they’re missing from the cartoon. I’m not really sure why, other than so that two members of the Justice League didn’t have heat vision. However, this brings up something even more confusing: J’onn is vulnerable to fire. Shouldn’t using heat vision hurt him? Well, whatever, he’s still an awesome hero, though he REALLY needs to chill out in the New 52.

Khalid Ben-Hassin, AKA Doctor Fate

Okay, other than a couple of cool moments in Justice League Unlimited, I wasn’t really all that sold on Doctor Fate. Then Earth 2 happened. Now I know better. lol The second most badass individual to have the word “Doctor” in their name, Doctor Fate has a mastery over magic beyond that of any of the other magic-based heroes of the DC Universe. In other words, if he really wanted to, he could kill Superman just by wiggling his toes. His only real weakness, at least for Khalid in Earth 2, is that wearing the Helmet of Nabu can have some negative psychological effects. Otherwise, he might just be the greatest of Earth 2’s heroes, and is all too deserving to be a founding member of the JSA when it eventually forms.

Helena Wayne, AKA Huntress

There have actually been two women to predominantly go by the name Huntress. Prior to the reboot, Huntress was a woman named Helena Bertinelli, the daughter of a mafia boss who became Huntress to fight the very same kind of crime her family once created, eventually becoming a member of the Birds of Prey and getting this weird belly window for her costume that carried over into Justice League Unlimited. In the New 52, much like the original pre-Crisis interpretation of the character, Huntress is one half of the Worlds’ Finest with Power Girl, and is Batman’s daughter from Earth 2, though thus far, he has yet to show that he has any knowledge of this. Personally, I think she should just talk to him, especially given recent events. It might get him to cool down a little to know he still has family. Both are hardcore asskickers armed with crossbows, and both are deserving to be on this list.

So there ya go, 10 (sort of 11) honourable mentions. Along with Batman, Superman, Stephanie Brown, Wonder Woman, Wally West, Raven, Red Robin, Supergirl, Barbara Gordon, and Hawkgirl, they are my favourite DC Superheroes. Who do YOU think should’ve made it to this list? Lemme know in the comments, and I will see y’all next time. Ja né!

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