Just Imagine YOU Creating The DC Universe (Comments Requested)

So, this month on Atop The Fourth Wall, Linkara is reviewing issues of Just Imagine Stan Lee, wherein the man himself, Stan Lee, gave his own takes on legendary figures in the DC Universe. Specifically, Linkara will be checking out Lee’s takes on Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash. Now, he’s already looked at Superman and Batman, and thus far, we’ve got a miss and a hit respectively. Still, even the miss had good ideas, albeit not executed that well, and while Superman came off as a jerk…well, a lot of Stan Lee characters come off as jerks initially, but then develop into better people (or don’t, in the case of Reed Richards and a few members of the X-Men).

Anyway, the point is, looking these over, it’s actually interesting to think of what these characters would be like if they were first put to paper by different people. Sure, we’ve all done alternate universe takes of characters (I’ve done several, actually), but they ultimately wind up bearing resemblance to their mainstream counterparts. What Stan did, though, as far as I can tell, was take the bare bones concepts of the characters (Superman being an immigrant from outer space, Batman being a crime fighter in a batsuit, etc.) from when they were first conceived and went his own way with them. Although, while I say that this isn’t meant to just be another Elseworlds version of them, the map shown in Grant Morrison’s The Multiversity reveals that the characters of Just Imagine are the heroes of Earth 6 of the current Multiverse, but it’s still a radically different take on the characters. So, with that in mind, I wanna ask everyone reading this to just imagine if YOU created the DC Universe. What if YOU were given these simple descriptions of heroes and the ideas behind them, and how would you develop them? No preconceived notions of the characters beyond those concepts, no previously used continuity, just those short descriptions, and maybe some concept art to go by and their civilian names (optional). For now, let’s go with probably the five most iconic of all DC heroes, who started in the Golden Age and are still going strong today: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Green Lantern.

Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Superman, and Batman

• Superman: An immigrant from outer space with powers beyond human beings now having to live among humans.
• Batman: A wealthy man who is secretly a crime fighter wearing a dark, bat-like costume to scare criminals.
• Wonder Woman: A princess and emissary of a race of warrior women who wears bullet proof bracers.
• The Flash: A person (not necessarily a man, since many Flashes have been female) imbued with the power of superspeed.
• Green Lantern: A person (again, not necessarily a man) with a ring powered by a lantern that can conjure green constructs of anything the wearer can imagine.

And that’s all there is to it. Lemme know what you’d do with any of these heroes based on those basic concepts, or if there are any others you’d like to see added to this list. Ja né!

Justice League United #11 Review – Where’d Everybody Go??? (WARNING – SPOILERS)

So, it’s been a while since I did a full review of a comic, and since this is the book that grants the wish of so many within the Poison Ivy League, seeing her operating as a hero again (kinda), I figured I should give it a shot. Before I go too in-depth on my thoughts, though, let’s run down the plot first.

The comic starts with a monologue by Adam Strange, who is apparently trapped within the Zeta Beams, as he watches Animal Man, Stargirl, Alanna Strange, and Equinox recruiting a group of people for a mission. Specifically, they recruit Mera, Swamp Thing, Poison Ivy, and Etrigan to deal with something called a Breaker. More or less, in the aftermath of Convergence, anomalies in space and time have emerged on Earth 0 that are tearing up the fabric of reality (or something like that, anyway), and the JLU are recruiting both heroes and villains to deal with each Breaker as they appear. Where are the rest of the team? Well, apparently, Supergirl, Green Arrow, and Martian Manhunter all left the team without so much as a warning or an explanation. As such, Adam Strange is picking out people based on how they’d perform in each specific mission, although Ivy jokes that, with her and Mera on the same team, that he just has a redhead fetish…No comment. lol Anyway, Equinox is sent as the League representative for the mission with the four individuals selected, and they go to deal with the Breaker. Specifically, a massive red blob of some sort, neither animal nor plant-life but having elements of both, has appeared in the middle of the ocean. Unfortunately, as they arrive, Poison Ivy and Swamp Thing realize that they’ve been cut off from The Green, just as the Breaker begins its assault on the team, leaving Adam Strange to watch as he determines that they’re about to see if he selected wisely.

So, let’s talk for a sec about…well, I suppose the big thing for me: Poison Ivy. First off, not a fan of the fact that she’s introduced in this comic as pushing drugs, although it at least makes more sense than Superman pushing super pills in Injustice. 😛 Otherwise, while it initially bugged me how much she seemed to be complaining throughout the issue, specifically as it pertained to why she was there, I have to admit that, once I put myself in her shoes, it made a bit more sense. If I was drafted for a mission in the middle of nowhere, with no idea of what I was supposed to do or why I was even there, especially given that Swamp Thing was also on the team, I’d probably be less than completely okay with everything going on. Hopefully, this is leading somewhere that’ll resolve that issue.

The other major thing that bugs me is the idea that half of the original team just left without so much as a word. I get that Martian Manhunter is supposed to be this big question mark of a character nowadays, but his connection with his team-mates should’ve at least given him enough of a conscience to come up with an excuse. As for Supergirl and Green Arrow, I seriously find that to be complete horse-crap. In fact, given that there seems to be a lot that went on between issues 10 and 11, and the massive overhaul of the team and its dynamics, it feels like this either should’ve been a completely different team altogether, or a new volume of the book, either way providing an issue 0 to explain what the hell happened in the gap. To be honest, given the nature of what they’re dealing with, it feels more like a Justice League Dark mission… … …What happened to them, anyway?

The last thing I wanna address has to deal with Mera. I have no idea what’s going on in the Aquaman book, but I do not like the idea of Mera basically on a manhunt for her husba-Oh wait, forgot, Dan Didio said no to married heroes, and only Animal Man seemed to slip through the cracks and keep his intact (and thank God he did, btw). I dunno, she just comes off as way too angry and one-track minded about hunting Arthur down. As a side-note, though, I DID love the line from Animal Man talking about how he’s been mistaken for Aquaman on occasion. Now, as a MASSIVE comic geek, I can honestly say that I’ve never once mistaken the two, but I HAVE seen it happen, and I seem to recall even in-universe, other heroes have mistaken how his powers work for how Aquaman’s do (that he talks to animals like how Aquaman can communicate with aquatic life).

With that out of the way, lemme talk about what I DO like. For starters, I like that the members that DID stick around did so and are therefore still relevant. Not one of them have their own books currently, and I don’t think that’s exactly in the cards for any of them at this time. I also love that these are basically B, C, and quite possibly even D-list heroes, and yet they’re having to take on a mission that could have serious repercussions if left unchecked, AND having to be the ones taking charge of the situation. It’s a huge undertaking for them, and it’s one that’s not always going to have an easy solution, but we see them trying their best to do what they can. And dammit, we needed a book about heroes that aren’t at the top of the food chain that can save the world too.

Secondly, I like that the events of Convergence are having consequences. As far as I can tell, at this time, none of the other books are addressing Convergence and what went down there. You just can’t do something like Convergence, which honestly forces me to try and learn what the plural of the word Multiverse is, without having some long-lasting fall-out. Here, we see that, when you take worlds that existed in a seemingly infinitely stretching Multiverse, all kept divided on different vibrational frequencies, some of which didn’t even physically exist anymore, and then pluck parts of them off and put them on the same planet, it kinda sorta BREAKS SPACE. Granted, I wish the fall-out from Convergence included seeing some of these alternate worlds, but dammit, at this point, I’ll take what I can get.

Lastly, I like the idea that this is a team book where, at any given time, seemingly ANYONE could show up for a mission. Heroes, villains, neutrals, doesn’t matter. You wanna see Poison Ivy save the world with Swamp Thing? We’re seeing it here and now. You wanna see Hawk and Dove chilling with Fire and Ice? Based on the preview we got during Convergence, could very well see just that. Anyone could appear for a team-up, and as you know, I’m a huge sucker for stories that have tons of heroes working together.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the book. Will I continue to pick it up after Poison Ivy leaves? Maybe, if it can make up for the stuff I disliked and continue to do what I DO like. Lemme know what you all think of this book, and hey, if you’re a Poison Ivy fan, be sure to let DC know you wanna see more of her…which, FYI? Apparently we’re getting a mini-series for Poison Ivy next year written by Amy Chu, which I’m gonna NEED to check out when it comes out. Ja né!

My Thoughts On Convergence (WARNING – SPOILERS) + #PoisonIvyLeague

…So, I’ve gone back and read some of Convergence. Specifically, I bought the issues of Convergence: Superman (because like hell if I’m not gonna buy a story involving Lois and Clark having a baby) and Convergence: Detective Comics (because recent events have led to me wanting very badly to read pre-Crisis Helena Wayne), and read what happened in a lot of the other two-part tie-ins and main story. I might also go back and check out Convergence: Titans and Convergence: Batgirl, but honestly, from what I’ve read, it kinda retreads some character development we had with her long beforehand. I dunno, maybe it’s just me.

Anyway, what are my thoughts on the event overall? Well, I think the tie-ins are a LOT better than the main story, and that’s not the first time that’s happened. I think the main reason this time is because the tie-ins focused on pre-Flashpoint versions of beloved characters and were written by people who did their research on the characters so they knew what they were doing and how these characters would behave. And, as a result of that, the tie-ins come off as GREAT for the most part. Conversely, the main story seemed to focus a lot on the New 52 Earth 2 cast, who… … …Okay, here’s the thing. I fucking HATE what has been done with Earth 2 and its cast as of late. Really, from the moment I dropped the book with the reveal that Superman was working for Darkseid (who admittedly turned out to be Bizarro, but let’s not go there). Thomas Wayne being brought back to be Batman was a terrible idea. Likewise, having Dick Grayson take his place when Thomas died (which we all knew was coming) when that version of Earth 2 Dick Grayson had no connection to the Bat Family prior was a terrible idea. It supplants Huntress’ position as Bruce’s successor. Instead, poor Helena has been subjected to character assassination, body horror, and now, following Convergence, is apparently turning heel. NOT FUN READING. Whereas, in Convergence: Detective Comics, Dick becoming Batman made a ton of sense, and even with him in such a position, Hel isn’t taken down at all in terms of importance. Also, for better or worse, the New 52 Earth 0 cast don’t even become active in the story until long after the bulk of the story. Actually, now that I think about it, it’s worse, because that’s the world we’re still primarily following post-Convergence.

However, with all of that said, and more (fuck whoever’s idea it was to have pre-Flashpoint Helena Bertinelli turn heel and die), there is one MASSIVE silver lining that I all but got on my knees and begged, nay, PLEADED for. I said going into this that I wasn’t gonna buy any of Convergence if it turned out the pre-Flashpoint worlds were all just going to vanish and that everyone would die. Well, that didn’t happen. Instead, something that is ultimately kind of a messy situation, but one I am more than willing to let them try to sort out, happened: Crisis On Infinite Earths was averted. The Multiverse has been restored to its original format, consisting of an infinite number of worlds, but most likely with the New 52 Multiverse at the center of it. That means that every single version of the worlds seen in DC Comics throughout its LONG history is now a canonical world again, every story you’ve ever read that got pushed aside in reboots (Crisis On Infinite Earths, Zero Hour, and Flashpoint) means something again, and the door is open to tell new stories about those worlds, and others if someone wants. That is EXCELLENT, and upon learning that, that’s when I realized, they could technically say that the great, GREAT digital first books like Sensation Comics feat. Wonder Woman ARE canon now, just taking place in different worlds in the expanded Multiverse, which people have already referred to as the Omniverse…which I approve of. lol

Now, obviously, this is something that not everyone is gonna agree with, but personally, I love this decision. And frankly, it’s a decision that offers plenty of great storytelling opportunities in the future. While the new DC YOU branding continues to follow the universe established in the New 52, the door is open for anyone in DC to tell stories about any of the other versions of the characters we love. We can see Superman married with Lois Lane again. We can see Stephanie Brown as Batgirl again. We can see Lian Harper ALIVE again. And while I wasn’t a big fan of how Mera came off in the all-female Convergence: Justice League titles, I’d LOVE to see more of that team in the future. And DC Comics can make a ton of money from all of this. Now, I refuse that bringing all of the old universes back and having Lois and Clark back together with a baby and all of that was Dan Didio’s idea. In fact, it wouldn’t shock me if he only conceded to let that happen because everyone else at the office told him he should do it. I’ve gotten a pretty good idea of Dan Didio’s usual ideas and story plans. This is the man who wanted to break up Lois and Clark at LEAST as early as Infinite Crisis. BUT, I will say this: If nothing else, Dan Didio has proven to the world that, if enough people ask for something, he will put his ego and what he personally believes is right and wrong in comics aside to make people happy and, probably more importantly to him, make money.

So, let’s switch tracks a bit to something that people will think is unrelated to Convergence, but comes around back to it. Anyone who follows me on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr knows that I am part of a group/movement known as the Poison Ivy League. In a nutshell, we are trying to convince DC Comics to publish a Poison Ivy solo title. Personally, I would prefer one written by Gail Simone (who proved to have a great handle on the character in Batgirl Annual #2) and drawn by Stjepan Sejic (who did Ivy’s story in Secret Origins, and you can look at more of here). Recently, we actually gained endorsement by MTV, which we consider a big victory for us. So, the word is now officially out that people want an Ivy solo, meaning anyone who wants such a thing but was maybe a bit nervous about jumping onboard with the movement should feel more than welcome to do so now. In fact, I think this is now the time where anyone who felt it was pointless to voice their opinions and ideas over Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and any other form of social media on stuff that DC Comics could do in the future should feel entitled to do so now. And I say that because Convergence is proof that Dan Didio WILL eventually listen to people if they get loud and numerous enough that they can’t be drowned out. And while we don’t have a Poison Ivy solo title in the works just yet, what we DO have is her being part of an expanded Justice League United that is investigating anomalies and incidents caused by the changes to the Multiverse at the end of Convergence, and will even be leading a mission in the near future with the team. Thank you, Jeff Parker. I haven’t read any of your work prior to this, but it looks like we’re gonna get along just fine. XD

Anyway, those are my thoughts regarding Convergence, and the possibility for future changes to DC Comics. Of course, I may be way off base regarding the majority of fans who read it and their opinions of things going into DC YOU (which I do understand, since we’re going into a universe where Superman is losing his powers, Lois Lane outed him as Clark Kent to the entire world, and Jim Gordon is running around in a Batman mech suit). As such, feel free to leave your own thoughts and opinions below, and we’ll see what becomes of the DC Universe following all of this. Ja né!

How To Drop The Ball In Comics: Worlds’ Finest

Hello, and welcome to a new spot on the blog I like to call ‘How To Drop The Ball In Comics’. This is where I take a look at what I thought was a legitimately GOOD idea in comics, why I felt that way, and how it eventually kinda fell on its ass. With that said, let’s take a look at Worlds’ Finest.

No, not that one. THIS ONE:

What Is It?: Created for The New 52 as part of a branching-out to tell stories involving characters from Earth 2, Worlds’ Finest specifically looked at Huntress (Helena Wayne), daughter of Batman and Catwoman, and Power Girl (Kara Zor-L/Karen Starr), cousin of Superman. However, the twist was that, after surviving the final battle of a war that claimed the lives of their respective families, the two found themselves accidentally exiled to Earth 0, the primary Earth of the DC Multiverse since the Multiverse’s rebirth in Infinite Crisis. As such, we had cases where, in this and other books, they’d encounter other-dimensional relatives, like Robin, Batman, and Superman, and even Power Girl’s alternate universe self, Kara Zor-El, many of which were pretty awesome. As another twist, it was revealed that, in this continuity, Power Girl and Huntress started their crime fighting careers as their world’s Supergirl and Robin (bringing the female Robin count up by one). So, let’s take a look at what I liked about it.

How Did It Have Potential?: Well, for starters, it was a book about two badass superheroines. Second, Power Girl and Huntress’ history, given certain reboots and retoolings to the DC Universe and its history, can be…confusing. For example, most people that started reading comics after Crisis On Infinite Earths, or have watched Justice League Unlimited, are probably more familiar with the Earth 0 version of Huntress, Helena Bertinelli. This was a good way to bring in Helena Wayne and distinguish her from her counterpart. Mind you, this led to some confusion as well, given that Hel apparently passed herself off as Bertinelli for five years, except that in the New 52, Helena Bertinelli is black, but whatever. This helped explain a few things about the characters for people that weren’t in the know about them. Also, as I’ve established before, the initial arc ended with them and the military fighting a giant villain in a Japanese harbour. If Godzilla and Megazord had shown up at that moment, I would’ve squeed so hard, you could’ve probably heard it IN JAPAN! lol And as much as some people got ticked about Karen’s new costume, I actually kinda liked it…until it proceeded to get torn and burnt up over and over, to where Power Girl was actually more decent in the old boob window costume, which is part of the reason why I was glad she switched back to it.

How Did It Drop The Ball?: There’s a few reasons. First…I don’t know if it was an issue with editorial, or if Paul Levitz, the man who frigging CREATED Huntress, forgot how her character worked, but the characterization for Hel and Karen feels off in this book. Hel’s a bit too much of a buzzkill, and at one point called someone a “little bitch”, and Karen is WAY too flirty, and once witnessed a bunch of kids being sucked into a Boom Tube and was pretty much like “…Huh. That was a thing”. Also, in my opinion, they spent WAY too long on Earth 0, only managing to get back to Earth 2 when things were at their darkest, lowest point, and when their place as the rightful heirs to Superman and Batman’s positions had been usurped in their absence by two men: Val-Zod (who I actually don’t mind, save for when he’s Karen’s blatant love interest), and Earth 2 Thomas Wayne (who was revealed to be alive, a frigging bum, a drug addict, and an overall horrible character altogether). And once they made it back to Earth 2, did the story become about how the two worked together as last-minute surprise reinforcements to turn the tide against Apokolips? NOPE, the book instead completely shifted gears to tell a prequel story about Earth 2 Superman and Batman, will apparently be cancelled along with the other Earth 2 books (not counting the one that’ll start post-Convergence), and Huntress and Power Girl were instead treated to World’s End, where Karen flirted with Val, lost Kal-El AGAIN, and got a Superman logo on her suit (completely missing the point of the boob window), while Huntress was subjected to body horror, torture porn, and drugs. If you are a fan of either of these characters, by all means, send your grievances about such decisions to the head-writer of Earth 2: World’s End, Daniel H. Wilson…Seriously, here’s an example of his very lame attempts to justify his decisions regarding Helena.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say about the matter. If you’d like MORE on the subject, as well as the overall mistreatment of Earth 2, women, LGBT characters… … …Really, anyone that’s not a straight white male in The New 52, be sure to check out http://helenawaynehuntress.tumblr.com/ and http://helenawayne.blogspot.ca/. Ja né!

10 Post-Secret Wars Wishes & Expectations

So, Secret Wars is quickly approaching, and with it, the end of the Marvel Universe as we know it, as it will be merged with the Ultimate Universe in a sort of pseudo-reboot. However, it seems that other worlds in the Multiverse are also involved, as are various points in time throughout the mainstream Marvel Earth (Earth 616). It’s pretty clear that the HUGE Multiverse in Marvel Comics is being shrunken down with this. Most people are saying it’ll disappear altogether, but let’s keep this in mind: The Marvel Cinematic Universe is considered part of the Multiverse, and they aren’t ending anytime soon. Same goes with the other movie and television franchises featuring Marvel characters. On top of that, Spider-Gwen is only JUST starting next week, though she has been part of the Spider-Verse event all along, so I doubt it’ll only last as long as it takes to get to the end of Secret Wars. And frankly, doing away with the Multiverse altogether seems like a waste, as it takes away a lot of potential story-telling possibilities.

Either way, though, we can expect the Marvel Universe to be vastly different post-Secret Wars, with Earth 616 and Earth 1610 (the Ultimate Universe) merging together and their histories becoming blended, and with probably a few things being rebooted back to square one and others being retconned out of existence. Now, this prospect is more than a little frightening, especially because we’ve seen something like this done a few times before (mostly by DC). However, one advantage there is that Marvel can look at everything that did and didn’t work with DC’s various reboots and learn from those instances. Plus, this is a good chance for them to bring back old ideas and give them a new twist. So, with that said, here’s a few things I wouldn’t mind seeing post-Secret Wars, as well as some that I expect will happen whether they sound good or not. Let’s start with probably the most obvious thing people expect to happen…

#1 – Wolverine Brought Back

Face it, bub, you KNEW Wolverine wasn’t going to stay dead forever. It was just a matter of the right scenario to come along and justify his re-existence. Well, Secret Wars could prove to be just that. My one concern going into this, though, is that this puts us right back in the same position we had with the character prior to his losing his healing factor, and that’s that, after a while of being shown he’s all but invincible and immortal, it’s hard to get invested in his stories. As such, I’m hoping that some sort of limitation is put on his healing factor so that he’s at least given SOME kind of vulnerability. Also, I wouldn’t try to demote X-23 with his return in any way, and have the two continue to act as equally important characters, but I’ll get back to her in a bit…

#2 – Tony Stark Becomes Good Again

Okay, really, this isn’t even just a matter of me not liking Superior Iron Man. This is a matter of me not liking a LOT of what’s been done with the character for years now, starting with Civil War. If you haven’t noticed, I’m more than a bit concerned about the fact that Captain America 3 is going to be a loose adaptation of that story, and ultimately, it comes down to one point: Tony Stark should not be a villain. Now, they could maybe do something neat where we get good Tony back and Superior Iron Man becomes his own evil character spun off from him, but there HAS to be a good Tony we can root for that isn’t held down by crap like the Superhero Registration Act or having Captain America’s mind wiped. I want THAT Tony Stark back.

#3 – Ms. Marvel Sticks Around

Yeah, if you haven’t noticed, I’m a big Ms. Marvel fan. Kamala was easily the best newcomer of last year, and I would HATE to lose her. Now granted, I’ve been told by writer G. Willow Wilson that there’s “nothing to fear”, but at the same time, I’m seeing advertisements for her tie-in to Secret Wars being about how “Kamala has to grapple with the end of everything she knows, and discover what it means to be a hero when your whole world is on the line.” So I guess we’ll just see, but either way, I’m hoping she sticks around, and we have our inevitable Ms. Marvel/Captain Marvel crossover, along with something else I’d like to suggest…

#4 – A New Young Avengers-like Team Book

Let’s face it, folks, there are still plenty of younger heroes out there that could form a new team of heroes. Ms. Marvel, X-23, Miles Morales, Kate Bishop, and who knows how many more? Is Marvel REALLY going to wipe them ALL away post-Secret Wars? And frankly, I don’t care what they call themselves. Young Avengers, Avengers Academy, the Ultimates, whatever works for them. I would just love to see this team. And speaking of one of them in particular…

#5 – Miles Morales Stays

I’ve said it before, and I will continue to say it for as long as it’s the God’s honest truth: The best thing going for the Ultimate Universe (and the only thing nowadays, in fact) is Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spider-Man. The question is immediately brought up, then: What do you do with the character after Secret Wars? Tossed aside? Probably not. Do you have him continue to act as Spider-Man, and just have two of them, having him operate in a team with Peter? Tricky, but doable. Do you perhaps make use of the fact that Kaine recently died in Spider-Verse and make him the Scarlet Spider? Sure, I could see Miles fitting into that role just fine. However, there’s one other avenue they could take…

#6 – One More Day Reversed

Recent info dumps have revealed the existence of a version of Peter Parker on Battleworld that hasn’t made the deal with Mephisto yet. This could be where we finally undo all that nonsense, and have Peter and MJ be brought back together, possibly having Mayday, and hell, Pete could even pass the role of Spider-Man down to Miles, though he’d likely be able to come out of retirement from time to time to help him out. If nothing else, though, Marvel, please, hear my cry, in the name of all Spider-Man fans that know him to be better than the one who made that almost 100% literal deal with the devil, undo this terrible act. And if you need any more incentive to do so, Linkara has gone on record in saying that, if the deal with Mephisto is ever reversed, not even necessarily that Peter and Mary Jane get married again, but that the deal itself is nullified, he will buy every Spider-Man story that’s come out since. That’s 8 years worth of comics he’d be purchasing from you guys. May not seem like a lot of money, but from one person, could you ask for much more?

#7 – A Simpler History

Yyyeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhh, one problem Marvel has with its LONG history is just how complicated some stories can get. Probably the most notorious of all is Jean Grey’s entire history, as well as that of the Phoenix. In fact, most of the more complex and overly complicated and difficult to follow stories can be traced back to the X-Men. So, if there’s a chance to simplify some of those stories without changing too much or taking too much away, I’d suggest Marvel takes this opportunity to do so now.

#8 – Old Heroes Retaking Their Mantles

For better or worse, I think we all see this coming. Granted, I don’t see Carol Danvers giving up the role of Captain Marvel, since she’s got a movie coming up, but Steve Rogers is probably going to be Captain America again, and Mjolnir will likely find its way back to Thor Odinson. Hopefully, though, their recent replacements aren’t tossed aside, and are instead given whole new leases on life now that they’ve been established as characters deserving of being among Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, particularly the new female Thor (‘cuz somehow I doubt I have to worry too much about Falcon).

#9 – The A-Force

When I first heard about A-Force, I immediately adored the idea, so much so that I’m hoping it sticks around long past Secret Wars. Just the idea of seeing all these kickass Marvel women teaming up, without even really needing a set roster and just being about them all coming together to fight injustice, I just LOVE the idea SO FRAKKING MUCH (seriously, you can’t see me, but I’m fanboying out SO BAD right now, lol).

#10 – Character Histories Merged

Lastly, one thing I kinda expect to happen is that characters that exist on both Earth 616 and Earth 1610 will have their histories and elements of their personalities merged together. Somehow, I suspect that, when the dust settles, there’ll only be one Nick Fury, and he’ll be the one that physically resembles Samuel L. Jackson (‘cuz let’s face it, the movies DO still dictate a lot of what happens in the comics, for better or for worse), unless they plan on revealing him to be Nick Fury, Jr. in said movies. Also, I’m personally kinda hoping that the mainstream Aunt May gets downsized in favour of her more awesome counterpart. Seriously, words cannot describe how much I prefer Ultimate Aunt May to her counterpart.

Anyway, that’s all I can think of for right now. Got any I haven’t thought of? Perhaps even a few concerns? Leave in the comments below, and we’ll see what happens when Secret Wars hits. Ja né!

Early Preview of Justice League Infinite Chapter 4

Well, it’s that time again! Here’s an early preview of chapter 4 of my fanfic, Justice League Infinite. This one’s a bit smaller, but I kinda felt like showing it off anyway, just for the heck of it, as we see Superman having to deal with Starro in the depths of space.

…I could’ve been tilling the fields, Calvin thought. I could’ve been writing in my blog. I could’ve gone with Loana to a charity event. Hell, I could’ve built an extension to the barn, installed a Jacuzzi in the house, plucked any of the vegetables ready for plucking, and still have time to do anything else I felt like doing in the span of a day. Instead, I’m in outer space, fighting a giant starfish monster, and hoping I don’t get blown up by a ship that’s about to go nuclear!

Darting to his left, Superman evaded a massive tentacle being swung in his direction, albeit barely. With just he and Green Lantern dealing with Starro now, it was becoming even harder to try and keep him at bay. And it most certainly wasn’t helping that his mind was distracted, thinking of the bomb in the shuttle, the one he’d hoped wouldn’t be used.

Guess Bruce gets to tell me he told me so, Calvin concluded, blocking a swing from Starro and punching his tentacle away. Assuming we live through this…

“Superman, I’m running low on juice!” Green Lantern warned, smacking Starro away with a giant green boxing glove on a sling. “I need to recharge!”

“Get back to the ship!” Superman yelled. “I’ll hold him off!”

“Alone?!” Simon demanded. “Even for you, that’s suicide!”

“Just GO!” Cal bellowed, grabbing hold of one of Starro’s tentacles and swinging him away.

Gritting his teeth hard, Simon nodded, returning to the shuttle. With him gone, Superman found himself squaring off against Starro alone, the creature eyeing him like a piece of meat. The Man of Steel neither flinched nor sweated, balling up as he prepared for battle. Clearly, this was the most powerful foe he’d met up until now, and while that should’ve scared him a little bit, it also made him realize something that made him grin a bit in spite of himself: This was the first fight he’d ever been in where he wouldn’t have to hold back.

“…Alright, big guy, let’s dance!” Superman yelled, charging in with a fist raised.

…Yes, I had the ‘world of cardboard’ speech running through my head while writing that second to last paragraph. So sue me. 😛 Anyway, leave a comment on what you think of the story so far, and be sure to check out chapter 4 when it’s completed. Ja né!

Justice League Infinite fanfic Updates – A Look At Starro, Supergirl’s Look, And More

So, it’s been a little while since I posted on here. Sorry about that, but the holidays were a touch hectic, and I think I caught a flu bug of some sort. But whatever, right before I got sick, I posted chapter 3 of Justice League Infinite. Once again, if you wanna read the story, click the image below:

Now, with that said, let’s talk about the antagonist for this story: Starro the Conqueror.

Visually, the biggest difference to Starro from his comic book counterpart is that he’s green, not purple, as he’s normally coloured (though I believe he WAS coloured green on one occasion, as evidenced by the above image). As in the comics, he’s near-invulnerable, able to take punches from Superman and keep trucking, and he can absorb energy attacks (or, in my fic’s case, electricity) and launch it back out in an energy burst. But the biggest difference is how he controls his opponents: Instead of creating drones or the like to latch onto foes and mentally dominate them, he operates a bit closer to the Borg or The Thing (The Thing From Another World, not The Thing from the Fantastic Four, lol), assimilating other beings into becoming more like himself, at which point he’s able to use his telepathy to control them directly, or merely give them direction, and is able to freely access their knowledge and memories. Even the Lasso of Truth, which forces whoever is bound in it to reveal their true natures and can free people from mind control, is only a temporary means of stopping him, as his cells remain in the body and will continue to try and turn you and everything you are into an extension of him.

But most of this information is stuff you already know if you’ve read chapter 3 of JLI. Let’s talk about future characters for a second. As you know, I’m planning to do Teen Titans after Justice League. One of the members of the team is Supergirl, one loosely based on the character of Cir-El. However, instead of using her usual attire from the comics, I decided to go outside the box and get permission from a deviantArtist, Magnacide, to use their own interpretation of the character’s costume, as seen below:

So yeah, if you like that design, feel free to click the image and like it, and check out some more of Magnacide’s work. And speaking of checking out other people’s work, there is currently another fic being written in the DC Infinite Universe (or DCIU) by Doctor Sweet on Fanfiction.net. It’s an alternate version of Challengers of the Unknown, made up of seven superheroes of various backgrounds, and each possessing their own unique powers, skills, and methodologies. It’s also written a bit differently from this story, with the first chapter describing the same series of events as told from all seven characters’ perspectives, thus highlighting the different personalities of the group. If you’re interested, feel free to click the image below and check it out.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Leave a comment below on what you think thus far, and if you ever have an idea for a story in this universe that you’d like to tell, just send me a message detailing your ideas, and I’ll let you know whether or not it’s something I see working within it. Ja né!

A Look At Wonder Woman & Mera From The Justice League Infinite Fanfic

Well, I announced earlier this week that I’m doing a Justice League fanfic entitled ‘Justice League Infinite’. As such, I’m going through all seven members of this world’s League, what makes them different from their counterparts, etc. So far, we’ve looked at Batman, The Flash, Poison Ivy, and Superman. So, for today, let’s go ahead and take a look at this world’s version of the Spirit of Truth, Wonder Woman.

Origin wise, this version of Diana of Themyscira is pretty much the classic sculpted-from-clay story. Not that I have a problem with Wonder Woman being a demigod, just that it taints her back-story in a bad way. She also has her sister, Donna, who is a mirror duplicate of herself as a child and a possible inheritor to the Wonder Woman title, AND THAT’S ALL. lol What’s different is that, not only was her mother Hippolyta the first Wonder Woman on the Justice Society (an idea that’s been tossed around on occasion), but recently, Hippolyta and Aquaman were tricked into entering a fight to the death, which was witnessed by Diana and Mera. As a result of that, and as a means of keeping their respective peoples from declaring war on each other, Diana and Mera married, becoming co-Queens of each other’s lands, and thus uniting the people of Themyscira and Atlantis (meaning Themyscira is no longer a land bereft of men). Of course, the two were already close friends, thus making their relationship a bit interesting now that they’re wives. In terms of personality, Diana is a compassionate, loving soul, but while she will try to negotiate her way out of a confrontation, she will fight with the ferocity of a lioness if necessary to protect the weak and defenseless. Likewise, while she will not bring death to humans, she has no such compunctions for demons, monsters, undead, and some aliens.

Regarding Wonder Woman’s costume and appearance, take her Earth 2 costume in the New 52 (only with gold replacing all the silver and red boots instead of blue), give her chest coverage that her Justice League War costume had and the ponytail (because I LOVE it, lol), and a red cape like she’s sometimes seen in on some of her more diplomatic missions. As far as her skill set goes, she has her usual package of super strength, speed, reflexes, durability, and stamina, tracking skills, and is a master of both unarmed combat and wielding a shield and sword. She’s also a highly skilled diplomat and negotiator, meaning that she can oftentimes avoid ever having to use such gifts in combat by putting an end to conflict before it ever even begins. She can also fly fast enough to keep up with Superman, but as a means of reserving energy, she mostly prefers to fly on the back of a pegasus. As always, Diana wields the unbreakable Lasso of Truth, which forces one to reveal their true nature, tell the truth, and even free them from brainwashing or other types of control. Finally, she has the Bracelets of Victory, which guard against all forms of attacks. When the bracelets are removed, however, most of her natural abilities increase to ludicrous levels, the likes of which even Superman cannot contend with. For all of these abilities, though, Wonder Woman isn’t invincible. Her stamina, while incredible, does have limits, meaning she will eventually tire out if a battle runs for too long. Also, while removing her bracelets doesn’t cause her to go into a berserker mode like in the comics, it DOES put a huge strain on her body. Just a couple of minutes is long enough for her to be ready to pass out in this state. Finally, while her compassion is a great gift, it also comes coupled with a sense of self-sacrifice, constantly causing her to put herself in harm’s way to protect others. Granted, she more often than not walks away without being too harmed, but when you consider the possibility of her leaving Themyscira without its Queen…well, hindsight is 20/20.

…So, that’s all there is to know about Infinite Wonder Woman, but what about her new wife? Granted, she won’t be joining the Justice League, but she will be making an appearance or two, so let’s look at Mera.

Again, Mera is very similar to the mainstream version seen in the comics: A princess/assassin from another dimension sent to kill Aquaman, but instead fell in love with the King of Atlantis and married him. She’s also become somewhat of a surrogate mother to Jackson Hyde, AKA Aqualad, due to his estrangement from his father, Black Manta. In this universe, she’s also a close friend to Diana, and accepted her proposal to get married for the sake of their friendship and their peoples (which is quite the twist from Flashpoint). While kind and loving, she is also known to fly into fits of rage when wronged. You know the old saying “Heav’n has no rage, like love to hatred turn’d, nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn’d”? If William Congreve had lived in today’s society, he likely would’ve been talking about Mera. And yeah, I know, it can be something of a sexist comment, but it’s most certainly true of Queen Mera ‘Don’t You DARE Call Me Aquawoman’. While she understands that she SHOULDN’T kill, she at times has difficulty keeping the desire to in check.

Mera is more or less exactly like the mainstream version of her in both appearance and powers. Like Aquaman, the Queen of Atlantis is perfectly capable of surviving in a kingdom at the bottom of the sea, meaning she has the strength, durability, and enhanced sight of someone who lived in a place so dark and having such constant pressure put on her. She’s also an extremely fast swimmer, and possesses a leap out of the ocean measuring at approximately 1000 feet. Mera also possesses telepathy, able to send messages to someone’s mind and receive replies, though she lacks skill in terms of digging deeper into a person’s thoughts. Her trademark ability, however, is her skill in manipulating water. She can shift water around to her will, form hard water weapons, and launch concussive blasts. Also, get her REALLY mad, and she could conceivably warp the water molecules inside of someone to hurt them from the inside. Ultimately, her greatest weakness is her anger, as it can blind her in combat and cause her to make mistakes. Also, while she’s durable enough that bullets would only scratch her skin, she is by no means invulnerable.

Anyway, that’s it for Wonder Woman and Mera. Next time, we wrap up our look at the Justice League Infinite with Green Lantern and Doctor Fate. Ja né!

New Fanfic: Justice League Infinite + A Look At Infinite Batman

So, as I’ve announced on Twitter, I plan to do a Justice League fic soon. This will take place in an alternate universe where the Justice Society of America had existed since World War II, but collapsed near the end of the Cold War, and are currently not recognized by the American government as being on the right side of the law. As such, those heroes left in the wake of the JSA’s collapse operate as individuals, without any form of organization. However, that all changes when a threat from outer space brings several heroes together on a mission to save Earth from a creature that could enslave humanity.

Before I release the first chapter of this story, dubbed Justice League Infinite (and for those wondering, either my previous DC Comics-oriented fics will EVENTUALLY be retooled to fit into this ‘verse, or will just be kept around as examples of my older work, I honestly haven’t decided yet), I’ve decided to go ahead and give previews to each of the seven members of the team. So, let’s start with arguably the most popular superhero to date: Batman.

Bruce Terrance Wayne of this universe bears more than enough similarities to the more common version adapted for various movies, cartoons, and comics, though there are also several differences. We’ll go over the latter, since if you don’t know much about Batman’s history, personality, and skills, chances are that you’re probably not even reading this. From a personality standpoint, this Batman’s paranoia and standoffish behaviour are played up a bit more. He doesn’t trust the other Justice League members, and is unwilling to part with his secret identity, though he does show respect toward Wonder Woman due to her status as a royal diplomat. In his life as Bruce Wayne, he’s been shown to have both women AND men on his arm as dates, even though he actually doesn’t see himself getting into a meaningful relationship with anyone, regardless of gender.

In terms of history, this version of Bruce was born in 1981 and lost his parents at age 8. Without going into too much detail, he’s been active as the Dark Knight for 6-7 years (and if you’re getting the references with these dates, bravo to you, lol), although he’s only been confirmed to exist for the past 2-3, with most believing he was a myth. He’s also only recently taken on his first Robin: This universe’s version of Carrie Kelley, who, like in The Dark Knight Returns, came to Batman’s aid when he was near death one night, and has been undergoing rigorous training to prove herself as his partner. There’re a few other characters related to him that are drastically changed in this universe, but I’ll keep them a secret for now.

In terms of Infinite Batman’s skills and tech, the Caped Crusader still has his trademark detective skills and mastery of nearly every martial art known to man, as well as his intimidation, theatricality, and interrogation skills that allow him to appear superhuman, possibly even demonic, to the average thug. His Batsuit resembles the Justice League 3000 Batman’s costume, only darker and possessing violet-blue tones instead of red. In terms of what it can do, though, aside from the usual equipment of multi-purpose Batarangs, smoke pellets, and the Batclaw grapple gun, Bruce has built this suit as a means of stopping super-powered individuals if necessary, and has dubbed it ‘The Meta-Buster’. The paracape is thermal-shielded against ice and fire, though using it as such makes it nearly impossible to glide afterward. His gloves can generate varying levels of electricity to knock out foes or charge devices. There are also strength enhancers in the suit for combating foes with super-strength, though they burn out after a minute or two and require recharging. The cowl is connected to the Batcave computer, and the lens can grant him night, infrared, thermal, and even telescopic vision. Batman also has ultrasonic emitters that can summon bats or deafen enemies, and if the situation calls for it, it can seal Bruce off and provide him with oxygen to dive underwater or even survive the vacuum of space for a short time. All of this does come at a pretty big trade-off, though: The increased bulk of the Meta-Buster makes Batman a bit slower and less maneuverable, so anyone that can outpace him and is prepared for his various contingencies can easily subdue and disable him. And while it is, like most Batsuits, almost completely bullet and knife proof and insulated against electricity, it has its limits. If it takes too much of a pounding, the various added systems built into the Meta-Buster will shut down, leaving Bruce with a heavy armour no better equipped than some of his more traditional costumes.

Anyway, that’s all for the Dark Knight. Next time, we take a look at the Scarlet Speedster HERself, The Flash. Ja né!

Secret Wars 2015 – Next Summer For Marvel Might Be A Little Weird

So, Marvel’s been doing this weird thing where they’ve been posting teasers for summer of 2015 involving old events. Stuff like Secret Wars, Civil War, Planet Hulk, and so on. I really have no idea what the heck is going on, honestly. At first, it seemed like they were gonna do a rehash of Secret Wars, which I wouldn’t necessarily mind. Then Civil War teasers came up, minded that, because I’m not exactly a fan of that story at all, and I hate the fact that they’re apparently gonna do it for Captain America 3. After I saw teasers for ‘Years Of Future Past’, I was like, “Okay, NOW they’re just messing with us. There’s NO WAY they’re rehashing this many events all at the same time.” Then I started reading more about Secret Wars 2015, and how it apparently involves the Multiverse, and a possible clash between various versions of heroes like Captain America, Iron Man, Wasp, Thor, and so on. Furthermore, it comes at the end of the current Time Runs Out story-arc, meaning this could wind up being the ultimate (no pun intended) conclusion to the situation with the incursions.

Secret Wars 2015

Now, I have a theory about what’s going on, but I really have no way to be sure if I’m even close to what they have planned. My theory is that Secret Wars 2015 is the big summer event, and at the same time, the other teased ones are side-stories that give further resolution to all of those prior events, maybe even a few other ones, and they all kinda tie into one another somehow. OR, since this is a Multiverse story, maybe it’s telling how these events may have occurred on these other Earths. Either way, as I suggested, this could be the end result of what’s been happening with the incursions, and considering that at least a couple of Earths have been destroyed, and we’ve had Spider-Men from across the Multiverse getting killed in the events of Spider-Verse, it’s entirely possible that this story could mark the end of the Marvel Multiverse, OR a simple revamping of it to where there’s only a set number of Earths (like the DC Multiverse), OR this is some kind of universal reboot…which I would HATE, and I’ll explain why in a later article. Regardless of what exactly happens, though, I think we can safely say that summer of 2015 is gonna be WEIRD for anybody that picks up Marvel Comics.

Is it just me, or does the blond Hulk look kinda familiar…Brother? 😛

Anyway, what do you YOU guys think is going on? Leave a comment below stating what you think is happening, and we’ll see in about, oh, 8-10 months or so if you’re right. Ja né!