Injustice 2 – The Lines Are Redrawn Trailer

Welp, Injustice 2 is four months away, and we’ve got a new story-based trailer up, so let’s take a look, shall we?

So, with this trailer, we have confirmation of Robin, Poison Ivy, Brainiac, Bane, and Darkseid all either being playable or playing a role in the story. If they are all playable, then they join Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Blue Beetle, Atrocitus, Aquaman, Deadshot, The Flash, Gorilla Grodd, and Harley Quinn. Also, as I understand it, at least A Green Lantern (probably Hal Jordan) will be in the game, there’ll be skin/voice patches to include Reverse-Flash, John Stewart, and Power Girl, and we’ve had hints that Doctor Fate and Captain Cold will be in the game. All in all, a rather impressive roster so far.

As for the trailer, I could do without the call back to Lois and little Jon’s murders, since, as you all should know, that’s kind of a hot button issue with me. Wasn’t fond of it when it was first revealed, still don’t like it now. But, I understand that it was the event that kicked Injustice off in the first place, so it would be impossible to continue this story without it. It sucks, but what can you do?

Anyway, still plenty of spots open on the roster, and more to come via DLC, so who would you like to see announced? Lemme know in the comments below, and we’ll see what happens between now and May 16th. Ja né!

Jyger’s Favourite 5 – 5 Favourite Series From DC’s New 52/DC YOU

Well, the New 52 is just about at its end, with DC Rebirth coming up next week and the last of the New 52 books ending over the course of the next few months. And while the New 52 has become something of a punchline for many fans, let’s not forget the good times that came with it. Let’s be honest with ourselves and admit that there WERE good books, as well as the bad. So, with that in mind, I’ve decided that, before I seriously rag on the New 52 one last time, I should really take a look at some of my favourite comics from this era. Now, keep in mind, these are JUST the ones that I read. I’m well aware of the fact that there were other good comics that came out during the past five years under the DC banner that won’t be on this list. As such, if your favourites aren’t on the list, by all means, feel free to place your own in the comments. Also, keep in mind that there are books that, while good, just weren’t the overall greats of this list. So, books like Justice League, while having arcs I liked, also had a bunch of arcs I DIDN’T like, so they just missed the cut…though I DO have a bonus round for them. lol And, of course, books that are not a part of the main line, like Sensation Comics feat. Wonder Woman don’t count. Why we couldn’t have more books like it and Legends of Wonder Woman in the main line, I dunno, but for now, let’s start with one that’s probably kinda obvious to anyone who’s read my blog for a while…

#1 – Superman Unchained

Yeah, not shocking anyone with this pick, I’m sure. Most definitely my favourite of the books starring the New 52 Superman, and it’s one of the reasons I’m actually sad to learn that he’s dying. Yes, he is arguably the most inherently flawed of the mainstream Supermen, but when you have a good writer with a good story writing him, those flaws are used in good ways. We see how this Superman is still an inspirational figure in spite of these flaws by never giving up and continuously trying to do the best he can for the world. So yeah, while I’m obviously overjoyed to see the pre-Flashpoint Superman return to active duty, along with his wife and son, there will always be a little part of me that gets nostalgic for the Superman who didn’t always get it right, but nonetheless kept trying his best, for truth and justice.

#2 – Batgirl

I actually feel bad because I initially was unwilling to give this book a try. Why? Because they’d seemingly undone Babs’ past as Oracle as a means to make her Batgirl again, thus taking the position away from Stephanie Brown, who was nowhere to be seen for a long time. But while all that is true, I can’t deny that this book has had some great moments. Granted, I HATED the Batgirl Wanted arc, and Black Canary’s characterization in the beginning of the Stewart/Fletcher era rubbed me the wrong way, but the rest of it has been highly enjoyable. Some of my favourite moments are probably Alysia’s wedding, the end of the Simone era when Babs called in damned near EVERY superheroine on Earth, ALL of her annuals, the tie-in to Future’s End, that time she and Strix took on vampires, it’s just been a hell of a ride, and I hope that the next volume is just as fun.

#3 – Justice League United

For those that never read this book, I’ll keep the recap brief: Shortly after the collapse of the government sanctioned JLA, which was secretly meant as a fail-safe against the Justice League, three of its members, Stargirl, Martian Manhunter, and Green Arrow, found themselves teaming with Supergirl, Adam and Alanna Strange, Animal Man, and newcomer Equinox, to form a new Justice League: the Justice League United, set up in Canada, and meant to protect the world from extraterrestrial and paranormal threats. Of course, right off the bat, I was excited, since…well, do you know how long I waited for my country to get their own Justice League? Was awesome. But beyond that, getting to see some of the character interactions without the dread present in the JLA book that came before it was great too (Green Arrow and Animal Man playing off each other made for some decent comedy), and there was a lot of more traditional superheroing. In the later stages of the book’s existence, the team began rotating members in and out in order to deal with different situations, regardless of which side of the law they were on. Anyone from Batgirl to Poison Ivy, Swamp Thing to Vandal Savage, and so on could be brought in depending on what the situation called for. Unfortunately, this didn’t last long before the book’s cancellation, but the JLU has since appeared during the Truth story-arc in the Superman books, giving me hope that they’ll one day return to action.

#4 – Convergence

I should probably note that, when I say Convergence is a favourite of mine, I’m not talking about the main series. This is primarily because…well, I didn’t read it, and from what I’ve read, there’s not really much of anything that good, other than the restoration of the Multiverse. Oh, there’s some stuff involving the New 52 version of Earth 2, but unfortunately, that’s been a SERIOUSLY mixed bag. You wanna know more about that, go check out the blog Helena Wayne Huntress for more details. But no, what I’m referring to as one of my favourites of the New 52 is all the tie-in stuff. Granted, that could be seen as cheating for one simple reason: IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE NEW 52. The Convergence tie-ins are about giving resolution to stories that happened before the New 52, letting the heroes of ages past get one last hurrah, and even setting up for maybe a few of them to return later on. And they’re all awesome! Nightwing and Oracle get married and kick ass (not necessarily in that order, lol), Lian is brought back to life, Stephanie Brown suits up as Batgirl again, Lois and Clark have a child, the JSA return, it’s all amazing! Hell, even Scott freaking Lobdell turns in a good Blue Beetle book! I didn’t even think it was possible for him to put out anything of quality, but I guess mathematically speaking, it had to happen EVENTUALLY.

#5 – Batman

…Yyyeeeaaaahh, suppose this isn’t much of a surprise to anyone. lol While I wasn’t a fan of the story where Jim Gordon was Batman, and I found Joker to be WAY over the top in terms of unstoppable villainy is concerned, it’s really hard to not consider this book one the best of the past five years. Snyder and Capullo have simply been on fire for this era, and it’s sad to know that, at least for a while, that team of theirs is over. Although as hard as it is for me and other readers, I gotta imagine it’s even harder for them. But yeah, you guys should all know all of my favourite moments from this book, and if you don’t, I made a list of them just before the Superheavy story-arc. Point is, if you’re a Batman fan and you’ve been avoiding this book for the New 52 branding, don’t. It’s at least worth your time to check out.

So those are my favourite books of the New 52 in terms of overall quality. And now, the bonus round for all the arcs of books that I liked.

Worlds’ Finest

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Huntress and Power Girl fighting a giant Irradiated Man in a Japanese harbour! All it needed was for Godzilla and Dragonzord to show up to make it the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen! XD

Justice League

…Not to self: Review Darkseid War once the entire storyline is finished. It is easily my favourite story of the New 52 Justice League. Also, I thought Origin worked as an introduction to this new timeline, and the Amazo Virus was pretty awesome, too, and marked the point in which Geoff Johns finally found his groove with writing Wonder Woman’s character.

Batman/Superman

Cross World was great, and presented one of my all-time favourite images of Wonder Woman, and the stuff with Mongol and Toymaster is admittedly dumb fun that resolved in an awesome team-up involving Supergirl, Batgirl, Steel, Red Hood, and Krypto.

Batwoman

Y’know, DC, right after the engagement, I was totally gonna stick with this book. Then you called it off, the creative team left as a result, and then you did the stupid vampire thing. Just saying, you had a great thing gift-wrapped for you. I sincerely hope, though, that since Rebirth is apparently nixing the whole heroes-can’t-be-married thing, with the old Superman who is married to Lois Lane being back and Aquaman and Mera being engaged, that Batwoman finally is allowed to get married in Detective Comics.

Talon

Ultimately proved to be hit and miss, but I liked it for the most part. Could’ve done without Casey being damned near torn apart, but watching her make her badass comeback with a cybernetic arm-cannon was awesome. I mean, yeah, it’s another case of extreme violence against women in a comic, but it’s hard not to watch her in the hospital bed right after losing her arm and eye and not grin ear-to-ear when she’s still being like “Aw, fuck it, just put a giant arm-cannon on me, and I’ll fuck these guys up! And Calvin, you better make sure you haven’t completely screwed things up by the time I show up, or your ass is grass!” XD

Nightwing

I unfortunately can’t really justify putting Nightwing on the top 5, but that’s less to do with the quality of the stories told in it and more to do with the constantly changing status quo that was really only a thing strictly because of stuff happening in the other Bat Family books before ending due to events in Forever Evil. Oh, and as a side-note, SO glad to see that Nightwing is in blue again, but not sure where this is going with him as a member of the Court (or Parliament, I guess) of Owls.

Supergirl

I can’t say enough how much I adored the team-up with Power Girl. Was just great.

Starfire

I feel like I MIGHT’VE put this on the list if I’d read through the entire thing and it didn’t delve into the cheesecake quite as much as it did, soooo…Eh, call it sixth, I guess. lol

Earth 2

Again, DC, you had me right up until Evil Superman working for Darkseid, and Thomas Wayne as Batman. Then you completely lost me. And THEN you pissed me off with World’s End and the first arc of Earth 2: Society. Seriously, like I said before, go read Helena Wayne Huntress’ blog for more details, but suffice to say, it’s been a MESS, one that I hope gets cleaned up soon. I DO recommend the Tower of Fate arc, though.

Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death

Problematic for me personally at times, but still enjoying it, and glad it’s here. 🙂

And that’s all my favourite stuff of the New 52. Like I said before, if you’ve got a book that you really liked from this era that wasn’t on here, by all means, leave your own list in the comments, and be sure to check back in the future when I go over the worst of this era. 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!

What Other Superheroes Should Be Getting TV Shows?

So, with the news breaking that Melissa Benoist has been cast in the lead for CBS’ upcoming Supergirl TV series, as well as news that Vixen is apparently getting an animated web mini-series with ties to Arrow and Flash that could result in a full television series (or Vixen being cast on either show), both of those series being renewed for another season, Agents of SHIELD still doing good, the Marvel Netflix exclusive series coming up, and with Agent Carter apparently doing well right off the bat, it’s becoming clear that more heroes of various walks of life in the DC and Marvel universes are hitting it off well with television audiences. We’re seeing a much greater variety than just Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man for the umpteenth time. People want more and the various networks and companies are giving them what they want.

Having said that, and it brings me joy to be able to say this, there’s STILL a bunch of untapped characters and settings that could be adapted into their own TV shows. Granted, some of these characters have appeared in previous series before, but not on their own. And I’m not gonna get into casting and whatnot either, since everyone’s opinion on that is different. I’m just going to make my cases for each character or characters and let people decide if they agree or disagree with the idea of them getting their own show. So, let’s start off with probably the most logical choice after Supergirl…

#1 – Nightwing

Okay, I’m aware of the fact that there IS apparently a Titans live action series in the works, which would probably involve some incarnation of Dick Grayson, but since I haven’t heard anything about it in a while, I’m just gonna put this here for the heck of it. Like what I hope they do with Supergirl, they should keep Batman out of Nightwing’s story, save for his obvious existence in his back-story. In fact, with that in mind, one thing I would love to see is for CBS to do Nightwing as well and have him cross-over with Supergirl from time to time. As for setting, the obvious choice is Blüdhaven, though in the absence of that, Chicago would also work, as Nightwing has operated out of there as well.

#2 – She-Hulk

I still can’t believe that when selecting the various heroes to be in Marvel’s Netflix series, they didn’t go with She-Hulk. Look at it this way: She’s the Hulk’s cousin, which means more potential use of that character since he apparently doesn’t have his own movie coming up, and she’s also a lawyer, meaning the show would effectively be a superhero show meets a Law & Order-esque series, and you know how well shows like that do. Plus, there’s just the nature of Jennifer and the She-Hulk’s duality and how it works in a way that’s very different from the Hulk’s. Plenty of potential exploration and analysis that can be made there.

#3 – The Justice Society of America

Seeing as how Captain America did so well, how about a show about a whole team of superheroes that operated during World War II? I think I’d want the emphasis placed on the lesser known heroes, excluding the trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman in favour of the likes of Mister Terrific, Wildcat, Black Canary, Sandman, The Atom, Doctor Fate, The Spectre, and Hawkgirl. Also, I’d probably include Alan Scott, but under his Sentinel alias (as to avoid confusing fans more familiar with the Green Lantern Corps), and one of the other speedsters in favour of Jay Garrick (again, to avoid confusing fans of the modern Flashes). And lastly, while she didn’t exist in the comics back then, I’m sure Aquawoman from the New 52 Earth 2 comics would be a welcome addition.

#4 – The World’s Finest, Power Girl and Huntress

Yeah, this would get confusing while Supergirl is on the air, so perhaps an idea best kept on the back-burner until Supergirl’s run was over. Rather than involve the existence of Earth 2, I would just play it straight, with the daughter of Batman and the cousin of Superman having to carve out their own legacies while working as a team. And much like with She-Hulk, I would introduce plenty of court show drama elements with Helena Wayne being a lawyer.

#5 – Spider-Woman (Gwen or Jessica depending)

This one would be tricky, since I’m not sure who owns the rights to Spider-Woman. If she’s owned by Marvel Studios, Jessica Drew would be a welcome series set in the MCU as a former HYDRA agent turned SHIELD. If she’s owned by Sony, it’s Gwen Stacy or bust. Either one would be welcome, honestly. Also, while I said I wouldn’t talk casting, with Spider-Gwen, she’d HAVE to be played by Emma Stone. She IS Gwen Stacy, in my opinion.

#6 – Martian Manhunter

Probably the biggest name in DC Comics right now to NOT be involved in the DC Cinematic Universe, likely because DC and WB are basing that Justice League off of the New 52 version…which is a bad sign right off the bat. It’s not even that I have a problem with Cyborg, either. I love Cyborg. But they’ve kinda been amping him up a bit, whereas Martian Manhunter’s been kinda put down a few pegs. And J’onn could hold a show on his own, as the alien brought to Earth by accident and becoming a private investigator/superhero. And again, I know I said I wouldn’t talk casting, but here, I have to. I’m just gonna say five words and walk away: Morgan Freeman as Martian Manhunter. Goodbye. lol

Anyway, that’s it for the shows I can think of, but what about you? Leave me a comment letting me know which comic book heroes you’d like to see get their own shows, and we’ll see if any of them ever materialize. Ja né!

New Books DC Could Do In The Context Of The New 52 RIGHT NOW

So, you know how yesterday, I talked about how many different female characters DC could have starring in books right now? Well, in hindsight, there’s a lot of characters, male and female, that could use their own books, and just a whole whack of books that DC COULD be doing right now, without changing much about the current direction of The New 52 (I WOULD change it to at least be less bleak and grim, but whatever). And hell, they really SHOULD do this, since, as has been well established by now, The New 52 is no longer new, nor does it have 52 books, hence they could use some brand new books to get it back up to 52 and freshen things up at the same time. And before anyone says that the name refers to the new state of the Multiverse, I call bullshit, since they only started putting out books involving more worlds than just the primary one eight months into said relaunch, and only began showing the full changes to the Multiverse this past year. But yeah, new books. Here’s just a few that come to mind.

Red Robin

Believe it or not, but I really DO hate to sound like a broken record. With that said, I still don’t get why Red Robin doesn’t have his own book, when Tim Drake was the first Robin to get his own solo series, which lasted for quite some time. Now, as an alternative to giving him his own book, you could otherwise give him Detective Comics (because Batman has enough books that he’s currently starring in, and Detective Comics could use a new protagonist to be honest), or even just a back-up in Detective Comics.

Justice League of Amazons

Does anybody else remember the story where the JLA was split up by alien invaders erasing all knowledge of the group, leading to the individual members creating eight or so different Justice Leagues? Well, one of the teams was called the Justice League of Amazons. How would I do that? Basically, I’d have all the female ex-Justice Leaguers from the various League teams in The New 52 banding together. So, characters like Vixen, Fire and Ice (assuming Fire came out of her coma, I have no idea), Katana, and Black Orchid, while also adding Batgirl (because of course we gotta have a Bat on the team, lol), and taking the time to finally bring back Troia, since apparently that woman in Future’s End is NOT Donna Troy.

Spoiler

This one actually has interesting timing, since apparently the Smallville books are coming to an end, meaning Bryan Q. Miller could write. I’m just gonna say this right now, and I sincerely hope that someone in charge of DC is listening: You do a Stephanie Brown book with Bryan Q. Miller as the writer, and just let him do a good book without much in the way of interference, I will HAPPILY buy that book. Just let him do his thing, which is showing Steph do her thing.

Cyborg

I still maintain that having Cyborg be the only member of The New 52’s magnificent seven (or the Super Seven, as Barry Allen claims) who doesn’t have his own book is just dumb. Granted, it’s made for some great Cyborg-centric stories in Justice League (yeah, believe it or not, I really like some of the stuff they do with Cyborg in that book), but I just feel that he could have his own book. Hell, maybe even follow up on his arc in Forever Evil and call it ‘Cyborg and the Metal Men’.

Poison Ivy

…No, really, I DO hate to be a broken record. With Poison Ivy, I would follow up on Batgirl Annual #2, with Ivy trying to get through her issues. Maybe they could do something neat where she’s staying in Arkham for help, but she also sneaks out at night to help people. Also, while I would hesitate to say I wanna see a crossover with Batgirl but would still understand it and probably enjoy it nonetheless, NO CROSSOVERS with Harley. Seriously, the Harley Quinn book has made Ivy look SO bad. Now, I know that when this book first came out, I was praising the crap outta it, but honestly, after about a year, while I don’t necessarily mind Harley’s solo antics, the stuff they do with Ivy is just plain WRONG, and this whole thing with the drug-scented book is a BAD idea, and I heard rumours of some comments made by the creators that were somewhat controversial, but I don’t really wanna go there.

More Young Justice Titles

I don’t know if anyone even remembers this point anymore, but the books in The New 52 are divided into ‘families’: Justice League, Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Young Justice, The Edge, and The Dark. Now, I could go on a long-winded rant about how Wonder Woman and Aquaman don’t have their own family books, but I won’t just yet. Instead, let’s look at the fact that there is only ONE book in the Young Justice family, and that’s Teen Titans. Let’s look at some of the younger heroes that are established right now in The New 52 alone (admittedly some of whom have appeared in Future’s End): Skitter, Vibe, Kid Flash (both of them), Solstice, Blue Beetle, Static Shock, Bluebird, Emiko, Thunder and Lightning, Hawk and Dove, Jesse Chambers, Cassandra Cain, Mary Marvel, Lagoon Boy, Firestorm, and Tanya Spears, AKA the new Power Girl (which, with her being a thing, means that Kara Zor-L should really be Power Woman now). Now, granted, some of these characters were given their own books that got cancelled, some of which kinda deserved it (looking at you, Hawk and Dove), but there’s also more than enough there that could get their own teams, or at least join up with the Titans. Actually, I keep hearing the new Power Girl might be joining up with the Titans in the future, which honestly, I would LOVE if it happened. 🙂 But yeah, needs to be new Young Justice books.

President Superman

I’m very glad that this character is highlighted rather prominently in The Multiversity, but I would LOVE to see a solo book about President Superman, and maybe even the whole world. I just love the concept…also, I would love to see the book just because I would love to see the explanation for how NO ONE knows that President Calvin Ellis is Superman. Seriously, how can NO ONE figure that out?! It’s not even a Clark Kent thing, where he wears glasses, slouches, or acts differently from how he does as Superman! Hell, his personality as both is rather similar, in that he is a compassionate yet authoritative figure! And I can understand why no one would think that Clark Kent is Superman, but who WOULDN’T suspect that the Man of Steel is someone big and important?! I dunno, it just bugs me. But otherwise, I love the concept of the character, and would love to see him get an ongoing.

Anyway, I think that’s enough to prove my point. Lemme know what books you would like to see added to The New 52, or just new books DC could do in general. Ja né!

Spider-Gwen Announced – THANK YOU, MARVEL! :’D + News On Upcoming Wonder Woman Books + The Difference Between Marvel & DC

No, your eyes do NOT deceive you, Marvel has in fact listened to the fans and decided to give the Gwen Stacy Spider-Woman her own book. Apparently, it’ll be launching in February, under the name Spider-Gwen. Now, the name of the book is a little weird, but I’m guessing it’s because they already have a Spider-Woman book coming out, and unless they name it ‘Gwen Stacy: The Insert-Cool-Sounding-Adjective-Here Spider-Woman’, it’s gonna confuse people (actually, I think that would be the most awesomely hilarious name for a book EVER). So, I don’t mind the name.

What’s hilarious about this is that this news broke at the same time as myself and a group of my friends on Twitter were ranting about a cover advertised for an upcoming Wonder Woman book, as drawn by David Finch, where she looks…well, look.

…Yeah, pretty dumb, huh? And really shows why the Finchs are probably people that shouldn’t be doing Wonder Woman, because they don’t get the character. Although, on the flip side, check out the cover for the upcoming Wonder Woman ’77 book, drawn by Nicola Scott.

Pretty frakking epic. Really shows the difference between DC and Marvel. DC has these AMAZING digital first books that people love, and they take ZERO advantage of them, instead pushing the bleak as all heck New 52 books. Marvel sees that something sells well, they go “Hey, we’ve got a new product that sells great! So, let’s roll with it!” And maybe it won’t do as well as they hope, but the point is they’re giving it a try. They’re giving Silk a shot too. So we’ll have, on the Marvel side of things, female led books like Storm, Captain Marvel, Silk, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel, Adjectiveless X-Men, Squirrel Girl (…no, seriously, it’s happening, lol), and so many more. In DC’s main line, their female led books are Supergirl (has been kind of a confusing mess lately), Batgirl (new team doing the book does awesome work in my opinion, but I’ve noticed that reaction to the new book is pretty divisive online), Gotham Academy (looks cool, but not my cup of tea), Harley Quinn (ruined Poison Ivy in the New 52, has an upcoming drug-scented book), Batwoman (was forced out of getting married and turned into a vampire anti-hero), and Wonder Woman (see above image, and the God awful relationship with Superman). Meanwhile, they have a HUGE roster of women they could push in their books! Aside from the ones I mentioned already, they have Raven, Wonder Girl, Troia, Stargirl, Spoiler, Bluebird, Poison Ivy, Mera, Aquawoman, Jesse Quick, Jade, Huntress, Power Girl, Fury, Equinox, the list goes on and on! And yeah, some of them are in books currently, but they’re hardly marketed by DC. They don’t know how to market their products, unless said product is involved with Batman, and they don’t know how to get people pumped for new stuff.

But anyway, I just wanna thank Marvel Comics, Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and everyone else involved in Spider-Gwen for bringing this to us. Lemme know your own thoughts on this upcoming book, and we’ll see how awesome this gets when it hits in February. Ja né!

Infinite DC – Who Is On The Justice League? (FEEDBACK REQUESTED)

So, as I’ve mentioned in the past, several of my Infinite DC fanfics are eventually leading up to a Justice League story, in particular the ending to Man of Tomorrow. Now, while the main plot of this story is pretty much decided in my head, one thing that keeps changing bit by bit is who I want on the Justice League. Five members I know for a fact will be on the team are Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Batman, and Green Lantern. The sixth slot will go to either Martian Manhunter or Cyborg, the seventh slot is still completely up in the air, and now I’m beginning to wonder if I really wanna do the standard Magnificent Seven with the group, or include an eighth slot for whoever didn’t get the sixth.

As you can see, I’m in need of feedback. Before you give it, though, let’s talk about the seventh member. The criteria for the hero that fills seventh slot is as follows:

1. They have to be a woman. I don’t want Wonder Woman to be the ONLY superheroine on a team full of dudes.
2. She cannot be a member of the Birds of Prey: Dark. Ergo, she can’t be Black Canary, Huntress, Raven, or Batwoman. There will EVENTUALLY be mingling between the two teams, just not yet.
3. She cannot be part of the extended hero teams of the other members, so not Power Girl, Batgirl, Wonder Girl, Jesse Quick, or Miss Martian.
4. She has to have some sort of power or ability that is unique to the team. So, no one who is just a strong woman who can fly.

Anyway, with that said, here are some of my most considered options for the seventh hero, as well as reasons why I might not choose each one. Keep in mind, I’m aware I could change the stuff that gives me pause to add them, but some of these things lend to possible stories I can tell later, so I don’t know that I’d want to change them.

Beatriz da Costa, AKA Fire

Fire was one of my first choices, in fact the one I’d initially decided on, for a number of reasons: Her ability to turn into and control fire, her characterization being in stark contrast to Wonder Woman’s, her Brazilian heritage giving further international flavour to the team, and the fact that, while she’s served with extended versions of the Justice League and the JLI, she’s never really been on THE team of 7 or so heroes. This would give her a unique presence to the team. Reasons why I wouldn’t want to add her is generally due to the fact that she’s known nowadays for being a tag team of sorts with Ice, so having one on the team without the other might feel odd, and her name is sadly HORRIBLY generic, not to mention can be confusing when there are other heroes with ‘Fire’ in their name, like Starfire or Firestorm.

Kendra Muñoz-Saunders, AKA Hawkgirl

Hawkgirl was again another obvious choice, given her repeated presence on the Justice League (in particular being part of the Big 7 in the DCAU League), and her incredible strength in both armed and unarmed combat. Like with many things in Infinite DC, I’d want to make her a mixture of the more commonly known Hawkgirl and the Hawkgirl from the New 52‘s Earth 2. She’d probably wear the Earth 2 costume, but rather than wield a Nth metal mace or her crossbow blaster, I’d giver her an Nth metal crossbow blaster that turns into a mace. Why? Because mêlée weapons that turn into guns are awesome. Reasons why I might not add her is just how typical it would be, and an admitted temptation to have her be on the Birds of Prey: Dark instead.

Tatsu Yamashiro, AKA Katana

Okay, I’m kinda breaking my own rules here, but I feel that Katana isn’t necessarily part of the Bat Family team, or is at least independent enough now that she could be a member. Heck, she IS a member of the Justice League of America in the comics these days, and she would bring international flavour to the team, along with that frigging badass sword. Reason why I would be hesitant to having her on the team is because she’s one of the DC characters who is probably a bit more prone to slashing people, which could conflict BAD with some of the others on the team.

Zatanna Zatara

Zatanna, because hey, the Justice League could use a little magic, right? Not to mention fishnet stockings. lol But yeah, Zatanna would be the magical expert of the team, wearing her usual stage-magician attire, and minus her relationship with assface, I-I mean Constantine. Reasons why I might be hesitant to let her into the Justice League are because, like Hawkgirl, I’m tempted to make her a member of the BoP (especially since she was a member of the Justice League Dark in the New 52, which is where Birds of Prey: Dark gets its name), and because having to write her spells backwards, while not the worst thing in the world, could be a bitch to spellcheck. XD

Mera

*GASP!* Mera and not Aquaman?! Can this be?! Well, I kind of have plans for Aquaman later on that require him to be off the team, but that doesn’t mean Mera absolutely cannot be on it. Her ability to control water, no matter where it is, would make her a major player in the Justice League, a team that I don’t think she’s ever formally joined, despite having worked with them several times. Oh, and to be clear, she would just be Mera. Not Aquawoman, not Water Woman, and the one I find most insulting, not Aquawife. Reasons why I might not include her is due to her trademark anger issues and shaky history with Wonder Woman.

So yeah, vote which of these women you’d like to see in my Justice League below. Or, if there’s one not listed who fits the criteria and who you’d like to suggest, feel free in the comments. Also, lemme know if you think Cyborg, Martian Manhunter, or BOTH should be members, and we’ll see what happens. Ja né!

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Taking Requests For DC Team-Up Fics + Last Chance To Vote on Fanfic Universe Name (FEEDBACK REQUESTED)

So, remember a while back when I talked about What I’d Do Instead of Superman/Wonder Woman? Y’know, the random crossover book? Well, having FINALLY written Will & Hope, I’ve decided that I’m going to start taking requests from people to do crossover team-up fics of various DC superheroes. Basically, you post a request on here or in the comments for my fanfics, listing 2-3 heroes and 2-3 of their villains, and provided I like the idea of the team-up and it works within the canon of my fics, I will give it an honest shot.

Just as examples, you could ask for something like Wonder Woman and Batman taking on Cheetah and Bane, Robin and Raven battling Harley Quinn and one of the Sons of Trigon, Superman and John Stewart fighting Atomic Skull and Atrocitus, whatever. You don’t HAVE to post a plot idea if you don’t want to, but I suppose it could help. One thing I do ask, or rather recommend if you want better odds of me agreeing to do it, is that you list characters that have appeared in my fics thus far, the heroes at least. I’ll probably post a list of characters that have appeared thus far in my Fanfiction.net profile, (which is J.A.Phillips, btw), but for now, here’s a list of heroes and villains that have appeared or been referenced to thus far, more or less in order of appearance.

Heroes: Batman (Bruce Wayne), Robin, Martian Manhunter, Batman (Thomas Wayne), Superman, Supergirl/Power Girl, Cyborg, Wonder Woman, Black Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance), Raven, Huntress, Batwoman, Batgirl/Oracle, Green Arrow, Black Canary (Dinah Drake-Lance), The Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (John Stewart), The Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)

Villains: Tony Zucco, Copperhead (female version from Arkham Origins), Rupert Thorne, Lew Moxon, Carmine Falcone, Gillian Loeb, Victor Zsasz, Manchester Black, Lex Luthor, Plasmus, Atomic Skull, Magpie, Baud, Dyna-mind, Parasite, Solomon Grundy, Toyman, The Joker, Firebug, The Riddler, The Jokerz, John Corben/Metallo, Nasthalthia Luthor, Bizarro, Jared, Trigon, Omerta the Silencer, Aquarius, Bleez, Atrocitus, Sinestro, Weather Wizard, Volcana, Dex-Starr

All of that aside, I’ve decided that, starting with my upcoming Justice League fanfic, I will be listing all of my fanfiction under a name for my fan-made universe. So, with that said, this is the last opportunity to vote on the name: Either Earth 52, so named for being the reality that doesn’t exist in the comics, or Infinite DC, named after Ultimate Marvel and for being influenced by the events of an infinite number of other comics, TV shows, movies, and so on.

Anyway, if you have a request for a team-up, post it below, and I shall see what I can do for you in the future. Ja né!

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A Look At Recent DC Costume/Appearance Redesigns

So, one of the many changes that came with the New 52 were new costumes/appearances. A lot of them have stuck, a couple went back to normal, and we’ve even seen one or two additional redesigns since the reboot got started. So, I thought I’d take a sec to give my own thoughts on a lot of ’em. And where better to start than…

Superman in the New 52

I’ve mentioned this before on the blog and in the author’s notes of my Man of Tomorrow fanfic, but I’m actually fine with Superman wearing a sort of armoured suit, provided it actually looks like the Superman costume. Why? Because we’ve seen him fight opponents with access to one or more of his weaknesses, like Metallo, or can just power through him, like Doomsday. It only makes sense that he might wanna wear more protection in case of such an event. Heck, if I have ANY complaint with Superman’s general appearance in the New 52, it’s with how frigging young he looks. I’m sorry, it just bugs me. He doesn’t look like a smart, experienced superhero to me. And yes, I’m aware that Superman can extend his bio-electrical field around his costume, thus generally protecting it from being torn to shreds in battles, but there have been occasions where that didn’t work out so well, so a more durable costume would make sense there…which actually brings me to the next costume on my list…

Power Girl in the New 52

I remember getting a LOT of heat for saying I liked Power Girl’s costume in Worlds’ Finest. I still don’t quite get what the problem with it was from its appearance. Maybe the blue lines going down her sides? I dunno, even they didn’t seem bad, really. And plus, the costume came complete with an actual logo for her. But, that said, I did have a problem with the costume, but it had nothing to do with the appearance. Rather, it had to do with every copy of the costume (and one or two of her other outfits) winding up like THIS!

How is it that the costume with the boob window still winds up more modest than the one that covers her full body? Well, making the newer one out of the flimsiest fucking material on Earth and/or Krypton was a start!

Nightwing in the New 52

I’ve mentioned this before with both of Nightwing’s New 52 costumes, but if I haven’t made my point, here it is: They both look fine from a design standpoint, but PLEASE put him in blue again, PLEASE. There’s just too much red in DC nowadays, and Nightwing looks better in blue. Admittedly, though, the newer one in his solo book DOES look better than the previous, particularly when there’s a lot of blue lighting around in the comic against his red and black costume. Almost makes him look like Spider-Man. 😀

Wonder Woman in the New 52

Not really a complaint against the design, since it looks a lot like the classic swimsuit-esque Wonder Woman costume. Little confused why the gold portions were changed to silver, but not too big a deal, I guess. No, my issue is that it’s clearly constructed as body armour…Okay, I don’t have a problem with the standard Wonder Woman costume, but when you make body armour, shouldn’t it really COVER THE BODY? Y’know, while we’re on the subject, could someone please explain why everyone hated the costume she wore in the J. Michael Straczynski era? I mean, I could say a lot about JMS’ run in comics, *COUGH!*ONEMOREDAY*COUGH!*, but I can’t really fault him for this. It provided protection to her whole body, and she still managed to look like Wonder Woman. In other words, it’s not like THIS…

Wonder Woman in the 90’s

Okay, for real? I never wanna hear anybody complain about the JMS era costume ever again, because like I said before, at least in that costume, she still looks like Wonder Woman. In the 90’s costume, she looks like a biker who fell off her motorcycle, got amnesia, and when she woke up, she saw stars on her costume and thought she was Wonder Woman for some reason.

Anyway, I think that’s enough for now, but I should probably make a note to come back with more later on. Discuss away, and I’ll see y’all next time. Ja né!

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How Would I Rebuild The DC Universe From Scratch? – Cyborg, Power Girl, Green Lantern, And More

Well, I’m back with more of How Would I Rebuild The DC Universe From Scratch. Basically, me talking about what I’d do for a fanfic, a novel, a tv/web series, or an alternate universe series of comics, should I ever be given the chance to do any of those things. I’ve already said what I’d do with the Big 3 of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman (and Robin), but what about some of the other fan favourites?

Cyborg

Okay, here’s where I’d probably be stepping on some toes and ticking people off, but since this is alternate reality, I think I’d wanna combine the characters of Victor Stone and Henry Irons as Cyborg, the Man of Steel. Basically, Victor Irons (or Henry Stone, whichever) would be the son of a scientist who works at S.T.A.R. Labs and is inspired by Superman to be a hero, but when he’s badly hurt by a foe using stolen tech of his father’s, his body is rebuilt into that of a Cyborg. He would have most of the gadgets and abilities you’d expect of both Cyborg and Steel, in particular the white noise cannon and the high-powered sledge-hammer. Costume would probably be something akin to a fusion of Cyborg’s Teen Titans appearance and Steel’s Justice League Unlimited appearance, and possibly operating like the Omegadrome, wherein he’d be able to appear human when he wanted.

Batgirl and Spoiler

For Batgirl, I’d go with Barbara, BUT I would also have Stephanie Brown be her partner as Spoiler, essentially the Robin to her Batman. Basically, they’d be operating as a team without the complete consent of Batman, trying to earn his respect while also refusing to let him tell them what they can and cannot do. For Babs, I’d go with something akin to her costume in The New Batman Adventures, while Steph would wear the usual Spoiler outfit, but with a black version of the Robin mask instead of the Spoiler costume’s head-covering mask.

The Flash

Sorry Barry fans, I gotta go with Wally West here, although I would wanna go with the Wally from the Justice League cartoon who, like Barry, worked with CSI. Also, because I REALLY liked this idea when they did it for Blackest Night, I’d have The Flash simultaneously be a Blue Lantern, and that the accident that gives him his powers would be the result of the Blue Lantern Ring seeking a suitable wielder when it collides with a lightning bolt and nails Wally and the chemicals. As such, his ability to tap into the Speed Force would be dependent on his hope, his suit would be generated from the ring and would look akin to Barry’s Blue Lantern Flash costume, and he would simultaneously be giving power boosts whenever he was accompanying this next individual…

Green Lantern

Now here’s what I can’t decide on: Which one? Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and even Simon Baz all work for what I have in mind: Namely, that the other members of the Green Lantern Corps are called away to fight an epic war, and thus one Green Lantern, who is the newest member to the Corps, has to stay behind as the sole guardian of Sector 2814. Of course, the other members would all appear from time to time, it would just focus primarily on that one individual fighting intergalactic threats to Earth…In fact, here: Which of the following Earth-born Green Lanterns is your favourite?

Oh, and the reason Jessica Cruz isn’t on there is because she hasn’t debuted as of this writing…Anyway, moving on…

Power Girl

For Power Girl, I’d probably take out the part where she’s from Earth 2. She’d just be Supergirl grown up and running her own business while also being Power Girl. As such, much like with Superman, I might wanna do stories for her both as being Power Girl AND Supergirl, or maybe doing the teenage copy thing with her too. Costume would be the one she recently got in Supergirl, since it’s both similar to the original while clearly being made of something sturdy enough to take a severe pounding. I’d also wanna alter her power-set a bit so that she’s physically faster and stronger than Superman, but her other abilities aren’t as potent. Basically, she’d be the hard-hitter for situations even Superman can’t handle, while she wouldn’t be as versatile.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Check in next time as I tell what I’d do with some of DC’s groups, including their flagship teams: The Justice League, and the Teen Titans. Ja né!

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