Blog Archives
Superhero Adoptables I’ve Made On Deviant Art
…Yeah, I know this is lame, but whatever. I made some more DC superheroes and supervillains on Deviant Art using dress up games and the like. So, I thought I’d share a small collage of some of them, along with a link to the rest…
Also, if you wanna make your own, here’s a short list of links to where you can find the games I’ve been using…
http://jtmovie.deviantart.com/art/Superhero-Creator-2-0-MALE-Dress-up-Game-530676189
http://jtmovie.deviantart.com/art/Superhero-Creator-2-0-FEMALE-Dress-up-Game-530676227
http://www.azaleasdolls.com/index.php
…And, lastly, if you want me to create any other DC superheroes that I haven’t already, feel free to leave a comment here or on my Deviant Art account. Ja né!
Still Making Expies On Deviant Art! Who’s Next?! Previews + Polls!
Yup, I’m still doing this. lol That said, compared to what I had up, I’ve made quite a few new Captain Ersatzes on Deviant Art, and I owe a lot of that to my readers who voted on who they’d like to see me make expies of. I’m still going through the list, but here’s a look at what I’ve posted since I started taking requests…
…BUT, as anyone who has been to my Twitter knows, I’ve still got maybe one or two left to go. Specifically, I decided to go ahead and make counterparts for the Justice League. And, because you guys went ahead and helped me out with this, here’s an early preview…with appropriate music. lol
Zenith Woman, The Blue Bubbler, Cybertaur, Ultimatum, Green Defender, Outrun, and The Stellar Savior
Anyway, with that outta way, there’s another poll I’d like to present. Basically, now that I’ve done a few counterparts of Batman’s rogues gallery, I was wondering which group of villains I should do next. So, by all means, vote below on which rogues gallery you’d like to see expies of next, and we’ll see what happens in a week’s time. Ja né!
Making Captain Ersatzes For Deviant Art? Feedback Needed!
So, as I announced on Deviant Art, I’m planning to make Captain Ersatzes via HeroMachine 3 and posting them online. If you don’t know what a Captain Ersatz is (and you’re too lazy to click on the link to TV Tropes, lol), basically, they’re kind of knock-offs of previous existing characters and properties. And before you point out the general track record of these, lemme point out that BATMAN is technically one of these for Zorro. Plus, it’s not like I’m making money by posting these on Deviant Art. I’m just doing this for funsies.
So, why am I asking for feedback here? Well, specifically, I wanna know which characters you’d like me to make expies of. Also, since Green Defender is sort of Batman with powers, which members of his rogues gallery would you like me to make counterparts of, and just any other ideas, thoughts, suggestions, etc. you might have on the subject. Either way, let me know in the comments below, and be sure to check out my various HeroMachine 3 creations (knock-offs or otherwise) by clicking the link under the image below. Ja né!
What Have I Been Up To? Fanfics, Fanart, & More
So, if you’ve followed my blog for any lengthy amount of time, you’re probably wondering why there hasn’t been a lot of full articles as of late, and instead, I’ve mostly been posting vlogs of myself and N. Harmonik. Well, there’s a few reasons for that, but namely, I thought I’d address what I’ve been up to online in lieu of blogging. Because I haven’t just been sitting on my ass… … … …Well, okay, I guess technically I have, but I HAVE been doing stuff while on it.
My mother decided to make a cover for it. She made Mew’s eyes all sparkly, too. lol
First off, one thing I did recently was write a Pokémon fanfic for my niece. You’ll recall, she recently celebrated her 10th birthday, and I decided that, as a belated birthday gift, I would write a fanfic with characters loosely based off of her, me, N. Harmonik, and a few other people we know as the main characters. I even posted it on Fanfiction.net, so if you wanna check it out, I’ll leave a link just below this paragraph, so just click on it and it’ll send you on your way. Just know this: It’s a Pokémon Go-inspired fanfic (albeit very loosely) written for a 10-year-old, so while I wouldn’t call it my worst work (I’m very thankful that none of you have ever seen my worst work, lol), I wouldn’t necessarily call it my best work. In fact, I’m contemplating going back and doing a revision of it later on. For now, though, do me a solid, read the fic, and lemme know what you think of it.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12178992/1/The-Mew-Mechanation-A-Pok%C3%A9mon-Go-Story
I’ve also been playing around with JTmovie’s Superhero Creator 2.0 and making various DC Comics characters on it, which I’ve posted to Deviant Art as Devious Fun Adoptables. You can see them all by clicking on Superman…
…and you can also let me know if you would like me to try to make anyone specific.
http://jtmovie.deviantart.com/art/Superhero-Creator-2-0-MALE-Dress-up-Game-530676189
http://jtmovie.deviantart.com/art/Superhero-Creator-2-0-FEMALE-Dress-up-Game-530676227
And lastly, I’ve been working on writing a few different projects at once. And I know, I tend to get very bothered by leaving certain stories to work on something else. But now, I’ve just decided “screw it, I’ll write stuff in batches”. So I’ll write a lot of Guardians of Gaia, and then I’ll write a bunch of Primal Strife, and then I’ll do some other project, and then it’ll eventually come back around to GoG and continue on in a circle.
Anyway, that’s all I’ve really been up to online, but don’t worry, I AM planning to try to get back to blogging. In particular, I got my hands on Volume 2 of The Darkseid War, so expect the long-awaited review of The Darkseid War to come soon. Until then, check out the other stuff I’ve been up to and lemme know what you think of it. Ja né!
All-New Superhero Tales – Meet The Rebooted Heroes of Superhero Tales
So, remember a while back, I decided to make my own superhero stories on deviantArt? I eventually left it because I was dissatisfied with how it turned out, but didn’t wanna get rid of the original stories as I knew I could always look back on them as ways of improving on what went wrong as well as reusing what went right. Well, after a while, I decided to bring the stories back as the rebooted All-New Superhero Tales (and yes, I will admit that’s kind of a friendly nudge at Marvel’s All-New Marvel NOW! label) on FictionPress. There are several stories up already, one of which is in progress. Also, I decided to go with a system similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where the movies came out in phases, with each one ending with an Avengers movie. The same will be true of this, where to start off, there’s a series of stories that will highlight each of the individual heroes of this new universe that’ll culminate with The Hexagon. So, with that said, let’s talk about the rebooted heroes of All-New Superhero Tales. Don’t worry, I’ll try to keep spoilers for their stories as low as possible, but if you’d rather read their stories instead, click here. Also, if you wanna see more art made by the one who drew these, check out Emmybomber’s deviantArt page here. Otherwise, let’s start with…
Starslip
Yeah, remember when she was just Green Defender’s sidekick in the original stories? Not anymore! In the new ‘verse, Cassandra Linda Doyle discovered she could turn hard as steel while being bullied for her love of detective novels and her sexual orientation. Learning that she could change her mass to alter her body’s solidness, Cassie decided to use these powers to help the police combat the mob, taking up the name and costume of The Intangible Starslip, all while being aided by her superhero-loving girlfriend and tech support Olette, her retired detective father Kenneth, and an enthusiastic costume designer named Scotty. Starslip’s powers allow her and anything she’s in contact with to phase through solid matter, turn as hard as the strongest kinds of steel, and fly gracefully through the air. She also possesses adhesive gel throwing stars, made by her father and Scotty, for stopping her opponents in their tracks. Despite all this, she does have some weaknesses. She can’t turn intangible when her body is exposed to extreme cold, and the hotter it is, the harder it is for her to over-solidify. Also, certain tricks she can pull off with these abilities can cause her body to exhaust itself or cramp up in pain. Finally, while this power makes her able to avoid getting hurt in combat, it’s up to Starslip to recognize and respond to threats accordingly, so she can be caught off guard. Still, despite only being a superhero for a short time thus far and having to balance this life with her high school life, she’s already managed to break up mob riots and stop supervillains of varying degrees of power. In the end, Cassie’s greatest attributes are her never-say-die attitude, her developing detective skills, and her close bonds with her friends and family.
Outrun
Originally conceived by David Scanlan, AKA @MerryLandOfAus.
In the original stories on deviantArt, Outrun was a close friend to several other superheroes, until an accident where he was exposed to a supervillain’s superspeed caused him to also become a speedster. In the new rebooted universe, Australian-American scientist Stanley Davidson was trying to unlock the secrets to allowing a human being to travel at the speed of sound. Creating a suit powered by an experimental energy source called Velocitrom, Stanley opted to test the suit himself, and after a series of events, he eventually decided to use the suit to become Outrun, a supersonic superhero with a genius’ IQ level. The suit projects a bio-electric field that protects him and anyone in contact with him from the stresses of superspeed, allowing him to safely travel at speeds of up to Mach 3, though his actual full potential is currently unknown, and if he were to push himself too hard, the field could collapse and his body might literally shatter from the stresses. Also, while the field protects anything inside of it, Outrun must keep constant attention of what’s ahead of him, as he could collide with large objects or run down innocent bystanders. To help assist him in the field, he’s equipped the suit with a headset that comes with a GPS tracking system, can make video and audio calls, can hack and piggyback on radio signals, and has a number of different vision and scanning modes. However, Stanley’s greatest weakness may be his own naivety. While he does possess a genius level IQ, he can at times be seen as too trusting of other people, and sometimes just makes simple mistakes and oversights in judgement. And despite being faster than nearly all of his opponents, if they can predict his moves, it is possible for him to be tripped up. Despite this, Outrun keeps up an optimistic attitude, choosing to believe that humanity’s better side will always win out in the end, and will never stop running as long as he believes in that future.
Green Defender
The first superhero I ever created, Green Defender has gone through a number of changes as I tried to get him just right. In this current version of events, Geoffrey Hicks was a young man living in St. Jean, arguably the worst city in America, working with a scientist, Professor Randal, who was experimenting on an advanced form of electricity known as green voltage. However, tragedy struck when members of the mob came to the scientist’s lab, and an explosion left him dead. Geoff somehow survived the explosion, the green voltage instead having bonded to his nervous system. Finding himself the inheritor of Randal’s second lab, a secret underground bunker for testing the green voltage, Geoffrey took his survivor’s guilt and new powers and channeled them into a life of crime fighting, becoming the Green Defender. GD can use the green voltage focused through his gloves to power various gadgets and equipment kept in his belt, including a cutting laser, explosive throwing discs, a taser, and more. The voltage also increases his stamina, vitality, and reflexes to peak human capability. He also carries an extending steel staff, and a number of tranquilizing feather darts. His mask can also come with various customizable lens, which can grant him night vision, allow him to scan and track energy signatures, and more. The fabric of his cape also comes with shape-memory polymers, which when exposed to the green voltage, reshape the cape to resemble the wings of a bird and allow him to glide. Finally, he has the Emeraptor, a remodeled Honda Fireblade with a green voltage engine, able to reach speeds just about 200 mph. For all of his abilities and equipment, though, the Jade Thunderbird has more than his fair share of vulnerabilities. While he can will his electricity through his gloves, without them, a single touch of his hands could conceivably kill a person. Also, his ability to control the green voltage can waver when he’s angry or under duress, which is a problem due to Geoff’s ever-increasing laundry list of issues. Finally, attempting to use the green voltage when exposed to water can cause it to backfire on him with varying degrees of pain. However, even with these vulnerabilities in place, Green Defender has sworn to protect the innocent of St. Jean, and while he will kill if absolutely necessary, he would just as soon exhaust every other possible solution beforehand. To put it short, Geoffrey Hicks values ALL life, and will not take a life unless it is to protect and there are no other options to do so.
Strix
Originally conceived by Teagan Eschborn, AKA @DorkynProudofIt.
Much like in her previous stories, Strix is actually billionaire bisexual bachelorette Téa Rodden, who in turn is the reincarnation of the Glaucus, Athena’s pet owl. As she possesses a link to the goddess’ near-infinite wisdom and mastery of strategy, she was murdered by a god seeking to take those gifts for themselves. Instead, the Glaucus was brought back to life as a human being, keeping Athena’s gifts out of his reach. Growing up, Téa’s advanced mind landed her family a fortune, but also drew the attention of would-be terrorists looking to hold her ransom. Upon learning the truth of her origins and being granted the full of extent of the abilities given to her by Athena, Téa opted to use her family’s fortune to become Strix, the Athene Avenger, along with the help of her maid/agent/confidant, Marlene Wilson, and tech support and occasional superheroine in her own right, Stella Masters, AKA Cybertaur. In addition to her intelligence and wisdom, Strix gains enhanced strength and agility when exposed to light reflecting off the moon, though these gifts can run out over time, especially during the day. She also has God Vision, allowing her telescopic, microscopic, and x-ray vision, as well as the ability to tell if someone is telling the truth or lies just by keeping eye contact with them. Despite all of these abilities, though, at the end of the day, Strix is only human, and possesses the same weaknesses as one, meaning she is by no stretch of the imagination invulnerable. As such, she had Stella build a powerful suit of armour for her to help combat these weaknesses. It comes equipped with owl bombs, smoke pellets, cutting lasers, a fire and bulletproof cape, and a link to her base of operations, The Nest. On top of all of that, her suit also has jets hidden in the shoulder pads. In short, Strix might potentially be the greatest hero in the world of All-New Superhero Tales, with only one other possible contender.
Cybertaur
I’ve actually been told that Cybertaur is, and I quote, “the hypest shit ever”. XD Anyway, in the rebooted universe, Stella Masters is an African-American ex-marine, who in addition to serving in combat for her country has also gained a wealth of knowledge in cybernetics and computer hacking. Following the loss of her lower legs, she was tasked with constructing and testing a personal walker of soldiers without the use of their legs. The project was eventually cancelled, but Stella got to keep the prototype, which she managed to finish while working for Téa Rodden. As such, she would eventually decide to become Cybertaur, acting both as Strix’s tech support and occasional ally in the field. Cybertaur’s mechanized walking apparatus is linked to Stella’s mind, giving her complete control over it. It can gallop at speeds up to 75 mph, and contains a number of different weapons and gadgets inside it, including a blunt mace used for smacking opponents and breaking walls down. If necessary, though, she is a skilled marksman with a pistol, and is fully prepared to kill. As Cybertaur, she also wears a steel breastplate for protection, and the walker comes with a solid black visor that grants her a better view of the surrounding area. That said, she still has one major weakness: If anything ever goes wrong with her walker, she’ll be all but helpless, though she has more than enough skills to be just as helpful behind the front lines as she is on them. However, what’s worse is that she’s VERY aware of her handicap, and can at times be overly sensitive of it, or worse, will even charge into battle just to prove a point.
Zenith Woman
The Immigrant from the Outer Rim’s story has been slightly adjusted for All-New Superhero Tales. Once again, Zenith Woman is an Oondtryxian, a race of warrior women from a sector of space called the Outer Rim, who use a form of psychokinetic power to enhance their strength and speed to become a peacekeeping force. Born Vyxwyndul, which roughly translates as ‘she who can reach any zenith’, she was separated from her people following an evacuation of a planet that had fallen to the Rizlagon, lizard-like conquerors who have committed murders and other atrocities on a galactic scale. Winding up on Earth through unknown means, well over 200 years away from home, Vyx and her robotic companion, ZUUTS, decide to protect the world from interstellar threats, Vyx disguising herself both as a human named Vicky Wendel, and as the superheroine Zenith Woman. ZW can use her psychokinetic field to amplify her strength to where she can use an 18-wheeler as a flail, endure harsh blows and collisions that would ordinarily critically wound a person of her size and stature, increase her speed to where she can outrun nearly every sort of man-made land vehicle, fly at speeds reaching past Mach 5, and even survive the vacuum of space for up to 10 minutes. When lifting heavy objects, the field will surround them as well, keeping them from crumbling apart in her hands. While she is unable to forcefully read minds, she is able to send telepathic messages to people, usually in the form of telepathy or short images, and can sense thoughts and emotions that are dwelled on with enough force. Vyx also has heightened senses, particularly in that her sight and hearing have a much farther radius than humans. However, Zenith Woman’s most unique, and potentially most powerful, ability is her Vortex Breath, the ability to inhale a vast amount of air before releasing it with enough force to shatter the sound barrier. This does, unfortunately, come complete with a major flaw: After using her Vortex Breath, Vyx is left unable to use her other abilities for a certain period of time, depending on how much she took in. At maximum capacity, she will be left with the physical parameters of an average young woman for approximately one hour, meaning she has to be careful about when she uses it. Also, while her psychokinetic energy field is powerful, it is not invincible. It has limits, and certain enemies with high enough levels of super-strength can plough through it. Finally, just using her psychokinetic field requires concentration, and because the gravity on Earth is much greater than that of most planets on the Outer Rim, she can overtax herself much quicker than she’s used to. To combat this, her costume is weaved with kevlar to protect her, and her cape and gloves are made from titanium/flame-retardant polymers.
Anyway, there will be more than that, but these six will form the upcoming Hexagon. For those worried, don’t, the other two members that originally formed it will be introduced soon enough. Anyway, hope you all give it a read, and feel free to comment what you think of these heroes in the comment section below. Ja né!
What If DC Did An Inversion Like In The Upcoming Marvel AXIS?
So, in the upcoming Marvel event, AXIS, there’s going to be what’s being referred to as an Inversion. Basically, several good guys will become bad guys and vice versa. Now, the idea is actually not a bad one. In fact, it’s actually a rather neat idea, provided it’s executed well. One of these changes is the teased Superior Iron Man (don’t worry, no Doc Ock possession this time), wherein Tony Stark is reverted to his pre-Iron Man persona, but has all of the tech and resources of the present day one, thus making him a far more ethically darkened individual, if not just plain evil. On the flip side, I’ve heard rumours of villains like Hobgoblin and even Carnage of all people being turned to good, which would be an interesting scenario, or at least it is in theory. We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out, and if these changes will last for very long. Personally, I’m not necessarily against them turning Iron Man evil, but I kinda hope that they either make it temporary or split his good side from his bad side, which would also leave us with a Tony Stark that would NOT make clones of Thor or have Captain America mind-wiped.
Regardless of how Marvel pulls this off, though, I can’t help but wonder something: What if DC ever did something similar? An event, series of events, or just an Elseworlds story where several key players on the good and bad sides changed alignments, some temporarily, others permanently. Now, this isn’t me saying that DC SHOULD do this. As I’ve alluded to before, both DC and Marvel have been caught copying off each other’s notes in class a few too many times, if you get my drift. I’m just saying that if they DID ever choose to do this, these would be the people I would be most interested in seeing them do an Inversion with. You are, of course, free to disagree, and open to leave your own suggestions as to who you’d like to see get changed, or if anyone should be.
#1 – Bruce Wayne
Admittedly, this one probably works best as an Elseworlds story, but it’s still an intriguing idea: What if Bruce Wayne just snapped and turned evil? And I don’t mean that he was always evil, I mean Bruce Wayne as we know him now just turning. It’s an idea for a story that, to the best of my knowledge, DC hasn’t really done. Hell, a lot of times, it’s Superman who turns to evil and Batman who has to stop him. Can I simply ask why that is? You’d think that someone as paranoid, living on the edge, and constantly in the darkness as Batman would be the MOST likely member of the Justice League to turn evil. And, let’s be honest, he’s probably the one you should be the most thankful doesn’t. He knows the weaknesses of every member of the Justice League, and while they would likely pull punches against him in a fight because of their history, if he actually wanted to kill them, they would be in serious trouble. Add onto that his wealth, influence, skills, and equipment, and an evil Bruce Wayne could very well turn out to be the greatest villain of all. Plus, with him as a villain, it would add all kinds of additional scenarios, like what his enemies would think, would they side with him or against him, would his allies stand up to him or fall in line, and would he still be Batman or would that title get passed on to Dick Grayson or the like?
#2 – Poison Ivy
Poison Ivy has been more or less tip-toeing across the line between good and evil for a while now, but what if she actually went all the way good? What if she was cured of her mental ailments, granted the full control of her body without being a harm to herself or anyone around her, and was able to use her powers as a force for good without any forms of misguidance? Honestly, I think she would make Justice League in no time flat. And frankly, just the mere idea of Pam being on friendly terms with Diana and the kinds of conversations they could have are just AMAZING to the feminist in me. ^_^
#3 – Cyborg
Before anyone mentions it, I will say that we kinda have an idea of what this would be like from Forever Evil, wherein Cyborg’s robotic parts were infected and split apart from him to become Grid, who possessed all the same access to technology as Cyborg does. Also, in JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative, we see Cyborg becoming Cyberion and more or less inadvertently almost causing the end of the world. However, what if it wasn’t just the machine that turned evil, but the man as well? What if Vic decided to use his tech for selfish gain, and tried to take over the world through hacking everything with a computer chip in it, all for his own benefit? As we’ve seen various times in various medias, it’s a lot easier to overcome the human or the machine half of Cyborg on their own. Both at the same time, though? Near impossible.
#4 – The Joker
This one would pretty much have to go alongside #1 to be at its most effective. Basically, Batman turns evil, and Joker, upon learning that this has happened, that Bruce Wayne is Batman, that the moment he’s worked so hard for, to make Batman finally snap and become a criminal like him, has the following reaction: “I need to fix this, NOW!” He wouldn’t necessarily be all the way good right away, but as he fought to try to put things as they should be, he starts to take notice of all the things he’s done through the actions of Bruce Wayne, and finally feels regret for them. Now of course, a story like this could only conclude with either the two reverting back to how they’ve always been, or one or both of them tragically dying. Still, it’s everything in between the two, how it gets from point A to point B, that matters most. Would he call upon allies like Harley to assist him, or would he actually try to seek the Justice League’s assistance to stop Bruce? What does a mind like The Joker’s do when his intent isn’t madness, death, and chaos, but to try to put things right again?
#5 – Starfire
Y’know, other than temporary brainwashing, Flashpoint, or her turning into an anti-hero in the New 52 (which actually isn’t all that different from brainwashing, now that I think about it), I don’t know that we’ve ever seen Starfire turn evil. We’ve seen her do morally ambiguous things, but to the best of my knowledge, never outright evil. And let’s be honest: Her power levels, while not necessarily at the level of, say, Superman, are high enough that she’d do some SEVERE damage if she turned heel. However, more-so than any other reason I could come up with, I have another reason for wanting to see what would happen if she turned evil: Science…………..Hear me out. There’s a theory that Linkara came up with a while ago, and I’m almost certain he was joking when he came up with it, but it stands to reason that when superheroines turn to evil, their body temperature rises, hence why when most heroines turn evil, they wear less clothes. Now, if you’re a male superhero, the reverse happens, and you wind up wearing more, darker clothes. However, this brings me to Starfire, who barely wears what I would consider clothes to begin with. Would her turning evil have an opposite effect on her, to where she would wear ACTUAL clothes, or would she just run around naked? Comic writers, artists, and deviantArtists, YOU DECIDE! LOL
…Oh, yeah, and if her body temperature increased, and she gets her powers from the sun, would that actually make her even stronger?…Yeah, that’s a much less insulting reason to wanna see this. XP
#6 – Darkseid
Don’t look at me like that! I’m serious! What if Darkseid, one of the biggest bads of the DC Universe, was suddenly and legitimately turned to good? If some otherworldly force suddenly changed his alignment to good? Would he still rule Apokolips? Would they even accept him as their leader, or continue with their ways? Would he try to return to New Genesis? What would he do with his ability to enter any of the alternate realities of the Multiverse in a quest for good? How would relations with the Justice League change? Now, of course, a change like this could only ever really be temporary, be in an Elseworlds story, or end with him either becoming depowered, killed, or replaced by some other, more evil force, perhaps the Anti-Monitor. Why? Because while I prefer to see stories where the heroes emerge triumphant, evil should probably still have a chance to win at least. And let’s be honest, could any force of evil truly continue to be an imposing force in the face of such power when used for good?…Well, perhaps there is one…
#7 – Batgirl/Oracle
If you don’t get why this is absolutely horrifying, you clearly didn’t read Birds of Prey. To be blunt, Barbara Gordon is the world’s most talented computer hacker bar none, with the multitasking ability to coördinate all of the world’s greatest heroes, a keen detective’s deduction skills, is one of Batman’s most trusted allies, and has the ability to be a physical threat even when she was confined to a wheelchair. Now imagine those skills being used for evil. Basically, someone able to coördinate the worst villains in the world, hack Batman and the Justice League’s databanks, and has access to their names and weaknesses. Starting to get it now? Yeah. Now be glad she never does turn to evil, or the world of DC heroes would crumble and fall.
#8 – Bleez
Before I start, I’d just like to note how hard it was to decide what the most decent photo of Bleez prior to her becoming a Red Lantern was. Was crazy. Anyway, back to point, what if Bleez was healed of all the physical, mental, and emotional scars that the Sinestro Corps inflicted on her, and could finally move on from her anger? What would she do with her life then? Would she try to be a heroine? And if so, would she join one of the other Lantern Corps, or just act on her own with her own abilities? Perhaps she would join the Birds of Prey, utilizing her gift of flight to help cover them from the sky. Hell, either way, it would just be nice to see her in a position where she can finally live her life free of rage.
#9 – Booster Gold
Finally, let’s tackle a long-standing argument in comics: Is Booster Gold really a hero, or is he just in it for the money? In my opinion, and I think in the opinion of anyone who has really paid attention to the character, while he DOES like the attention, he still legitimately means well and wants to be a hero. But what if he wasn’t? What if, instead of trying to be a hero in the past, he was using knowledge of the future to pull off the perfect crimes, and possibly even using future tech to try and take over the planet? And, more importantly, could anyone stop him with such advantages?
Anyway, that’s all for now. What do you all think? Let me know in the comments section below who you’d like to see have their alignment inverted, either as a short-term, long-term, or Elseworlds story.
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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Tales of Dumbassery – No Wedding For Batwoman
Well, it’s that time again, folks, and this one hits pretty close to the chest for me. So, let’s once again open up…
Hey, remember the February 20th edition of What I Bought Today when I mentioned Batwoman proposing to Maggie Sawyer?… … …Nevermind, here’s my reaction…
“So that’s it for what I bought today, but there’s one other thing I thought I’d report, and that’s what happened in Batwoman #17…
“SQUEEE, a wedding!!!… … …*ahem* Anyway, that’s all from me.“
…Yeah, I squeed! What can I say? I’m a sucker for finding out people are getting married and being happy, especially in cases like superheroes that go through who knows how much angst and sadness in their lives. This was a positive note for Batwoman, and it’s what got me to keep a closer eye on what was going on.
So, what do I see on Twitter when I got up at an admittedly absurd time today? Lewis Lovhaug getting into an angry rant on Twitter because JH Williams III and Haden Blackman are leaving Batwoman, ending with Issue 26, because DC editorial decided at the last minute that there was not gonna be a wedding…At this point, I would normally have to warn that an angry rant was coming up, but honestly, I feel more sad and confused than angry, and most of what I could rant about, Linkara already covered. Instead, let’s dig out the brainy specs and cover a few points about why this decision by DC makes no sense.
First off, I should point out that DC has recently tweeted that their decision to not do the wedding had nothing to do with Batwoman’s sexual orientation…and in doing so, it’s thoroughly clear that they miss the point entirely as to why people are pissed off about this. I’m not saying that no one is accusing them of being homophobic or whatever, only that if there is anyone doing that, they’re wrong. If DC had a problem with Batwoman being gay, she never would’ve been gay in the first place. And guess what, people? The modern Batwoman has been gay since her first appearance in June 2006. On top of that, if they were ever gonna undo that, wouldn’t they have done it in The New 52? Plus, we’ve seen women get married in DC Comics before. Hell, Secret Six actually had THREE women get into a polygamous marriage… … …Long story. lol
So no, sorry to disappoint anybody, but DC did not do this because Batwoman’s a lesbian. No, the issue is actually much WORSE than that: DC doesn’t want their superheroes married. Period. The only heroes I can think of that are married right now are Aquaman and Animal Man, and even they have their families royally screwed around with on numerous occasions. Why is that? I DON’T KNOW! I don’t think anyone knows! The closest theory I can come to is the same as why Marvel Comics broke up the marriage of Spider-man and Mary Jane: They didn’t think Spider-man could still be an effective superhero while being tied down by anyone, and they didn’t want the reality of Peter Parker married to someone infecting the escapist fiction of him swinging around a city and fighting bad guys.
And if that’s the case, I have to ask DC to do us all a favour: STOP. MIMICKING. MARVEL. Stop doing things just because Marvel did them. They may put out great stories, but they’ve also put out their fair share of horrible stories too, and One More Day was one of ’em. You keep trying this, to mimic what Marvel does in an attempt to win some kinda war with them, instead of focusing on what’s wrong with your own product and trying to fix it. This is not helping your standings, DC, it’s HURTING it. And while Batwoman being gay may not have anything to do with why you decided against the marriage, it should’ve been a HUGE part of the reason to let it go through. You’ve actually won awards from organizations like the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for Batwoman. You would’ve benefited so much from this, especially given the fact that gay marriage is now legal in a crap-ton of countries, and a recent poll showed most of America was in favour of it too.
But hey, let’s play devil’s advocate for a moment and suggest that there was some reason beyond utter stupidity for undoing the plan to marry Batwoman and Maggie Sawyer. I dunno, maybe they’re planning to have her get together with someone else, or maybe Renee Montoya will finally come back and it’ll become a love triangle of some sort. Well, if that’s the case, then I have a question, and it’s one I actually posed to them on Twitter: If you were against the idea of the marriage to begin with, why would you clear it at all? Like, you realise this issue wouldn’t even exist if they were never engaged to begin with. You could just say they were living together. You could’ve worked something out with Williams and Blackman when it was first suggested, and say “We’re not sure we’re completely comfortable with the idea, but we really like your creativity on this book, so let’s see if maybe there’s something we can brainstorm together that we can all agree on”. This isn’t a hard thing to do.
So, now the question becomes, who is gonna be writing Batwoman starting with Issue 27? Frankly ,there’s only one person working for DC now that I can honestly see taking the reigns of this book with Williams and Blackman gone, and unless a miracle happens, she’s not getting it. And the sad thing is, no matter who it is, they’re pretty much screwed. Snyder, Johns, Rucka, Nocenti, could any of them do anything with this character that could possibly get fans interested in their run with the book? I honestly can’t think of anything. Plus, there’s the whole situation of Batwoman vs Batman and Batwoman being forced to work for the D.E.O. that I honestly feel hold the book down a bit, and I shudder to think that with Maggie gone (‘cuz let’s face it folks, that will probably be the end result, is Maggie either leaving Kate or getting killed somehow) that that’ll be the primary focus.
I honestly do not know where this series goes from here, other than what I just stated. And to be blunt, at this point, with people being as upset as they are over this, if I was running DC, I’d do ANYTHING to try and get Williams and Blackman back. Let them do the marriage. Let them do ANYTHING, if it meant putting the kibosh on the current outcry of pissed-off fans and trying to save this book. ‘Cuz if you think your readers’ input doesn’t matter, I wonder how much you think their money does.
Anyway, that’s my general take on the situation. Vote below if you think this was a good idea, leave comments, whatever. Hopefully, the next Tale of Dumbassery will be less painful than this for me. Ja né.
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The Hexagon – Vote Who Gets In!
So people following me on deviantART might know I have this little series of stories I call Superhero Tales. It started with Green Defender, the tale of a superhuman trained to become a hero who now returns to his corrupted home-town in the wake of tragedy to try to overcome crime and his inner demons. From that spun the story of Starslip, a teenage super-heroine being trained by Green Defender who has to fight the escalating crime in their town while also trying to deal with high school drama at its finest. And now we have The Hexagon, wherein Green Defender’s former mentor, a super-heroine named Strix is organizing a group of superheroes who will provide aid and information to each other in their individual efforts to fight crime and the various forces of evil. In other words, my fictional world‘s Justice League or Avengers type of deal.
Now for the past few months in my stories, I’ve been slowly building up to the point where the team will be assembled. However, at some point, I ran into a problem: I had created so many superheroes with their own unique powers and characteristics that I couldn’t decide on a finalised team for The Hexagon. So I thought I would introduce the characters throughout Green Defender, Starslip, and the first few chapters of The Hexagon, give some insight on their abilities and personalities, then ultimately leave it up to a vote. And that’s exactly what I’ve done.
Now, before I list the characters to vote for, allow me to give very brief descriptions of the cast already in The Hexagon, as well as show the character concepts I created for each on Hero Machine 3.0…
Strix
Created for my girlfriend Teagan, who also came up with the name, Téa Rodden is a billionaire bachelorette. However, don’t think her just a female Batman. While Strix DOES carry a vast array of owl-themed gadgets on her, she also has the power to fly at supersonic speeds and, when exposed to moonlight, gains superhuman strength. She also has enhanced senses, has studied many forms of martial arts, and possesses a vast wisdom and high intelligence. The origins of her powers are a secret she keeps from everyone, including her team-mates. Only her butler, Myron, and her agent, Maylene, know the truth of her origins.
Outrun
Again, Outrun was created for a friend, in this case my good buddy David. Stanley Davidson was originally a classmate and friend of the League of High School Superheroes, but one day a group of criminals able to combine into a burst of light moving at hyperspeed came looking for the teenaged superheroes and came crashing through Stan as he was helping them hide. Instead of killing him, though, this incident gave him their powers, thus creating Outrun, the speedster of the group. Since becoming an adult, he is now one of the founding members of The Hexagon. Stan usually keeps a number of helpful gadgets in his belt, such as a GPS tracker, tracers, plastique, and a multi-part collapsible rifle for firing his plastique and tracers from a long distance. I should note for the record that Outrun will be getting a redesign very soon, with will replace a lot of the grey with yellow, and include a visor over his eyes.
Green Defender
After a lab experiment that claimed the life of his high school science teacher, Geoffrey Hicks was infused with green voltage, a powerful self-replenishing electrical force that is channelled through the hands. Taken in by the League of High School Superheroes, he was taught how to use this power to defend the innocent, and thus the Green Defender was born. Wearing specialized gloves that keeps him from zapping anything he touches, he can also manipulate the green voltage in the form of electrical bursts and, most recently, energy shields. He also keeps a number of gadgets in his belt, like tranquillizer darts, explosive throwing discs, green voltage-powered stun batons, and a grappling gun. He rides his personalised ‘Emeraptor’ motorcycle, and while his cape was originally bullet-proof, the energy shields have made this function pointless, and he’s since upgraded to a para-cape for gliding, which will début soon in his solo stories.
Jack’d
Like something that leaped from a Tim Burton movie, Jack’d, once known simply as Jack, was chosen to be his town’s guardian during an incident where alternate reality zombie versions of the town’s populace started to leak through one by one. As such, he was infused with chaos magic that allows him to harness the power of the elements, at the cost of permanently scorching his entire body. This incident, as well as his constant struggle against the undead, has had a detrimental effect on his mind, but he still remains a good person who fights to protect the innocent. Jack’d has the power to manipulate the forces of fire, electricity, and wind, and can teleport to any location with a shadow over it. His personal weapon is a flail with three spiked balls chained to it, and he also has a bag of tricks that he uses in conjunction with his chaos magic.
There’s also another character that will début last as the sixth member of The Hexagon. Without giving too much away, her name is Zenith Woman (not the watches, leave me alone, lol), and she’ll be the true powerhouse of the team. In the meantime, here are the three I’ve lined up to become the fifth member of The Hexagon. I should note that I have plans for all three in case any of them don’t make it into the team, so don’t feel like you won’t be seeing any of the ones you don’t vote for ever again.
Bard
Created for N. Harmonik, Robina Huang was once just an innocent and kind girl of mixed heritage until she encountered a hero called The Bard, who wielded a magic music case that gave him the power to create any musical instrument he wanted, each armed with its own unique power. After The Bard was gunned down by the mob while protecting her, the case was mystically passed down to Robina as she became the new Bard. She is currently a member of the League of High School Superheroes, though she’s in her last year of high school and will be going on her own afterwards.
Maple
Trained at a young age to be a ninja, Nicole Steele decided to use her craft as a super-heroine. Donning a costume representative of her Canadian heritage, she has become Maple, a ninja so skilled in making herself unseen that even her red and white outfit doesn’t give her away much. Like Bard, she is a member of the League of High School Superheroes about to graduate. Unlike Bard, she is suspicious of the group’s leader and founder, though it seems these concerns are justified. In combat, Maple makes efficient use of her four-foot katana, smoke bombs, and shurikens.
Cybertaur
A good friend and ally of Strix’s, Stella Masters was once known as Brickwall, a super-heroine born with inhuman physical strength and, over the years, acquired an advanced knowledge of cybernetics. However, after an accident cost her the use of her legs, Stella created a horse-like walking apparatus linked to her mind, thus rebranding herself as Cybertaur. Stella generally wields a mace as her weapon of choice, and as Cybertaur, she can gallop at the speed of a cheetah.
So yeah, regardless of who is voted in, the team will have 3 men and 3 women. And yes, I did plan that specifically. I just prefer teams with an even number of members to have a good balance as far as gender goes, as well as a variety of colours (Zenith Woman’s colour scheme will be predominantly red, white, and blue). You can vote below in the comments, in the comments section for The Hexagon #4, or in a poll that I’ll be posting in my fan page on Facebook. Either way, PLEASE vote and/or comment on my work, and we’ll see who gets on the team soon. Ja né!
Jyger's Rant 