Marvelous May Semi-Finals – Ms. Marvel vs Gamora

Welcome back to Marvelous May! Well, here we are, the second of the semi-final match-ups: It’s Kamala Khan, AKA Ms. Marvel, vs Gamora!

And, with that, the final four of Marvelous May are made official. Two of these incredible superheroines will move on to the finals, and one will become the champion of the Marvelous May fan-vote tournament. So, feel free to vote on this match-up, and if you haven’t already, go vote on She-Hulk vs Jane Foster. Then, be sure to check back in on May 23rd to see who the Marvelous May finalists are. Ja né!

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Jennifer_Walters_(Earth-616)

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Jane_Foster_(Earth-616)

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Kamala_Khan_(Earth-616)

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Gamora_Zen_Whoberi_Ben_Titan_(Earth-7528)

Marvelous May One Week Reminder

Just letting everyone know, we’re one week away from the official announcement of the full list of competitors in Jyger’s Rant’s first-ever Marvelous May fan-vote tournament of Marvel superheroines. You still have one week to leave a comment and let me know who you’d like to see in this tournament, as there are currently 8 spots unconfirmed. For those who didn’t see on my 5th Anniversary post, here’re the 8 confirmed competitors thus far, or the Initial 8 if you will…

Spider-Gwen, Jean Grey, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, Jane Foster, Ms. Marvel, Storm, and Squirrel Girl

…and, just for reference, here’s a quick look at just SOME of the heroines you could see in this tournament.

Is your favourite not present? Well vote for them, then! XD

Lastly, here’s the actual tournament bracket, or at least how it looks for now.

The eight individuals that will be voted into the tournament will take up the empty spots. So, if you wanna see someone in this tournament, please let me know in the comments below, on Twitter, or on Facebook by April 26th, after which, I’ll be posting the full tournament bracket on April 27th, and then opening voting for the first match-ups on May 1st. See you all then!

Jyger’s Rant 5th Anniversary + 8 Confirmed Heroines For Marvelous May

So, I’d just finished typing up the parody lyrics to Talk Dirty, when all of a sudden, I get a notice from WordPress that IT’S MY FIFTH YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

On this day, five years ago, I felt the need to rant about some random crap to an audience. Thus, Jyger’s Rant was born, my very own blog where, for the past five years, I’ve pretty much rambled on about whatever strikes me at any given time. Comics, anime, Pokémon, wrestling, Power Rangers, Dungeons & Dragons, and just random stuff from my personal life. And on this, one of the most important days in the history of said blog… … …I have nothing planned! XD Yeah, for those that don’t have blogs and are considering getting them, just know that this happens. I just had so much planned for other occasions that this kinda slipped my mind. However, having said that, there IS something I’m planning for next month that I can give some info on: Marvelous May.

As you’ll recall, last year for the month of May, I did all articles based mostly around Marvel Comics, the movies and TV shows based off of them, and so on. This year, though, I’m doing something a little different. Namely, I’m going to be doing a fan-vote tournament between different Marvel superheroines. Ultimately, I’ve decided to go with 16 combatants for this tournament of female Marvel heroes, and based on reactions I got the last time I brought this up, I’ve got a good idea of who to put in this tournament. For now, though, here are the first 8 opponents I want to announce. They are…

Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel

Ororo Munroe, AKA Storm

Doreen Green, AKA Squirrel Girl

Gwen Stacy, AKA Spider-Woman

Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk

Jean Grey, AKA Marvel Girl

Jane Foster, AKA Thor

And, last but not least, the most requested entrant into this tournament…

Kamala Khan, AKA Ms. Marvel

The remaining entrants of the tournament will be announced on April 27th, so if there’s someone you want to see in this tournament that hasn’t been announced yet, you need to let me know either in the comments below, on Facebook, or on Twitter by April 26th. That’s the absolute latest I’ll be taking votes. Until then, I hope everyone will have a Marvelous May next month. EXCELSIOR! 😀

Plans For Next Marvelous May (Please Give Input)

So, I know it’s super early, but I’ve been doing some thinking, and I think that, next May, I wanna do another Marvelous May. However, because there’s likely gonna be significantly less to talk about than there was this year, because we had Age of Ultron come out, Secret Wars was getting started, and the All-New, All-Different Marvel was on the horizon, I’ve got an idea of something alternative that I can do: A fan vote-based tournament of Marvel superheroines. We’d have actual brackets with superheroines facing each other, with the winners being determined by fan vote, until we’re finally down to the last one, and she will be our Marvelous May Superheroine of 2016.

Now, because there’re so many, and the month of May has 31 days, that means there should probably only be 16 women in the tournament. That way, there’d be a total of 15 match-ups, which I could stretch out through the month of May and hopefully have a winner decided by the 31st. However, therein lies a problem: Out of all of the Marvel superheroines, how do I decide the 16 that should enter this tournament?

So, I figured, if I’m gonna do this, then I should get a start on it early, at least in terms of deciding who all is in. With that said, I think I’m gonna need some help. As such, it falls to you, my fans, to help me decide who will be in this tournament. And, if you need help choosing, here are just a few marvelous heroines that you can decide from:

Have fun, and see you in May. ^_^ 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!

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!

Jyger’s Favourite 5 – 5 Favourite Scenes From Superhero Tales (WARNING – SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTING AHEAD)

Well, I WAS gonna save this for the 1 Year Anniversary of my own little brand of superheroes, but I got impatient, so I decided to go ahead with this now and do something different for the 1 Year Anniversary. If you haven’t been reading, Superhero Tales is a series of stories on DeviantArt for my own original superheroes and superheroines, from their perspectives as they go about their lives. There are characters like the Green Defender, a man who is infused with an advanced form of electricity called green voltage, Starslip, a teenage girl who can alter her molecular structure to turn intangible or harder than steel (and recently phased out of her closet), Zenith Woman, a stranded alien from a race of warrior women who protect the universe, and a group of heroes called The Hexagon, which teams Green Defender and Zenith Woman with four of the greatest superheroes in the world.

Green Defender, The Bard, Jack’d, Zenith Woman, Strix, and Outrun

Now, since I like to keep a good sense of humour in the midst of an often-times tragic and scary world, naturally I tend to do so in my writing, and Superhero Tales is no different. And while I get that it can be somewhat egotistical to spend time laughing at my own shtick, sometimes I just write out something so ridiculous that I can’t help myself. Plus, let’s be honest, I’m no stranger to self-promoting, so why not here? So, with all that said, let’s take a look at five of my favourite scenes from my stories, and just so you know, SPOILERS for anyone who hasn’t been reading much of what has happened as of late.

#1 – Jack’s Prayer from The Hexagon #10

Jack’d is kind of an enigma. You never know exactly what he’s going to say or do in situations, he has powers that cannot be logically explained, and he has an irrational fear of monsters from outer space, which is odd for a guy who fights zombies on a regular basis. So, in this scene from The Hexagon #10, as they were fighting alien plant monsters called Botanical Aberrations while speeding around a city in a buggy, THIS was his reaction, as witnessed by The Bard from the back-seat.

“Dear Lord, I am aware of the fact that my powers are likely satanic in some way, shape, or form,” I hear Jack’d pray in the shotgun seat while hurling flash paper fireballs at the worms. “But if you could do me a favour and spare my life, I would be VERY much appreciative!”

There’s just something hilarious to me about a horrific-looking chaos mage praying to God in situations like this. Kinda dark, I guess, but funny nonetheless.

#2 – The AT4W References from Green Defender #4

Say, have I mentioned that I kinda like the show Atop The Fourth Wall? Okay, okay, put the weapons down! Yes, I’ve paid homage to my reviewer role-model, Linkara, and his comic book review show on a number of occasions…and naturally, in a series about superheroes, how could I possibly resist making a reference to him in Green Defender #4? Now, there were actually two in this particular chapter, but this one is my favourite.

It’s been two nights since the Greene murder as I weave between cars on the Emeraptor. The streets have been somewhat quiet, save for a break-in at a corner store and one moron who actually tried to pose as an internet celebrity and get free comic books for his ‘status’. I wouldn’t have even needed to get involved, but I was in the area, and the man was claiming to be armed. Not so much.

And for the record, I have yet to explain where that man purchased his not-so-magic gun. I’m saving that for a DVD exclusive. 😉

#3 – The Bard’s Disliking of Truth or Dare from Starslip #6

Okay, this one might not actually make a ton of sense as to why I find it particularly funny, but just bear with me as we look at this scenario play out before Starslip.

“Well actually, since we got more than two people…” Olette says with an almost evil smirk, pulling out an empty bottle.

“Oh no, NOT Truth or Dare!” Bard cries desperately.

“Oh, come now,” Maple replies, “it should be fun.”

“EVERYTIME I have EVER played Truth or Dare with you, you have dared me to do increasingly embarrassing acts,” Bard accuses. “First it was the hair dye, then it was wearing that horribly extravagant dress, then it was singing Never Gonna Give You Up at that bar when the people there were just BEGGING for an excuse for a fight to break out.”

“We escaped, didn’t we?” Maple reasons as both myself and Olette are ready to die laughing.

Now here’s the reason why: The Bard is actually based heavily off of N. Harmonik, who is also my spellchecker, and I know for a fact that she doesn’t like Truth or Dare fanfics. So yeah, that was actually meant to be a friendly joke directed at her…Also, at some point, I NEEDED to include a Rick Astley reference. It’s like a law.

#4 – The Flirt from Zenith Woman #2

…Y’know what, let’s just let the scene speak for itself, as a rather muscular-looking man hits on Zenith Woman while she’s in civilian disguise and going shopping with The Bard.

“Well, think your friend would mind if we went for a stroll?” the man suggests, and it’s at this point I notice his gaze is quite a bit lower than my face. “Maybe go for a bite to eat?”

“…Oh!” I say as I realise his intent. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe we should be mating at all.”

The man blinks, looking flustered. “Wha-…wai-“

“It’s just, that sort of thing should only be done between two who share a strong bond,” I go on. “Also, while your muscles are a bit bulkier-looking than mine, I’m almost certain that, should we attempt to mate, I would likely break you, and I’m afraid I wouldn’t want that on my conscience.”

The man just looks at me oddly, stepping away slowly. “…A-Alright then…I’ll see you ’round…”

I watch as he leaves, confused, until I hear an odd sound coming from behind me. Turning, I see Robina standing a couple of feet away, and she appears to be trying to keep from laughing.

“…What?” I ask, befuddled.

“…Vyx, you have NO idea how awesome that was,” Robina says, tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she keeps from laughing harder.

There’s just something inherently funny to me about an alien girl interacting with dumbass human men. When you see it happening, you know it won’t end well and you likely know the punch-line to come, but you can’t look away! XD

#5 – The Defender Signal Suggestion from Green Defender #17

I’ve made it pretty clear in the past that Batman is my favourite superhero. As such, much of Green Defender was inspired by Batman. And if you’re wondering, here’s who else inspired him…

However, while I try not to make GD TOO much like Batman, there are some moments where I just can’t help but make tongue-and-cheek references to him, as seen here when he’s meeting Detective Catherine Summers on a rooftop.

I land softly on the roof. I’m about a minute late, but I felt the need to scope out the area to make sure this wasn’t a trap. Standing in the shadows of the roof entrance is Detective Summers, having a cigarette as she waits for me.

“Y’know those are bad for you,” I note as I walk over.

“I hear the same thing about having mass voltage running through your body, but you seem okay,” the Detective replies. “Besides, it’s an e-cigarette. I’m trying to quit.”

“Also, there are better ways to contact people than to stash cellphones in their pockets,” I go on.

“Well, what would you prefer, a giant spotlight with your symbol on it or something?” Summers inquires.

Thinking for a moment, I just shrug. “…Eh, too egotistical…”

And that’s my 5 Favourite Scenes From Superhero Tales. I hope you enjoyed this blatant attention-whoring, and by all means, leave a comment below what you thought, and if you like these, by all means check out Superhero Tales. 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!

What If The Justice League Was Composed Of Only Women?

Continuing my look at all my favourite women of various medias that I’ve been doing as of late (don’t ask me why, I have no idea), I was going to pick my favourite DC women, but then I thought to myself “No. Do something different for this one.” So instead, I’ve decided to look at a What If scenario, like what if all the men of the Justice League were kidnapped or something and it was up to Wonder Woman to assemble an all woman Justice League to rescue them?

Now, keep in mind that I’m not taking continuity and whatnot into account, so villains are actually up for grabs here. Also, trying to keep this a balanced team both in powers and also colour-scheme, because I believe a team should have varying colours, unlike the current Teen Titans which is mostly red. So, skipping past Wonder Woman since she’s already kind of an obvious pick…

Diana of Themyscira, AKA Wonder Woman

…here are the women I think I’d like to see in this scenario.

Mera

The Queen of Atlantis and controller of all water, how could you not include Mera? Now for those unfamiliar with Mera who might be asking how that’s intimidating, I want you to think about something: 50-65% of the average adult human body is made up of water. Mera can literally set your insides against you if she chooses. In other words, NEVER PISS HER OFF.

Kara Zor-L, AKA Power Girl

Obviously ignoring CERTAIN continuities here. It’s kind of hard to deny Power Girl‘s place on a Justice League that lacks Superman since she has all the same strengths and weaknesses as the Man of Steel. Plus, she has certain…erm, features that tend to distract people, which just makes it all the easier for her to punch a sucker out. Obviously, Kryptonite and magical attacks would be a problem for her, but she’s usually smart enough to avoid those anyway.

Pamela Isley, AKA Poison Ivy

Yeah, like you didn’t see THIS coming. lol For realsies, though, Poison Ivy’s control over all plant-life would be useful depending on the situation, as is her ability to “influence” people to do as she asks. The only problem is that…well, you’d wanna keep a close eye on her is all. I know I’m ignoring continuity, but I’ve never known a version of Pamela Isley that wasn’t at least a little troublesome and hard to trust.

Mary, AKA Strix

A former Talon of the Court of Owls, I like to think of Mary as being the writers’ way of being allowed to write Cassandra Cain without actually writing Cassandra Cain. As an ex-assassin, she’s perfectly capable of sneaking into complexes and quietly disabling guards, and considering that she has a compound in her blood that makes her immortal, her only weakness is to the cold. Otherwise, you cannot stop her. Ever.

Jesse Chambers, AKA Jesse Quick

Armed with the strength of her mother, Liberty Belle, and the ability to tap into the Speed Force, Jessie Quick seems like a natural pick for this group. So not only can she move like The Flash, but she can do so while carrying a bus-load of people. And hey, considering the amount of times fights break out in heavily populated cities, it’s good to have someone around like that who can do stuff like that.

Kendra Saunders, AKA Hawkgirl

Yeah, kinda biased here as I was a big fan of the Justice League cartoon. To be fair, though, she’s a very capable fighter, a graceful flyer, and of course, that mace of hers is probably tough enough to knock Superman around! If that doesn’t qualify her, I don’t know what does! o.O

Rachel Roth, AKA Raven

Say it with me now: “Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!” Raven is telekinetic, empathic, has limited precognition, some forms of sorcery, and can control and manipulate the shadows and anything within them. The only thing you wanna watch out for is that her empathic powers can come back to bite her on occasion, and she also has this little tendency to turn evil every so often since her Dad likes to mess with her head.

Katherine Kane, AKA Batwoman

Again, if you’re forming a team to save the men of the Justice League, who better to go save Batman than Batwoman? She’s a skilled martial artist and detective, has a vast knowledge of military protocol, and has the finances to build various gadgetry like Batarangs, a grappling hook, bladed gauntlets, and a glider-cape.

Barbara Gordon, AKA Oracle

And of course, since every team needs a little back-up in case of emergencies, who better to have their back than Oracle? Her computer hacking skills are freaking legendary, thus making her the digital eyes and ears of the Justice League.

And those are my picks for if the Justice League was made up of only women. Have a different line-up, by all means, post it below, and I will see y’all later. Ja né!