The Prime Problem: Rebirth of The Cruel

Let us continue to talk about the craziest Superman by far. And that's counting the "Man of Steel" version. Today we explore the other half of Superboy-Prime's history.

In the 2007 event "Sinestro Corps War", former Green Lantern/current Yellow Lantern Sinestro led his army into Oa and attacked The Green Lantern Corps. Along with the revived Anti-Monitor, Superboy-Prime was recruited into The Sinestro Corps and received a Yellow Power Ring, fueled by the fear he'd instill in his victims. Superboy-Prime began calling himself "Superman-Prime". He did this A. Because he was around eighteen years old at this point and B. Because the families of Siegel and Shuster were in legal battle with DC Comics over the rights to "Superboy". It may be odd that Prime worked with The Anti-Monitor, seeing as how The Anti-Monitor was responsible for his world's destruction, but Prime stuck around simply to have his revenge one day. Well, that one day was actually pretty soon. During a battle between the two Corps, Superman-Prime flew through the wounded Anti-Monitor's body to attack one of The Guardians of The Universe. The Guardian sacrificed himself to kill Prime, but instead sent him through time itself.

We see him again in a headquarters he built in The Source Wall. Oh, that? The Source Wall is the SPACE BETWEEN OUR REALITY AND THE DC COMIC'S REALITY. It is there he tortures Superman's 5th dimensional villain Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Earth 3 version of Zatanna hoping their powers could recreate Earth Prime. He ultimately gets fed up and kills Earth 3 Zatanna. After a journey to Earth 51, Prime is lost in time and sent to an alternate future by a villain known as The Time Trapper. It is here Prime finds a Superman Museum where he is remembered as a footnote. From this museum he learns of The Legion of Super-Villains, criminals who were inspired by "a dark being who's name was never spoken". Prime found this team and told them that he was that "dark being". At first, The Legion of Super-Heroes and Superman were overpowered by Superman-Prime and The Legion of Super-Villains, but after getting the help from Bart Allen/Flash and the revived Connor Kent the tides of the battle turned. Superman and the three founders of The Legion of Super-Heroes were transported by The Time Trapper-who is revealed to be Superman-Prime from the future-to his timeline. Superman and friends drag The Time Trapper back to the battle and he and Superman-Prime of the present argue over each other's actions. This results in a paradox explosion that sends Superman-Prime to a recreated Earth Prime.
For the next year of his life, Clark lives on Earth Prime without his superpowers. However, everything he did within the DCU was still published on Earth-Prime which means his family and friends see him as a psychopathic murderer and the DC Comics Fan Community sees him as a lame villain. Clark joins multiple online forums trying to defend his actions. He collects every DC comic book published after his return to Earth Prime searching for some remnant of his presence. He lives in his parent's basement because his parents are afraid for their lives. One comic he buys alludes to his ultimate fate, but as he searches across the country for the next issue he finds it has not been published yet. He is met by Alexander Luthor of Earth 3 who was revived as a Black Lantern. Alex spoils the next issue by telling Clark that his character "dies" in the DCU. Alex also gives Clark his powers back. Clark flies to the DC Comic's building in New York City and demands answers from the writers and he learns what Alex said was true. Before he could kill the writers, Alex transported Clark back to his home, destroyed his comic book collection, and left him with a Black Lantern Ring. Since his character was "died" in the books, the ring could assign to him. Alex leaves as Clark submits to his fate and dons the Black Ring, only for the ring to self-destruct from emotional overload. With his last hope extinguished, Clark blames "them" (the writers) for robbing him of a happy ending. It's then his girlfriend Laurie shows up and tell him that "they" sent her to tell Clark that "they" won't bother him ever again. As they hug we see a Black Ring on Laurie's finger either implying she is a Black Lantern or that everyone on that Earth is a Black Lantern because they were all killed and revived.
Although he was told he'd be left alone by DC Comics, Superman-Prime returned when a villain named Headcase brought him back to the DCU and recruited him onto his team to battle The Teen Titans. Clark was understandably upset he was separated from Laurie. At the end of that story Superboy and Supergirl sealed Prime away inside The Source Wall. So, currently, Superboy-Prime is trapped BETWEEN THE FICTIONAL WORLD AND OUR WORLD.
Scary stuff. I should have wrote this in October. For my thoughts on this character tune in for tomorrow's wrap up to this terrifying trilogy!
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The Prime Problem: Smallville Beginnings

Today's Z-Lister is kinda different from most. He's a character in the most solid way, it almost feels like he's a real person. Because, well, he is supposed to be a real person. Put the coffee on, today we talk about DC Comic's Superboy-Prime.

In 1985's "DC Comic's Presents #87" writer Elliot S. Maggin and artist Curt Swan took Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's American icon and flipped him in a new direction. As a tie-in to DC Comic's first Crisis Event, we were introduced to a version of Superman from another world. Earth-Prime was a world very similar to our own, where DC superheroes were all just comic book characters. There, a couple named Jerry and Naomi Kent found a child in the woods and adopted it. They decided to name him Clark Kent, knowing full well that he'd share the name with the "fictional" character Superman. What they didn't know was that Clark was an alternate version of our Superman from Earth-Prime's version of Krypton. Krypton blew up as expected, but baby Kal-El was teleported to Earth instead of being sent via rocket. However, Clark Kent grew up without powers. On the night of a school Halloween party, Clark joined his girlfriend Laurie dressed as Superboy as he finally embraced the humor of his name. But after a passing comet awoken Clark's Kryptonian superpowers and our Superman traveled to Earth-Prime, Clark embraced his name further by helping Superman and an army of DC Comics characters fight The Anti-Monitor, a being determined to wipe out all universes.
After "Crisis on Infinite Earths" Clark's world was destroyed and he secluded himself in The Paradise Dimension with Alexander Luthor of Earth 3, and Superman and Lois Lane of Earth 2. It was in this dimension Alex coerced Clark into helping him recreate the multiverse by showing Clark what happened to his family after he came to the main DCU. His parents and girlfriend all died in a car accident he could have stopped. This caused Clark to LITERALLY PUNCH A HOLE IN REALITY. This breach of reality causes the multiple origins of Superman, Hawkman, Donna Troy, The Legion of Super-Heroes, and The Doom Patrol to fold into a single origin for each character. Oh, and it orchestrated the events that BROUGHT JASON TODD BACK TO LIFE. Clark-convinced by Alex and Earth 2's Superman's complaints-believed the then-current DCU to be beyond saving. That the DCU (2005) was too dark, slowed, and weak to preserve itself. Clark and Alex escaped The Paradise Dimension and caused more tragedies to befall the DCU, like the Rann-Thanagarian War, the formation of The Secret Society of Super-Villains, and the corruption of OMAC.
During "Infinite Crisis" Alexander would try to recreate the multiverse and Superman of Earth 2 would try to convert Batman, Power Girl, and a few other heroes to his side. Meanwhile, Superboy-Prime attacked Connor Kent, the clone known as Superboy. Prime was jealous of Connor and during their fight he would accidentally kill members of the Teen Titans with his immense power. The entire time blaming his actions on their universe. It took Jay Garrick (Earth 2's Flash), Wally West (The Flash II), and Bart Allen (Kid Flash) to push Superboy-Prime into The Speed Force Dimension where Barry Allen (The Flash) returned after a decade of absence to help Bart Allen hold Prime back. Superboy-Prime returned from the Speed Force hours later. Hours for us, for him it had been at least ten years as Bart also returned a full-grown adult. Superboy-Prime refused to help Alexander because he believed Earth-Prime to be the only "good" Earth. He flew to Oa (the base of The Green Lanterns in the center of the universe) to destroy it and spark a new Big Bang. Instead he was blocked by the Green Lantern Corps and flown through a Red Sun by the Supermen of Earth 1 and Earth 2. In a powerless fight, Prime killed Earth 2's Superman and was knocked out by Earth 1's Superman. Prime was then imprisoned on Oa in a Red Sun room, stripped of his powers and locked away forever. Well, almost forever.
This guy has a crazy backstory, so for the rest of the story tune in for tomorrow's companion post!
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Hood Facts

Let's see how much of a Jason Todd Fan you really are! Here are One Dozen Red Hood Facts!

1. Jason Todd was the second kid to be Robin The Boy Wonder. He was created for the role because editor Len Wein and writer Gerry Conway wanted to tell more Batman & Robin stories, but Dick Grayson had become Nightwing and was more associated with The Teen Titans than with Batman in the 1980's. When he was created, Jason was basically a copy of Dick Grayson as he too was a circus kid. In 1985 after "Crisis on Infinite Earths" Jason's backstory was rebooted and he was made into a street punk who Batman took under his wing.

2. Jason Todd was so disliked by the fanbase, DC Comics used a special Batman event called "Death in The Family" to start a poll deciding if Jason Todd would die by The Joker's hand or survive. By a slim margin, Jason was sentenced to death. Rumors circulate that this voting was rigged and that a script detailing the scenario where Jason survives is hidden within DC Comic's archives.

3. The modern origin behind Jason Todd coming back to life is that Ra's al Ghul had used his Lazarus Pits to revive him, but before that origin Jason was brought back to life when an alternate version of Superman punched the physical manifestation of reality.

4. After his death, Jason's Robin costume would be held in a case in The Batcave as a constant reminder of Batman's greatest mistake. The case remains there today even with Jason alive again. In another base of operations Batman has made a case containing the Robin suit of Tim Drake who is thought to be dead at the moment. Ironically, both Stephanie Brown and Damian Wayne-who had both been Robin at one point or another-never got their own memorials when they died.

5. When he came back to life and returned to Gotham City, Jason Todd took a note from Batman by taking a symbol of fear as his inspiration. While he didn't dress up as a murderous clown, Jason used a moniker The Joker used to use called "The Red Hood". As The Red Hood, Jason aimed to stop crime in Gotham by seizing control of it and killing anyone who got in his way.

6. Batman took Jason under his wing for a few reasons. First, when he found Jason Todd trying to steal the wheels of The Batmobile and grabbed for him, Jason actually put up a fight despite being young. Second, while Jason came from a very different background Batman could see a rage inside Jason similar to his own after his parents died. And finally, Batman had been missed having Dick Grayson around and Jason Todd reminded him of Grayson.

7. Red Hood is one of the only members of The Batman Family who is allowed to use firearms. When working with Batman, Red Hood only aims of hands, knees, and feet. Batman also has no issues with Alfred Pennyworth or Commissioner Jim Gordon using guns around him.

8. Along with Jean Grey, Superman, Supergirl, and The Flash/Barry Allen, Jason Todd's death is one of the most important and iconic in comic book history. Following him, Damian Wayne/Robin would die in 2013 and return months after, Dick Grayson/Nightwing would fake his death in 2014 and come back in the lime-light in 2016, and Tim Drake/Red Robin would be "seemingly" killed in 2016 and has yet to return.

9. Jason Todd and Damian Wayne are the only Robins to openly kill criminals early in their respected careers. As of 2016, Jason Todd's record claims he has 83 confirmed kills.

10. In the video game "Batman: Arkham Knight", their version of Jason Todd was held hostage and tortured by The Joker for many years while Batman assumed Jason was already dead. Jason would return as The Arkham Knight, and assume the role of Red Hood after Batman's disappearance.

11. The Red Hood formally led a team called The Outlaws with Starfire and Roy Harper/Arsenal. Currently he's a member of "The Dark Trinity" with Artemis The Amazon and Bizarro Superman. The latter team is obviously a reflection of DC Comic's long-standing "Trinity" of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

12. In "Nightwing #118" we see Nightwing patrol New York City and openly kill  criminals. We learn by the end of the issue that it is actually Jason Todd using the Nightwing mantle to harass Dick Grayson. The following issues show Dick and Jason fighting each other before teaming up. Jason then disappears and leaves his Nightwing suit behind.
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Would you rather fight crime in a little mask or a motorcycle helmet? Comment below!

High Five, Anyone?

When guns are too quick and swords are too heavy, you can always depend on good old fisticuffs-damn! That is a huge right swing, you got there! How do you even go to bed with that thing? Bathrooms must be a nightmare! Oh right, you clearly don't sleep. You see a nightmare...never mind. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Marvel's Gauntlet. Menace to pickle jars everywhere.

 Created by Dan Slott, Stefano Caselli, and Eric Powell in 2006's "She-Hulk #100", Joseph Green was a member of the United States Army who was part of a search team to recover an object that fell from space. What he and his team found was the right arm piece of alien armor. Agents of HYDRA appeared on the crash site and tried to wrestle the arm away from Joseph, so the soldier slipped the arm on to defend himself. What he found was that this arm enhanced his strength and projected a light-construct of his own hand. Whatever motion his hand made inside the arm, the light-construct would mimic. Joseph would take on the codename Gauntlet and act as a drill sergeant for young heroes on The Initiative.
The Initiative was a project started by Iron Man and Henry Peter Gyrich after the events of "Civil War". With The Superhuman Registration Act classifying all registered superheroes as government agents and all unregistered heroes as criminals, there was a need for a training program for younger superhumans who had no experience in the field. As such, Iron Man and Gyrich set up a boot camp at Camp Hammond and appointed Joseph as the sergeant. Being a soldier, a superhero, and the father of a two-year old daughter meant Joseph had the physical and psychological requirements to train this new generation of heroes. Often teasing them with "My Two-Year-Old could beat HYDRA".
Joseph's arm belonged to an alien who was in a heated battle with another alien above Earth. Along with this arm, another arm and a set of leg armor fell to Earth after the battle. The leg armor would fall into the hands of a hero named Grasshopper, the other arm would go to a She-Hulk villain known as Southpaw. In a possible future, Southpaw becomes a hero and Gauntlet's daughter becomes her sidekick Kid Glove. The weapon of the opposing alien would attach to a teenaged girl who would become an Initiative member known as Armory. The abilities of her alien weapon were to become whichever tool was needed in any situation.
For a time Joseph was put into a coma, during that time the gauntlet itself would take control of Joseph's body until he eventually woke up. During that time, the reformed mercenary Taskmaster took over his duties as drill sergeant. After "Secret Invasion" when Norman Osborn becomes the head of SHIELD, Joseph is one of the few to stay at Camp Hammond. Norman threatens to take Joseph's arm away (by the way, the arm is fused to him so that means Norman would've had it cut off) unless Joseph joins Norman's Avengers Resistance. Joseph's wife had to pretend to be ashamed of her husband just to avoid media harassment. After Norman was deemed insane (again) and was kicked out of SHIELD, Gauntlet would continue fighting for his country in Afghanistan.
I really didn't recognize this guy the first time I read "The Initiative", but upon reading about him I think that he's a character who's too interesting for his own good. Sure, you have a superhero who is a father, husband, soldier, and trainer of younger heroes, but his dedication to the cause is really the most astounding thing about him. Staying at the Camp when Norman was in charge took guts, guts this guy clearly has. And for a low-tier character he has quite the collection of family members. Not just his wife and daughter, but the other characters who received armor parts too. I'm really happy this character wasn't killed off because I think there's more to be said with him. There aren't enough "getting too old for this-" superheroes and just the overall position this guy holds in Marvel could be very interesting in the future. Hell, with so many young heroes popping out of the woodwork this guy may have to be a super tutor! Am I right?
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Spider-Flunkies

Now look, I'm excited about Spider-Man and all his friends and villains coming to the MCU too. But I think before we all start shouting which villains we want to see we should establish which Spider-Man villains aren't even worth a namedrop. Because trust me. It gets worse than Shocker. Here's The Panel Biter's Top 5 Worst Spider-Man Villains!

5. Carrion

There have four versions of this guy, but the original Carrion was a clone of Miles Warren AKA The Jackal. The Jackal-reminder-was the guy who made "The Clone Saga" a thing. "The Clone Saga"-reminder-was an event that lasted way too long and was constantly changed due to fan complaints. But if being connected to one of the worst comic book events in history doesn't make this guy the worst, it's his relation to The Jackal. While it's very obvious a scientist in cloning would make a clone of himself, this guy doesn't really do anything important. The fact that this guy can only be A. a clone of an annoying villain or B. a clone with no interesting characteristics, makes him incredibly forgettable. And when you consider how far Spider-Man's clones made it on their own it only makes the successor to The Jackal an even weaker villain.

4. The Answer

Ever wonder what The Riddler would look like inside-out? Well, that's gross. Oh, and this is The Answer. So, this guy used to be a Las Vegas hitman who was given powers by HYDRA. What kind of powers? Well, his body can adapt to any situation (like Darwin from The X-Men) and essentially he is the "answer" to any opponent. He fights Spider-Man first by studying him and then adapting to match him powers. You would think a guy with powers like this would be super-useful, but by the look of his costume and the sheer groaning of his overall theme, he's too silly to have the powers he has. Again, adapting to any problem is a cool power, but I'm a "character" guy. Cool powers are only impressive until you realize the person who has them is a blank board. If this guy was as powerful as he should be he'd be fighting-oh, I don't know-more than one superhero at a time! How about answering how super-villains could take over the world, huh? Cause a little "Old Man Logan"? No? Fine.

3. Overdrive

Overdrive is one of the greatest getaway drivers in the world. By using some kind of nano-technology he can hijack and enhance the mobility of vehicles. So he's just a really good driver and a really good car thief. Should be cool. You know, if he wasn't fighting guys like Spider-Man and Black Panther! Seriously, once you factor in how many superheroes can fly this guy's powers become laughable. And his design is so easy a guy without a driver's license could pull it off. He just looks like a biker, and ironically all he does is drive. That's not super useful unless you're robbing banks or you're invited to the next Whacky Race World. This guy was on a version of The Sinister Six where they were so bad they couldn't find a sixth member. That's how lame this guy is. Making vehicles better is an okay power, but if I try hard enough I could go out and just steal a car (not going to, please don't arrest me). This guy is the equivalent to a villain who carries a pistol and calls himself "Shooter".

2. Typeface

 So this guy was a U.S. Army soldier who's brother died in the war, when he got home his wife and son left him and all he had left was a job making signs. Then some company bought the business he was working for and laid him off. So he began looking for other work opportunities and helping the communi-hahaha! Nah, he became a super-villain. He crafted weapons based off letters and painted letters all over his face and-as Typeface-swore revenge on the guy who took his job. This guy uses the alphabet to kill people. He's like The Punisher mixed with Sesame Street. He has no powers, an obsession with words, it's like The Riddler wasn't enough to rip-off so they used Calendar Man too! Typeface actually became an anti-hero too. That's just silly. I mean divorce and unemployment and the loss of a family member can all be tragic at once, but honestly I think becoming a run-of-the-mill serial killer would have been less embarrassing than painting letters on yourself like some college sorority girl on initiation night.

1. The Judas Traveler

The Judas Traveler is the worst Spider-Man villain ever. When he shows up, he's some mysterious immortal with magical powers. Powers that are oddly specific to any situation. It's like he was written for every scenario, like he has new powers whenever he needs to have new powers. And that's because that's exactly how he was written. Writer Glenn Greenberg admitted that Judas Traveler was a "dues ex machina". He said "No one – not the writers, not the editors – seemed to know who or what the heck Judas Traveler was. He was seemingly this immensely powerful, quasi-mystical being with amazing abilities, but what was the real deal with him? But to be honest, a character like Traveler didn't really fit into Spider-Man's world". Judas Traveler's whole gimmick was researching the idea of "evil" and what it meant. Which sounds cool, but wasn't. He would test Spider-Man over and over and be too powerful to stop. Until it was revealed everything Judas Traveler knew about himself was a lie. His life, his powers, his motivations, were all a lie. Apparently he was a criminal psychologist with a dormant mutant gene which made people-and himself-believe what he wanted them to believe. All his powers? Illusions even to himself. His history as an immortal traveler? Made up. His minions and followers? Unintentionally brain-washed. The writers created this guy just to be a scapegoat, a no-named threat that could be responsible for explainable events. He is a character created from sheer lack of effort who vanished just as he appeared: Without a goddamn trace.

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Unleash The Beast

Not all heroes wear capes. Or shirts. Or pants, apparently. No, this hero is a wild flurry of misunderstood conceptions. This hero stalks the jungles unleashing the strength of the animal kingdom upon the world. Today's Z-Lister is DC Comic's B'wana Beast. Oh, and Freedom Beast. It's a two-fer.

Created in 1967's "Showcase #66" by Bob Haney and Mike Sekowsky, B'wana Beast is one of DC Comics more bizarre superheroes. Formally a park ranger who lived atop Mount Kilimanjaro, Micheal Maxwell and his gorilla companion Djuba found a pair of magical items. A red helmet and a magic elixir. Upon donning the helmet and drinking the elixir, Maxwell developed an odd control over animals. Now as The B'wana Beast, Maxwell could create chimeras. In Mythology, a Chimera is a creature with the parts of other animals. B'wana beast can fuse any animals together no matter what size or type, as he puts it "putting the best of both of them into one creature". He can then control this chimera to help him fight crime and later undo the fusion. He can do up to four animals and-with concentration-even include humans in the mix. Along with these outlandish powers and his gorilla friend, B'wana Beast is also a master tracker, wrestler, telepathic control of animals, enhanced senses, and enhanced strength, speed, and agility.
In his first adventure, B'wana Beast and Djuba fight Hamid Ali "The Man Who Never Dies". He dies, by the way. While B'wana Beast would make rare appearances here and there, he became more prevalent in Grant Morrison's "Animal Man" series in the 1980's. Animal Man-in short detail-is a character who can mimic the powers of animals through a force called "The Red", he also has knowledge that he is a fictional character. Thanks, Grant. Animal Man helps B'wana Beast go to Africa to find Djuba, only to find Djuba's been tested on and given a new form of Anthrax. Djuba sadly dies, and B'wana Beast is infected next. Luckily, Animal Man uses his powers to enhance B'wana Beast's white blood cells to a point where they can fend off the infection. In a later story arc, Maxwell retires from being The B'wana Beast and passes the helmet and elixir to a South African activist named Dominic Mndawe. Maxwell would reappear, however, corrupted by an evil entity called Antagon and renamed The Shining Man. Animal Man is forced to kill Maxwell to free him from Antagon's control.
Max's successor Dominic would take the name "Freedom Beast" and use his new powers to battle The South African government. Adamant about his political beliefs, Freedom Beast's motto was "Tomorrow's Mythology is Today's Politics". Freedom Beast would team up with B'wana Beast (before his death) and Animal Man often before he would be murdered by the minions of Prometheus in "Justice League: Cry For Justice" and later avenged by Green Arrow who kills the aforementioned villain.
DC Comics has a deep history of "animal" characters and day-by-day more of those characters are getting more light. Beast Boy, Vixen, Animal Man, B'wana Beast, Freedom Beast, Congorilla, there are plenty of interesting characters within this category. Now that I think of it, a team book with all these characters where they fight for animal rights would be pretty awesome. I'm no PETA member, but protecting animals is a pretty great hero motivation. B'wana Beast has shown up in a few cartoons so I've seen him before and really liked his powers. Yeah, they're weird and so is he, but I like that kind of weird. He's from Africa and has magic animal powers, that's refreshing in a world where most heroes are from space or live in the USA. So I'd like to see B'wana Beast and Freedom Beast reappear somewhere, they'd be quiet the duo. Not so dynamic. But very dramatic.
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Venom Facts

Let's see how much of a Venom Fan you are! Here are One Dozen Venom Facts!

1. There have been three men to take on the identity of Venom: Eddie Brock (1988), Mac Gargan (2005), and Flash Thompson (2010). The Venom Symbiot has also attached to Spider-Man, Ann Weying, Patricia Robertson, Angelo Fortunato, and Deadpool.

2. The Black & White Spider-Man costume was influenced by Julia Carpenter/Spider-Woman who wore a costume of the same colors. After Spider-Man had rejected The Venom Symbiot he would craft a suit that looked just like the Black & White Suit, but obviously out of cloth. Spider-Man would wear this suit when on a stealth mission or if he was in mourning over the death of a friend. Mary Jane Watson has expressed great discomfort when she sees him in the suit, for legitimate reasons.

3. In the possible future of "Old Man Logan", The Venom Symbiot has attached to a Tyrannosaurus Rex. In the possible future of "Spider-Man: Reign" Venom covers New York in a dome so he can spread himself out and eat it's citizens. Venom from "Ultimate Comics" began as a scientific suit that could cure cancer. In the possible future of "Spider-Man 2099" the Venom Symbiot has mutated over the years and attached to Kron Stone, the half-brother of Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099. Venom is a demon in "Spider-Man: India" and a former member of a ninja clan in "Marvel Mangaverse".

4. After selling The Venom Symbiot on the black market, Eddie Brock developed cancer and was in hospice for a long time. His riddled mind actually developed a figment of Venom that guided him to escape the hospital. The white blood cells within Brock's body would fuse with remaining fragments of the Venom Symbiot and allow Eddie Brock to create a new Symbiot from his body. He used this new suit to become Anti-Venom.

5. Venom's offspring includes Carnage, Toxin, Scream, Lasher, Phage, Agony, Riot, Hybrid, Scorn, and Mania.

6. According to SHIELD, Venom is considered one of the greatest threats to humanity alongside Doctor Doom, Magneto, and The Red Skull.

7. Before becoming Venom in 2010, Flash Thompson was widely known as Peter Parker's high school bully and a huge Spider-Man fan. Flash's worship of Spider-Man was so great that after high school he'd join the U.S. Army and travel overseas to Afghanistan. While there, Flash suffered an injury that costed both of his legs. Back home he'd struggle with an alcoholism his abusive father suffered from as well. It was thanks to his reputation as a soldier that the U.S. government would select him to be "Agent Venom".

8. While on The Guardians of The Galaxy, Flash/Venom travels to The Symbiot's planet. There it is revealed that Symbiots are called Klyntars and use their hosts energy to survive. While Kylntars are not naturally evil, they can be corrupted by the negative emotions of their hosts which is why Venom turned out the way he did.

9. Because The Venom Symbiot had attached to Spider-Man first, it has the ability to negate his Spider-Sense. This makes Venom one of the only characters who can surprise Spider-Man.

10. Despite threatening to eat Spider-Man, Eddie Brock never seemed to make the attempt. Funny enough, Mac Gargan would develop cannibalism while using The Venom Symbiot and once eat an alien called a Skrull.

11. Before becoming Venom, Mac Gargan had been the villain known as The Scorpion. In the 60's when he first appeared, Scorpion was the first Spider-Man villain to defeat him in their initial fight.

12. In "Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars" it is revealed that Deadpool wore the Symbiot for six panels before putting where Spider-Man found it on Breakworld.

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No Widow, No

Throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe we have met intriguing and lovable characters. Men and woman and things not definable by gender that have gripped out attention. Whether they wear metal suits, shrink to unseen sizes, or fling magic hammers. The Marvel Cinematic Universe spans the realms of Gods, magicians, scientists, and space adventurers. So why on Earth would anyone want to see a movie about Black Widow?

So around the time "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron" came out there were fans who were begging for a Black Widow film. A lot of people made it about gender and a lesser percent actually wanted it because they think the character deserves a film. And I won't disagree to the fact that Black Widow has been one of the most entertaining characters in the MCU. Scarlett Johansson is an amazing actress, the backstory of Natasha Romanov has been splayed out to us over a number of films without the character revealing too much at once. Figuratively. Stacking up what we know about her from "Iron Man 2", "Avengers", "Captain America: Winter Soldier", and "Avengers: Age of Ultron" her origin seems to be that she was raised by a branch of the KGB to be a cold-hearted assassin. She was trained physically and psychologically, and biologically experimented on to be an elite agent. We know that it was Nick Fury who found her and turned her over to the side of good on SHIELD, but everything before that is only said and not seen. Black Widow is mysterious and simple at the same time. Born to be an assassin, taught to be good, and now redemption. Easy to understand, but for some it's not enough. Of course, there's her long-standing history in the comics. Oh, you don't like to read? Right.
Is Black Widow interesting as a character? Sure, but I enjoy her as a supporting character more because she is always a reflective personality for main characters to bounce off of. Cap, Tony, Bruce Banner, Hawkeye, Black Panther, they all become more fascinating to watch when they're challenged by a personality like Black Widow's. And yeah, she looks good in a fight. I know that's another reason people want to see her get her own movie, but come on guys. Fighting doesn't make an entire movie. "Captain America: Civil War" had the word "war" in the title and some of that film's best moments weren't even fight scenes. Sure Black Widow-thanks to the choreographers and stunt-doubles-is fun to watch in a fight, but by having Black Widow be a supporting character you get to watch her fight without the film having to necessarily anchor on her. Plus, these are Marvel Movies. Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nick Fury and SHIELD agents in general may be fun to watch and likable in their own ways, but when The Hulk and Thor are some of the first characters to have films in the MCU do you really want to turn back and spend money on a character who isn't spectacular to watch? Black Widow is fun to watch, but not for an hour and a half. Not with a huge budget and especially not when there are more Marvel characters to explore. Remember when Marvel got shared custody of the Spider-Man film rights? Remember what they did? They upright cancelled the "Inhumans" film they had planned so they could shuffle other films around and make room for a Spider-Man movie. That means if Marvel one day decided to plan a Black Widow film we could see the rest of the film slate suffer for it. Not to mention the downscale in subject matter. Black Panther rules an entire African country, Thor is from Asgard, Doctor Strange travels across realities. And Black Widow is a secret agent. Get what I mean? In comparison she's nothing special. She works alongside Cap and Tony because those characters are "super" enough to be unique, but grounded enough to hang out with spies.
If any Marvel hero is going to be the first woman to lead a film it's going to be Captain Marvel. I don't want to see the sequels to Ant-Man and Doctor Strange and Black Panther get pushed back. I don't want to see The Sentry, Hercules, or-hopefully one day-The X-Men lose their chance at a Marvel film to make room for someone else. Black Widow is a cool character, but she is not cool enough, different enough, or important enough to stop Marvel's entire production cycle. She doesn't deserve a movie or a big budget or a stand above other characters. Just like War Machine, The Falcon, The Vision and many others, she is an amazing supporting character who has gotten better development as a supporting character in these films then she'd ever get in a film on her own.
That being said, Scarlet Witch should have a movie.
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Should Black Widow get a film? Comment below!

Beetle Facts

Let's see how much of a Blue Beetle Fan you are! Here are One Dozen Blue Beetle Facts!

1. There have been three incarnations of The Blue Beetle: Dan Garret in 1939, Ted Kord in 1966, and Jaime Reyes in 2006.

2. The first Blue Beetle-Dan Garret-had been owned by Fox Feature Syndicate, and then Holyoke Publishing. He spent the next chunk of his history at Charlton Comics before being under the ownership of DC Comics.

3. When he was first created, Dan Garret was very similar in design and function to The Green Hornet. When Dan was redesigned in 1964 his appearance was more similar to The Phantom. Both Ted Kord and Jaime Reyes were influenced by Spider-Man. Ted Kord was drawn by Steve Ditko, who created Spider-Man with Stan Lee over at Marvel. Jaime's similarities to Spider-Man were more inline with the fact that-like Spider-Man-Jaime was a teenaged superhero who was not a sidekick.

4. Dan Garret got his powers from an ancient Scarab he found in Egypt. When the Scarab got into the hands of Ted Kord he could not figure out how to make it work and opted to base his tools and weapons around the Scarab's theme. When Jaime got the Scarab it "reactivated" and attached to his body, forming his suit. The Scarab was initially thought to be magical before Jaime learned it was alien technology. As of recently, it has been confirmed to still be magic in origin.

5. When Alan Moore and Steve Gibbons were preparing their legendary graphic novel "Watchmen" they were planning on using characters DC Comics had acquired from Charlton Comics like Captain Atom, The Question, and The Blue Beetle. However, DC Comics forbade them from using the characters as the company at large was going to integrate them into their universe. So Alan and Steve created anagrams for Charlton Comics characters, one being Nite-Owl. Nite-Owl was mostly based on The Blue Beetle with slight influence from Superman and Batman as well.

6. During his time as Blue Beetle, Ted Kord created a flying vehicle to provide transport for himself and his Justice League allies. He named this vehicle "The Bug". Keeping in theme with his counterpart, Nite-Owl also had a flying machine themed around an owl. It was named Archimedes after Merlin's pet owl in the novel "The Once and Future King".

7. During his time on The Justice League, Ted Kord developed a friendship with the time-traveling superhero Booster Gold. It was also during this time Ted developed his signature laugh "BWA-HA-HA-HA".

8. During the event "Infinite Crisis" in 2005, Ted Kord had been spying on an evil organization called Checkmate. This mission ended in Ted Kord being shot in the head by Maxwell Lord, the former media agent of The Justice League. In a later Booster Gold arc, Booster goes back in time and prevents Ted Kord's death. However, in order to stop a villain who orchestrated the events of Ted's survival-which would lead to that villain taking over the planet-Ted had to sacrifice his life by going back in time once more and allowing Maxwell Lord to kill him.

9. Ted Kord and Barbara Gordon had developed an online friendship during Babs' time as Oracle. After Ted's death it was revealed that the two of them had a romantic feelings for one another, but both were too nervous or unsure to explore them.

10. Jaime Reyes is one of the only teenaged superheroes in comic book history to actually tell his family and close friends about his superpowers.

11. Due to The Scarab being a tool of the alien colony called The Reach, Jaime will lose control of himself to the Scarab once and a while. Especially in the company of a Green Lantern, one of The Reach's sworn enemies. The Reach themselves usually take over planets from the inside, planting an agent into the planet's populous, coming to the planet in peace and offering aid, and finally asserting dominance as most of the planet's resources are provided by The Reach themselves.

12. During a fight with Bleez The Red Lantern, Jaime's Scarab registered that Jaime felt "a metabolic arousal" when Bleez had pinned him to the ground by sitting on him. When Jaime told the suit he was not aroused, Bleez heard this and flew back in surprise. By the stance Jaime takes and his dialog, it is implied the Scarab grew a "prosthetic" or "unzipped" to coincide with Jaime's arousal. To put it in French, Jaime got an erection and the Scarab thought he was going to mate with Bleez.
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Which Blue Beetle is your favorite? Comment below!

My Little Brony

Okay, okay, okay! So a long time ago I talked about this character named Comet who was an angel/centaur/alien/bisexual-Link below-and I thought that would be the only instance of me talking about a stupid horse-themed character. I was wrong. So. Very. Wrong. Today's Z-Lister is Marvel's Kid Colt. Someone stop me.

While the original Kid Colt was a Wild West hero created back in 1942 when Marvel Comics was still going by Timely Comics, this newer incarnation was created in 2000 by Fabian Nicieza and Mark Bagley in "Heroes Reborn: Young Allies #1". And while the original Kid Colt would be a cult favorite character brought back and retold numerous times to headline Marvel's Western comics, this incarnation fell into a hole. A hole that-itself-would fall into a bigger hole. You see The Young Allies were a spin-off of The Invaders (Captain America, Namor The Sub-Mariner, and the android known as The Human Torch) in the same way The Teen Titans were spun from The Justice League's sidekicks. The Young Allies would be reestablished in 2000 with new characters like our horsey friend here.

Sadly this version of The Young Allies was created in 2000 during Marvel's "Heroes Reborn" era. Marvel Comics had outsourced their main titles to third-party creators and publishers with the hopes that these new superstar artists and writers could reshape Marvel characters for a modern audience. Despite the expected overflow of violence, vulgarity, poor writing, and dated artwork the event sold well. In 2002, Marvel ended Heroes Reborn to continue their established canon. And not a moment too soon.

Elric Freedom Whitemane is Kid Colt's actual name. "Freedom" is one hell of a middle name, I'll give that to him. But the name Elric reminding me of that short guy from "Full Metal Alchemist" gives me some goosebumps regarding this character and that dog-daughter thing. Anyway Elric's story is one as old as time. When he was a kid the government asked to do some tests on him in return for money. His parents were hippies so that automatically meant they didn't have jobs to make money and so they sold their son to the government. Didn't hippies hate the government? These tests spliced Elric's DNA with alien DNA. Specifically a race called Kymellians. Kymellians apparently share a resemblance to Earth horses as the splicing of DNA gave Elric the ability to turn into a humanoid horse. Beta Ray Bill, eat your heart out. Taking the name of the much more appealing Western hero, Elric uses his newfound powers to fight crime as Kid Colt. He joined a new incarnation of The Young Allies and gave them a great means of transportation. And no, I don't mean they rode on him. Sicko.

Along with turning into that one friend with a horse mask (Connor...), Kid Colt could create pocket dimensions. Empty realms of existence where he can travel into and out of. He can use these pocket dimensions to store valuables for later, but he more often jump from dimension to dimension to simulate teleportation. Funny enough, Nightcrawler of The X-Men teleports by jumping through another dimension. Only he's cool! Oh and Kid Colt is a vegetarian. More reason not to like him.

Long-time readers will know I already dislike animal-people. There are exceptions, of course. Howard The Duck, Rocket Raccoon, Beast, but in cases like this Kid Colt and Tigra and Comet I just find them disturbing. There's always that trope of someone's personality being reflective of an animal, but making that reflection the appearance of the character is just gross to think about. Like, does Kid Colt use a bathroom or a stable? If he sprains an ankle do I have to shoot him? And don't get me started on his "Italian Stallion" down South. All and all, this character was a misguided attempt at reviving a known name and his obscurity is a mercy killing of a bad concept. At this rate he'd be better off replaced with a teenaged black girl, but still keep the name.

Thanks for reading!

Would you ride Kid Colt? Actually, don't answer that.

The post about Comet: http://panelbiter.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-angel-of-loveand-horses.html

The Birth of an Atom

So with The Atom being on television for a while now and apparently the second Atom-Ryan Choi-being on a new Justice League later this year, I thought it would be a good time to whip out a pitch for the character I've had for a while. So, if you like small men-ladies ;D-here's my Pitch-It for "The Atom" comic book series!

First, some background. Similar to The Flash and Green Lantern, the Silver Age version of The Atom began as an updated version of a Golden Age hero of the same name. This new Atom-Ray Palmer-was a physicist professor in Ivy Town who had used a shard of a White Dwarf Star to fashion a lens that could be used to shrink objects. After much work on the lens, Palmer developed a special belt and suit that would allow him to shrink himself to be as small as an Atom! I would go on to tell you all the awesome stuff The Atom can do by being that small, but A. "May You Shrink in Peace" was a good explanation of the character you can search up here and B. I will eventually do a One Dozen Facts post about The Atom. Alongside Hawkman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary, The Atom was one of the first characters added onto The Justice League of America by the original seven founders and has been one of DC Comic's best known B-Listers ever since. And FYI, I'll get to Hawkman eventually. The Atom has had various adventures and much importance in the DCU, so how could I make the character interesting in a new way? Check it out.
So there are a lot of stories where The Atom is injected into somebody's body to help them with some sort of medical problem. Palmer tried to detach The Blue Beetle's scarab from the inside of Jaime Reyes' back, Ryan Choi saved The Joker from a brain spasm, Palmer and Superman went inside Batman's body and defeated a colony of parasites. The list goes on, but I've always found those stories to be the most interesting. When you think about it, the inside of the human body is an entirely different world. Just like the deep oceans and far cosmos, the human body is a frontier explored, but hardly ever used in comic books as a place where stuff happens. So what if we had a new Atom book which was basically a medical exploration book? Although, I wouldn't want to use Ray or Ryan for this story as they are both doctors of science and not medicine or surgery. Instead we could bring back some classic DC characters nobody knows about called The Challengers of The Unknown! The Challengers were a team of extraordinary men who adventured in the realms of science-fiction, paranormal occurrences and many other fantastical locations. For this Pitch I'll be using a small alteration of the team.
The story is centered around Professor Walter Haley who was close friends with Ray Palmer. So close that he assisted Palmer in studying shrinking technology. When Palmer perfected his technology he refused to share it with anyone due to his paranoia about government involvement, this means Haley felt cheated. After years of studying Palmer's work, Haley-in his early 50's-created a shrinking device the size of a phone-booth. However, the device projected so much shrinking energy that it would make one person too small to exist in the same dimension we inhabit. So he would need at least three more people to share the shrinking effects with, as the division of that energy would shrink them all to a more operational size. Haley recruits Kyle Morgan, a former military pilot who was fired for fornicating with his superior officer. Kyle himself blames Hal Jordan for making that kind of thing seem okay. When he hears Haley is hiring "assistants", former heavyweight boxer and current Ivy Town College janitor Leslie Davis volunteers. Leslie and Haley have a work-based friendship with one another and both feel past their prime, so Haley decides to include him. Also Leslie is Black in this version. The final member was going to be astronaut celebrity Matthew Ryan, but two days before their first mission Matthew suffers a crippling injury and his daughter Red Ryan takes his place. Red Ryan is a teenaged, Disney Channel celebrity who isn't a great actor, but gets along by her father's reputation. With his team tossed together, Haley dubs them "Team Atom" in honor (and/or ridicule) of his former friend.
Haley's problem with Ray Palmer was that he never used his technology to help people in the traditional way. Rather than curing cancer or enhancing the human immune system he opted to dress up as a superhero. So, Team Atom don suits, use their "Atom Box" to shrink down, then they are injected via syringe by a doctor into a patient. Their adventures include fighting off biological diseases, parasites, and removing viruses and shrapnel from the inside. Performing neural operations, heart repairs, bone operations, and more medical-based problems. Take your basic hospital drama TV show and put four superhero doctors inside the patient of the week. The overarching story threads include Ray Palmer suing Haley, Red Ryan dealing with negative media attention, and the team's main villain, Corinna Stark. Corinna is a scientist who opposes Haley's work because it is untested and inhumane. She goes on to hound Haley for the technology so that hospitals all over the planet could use it, but Haley begins to understand why Ray didn't want to share the technology as it could be used as a weapon.
It just always bothered me that if there existed a guy who could shrink small enough to travel inside the human body, why would he not be a Doctor? Why would he not give that equipment to trained professionals who can cure people from the inside? Surgeons have to cut people open and Doctors have to prescribe drugs, when all you need is someone who knows what they're doing and has the means to do it without causing any external damage. The drama and intrigue of a story like this has potential. Hell, if DC never does it you know I sure as heck will! Now that I got that idea out there, I'm going to go seclude myself until I can figure out how to make Hawkman cool.
Thanks for reading!
Would you read this Atom story? Comment below!

Thor Facts

Let's see how much of a Thor Fan you really are! Here are One Dozen Thor Facts!

1. Thor and most of his supporting cast are directly based on Norse Mythology with obvious differences. The most trivial being that Thor-in Norse Myth-was depicted as having red hair whereas Marvel's Thor is blonde.

2. Thor's adopted brother/arch-enemy Loki has turned himself into a woman, a child, and even Scarlet Witch in the past. Loki has also used his powers to turn Thor into a frog.

3. Thor's hammer-Mjolnir-is thought to be his source of power. Initially, this was correct. Thor began as Donald Blake, a handicapped doctor who would tap his cane and become Thor, while his cane became Mjolnir. The Donald Blake aspect was later removed.

4. As The Norse God of Thunder, Thor has the innate ability to summon any manner of storms. It is through Mjolnir that he can focus and aim these abilities. He also can achieve flight by swinging his hammer and throwing it, allowing momentum to carry him across the sky.

5. After he was deemed unworthy in "Original Sin", Thor's hammer fell into the possession of his former human lover Jane Foster. Jane had also been diagnosed with cancer at that time. This created a sad irony as-like Donald Blake-Jane Foster could be a superhero, but could not escape her illness. Becoming Thor cures Jane of all external poisons, which means every time she becomes Thor the chemo in her body is whipped out and her cancer can develop without end.

6. Before Jane Foster the hammer had also been used by Beta Ray Bill, Steve Rogers/Captain America, Eric Masterson/Thunderstrike, Loki, Squirrel Girl, Future Rick Jones, Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099, Conan The Barbarian, The Awesome Android, Ultimate Magneto, Wonder Woman, and Superman. To name a few.

7. In the short-lived Amalgam Comics, Thor was fused with DC Comic's Orion into "Thorion".

8. While Jane Foster would not become Thor until 2014, there exists a "What If" story from 1978 in which we see what it would be like if Jane Foster had discovered Mjolnir before Domald Blake. After lifting it, this version of Jane became Thortis The Goddess of Thunder.

9. Mjolnir was crafted by Uru metal by Norse Dwarves. Copies of Mjolnir have been crafted under different designs and given to characters like Thunderstrike, Beta Ray Bill, and Thor Girl. Thor himself has wielded Ultimate Mjolnir which comes from a universe where the wielder of the hammer does not have to be worthy.

10. Mjolnir is etched with a message reading "Whosoever Holds This Hammer, If He Be Worthy, Shall Possess The Power Of Thor". Mjolnir is actually conscious and capable of judging worthiness. When Thor sets Mjolnir atop someone who is unworthy, they are pinned to the ground under the hammer's unlimited weight, but they are not crushed to death by it. If Thor leaves the hammer on an elevator, the elevator will still go up as if there is no weight inside. It is possible Mjolnir's own consciousness allows this inconsistency in weight properties.

11. There exist a series of stones called The Norn Stones that were kept hidden in Asgard. These stones can empower wielders, revive the dead, and boost magic potential. These stones were used by Odin to make The Avengers strong enough to defeat The Sentry during "Fear Itself". These stones, however, are not to be confused with The Infinity Gems.

12. Following an event known as "Ragnarok" and during the event "Civil War" Thor had gone into hiding while Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, and Hank Pym built a robotic clone of Thor matching his every Asgardian feature. This clone was used by Iron Man during "Civil War" to enforce his Pro-Registration side, the clone also killed a superhero named Black Goliath. Hercules and Storm would eventually destroy the clone, but it would be rebuilt several times.
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Are you worthy enough to pick up Mjolnir? Comment below!

Three Times A Lady

Not too long ago I talked about a lesser known superhero named Bouncing Boy. And while I never got around to making a Bouncing Boy costume (yet) or really talking about him at length, I found one of the coolest things about the character is the equally cool character he married! Today's Z-Lister is Triplicate Girl from DC Comics!

Created by Jerry Siegal and Jim Mooney in "Action Comics #276" in 1961, Triplicate Girl was one of the many members of The Legion of Superheroes, a team of heroes from the 30th Century. Now The Legion of Superheroes is one of the first DC Comic's properties to suffer from "the Threeboot" which is to say the history of the team has been rebooted twice, resulting in three origins for Triplicate Girl. Ironically. So we'll be going through each version.

The first version (1961) was a woman named Luornu Durgo from Planet Cargg. Like all Craggites, Luornu was able to divide herself into three separate bodies all with different personalities. It was mentioned offhandedly that Craggites had this ability because their planet had three Suns. If dividing into three attractive women wasn't enough she was also a user of Tri-Jitsu, a form of martial arts using three bodies in sync. Despite her relation with the number three, Luornu would be the fourth member of The Legion of Superheroes which meant she followed the three founders Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl. In one story, fellow Legionnaire Brainiac 5 accidentally created a robot named Computo that killed one of Luornu's duplicates. This was a very crucial point for the character because when any of the three bodies join back together the memories and experiences of each of the bodies meld into one. If there are two of her who see different movies and then join back into one body, she will have experienced seeing both movies. So when her third body died and fused back into her, Luornu felt the experience of death. From that point on she became known as Duplicate Damsel, only able to use two bodies. Luornu would go on to marry Bouncing Boy and become a trainer for rookie Legionnaires.

In 1994, the character's new history was that she was born defective. On this new Planet Cragg the three bodies of every Craggite were identical in personality, but Luornu's duplicates had different personalities from her. Out of shame, her father left the family and her mother became an alcoholic and killed herself. Luornu was raised by her grandmother, but after she died Luornu was treated in a mental institution until running away and finding a man named R.J. Brande in a crashed spaceship. With her help, R.J. was able to travel back to Earth. R.J. was a business man who-as reward to Luornu-gave her a job at his offices and became her legal guardian. R.J. would be the man to fund The Legion of Superheroes and encourage Luornu to join the team as Triad.

In 2005, the next origin stated Luornu was a girl with amnesia who woke up on the empty planet of Cragg. When she discovered she could duplicate herself, she kept making making duplicates until reaching her limit. By then the entire planet was populated by copies of her. Three of these copies traveled to other worlds to build relationships between Cragg and other planets, but when they returned they were disliked by the other copies because each of them had experiences and memories the rest of the planet did not share. So, these three copies decided to become one person and serve on The Legion as Triplicate Girl.

It seems The Legion of Superheroes will be making a big return in DC Rebirth and I'm really excited to see what happens. The Legion of Superheroes is kind of like Star Trek mixed with The X-Men. In the case of Triplicate Girl and her triplicate origins I'm not really opposed to any of the three. The first was simple, but that version also featured the killing of one of the bodies and making it a emotional shift in the character. Really it's a turning point you don't see in many characters, to experience death, but still be alive. Her second origin is pretty dark, but it was the 90's. Plus, I think it says a lot about the societies of other planets. Just like with her third origin which seems to be a "unity vs individuality" theme. She is from a planet where everyone is the same, but she (or they) are different from the rest. The same could be said about being on The Legion, as being on a team means you're all on the same page, but you are still an individual. There's a lot of discussion worth having about a character like Triplicate Girl and it's a shame she's too underrated for anyone to be asking about her. Seeing the Legion on TV or in a film could open the floodgates for characters like her, but until then all we can do is look forward to what DC Comics does with her next.

Thanks for reading!

Would you live on a planet populated by Triplicate Girls? I know I would. Or maybe I wouldn't. Comment below!

What If Marvel...

Marvel Studios has tapped on a couple of movie genres to great success. "Guardians of The Galaxy" was a space opera, "Captain America: The First Avenger" is a war movie, "Thor" was a fantasy movie. Well, he was on Earth for most of that film. Now Kat Dennings, she was a fantasy. But there is still land less traveled for Marvel Studios. So let me as this, What if Marvel Tried Different Movie Genres?

What If Marvel Did a Western?

Directors like Steven Spielberg have been quoted as saying that "these superhero movies will die out like the Westerns". Yeah. About that? "Django Unchained", "Hateful 8", "Magnificent Seven", "True Grit", and that's just a few of the modern Westerns. All that being said how awesome would it be if Marvel Studios did a Western film? Just to spit in the face of the naysayers who compare Marvel movies to a genre that isn't as dead as people think. Setting it in the Wild West means you don't have to ask "Well where's The Avengers in all this" because-duh-it's before any of that stuff! As far as your focus, Marvel has gunslinger characters like The Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, and The Two-Gun Kid you could pair up into a classic "cowboys versus outlaws" kind of group film, or there is The Phantom Rider/Original Ghost Rider Carter Slade who rode a horse and looked more like a ghost than a flaming skeleton. Although, we already have my #1 Marvel Hero Robbie Reyes on TV right now. Oh, how about Red Wolf!? There have been a few versions, but Red Wolf is a Native American (Cheyenne) superhero trained in archery and wrestling and other forms of combat. He was also blessed by a Cheyenne God and one version has a pet wolf named "Lobo". He'd be a fun character to follow as most Westerns don't solely follow a Native American character.

What If Marvel Did a Horror?

The Horror Genre would be easy and hard at the same time. Sure Marvel has characters fit for it, but with Disney looming overhead they may not have "permission" to make a Horror movie. "Blade" was pretty close, but not really a traditional Horror. Venom would work pretty well if Sony wasn't biting the hand that feeds them. Orrgo is a giant monster so he'd work for a Godzilla type of film. The Legion of Monsters (Werewolf by Night, Morbius The Living Vampire, N'Kantu The Living Mummy, Frankenstein's Monster, and Manphibian) are your basic Hollywood monster squad, but I can see them being a comedic/spy romp team more than a traditional Horror. Still that would be an awesome team to revive. Figuratively revive. Man-Thing would probably be the best character to use. In short, Man-Thing is this monster that used to be a scientist, but due to another failed Super Soldier Serum he was changed. Man-Thing lives in the swamps of Louisiana and is driven by emotions, no thoughts. Man-Thing is empathetic so if you are afraid of him he will be afraid of you and use his acidic hands to burn your face off. Also his body is a portal into the Marvel Multiverse, but anyway you send some loud, disrespectful teenagers into his swamp and you got a Horror film with a Horror monster. Oh, wait. They did that already. Let's ignore that.

What If Marvel Did a Swords & Sorcery?

Like I said with "Thor" it seems Marvel's lacking on fantasy movies, though "Thor: Ragnarok" could be changing that. I really enjoy the aspect of multiple mythologies existing in the MCU so a film to explore more magical, mythic and fantastic parts of the universe would be great. Valkyrie could spin-off of Thor and have Asgardian adventures, or Marvel could use Angela just to piss Todd McFarlene off. If they wanted to go the other direction I'm all for a movie based on Marvel's Hercules. He could have a buddy film with Amadeus Cho. Namor could count as an underwater fantasy film, or maybe The Son of Satan if Ghost Rider really appeals to people. More than any other character to take the Fantasy film spot I'd love to see a Black Knight fantasy film. Or rather, a "Swords & Sorcery" film. Black Knight was running around in Medieval Times with a cursed sword, what could make it more interesting would be if Black Knight's modern day descendant Dave Whitman found the sword and had visions of his ancestor's life whenever he touched it. Essentially the whole film would be a flashback to the Dark Ages starring a tragic hero and end on a bit of downer as Dave becomes so inspired/obsessed with his family legacy he becomes the modern day Black Knight. Or you could send Dave/Black Knight to Weirdworld. What's Weirdworld? Another day, children.

What If Marvel Did a Psychological Thriller?

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is an insane place to live. You have Norse Gods being real, aliens attacking New York, secret ninja clans, and people who get superpowers from eating fish oil. It's bonkers! A psychological thriller of a character dealing with a world like this could be just the shake-up Marvel needs. They could take Phil Sheldon from Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross' "Marvels" and make him a modern day photographer who's been watching the superheroes since "Iron Man" and basically follow his life as he's forced to be part of the superhero craze. This would get us an in-depth look at how the public lives in a world like this. Although, an idea as artsy and low-budget as that doesn't seem like it would come to be unless the main character was a superhero. Enter The Sentry. I've talked about The Sentry a lot, but to put him simply he's like Superman with multiple personality disorder, memory loss, and schizophrenia. Robert Reynolds is the strongest hero there is as The Sentry, but every time he does something good as The Sentry he has to do something evil as The Void, his alter ego. In a movie, you could have The Sentry be a new superhero who appears, and The Void could be a villain who challenges him. At the same time you have Robert Reynolds who has been a civilian up to this point, but he discovers he has The Sentry's powers and he has The Sentry's memories. So the film follows this guy who thinks he is this superhero, but doesn't recall being this hero and how that struggle effects his family life. And if it is true that Robert and The Sentry are one-in-the-same, the public could hound him on why he didn't help in New York and who The Void is and how does he have powers. And finally, the film could end with him flying into the sun. Seemingly dead, but simply waiting until he can help the world again. Or asking if he can even help anyone anymore.

So, that was a lot of fun ideas! I can't wait to see what kind of movie Marvel comes up with next!
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What type of movie do you want Marvel to make? Comment below!