Heroes Always Die

"Avengers: Infinity War/Infinity Gauntlet"! The Avengers! The Guardians of The Galaxy! Versus Thanos, The Mad Titan! With Infinity Stones on the line and the universe at risk, who will fall in the battle with the purple demon!? Here's The Panel Biter's Top 10 Most Likely Avengers 3 Deaths.

10. Drax The Destroyer

Drax is the least likely due to The Guardians of The Galaxy still having a third movie after Avengers 3. However, one of the most likable features regarding the Guardians is their small roster, a roster we've seen develop greatly. So imagine the impact on both the characters and the viewers if Drax were to die. While all the Guardians want a piece of Thanos, Drax has the largest bone to pick (metaphorically) with The Mad Titan, as it was Thanos that ordered for Drax's family to be killed. If Drax were to die in combat with Thanos it would take everyone by surprise, it would also allow Drax to join his family in death as he mentioned in the first Guardians film. Again, pretty unlikely, but if you know Drax in the comics you know his hatred of Thanos and just what comes from his death.

9. The Vision

This was a complaint by my friend The Fantastic David, if The Vision has an Infinity Gem is his head it means Thanos will definitely fight him and possibly kill him. We know the Gem gave The Vision sentience, but Ultron would have brought him to life regardless of the Gem being used. My point is that I think The Vision could live without the Gem, it's not his power source it's the thing that gave him his powers and his freedom. However, that does not mean Thanos won't kill The Vision in the process of getting the Gem. It's also likely that battle will be the thing that draws Thanos to Earth. While it makes sense with the narrative, The Vision's death also signifies the end of Ultron's effect on the Marvel Universe, as well as allowing The Scarlet Witch to possibly use the extent of her powers "House of M" style. Without the Mind Gem, The Vision could still live, he could still die, but the death of The Vision would be a foreboding one especially after we've seen him develop as a human.

8. Tony Stark/Iron Man

RDJ is getting old, guys. His contract is running it's course too. And imagine the message of ending an era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the death of it's first hero. After his near-death in the first Avengers film, Tony Stark's death has been alluded to here and there. The panic attacks, the invention of Ultron, the Civil War. Tony has a lot of regrettable things on his back, and in death he'd prove his worth as a hero. Again, the impact of the MCU's first superhero dying to save the Earth would be heart-breaking for film fans. We would see the beginning and end of Iron Man. In his death, Tony could leave his technology, his money, and his legacy to upcoming heroes around the world. Then again, RDJ brings in fans so I'm not sure if he's the Avenger to kill off. It's more likely Stark will retire and help heroes from the background, maybe do for other heroes what he's doing for Spider-Man.

7. Clint Barton/Hawkeye

Another hero who's death has been teased is the more likely casualty; Hawkeye. After learning Clint had a secret wife and kids on a farm, many of us assumed he'd die during the fight with Ultron only for Quicksilver to take the bullet for him. Literally. Anyone else remember that one time Quicksilver was in these movies? Hawkeye's death would hit home because he's most human of the Avengers, and yet he still tries. He tried to fight The Vision, he tried to fight Black Panther, human as he may be he always tries when he's asked to. The imagery of a broken bow and a fallen hero-nay, a fallen father-would bring an upset for our heroes. It may even be a motivation, a new friend to Avenge. With Hawkeye's death you get development from other heroes, you can use Kate Bishop from the comics, you fake his death and bring him back as Ronin. It would just give more respect to Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye to know his "average, underwhelming, but brave every-man" got one last hurrah. Maybe he'll shoot an arrow at an Infinity Gem the same way he shot an arrow into our hearts. Ow.

6. Nick Fury

Speaking of guys who started it all. Nick "Motherfucking" Fury is the man who started the post-credits trope for Marvel, he's the man who brought The Avengers together, and the man who ripped Shield apart. Nobody knows where he is, or how alive he may be. But Samuel L. Jackson's character is well-known as the grand-daddy of Marvel's heroes. And to see the man behind The Avengers die would be a grim reminder of how human these characters are. It could give Phil Coulson and his Agents of Shield some stake in the fight, it could motivate all evil organizations across the planet like Hydra or AIM to strike while the iron is hot, knowing the Spy of all Spies has died. But really, I don't know if the Russo Brothers could drag Sam Jackson off the set. He's having too much fun.

5. Nebula

More likely than Drax, Nebula has an interesting stake in all this. Thanos is her adoptive father, but he's also the man who made her and her adoptive sister Gamora fight as children. And every time Nebula would lose, Thanos would rip a part of her body off and replace it with machinery. So Nebula being psychotic makes total sense. Without spoiling too much, Nebula and Gamora do have some small amount of bonding in GotGv2, so having Nebula die would spark the inner rage inside Gamora. Gamora would become more violent and closed off from her friends. More than that, if Thanos killed Nebula it would show us-the audience-that Thanos really doesn't care about anyone. Not even his own children. Not even the child he ripped and fixed over and over. And no offense to Nebula, but she's not the most important person on screen. When I go to see a Guardians movie, Nebula is never the reason I'm going. Granted, this death could invoke some rare love for Nebula we may all have, and signify the change for the Guardians favorite green girl.

4. The Collector

The Collector-as well as The Grandmaster-is an Elder of The Universe. One being from a race as old as the universe. Possessing great power and influence, The Collector is likely to die because he has an Infinity Gem and is probably the easiest person to kill. For Thanos, at least. To see Thanos kill an Elder, a being so old and so wise and so regarded, would show how powerful Thanos is. Add to that the potential surprise of seeing The Collector fight and maybe use his Infinity Gem and you have a rare scene. The death of The Collector would also shatter the notion that any character is safe. Main characters, supporting characters, and even background characters as up for grabs. The Collector is just a safe bet, and I doubt a man with collecting would just allow someone to take what is theirs.

3. Odin

If Thanos is truly to show how powerful he is, killing the God of all Norse Gods would be a great start. Odin is one of the most powerful beings in existence, he began the Norse lineage, and he has the power to defeat even his own son Thor. With Asgard falling in Ragnarok, and Odin apparently on Earth now, he doesn't exactly have much to do. Killing him off would motivate Thor, maybe even make Thor king of whatever is left of Asgard. That way Thor doesn't have to die, but he can't be a hero anymore. And again, if Thanos killed Odin it could show how serious of a threat he is. Killing Gods is one thing, but killing the father of Gods shows how screwed our heroes are. And again, it's a chance for a supporting character to get a sick fight scene. If Thor is so powerful, imagine Odin going full force.

2. Loki

The thing that gives Loki the slight edge over Odin is the impact of his death. If Loki dies, Thor goes through some emotions. Odin goes through some emotions. We go through some emotions. And remember, Loki was the first global threat. Before Thanos, before Ultron, before Hydra, there was Loki invading the Earth with the Chitari and controlling minds. Loki is a complex villain, and a likable one too. If Thanos killed Loki it would signify "the new villain killing the old threat". It's like Dragonball Z, right? Goku just barely defeated Frieza in the Namek Saga. But then, in the Android Saga, Frieza comes back (which means Goku didn't even kill him) and the new character of Trunks shows up from the future and kills Frieza no problem. That shows us how powerful this new guy is because he destroyed the be-all-end-all villain in one move. Same applies to Loki and Thanos. Not to mention that it would make Loki's last appearance significant. One could assume by his staff having an Infinity Gem and him working with the Chitari that Loki was working with Thanos, but by Thor 2 we can tell Thanos wasn't coming back for him. So having Loki be like, "See? I didn't need your help to become King" and then Thanos wipes the floor with him would be totally within character for the both of them. Pretty sure Loki still has a Gem, so Thanos is coming for him one way or another.

1. Steve Rogers/Captain America

Well, duh! What is more impacting than the human personification of America dying? I know I talked a lot about Iron Man being the MCU's first superhero, but chronologically Steve Rogers holds that title. We've seen Captain America have important effects on his country; he spearheaded the Allies winning World War II, he led a team of Gods, mortals, and monsters against an alien invasion, he brought Hydra out of hiding, he caused a divide in the superhero community. With every step Cap takes, waves ripple across these films. Cap's days are written in the sand, he gave up the shield and went into hiding, now we don't know where he is or what he's doing. But we know Bucky is still around, we know Bucky might be the next Captain America. And if that's the case we need Steve to go somewhere. The other indication is Chris Evans' contract with Marvel Studios. He's almost done being in these films, and he's expressed an interest in directing. It's all the more likely he'll be the Avenger to die. And imagine the power of that scene. Captain America punches Thanos (kinda like that cover where he punched Hitler), and Thanos breaks the shield in one slap and beats Cap to death, with Cap "doing this" all day. From his death, Tony finally puts his smarts before his ego and leads The Avengers and The Guardians and every other righteous son of a bitch against The Mad Titan. More than anyone else, Cap represents an era for this Cinematic Universe. Hope, achievement, acceptance, and adaptability. Steve Rogers was willing to die for his country when he was 5' feet tall and 90 pounds, so dying in a war no soldier could prepare for would be a fitting end to The First Avenger. An end that will have us all saying, "Assemble".
Thanks for reading.

Tornado Facts

Are you a fan of The Red Tornado? Well, here are One Dozen Red Tornado Facts!

1. In 1939, Abigail Mathilda Hunkel was a single mother working in New York City. In an attempt to keep the city safe, Ma Hunkel created the DIY superhero identity of "The Red Tornado" and used her overbearing strength to fight crime.

2. In 1968, a sentient tornado from planet Rann-known as Ulthoom-took the form of a supervillain called The Tornado Tyrant, and an android on Earth created by the evil T. O. Marrow called The Tornado Champion. The Tyrant represented Ulthoom's evil side, The Champion represented it's evil side. During an adventure between The Justice League and The Justice Society, The Tornado Tyrant is trapped in another dimension, and The Tornado Champion becomes The Red Tornado.

3. In the 1980's, Red Tornado's origins were changed and he was established as Earth's Air Elemental. Needing a physical host, the elemental sought the infant son of T. O. Marrow, but the son died and it resorted to inhabiting the android Marrow was created.

4. When Superboy, Robin, and Impulse formed the first incarnation of Young Justice, they made their first home out of Mount Justice-a backup HQ for The Justice League. Once they enter, they wake Red Tornado who had been in seclusion. At the request of The Justice League, Red Tornado stays with Young Justice as their advisor. Being around young, emotional superheroes helped Red Tornado develop his artificial emotions.

5. Red Tornado created a human form and used the name "John Smith", as John Smith he held the occupation of being a high school teacher. He would go on to date fellow employee Kathy Sutton. The two get married and adopt a child named Traya.

6. In 2006, Red Tornado's body is damaged to the point where his soul could leave it. Deadman-who was actually Felix Faust in disguise-lured Red Tornado into a genetically engineered human body. Red Tornado then became a human, with all his wind powers. However, the remains of robot body are used as a new body for the killer robot Amazo. While The Justice League destroy Amazo-Tornado, Red Tornado (in human form) is ripped limb from limb by Solomon Grundy. At the end of the adventure, Tornado's soul inhabits his rebuilt robot body.

7. Before Red Tornado was created by T. O. Marrow, Marrow created three other androids who could control other elements: Red Volcano controlled Earth, Red Inferno controlled Fire, and Red Torpedo controlled Water.

8. In 2011's Earth 2, Superman is corrupted by the evil Darkseid and attacks the Earth. In order to protect his daughter from her ex-lover, General Sam Lane used technology to transfer his daughter Lois Lane's mind into the body of "The Red Tornado", a robot superhero designed by the government. As Earth 2's Red Tornado, Lois fought Superman and joined that Earth's Justice Society. In a comic series following the events of the TV show "Smallville", Tessa Mercer's mind is transferred into a robot body and becomes Red Tornado.

9. In one adventure featuring both the android Red Tornado and Ma Hunkel, T. O. Marrow kidnapped Hunkel's daughter and infected her with nanomachines. When she grew up, the daughter Maxine developed wind-based superpowers and joined The Justice Society as Cyclone.

10. Red Tornado's original appearance featured a purple cape and black trunks. After an adventure called "The Man Who Murdered Santa Claus", the JLA redesign Red Tornado into his more iconic blue and yellow appearance as a Christmas gift.

11. In the 1980's, the Justice League's very first villain Starro-a giant alien starfish who possesses the bodies of other beings by attaching smaller starfish to them-returned to Earth to take over. While most of The Justice League was possessed by Starro, Red Tornado was immune because he was a machine. By causing a citywide blackout, Red Tornado freed the JL from Starro's control and helped save the Earth.

12. During "52", Red Tornado's body was destroyed and spread throughout the Australian outback. After being found by aborigines, Red Tornado was rebuilt with auto parts by a mechanic. He is once again destroyed by Intergang and his body is trashed. His head is then made part of a contemporary art piece and is bought by T. O. Marrow. From there, his head is stolen by time traveler Rip Hunter. To fix his time machine, Hunter uses Red Tornado's head as a steering mechanism. In that instance, Red Tornado helped Rip Hunter restore the DC Universe's timeline.
Thanks for reading.

The Rock of Aegeus

"Sometimes to move forward, you have to go backwards". Awful line from "Luke Cage", just awful. But in this character's case you can see why it's relevant. A mortal man seeking immortal tools, this week's Z-Lister is a Wonder Woman villain good enough for a reinvention, but dull enough to be forgotten. DC Comic's Aegeus.

Created by Dan Mishkin, Gene Colan, and Frank McLaughlin in 1982's "Wonder Woman #297", Nikos Augeus was a Greek Terrorist with a hand in weapon trading. After killing an ambassador, he and his men hid on an island-unbeknownst to them it was Paradise Island, home of The Amazons. There he found and recruited Bellerophon. Bellerophon was one of the first Greek heroes, before the age of Hercules, but in his old age he grew blind. Once off the island, Bellerophon gifted Aegeus with the lightning of Zeus, which gave him super strength, teleportation, and electricity manipulation. He also gave Augeus the winged horse Pegasus. Together they learned Wonder Woman and The Amazons were in possession of a Purple Healing Ray that could undo his blindness. To find Paradise Island again they kidnapped Wondie's boy-toy Steve Trevor and forced him to give him the island's location. Once there, Augeus and Bellerophon are creamed by Wonder Woman and one of Aegeus' own followers.

Augeus was later hired by a rogue U.S. government officer to kill Steve Trevor with the blade of Vulcan (another Z-Lister we talked about a long time ago). His assassination plan was thwarted by Wonder Woman, but Augeus was released after he agreed to testify at the officer's court case. With a few more rare appearances here and there, Augeus' last appearance was quite recent in 2017's "Justice League of America". There, he uses his mythological connections and his personal weapons designer to arm a group of mercenaries and citizens and overthrew Penn City, Pennsylvania. He even managed to numb Lobo's healing factor by using an ancient poison and provided Chimeras for his men. However, he also provided a forced stability to the city. After his defeat by the JLA, the heroes help establish more jobs to provide the citizens with legal career opportunities.

As far as Wonder Woman villains go, Augeus is pretty boring. The concept of a weapon-totting, modern day God-slayer is pretty cool, but ultimately no writer has established him as a solid villain. Since he is human, one could play with the perspective of a man using Godly weapons on a Goddess trying to behave like a human. As if Augeus believes all it takes to be a God is power, but from Wonder Woman's experience being a God is something that's given to you and not taken by force. Especially by men who resort to weapon-dealings and militaristic mutiny. There's potential, especially now that Wonder Woman is being approached by more of her traditional super-villains and not just the common Greek God or Goddess anymore. At any rate he's a decent villain for Steve Trevor. You know, for whatever that's worth.

Thanks for reading!

Also in Greek myth he was a Goat-Man.

What If Squirrel Girl...

Thanos, Galactus, Doctor Doom. Villain after villain have fallen before the furry-tailed superhero known as The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. But What If Squirrel Girl was beaten?

I don't care. I honestly do not care. I don't like Squirrel Girl. I used to, I used to think she was funny. Back when she only made sporadic appearances, back when she had the reputation of beating Doctor Doom, back when she wasn't drawn to look like a bus drove over an "Adventure Time" character. Then she got a book and everyone started loving her and referencing how unbeatable she is! It's so annoying! Every time I want to talk about how awesome Doctor Doom or Thanos is, "Uh, wasn't he beaten by Squirrel Girl". Every time I want to talk about cool superhero battles, "Squirrel Girl versus everyone". Haha. Hahahahahahhahahah! So. Goddamn. Funny. This one character, this one character who lacks any characteristic value. This character who's humor came from her silliness and the sheer miracle of her previous battles, is now held up above every other comic book character by the running joke of "she's unbeatable". And when she gets on TV? Forget about it. They'll cancel "New Warriors" and just make a Squirrel Girl show and she'll win every episode and nobody will complain about the poor narrative or the lack of character progression. No, they'll all praise and rejoice at the memeable content provided by a character who is just a giant fucking joke! God, at least One Punch Man has internal conflict. At least he's bored. In fact...you know what?
What's The Difference Between Squirrel Girl and One Punch Man!?

One Punch Man is a fucking character! He worked to be unbeatable! 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats and a 10km run every single day for a year. Squirrel Girl? No work out! No training! Just the ability to befriend squirrels! And squirrels can defeat anyone! And Saitama's track record? He's beaten everybody in one punch, but there was one guy who survived the first punch. And Baldy was surprised. Yeah he still beat that guy, but he was still surprised for a minute there. Plus, when Saitama shows up in the superhero community everyone underestimates him. Squirrel Girl? Well, everybody knows how tough she is! Why bother putting her on any Avengers teams when she can beat anyone on her own! Saitama craves a worthy battle! He wants to challenged, he wants to be defeated, he wants to know there is more to his training than what he's achieved. And Squirrel Girl is just....just her! Just unchanging. Always the joke, always the constant. No matter where you go in the Marvel Universe you'll still find her beating someone else and people will say it's entertaining. God, this must be how Goku Fans feel when they talk about Goku vs Superman.

When you take a joke too far it stops being funny. When you repeat the same joke over and over it stops being funny. When all the value your character has is a running joke it stops being funny. And she stops being a character. If you liked that Squirrel Girl book, good for you. I'm glad you even read a comic book in this age of cinema serialization. But I cannot get into it. I don't think I ever can. Squirrel Girl used to be a character who got respect for one high moment in her life, but rather than exploring what comes after one unearned victory-one fluke-it's just easier to throw someone else into the squirrel pit and wait for Tumblr to eat it up like a sack of nuts.

Thanks for reading.
Also, Squirrel Girl and Wolverine used to bang before she was twenty. Enjoy that.

Ant Facts

Are you a fan of Ant-Man? Good, because we got One Dozen Ant-Man Facts for you!

1. There have been three men to take up the mantle of Ant-Man: Hank Pym in 1962, Scott Lang in 1979, and Eric O'Grady in 2006.

2. In 1963, Hank Pym reverse engineered his Pym Particles which caused him to grow. Using them in this way allowed Pym to create the identity of Giant-Man. In 1966, the growth effects of the particles retained and Hank was stuck as a giant, he then used the name Goliath. After a botched experiment, Hank develops a second personality that takes the name Yellowjacket. After the death of Janet Van Dyne, Hank took her superhero mantle of The Wasp in 2009. In 2015, Hank merged with his creation Ultron and left into space.

3. Hank Pym has suffered several mental breakdowns surrounding his insecurity, lack of self-confidence, guilt for dragging down his friends, obsession, suicide attempts, schizophrenia, and multiple personality disorder. Hank once tried to create a robot to attack The Avengers so he could defeat it and earn his peer's respect, but when his wife Janet/The Wasp tried to stop him he slapped her across the face. This infamous slap would plague the character for years to come. Several writers have tried to bookend this instance by having Hank apologize to her and having Janet move on from it and even having the two of them try dating again. Readers often misinterpret that single strike with the Hank and Janet from Marvel's "Ultimates". In the Ultimate Universe, Hank Pym regularly beat Janet, while in the comics Hank hit her once and immediately felt ashamed of it.

4. Hank Pym was once told by the Cosmic Entity known as Eternity-a being who is the literal body of the universe-that Hank is the "Scientist Supreme", a scientific counterpart to the Sorcerer Supreme. This was later revealed to be a trick by the Norse God Loki in an attempt to manipulate Hank Pym.

5. Hank was a founding member of The Avengers, advisor to The West Coast Avengers, a member of The Illuminati, leader of Avengers A.I., and a teacher at both Avengers Academy and at Camp Hammond's Initiative Program.

6. Before Scott Lang was Ant-Man, he was an electrical engineer who left his career to pursue a life of crime. Originally, he claimed his took up robbery for the thrill, but writers would clean the origin up by instead claiming his job wasn't enough to support his family. In Marvel's "Ant-Man" film, the theft was changed again, this time Scott had stolen from a company he worked for because the company had secretly cut it's employees paychecks. This established Scott as more of a "Robin Hood" type of thief.

7. After his time in prison, Scott was hired by Tony Stark to set up a security system in Avengers Mansion. This led Scott closer to the heroes he'd eventually join and allow him direct access to Pym's Ant-Man suit when he needed to steal it and save a doctor from Cross Enterprises. Coincidentally, Scott almost ended up working for Stark again in 2014, but turned the job down to move to Miami with his daughter and ex-wife. Following them is more accurate.

8. Scott Lang and Mr. Fantastic once cured Bruce Banner of Lou Gehrig's disease. They did this by extracting healthy DNA samples from Banner's dead father and using them as replacements for Banner's damaged samples. Ally by hand, courtesy of Scott.

9. In "Avengers Disassembled", Scott Lang was killed by the actions of Scarlet Witch. He was revived in "The Children's Crusade" by Iron Lad, but his daughter Cassandra Lang (who was the hero Stature) was killed by Doctor Doom in the same story. Scott later defeated Doctor Doom (the real one) and tricked him into believing he had killed the daughter of Mr. Fantastic, much to Doom's displeasure. Doctor Doom-in "AXIS"-revived Cassandra in an attempt to atone for his actions.

10. Scott has been a member of The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, The Future Foundation, Doctor Strange's Defenders, and Luke Cage's Heroes For Hire.

11. Eric O'Grady was a Shield Agent who stole Hank's newest Ant-Man suit with his fellow agent McCarthy. McCarthy is shot and killed by a Hydra Agent and Eric peels the suit off his friend's corpse. As the new Ant-Man, Eric uses his powers to spy on women in the showers, steal stuff, and accidentally murder people. He also used McCarthy's death as an excuse to get close to McCarthy's girlfriend, they make out on top of McCarthy's grave and later sleep together. After impregnating her, Eric stops seeing McCarthy's girlfriend and begins dating a woman named Abigail. She eventually reveals herself to a single mother with a son and Eric leaves her too. Much later, Eric tells the criminal Taskmaster that all the lewd things he did were actually Scott Lang (who was dead at the time). Overhearing this slander, Cassy Lang attacks Eric only for Eric to beat her half to death and proclaim "who's your daddy now".

12. Eric was later killed by a villain known as The Father and his body was used to create a Life Model Decoy. Currently, the robot copy of Eric-going by Black Ant-is a member of Hydra's Avengers.
Thanks for reading.

What The Buck!?

A few weeks ago we talked about Captain America becoming a fascist. No, not that one. The first one. The one that became leader of the KKK. Well, if that version of Cap was so messed up, imagine how his version of Bucky must have ended up! Today's Z-Lister is Jack Monroe/Bucky/Nomad from Marvel Comics!

So here's the short of it. In the 1950's, Stan Lee wrote Captain America stories. In the 1960's he put Cap on The Avengers and established he was frozen in the 1940's and that the 1950's stories didn't count. Then in the 1970's, this writer Steve Englehart established the Cap and Bucky of the 50's were different people. Cap was actually William Burnside and Bucky was Jack Monroe. They used a flawed Super Soldier Serum to be the new Captain America and Bucky. They went crazy, were arrested by the FBI, and then brainwashed by an evil psychiatrist. William became "The Grand Director" and leader of a Neo-Nazi regime, and Jack was seemingly killed. Seemingly.

The gun Jack was shot with was actually full of blanks as the evil psychiatrist had other plans for him. Luckily, SHIELD recovered Jack before those plans could be enacted. SHIELD cured Jack of his mental trauma and Jack met the real Steve Rogers. The two became good friends and Jack even donned the Bucky costume again to help defeat a terrorist named Viper (who later became Madame Hydra). During this adventure, Cap realized it was a bit wrong of him to bring Jack-a grown man with mental issues connected to the Bucky identity-into this fight as Bucky, so Cap gave Jack the Nomad costume. During a time when Captain America was displeased with how America was being led, he suspended his American citizenship and became a world-trotting vigilante known as The Nomad. Since he still had the costume lying around he felt Jack could use it.

As Nomad, Jack teamed up with Captain America against the likes of The Slayer, The Sisters of Sin, Baron Zemo, The Red Skull, Madcap, and The Slug. Nomad had a brief solo career, but was recruited by Steve Rogers after The Commission of Superhuman Activities legally took the Captain America identity away from Steve. Kind of like a copyright issue, seeing as how the shield, the suit, and the serum inside Steve's body were all made and on a US government pension. As "The Captain", Steve formed a team to help him continue fighting evil in the US. On this team was The Falcon, The Demolition Man (a fan favorite), Nomad, and Nomad's girlfriend Vagabond. During one adventure, Nomad, D-Man, and Vagabond are captured by criminals. With the authorities on their way and the criminals outgunned, they offer to bring the heroes with them. At that time, Cap and his team were considered outlaws so the police would surely arrest them. While Vagabond and D-Man choose to face the authorities, Nomad accepts the villain's offer. After all, D-Man and Vagabond seem to hitting it off quite well. Steve finds Nomad drunk at a bar the next day and tells him he's turning himself in to the CSA. Steve wants to make a compromise with the organization, but Nomad claims Steve is a coward for selling out to them. The two then part ways.

Continuing to be the vigilante known as The Nomad, Jack is continuously hunted by Captain America and the CSA. Jack deals with real-world issues like the AIDS epidemic, homelessness, gang warfare, hate crimes, and drug rings. He even adopts the infant daughter of a drug addict and names her Bucky. Jack becomes more calm and laid back after joining The Undergrounders, a network of freedom fighters who help him battle injustice and care for his child. Jack's further adventures include teaming up with Daredevil and The Punisher, being present for a space event called "The Infinity Crusade", helping Doctor Strange battle an ancient magical queen, fighting The Hate Monger, meeting Man-Thing, and fighting the mother of his child Bucky-who had been brainwashed into an assassin.

Jack's death is faked and he is captured by Henry Gyrich, a former friend of The Avengers who betrayed them. Gyrich infused Jack with nanomachines that allowed Gyrich to control Jack's body and turn him into a criminal-killing criminal known as The Scourge of The Underworld. He was fought and defeated by The Thunderbolts and a gunshot from a distant assailant jogged Jack's mind back on track. As Jack visits the family that adopted Bucky, we learn the man who shot him was The Winter Soldier, the original Bucky.

While his history follows similar steps to William Burnside's, we can see Jack Monroe received much better treatment. After the trauma of becoming a failed Bucky, Jack essentially got to live his dream by becoming the sidekick of Captain America-the real one, this time. But as his career went on he began to see his dream was only a figment. You see, someone like Superman or Batman or Spider-Man doesn't need to concern themselves with government intervention. But Captain America abides by the flag. He's been shown to resist his country's demands before, but his time as Captain America in the modern world has taught him when to fight and when not to fight. Steve Rogers will go against what his country tells him, unless he and his superiors can meet a compromise. That much is certain. But as a fan of Captain America, and as a person who's been manipulated by his government, you have to imagine how stressful Jack's life as Nomad was. When he could not trust his government, he looked to Captain America to be the one thing he could trust. And then when that one person folded and turned himself in, Jack had nothing else to believe in except his own actions.

While William's story was one of a hero's descent into madness, Jack's is a story of victimization. Victimized by his teacher, his government, his idol, and finally shot in the head by Bucky, the person he emulated by force and by choice. Nobody knows what will come for Jack next, or if anyone at Marvel even knows he exists, but I like to believe Jack is still out there. Wandering the country. Not as a hero or a symbol or a vigilante, but as a Nomad.

Thanks for reading.

The Fix-tastic Five

Marvel Comics is in some hot water. At their most recent Retailer Summit one of their Chiefs made it seem like their dip in sales is due to all their new characters. One of their artists hid anti-Semitic messages into an issue of X-Men. And the constant attempts to "reshape the Marvel Universe" through back-to-back event comics is making Marvel pricey to keep up with. Marvel Comics needs to handle their management and get back to what's important. With "Marvel Legacy" seemingly promises that, here are The Panel Biter's Top 5 Changes To Marvel Comics.

5. Acknowledge The First Family

 Marvel Comics can't outright ignore The X-Men because they still sell. They can renumber and reestablish them just like any other comic book series, but they can't make them important to any events. Case-in-point was during "Civil War II", instead of any mutants involving themselves in that event, Marvel did another event called "Inhumans vs X-Men" which kept them busy and away from the "real" event. However, one family of characters Marvel has no problem ignoring are The Fantastic Four. Currently Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, and their children are missing. The Thing was a member of The Guardians of The Galaxy and is now part of SHIELD, and The Human Torch is an Avenger and part of the Inhumans. There is no current Fantastic Four title and no indication of their return, despite most of the pieces being there. Doctor Doom is still relevant as he's taken the Iron Man mantle and is trying to be a superhero now. So instead of The First Family of Marvel having their spotlight, they are either missing or subjected to titles/mantles that can be used by Marvel Studios (i.e. Iron Man, The Avengers, The Inhumans, The Guardians of The Galaxy). "Marvel Legacy" promises the return of a classic Marvel character, but I don't think anyone would be opposed to them cheating and just bringing the Richards Family back so that the FF can return. It is because of The Fantastic Four we have The X-Men, Spider-Man, The Hulk, The Avengers. They are the cornerstone of what Marvel represents. Marvel should just be the bigger man, say "screw you, 20th Century Fox", and allow The Fantastic Four to brighten The Marvel Universe once again.

4. Don't End Diversity, Just Slow It Down

 Diversity is a touchy subject, one that readers have been on both sides about. The whole trend of replacing older, Caucasian superheroes with new races, genders, ages, and religions really got it's beginning with Miles Morales/Spider-Man, but actually meant something when the new Ms. Marvel was a Muslim girl. But then we got an Asian Hulk, a Black Captain America, a Black female Iron Man, a Hispanic Captain America (who's name is America), a Hispanic Ghost Rider, a female Thor, and everything is changing what do we do!? It all happened too fast, and while the general public may believe it has something to do with appeasing the modern audience or "giving everyone a hero of their own" it all ties back to the movies. Like everything else. You see, for as much as we love the actors who play Marvel's heroes, guys like Robert Downey Jr. are getting old. But hey, we have this teenaged African-American Iron Man character in our comics, we could just use her to replace RDJ in the movies. People can't get mad because hey, that's what happened in the books! And if they do complain we can just bank off our LGTB/racially enthused fan-base to call them sexists and racists. That is why this topic is so touchy, because Marvel-as a company-wants more Kamala Khans and Riri Williams so they can keep their movies going. They think it's too risky to have every Marvel movie star a new comic book character, but if it's a character with a pre-established title like "Iron Man" or "Captain America" people will watch it despite it not being the same actor or character. As far comics go? Diversity isn't the problem, it just needs to stop. Take a break from inventing new colored superheroes, we're good. Instead of making new characters we should just develop the ones we have. What good is Riri Williams as Iron Man/Ironheart if we sideline her for another Iron-Person just to keep things fresh? You have characters who could redefine the direction of your comics and your films, don't forget them just to get another front-page on a news site with some-I don't know-Yugoslavian, bi-sexual, teenaged, male Black Widow. Shit, that's gonna happen now.

3. No More Events/Tie-Ins/Reboots

 Just stop with the events. For Rao's sake, just stop. When events like "Avengers: Standoff", "Civil War II", and "Secret Empire" aren't banking off one another, you have events like "Inhumans vs X-Men", "Monsters Unleashed" and "The Clone Conspiracy" falling in between them. It's getting to a point where as soon as one event ends another begins. If-by the grace of Mephisto-there is no event going on, there's a Lead-Up, Preview, or Tie-In to an upcoming event already out. It's ridiculous, it's unnecessary, and it costs your readers money. And then there's the matter of "shaking up the Marvel Universe". Christ, between all these events the Marvel Universe is about as shaken up as a glass full of unstable molecules tossed in a blender, then the blender is tossed into a drying machine, then the drying machine was tossed into an open field during a hurricane. Marvel, your universe doesn't need to be changed or redefined or shaken up, just develop it. Let it grow, let it evolve. Stop establishing new relationships and partnerships and new teams and then saying "Fuck it that didn't work, redo it! Redo it all". Stop it. Stop renumbering The Avengers and making a "new team". The Avengers aren't new, they're lazy. They're predictably loose and people keep leaving and joining between the span of months. Stop renumbering Captain Marvel because people aren't buying it. When you renumber so often people are going to get pissed because they know what they're reading ultimately won't matter, it will just be replaced in a month. Creators won't want to work for you if they know their work could just end because you say so. They could be working on a year-long story and Marvel could just say "it's not selling, must be you" and take you off the book, renumber it, and then forget whatever it is you did. You take the freedom away from the people making your fucking books. And tie-ins? Making your creators stop what they're doing, do a story that relates to your dumb events, and then saying that "tie-in" is integral to the event for an extra buck? Shame on you. Up to your room, Marvel. No supper, no renumbering, and no events for at least one year!

2. Less Titles With Cheaper Prices

Contradicting what I just said, Marvel needs to reboot. If "Marvel Legacy" is as obvious a rip-off of "DC Rebirth" as we can all assume, there are two important factors Marvel needs to take away from DC Rebirth that could get them back on focus. Less books. Cheap prices. Currently, DC Comics has 32 titles. Marvel has roughly 62 ongoing titles. That's almost twice what DC Comics has, and while DC may give certain characters like Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern multiple books, Marvel allows Black Panther, Deadpool, and Doctor Strange to have three books each, they allow younger characters like America, Wasp, and Young Jean Grey to have titles. And Marvel's 62 books either cost 3.99 to 5.99. Most of DC Comics titles-after Rebirth-costed 2.99. In fact, the "DC Universe Rebirth Special" which was a plus-sized single-issue that set-up the event and the events to come only costed 2.99! And when prices went up, they only went up to 3.99. DC Comics is selling better than Marvel right now because people can afford their DC stories. Marvel, on the other hand, releases so many books at such steeping prices and then have the balls to see their event books undersell and say it's diversity's fault. DC Comics Rebirth also featured fresh talent and returning talent, they brought back people who left the company five years ago and promised them they could do the stories they want to do. Marvel? "You can't have the X-Men help The Avengers. You can't let Spider-Man leave New York because this event happens in New York. You can't use The Thing or The Human Torch, just use a Guardian or an Inhuman". Can't, can't, can't. All because Marvel is playing favorites. Marvel, you want better sales? Make better books. Stop thinning out your fan's wallets and keep it simple. Start with, I dunno, 25 books, and work your way from there. Pair characters together, do more teams or anthology books, stop giving every John Doe under the sun their own comic book. And stop making characters based off images. Between Gwenpool and Spider-Gwen, I'm about ready to go back in time and throw Gwen Stacy off that bridge myself.

1. Care

"The house of ideas". Sure. Ideas. If you call using your own movies as inspiration ideas. Do you know why Marvel fans exist? Because when characters like Spider-Man, and Daredevil, and The X-Men were all created they were different because they didn't act like the typical superheroes. They weren't The Green Hornet, or The Phantom, or The Shadow, or even classic DC Comics characters. You could identify a Marvel Comics character by one factor: reliability. I can't relate to Spider-Man because I fight men in bird suits, but I can relate because I have responsibilities that stress me out. I can't relate to Iron Man because I'm not an unbelievably vain dick-head, but I can relate to him hiding his self-doubt with comedy. Captain America, The Hulk, Thor, these are characters who we aspire to be modern day Gods. But for all their strength, they are still human, fallible, we can still relate to them and aspire to be them because without the powers and the costumes we are like these characters. That's why people care. Why do you care? Because every superhero is just a brand to you. Because they're all just films waiting to happen, merchandise ready to sell. Because you'd rather hear how amazing "Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2" was instead of hearing how crappy your comic books are. Because selling properties and banking off the creativity of movie makers is easy, but actually sitting down and talking about stories is hard. Listening to your writers and artists is hard. Listening to the people who have been buying your shit for decades is hard. Just try to make The X-Men important. Just try to give The Fantastic Four respect. More over, try to let creators create! You've done it before. Felipe Smith got no trouble when he created The All-New Ghost Rider, he just got to do his own thing with no interruption and no over-promotion. Let people tell stories. You can't just say "we don't care. Just make the comics so we have movie material, make comics so we can hype it up with movie we have coming out" and then turn around and say "hey, did you ask to use that character? You can't kill this one off we need him for a film. You can't use The X-Men here, use an Inhuman or something and keep The X-Men over there". You can't. You shouldn't. It's just sad, shameful, that during an era where Marvel has risen the ranks and now everyone on the planet knows their characters and loves them, that they refuse to let their comics be as good as their movies. That they refuse to embrace their history and opt to pick-and-choose what really matters. Well, The Fantastic Four matter. The X-Men matter. You cannot just pretend those characters haven't helped your Spider-Men and your Avengers do important things. You can't pretend the original Secret Wars didn't feature the X-Men, and you can't say The Inhumans and The Guardians of The Galaxy have always been important to your universe because they weren't. We know that, and we know you know that. So, Marvel Comics Editorial, if you want to give a shit? Give a shit. But give the right shit instead of trying to hide that you don't even know your own shit.
And make sure you wipe.
Thanks for reading.

Lobo Facts

Are you a fan of The Main Man!? Then you'll love these One Dozen Lobo Facts!

1. Lobo was originally the main antagonist of The Omega Men in 1983. Back then he was a Velorpian who's entire race was killed by Psions.

2. In 1990, the character was heavily redesigned to be a parody of characters like Wolverine, The Punisher, Cable, and other gruff characters of the 80's and 90's. Ironically, Lobo was ripped off by several other comic book series. "Bloodwulf" was a rip-off by Image Comics, "Bolo" at Topps Comics, and "Dirty Wolff" over at Marvel Comics.

3. Lobo is currently a member of Batman's Justice League of America and has a great deal of respects for Batman. This is because when Lobo was under mind control, Batman voluntarily used an explosive to destroy Lobo's brain, knowing it would reform without any mind control still in effect. Lobo then realizes how "badass" Batman is.

4. Lobo's ethical code as a bounty hunter boils down to, "My word is law". If Lobo is hired for a job, he will finish that job even if it risks his own life. If someone he's contracted to kill or someone objecting to the assassination tries to hire him for more money, he will take the offer.

5. As an intergalactic bounty hunter, Lobo makes use of various firearms, a chain-linked hook called The Garrote, explosives, a Red Lantern Ring, an outfitted space motorcycle called The Space Hog, and his bulldog Dawg-who he claims isn't his dog when they get into trouble.

6. Lobo knows 17, 879 alien languages. Some key slang words used by Lobo include "Bastitch" which means bitch or bastard, "Fraggin" which means freaking or f%&king, and "Keezy Fem" which is a slur referring to a woman.

7. Lobo has a great love for dolphins. From his home in space, Lobo can feed space dolphins from his porch. He once teamed up with "fellow Dolphin lover" Aquaman to defeat some murderous fishermen. Lobo is also a good friend of Guy Gardner-The Green Lantern-and often shares drinks with him at Guy's bar "Warriors".

8. Lobo was reworked into a Czarnian and his new origin was that he slaughtered his entire planet. For the murder of his entire peaceful race Lobo was sent to Hell, but he had caused so much trouble both Heaven and Hell restricted him from returning to the afterlife. Lobo was granted a healing factor that would assure he'd never die so that he wouldn't come to Heaven or Hell. This cartoon-like healing factor makes Lobo immortal.

9. In the 2000's, Lobo had the ability to clone himself from a drop of blood. Each clone had equal strength and intelligence to the original Lobo. During one adventure Lobo was turned into a teenager by Klarion The Witch-Boy. Now as Lil' Lobo, he joined Young Justice and followed them to planet Apokolips. It was there Lobo was destroyed by Klarion, but from his blood a million Lobos are reformed. These Lobos fight each other until only one remains. This one regrows to adulthood, loses his memories of Young Justice, and becomes the true Lobo. One botched clone named Slo-Bo retains his teenaged body and remained on Young Justice until his body degraded, revealing Lobo's cloning ability had expired.

10. Lobo was once hired to kill a version of himself from one month in the past, this version of Lobo had battled and fused with Big Head from Dark Horse Comic's "The Mask". In Amalgam Comics, Lobo was fused with Marvel Comic's Howard The Duck into "Lobo The Duck".

11. In 2011, a new version of Lobo was created by Rob Liefeld. This new Lobo was based off "modern day badasses" who were slimmer, sexier, and morally gray. This new Lobo also claimed the old Lobo was an imposter and sought to kill him. After heavy criticism by fans, DC Comics brought the old Lobo back in "Justice League vs Suicide Squad" and the "new" Lobo was trapped in a bottle by Brainiac and held on the Green Lantern HQ planet Oa.

12. Lobo was once hired by The Easter Bunny to kill Santa Claus in a story called "The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special". In 2002, a live-action, non-theatrical, short-film adaptation of this story was made by Scott Leberecht and starred Andrew Bryniarski as Lobo. The film is roughly thirteen minutes and was made on a budget of $2,400, it was part of The American Film Institutes director's studies program and can be found online. Link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9ooZYjF0mI

Thanks for reading!

Catalina The Dick Hunter

Spider-people. Spider-people everywhere! Even when you cross the border into DC Comics you still got this chick! Luckily I'm not the only one annoyed with her. Today we meet the rival/enemy/sexual assaulter of Nightwing! Today's Z-Lister is DC's Tarantula!

Catalina Flores was created by Devin Grayson in 2002's "Nightwing #71". Catalina grew up in the city of Bludhaven and due to the city's rising crime rate she ran off to Quantico to join the FBI. When she eventually returned to Bludhaven she was shocked to see that her brother Mateo Flores-an Assistant D.A.-hadn't cleaned up the crime rate in the city, even after all these years. Catalina also ran into a man named John Law, who was a vigilante back in 40's called "The Tarantula".

John Law was a small-time superhero in 1941, he was inspired to fight crime by another vigilante called The Crimson Avenger. He used martial arts, stage magic, make-up tricks, suction cupped boots, and a web-gun to fight crime. When his days as a man of mystery passed, Law wrote books about his adventures, books that Catalina read herself.

Law told Catalina of all his adventures and inspired her to take up a superhero mantle of her own to stop the corruption of her city. This of course led her to run into Nightwing, but not before she met Dick Grayson at a self-defense class. While it was a minor flirtation, this small event would led Catalina into discovering Nightwing's secret identity. As the new Tarantula, Catalina held no issue with murdering criminals, much to Nightwing's dismay. The two clashed several times and each time Catalina found herself more intrigued by Nightwing. It was after she killed a corrupt police chief that Nightwing fought and defeated Tarantula and arrested her, but her brother Mateo blamed the whole incident on Nightwing and had his sister released.

Now on the path of revenge, Catalina allied herself with Blockbuster-an evil scientist super villain who had the biggest crime lord in Bludhaven. Blockbuster had also learned Nightwing's identity and ordered The Tarantula to kill Nightwing's one-and-future lover, Barbara Gordon. Rather than kill her, Tarantula manipulated and mislead Barbara's date with Dick in such a way that Barbara would think Dick was cheating on her and she'd leave him. Blockbuster was far from satisfied and hired other villains to blow up the apartment building Dick was living in. However, John Law had been living in that building too. Tarantula kills a villain named Lady Vic, but is too late to save John Law from the apartment explosion.

Tarantula allies herself with Nightwing in finding a tape containing Blockbuster's criminal confessions and she brought it to her brother. Mateo destroyed the tape and claimed he made a deal with Blockbuster to get her out of jail earlier and that he was now loyal to him. Nightwing-who was driven to near insanity by the prospect of a villain who could strike at Nightwing's loved ones-fought Blockbuster again until Tarantula held a gun to the criminal's head. Nightwing knew it was wrong, he knew he could stop her, but he let her kill him. Beaten, psychologically tortured, and ashamed of allowing Blockbuster's death, Nightwing collapsed on the rooftop and was powerless to stop Tarantula from forcing herself on him. In a rare instance of sexual assault on a male comic book superhero, fans of Nightwing would never forget this controversial moment.

Tarantula and Nightwing continued to work together and she had almost convinced Nightwing to marry her, luckily Batman called upon Nightwing for help. After an adventure with Batman, Nightwing was brought to his senses and turned himself and Tarantula in for the death of Blockbuster. While he was acquitted, Tarantula was imprisoned. Tarantula died sometime later while saving the life of Ragdoll's sister.

One of the hardest parts of writing a Nightwing story is overcoming the comparisons to Batman. Because Dick Grayson was raised and taught by Batman, and he had fought so many Batman foes as Robin, it is difficult to establish villains for Nightwing that Batman hasn't already fought. While Blockbuster and Lady Vic and even Deathstroke are villains more associated to Nightwing, Tarantula is very clearing "his Catwoman". In a way, Tarantula can be seen as "his Red Hood" too. You have a character who has an unspoken attraction to our hero, but you also have a character who represents the dark, morally crippling alternate to crime fighting. She represents temptation: both in the sexual sense, and in the violent sense. For Batman, temptation is par for the course seeing as how he is so driven by his anger. But Nightwing was never a character driven by his tragedy, Nightwing was always the hero who overcame the darkness and found a way to rise above it. But imagine how difficult it must be-as the former sidekick to DC's Dark Knight-to not kill villains. Hopeful as he may be, Dick is still very capable of murder. It's definitely harder than resisting the urge to cheat on your significant other, we can admit that. Nightwing is the kind of guy who gets hit on a lot, Tarantula is just that rare example of "no" not being enough. An extreme of what Catwoman is to Batman, Tarantula began as a person trying to do good for her city, but very quickly falling into the power fantasy of being a crime fighter. It was no longer about the sake of her people, and it became killing all the bad people with my super-hot vigilante boyfriend. Corruption can work both sides of the coin, if that crazy burn-victim has taught us anything.

Thanks for reading.

Everybody Hates Scott

So most people-when asked-will admit they like The X-Men. Most people have their favorites. Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Beast, Wolverine. You know, the important ones. But if there is any mutant that has been dragged through the mud more than a drunk truck driver at a pig-wrestling contest, it's Scott Summers. Cyclops. The X-Man poster boy himself. Or at least, he used to be.

In 1963, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created The X-Men. A team of teenaged superheroes with naturally acquired superpowers, unique designs, and a solid theme. The leader of The X-Men was that creepy bald guy in a wheelchair, but the field-leader was Scott Summers-Cyclops. As the front-man, Cyclops was supposed to be relatively basic. His power was that he could fire a beam of pure force from his eyes. Along with being a walking battering ram, Cyclops was also the perfect representation of what mutants were in the Marvel Universe. People who could otherwise blend into a crowd of people and be indistinguishable, but had one factor that separated them. Something that might hint to them being a mutant. While Nightcrawler and Beast are a little too obvious, with Scott you would always notice he wore sunglasses. It would be easy to assume he had sensitive eyes. But there's always that possibility it's something more. That paranoia is just another part of the X-Men franchise and it's why Scott is one of the main characters. Scott was their leader, their representative, but otherwise kind of boring at first.
Then when Chris Claremont took over as writer, Cyclops married Jean Grey, she killed herself to avoid The Phoenix Force from corrupting her, and Cyclops was left to mourn. But like all great heroes, Cyclops rose from this tragedy and returned to lead his team-his family-The X-Men. He'd move on romantically here and there, but ultimately he'd always stick around to aid The X-Men.
So if this success story ended up being one of the most hated Marvel characters of the last decade, where did it start. Well, as soon as Jean was brought back to life. See, what most people don't know is that Scott and Jean's second marriage wasn't all that great. Jean was being possessed by The Phoenix Force again, Scott and Emma Frost were sharing intimate telepathic feelings behind Jean's back, and, in a shockingly real circumstance, Scott and Jean just weren't into each other anymore. These high school sweethearts grew up, grew apart, and grew to realize they wanted different things. That being said, Scott's first mistake was having Emma on the side.
But on to more universally bad decisions. Through the events of "Civil War", "Siege", and "Schism", Cyclops' leadership came into question. And it all comes to a hard fall when we get to "Avengers vs X-Men". At the end of this event, Scott is possessed by The Phoenix Force and he kills Professor X. Does he submit to persecution? Does he regret his decision? Nah, that'd be to hard to write. Cyclops becomes a mutant criminal, sides with Magneto's ideals, forms his own school for mutants in Canada, and is widely regarded as "Professor X's failure". His former friend Beast then invents a time machine and brings the original five X-Men from the 1960's to the present, hoping it would make Scott see the light. It didn't. And now we have some time-displaced X-Men kicking around in the modern era. But that's where things get interesting.
We then had two versions of Cyclops. Evil adult Cyclops, and pure teen Cyclops. Our current situation is that adult Cyclops died during a battle with The Inhumans, was brought back as a mutant/inhuman, but then dead again. For good it looks like. And teen Cyclops is kind of hated and ignored. His own teammates disrespect him because he isn't the most experienced X-Men in the room anymore, and the superhero community shuns him based on what his adult counterpart did. Cyclops has gone from the the X-Men's leader, to their whipping boy. The only place safe for young Cyclops now is either in space where no one can here him cry, or with The Champions. Go figure, the only book to give Cyclops any respect isn't even an X-Men book.
I'm not the biggest Cyclops fan, but even I can see how badly of a place this character is in. Slowly but surely Cyclops was corrupted as a leader while his more popular teammate became more of a leader. I think that's the real problem here, Wolverine. We all love him and he's just about everywhere. But the bigger Wolverine got, the more Cyclops was ignored. And if writers couldn't make Cyclops as cool as Wolverine they'd make him a villain. That way when Wolverine tried to kill him it would be justified. It was the physical representation of "the new hotness" overthrowing "the old guard". Even with Cyclops and Wolverine dead (at the moment) look at what they left behind. Logan's female clone, his illegitimate son, his other female clone who looks more like the one in the movie, his son from an alternate universe, his rival, and his older self from an alternate future are all around in the Marvel Universe. Scott? Well, there's his young version, his obscure brother, his even more obscure father, and the two alternate timeline children that never talk about him. Marvel's next blockbuster comic event "Generations" teases the revival of adult Wolverine and even adult Jean Grey. But not adult Cyclops. In "X-Men Blue" Young Scott is ignored and teased and challenged by the likes of Young Beast and Young Jean. In the alternate universe of "Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows" Jean Grey has a daughter. Who's the daddy? Wolverine! Not Cyclops. And no, he isn't dead. He's still around, still teaching, still X-ing it up. He's just a third wheel babysitter for the love of his life and her baby-daddy.
But there's always hope, right? They have a young Cyclops, one that-knock on wood-can do no wrong. One that can stay a hero, be a good person, and bring respect to mutant-kind. If anything, Cyclops is more associated with the mutant struggle now than ever before. Along with being a mutant who can disguise himself as a human, he's the child version of mutant criminal, a mutant criminal who killed the founding father of The X-Men. He's like a young Judas! Not only do people hate him for his race, but now they hate him just for being Scott Summers. That is a real struggle, one that could challenge the character and push him to higher achievements. But that remains to be seen. After all, we all saw what that kind of pressure did to the first Cyclops.
Thanks for reading.
Wait, would the young one be the first Cyclops because he's younger or would the older one be the first Cyclops because he was created first. Hmm.

War Facts

Are you a fan of James Rhodes? Well, here are One Dozen Rhodey Facts!

1. Before he ever donned the identities of War Machine or The Iron Patriot, James Rhodes was the second man to become Iron Man. During a time when Stark Industries was under new management and Tony Stark became an alcoholic, Tony asked his best friend Rhodey to protect The Iron Man mantle. As a result, Rhodey sunk every other Iron Man armor into the ocean to keep them away from Start Industries' new CEO and used the remaining armor to be The New Iron Man.

2. As Iron Man, Rhodey acted as if he was the old Iron Man. The suit's voice modifier helped with this. In the original "Secret Wars", Rhodey pretended to be Stark while in the suit to mislead The Avengers, as he believed their first response to seeing "a black man in an Iron Man armor" would be assuming he stole it.

3. Rhodes' military career includes service on the US Marine Corps, the Office of National Emergency, and The United States Department of Defense. He has also been a member of The Avengers, The West Coast Avengers, The Secret Avengers, The Secret Defenders, and Force Works, to name a few.

4. Like Tony Stark, Rhodey's origin had been updated to keep the character young. Instead of fighting in the Vietnam War, he was retconned to have fought in Afghanistan.

5. Rhodey's most recent relationship was with Carol Danvers-former Ms. Marvel and current Captain Marvel. The two related on a soldier/superhero level and were dating for about a year. Thanos had killed Rhodey shortly before "Civil War II". In that event, Carol Danvers and Tony Stark disagreed on the use of a clairvoyant character who could see injustice before it would happen. Using Rhodey's death as an example of what could have been avoided, Carol began her war with Iron Man.

6. In "Iron Man 3", Rhodey is asked by the US government to retool himself into the more politically correct "Iron Patriot". Shortly after the film, a new "Iron Patriot" book was launched with Rhodey taking up the mantle in the comics. Before all this, The Iron Patriot was the identity used by Norman Osborn (the former Green Goblin). Osborn was made director of SHIELD and had access to many of Tony's Iron Man armors, so he decorated one after the American flag and used the "Iron Patriot" persona to convince the American people he had truly changed his ways.

7. In 1995, Rhodey acquired the Eidolon Warwear armor. This armor was of alien origin and could conceal itself as a tattoo on Rhodey's chest. This armor was techno-organic and could respond to whatever Rhodey thought and create whatever Rhodey needed in battle. It could travel through space, creates drones, regenerate, create blasters and blades, and "sing" alien war songs during battle.

8. Rhodey's limbs are all cybernetic-prosthetic replacements. During a time when he retired from being War Machine, Rhodey was caught in a terrorist attack severely injured him. Tony Stark built these cybernetic limbs and gave them access to a new War Machine armor for Rhodey.

9. During "Secret Invasion", Rhodey-using his internal cybernetics-fused with a Stark Industries satellite in space. With a fleet of aliens called The Skrulls speeding towards Earth, Rhodey transformed the satellite into a giant War Machine armor and used it to destroy the alien fleet.

10. In 2007, Rhodey wore an armor created by Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger that was immune to all StarkTech attack systems, was made of titanium and Vibranium, capable of space and sea travel, self-repair systems, and the ability to integrate and equip itself to machines like fighter jets and tanks.

11. In 2015's "Secret Wars", Doctor Doom reshapes Earth into a planet housing multiple versions of the Marvel Universe. Each continent features a different reality, but all realities praise Doom as their God. To keep things in check, each world has a Baron who governs it and "a Thor" to keep the Baron under Doom's control. In "Technopolis"-a world where everyone wears Iron Man armors to survive a techno virus-Tony Stark is a Baron and James Rhodes is a Thor.

12. James Rhodes has a niece named Lila who is a bit of technical genius, managing to hack advanced computer systems and repair Rhodey's armor. Lila and Rhodey's father were actually able to clear Rhodey's name when he was blackmailed by an armored terrorist. It was heavily implied in this story that Lila might one day take the mantle of War Machine, Iron Patriot, or even Iron Man. However, in 2016 another young African-American woman named Riri Williams was created for Brain Michael Bendis' "Iron Man" run. After "Civil War II", Tony Stark entered a coma and Riri took over as Ironheart, while Rhodey was still dead and Lila was forgotten and ignored in favor for Bendis' original character. Despite the fact that Lila was everything Riri is AND already attached to the Iron Man Family.

Thanks for reading!

All Hail America

Oh, I am so triggered! Captain America is a Nazi now! My childhood is ruined! It's so offensive to his Jewish creators! How will I ever be able to look at Chris Evans' chiseled jawline again!? You know, for a guy who's been on the social border for some twenty years, I can legitimately say I love being on the outside and looking in. All those Captain America "loyalists" seem to be allergic to comic books, because if you think Cap is bad now you've never met today's Z-Lister: William Burnside from Marvel Comics.

So here's the thing, most people assume all of Steve Roger's adventures either took place in the 40's (during his origin) or the 60's (when he was thawed out), but in 1953, Stan Lee, Mort Lawrence, and John Romita Sr. wrote stories about Captain America and Bucky fighting communism in the 1950's. Complete with a communist version of The Red Skull. Then in the 1960's, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought Captain America back and made him an Avenger. They established that Cap's last story in the 40's ended with Bucky dying and Cap being frozen in ice. What they don't establish is where all those 50's stories fit in. If Cap was frozen in the 40's and thawed in the 60's, where did all of Stan's 50's stories come from. Stan never explained that, but Steve Englehart did.

In his 1972 Captain America story, Englehart explained that the Cap and Bucky of the 1950's were not Steve and Bucky Barnes, they were American History Professor William Burnside and his student Jack Monroe. William obsessed over Captain America and through his research he found old Nazi files that revealed the "deaths" of Cap and Bucky and the formula for Super Soldier Serum. William undergoes facial and vocal reconstructive surgery to look and sound just like Steve Rogers, he even legally changes his name to "Steve Rogers", he then goes to the FBI offering himself as the new Captain America and offering to help in the Korean War. The FBI reject his offer and plant "Steve Rogers" as a teacher at a school in Connecticut where he meets a fellow Cap Fan-Boy named Jack Monroe. When a communist Red Skull shows up in town, Will and Jack use the Super Soldier Serum to become the new Captain America and Bucky.

That's where Lee's stories were supposed to fit, right? But how do they end? As it turned out, the Super Soldier Serum was incomplete without "Vita Rays" and as a result Will and Jack underwent serious mental changes. The two started to believe they were Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, they crafted a lie and claimed they never died and still protect America to this day. Soon they take their crusade too far by attacking people of different races, religions, and nationalities. The two are arrested by the FBI and put on ice.

When they are unfrozen, the two are placed under the psychiatric care of Doctor Faustus. Big surprise, the not-so-good doctor was a white supremacist. Faustus forced Will to shoot and kill Jack (except he didn't actually die, we'll talk about that in a few weeks) and then become the leader of a Neo-Nazi group called The National Force. William Burnside/Steve Rogers/Captain America becomes The Grand Director. Then when the real Steve Rogers confronts him, Will sets himself on fire and curls into a ball.

Later, Will is discovered to be-yet again-on ice and being held by The Red Skull and Doctor Faustus. He eventually escapes them and becomes leader of a terrorist group called The Watchdogs. Will then dons his Captain America suit again, kidnaps Bucky Barnes-who had become Captain America after Steve's death-and puts Bucky in his old sidekick costume. Surprisingly it still fits. He was like 9 back then. Anyway, Will plans on blowing up the Hoover Dam and he wants "his new Bucky" to help him. He doesn't. Bucky shoots him. He survives.

Burnside had become a dangerous vigilante for a while until Steve (back from the dead) found him again and-as per the norm-Will almost kills himself by running in front of a semi-truck. When he wakes in the hospital, Steve informs him that his death has been faked, he's been given a new identity, and he's being sent out of country to a psychiatric facility.

So. What have we learned today? That brainwashing can turn the best men into racist assholes? That obsessing over an American icon can only go so far until you want to wear their skin? That meeting your heroes should only happen by winning some tickets instead of becoming a terrorist? Yes. Yes to all those things. I think more than anything this gives us time to reflect, the story of William Burnside wasn't planned. It was hot-potatoed from writer to writer. One writer just wanted to tie some of Stan Lee' stories into the overall continuity, other writers wanted to create a literal dark mirror to Captain America. Creating a version of Captain America who reflected the more biased, closed-minded, and unwilling to change side of our country. We should be happy this racist Captain America-like our current one-was created from mindwashing and not because he was racist from the start.

Like I said, William Burnside was the creation of a bunch of different people trying to do different things. But Steve Rogers now? Well, Nick Spencer has been building up to this "Captain Hydra" story since 2010. He's earned respect as a writer. And after all the engaging stories he's done he deserves a chance to finish what he started, and we should be willing to give him a chance. This was never a matter of politics, ethics, or social commentary, this is a comic book writer telling a story. A story that, like William Burnside, will be lost to the ages decades from now. And like William Burnside, we'll all look back at Spencer's story and reflect on it.

Thank you for reading.

The NBA's MIA MVP

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I'm not especially interested in The Inhumans. There are a few of them I like-Karnak, Ms. Marvel, Black Bolt-but as a child of the 1990's I am conditioned to love The X-Men, and when I think of The Inhumans I think, "Goddamn Marvel. Trying to replace The X-Men with The Inhumans". It's a petty thought. Sure, The Inhumans are more prominent now more than ever, but that's not always a bad thing. In today's Current Issues, you'll learn why. This is Marvel Comic's "Mosaic".

Writer: Geoffrey Thorne

Artist: Khary Randolph

Mosaic: a picture or pattern produced by arranging together small colored pieces of hard material, such as stone, tile, or glass. Or people, in this case. "Mosaic" follows a pro basketball player named Morris Sackett. Sackett has everything he's ever wanted; a celebrity girlfriend, a good father/manager, and a successful career his peers envy. All of that is taken away one night when a Terrigen Mist swallows Sackett and seals him into a cocoon. When he wakes up he's having an out-of-body experience. Literally. Discovering he is some kind of "energy ghost", Sackett watches as his body is researched by Brand Inc, the company he and his Dad are sponsored by. Without control of his new body, Sackett accidentally possesses the body of a kid named Fife. He hops from body to body slowly learning how his powers work. He can possess anyone and learn and utilize any of their skills even if he's in another body. For example: he possesses a man who can speak another language, then he hops into the body of a male nurse. Now-as the nurse-he can still speak the language of his last host. He doesn't know how long these abilities last, and-what's worse-if he spends too much time in someone's body he starts to believe he is that person. Having to ignore his host's memories and thoughts and remember who he is, Sackett is able to make it back to his penthouse.

Once there, he meets Fife again. Because Fife was the first person Sackett hopped into, Fife can see and hear Sackett and could get into the penthouse from memories he picked up from him. From there, Sackett learns from the memories of his female assistant that his life wasn't as picturesque as it seemed. From a young age, Sackett's father knew Morris was special. When he signed on with Brand, it was so the company could monitor Sackett and study his hidden powers. His basketball career, his fame, and his fortune was all synthesized to keep Sackett happy and oblivious. Even his girlfriend was a lie, she was hired by Brand and Sackett's father to be Sackett's girlfriend. In reality, she's actually sleeping with his female agent and the two of them are going along with this so they can get the money and run away together. Seeking answers, Sackett hijacks another body and goes to Brand Inc. But who does he possess?

Spider-Man. Yes, Morris uses Spider-Man's body and powers to break into Brand Inc. and free a bunch of hostages who were people Morris possessed earlier in the book. In the final confrontation, Sackett blows up Brand Inc., kills the head of security, and leaves his father with a promise: He'll be back. For his body. And for him. After this he finds himself with The Inhumans Royal Family, and now he finds himself at a crossroads: To embrace his new Inhuman Family, or to continue his path of vengeance.

Mosaic is a real sleeper hit from Marvel right now. I think Morris is unlike a lot of characters I've seen lately. He's out for himself and you can't really blame him. He's been built up all his life by his father and then learns his entire life was just a set-up. For a pro athlete that must really weighs on his confidence. That's the other thing, his confidence and the lessons his father gave him. "Shiners shine, and grinders grind", is the motto Sackett lives by. His father taught him that if someone is special they should show the world how special they are, but if someone is not special they have to work to be better. So, Morris thinks he's better than everyone on his team. When Morris gets access to Spider-Man's body he tries to learn who Spidey is. But he cannot. After an entire year of his body being possessed by Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man's "Spider Sense" developed an immune system to mind control. Sackett is able to use his body, his powers, and see some fragments of memories, but he can't find Spidey's identity. What he does find is Uncle Ben's "With great power..." speech. Sackett's own motto conflicts with Ben's, which provides great insight to the kind of character he is.

And then there's the whole Inhuman thing. When he met The Inhumans, I was really worried. Usually The Inhumans ruin my books just by putting themselves in the forefront and, sure enough, when he spends enough time with The Inhumans (mainly because the Inhuman known as Iso is hot and he's single now) Sackett is caught in a fight between The X-Men and The Inhumans. Now this part is interesting. Instead of helping The Inhumans, Sackett tries to run away. Kind of like me when I see The Inhumans. But his "not my problem" attitude shines again by proving he doesn't want The Inhuman's problems.

Geoffrey Thorne has worked on episodes of multiple Star Trek series, episodes of the "Ben 10" series, "Law & Order" episodes and much more, so his bones as a writer have already been made. To see him present a character like Mosaic is truly refreshing. Again, this isn't a common character. Sure, guys like Wolverine and Ghost Rider aren't especially chipper or nice, but they at least try to help people. Mosaic just avoids conflict unless it directly effects him, he truly is looking out of number one. Thing is, we don't know how long it will stay that way. Spider-Man was a dick before he learned the world didn't revolve around him, Booster Gold is constantly mired because he spent more time looking out for his own career rather than the betterment of mankind. So only time will tell if Mosaic embraces his new responsibilities. Khary Randolph's art and colors are phenomenal. His art is hard-edged, neatly exaggerated, and very imaginative. When he enters a new body, Mosaic is surrounded by a world of glass fragments, each fragment holding a new memory. And like our minds, it's virtually endless. Khary presents this world of the mind with a distinct style that flows well with the book. The colors bring the book to life too, the bright blue lights featured on Mosaic's body and in the mind world are a great staple color that gives the book a sense of motion. It's also very cool to see two talented Black creators working on a book about a new Black superhero.

All and all, Mosaic is a pretty awesome series. I feel for it the same way I felt for "All-New Ghost Rider" a few years ago. It's refreshing to see a new Black Marvel character who isn't "the new this" or "a new that". Mosaic is an actual original character, divorced of any prior superhero. Even when presented the chance to be an Inhuman member, Mosaic would rather be on his own. It's awesome, really. I hope this book continues to be great and I hope Marvel keeps this character around. A character who can possess the bodies of other characters would be super useful in the future. Mosaic has the potential to be one of the most powerful Marvel characters to exist, and more so, to be one their most praised.

Thanks for reading!

Go check out "Mosaic", it's only on issue seven!