Static Facts

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

1. Static's creator was the late Dwayne McDuffie. McDuffie was responsible for the founding of the Milestone Media imprint at DC Comics. His more notable work was his involvement with cartoons like "Justice League & Justice League Unlimited", "Teen Titans", "What's New Scooby Doo?", "Ben 10", and the animated movies "All-Star Superman", "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths" and "Justice League Doom". He was also head of Static's cartoon "Static Shock".

2. A common misconception is that Virgil Hawkins' superhero name is "Static Shock". The character's comic book alias is simply "Static", but his show alias was "Static Shock". Due to more people seeing the cartoon than reading the comic series the latter name was often used by fans.

3. A framed copy of "Static #1" can be seen hanging on the pool house set of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air".

4. Virgil Hawkins was designed to be an African American version of Spider-Man. He dealt with high school problems, money issues, family matters, and was usually depicted as a talented young man. He was also depicted as a geek, often hanging out at comic book shops, playing video games, and playing tabletop RPGs. Virgil even collects Pokemon cards and claims Pikachu is his favorite Pokemon.

5. Static's comics were allowed to be very socially aware about race, gang violence, and sex. Static's cartoon was praised as being one of the only cartoons of it's time to sight similar social issues. In the first episode of his cartoon, Virgil is pressured into being part of a gang war and offered a gun by a gang member. Later on in the show it is revealed Virgil's best friend Ritchie has a father with racist views towards Black children. Though the cartoon never revealed it, the comic series would later reveal Ritchie to be a closeted homosexual.

6. In season three of "Static Shock", Ritchie gains super intelligence powers and begins creating technology. He names himself Gear and becomes Static's crime-fighting partner. Ritchie never did this in the comics and it was only done for the cartoons so that Phil LeMarr (the voice of Static) and Jason Marsden (voice of Ritchie) could have more chemistry together. It is also thought that Gear is a reference to another Milestone Media character named Hardware.

7. The characters Edwin Alva and Edwin Alva Jr. were brought onto "Static Shock" from Hardware's comic book series. In the cartoon, Edwin Jr would use the same gas that gave Static his powers to give himself random powers on the fly.

8. Virgil and many other Dekota youths got their powers by being doused in experimental chemicals by the Dakota police department during the big gang war. This event was inspired by the LA Riots of 1992 and the use of tear gas by the local authorities. In "Static Shock" it was established that Static's mother was a paramedic who was killed by a stray bullet during a riot.

9. Dwayne McDuffie got the name "Virgil Hawkins" from a Black man who was denied entrance into The University of Florida's law school in 1949.

10. Static had been a member of The Teen Titans from 2009 to 2011.

11. Static's cartoon is part of the DC Animated Universe. The Justice League show up in his show, and an elderly future version of Static appears in both "Batman Beyond" and "Justice League Unlimited".

12. It is widely believed the inspiration for Static was another DC Comics character named Black Lightning. Black Lightning was created in 1977 as DC Comic's first Black superhero and has stuck around in the DCU ever since. Black Lightning would also spawn the character Black Vulcan for "The Super Friends" cartoon in 1980. Black Lightning could not be used by the writers of that show and so Black Vulcan was created as a substitute.
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The Emaysing Spydurmin

Despite being everyone's favorite web-slinger, Spider-Man has some villains that are straight-up haunting. Venom, Carnage, The Doppelgänger, The Green Goblin, The Lizard, Morbius The Living Vampire. Seriously, a vampire!? But between the men who haunt the night, there was one villain who gave Spider-Man one bad day. And boy, was he handsome! Today's Z-Lister is Web-Man!

 

 Created by Bill Mantlo in 1977's "Spidey Super Stories #25", Web-Man is a duplicate of our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man! Never mind Ben Reilly or Kaine or Doppelgänger, this guy was the OG clone. But before we talk about Web-Man let's talk about the comic he premiered in. "Spidey Super Stories"? Never heard of it? Well, if you grew up in the 1970's (not like I did) you'll remember a PBS TV show called "The Electric Company". Well, one of the reoccurring skits on the show was a series of shorts where the kids of The Electric Company would team-up with Spider-Man.
While writing this I actually took five minutes to go on Youtube and watch an episode of "Spidey Super Stories". Electric Company's version of Spider-Man doesn't talk-which is be bizarre given Spidey's motor mouth-but rather he talks by presenting word balloons. This was done to test the viewer's reading skills. Scene transitions were done with drawn comic book panels while the actual scenes had dancer Danny Seargen as Spider-Man. Spider-Man never threw a punch for obvious reasons, but he could shoot a digital web effect that would turn into a standard, black rope net to catch folks. The show isn't super entertaining for a 22 year old man, but definitely something a toddler could enjoy. Morgan Freeman even narrated a few episodes.
There were twenty-nine episodes of "Spidey Super Stories" spanning from 1974 to 1977. From 1974 to 1982, Marvel Comics published a comic book series of the same name with each issue featuring three stories each. Every issue also featured another Marvel Comics hero who would team-up with Spider-Man. And in issue #25, a new, one-time Spider-Man villain was created. Full circle back to Web-Man!
In his premier story, Web-Man was created by the nefarious Doctor Doom! Using his special mirror, Doctor Doom created a copy of Spider-Man with the hopes that this "Web-Man" could defeat Spider-Man and allow Doctor Doom to take over New York City. Why did Doctor Doom need a clone to defeat Spider-Man? Why would Doctor Doom want New York when he owns an entire country? Was this mirror a tool of science or sorcery? How would defeating Spider-Man assure New York would be ripe for the taking? These are all questions that have no answers! As you can see, Web-Man is an inverse of Spider-Man. The blue and red are swapped, he is evil, but he is also inexperienced. Spider-Man had to make a lot of mistakes before becoming decent at being a superhero. When Web-Man leaps into New York to find his better half he ends up slapping into a wall. Spider-Man and Web-Man are equal opponents, but Spider-Man is able to make Web-Man vanish by smashing the mirror that created him. Doctor Doom escapes, Spider-Man makes a one-liner, and the day is saved.
Web-Man is not in any way an interesting character. At first glance you may think some kindergartner colored a coloring book wrong or some guy on Deviantart created his Spider-Man OC, but for a 1977 one-appearance bad-guy for a three part issue adaptation of a reoccurring skit on a children's show? Decent villain. The Electric Company Spider-Man shorts all made it to DVD and in the event "Spider-Verse" there is a conversation between two alternate versions of Spider-Man who mention "a Spider-Man who kept trying to teach me English" so it's not like Electric Company's Spider-Man is forgotten. And neither is the idea of an anthology featuring Spider-Man teaming up with other heroes, there was a title called "The Avenging Spider-Man" which did that and currently a series called "Spidey" which even uses the same font from "Spidey Super Stories". Web-Man, however, is another failed attempt at baking the perfect Spider-Man clone. Though for as simple as Web-Man was, I got to admit that having a clone who's origin isn't frustratingly offensive, confusing, and drawn out is pretty refreshing!
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Have you seen "Spidey Super Stories"? What did you think of them? Comment below!

The Best of America

So, how about that election huh? I really hope _____ wins this year, ___ would be great in office. And mercy on America if ____ wins. I think we'd all like to avoid that future. If you can't tell by now, I'm not big into politics. Nor am I a patriot. But gosh darn it! I am an American! And despite what can be said about our country, there will always be one man who holds our flag high. When he isn't a brainwashed terrorist, that is.

Steve Rogers. The First Avenger. The Sentinel of Liberty. Captain America. While guys like Batman and Superman represent rodents and....words, Captain America wears, talks, and breathes America. An entire nation on a man's back is a lot to live up to. That might be why guys like Guardian and The Collective Man haven't gotten their chance at stardom. Only Cap has ever made a character fully representative of their home country work. Why is that? When you think of America-currently-there's not a lot to smile about. Obesity, poverty, war, racism. Hell, we can't even celebrate Thanksgiving without someone reminding us that ancestors we never even met stole this land from Native Americans. By the way, America was named "America" after Columbus got here, right? So then why do we call Native Americans "Native Americans"? Shouldn't they be called "Native People" or "Pre-Americans"? What do I know? I am but a humble Hispanic Gringo.

Back on topic. Proud Americans have things to take pride in, but we have plenty to be ashamed of too. Slavery, mistreatment of women, immigration, behind all the glamour of being an American there is always a history of ill-gotten victories and mistakes. But despite our past and our present, Captain America has always been pure of heart. Well, not always. He's still a comic book character after all. But for a character who's been around for 75 years and has been reinvented numerous times, he's never been a "negative" American. What do I mean? Well, consider this. On television when you see a stereotype of a "proud American" what do you see? Supports war? Drives a truck? Has a blonde bimbo around the waist? Maybe you think this description is of a hillbilly or a Southerner (no offense), but people like that are proud to be Americans. And you see them in film, television, and other media too. That's not too say they're all "Took Our Jobs" guys from "South Park". Sometimes they're Ricky Bobby from "Talladega Nights". That kind of stereotype isn't always bad. And yet Captain America has never been that. He's always been the best our country has to offer. And that's the point!

Remove Captain America from your brain and follow me on this, okay? It's 1941 and there's a man. A man who was born and raised in Brooklyn, a man who grew up to be a soldier and lose his fellow soldiers in the violence of war. He saw racism, he saw sexism, he was told which countries were our friends and which countries had to be stomped out. This is a man who has been told smoking isn't bad for you, that a man sleeping with another man is an upfront to God. This is a man who's been "listening" for his entire life and bases his entire world on what he's been told. This is the kind of man you'd avoid at an old folks home or say "well it's about time" after he's been arrested for a hate crime. Now take this man-at the age of 30-and bring him to our time. Bring him to America in 2016. Show him that there are not only gay couples, but an entire spectrum of gender classifications. That not only can women vote, but that they can do any job a man can do and receive equal pay and equal respect. Not only are black people allowed to drink from the same fountain as white people, but one black man even managed to become President of the United States. Teach that man that just because someone is from the Middle East it does not mean they are a terrorist. Some terrorists even come from America! Some people of Middle Eastern, Asian, Hispanic, African or European descent were born and raised in America. Show this man the results of lung cancer and unhealthy eating, show him the poor and the hungry, the rich and undeserving. Show him how every stone carved from his life has been shattered. Show him a world alien in everything but name. Would he change? Would he slap a woman without fear? Would be call a black man by his name or by a slur? Would he accept that America is no longer the home of the white, the male, and the privileged? Honestly, I don't think he would. There are men alive right now who had decades-generations-to change with the world. To accept what this country has evolved into. Not a melting pot. But a stew where our nation's aroma is not of varied cultures. It is of every culture.

In this one, fictional man we can find pride. We can believe a man who was instilled with outdated opinions can adapt to a new world. We can believe that not every man from the 1940's nodded there heads when they heard racist and sexist thoughts slung around. Some men stood up and said "no". But while Steve Rogers abandons those criticisms, he keeps something important. The proud ideals of our country. Freedom, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. The pride to say where you come from, the humility to admit when you are wrong, and the strength to overcome adversity. Rogers does not lie because "we" have nothing to hide. Rogers does not discriminate because "we" have no right to judge. All Rogers does is hope because hope is what got us here. Hope is what got our country out of the stinker and hope is what will pull us out again. The lessons a character like Captain America instills into us are not only morally sound, they are patriotically sound. Because the more people hear the sounds of equality and perseverance and understanding, the less they will here of fear, anger, and disgust. America is a land where all other nations become one. Not through force, but through acceptance.

And that is why America is great.

Thank you for reading.

Are you proud to be an American? Where at least you know you're free? Comment below!

Rider Facts

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

1. There have been four main Ghost Riders: Carter Slade in 1967, Johnny Blaze in 1972, Daniel Ketch in 1990, and Robbie Reyes in 2014.

2. Johnny Blaze had originally worn a stunt-biker's uniform as that was his profession, but after the creation of Danny Ketch-who sported a leather jacket/biker uniform-Blaze would mimic this look when he got a series in 2001. After the movie "Ghost Rider" in 2007, Johnny became well-known with the biker look and Danny's Ghost Rider was given blue flames to distinguish the two of them.

3. With the exception of Robbie Reyes, every Ghost Rider is capable of "The Penance Stare". When a Ghost Rider forces a foe to stare into his empty eye sockets, the victim suffers from every sin they've committed. At maximum, The Penance Stare has brought down Galactus the World Eater. At it's lamest, it has failed to work on Frank Castle/The Punisher. When questioned, Frank simply replies "I regret nothing".

4. The mere existence of Ghost Rider leads to proof of the Biblical Satan. And if Satan exists in the Marvel Universe so must God himself. This means the Marvel Universe houses beings from Roman, Greek, Norse, and Catholic mythologies.

5. In the alternate future of Marvel 2099, a computer hacker named Zero Cochrane is murdered by men who were hired by a corporation Zero was trying to expose. As he died, Zero uploaded his consciousness into the internet. He was found by an organization called Ghostworks and had his mind uploaded into a robot body. In this body he became The Ghost Rider of 2099.

6. Johnny Blaze had been a founding member of The Champions, a member of The Midnight Sons, The Heroes For Hire, The Defenders, and a member of General Thunderbolt Ross/Red Hulk's Thunderbolts. Daniel Ketch served on the short lived "New Fantastic Four" alongside The Hulk, Spider-Man, and Wolverine.

7. In the story "Shadowland", Matt Murdock/Daredevil is possessed by a demon known as The Beast. In order to defeat Daredevil, Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin summons Ghost Rider and accuses Daredevil of spilling innocent blood. Although Johnny Blaze is one of the strongest men in the MCU, he was defeated the possessed Daredevil.

8. In Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross' 1994 story "Marvels", the main protagonist-who had been photographing superheroes for twenty-something years-wanted to take one last photo. Not of superheroes, but of his "ordinary" paper delivery boy. What he didn't know was that this little boy was Daniel Ketch.

9. Before appearing on "Marvel's Agents of Shield" portrayed by Gabriel Luna, Robbie Reyes had only appeared in his fourteen-issue series, a four issue tie-in to 2015's "Secret Wars" called "Ghost Racers", and in another tie-in to "Secret Wars" called "Secret Love". Robbie was almost paired with Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel in the latter story, only for it to be a psych on the writer's behalf. Robbie's solo book will returning in November of 2016.

10. In 1996, Marvel Comics worked with video game developer Neversoft and video game publisher Crystal Dynamics to produce a side-scrolling Ghost Rider video game. The game would have featured a new Ghost Rider and vampire queen Lilith as the villain, but after Crystal Dynamics decided to shift focus on game development Neversoft no longer had a publisher and had no cancel the game.

11. In 2007, Johnny Blaze's co-creator Gary Friedrich sued Marvel Comics, Sony, Hasbro and various other companies over the rights to Ghost Rider. Friedrich claimed he was the sole creator of Ghost Rider and demanded payment for all use and merchandising of the character. The case lasted until September of 2013 and Friedrich didn't take a dime from any company involved. In fact, Marvel Comics counter-sued and got $17,000 dollars from him.

12. The Ghost Rider character is both comparable and opposite to DC Comic's The Spectre. The Spectre is a police officer named Jim Corrigan who was killed by criminals and possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance. As The Spectre, he would enact God's wrath upon evil men. Both The Spectre and Ghost Rider are Spirits of Vengeance, but while Ghost Rider initially served Satan, The Spectre serves God.
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If you were a Ghost Rider, what would you ride? Comment below!

The Egg of Vincent Price

One of the easiest sources for obscure comic book characters is the rogues gallery of everyone's favorite overused crime-fighter, Batman! For every one of his serious villains, there's a forgotten oddball. A blacksheep. A bad egg. Well, they're all "bad", but for the sake of the pun-hmm, I guess "bad" is a matter of perspective-oh! Uh, today's Z-Lister is Egghead!

Created by William Dozier and played by the late-and-great Vincent Price (you know, that horror movie legend your grandmother remembers) this character was one of many to be invented for the 1966 "Batman" TV show. The one starring the amazing Adam West as Batman and the just-as-amazing-but-severely-underappreciated Burt Ward as Robin. Egghead was designed to be an intellectual equal to Batman-perhaps smarter. He is the self-described "World's Smartest Criminal" which parallels "The World's Greatest Detective".

Egghead's first appearance was in the season two episode "An Egg Grows in Gotham" where he teams up with a Native American tribesmen named Chief Screaming Chicken (not as hilarious as he sounds) in an attempt to help Screaming Chicken claim the land Gotham was built on as being Native American land. For helping him, the Chief would let Egghead run the city. He was of course stopped by Batman, but his next plot was even crazier. First of all he teamed up with the exiled Bessarovian, Olga, Queen of The Cossacks. With her help Egghead hatched a rare dinosaur egg in "How To Hatch a Dinosaur" and planned on feeding Robin to it. However, the dinosaur attacked Egghead instead. It was revealed at the end of the episode the dinosaur was Batman in disguise as the real egg had been switched out. The last appearance of Egghead was in "The Ogg Couple" when he and Olga stole The Sword of Bulbul and The Egg of Ogg. Egghead appeared in later episodes, but had a stand-in perform as the character.

Egghead's egg-themed technology varied from oil-filled eggs to an egg-shaped radar. His most potent egg weapon was an egg bomb containing tear gas. He claimed to have fed chickens a diet of onions to produce such eggs. That at least makes him an above-average chicken breeder. But, like I said, Egghead's greatest weapon is his mind. Egghead actually discovered Batman's true identity! He did it by common deduction: To be Batman one has to be rich. There are three people in Gotham rich enough to be Batman (within the 66' universe). One has a French accent, Batman does not. The other is left handed, Batman is right handed. So, by default it must be Bruce Wayne! And yet Hugo Strange and Lex Luthor took so long figuring it out. Oh and Egghead's only significant comic appearance was in "Gotham Academy #14" as a school teacher. Yay.

I won't talk up Vincent Price (pretty sure that's why I keep Shae around), but as far as silly villains go Egghead is not at all scary, but kind of threatening. I mean, he weaponizes chickens! And being one of the only Batman villains to put the identity together? Mr. Freeze was a scientist, Scarecrow was a psychologist, Two-Face was one of Bruce's friends and none of figured it out! The Riddler is one of the smartest villains in DC Comics AND has figured it out before, but denied it because of his obsession with questions that can't be answered. By and large, Egghead has an impressive feat. I'm actually glad nobody has touched this character. Let the great be great, you know? One thing's for sure: for as goofy as Egghead is he's just another Vincent Price character I'd hate to match wits with.

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How do you take your eggs? Comment below!

Dark Knights of The Bat Table

Finally! I have been waiting for what feels like forever to talk about DC Rebirth's Detective Comics! It's got an awesome Bat-Family, a cool villain concept, and it definitely had my eyebrows lifting! So, without further ado, let's talk about "Detective Comics" on Current Issues!

Writer: James Tynion IV

Artists: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, & Adriano Lucas

"Detective Comics" was the final publication of National Allied Publications in 1937 before the company evolved into it's current incarnation "DC Comics". Named after the aforementioned title. In 1956, the men behind the title-Bob Kane and Bill Finger-had been advised by editor Jack Schiff to make Detective Comics more about "The Bat-Family". As Robin proved to a success sixteen years prior and the Superman comics-that featured Superman and his own family-were a big hit too. This led to the creation of Batwoman, Bat-Girl, and even Bat-Mite. The book had remained about Batman and/or Batman characters from that point on, but it would often shift exactly it's focus on the Batman mythos.

In 2016, DC Comics ushered in a company-wide renumbering called "DC Rebirth" which was promised to bring love, family, and legacy back to the DC Universe. One title revised for "DC Rebirth" was "Detective Comics" which now focuses on Batman and his allies. When a mysterious enemy begins sending drones and soldiers to study heroes in Gotham, the Dark Knight decides to-FOR ONCE-ask for help from his family members. The team is treated like a boot camp for upcoming heroes and while Batman is the obvious leader, Batwoman is the sergeant. Kate Kane is the daughter of military officer Jack Kane and-after the death of her mother-spent the rest of her life following in her father's footsteps as one of the toughest soldiers the country had to offer. When she returned home to Gotham City she felt that military duty wasn't fixing the country and was inspired by Batman to use her talents for something a little more in-house. As Batwoman, Kate became one of DC Comic's most successful gay characters. And now she's back to butt heads with her cousin. Oh yeah, Jack Kane was Martha Wayne's brother so Kate and Bruce are cousins! The cadets include Tim Drake/Red Robin, a character who was criminally underused after 2011. Tim had been Robin for twenty-five publication years, he was the first Robin to have his own book, and he made Robin cool again in the 90's and early 2000's. Tim is described as being as smart as Batman and he is only 16, which means he's destined to be the next World's Greatest Detective. Then there is Cassandra Cain/The Orphan. Cass was bred specifically to be an assassin, she wasn't taught how to speak or love or do anything other than kill. But with the guidance of The Bat-Family she has started to gain humanity. Before 2011, Cass was the third Batgirl and was trained by Barbara Gordon. She was basically Damian Wayne before Damian Wayne. Stephanie Brown/Spoiler is the daughter of a D-List villain named Cluemaster and has committed her life to protecting innocent people from her father and all criminals like him. Steph is really the rookie of the team, but a proud glue to keep everyone together. Before 2011, she was the fourth Batgirl! She was Robin once too! And-last, but not least-Clayface! Yeah, him. Basil Karlo has been a Batman villain for decades, but most people forget he was once just an actor who went down the wrong path. A path that led him into becoming a monster. Batman acknowledges that, and when he finds Karlo has broken out of Arkham just to see one of his old movies in a theater, Batman decides to give Clayface a chance at redemption. Through Batman's tutelage Clayface can take advantage of his strength, his shapeshifting, his multiplying, and basically just be smart with his powers. All and all, Clayface is pretty cool as a hero.

This boot camp of heroes has their fair share of issues: Batwoman dealing with Batman's trust issues, Tim hesitating to tell Batman that he's been accepted to a highly regarded college, but more than anything they have to deal with Jack Kane. As it turns out, the drones and the mysterious Bat-Soldiers that have been popping up around Gotham are a unit devised by Jack Kane. He recognized Batman's capabilities and applied all of Batman's training to US soldiers. The only difference is that these Batmen are trained to kill and to go up against terrorist threats. Jack basically mixed Batman and Seal Team 6. Jack had prepared to bring his daughter Kate onto the project, but when she sees how he's hidden all this from her, kidnapped Batman, and even kept the project secret from the government she wages a war on her father. What's even crazier is that Jack believes Gotham to be housing a number of sleeper agents for The League of Shadows, so he wants to send his Bat-Unit into Gotham to pick off these sleepers. When Batman's team stops that from happening, Jack and his teenaged scientist resort to sending attack drones to Gotham to just start opening fire, hoping the sleepers die in the chaos. The story is pretty epic and it even ends with a hard death. But this death may be the only thing keeping this book from being perfect.

James Tynion was an understudy of Scott Snyder so his talent for writing Batman stories is apparent. He also wrote the Batman/TMNT crossover I love to death and will talk about someday. Tynion understands the characters in a way a lot of writers tend to ignore. Tim Drake isn't "just smart". Batwoman isn't "just tough". Tynion's Batman is also refreshingly sentimental and honest with his team. The combination of Borrows, Ferreira and Lucas is sleek, detailed, and cinematically dramatic. There are panels with no words that speak volumes, the dark colors are so natural without lacking color or distinction. Clayface moves like a dream, and when these artists want you look over every inch of the page they make it happen every time.

Before I wrap this up I want to mention that death from before. Spoiler. No, not her. I mean "spoiler" as in I'm spoiling part of the book. It's actually Red Robin. He dies. I won't go into how or why, but it works. Tynion make sure to make readers love Tim again, to make him as awesome as he once was and to set-up a possible retirement to the character. He was going to go to college and have a relationship with Stephanie, but it was cut short. His death is drawn beautifully, as is the aftermath. Batman goes to ease Stephanie, but Steph shows Batman that Tim was accepted by the college and that he had plans he didn't tell Batman. Batman and Stephanie have a silent moment where they hug each other. It is so goddamn great. You have to understand that after 2011 a lot of emotion was left out of Batman comics. One of my favorite aspect of any story is family. And that moment of a father and his dead son's lover sadly embracing over his death meant the world to me. But then, Tim is revealed to be alive. I won't go too far into it, but Tim is alive and kept away from the Bat-Family by someone important. So-as far as everyone is concerned-Tim Drake is dead.

"Detective Comics" offers action, comedy, and heart. Tynion considers these characters in way other writers would be bored by. Family is the threat and family is the theme. I'd go as far to say I am enjoying this Batman book more than Tom King's "Batman" and Scott Snyder's "All-Star Batman". There is just so much care put into it, so much plot and lore and character that is not left ignored. I can't wait to see Clayface be a true hero, to see Orphan become a real human being, and to see Tim return. I think if Tim's survival wasn't revealed in the same issue as his death I'd be able to call this the perfect arc. But, that's not the case. If Tim's survival was kept as a surprise down the road it would have worked better, but showing he is still alive severely hurts the emotional ending of the arc. Nevertheless, if you want one Batman title to read. Screw Scott. Screw Tom. Pick up Detective Comics.

 Thanks for reading!

Oh, it went back to chronological writing after Rebirth so the actual numbering is between #934 to #940. Big numbers are cool!

Flash Facts

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

 1. There have been four men to use The Flash Mantle. Jay Garrick got his powers from testing hard water vapors in 1940. Barry Allen was dosed in chemicals and struck by lightning in 1956 which gave him his powers. In 1959, Barry showed his nephew Wally West the chemicals that dosed him and a bolt of lightning caused Wally to get the same powers. After Barry gave his life to save the universe in 1986, Wally picked up the Flash mantle. Barry Allen's grandson Bart Allen had inherited his powers from Barry and came to the year 1994 from the far future. He became The Flash in 2006.

2. Each Flash has been a founder of a significant team in DC Comics. Jay was a founder of The Justice Society of America, Barry was a founder of The Justice League of America, Wally-as Kid Flash-was a founder of The Teen Titans and even stuck around after the team shift in 1980, and Bart was a founding member of Young Justice as Impulse.

3. Excluding Jay Garrick, every Flash is connected to something called The Speed Force. The Speed Force is an alternate dimension where time works on a scale that hasn't been properly set. For example: Barry Allen was trapped in The Speed Force in 1985 and got out in 2008 with no physical changes. Along with being filled with objects from various time periods, The Speed Force is also an intangible energy source which the three Flashes borrow their powers from. After being tied to it so closely Barry Allen had become a physical tether to The Speed Force, meaning if he were to die the other two Flashes would lose their powers.

4. One of The Flash's main villains are a group called The Rogues. Made up of characters like Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Heatwave, Weather Wizard and many more, The Rogues follow a set of guidelines. They do not kill women or children, they will not kill The Flash, and they will only commit acts of robbery. The Rogues don't want to kill The Flash, they want to defeat him and prove their superiority. It's more of a sport to them, some of them even respect The Flash. During the Wally West era some of The Rogues were even friends with The Flash.

5. To say The Flash runs fast is an understatement. He can think at super-speeds, heal at super speed, vibrate the molecules of his body to phase through solid objects, create heat via friction, conduct electricity, create strong winds, time travel, and even create clones of himself by time traveling seconds into the future and bringing that version of himself to the present, or by running, stopping and running again between a number of specific spots, creating the illusion of being in more than one place.

6. Characters like The Flash are referred to as "Speedsters". Speedsters, oddly enough, have their own language. All Speedsters can speak at super speed making it impossible for the average people to understand them. However, Speedsters also process information at super speed meaning they can understand what another Speedster is saying. Two Speedsters can have an entire conversation in a mere second without anyone knowing.

7. The order of who is the fastest Flash goes as such (least to most): Jay, Wally, Bart, Barry. On par with Bart and just under Barry is Superman, who also has super speed. Superman can "speak Speedster" and has even shown to be able to vibrate through solid matter. However, Superman will always be just behind Barry Allen.

8. In the DC Universe, the physical embodiment of Death is a Black Speedster referred to as "The Black Flash". Black Flash's purpose is to assure those who are connected to The Speed Force still die, and since Speedster's have a less likelihood to die of natural causes The Black Flash will sometimes try to capture and contain a Speedster into The Speed Force forever as a substitute for death. A similar character is The Black Racer who assures New Gods like Orion and Darkseid are transported a Hell-dimension as their form of death. Barry Allen has become The Black Flash/Black Racer twice.

9. One of The Flash's worst foes is The Reverse Flash. The first Reverse Flash was Eobard Thawne who lived in the 25th Century. Eobard was obsessed with the legends of The Flash so much he replicated The Flash's powers, got facial reconstructive surgery to look like Barry Allen, and went back in time to see his hero. However he arrived after Barry died and learned he was destined to become The Reverse Flash. After The Flash Family prevented him from taking Barry's place Eobard decided to embrace his destiny. However, Eobard could not kill Barry himself otherwise he'd never exist. Instead he would torture The Flash and his loved ones for the rest of his career.

10. The Flash unintentionally sparked The DC Multiverse. When Barry Allen was created his superhero name and superpowers were reused from the Jay Garrick version. Worried readers would be confused, DC Comics established that Jay Garrick/Flash was a comic book character in the DCU. It would be revealed that the fictional creator of Jay was a writer who's dreams peered into an alternate dimension where Jay, Alan Scott, and The Justice Society of America all existed. Jay would travel to Barry's universe and team up with him, this team up would be the first of many between the two universes and would also lead to many of DC Comic's "Crisis" events.

11. The Flash keeps his signature costume inside a ring. The suit is made from special micro-fibers that allow it to be folded to an extremely small size. Using his super speed, Barry will fold the suit in a specific way and store it inside the ring. He'll pop it out, change into it, and then refold it later. Wally would usually keep a bunch of rings with loaded suits to avoid having to refold the same one every time.

12. After Barry Allen caused a universal reboot in 2011, Wally West went missing for many years in the publication. An African-American teenager named Wally West showed up in 2015. This Wally was the son of Daniel West-Dan being the brother of Iris West who is the love interest of Barry Allen. Dan had knocked up an African-American women sixteen years ago and dumped the kid on his father Joseph West. Red-head Wally had always been the son of Dawn West, Iris' sister. After "DC Universe Rebirth" the red-headed Wally West returns after he was trapped in The Speed Force and wiped from the minds of everyone on Earth by the villain Mister Twister. When red-head Wally returns he not only remembers his rebooted life after 2011, but he also remembers his life before the reboot. Essentially having two batches of memories he reconnects with Barry and with The Teen Titans. To justify the new Wally, it was established that new Wally and red-head Wally were cousins both named after their grandfather Wallace.
Thanks for reading!
If you could time travel where would you go? Comment below!

Dial Z For Z-Lister

Crap! I've been so busy recording Marvel Medieval I forgot to prepare a Weekly Z-Lister! Let's see, I'll use my surroundings for inspiration! A lamp? No. My dog? Maybe. Ah-ha! I'll check Twitter to see what's trending! Wait. My phone....Of course! This week's Z-Lister is The Phone Ranger from Marvel Comics!

Created as a one-off comedic character by Kurt Busiek and James Fry in 1985's "Marvel Age Annual #1", The Phone Ranger appeared when a villain group called The Lethal Legion attacked the offices of Marvel Comics! "But, Raffi" you may be asking, "How can Marvel Comics exist in The Marvel Universe". Someone didn't read my post on Combo-Man! You see, it was well established in the 1980's that there existed a company called "Marvel Comics" within the fictional Marvel Comics Universe. This version of Marvel Comics published comic books loosely based on the heroes of the MCU. It is to be assumed these comics covered important events in character's careers-like "The Night Gwen Stacy Died"-but lacked the full information-like Spider-Man's secret identity and his relation to Gwen Stacy. It also seemed this version of Marvel Comics didn't ask permission to make comics about these superheroes either.

So yeah! The Lethal Legion go to Marvel Comics and threaten the life of Kurt Busiek himself. In desperation for help, Busiek began dialing phone number after phone number just trying to get help from someone. And boy, did he! The Phone Ranger appeared before Busiek and offered to defeat The Legion. Only to get his butt kicked. Worse yet, he was seemingly killed by Scourge of The Underworld later on.

The Phone Ranger was lost in obscurity until the event "Civil War" where he is one of the many superpowered people arrested by Iron Man and his Pro-Superman Registration Act team. And by the way, his head-gear protected him from Scourge's head-shot. I'm sure you all really cared about that detail. Though he is incarcerated for a while, The Phone Ranger decides to register after Captain America turns himself in. After being appointed as tech support for Iron Man's team "The Initiative", a full bio was given providing readers with a background on The Phone Ranger.

He was formally a phone repair man named A.G. Bell, named after Alexander Graham Bell AKA the inventor of the telephone AKA the reason you all have cat memes today. While working in New York City, Bell had been hired by a man to fix his landline telephone. However, when he arrived at the man's house the man was smashing the phone and complaining about prank calls. After studying the phone, Bell released a alien spaceship from inside. As it turned out, these aliens had flown their spaceship into a subatomic universe and came out inside this man's phone. The "prank calls" had actually been distress signals. After the aliens left the phone, Bell found a piece of their technology still inside of it. He took the phone home and recreated the technology, eventually creating a costume that allowed him to connect with any telecommunication device in existence. So, you know, mostly phones.

This is going to sound weird-or, I guess typical if you know me by now-but I kinda like this guy! At first I thought he was just a joke, but now I realize he could be a running joke. Hell, half the population of people of Earth are on their phones 24/7. When we aren't pooping, eating, sleeping or humping we're on our phones. Some people do all those things while they're on their phones! Calling, texting, web surfing. That's still a term right? I mean, you're probably reading this on a phone right now. Now imagine, a superhero who can travel through phones or hack phones. Maybe he isn't a "lord of technology", but having control over every phone on the planet-especially smart phones-could be a huge power to have. Like, socially huge. He could be literal wi-fi. I guess I'm over-thinking it, but if Marvel offered me ten bucks to pitch a new Phone Ranger one-off story, you know were I'd go. Hmm. Maybe I'll send Busiek a Tweet.

Thanks for reading!

Could Phone Ranger defeat Siri in combat? Comment below!

Waller's Dirty Dozen

Suicide Squad was a film with many cuts, many edits, and many complaints. The darkness was filled in with style, the ugly was made funny, this film was the potential uprising Warner Bros needed after "Man of Bore" and "Batman v. Superman v. Rotten Tomatoes". Sadly, even being the only decent film out of the three wasn't enough to win people over. Today on Pitch-It, I rework what Suicide Squad could have been.

First of all: Fire the soundtrack guy. Masking your movies quality with good songs doesn't fix the problem. But really, this film's plot is doomed either way. Jared Leto's Joker isn't captivating and The Enchantress is too big of a threat. I mean this The Suicide Squad, they shouldn't be expected to stop anything Superman-level. These people aren't around to save the world. And I've taken that to heart when I erased the entirety of the plot and thought of a new one. A mission a team of mostly-normal bad-guys could handle. In my version Amanda Waller didn't put the Squad together to battle "the next Superman", she instead put them together to prevent the next Superman from happening. Sure there are going to be more superpowered people, but if someone is trying to become/create a superhuman maybe Waller could stop that from happening. Enter Task Force X/The Suicide Squad, a secret government unit of criminals implanted with explosives in their necks to terminate them if they disobey orders. We'd establish that Task Force X has been around since the end of "Man of Steel" as the U.S. government knew Superman wouldn't be compliant with their demands. While they can give him the benefit of the doubt, they need to prevent less moral people from having Superman's level of power. And yes, the team is pre-established. Around two years to be exact. Meaning there are veteran members and new members in this film. The opening can be the veteran members (Rick Flag Jr, Bronze Tiger, Clock King, Platique, Black Spider, and Killer Frost) extracting a scientist named June Moon from a small village where she had been killing tribesmen in attempt to summon a demon. Moon is supposedly possessed by a witch called The Enchantress and rather than put the crazy woman down, Waller wants her on the team.

Why a dangerous witch? For the team's next mission, of course. We could have a scene of our Squad members in their individual cells at Bel Rev Prison. Wheeled in through the prison gates are the new recruits: El Diablo, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and Harley Quinn. Rather than being shown flashbacks we learn the character's origins through quick exchanges between Waller and Flag. "El Diablo's a metahuman who shoots fire and accidentally killed his family, now he wants atonement. Deadshot is an assassin, best at his craft. But he's got a daughter he'd do anything to keep safe. Captain Boomerang is an Australian bank robber. And yes, he throws boomerangs. Apparently he was caught by a metahuman with super speed, not that anybody saw him to confirm. And finally, Harleen Quinzel. She fell in love with The Joker. Enough said". That's it. The team is briefed on the bombs in their necks and the rewards for service on the squad. The mission: The European country of Markovia has been trying to create superpowered individuals, but to no avail. Word is they succeeded with the orphaned prince of the country Brion Markov. Joined by his sister Princess Terra, Brion is destined to lead Markovia in four months on his 21st Birthday. The country's current leader is Baron Frederick DeLamb who's political adviser Zviad Baazovi has been pulling DeLamb's strings. If Brion is allowed to be put in power he may be led by Zviad and The Baron to use his powers to initiate war on other countries. So they need to extract Brion without anyone knowing. When questioned, Waller claims she has an inside source feeding her this intel.

The Squad is flown into Markovia and every member has their assignment. Clock King is held in a secret U.S. bunker in a neighboring nation feeding information to the team. Thanks to his precision timing Clock King is used as the team's guide. Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Bronze Tiger and Rick Flag disguise themselves as soldiers and accompany Waller's inside source in delivering Harley Quinn to Baron DeLamb as a bargaining chip. Being the woman-of-choice to one of America's most notorious criminals may come in handy in any future deals with the U.S. The informant-by the way-is Count Vertigo, a member of Vlatava's royal family. Vlatava was a country desecrated and absorbed into Markovia decades ago and Vertigo-with his own self applied superpowers-has tried for years to sneak into Markovia's government and destroy it from the inside. The rest of the Squad members are either sneaking in behind enemy lines or on standby in case a fight breaks out.

We watch more members of the Squad dying as the plot progresses. We learn Brion isn't the superpowered child, it's actually Terra. Since Terra is around twelve, El Diablo takes offense to Waller lying to them and forcing them to kidnap a child. He tries to take a stand and fight The Squad, claiming he won't be responsible for another child's misery. And boom. Waller blows his head off. Killer Frost had been harboring a secret kinship for her veteran Squad members and sacrifices herself to keep an army of soldiers from catching up with them. In his bunker Clock King tries to escape as he's been studying the bomb in his neck for years now and knows the exact time and date the bomb's wireless signal reboots. As soon as he escapes he is gunned down by the hidden agent Waller planted outside the bunker. While the Squad-and the captured Terra-escape to a helicopter, a lone sniper shot by Zviad hits the belt of explosives on Plastique. Rather than help her, Captain Boomerang kicks her off the copter and she explodes, causing the copter to spin out and crash. In the wreckage most members survive, but are weak. Black Spider is on the verge of dying and asks Rick to put him out of his misery. So he does. Surrounded by troops, Rick calls in the last resort: The Enchantress. Using her magic The Enchantress kills most of the soldiers. Just when the team thinks they're safe she turns on them and revives the Markovia soldiers. The Enchantress was able to magically undo her bomb, but Harley is able to kill Enchantress by surprise. The zombie soldiers remain and cannot be gunned down. Using his fatherly influence, Deadshot convinces Terra to use her diplomatic stature to order the zombies to stop as they still have a little human in them. He then convinces her to use her powers (she can control Earth like an Earthbender) to tunnel the team underground and to the nearest U.S. bunker.

Half the team is dead, Count Vertigo had been captured during one of the fights and Bronze Tiger had escaped. Turns out Clock King told Tiger about how the bombs worked and while Clock King was unable to escape, Tiger-at the same time-took the opportunity to surgically remove his bomb behind Rick's back. Waller is pissed she only has four guys left, but happy she can deliver Terra to U.S. scientists to be studied. Deadshot is effected by this because he doesn't want to hurt children, but Waller answers "It was her, or yours". In return for their efforts, Deadshot gets visitation rights to his daughter, Captain Boomerang gets a six-pack of beer and cable TV every weekend, and Harley Quinn is filled in on every crime The Joker commits in Gotham City, like bedtime stories. Rick Flag Jr and Amanda Waller discuss Terra and how they can't learn much else from her, but that a powerful billionaire would be happy to take Terra in return for hunting down Bronze Tiger. And so, Waller has Terra delivered to the assassin known as Deathstroke. And the hunt begins.

So with lore taken from DC Comic's history, diverse and power-balanced characters, and a reasonably tame plot I think I've come up with a much better plot than the film we got. It gives the Squad a mission they can handle, it works on an easier budget, and it's driven by dialog and interactions rather than side-plots. It's a story that can still work in the context of the DC Cinematic Universe and is distant enough to be entertaining to a non-superhero fan. Hopefully the future of The Suicide Squad movies do a better job at representing the immoral and unpredictable nature of this team.

Thanks for reading!

Did you enjoy my pitch for Suicide Squad? Comment below!

Marvel Medieval #5

Marvel Medieval is a tabletop RPG of my own design. Myself and The Comic Buffet Crew are playing this game on a new podcast series over on The Panel Biter Podbean! So if you want to follow along or learn some lore, this is the post for you!
panelbiter.podbean.com

Character Focus: The Spider

Race: Human

Class: Acrobat

Gear: Light Armor, Pouch Belt, Gear Kit, Special Lenses.

Skill Chart:
Forceful +0, Careful +1, Flashy -1, Quick +2, Sneak +0, Clever +1

Character Specials:

Spider Sense: When activated, Peter becomes immune to Sneak Attacks and traps.

Webbing: Peter creates magic webbing from his hands, these webs can be used to grab objects/targets, stun/trap targets, grapple onto targets, and create quick barricades.

Peter lived in a small village outside of Yorkshire where he was the apprentice to an inventor named Benjamin. He learned much about engineering from his mentor, but one day ignored his advice about traveling into a series of catacombs under Yorkshire. Down there he discovered a giant spider that ate him whole. When Peter woke up he had new magical abilities granted by the giant spider. Using his newfound powers he spent weeks fighting petty criminals. When he finally returned to his village he saw that Benjamin and his mistress May had been murdered on the behest of organized crime. To avenge his fallen mentor and make up for his selfishness, Peter used his knowledge to advance the villages' defenses and protect it from the villains of Yorkshire.

Class: Spiritual

Spirituals are a nomadic Class that specialize in defensive magic. Spirituals feel at home in any environment and will use their surroundings in their spell casting. While Sorcerers use their magic for a variety of purposes, Spirituals have no desired goals because in order to master the magic they use they must be clear of mind and pure of heart. They only respond to violence for survival and to protect others, and even then their magic is meant to protect and aid others. Many Spirituals will simply be wandering healers or guides across harsh areas. As a Spiritual players will have this selection of weapons: Slingshot (one handed), Bow (two handed), Long Staff (two handed), or Twin Blades (two handed). All Spirituals have the Class Ability "Life Giver" which allows them to heal one party member of Minor or Decent Damage. This ability cannot be used twice in a row during a Battle. Spirituals support all allies, no matter their personal opinions. As to a Spiritual, all life is sacred and any death is a sacrifice.

Beware: The Bamfs

During The Infinity War, a Knight by the name of Azazel had killed the mistress of a powerful Sorcerer known as Strange. As punishment, Strange used a forbidden spell to divide Azazel's body into individual pieces which would never be whole again. To save his father, the Acrobat Kurt leaped in the way of the spell. However, this caused both of them to be hit and give creation to a new race of creatures called The Bamfs. The Bamfs have no specified homeland nor do they speak any language. They only know how to say "bamf". Scholars have reasoned that "bamf" is in reference to the sound of "Necro's Instant Vanishing Spell". "Necro's Instant Vanishing Spell" is the most potent and difficult vanishing spell to use. While it has no limit to it's reach, it also causes the user to become trapped in a Hellish dimension between their vanishes, this causes novices to be trapped forever. Bamfs use this spell with ease as did Azazel and Kurt, but these creatures are more mischievous than anything. Blue Bamfs enjoying stealing, mimicking, stalking, and playing pranks, but are not violent. Red Bamfs will scare people, ruin property, start fires, and sometimes kill children or adults when in a pack. Not much is known about what these Bamfs do when they aren't seen by people, but some believe the souls of Azazel and Kurt to still reside inside them.

How To Play: The Ghost System

Dying. It is the worst thing that can happen to a player during a campaign of any roleplaying game. Marvel Medieval is a game that strives on teamwork, creativity, and fun for all players. And nothing is more of a bummer than having to sit on the sidelines while your friends bury your body. Thus we introduce the Ghost System.
When a player dies during a session of Marvel Medieval, they have one of two choices: Sit the rest of the session out (or even the rest of the game) or become a Ghost. By becoming a Ghost, the player's character becomes invisible, can phase through solid objects and fly, but they cannot interact with the world around them. They can, however, communicate with their party members and act as an informant. They can tell players things they wouldn't be able to discover otherwise. The player may be a Ghost for Three Sessions maximum (roughly three hours of gameplay) until they vanish forever. While they are a Ghost, players can begin crafting a new character for their campaign. If players are lucky, they may be able to find a special kind of Sorcerer who can place the Ghost inside a dead body. But if a Ghost is placed within a dead body (their own or a new body) they will have no Skill Modifiers.
By using The Ghost System, any player who dies during the adventure can still play a part in the story. This way nobody feels left out for long!
Enough said!

Power-Fist Facts

Let's see how much of a Heroes For Hire Fan you really are! Here are One Dozen Power Man & Iron Fist Facts!

1. Both "Power Man" and "Iron Fist" were two series in 1972 that had declining sales. So Marvel had cancelled Iron Fist's book and moved him onto Power Man's title, the title was renamed "Power Man & Iron Fist" shortly after. With a mix of Blaxploitation and 70's Kung-Fu film elements, the book was a light-hearted and enjoyable romp through the lives of Luke Cage and Danny Rand as they ran their business "Heroes For Hire".

2. Along with leading The Heroes For Hire business, Luke Cage has also led The New Avengers, The Defenders, The Mighty Avengers, and The Thunderbolts.

3. Danny Rand trained in the mystical city of Kung-Lung. There he mastered martial arts, the control of "chi", and defeated a dragon with his bare hands. Danny shares a strong sense of mysticism with Doctor Strange who had also trained in a hidden city in the Himalayas. While on The New Avengers, Danny's mysticism was upgraded by a being called Agamatto.

4. In 1964, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Don Heck created Wonder Man for "The Avengers" title. They were met with quick aggression from DC Comics who claimed "Wonder Man" was too similar to their "Wonder Woman". Wonder Man was hence left out of the Avengers for twenty years. Stan Lee wasn't too upset about that instance, but DC Comics had created a character named Power Girl in 1976 which was four years after Power Man's creation. That miffed Stan Lee.

5. Luke Cage was featured in Brain Micheal Bendis' "Alias" series starring Jessica Jones. After a one night stand, Cage learns Jessica had become pregnant with his baby. Taking responsibility Cage offers to help Jessica with the child and the two develop feelings for each other beyond physical attraction. After their child is born, Luke and Jessica get married. Their child is named Danielle after Cage's best friend Danny Rand.

6. Along with Doctor Strange, Iron Fist shares a connection to Daredevil. Both have recognized each other as martial arts rivals and both have learned how to heal from injuries via heavy meditation. Shortly before "Civil War" Matt Murdock had asked Danny to pose as Daredevil for a little while to debunk the media's suspicion that Matt was Daredevil. Iron Fist and Power Man were also part of a group of street level heroes who helped free Daredevil from demonic possession during the event "Shadowland".

7. Luke Cage has an unusual friendship to Marvel's Man-Thing. During an adventure with Norman Osborn's Thunderbolts, Luke and his team encounter Man-Thing in a swamp. The thing about Man-Thing is that he lacks thought and bases everything on emotion, he is also empathetic so if someone sees him and is terrified he will become startled too and use acid on his palm to burn the onlooker. But because Luke Cage has unbreakable skin Man-Thing could not burn him and assumed this meant he was no threat.

8. During "Maximum Carnage" Iron Fist taps into the "chi" of a raging crowd and calms them down before anyone is hurt. Spider-Man insists Iron Fist teach him and several other heroes that trick, but Iron Fist claims learning how to do it would take eight to ten years. Spider-Man's response is punching a chimney stack.

9. Though his skin is unbreakable, Luke can still internally bleed. Usually this means he needs to have an injection through his eye or a tube down his throat. In "Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe", Deadpool uses shrunken explosives to kill The Avengers, but Luke survives thanks to his skin. However, Deadpool also snuck the bombs into Luke's coffee causing his insides to explode.

10. Luke Cage's birth name is Carl Lucas. He had it legally changed to "Luke Cage" after he was released from prison and started his business as a "Hero For Hire" in Harlem. "Power Man" was more of a typical superhero nickname than an actual alter ego, and the name "Luke Cage" was just to disassociate himself from being an ex-convict.

11. Luke Cage got his unbreakable skin while being experimented on in prison. This experimentation was part of an attempt to create the next Super-Soldier. This puts Luke Cage next to Deadpool, Wolverine, The Green Goblin, and a few others as failed Super-Soldier projects. Hulk too, if we are counting cinematic versions.

12. The second hero to use the name "Power Man" is a teenager named Victor Alvarez. Victor had a natural ability to use "chi". Using the name "Power Man" he offered his superpowered assistance on Craigslist until Luke Cage and Iron Fist found him. They learned Vic's father was a villain they fought back in the day and agreed to show him the ropes on being a superhero. Blessed by the original Power Man and tutored by Iron Fist, Vic would be a main member of The Heroes For Hire, The Mighty Avengers, and Avengers Academy.

Thanks for reading!

Who would you rather arm wrestle? Luke or Danny? Comment below!

Cyborg For Adults

When people think "Milestone Media" they probably think of Static, but the once great comic book publishing company offered many more fascinating characters like Icon, Rocket, The Blood Syndicate, and today's Z-Lister! And so let me introduce you to Milestone/DC Comic's Hardware.

Created by Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan in 1993 and first appearing in "Hardware #1", this character would be one of many to fluff-up Milestone Media. Milestone was an imprint over at DC Comics that was founded by Dwayne and Denys, as well as Michael Davis and Derek T. Dingle. The men believed minorities to be severely underused in comic books during that time and used Milestone as a platform to launch interesting characters. One of these characters being Hardware.
Curtis Metcalf was a child prodigy discovered at age 13 by the CEO of Alva Industries, Edwin Alva. Edwin saw the potential of Curtis and put him in the "Better Chance" program, which helped the African-American community by putting the smarter students in prep schools. Curt graduated at 15 and got his first college degree at age 16. After earning six other degrees, Curt was asked to work at Alva Industries in return for helping him pay through college. He was given his own lab, a large budget, and all the time he needed to test his new inventions. Inventions that made a lot of money for Alva Industries.
When he reached adulthood, Curtis asked Edwin Alva for shared profits of his inventions. However, Alva made it very clear that his years with the company did not change his importance. "You are not respected, Curtis. You are simply useful". Additionally, part of Curt's contract insisted he could not work for any other manufacturing company. Curtis hacked into Alva's accounts to find some sort of leverage to use on him, but what he found was much worse. It took Curt two weeks to put it all together, but it turned out Edwin had connections to drug money, political bribery, and illegal weapon sales to foreign nations. This man who had build Curtis up from the ground had not only turned out to be a bad boss, but a criminal mastermind.
Curtis attempted to email his findings to the FBI and the SEC, but had no results. Alva's connections made him untouchable for any government branch. The only thing that could hurt Alva would be his own weapons. Curtis created a weapon bunker below his lab and created a suit of armor and equipment. Using his hacking abilities, Curtis could follow any criminal plot Alva had planned and be there to stop it. Curtis became a man of mystery lurking around every corner to stop Alva's crimes with his own technology. Curtis became known as Hardware. "He turned the city upside down looking for Hardware. I live in his basement".
Hardware's cast of characters also includes his girlfriend Barraki Young, a super-human mob enforcer/undercover cop known as Harm, a teleporting villain known as Transit, and a hit-man who can clone himself named Reprise. Hardware's sidekick is Tiffany Evans who was given technology and named Technique by Alva to defeat Hardware. Surprisingly, Technique did defeat Hardware only to join him in his crusade against Alva. Hardware's series also spawned the character Deathwish who had been the only surviving member of the sexual assault/murder of his family. He became a vigilante obsessed with sex related crimes. He was also a pre-op transsexual and had a 4-issue miniseries.
Using his invention "Shell Forge" Curtis covers his body in a material that is skin-tight and damage resistant. The Shell not only stretches with his body, but enhances the force behind movements simulating super-strength. The suit can also be programmed with body movements based on martial arts moves. This means he can program a fighting technique he has never practiced and the suit can guide his body to perform that move. His external armor is operated by nano-machines within the armor and directed by a program called DOBIE. DOBIE allows Hardware to make suit commands by using voice orders and eye movement. The suit comes with a voice synthesizer, various detection equipment, a universal communicator, a police radio, a sound enhancer, it can adjust to different environments like sea or space and can camouflage, jet boots, self-repairing units, and an inertia winder that can absorb and store kinetic energy. The inertia winder can also match his suit's weight to his own body weight, allowing him the speed, agility and dexterity of an unarmored man. He has a liquid metal lock pick, a sonic blasting drill, and his signature Omnicannon. The Omnicannon fires air blasts, but is used with a number of special shells including: Tear gas, standard explosives, flames, flash bangs, armor piercing spears, armor-eating nanobots, ice blasts, adhesives, knockout gas, and a few others. He has a Plasma Whip, Retractable Sword, an Energy Shield, and a Plasma Laser that creates vaporizing punches, and a few other weapons. Oh, and he has a flying car.
With a armory so vast and a story so personal, you're probably wondering why you've never heard of Hardware. Well, even after the Milestone characters folded into DC Comics the company never really made a big deal out them in advertisements. While characters created at Wildstorm got cartoons and reappearances in DC's New 52, Milestone only had a Static cartoon and a few of their characters appear in "Young Justice". But Hardware never appeared outside of comics, with his most recent appearance being in the short-lived "Static" comic book. His lack of appearance-as well as the rest of Milestone-may be an issue of internal affairs and ownership rights over at DC Comics seeing as how McDuffie passed a few years ago. I really like Hardware, I always knew he was around, but when I started reading about him I really saw the potential of the character from the standpoint of his creators. Here we have an African-American character who was taken to a bright and shiny home in return for his creativity and his alliance only for him to use the tools given to him to fight the very person who betrayed him. There are layers in that concept.
In 2011, DC Comics swapped The Martian Manhunter out for Cyborg in their Justice League book. A. To give the League a tech-character and B. to give the League a black person. After all this research I really think Hardware would have been a better fit for that part. He's techy, he's Black, he's older and wiser and has a pretty harsh origin. The only reason it was Cyborg was because he had been on TV and he was young, plus Hardware could have had right ownership problems. Nevertheless, having Hardware as the 7th member would have shown DC Comic's interest to reach out to their imprints. After all they used Vertigo and Wildstorm to their extent. Plus, if Hardware was the new 7th member than Cyborg could have remained on the Teen Titans title.
Sadly, they can't reset the past. I mean they can, but not literally. Hardware was just the character DC needed, but not the one they wanted to risk using. And now this awesome character sinks into obscurity while DC receives continuous flack by JL and TT fans alike for their use of Cyborg. But such is way of a comic book company who's only smart investments begin with "Super" and "Bat".
Thanks for reading!
Do you want to see Hardware in a new comic? Comment below!

Krypton's Favorite Son

As of DC Rebirth the amount of Superman characters has skyrocketed! You have two new Superwomen, Supergirl, a new Superboy, a new Chinese Superman, Lex Luthor as Superman, Steel, The Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, and Bizarro somewhere around there too! I guess with Batman recruiting some old and new sidekicks our buddy Superman had to play catch-up. But there are two Superman characters that are most important and a lot more different than you may think. New 52 Superman! Post-Crisis Superman! What's The Difference!?

Superman and Superman? Let me explain. See, DC Comics has had a lot of in-universe reboots with the two most important being "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and "Flashpoint". To make it easier to understand, the longest established version of Superman was in comics from 1986 (when Crisis on Infinite Earths ended and gave an updated origin to Superman) and 2011 (just before another reboot). So if you watched Superman in the cartoons that's basically the same character. You know, everything good and wholesome. And with underwear. The New 52 Superman was in comics from 2011 (after the reboot) to 2016 (he died recently. We'll get there). If you've seen any of the more recent animated DC films, there he is. No underwear.

We all know where Superman comes from, but in 1986 DC Comics asked writer John Bryne to give it to us again. This was the beginning of the post-modern Superman. In 1938 Superman premiered and had basically any superpower he'd need for any situation, but over time the powers got so predictable one of the big changes that needed to happen was how powerful Superman was. Hence the 86' Superman who has better defined powers. But what was more of a focus was Superman's personality, what kind of man he is. We all know Superman has been the moral center of superheroes since his conception, but in a 1980's world what does that entail? Well, Clark Kent was still awkward but he was polite, he was humble, he didn't cross anyone unless it was part of his job as a journalist. As Superman you saw him just as often solve problems verbally as you did physically, just because Superman could stop someone with violence doesn't mean he has to. It's the 1980's that saw the birth of the "Speechy" Superman, the Superman who knew exactly what to say and when to say it. He wasn't perfect, but at heart he was incorruptible. And when we look at Lex Luthor, that was the point. In the 1980's we saw the first version of businessman Lex Luthor, a Luthor who solved problems with money, resources and knowledge. Superman had superpowers, but still had issues to solve. Lex Luthor, on the other hand, had no powers and no problem he couldn't fix. It was this difference that defined both Superman and Lex Luthor and allowed Superman to grow into the character we all see him as: a father figure. Well, most of us anyway.

In 2011 DC Editorial decided Superman was boring because they went to the internet. Superman-along with a majority of characters-was aged back five or ten years and given a redesign by Jim Lee. No underwear, collar, weird lining. They tried to make Superman hip. One such adjustment was breaking up Superman's marriage to Lois Lane. Yeah, Superman and Lois had been husband and wife since 1996 and-again-were like the Mom N' Pop of comic books. But marriage means age and DC instead set the New 52 Superman up with New 52 Wonder Woman. Who had issues of her own, I swear. This Superman wasn't written as a moral center, but more of a man trying to find his footing. He had all the right intentions, but it felt like the world he operated in didn't allow him to be the best he could be. This Superman was a bit weaker and inexperienced, but had a new power called The Solar Flare. A beefed-up version of Heat Vision that fired an explosion of solar energy and left Superman powerless after being used. It was a risky power and Superman made good use of it. Recently this Superman had gone through the ringer: Lost most of his powers, went through Kryptonite Chemotherapy, became powered by Apokolips (space Hell), and finally absorbed enough solar radiation from a villain to be turned to dust. All the while knowing he was on his last days and doing his best to leave behind a legacy. It was only in his last days did this Superman focus on building a family and leaving a footprint on the Earth. Now, of course, both Supermen have died. But New 52 Superman stayed dead. For now anyway, we know how comic books are. But if Superman is dead for good, who will take his place? All the new Super-characters? No. Superman will take Superman's place.

As if DC Editorial actually listened to Superman fans for once, the Post-Crisis Superman has returned to the DC Universe. As it turns out the 1986-2011 versions of Superman and his wife Lois Lane had been living in secret on this new/current DCU Earth. While new versions of Superman, Batman, and The Justice League defended the planet, old Superman lived as normal man and even got to raise a son with Lois. And when New 52 Superman died, the old Superman felt it was his responsibility to come out of hiding and use his twenty-five years of experience to defend this new Earth. And thus, our Superman has returned with a wife and a super-son. It may be confusing, but trust me it's better when you see it for yourself. Props to New 52 Superman, but with classic Superman back and center stage I think we're going to see DC Comics become a nicer place. A place where being a hero isn't about power, its about the men and women who have it. It's not about death, it's about life. With our Superman back, DC Comics isn't about realism, it's about Hope.

Thanks for reading.

Are you happy classic Superman is back? Comment below!

Marvel Medieval #4

Marvel Medieval is a tabletop RPG of my own design. Myself and The Comic Buffet Crew are playing this game on a new podcast series over on The Panel Biter Podbean! So if you want to follow along or learn some lore, this is the post for you!
panelbiter.podbean.com

Character Focus: The Fix

Race: Hulkling

Class: Heavy

Gear: Heavy Armor, Side Bag, Ball & Chain.

Skill Chart:
Forceful +2, Careful +0, Flash +1, Quick +1, Sneak -1, Clever +0

Character Specials:

World Breaker: Delivers an earth-shaking punch, will stun target enemy and/or create a ground-based wave of force.

Megaton Clap: By slamming his hands together, Fix sends a wave of sound forward to push targets away.

Joseph/The Fix operated as a bodyguard to King Fisk for the entirety of his early career. He forced to work for Fisk for the security of his life. Luckily he had been contacted by a clan of Hulklings called The Choir. This group heard of Fix's "talents" and recruited him to be part of their clan. Now free of Fisk, Fix can take on the role of a guard, an enforcer, or a hired gun. With The Choir providing him resources he's become a well-known hired help. Though he has respect for The Choir, Fix will more often attribute his success to himself.

 Race: Humans

Humans are the most common race of people in Franrich. They control a majority of the land, businesses, and have long family ties. It is rumored that all races-Hulklings, Mutants and so on-are derived from Humans. With a large populous and history, Humans are the most lax of Races. They don't excel at any particular skill naturally and must train to be good at something. In that way, Humans are the most malleable race. And with most Kings in Franrich being Human they also have a bit of a privilege. A Human's Race Ability is called "Focus Senses". Due to their lack of natural-born superpowers, the senses of Humans have adapted to avoid danger. If a Human fails a Perception roll (a 20-sided Dice), they are allowed one more roll. With Franrich being littered in Humans of all Classes and kinds, you'll be better off playing nice with them. Otherwise you might start a mob.

Beware: Negative Fogs

Due to the experiments of King Richards, a strange fog has seeped out of a portal and into the forests of Franrich. They aren't common, but if you ever hear the sound of cloth ripping you should be weary as it might mean a portal has opened near your location. This portal leads to a space beyond our planet and through the portal comes a gas that effects the bodies of all Races. "Negative Fog" will nullify the Skills of any players standing in it. That means Modifiers are not counted in roll results. Example: Max's character wants to climb a tree to get a look of the forest. This would otherwise be easy as he has a +2 in Careful. He rolls a 4 (Success with Casualty), but his +2 bumps it up to a 6 (Success with Bonus). But if we add a Negative Fog to the area, he rolls a 4 and is given no Modifier. This results in him climbing the tree, but being stung by a bee on the way up. Without pluses you may find it harder to perform Actions, or easier given your respective minuses. When covered in this Negative Fog, try not to conduct too many Actions.

Location: Giant's Pass Canyon

Found between the Kingdoms of Genosha and Attilan, Giant's Pass Canyon is a bizarre managed by a community of Moloids. The chief of the bizarre is a Human named Elder, he commands his Moloid employees to help visiting merchants set up shops inside the skeleton. Most of the renowned shops sit inside the rib cage, towards the pelvis are the novelty shops, and the bedrooms of the Moloids rest under the skull. The skull has been hollowed out and made into Elder's room. It is believed that this skeleton belongs to the last Giant as no other Giants have ever been seen. Various Kings have attempted to buy the skeleton from Elder, but he always refuses. Rumor is the Giant's brain contains a type of magic that has gone understudied, a magic only Professor Hank Pym of Genosha has properly studied. If you are ever looking to stock up on healing items or need a spot to rest, the corpse of a giant is the safest place to visit.
Enough said!

Dick Facts

Let's see how much of a Nightwing fan you are! Here are One Dozen Nightwing Facts!

1. Robin was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane in 1940. His design was inspired by the classic fictional character Robin Hood and the bird. The most recent origin behind Robin being Grayson's choice of identity is that his mother loved robins and the night before her death Grayson gave her a small brass robin for her birthday.

2. Dick Grayson is a founding member of The Teen Titans. He is also one of the three original members to stick around after the formation of The New Teen Titans. When Robin transitioned into Nightwing, he and the older Teen Titans established a new team simply called "The Titans". Grayson has also been a member of The Justice League under both the title of Nightwing and as Batman.

3. The name "Nightwing" comes from Kryptonian mythology. Superman had told Robin the story of two legendary crime-fighters on Krypton called Nightwing and Flamebird. In 2015, the story was retooled and stated Nightwing and Flamebird were two Kryptonian dragons. Flamebird would destroy and Nightwing would create. Betty Kane-the sister of Batwoman and the very first Bat-Girl-became Flamebird in the 1990's and holds the title to this day despite being distant from Grayson.

4. Because of his childhood experiences in the circus as an acrobat, Dick Grayson is a master of perception. He can plan a path across any terrain and predict an opponent's movements simply by reading their body language. He can even tell if someone is lying just by looking at you.

5. Robin was originally created to give Batman someone to talk to. In the 1980's Robin was more associated with The Teen Titans and editor Len Wein felt the Batman books needed Robin again, but Grayson was too old and too distant. Wein asked Gerry Conway and Don Newton to create Jason Todd as a new Robin. In addition, Wein asked Teen Titan's writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez to progress Grayson into another role, hence Nightwing.

6. Dick Grayson took over for Batman after Bruce Wayne seemingly died in 2008. When Dick became the new Batman, Damian Wayne had just been created and added to the story by Grant Morrison. Damian was the son of Bruce and Talia al Ghul and was raised as an assassin. As such, the new Batman & Robin was an inverse of the traditional duo because Batman was more optimistic and humorous and Robin was more violent and dangerous.

7. During the 1950's, there was a concern among parents that the Batman and Robin relationship was homosexual. This fear escalated in the 1966 Batman TV show staring Adam West and Burt Ward because Robin was clearly older than his comic book counterpart and still wore the green underwear. This concern from parents pushed Bob Kane and Bill Finger to create the original Batwoman and Bat-Girl to give the Dynamic Duo respective romantic partners. The current conception is that Bruce and Dick share a father-son relationship.

8. Dick Grayson has utilized Batarangs just like other members of the Batman Family, however he has designed his own throwing weapons to match his bird logo. These weapons have been referred to as Throwing Birds, Birdarangs, and Wing-Dings. Like Batman, Grayson refuses to use guns. When he was an agent of Spyril he would often use his gun to startle foes, trigger explosives, or as a makeshift Batarang.

9. DC Editor Dan Didio has been trying to kill Dick Grayson for the last decade. After the event "Trinity War" he insisted the character be killed off, but Geoff Johns met Dan halfway by having Batman fake Grayson's death and plant him as a double agent in the spy organization Spyril. Grayson would receive a self-titled series and be estranged from the Batman Family. Dan assumed this book would be overlooked, but fans followed the book and enjoyed the premise. Dan has stated his disliking of Dick Grayson comes from the character's age. If Grayson is allowed to be in his mid-to-late-twenties that would mean Batman would be in his mid-forties at least and Dan doesn't want Batman "to be old". Didio was also responsible for Stephanie Brown (Spoiler/Robin/Batgirl) to be left out of the 2011 DC Comics reboot because the character was too optimistic to be a Batman character.

10. The spy book "Grayson" was written by Tim Seeley and Tom King. Tom King had been a writer for X-Men alongside Chris Claremont, but after September 11th he joined the CIA counter-terrorism unit. King returned to comics in 2014 to help write "Grayson" and use his CIA experiences to improve the spy-element of the title. King also wrote Marvel's most recent "Vision" series and he has also been placed as the solo writer for the 2016 "Batman" title.

11. Dick Grayson was a main character in Bruce Timm and Paul Dini's "Batman: The Animated Series" in 1992, he even changed into Nightwing in season four of the cartoon. However, you will notice an absence of the character in the following "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited" series despite the same writers working on those shows. This is because of something called The Batman Embargo. When JLU was on TV it was on around the same time the "Teen Titans" animated series aired. The studio didn't want children to think "Teen Titans" was part of the DCAU, so JLU could not use Dick Grayson or any character featured in the Teen Titans cartoon, and the Teen Titans crew could not use Batman or any characters from the JLU cartoon. The embargo is also why Robin didn't appear in 2004's "The Batman" animated series until season four, because around that time "Teen Titans" had been cancelled after five seasons. This also created the only instance where Batman allied with Batgirl/Barbara Gordon before allying with Dick Grayson/Robin because Batgirl appeared one season earlier.

12. In Tim Burton's 1992 film "Batman Returns" Marlon Wayans was originally cast as Robin. However, there were too many characters in the film already and the role was cut from the final script. Robin would eventually be played by Chris O'Donnell in "Batman Forever" in 1994, but Marlon Wayans claims he still receives residual checks from Warner Bros. every year. Both Marlon and Channing Tatum have expressed a decent knowledge of comic book characters in the interview linked below.
http://io9.gizmodo.com/5330150/the-real-reason-marlon-wayans-passed-on-playing-robin
Thanks for reading!
Do you want to see Dick Grayson in Ben Affleck's Batman movie? Comment below!