Tagged: Justice League

Official Roster Announced for MK vs DC

  • News
  • September 30, 2008

943567_20080820_screen007-8040276On the heels of last week’s big release of LEGO Batman: The Videogame, Midway has announced the final characters for their newest game; Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. The story takes place after the two franchises collide during a universal "crisis" (probably not the same one). Now fanboys (and fangirls) can finally their aggression on the Justice League like it’s their job. Here’s the complete list:

      DC Comics Universe:

  •  Batman
  • Superman
  • Catwoman
  • Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
  • Shazam (Captain Marvel, not wizard)
  • The Flash (Barry Allen)
  • Deathstroke
  • Wonder Woman
  • The Joker
  • Lex Luthor
  • Darkseid

      Mortal Kombat:

  • Scorpion
  • Sub-Zero
  • Sonya
  • Jax
  • Shang Tsung
  • Liu Kang
  • Raiden
  • Kitana
  • Kano
  • Baraka
  • Shao Kahn

The game is currently slated for a November release on the PS3 and XBox 360, and for the real gaming fans, you can see a complete list of achievements to unlock here On the page, there is reference to a character only called "JF". No word on who this can be, possibly another cameo? You decide.

 

 

Baltimore: Bendis Vs. Kirkman

  • News
  • September 29, 2008

Over a month ago, Robert Kirkman (Invincible, Walking Dead) posted a video mission statement on the idea that many who work at DC and Marvel are there because they do not realize that creator-owned books can provide a stable living with healthy profit and that such titles are the way to enhance the industy.

Brian Michael Bendis immediately responded by saying that things weren’t that easy and that it was irresponsible to tell people that, speaking as a man who works on many Marvel titles and has had success with his creator-owned Powers series.

The two sides of the argument have been tackled, discussed and disected across the board on message boards, in comic stores, in bars, possibly even in secret lairs hidden beneath wealthy manors.

And so, at Baltimore Comic-Con, Bendis and Kirkman met to continue their debate and elaborate on their points before an interested audience. (more…)

Baltimore: DC Q & A

  • News
  • September 29, 2008

black-lantern-corps-large-2476224Saturday morning at Baltimore Comic-Con, DC Comics held their usual DC Nation panel featuring Jimmy Palmiotti, Geoff Johns, Sterling Gates, James Robinson, Sean Mckeever and Ian Sattler. The panel was hosted by Dan Didio who actually invited a mustached fan named Brian onto the panel after he praised the weekly series Trinity. Geoff Johns complimented the same fan for being able to “rock the ‘stache.” When the same fan referred to the Green Lantern Corps as “NYPD Green”, Johns stated he would be stealing this title.

After fan Brian spoke highly of Trinity, Didio added that the main focus of the series is the great influence of the three heroes and how important they have been not only to the DCU but to the multiverse as a whole. He commented that this made the series a complete counterpoint to 52, which explored the mainstream DC Earth spending a year without the three icons. In the same vein, he clarified that the current Batman R.I.P. storyline is exploring whether or not Bruce would still operate as Batman "if you took everything away", as well as showing how his absence affects many, not just the Gotham-centric characters but also people like the Outsiders.

DC had several things to announce in terms of upcoming projects.

A few years ago, DC did a fifth-week event called "New Year’s Evil" involving several one-shots that did not relate to each other but all centered villain-centric stories. Operating on a similar note, DC will be release "Faces of Evil", a month-long project launching next spring. Each issue will be a one-shot focusing on a particular villain and the covers will be done in the same style as the recent “anti-inspirational posters” ads. Johns announced that he and artist Scott Collins would be working on a one-shot focused on Solomon Grundy. Other villains who would be focused on include Parasite and Despero. When a fan asked if any of the Rogues (from Flash) were going to have a one-shot, Johns simply said that the future of the Rogues will be set-out at the conclusion of the miniseries Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge.

Geoff Johns also added that Solomon Grundy would become a Black Lantern, though he also said the same thing of any other character mentioned during the panel who is deceased. Concerning the upcoming "war of light" stories in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, Johns again spoke about Agent Orange, the leader of the Orange Corps dedicated to Avarice, as a major villain. He also said that the Orange oath was his favorite. Throughout the remainder of the panel, questions about seemingly dead characters usually involved Johns saying , "(Fill-in-the-Blank)’s a Black Lantern."

  (more…)

Marvel’s Cup of B

  • News
  • September 28, 2008

Rather than the usual "Cup of Joe" panel, Marvel decided that Baltimore Comic-Con would feature "Cup of B." Marvel super-star Brian Michael Bendis appeared, alongside Dan Slott (Avengers: Initiative), Steve Savolski (X-Infernus) and executive editor Tom Brevoort. 

Bendis confirmed the previously announced departure from Mighty Avengers with #20, the post Secret Invasion issue which will show a dramatic shift in the title. He will then begin Dark Avengers with artist Mike Deodato and Slott will jump into Mighty Avengers, which means he’s leaving Initiative, which Christos Gage will pick up. More Taskmaster is promised. 

Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD will begin March 2008, full art by Alex Maleev, reuniting the duo since they produced Daredevil. The series promises to be “very different” from others at Marvel. But is it Jessica Drew? No answer was given.

While the Inferno crossover was spread across the DC Universe, it’s follow-up X-Infernus will be more X-Men focused, specifically on the New Mutants, with characters such as Magik showing up. 

On Amazing Spider-Man, Marc Guggenheim and Barry Kitson will present a single-issue story featuring what happened to Flash Thompson. Joe Kelly will be doing a two-part Hammerhead story and then Mark Waid will be introducing new charatecters and secrets to Spider-Man’s universe. Dan Slott promises a “completely logical, non-magical explanation of why Harry Osborn’s alive.” He added that villain Molten Man was returning with the intention of killing Harry Osborn.

Bendis was asked for his reactions to the Secret Invasion Jacket I made. Bendis was a good sport about it and simply laughed, saying "Listen, I love him. You can buy it, roll it up, shove it up your ass. I don’t care.That’s not even in the top 20 sh*t I’ve had to deal with online." I then identified myself to the Marvel panel. When Bendis asked me why I didn’t wear the jacket to the con, I was sad to explain that it was not functional in the rain.

I then asked my own question to Bendis, concerning whether or not the Skrulls now had the Space Gem since they had replaced Black Bolt, the gem’s current owner. Bendis then informed me that he had explained this already but that I must have turned the issue into a pair of shorts. He then admitted that the Space Gem would be a future plot point. (more…)

‘Secret Invasion’ So Far: The Tie-Ins

  • News
  • September 24, 2008

If you read Part 1 of my report on "Secret Invasion so far", you know I have found a lot of faults with the main series of this Marvel crossover and the tie-ins written by Brian Michael Bendis.

Now, any major crossover these days has tie-ins with other titles. It’s a good marketing idea because it gets readers to check out characters and books they may not have already been reading. And it helps give the story an epic feel when you can show how its effects are felt in various other parts of the Marvel Universe and how other folks are forced to get dragged into it.

A lot of times, these tie-ins are unnecessary and fairly forgettable unless you were already a fan of those books. Imagine my surprise when I found that a lot of these tie-ins were actually enjoyable and greatly enhanced the crossover for me. Frankly, I think some of these tie-ins could have replaced a few issues of the main series.

Let’s go into a bit more detail, shall we? (more…)

‘Secret Invasion’ So Far: The Main Story

  • News
  • September 22, 2008

So we’re more than half-way through Secret Invasion, the event that’s supposed to be the biggest thing to rock the Marvel Universe since Civil War, where the question was “whose side are you on?” Secret Invasion’s question is “who do you trust?”, which is almost the same question as Civil War’s but not as grammatically correct ( it’s "whom", people!) and concerns the revelation that several Skrulls (shape-shifting aliens who’ve had their asses kicked many times) have secretly been living among us for a while. This story is the brain-child of Brian Michael Bendis, who has been praised for his series Powers and his run on Ultimate Spider-Man and who has been writing New Avengers and Mighty Avengers since both titles were created.

This plot has been done before to lesser degrees. In the early 90s, the Fantastic Four discovered that the Human Torch’s wife had been impersonated by a Skrull since before they were even engaged. And a couple of years later, the X-Men found out that Wolverine had been replaced by a Skrull who then died because he didn’t know he didn’t have Wolvie’s powers too (idiot).

But there are three major elements that mark this particular invasion story as different from what we’ve seen in comic books a million times over. The first element is that what’s left of the Skrull Empire has now taken up religion. Their holy texts tell them that Earth is theirs by right and they have become quite creepy by habitually saying “He loves you” to everyone they attack. Secondly, they’ve learned how to infiltrate us in such a way that they are now beyond the detection of super-powers, magic and technology – very scary in this post-9/11 world. Finally, the Skrulls have finally figured out how to produce super-powers on a large scale. Where once the Super-Skrull and Power Skrull were unique, now there are thousands of Skrull warriors who have the combined powers of many different villains and heroes.

But how’s the execution? Well, in a nutshell, the main series started off very strong and has recently picked up steam again full force. Even when it was slow, it had some great scenes. But these are over-shadowed occasionally by pages of wasted space and repetitive recaps. And out of the eleven tie-in issues Bendis has written so far, eight of them can be ignored or have a smidge of substance that’s surrounded by filler pages.

But if you are one of those unfortunate souls who bought all the New Avengers and Mighty Avengers tie-ins and then realized you’d wasted over twenty bucks, don’t worry! Just do what I and my good friend Lisa McMullan did. With a little creativity, you can take those pages and make yourself a very smart looking jacket! Now you’re not a sucker, you are actually quite fashionable!

Don’t believe me? Just look at this photographic evidence, nay-sayer! All you need is scissors, tape and maybe an hour of free time.

And when people ask you "How did you think to make such a snazy and debonair sport coat?", you can simply say "I got the idea from those crazy guys at ComicMix and Alan ‘the Sizzler’ Kistler. He’s one nutty guy, that Sizzler."

Not a bad series, but I definitely have some criticisms. Hmmm? What’s that? You want more detail about what my problems are with the main series and the Bendis-written tie-ins? Not a problem, folks. That’s what I get paid for.

By the way, folks, if it pleases you, feel free to check out my old list of the Six Worst Moments in Skrull History! (more…)

On the Road to a Crisis

  • News
  • September 17, 2008

final-crisis-one-ff-1667347So right now, we’re halfway through Final Crisis, a crossover involving the weakening of space and time and all of reality being endangered. In the prelude one-shot DC Universe #0, readers were recapped about the fact that this is the third universal crisis to happen to the DCU (which isn’t entirely accurate and we’ll get into that soon).

But some of you folks may want a little more detail about what happened before this. Why is this the "Final" Crisis? And considering the fact that the previous two crises both involved history being altered, what do the heroes involved truly remember about them?

So here is not only a rundown of the previous crises, but the major events that have led into them and certain side stories that writer Grant Morrison may refer to again very soon. (more…)

‘Blackest Night’ stealing ‘Final Crisis’ thunder? by Alan Kistler

  • News
  • September 8, 2008

flash-three-generations-7506952

The major event in DC Comics in 2008 is Final Crisis, written by Grant Morrison. Unlike many summer crossovers, Final Crisis is not its own event so much as the third story of a trilogy (the first two stories being the crossovers The Crisis On Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis).

The opening premise is that all of the New Gods (celestial beings who inhabit a higher dimension) recently seemed to die, except for Darkseid, leader of the evil New Gods. Darkseid has found a way to survive through human hosts, his power fueled by the faith of his new followers under the prophet Libra. Determined to become ruler of reality, he has been resurrecting his sinister forces (an ability Kirby established decades ago) by placing their life-forces in new bodies as well. And since he has now learned the powerful "Anti-Life Equation", a prize he has sought for centuries, he is able to destroy free will in any who hear the equation, thus creating a new army of slaves.

So evil god-like forces have been freely walking among us and because the super-heroes didn’t realize it, they’ve been vulnerable to sneak attacks and manipulations. In short order, John Stewart, Hal Jordan, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman were all removed from the game board in one way or another.

But this is a Morrison story so that means there are usually layers to be peeled away. There are other things going on as a result of Darkseid now attempting to break the universe down to serve his will. There is, of course, the matter of the Multiversal Monitors, beings charged with maintaining the structure of the multiverse, one of whom is also living among us as a mortal man, unaware of his true nature. And there is the return of Barry Allen, the second Flash, a hero who became energy and merged with the universe even while saving it during the first Crisis over twenty years ago. Barry’s sacrifice saved the universe during that story and in DC Universe #0, it’s implied that the universe itself has brought him back so that he can save it again. It’s also possible he is here as a reactionary force to Libra, who is his opposite number in the sense that this a villain who also seemingly died years while merging with the cosmos.

And Libra and Barry are not the only dead men to show up in this story.

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Superman Timeline

  • News
  • September 4, 2008

As most of us know, this year marked Superman’s 70th anniversary. And as if that weren’t enough to engender conversation about the Man of Steel, Brad Meltzer’s new novel Book of Lies  has prompted quite a bit of discussion concerning Martin Siegel, who died during an armed robbery and whose son Jerome "Jerry" Siegel subsequently wrote the story of a bullet-proof alien who was invulnerable to all frailties.

So with all this talk going around about Superman’s beginnings, we here at ComicMix thought it was time to put together a small Superman time line. Please note, this time line is focused solely on Supermans’ adventures in the comics and not with his stories in other media.

1933 – Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster publish their story “Reign of the Super-Man." In the story, the title character is a bald homeless man named Bill Dunn who gains telepathic powers from a mad scientist’s experiment and intends to take over Earth. After this, Siegel writes up a new version of Superman who is secreatly named Clark Kent and is, in fact, an alien named Kal-L, son of Jor-L and last survivor of the dead planet Krypton. Shuster does artwork for the comic strip and they begin to submit it. The story is rejected by 17 different publishers over the next five years.

1938 – Superman/Clark Kent is finally introduced in Action Comics #1. Although Siegel has plotted out the name of Superman’s parents and planet, none of these are actually named in this issue’s origin story. Superman is said to have great strength, resistance to conventional injury, and is able to leap 1/8th of a mile.

1939 – In Superman #1, the planet Krypton is finally named in the comics. It is also mentioned that Clark Kent was raised by a kindly, elderly couple. His adopted mother is named “Mary Kent” and it’s said that she and her husband died soon before Clark moved to Metropolis.

1940 – In Action Comics #23, Clark’s newspaper The Daily Star is officially renamed as The Daily Planet and Superman has his first fight with “Luthor, the mad scientist.”

1941 – Superman #10 features our hero actually defying gravity for the first time by hovering in the air. Previous to this, it was always stated in the comics that he could only leap over great distances. Superman #11 confirms that Superman can now fly, just like in the cartoons and radio shows.

1942 – Superman #17 reveals that the Man of Tomorrow has a hidden base known as the Secret Citadel, located inside a mountain range nearby Metropolis.

1945 – The character of Superboy (an adolescent version of Superman) and his hometown of Smallville are introduced in More Fun Comics #101. Initially, this is treated as a separate continuity from the mainstream Superman stories.

1948 – Superman #53 names Clark’s adopted parents as “John and Mary Kent.”

1949 – Kryptonite makes its first comic book appearance in comics in Superman #61 (originally, it was only used in the radio plays). In this story, Kryponite is colored red but in all subsequent stories it is colored green (other forms of Kryptonite with different colors will appear later on). In this same story, Superman finally learns the name and history of his home planet Krypton, even though readers have known such facts for years already. (more…)

ComicMix Six: Batman’s Super-Powers

  • News
  • August 26, 2008

green-lantern-batman-6452727There’s an upcoming story in the Superman/Batman title that will involve our long-eared Dark Knight getting superhuman abilities (albeit, temporarily). Writers Michael Green and Mike Johnson have been doing great work on the title, so this promises to be an entertaining tale.

But did you know that this won’t be the first time Batman has been given super-human talents? Here are just some of the more interesting adventures that have occurred when Bruce Wayne wound up gifted with "power and abilities far beyond those of mortal men."

PLEASE NOTE: I am not including times where Batman used technology to help him out, such as a suit of armor or a rocket pack or New God weapons. Nor am I including times when he got powers for only a few pages, such as when he borrowed Hawkman’s wing-harness and Nth metal belt or the time that Hal Jordan let him try on his Green Lantern power ring for a minute. Those times may have been cool, but they lasted for only a scene rather than a fully story. Likewise, I am not including any Elseworlds tales, so deal with it.

 

(more…)

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