Category Archives: Comics
6 Fan-Made Characters That Were Embraced by the Real Creators
Do you remember Gary the Gray Power Ranger, the one who drove Titanus? Or what about Dustin the Animorph-Controller, who was both one of the good guys and one of the bad guys? Or Jedi Padawan Tasher Jaken? No? You don’t? Well don’t worry, you shouldn’t remember them. They never existed, not in the real shows, books or movies anyway. They are all my own fan fiction creations. All 100% my own ideas.
Creating my own original characters to fit into existing franchises has always been one of my favorite writing hobbies. I was even naive enough once upon a time to think I had a chance of making them a reality, if only I could speak with the writers or creators.
Now I know better. I was fooling myself.
But seriously, who’s driving this thing?
Yet even though it never worked out for me, the dream isn’t so far-fetched. Sometimes the creators and professionals really do listen to their fans. Sometimes that silly bit of fan fiction can take on a life of its own. Or maybe the fans will embrace a seemingly unimportant background character and adopt him or her like a mascot. It can happen. It has happened. I found six characters from TV, video games and movies that were – for the most part – created and embellished by the fans, only for the real creators to take notice and embrace these fan creations, bringing them into the real canon.
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #15
The classic Bendis ‘talking heads’ issue is back, and it is glorious! Though I kind of wish there were more characters and their relationships were a little better defined so that the issue could be even better…but this is still good comics. Writer Brian Michael Bendis is renowned for his skill with dialogue. It’s what made the early issues of the original Ultimate Spider-Man so good. His characters were so rich, their scenes together so much fun, that the book couldn’t help but be a hit. Well in this new issue. Bendis slows things down and gives new protagonist Miles Morales a chance to just hang out with his friends and family and be himself.
Ultimate Spider-Man #15
And if they had something a little more substantial to talk about, this issue would be perfect.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
Here is another example of me wishing I used decimals or fractions. The writing in this issue is top notch as Miles, his best friend Ganke, and his parents react and respond to the various big events that have occurred over the past few issues. His parents have to deal with the police investigation into Uncle Aaron’s death, and Ganke gets to geek out over Miles’ new web-shooters. This is top notch stuff and very entertaining. But there’s also a…shallowness to it. Several school officials appear, but we don’t know their names, so they don’t really matter. We finally learn Miles’ father’s name, which goes to show you how deep a character he is. And we get to meet Ultimate Maria Hill! But all of it remains kind of skin deep, I’m afraid.
At least the ending is pretty awesome. Though I still contend that this series would be much better without the need to squeeze the ‘Divided We Fall/United We Stand’ nonsense into the book. Did you guys here that Ultimate Captain America is going to become President? I love when the mainstream media reports on these events from the Ultimate Universe, because I have a hard time imagining a non-comics fan trying to distinguish between the Ultimate characters and the ‘real’ characters.
Either way, join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
What Do I Think About the Tim Drake/Red Robin Controversy?
When Teen Titans #0 comes out next week, we’re going to learn that Tim Drake never took on the mantle of Robin. Instead, from the moment he became Batman’s sidekick, he called himself ‘Red Robin’, a name that he still uses today as leader of the Teen Titans. We’ve known this retcon since San Diego Comic-Con, where Teen Titans writer Scott Lobdell let the cat out of the bag. This is a big change to Tim Drake’s continuity in the wake of the New 52 reboot, and considering I’m both a huge Robin fan and a huge Tim Drake fan, my reaction might surprise you.
The change actually doesn’t bother me in the least. It’s so incredibly minor and stupid that it’s rolled off my back like water on a duck.
Tim Drake will always be the best Robin, whether DC wants to retroactively add a silly adjective in front of his name or not.
The real problem is whether or not the Joker is going to kill Tim in the upcoming “Death of the Family” storyline. But more on that later.
Join me after the jump as I explain the change and tell you why I think it’s so stupid that it should just be ignored. Then we can all move on with our lives.
Review: X-Factor #244
It’s Banshee’s turn at the plate in Breaking Points, and she knocks it out of the park with a touching, personal look at her character. The mysterious ‘guest’ she’s been hiding the past few issues is revealed, and by the end of the issue, her status quo is changed in a very significant way. It’s a sad change, but still cool in its way. Part of me thinks it’s a little too easy, and a little too apropos of nothing, but it definitely works. Throw in some good art and some strong appearances by the rest of the cast and you’ve got yourself a very nice issue of X-Factor.
X-Factor #244
Who could ask for anything more?
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
For the most part, writer Peter David has been doing an acceptable job of cleaning house in X-Factor. I know that X-Factor is going to remain relatively untouched in Marvel NOW!, but that doesn’t mean he might not give it a fresh coat of paint or something. Ditching a few members of the bloated cast is a great idea, in my opinion, and he’s been doing a fine job in figuring out what to do with these guys. PAD takes a strong, hard look at Banshee in this issue, and the emotions that drive her, but he does so with a character he created only a few issues ago, a character that doesn’t have the history or the impact to be such a big deal in Banshee’s life, in my opinion. But it works. PAD shakes things up, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
PAD also manages to work his magic with Havok and Polaris, two characters who have definitely suffered from being suddenly, unceremoniously dropped into this comic. There are some continuity conflicts with Avengers vs. X-Men, but who cares? I’m curious to see if PAD will play any part in preparing Havok for his upcoming leadership position in Uncanny Avengers. He seems to be doing a nice job of preparing Polaris for her stay in X-Factor.
But more on that later. Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Robin’s Pixie Boots Are No More!
Today’s Nightwing #0 retells the origin of original Robin, Dick Grayson, and it reveals that the old, classic Robin costume of pixie boots, bare legs and green short shorts is not part of the New 52 rebooted universe! This is awesome news! Granted, it’s not going to suddenly change public perception of Robin, but it’s a strong step towards finally putting that embarrassing costume away for good.
Behold, the new original Robin costume!
Superhero artists love to add arrows that point to the crotch
Personally, I think it’s a little too futuristic. Batman is still wearing a pretty standard costume, design-wise, so why Robin suddenly has to have all these curves and rounded edges is beyond me. But I still like it. I like it loads more than the original Robin costume.
There are a few other new wrinkles to Dick Grayson’s origin, but I’ll consider them spoilers and put them after the jump.
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