Category Archives: Comics
6 DC Characters I’d Like to See on ‘Arrow’
Even though they couldn’t make a Justice League movie to save their own asses, DC Comics has mastered bringing its superheroes to the small screen. They’ve got a robust and popular direct-to-DVD animated market, decades worth of quality cartoons and some of the best live action superhero television shows of all time. Smallville got 10 seasons out of the early years of Clark Kent. That’s very impressive.
Now they’re going to try again for another hit with Arrow on the CW.
Because apparently ‘Green’ is a 4-letter word
Ostensibly based on the character Green Arrow, somebody somewhere decided to drop the whole ‘Green’ part of his name. Not cool enough for modern audiences, I guess? Didn’t seem to hurt when Green Arrow was a major character on Smallville. Anyway, color coordination aside, Arrow is going to be a gritty, urban show about a street-level vigilante fighting crime. The previews have looked pretty awesome so far, and I’m excited. I’m even more excited about all of the superhero cameos the show is going to feature.
So being the comic book geek that I am, I started thinking about what characters I’d like to see appear on Arrow. There is one ground rule through, established by the producers themselves: no powers. With that ground rule in place, here are the 6 DC characters I’d like to see cameo in Arrow.
Dog Logan Set to Return…Again
Does anybody remember Dog Logan, Wolverine’s half-brother? He was in the comic Origin from 2001, when they revealed that Wolverine was really James Howlett, a sickly boy who was born in Canada in the late 19th century. James was the illegitimate son of Mrs. Howlett and the groundskeeper, Thomas Logan. Whereas Dog was Thomas Logan’s actual son. It was a cool twist, believe me. I liked Origin.
Wolverine isn’t the one you think
Well apparently sometime last year…or this year, who knows…Dog returned in the pages of Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine because the two heroes went on some jolly quest through time and managed to bring Dog to the present day. I didn’t read it. The comic was one of those random mini-series that Marvel puts out because having the names Wolverine and Spider-Man on a comic book cover is sure to sell. That Dog returned in that comic, let alone came to the present day, was a fact that seemed to avoid my notice. Apparently he’s since been living out in the wilds of Canada doing research on his half-brother the superhero and headmaster of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.
He also likes to cook and eat actual wolverines, because Dog is nothing if not a believer in poetic justice.
His beard appreciates his wit
Well writer Jason Aaron – friend of the site – is going to use Dog in upcoming issues of Wolverine & The X-Men. He said as much in a recent interview with CBR.
On the story side of the coin, Dog Logan should shake up the series in a major way in the wake of its “Avengers Vs. X-Men” crossover tales. The villain was a major player – and major mystery – in Marvel’s successful “Origin” series where it was revealed that Wolverine had a half-brother, but since then the character’s appearances have been few and shrouded in secrecy. Most of that was by Aaron’s design. “I’ve always had plans for Dog, ever since having him pop up in ‘Astonishing Spider-Man And Wolverine,” the writer said. “And I’m really excited about the chance to dig into his character and really figure out what makes this guy tick. He’s one of those deeply-flawed sorts of characters that I love to write. And while he will be coming back into Logan’s life to raise some hell, I want him to seem like much more than just some mustache-twirling bad guy with a grudge against his brother. I think Dog is a pretty tragic figure, so I want him to be a much more complicated villain. But he’s also still a Logan. And Wolverine’s big brother. So I would expect there to be plenty of asskicking going on.”
That should be pretty cool. I always thought Dog had a lot of potential, especially since he wasn’t overused. He hasn’t had any major appearances since Origin, after all – though someone decided that Dog would grow up to be Sabretooth when they made the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine. That was suspected in Origin, but thankfully Marvel never went that route.
Though how Aaron is going to establish Dog as his own character instead of just another version of Sabretooth/Romulus/Daken/any evil Wolverine ever is anybody’s guess…
The New Justice League of America
Even though Justice League: International crashed and burned, DC Comics is going to try again with a brand new Justice League of America team. Apparently it’s going to run concurrent with the Justice League series that already exists. Because as the Marvel marketing department will tell you, why bother coming up with an original superhero team name when you can just re-use a name that is already a proven seller?
Behold the new team lineup!
Additional member: Catwoman’s cleavage
At the very least, this new team is spinning out of the ongoing story in Justice League. When Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Aquaman and the rest banded together into a team in the New 52, they did so on their own, with no government oversight or control. And there has been an ongoing story about how the U.S. government is a little skittish about the fact that this supremely powerful team of superheroes isn’t beholden to anyone.
So it looks like the government is putting together their own version of the Justice League.
The new line-up: Martian Manhunter, Catwoman, Green Arrow, Katana, Hawkman, Vibe, Steve Trevor, Stargirl and Baz, the new Arab-American Green Lantern.
Here’s what writer Geoff Johns had to say about the team:
The idea of why the JLA forms, and what it is, and what it’s in reaction to… It kind of spins out of Justice League #12; what happens in that, and then subsequent issues, because JLA comes out next year some time. But the book itself is a group of heroes that aren’t necessarily coming together because they want to be together… They’ve been selected specifically. They all want, or need something that Steve Trevor, and the other person behind the scenes that’s in charge of this team can provide.
The first arc is going to deal with something they learn is called The Secret Society of Super-Villains. It’s specific because its run by A.R.G.U.S. They have a team they feel they can now control. Whether or not that ends up being the case is up for debate.
You can read the full interview at Mtv Geek. Because when I think of geek culture, I think Mtv.
As for my personal opinion…I dunno. I think it’s too soon to be doing something like this. We’re barely more than a year into the New 52 reboot, and the Justice League title has barely had any time to settle itself. It’s a good enough comic, but I don’t think it’s as strong as it could be. Adding something like this for it to contend with is too much too soon. It’s like DC doesn’t think they have any time to let anything grow. They did this big reboot of their universe, and now they still have the modern day mentality that they’ve got to just push and push and push more stuff out the door to keep fans happy. They won’t let anything settle or simmer.
So I dunno. Maybe it’ll work, maybe it won’t. Justice League Dark is still selling. But Justice League International got cancelled. So we’ll see what happens when this new book comes out next year some time.
At the very least, the name is a little dumb. The names ‘Justice League’ and ‘Justice League of America’ are synonymous in the minds of the fans. Applying them to two different teams is going to get a little confusing.
Ma-Ti Never Got Enough Respect
All the others got to control some kind of element, but with the power of Heart, Ma-Ti could control people and animals. That’s more badass than people give it credit for. At least these guys recognize the awesomeness of Ma-Ti and the Planeteers! It’s a live action fan-made trailer for modern day Captain Planet movie. And it is a thing of brilliance.
How cool was that? Those people at Altermotion Media Entertainment did one hell of a job. Even the Captain Planet costume looked awesome, and I’m sure that was hard to pull off.
I used to watch Captain Planet all the time, and I liked it when I was a kid. I thought the characters were cool, the concept was pretty fun, and I didn’t care about all the preachiness about cleaning up the environment. I just liked the superheroics. Captain Planet and the Planeteers is ripe for a grittier kind of reboot. Take it seriously, give it the strength and intelligence of modern day cartoons. It could be a hit!
Review: Teen Titans #12
A new issue of Teen Titans, a new villain appears out of nowhere. Writer Scott Lobdell just loves introducing random villains to this series. At least this guy – with the totally pointless name of ‘Diesel’ – seems to be a catalyst for learning more about the new Wonder Girl. Not that we learn much about her or him or her Silent Armor in this issue. In fact, we don’t actually accomplish very much in this issue at all. It’s just bland fighting, followed by a tiny bit of tempting exposition, and then the issue ends just as its getting started – leaving us with a fairly melodramatic cliffhanger that would fit better in comics 20 years ago.
Teen Titans #12
The character growth of the past few issues of Teen Titans is stopped. We’re back to the mindless, ‘x-treme’ superhero action.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
I can’t bring myself to call this a bad issue…mostly because I can’t work up that much interest. Teen Titans #12 is just another in a long, disappointing line of issues. Teen Titans could have been a great comic coming out of the New 52. I know it was kind of flailing prior to the reboot, but back when Geoff Johns reintroduced the teens a few years ago, Teen Titans was amazing! It was my favorite comic at the time, by far. And Johns is now one of the top guys making the decisions at DC. Surely he could have had some influence over the Teen Titans. But no, they gave it to Scott Lobdell, and he’s brought the worst of the 90s comic book problems to the title.
There’s an emphasis on mindless action over meaningful character growth. The heroes are constantly stating the obvious and explaining the scenes they are in. The comic is far more concerned with making sure there’s something ‘x-treme’ happening on every page instead of taking a moment to breath.
Teen Titans is just not a very good comic. Entertaining? Perhaps a little. Good characters? Maybe, in the right situation. But overall, this comic is just all over the place. And the only place it’s not, is with it’s characters.
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