Category Archives: Comics
Forgotten Characters: The Wonder Twins
Whatever happened to the Wonder Twins?
Wait, do I really mean those annoying, creepy, purple-clad twins from the old Super Friends cartoon? The ones with the monkey? Hells yeah I mean the Wonder Twins! I’m a huge Wonder Twins fan!
Though to be completely honest, I’m more in love with the idea of the Wonder Twins as opposed to their actual appearance in Super Friends. On the cartoon, they were just a couple of dinguses. And there was that stupid monkey.
When did annoying animal sidekicks become a thing?
I’m far more interested in their comic book counterparts, and the general idea of the twin alien superhero concept. Why haven’t these two appeared yet in the New 52?
The Top 6 Soldier Superheroes
While researching this article, I came upon a very popular slogan: “Who needs superheroes, my dad is a Marine”. Talk about summing it up nicely. Is there anyone more superheroic in our real world than the men and women of the armed services, who push themselves to the limit and sacrifice everything in the name of protecting the innocent and fighting bad guys? They wear awesome uniforms, sometimes get cool code names and they have powers and abilities far surpassing the average person.
Every soldier can be a superhero.
“Wonder Twin powers, activate!”
So it makes perfect sense to turn soldiers into superheroes in the world of comic books. Who better to take a stand and fight evil on a superhuman level than the men and women who’ve already dedicated their lives to that cause? Sometimes superheroes are nerdy science geeks like Spider-Man, or rich playboys like Batman. And sometimes they are the ass-kicking, freedom-saving men and women of the armed services.
In honor of Memorial Day, here are 6 people who don’t need the colorful costumes or super-powers – but it helps.
DC Comics is a Den of Liars!
Liars and thieves, that’s what they are! A vicious cesspool of villainous thugs who twist our minds and spin falsehoods! A fan of DC Comics, are you? Enjoy the Court of Owls storyline in Batman do you? Fool! You are their prey, and they are the vipers that would slither into your bed at night and bite you with sharp, treacherous fangs filled with snake oil! A pox upon DC Comics, I say! A pox!
But where does this sudden anger come from, you ask? Why do I lay a curse upon their children and their children’s children? Behold the cover of Batman: The Dark Knight #9, purchased by this very blogger only yesterday!
Falsehoods! Libel! Slander!
Look and see! What does that cover entail? Why it’s the heroic Red Robin doing battle with a deadly Talon assassin! It looks as if one of my all-time favorite DC comic book characters, Tim Drake, is finally being plucked from the mediocre Teen Titans series in order to make a cameo back with his proper Bat-family! For months now, the greatest Robin of all time has been cut off from the world of Batman, forced into the world of tween-friendly antics in an entirely different corner of the DC Universe. But when the Night of the Owls strikes at Batman’s heart, this cover promises us that Tim will rejoin his mentor for at least one night and fight back against those devious winged bastards!
Lies! All lies!
What does this comic actually contain? Find out after the jump!
First Gay Superhero to Get Married in June!
Even the mainstream media is picking up the story that Marvel Comics is going to have a gay wedding take place in the June issue of Astonishing X-Men, marrying off the superhero Northstar with his longtime boyfriend Kyle. I applaud this development, as well as the fact that Marvel is supporting such an obscure superhero who just happens to be gay.
Why does Doop get seated next to the groom’s mother?
Northstar, a mutant with superspeed and flight, was the first ever gay superhero in comic books back in the late 1970s. Though due to social norms at the time, he couldn’t actually come out until the early 90s. Northstar is a character with a long history of being gay, but he’s far from popular or even well known. He’s not about to appear in The Avengers sequel, for example. But still, I think it’s great that Marvel Comics is using Northstar despite his obscurity to show their support for gay marriage.
The announcement was made on The View this morning.
Who knew Whoopi Goldberg was so comic book savvy? Marvel first announced the impending wedding back in March, but they were tight-lipped about who was getting married. Though I, like everyone else, pretty much guessed Northstar right away. It was the worst kept secret in recent comics. Again, I’m all for this happening. Even if it kind of reeks of a desperate attempt at publicity. And that Marvel announced the gay wedding shortly after Archie Comics already had a gay wedding, and drew so much media attention back then.
So anyway, the wedding will be in Astonishing X-Men #51, which comes out in June. Northstar is going to propose in Astonishing X-Men #50, which comes out tomorrow.
A proposal and wedding only one month apart? They really are superheroes
And here’s what writer Marjorie Liu had to say about the storyline:
“The story of Northstar and Kyle is universal, and at the core of everything I write: a powerful love between two people who have to fight for it against all odds,” said Liu. “This is the quintessential Marvel story, one that blends the modern world with the fantasy of super heroes in order to tell an exciting story that begins with a wedding—and continues in ways you can’t imagine.”
So I am absolutely in favor of this wedding, and I can’t wait to read it. Hopefully I reserved Astonishing X-Men at my local comic shop.
But Marvel isn’t the only comic book company jumping on the gay bandwagon. DC Comics announced over the weekend that they are going to re-introduce a previously straight character as gay when he makes his upcoming debut in the New 52 reboot. This has led some mainstream news agencies to wildly speculate that Superman or Batman might be revealed as gay, but that’s just silly.
First of all, they said it’s a character who has yet to appear in the New 52 reboot, so all major superheroes are out of the running. Second, Batman and Superman are as much brand names as they are characters in a comic book. DC is not going to alter the brand in such a way.
So my guess is that Vibe is going to be revealed as gay.
The 80s were a weird time
I think he would be a great choice, seeing as how the character is essentially a blank slate, considering he hasn’t appeared in comics in 20 or so years. DC can take this established character, who does have credentials as a member of the Justice League, and mold him into a positive gay role model and icon.
Instead of doing something creatively bankrupt like just saying that Batman is now gay. Which, again, they’re not going to do.
A Robin Retcon Done Right
The other day, I was grousing about a comic retcon where it’s going to be revealed that Wolverine put together a team of mutants long before Charles Xavier even cared. That Wolverine formed the ‘First X-Men’. I called this a “stupid retcon”, and my opinion has not changed. It is very stupid, and the worst sort of comic book tampering that’s done to history and continuity.
But this is not to say that all retcons are bad. In fact, I’d like to share with you a retcon that DC Comics is right in the middle of that is actually kind of cool. And it’s a retcon involving one of my absolute favorite characters of all time: Robin!
Well, Nightwing, but same difference
You know I’d be extra pissed if they messed up Robin. In actuality, however, this Court of Owls retcon is kind of badass, and adds to Robin’s history, rather than detracts. Join me after the jump to learn what they’ve changed, and why this is a much better retcon than First X-Men.
Henchman-4-Hire