Category Archives: Marvel
Today in Superhero Redesigns
I’m a sucker for a good superhero redesign. Everybody loves a classic costume, but letting an artist have some fun and design a new look for a popular hero is just a blast. You never know what they can come up with; it may be especially awesome and warrant new action figures and everything! And then there’s always the safety of just reverting back to the old look. It’s win-win.
Both Marvel and DC have some new redesigns coming up, and I figured it’d be easy to share them both in one place.
First is the new Iron Man:
It's like a new Black Costume Iron Man!
The story is that in May, we’re going to get a new storyline called ‘Long Way Down’, during which Tony Stark retires for reasons we don’t yet know. Then this black-costumed Iron Man shows up, and it’s going to be a mystery as to who is wearing the armor. This sounds ridiculous. Tony Stark retiring as Iron Man? Please. That’ll last a couple months at most – which I guess is the point. But still, why start this storyline in May?
Did Marvel forget that Tony Stark as Iron Man is going to be headlining a little movie called The Avengers in early May? Whose bright idea is it to ditch the familiar red and gold Iron Man for this temporary-at-best redesign/new character during the one month that movie fans might want to check out some Iron Man comics?
Seems silly to me.
Over at DC Comics, the Big Red Cheese himself, Captain Marvel, is finally going to make his first appearance in the New 52.
Oh look who's all gritty and hardcore now...
So I guess DC is going to be making him into a dark badass? Because that’s a brilliant idea. Oh no wait, I was being sarcastic. How will Captain Marvel benefit from being turned into a dark hero? They’ve given him a hood and a cloak, so clearly that’s what they’re going for. Not to mention seemingly insane amounts of electricity powers.
They’ve also changed his name to Shazam instead of Captain Marvel. I am totally OK with this. Everybody knows the word ‘Shazam’, so there won’t be any branding problems. Plus DC with a hero called ‘Captain Marvel‘? This will just work better when it comes to legal issues.
The new Shazam will debut in back-up stories of Justice League comics starting at issue #7 on March 21.
New Avengers Trailer Warps My Fragile Little Mind
It’s just so beautiful. This trailer is like a glorious comet of righteous awesomeness sailing across the sky of my dreams and delivering the superhero extravaganza I have been waiting my whole life to see. Don’t take my word for it. Watch it now!
The brilliance of this trailer is astounding. There are a few odd moments, like an out of place line or two from Agent Coulson, but otherwise it’s two minutes and 30 seconds of outright geek bliss. What’s more, this is the first real trailer to feature footage of the heroes interacting. Cap and Thor, Hulk and Iron Man, Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner, Black Widow and Hawkeye; it’s fantastic! This movie is going to rise and fall on the heroes interacting, whether it be fighting, bickering or the final assembling; and this trailer is proof that it’s going to be amazing.
Look at me, I’m gushing.
Avengers Assemble — In Other Places, to be Photoshopped Later
A new Avengers movie posted was unleashed upon the world today – and it’s hideous!
Why use Photoshop if you don't know how?
I hate, hate, hate the modern trend in movie posters to just take random pictures of the characters/celebrities and then just photoshop them into a group shot. It’s ridiculous and it’s disgusting. And it never looks good. Ever. Why do they keep doing it? During all of filming, was it really that difficult to get everybody to take a group photo in costume together? Because the alternative is this piece of garbage!
None of those characters are standing in the same room (let alone on some city street), and I wouldn’t be surprised if that Iron Man picture is him with a helmet on, and they just photoshopped Robert Downey Jr.’s face over the helmet.
This is the biggest movie in years from both Marvel and freakin’ Disney, but they couldn’t hire a competent movie poster guy?
Requiem for an Ant-Man
They killed the badass Ant-Man.
No, that’s not an oxymoron.
Marvel Comics and writer Rick Remender have gone and killed Eric O’Grady, the foulmouthed, perverted lout who dared to call himself a superhero! Those bastards! Eric O’Grady was an awesome superhero! He was uniquely uncouth in a world of boy scouts and white knights. He was a sleazy douchebag who literally used his shrinking powers to spy on women in the shower. But that was an endearing quality!
Don't pretend you wouldn't do it
The O’Grady Ant-Man is going to be missed.
And his death is actually a very good example of what’s wrong with death in comic books today. Follow me for more after the jump.
The Slingers Reunion 12 Years in the Making!
One of my favorite comic books of all time was Slingers from 1998-1999, about a team of four college students trying and failing to be superheroes. It was a cute little series, but it didn’t have the traction to make it past 12 issues. That sucker got cancelled!
Maybe if they were called Wolverine & the Slingers...
But since comic book characters never truly disappear, the four heroes have lived on in the Marvel Universe, popping up from time to time in various roles and stories. Usually in the background, rarely in any important capacity. As a fan, it’s basically just been a game of hide and seek over the past decade trying to spot all the appearances. Usually they only appear individually, never as a team.
That is until Avengers Academy #26 this week, when two of the Slingers finally came face-to-face for the first time since their series was cancelled all those years ago! Writer Christos Gage clearly did his research on the characters to add a personal touch to the encounter, so for a Slingers fan like myself, it was a giddy little thrill – emphasis on ‘little’. This is a tiny, minuscule moment. They barely appear on the same page together.
But in a pair of talking heads, Gage has them confront one another, seeing as how they’re on two different sides of the current Avengers Academy conflict. Ricochet is with the Academy, Prodigy is with the other guys.
This is the moment, more than a decade in the making!
For a Slingers fan like myself, that’s quite the fun little tidbit.
But does that make any sense to anybody else? There’s a lot of continuity squeezed into that little confrontation. Follow me after the jump for a fun history lesson on one of my favorite comic books of all time!
Henchman-4-Hire