Category Archives: X-Men
6 Super-Villains That I Want to See On the Big Screen
The best superhero movies are also the ones with the best villains. Would Spider-Man 2 have been so great had Doctor Octopus not been such a sympathetic and tragic character? All four X-Men movies have given Magneto a starring role, and for good reason. And the late Heath Ledger redefined the Joker with his incredible, Oscar-winning performance. The superheroes may be the stars of the flick, but a great super-villain can easily steal the show!
The only super-villain recognized by the Academy
There have been some fantastic super-villains on the big screen. From General Zod’s immortal demand that Superman “KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!” in Superman 2, to the gregarious Loki pulling double-duty as the villain in both Thor and The Avengers. But being the notorious comic book geek that I am, I know of many classic and fantastic super-villains who have yet to see any motion picture love. So here is my list of 6 super-villains who have never appeared in feature films before, but definitely should!
The Exiles Are Back…Sort of!
One of the biggest stories out of Wondercon this weekend was the creation of the new series Xtreme X-Men, which appears to be a spiritual successor to an old favorite of mine, Exiles. The basic concept is that a team of alternate reality X-Men and superheroes band together to save the multiverse. Exiles ran for more than 100 issues and featured fantastic writing, amazing characters and downright brilliant alternate takes on familiar faces.
Well it’s been a few years since Exiles was cancelled, I guess Marvel has decided to give it another go!
That's 'Xtreme' without the 'E', because the X-Men are just that much more EXTREEEEEEM!! Mountain Dew! Snowboarding!
The problem is I don’t give two flying fudges about any of the characters announced. The only reason I started getting Exiles, and subsequently fell in love with the series, was because one of the main characters was an alternate version of the Mimic, one of my all-time favorite comic book characters. This new series, Xtreme X-Men? Not so much.
The book will be written by writer Greg Pak, and it will spin out of the series Astonishing X-Men, which I consider to be the most extraneous X-Men title now on the stands. Pak recently wrote a story in which normal Cyclops traveled to an alternate reality and met a bunch of alternate versions of the X-Men. Pak really loved writing those characters, so he said in a recent interview that he talked to his editor and somehow someone greenlit a new series starring some of those alternate characters.
And because ‘X-Men’ is far more marketable than ‘Exiles’ – no matter what adjective is in the front – Pak was given the reigns to Xtreme X-Men.
The three characters in that image, from left to right, are Emmaline Frost, a steampunk Emma Frost who appeared in a different Astonishing X-Men story written by Warren Ellis; Governor General James Howlett of the Dominion of Canada, a pulp-adventurist Wolverine; and Kid Nightcrawler, who is basically just a young, hyperactive Nightcrawler.
They will be joined from the normal Marvel Universe by, of all people, Dazzler!
I just don’t have any interest in any of the characters so far. None of them sound too exciting, and I wasn’t about to read that Astonishing X-Men story. I haven’t been interested in Astonishing X-Men since Joss Whedon left. But for all you non-comics fans, hear me out here. I know the X-Men are a popular comic book franchise, but the number of books is getting out of control.
The two main books are Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine and the X-Men, both of which are good (the latter being great!). Then as auxiliary titles, we have X-Men, X-Men: Legacy, Astonishing X-Men, X-Factor, Uncanny X-Force and finally Generation Hope, which has been cancelled.
Is adding a new book called Xtreme X-Men really a good idea? I guess marketing thinks so. I realize its a unique idea compared to those other X-books, but there are only so many X-Men titles that the fans can be expected to buy. Trim the fat, Marvel! Trim the fat!
The Top 6 Irish Comic Book Characters
Top o’th’mornin’ to ya, me bloggies! Or the afternoon. Or even Sunday, depending on when you’re reading this. Throw back a pint in the name of your favorite geek Internet blogger! I’ve got a little bit of Irish in me, and that sure comes in handy on this, the holiest of the green holidays! It’s St. Patrick’s Day!
Kiss him, he's an Irish superhero
And like all things, whether it be holidays or the judicial system, I like to attach superheroes to it! So here’s my list of the Top 6 comic book characters who also have a little Irish in them. Oddly enough, I couldn’t find any superhero named ‘Leprechaun’. Somebody get Marvel Comics on the phone! Have I got an idea for them!
Nobody Likes Dazzler
Let’s start this morning with a bit of humor. Website extraordinaire Dorkly have done it again with a hilarious video game parody. This time it’s X-Men The Arcade Game, and how nobody – not even Magneto – liked Dazzler. This is funny stuff people.
Bring on an X-Men Gay Wedding!
So even though Avengers vs. X-Men hasn’t even started yet, Marvel decided to release a teaser today for a story set after the clash. The teaser pretty much speaks for itself:
Save the entire month of June? Why not!
Reading around on the Internet, it seems that everybody believes the two to be wed are Northstar and his boyfriend Kyle, who I don’t think is any kind of superhero. I haven’t been reading the comics that Northstar has appeared in lately, but I’m pretty sure Kyle has been an important reoccurring character. And there aren’t many other X-Men couples these days.
Gay and interracial? It's almost like Marvel is egging the protesters on
Plus gay weddings are all the rage, what with people freaking out that Kevin Keller from Archie got married. Seriously, some group called One Million Moms protested Toys R Us for selling the Kevin Keller comic because it featured a gay marriage. And to that I present to you this fantastic Gutters comic.
I don’t like to get political with my blog, but I’m just going to state my opinion: gay marriage is A-OK is my book. You’re more than welcome to oppose gay marriage for whatever reason you may have, but you are just plain wrong on the issue.
That being said, kudos to Marvel to try something like this. Maybe they’re only doing it for the publicity, but I highly doubt it. There have got to be more than enough homosexuals working in comics or at Marvel to want to do a legitimate story. Northstar was, after all, one of the very first openly homosexual comic book superheroes after all. Maybe it’s a case of little guy Archie comics getting all these bullies coming after them, so big guy Marvel decides to step in and support the little guy with their own gay marriage. I like that idea.
Personally, I’ve always been a Northstar fan. This is Northstar:
That logo on his side doubles as both a flash of light and a Canadian Maple Leaf
Debuting in 1979 as a member of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight, Northstar is a mutant with the ability to fly at super-speed. He’s also the twin brother of Aurora, who has light-based powers. Northstar was always gay, but the Comics Code Authority back in the day would not let comics have any openly gay characters. The Comics Code Authority has since been completely dropped after Marvel and DC comics decided just to ditch them. Anyway, Northstar came out in Alpha Flight #106 in 1992. It was a fairly controversial, but popular, move, and the comic sold out. Which was a pretty spectacular achievement for Alpha Flight.
Northstar became a much more important character starting in 2001, when he was recruited into a temporary team of X-Men. I read those issues, and they were my first real exposure to Northstar. He was pretty cool. Kind of arrogant, but a cool sort of arrogant. Northstar joined the X-Men full-time in 2002, and has been around ever since – though he has had a few returns to Alpha Flight. But these days he’s a full-time X-Man.
Unfortunately, the wedding is going to be taking place in Astonishing X-Men, the bastard stepchild of the X-Men universe. There are currently more than half a dozen X-Men comics being published. Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine and the X-Men are the two main titles, with stuff like Astonishing X-Men, X-Men: Legacy, New Mutants and more serving as auxiliary titles. Frankly, Astonishing has no reason to exist anymore. It’s kind of just hanging around for the heck of it after a strong debut by writer Joss Whedon a few years ago.
There are plenty of other comics to buy to get X-Men stories.
But there are only a few comics willing to tell a positive gay marriage story. So hooray Astonishing X-Men!
Henchman-4-Hire 