The 6 Characters On My Defenders Team
Welcome to San Diego Comic-Con Week! It’s the biggest week in comics, and I’m excited for all the news and trailers and awesomeness bound to arrive this weekend! An expected highlight this year will be The Defenders from Marvel! They’ve got a new comic book, a new action figure line and their Netflix show arrives in one month! I can’t wait!
Only 50% of superheroes wear costumes anymore
As has become a tradition here at Henchman-4-Hire, I like to spend Comic-Con Week playing fantasy superhero draft. Superhero team rosters change all the time. Every new X-Men reboot results in several different team lineups. The Avengers or New Avengers or Champions are always changing! This year, I’m going to pitch you my Defenders lineup. If Marvel hired me to write a Defenders comic, these are the characters I’d put on the team!
In the past, I’ve dreamed up rosters for the Avengers, the Justice League, the Fantastic Four, the Teen Titans, the X-Men, X-Force and the Sinister Six!
One of My Own Personal Comic Book Wishes Just Happened
One of my favorite tropes in all of fiction is Evil Versus Oblivion, wherein a super-villain is a reasonable enough person that they willingly side with the heroes when there’s a bigger, more dangerous threat. Doctor Doom, Magneto and the Kingpin do it a lot, offering aid and resources to heroes when someone like Onslaught comes along and threatens to destroy all existence.
This past week, in the pages of Uncanny Avengers, writer Jim Zub and artist Kim Jacinto (with some assists) brought this trope to life with one of my favorite super-villains, a villain I like especially because he’s a reasonable guy.
The Shocker!
Hey! Secret identity, man, jeez!
SPOILERS for Uncanny Avengers #24 and #25.
I love the Shocker because he’s a working class, ordinary sort of crook who just wants to make some money. He doesn’t have an intense, personal hatred of Spider-Man, he’s not consumed with the desire for revenge against the wall-crawler, and he’s not just crazy and evil. He’s just a guy with some special tools that he uses to try to steal money.
And he was trying to loot the Gold Reserve with another favorite villain of mine, Scorpia, when they’re discovered by Rogue. They’re all in Manhattan during Secret Empire, wherein the evil Captain America has created a Darkforce Dimension bubble around the whole island. Monsters of all shapes and sizes are descending on the island and interrupt the villains’ looting.
Then it’s up to Rogue to convince Shocker and Scorpia to join her in fighting for their lives and stopping the monsters!
I bet’cha Zub was sitting on that one for awhile
This is literally plucked from my dream journal of comic book happenings. The Shocker being used in an Evil Versus Oblivion moment? That is what I want from comics. It’s like Zub reached into my brain and picked the absolute perfect character for this moment.
Granted, Shocker doesn’t go full hero — though while we’re on the topic, I think he’d be a great addition to the Uncanny Avengers. Shocker and Scorpia aren’t big on helping Rogue stop monsters, but they’re still involved.
Spider-Man: Homecoming had nothing on this!
And that’s enough for me. I don’t read Uncanny Avengers and I’m avoiding most Secret Empire tie-ins, but when a writer I like seems to literally read my mind and make my comic book wishes come true, I gotta respect that and buy some new comics!
Nobody respects the codename anymore
Also, I am now totally ‘shipping Shocker and Scorpia. So that’s a thing.
Double also, this almost makes up for Zub killing off Mach X a couple weeks ago. Almost.
———————–
My Thoughts on the New Doctor!
This is going to be a super spoiler for Doctor Who, so if you don’t want the Doctor’s new actor to be revealed, don’t watch the clip below and don’t read any further. They announced the new actor today to follow Peter Capaldi in this year’s Christmas special. You can watch the announcement video right here!
The 13th Doctor will be played by Jodie Whittaker, making her the first female incarnation of the Doctor in the show’s history. This isn’t too far-fetched. It has been clearly established that when Time Lords regenerate, they can change sex and race and pretty much everything else. Plus, a very vocal fanbase has been clamoring for a minority Doctor.
Personally, I am very pleased with this choice and excited for the new seasons. Whittaker was great in Attack the Block and everything else I’ve seen her in. I’m sure she’ll be great as the Doctor.
I wonder if they’ll give her a male companion!
—————————
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 7/15/17
Can you believe we have to wait all the way until November for another superhero movie? Man, what’s wrong with the world? Good thing we’ve got other comics to fill the time! Detective Comics, Hulk comics, Wonder Woman comics, X-Men comics and Squirrel Girl comics!
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl wins Comic Book of the Week because Ryan North and Erica Henderson revel in what it would actually be like to visit the Savage Land!
Gift shop pun game remains on point
I checked in on Amazing Spider-Man this week but decided not to review it because it’s largely a Secret Empire tie-in and I’m not super keen on reading or reviewing a ton of tie-ins. Thankfully, this tie-in is largely focused on Dan Slott’s ongoing story of Doc Ock taking back Parker Industries, so I dig that part of it. And it moves the Spider-Man/Mockingbird relationship forward a little, which I also like. But mostly it was a big, busy, crazy issue. So good times there!
Comic Reviews: Defenders #3, Detective Comics #960, Hulk #8, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #22, Wonder Woman #26 and X-Men Blue #7.
Spider-Man 2 Is the Best Spider-Man Video Game of All Time
Everybody gets around to ranking the Spider-Man video games at some point or anything, but there’s rarely any point. Spider-Man 2 is the best Spider-Man video game of all time. Nothing has ever come close, and I fear nothing ever will.
The web-slinging mechanic in Spider-Man 2 was revolutionary. If you’ve never played it, you must. Though I imagine it’s got to be hard to track down a game based on a more than 10-year-old movie.
Honest Trailers doesn’t get too up in Spider-Man 2’s grill, and that’s OK. As long as they are fully aware that it’s the best Spider-Man game ever. I do not have a lot of faith in the new, upcoming Spidey game…but since it’s a Playstation exclusive, I’ll probably never be able to play it anyway.
———————
Henchman-4-Hire 