WARNING: The following contains spoilers for director Todd Phillips' Joker.
Revealed to be someone with repressed memories following an abusive childhood, Arthur Fleck's downward spiral takes him from failed comedian jotting bad jokes down to a murderer, having killed three Wall Street bankers working for Wayne Industries and talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro).
However, while much of the film points to his mother, Penny (Frances Conroy), as the tipping point for Arthur becoming the Joker and committing these fouls acts, upon closer inspection it's really toxic masculinity that creates this version of the Clown Prince of Crime.
Arthur is a meek and introverted person, seeking approval in his comedy career. However, he isn't that good, working as a clown on the street and at kids' hospitals to earn money to take care of Penny. Arthur is just trying to get by and do right by his mom. It doesn't help, though, that his life is filled with encounters with toxic men.
It starts with a teen gang who steal his work sign and beat him up in an alley, a boss without compassion, clients who treat him like dirt and colleagues who don't respect him. The common denominator is they're all male, resorting to foul language and violence to assert power over Arthur, who's far from aggressive and often comes off as effeminate.
The men that really send him over the edge, however, come midway through the film, with Arthur being assaulted by Wayne employees on a train after they harass a woman. Arthur's pummelled by them for laughing (a neurological condition from which he suffers) and in a fit of desperation, he pulls a pistol and kills the trio. The act -- which is in no way condonable -- is retaliation for bullying.
Thomas Wayne is another toxic male, one who comes from a place of privilege. He punches the comedian for inquiring about whether or not he's Arthur's father. Thomas curses him on the way out, reminding him he's beneath the elite -- another case of a man who resorts to his fists instead of conversation. And this is something Arthur constantly rails about: Gotham's lack of civility, something Phillips makes clear comes from these overly hostile men. Then there's the fact Arthur was abused by Penny's ex-boyfriend, tied to a radiator and beaten to the point that he suffered brain damage as a child. You can see how it all influenced Joker's creation.
By the time he murders a sick Penny in the hospital, Arthur's taking out his frustrations on her and relieving the pressure heaped on him by all these angry, testosterone-driven men.
In the final act, when Murray airs a stand-up session that went bad for Arthur, then invites him on his show to berate and make fun of him, it's even worse as this is another form of bullying from a man the public trusts and worships. Celebrities behaving like this can influences others watching them, and Murray also comes off like a bully as he pokes and prods, belittling Arthur's hopes and dreams in the most condescending manner.
By this point in the film, Arthur's anger boils over after a lifetime of dealing with toxic masculinity, and he fully embraces his Joker persona. With his life clearly more comedy than tragedy, the comedian lashes out at the men who bully and bash their way to success by killing the host on air with a couple gunshots: Arthur's punchline.
Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais and Shea Whigham.
According to Crunchyroll, Oricon claims Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba sold over 12 million volumes, while One Piece sits behind the newer manga at 10.1 million. This makes Kimetsu no Yaiba the best-selling manga of 2019. These numbers differ somewhat from what publisher Shueisha claimed earlier in the month, which had One Piece's sales numbers higher and the book remaining as the top-selling manga.
One-Piece has topped Oricon's rankings since 2008, making Kimetsu no Yaiba the first to outsell the manga mainstay. Individual volumes of One Piece still maintained their strong grip on the top sales spots when compared in that way.
Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece has been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump since 1997. The manga follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates as they attempt to obtain the titular "One Piece." As of writing, there are over 900 chapters of One Piece. The manga was later adapted into an anime, which is currently in its twentieth season.
Koyoharu Gotouge's Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba started its run in 2016 and has already racked up nearly 200 issues. The manga was adapted into an anime earlier this year. The animated Demon Slayer: Kimetsu noYaiba's will return with a film in 2020.
Viz Media releases English translations of both manga on Sundays.
The shocking ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home saw the shocking return of JK Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jameson operates The Daily Bugle -- which has been retooled as a controversial news website. Shortly after the film hit theaters, Sony and Marvel launched a real-life version of TheDailyBugle.net -- which offers additional lore. As it turns out, however, even JJJ needs a break around the holidays. That said, it appears a new "scoop" is on the horizon.
As of writing, those who go to TheDailyBugle.net will be greeted by a headline that reads, "Holiday Closure & Website Maintenance." The story itself reads as follows:
Loyal Bugle followers
We are on hiatus over the holidays for security upgrades and site maintenance.
The Daily Bugle’s “info-structure” must be constantly maintained to stay one step ahead of the miscreants lurking in the shadows of the dark web! Don’t be alarmed – we will be here to sound the bugle for any breaking stories!
While it looks as though there won't be any more updates from The Daily Bugle, the fact that the article hints at more "breaking stories" to come and implores readers to "watch this space!" is certainly interesting. As mentioned before, the site has provided a fair bit of Spider-Man-related lore since its launch, such as alleged first-hand accounts from survivors of "The Blip" and an extended version of Jameson's newscast from the end of Far From Home.
At this time, it is unclear what sort of "breaking news" Sony and Marvel could be teasing through The Daily Bugle. Whatever it is, it's sure to pique the interest of Spidey fans -- especially now that the two entities appear to be on good terms after cutting a deal to co-produce a third solo Spider-Man film set within the MCU. Nevertheless, we will simply have to wait and see what exactly Jameson has in store (and how accurate it will be, given the anti-Spider-Man reporter's track record) when The Daily Bugle returns from its winter hiatus.
Helmed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: Far from Home stars Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau, JB Smoove, Jacob Batalon and Martin Starr, with Marisa Tomei and Jake Gyllenhaal. The film is now available on Digital HD and arrives on Blu-ray and 4K UHD Oct. 1.
Isekai anime, now a fairly trite, overdone genre, is no stranger to deus ex machina protagonists, who are essentially walking plot devices. This can be seen in series' such as Sword Art Online, No Game No Life and even the comedic, That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime.
The common trait of having ridiculously overpowered main characters also extends to more mainstream shonen series like Black Clover, Naruto and, of course, Dragon Ball. Recently, the trope has been very successfully skewered with the overpowered superhero, Saitama, in One-Punch Man. Now, the idea of a comically overpowered main character is being made fun of again in new anime series, The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious (or simply, Cautious Hero).
Though it wears (and lampoons) the trappings generally seen in isekai, this anime adaptation of a light novel series is essentially to that genre what One-Punch Man is to shonen/superhero fiction.
Like many of the isekai anime which it pokes fun at, Cautious Hero has a story very much inspired by fantasy and RPG story staples. The goddess Ristarte (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Sophitia from Namco's Soul Calibur series) is charged with defeating the evil Demon Lord that threatens her world of Gaelbarde, but she needs the aid of a vigilante hero to accomplish the task. Since Gaeabrande is considered an S-Class (extremely dangerous) world, she needs a hero with the might to match the opponents that he'll surely face.
The hero that she chooses to team up with is Seiya Ryuuguuin, whose stats far exceed any of the other options. Thinking that she's scored a slam dunk, Ristarte soon learns the fine print drawback of Seiya: for all of his power, he's extremely cautious in using it. Overthinking and second-guessing even the slightest action, her hero may prove to be more trouble for Ristarte than even the Demon Lord.
The show's premise definitely bears a tonal resemblance to the irreverent heroism of One-Punch Man;as does its star hero. Cautious Hero's Seiya is portrayed as almost methodical in how expressionless he is sometimes, and his lack of emotion and typically blank appearance are very similar to Saitama in One-Punch Man. That series, of course, stars a superhero whose powers are so immense, he's become utterly bored with the world. Tasks both everyday and seemingly incredible no longer excite him, leading to his occasional ambivalence in actually doing anything narratively to advance the story.
Seiya also refrains from doing anything of actual help for Ristarte, though this stems less from boredom with his powers and instead his lack of assurance in them. For instance, despite already possessing incredible stats and power, he refuses to travel through even the safer areas of the world of Gaelbarde until he's certain that he's become strong enough to handle them.
Saitama's overpowered nature deals with the idea of overpowered comic book superheroes such as Superman or The Hulk, as well as shonen heroes like Goku. Seiya's over-leveled heroic hijinks instead parody grinding in RPG video games, and the subsequent lack of difficulty when facing enemies. The result is two shows with heroes who logically shouldn't face any real threat from those in their way, and the hilarious ways in which they still handicap themselves.
Though they have entirely different flaws, both heroes' mentalities keep them from actually being useful most of the time. When either of them do act, however, the power and skill on display are much more than merely impressive.
Anyone who likes how much One-Punch Man takes the mickey out of superhero and shonen comics will love the similar treatment of isekai in Cautious Hero -- especially those who've grown tired of the genre.
Other tropes of isekai that the series plays with are the lusty and perverted main male characters, who drool over their scantily clad female counterparts. Here, this idea is gender-reversed as Ristarte is the one who daydreams of Seiya in various states of undress. The fact that Seiya drags his feet before doing anything, hoping to ensure his actions' foolproof nature, is also a stark contrast to the numerous hot-blooded, caution-to-the-wind anime heroes. It does also features a more standard characteristic of isekai: harem, with a cast filled with gorgeous women around Seiya.
Cautious Hero is certainly refreshing in its comedic deconstruction of such a popular, though sorely played-out, genre.
Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious is available on Hulu and Amazon Prime. SimulDubs are available through FunimationNow.
Broadly speaking, The Mandalorian has been a massive hit among Star Wars fans and critics. With its fantastic production design, fast-paced action narrative and a new character who has stolen the hearts of everybody who still has one, the show is shaping up to be a massive win for the streaming service Disney+. While there are some valid critiques to be had with The Mandalorian, most of which have been lingering since the inception of the franchise, the biggest draw might be the exploration of new ideas and cultures in Star Wars.
The Force. We all get it, right? Those tiny sentient parasites teeming within a Jedi's body that gives them the ability to lift rocks and stuff. You know... Jedi Germs. The idea of what The Force is and how it uses certain characters as conduits and what that could possibly mean for the entire Galaxy has been the subject of the vast majority of the Star Wars stories we've seen on screen.
The Force is so prevalent in the fabric of the franchise, there are actual handbooks for both Jedi and Sith available for purchase at your local brick and mortar (if your town is lucky enough to still have them). To be fair, The Mandalorian still falls into the trappings of Force worship within its narrative, but it plays second fiddle to an entirely new system of faith and the culture which birthed it. The fact audiences may not be terribly familiar with what a Mandalorian is beyond that one dude who made the clone army or the other dude who fell into a giant worm might be the show's biggest appeal.
Now, before throngs of Star Wars fans reading this quickly point that they are deeply familiar with or, at the very least, tangentially aware of the Mandalorian culture and the important role their armor plays, The Mandalorian is grabbing Star Wars fans whose familiarity with the franchise ends with the movies. A lot of folks finding interest in learning more about the show's titular masked bounty hunter probably haven't read K.W. Jeter's The Bounty Hunter Wars series or watched Star Wars: Rebels, yet still consider themselves Star Wars fans, which they are. After all, it is possible to love something to death and not consume every single morsel of it. (May he who has read every novel from the Expanded Universe cast the first stone...)
The Mandalorian is giving the film crowd something new to explore beyond convoluted trade disputes. The threads plucked loose in previous Star Wars films are being fully unraveled in The Mandalorian. Over the course of just three episodes, audiences have gleaned more information about the underground warrior race's culture than they ever have. In fact, with maybe the exception of how Ewoks conduct tribal, flesh-eating ceremonies and how Wookiees celebrate Life Day in the dreaded Star Wars: Holiday Special, there haven't been many explorations of the various cultures in live-action Star Wars releases.
While the overall plot of The Mandalorian does appear to be circling back to the power of The Force, the really fascinating stuff is far more grounded. It's the same reason a film like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story resonated with so many fans because it explored the notion of how war affects people trying to just live their lives. When a civil war breaks out, not every takes up arms and rushes to the streets. Most people just want to avoid getting into the conflict. This mentality doesn't stem from cowardice or apathy; it stems from necessity. People are often dragged into conflict and some of them will do anything to get out of it. The Mandalorian explores similar themes but in the wake of said war. How does society function after a superpower falls? How do people rebuild their infrastructure after a currency has been devalued?
These are real questions that affect far too many people across the globe, which makes them universal fears to some degree. The Mandalorian isn't afraid to at least scratch the surface of these topics. Whether or not this exploration will remain superficial is yet to be seen. But the fact a multi-million dollar franchise owned by massive entertainment conglomerate is willing to at least incorporate these ideas gives The Mandalorian a lot of fuel to be something artistically more challenging and introspective than a lot of other stories which came before it.
It's not all space magic and laser swords anymore (of course, that stuff still rules, too).
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Swallow, Omid Abtahi, Werner Herzog and Nick Nolte. A new episode is released each Friday on Disney+.
Since its introduction, the Marvel universe has been a vast space full of tons of different species, planets, galaxies, and even.... well, other universes. The Marvel multiverse is a confusing one and depending on which you're looking at, you could be met with the smallest change or something that molds the lives of our favorite heroes into something we've never seen before. These parallel universes and timelines have gained more spotlight than ever due to mass audiences in films like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Avengers: Endgame, and they've even been teased it inSpider-Man: Far From Home.
However, the alternate realities seen here are a far cry from the multitude of dark realities that exist in Marvel's portfolio. In fact, the dark realities of Marvel comics gain much more spotlight than the bright. There's a great chance that your favorite caped crusader has taken a journey into some demented alternate universe in one issue or another. How about we take a journey of our own and take a look at a few of those realms.
10 EARTH-90214
Remember how funny Spider-Man Noir was in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse? Well, he's nothing like that here. Debuting in 2009, the Noir universe mirrors the primary Marvel universe, Earth-616 except the characters are featured in the 1920s. Much like a Noir film this universe is gritty and takes much darker approaches to the origins and adventures of the Marvel heroes.
In this universe, Daredevil is blinded from having his head slammed into a brick wall, the bulletproof "Power Man" Luke Cage dies from a bullet, Uncle Ben is eaten alive by the cannibal Vulture, and the X-Men are a group of sociopaths that Xavier used for criminal deeds. Really makes you look at Noir's Spidey in Spider-Verse and think, right?
9 EARTH-70105
Earth-70105 debuted with the J. Michael Straczynski, 2006 series limited series Bullet Points. A slightly darker reality from our own where many the origins of many heroes were switched or made worse.
The government begins Project: Iron Man and enlists Steve Rodgers as the star. Rodgers —permanently sealed inside his Iron armor— becomes a hero of World War II. All the while, Peter Parker sneaks around a desert base and takes a gamma bomb to the face becoming The Hulk. He encounters Iron Man and kills him. Bruce Banner blames himself for Hulk and searches for a cure, leading him to get bit by a radioactive spider and becoming Spider-Man. Later, Galactus comes to earth and kills many of the superhumans including The Hulk. This leads the Silver Surfer to fight back and be killed. Galactus leaves Earth in peace to mourn Peter Parker and Steve Rodgers.
8 EARTH-1610
The Ultimate universe is a popular one due to its amazing run of Ultimate Spider-Man. Other than the basis of being a modernized and more hip version of the Marvel faithful, this universe differs from 616 by taking a lot more dark turns that were supposed to come to a climax in the horrible crossover event Ultimatum where many heroes died or were supposed to die for no other reason than shock value.
The Ultimate universe made a return in the 2015 Secret Wars event where their universe was destroyed stranding many of them in the mainline Marvel universe. However, since then it has been shown by Brian Michael Bendis in Spider-Men II to still exist. And yes, that incest love between Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch did happen in this universe.
7 EARTH-12101
Home of Dreadpool, the main character of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe. In this universe, Deadpool undergoes a brainwashing attempt leading him to lose his mind and gain a demented inner-voice that craves death. This leads him to kill every superhero and villain on the planet.
He gains the moniker "Dreadpool" in Deadpool Killustrated where he and our Deadpool hunt each other down. At the end of this series, Dreadpool is supposedly killed by the original but of course still lives to fight another day.
6 EARTH-2081
While not every hero suffers a horrible fate in this universe there is one that suffers the worst fate of all. This universe is home to the Marvel series, The End. This series is based upon the final stories of a multitude of Marvel heroes and villains.
The Punisher is left to make the ultimate world-changing choice to keep the human population eradicated after the global nuclear holocaust of World War III. After this, The Hulk is doomed to a life alone still fighting with his other half Bruce Banner over wanting to live as the strongest or die in peace. Once Bruce's consciousness dies and fades away, Hulk is left with his wish granted of him being the strongest there is, as well as the only one there is.
5 EARTH-11080
A chemical spreads that gives the infected the ability to live in a contaminated environment and eat whatever necessary. The side effects leave the host of the disease spread by it, primitive and cannibalistic. Patient Zero, AKA: Spider-Man, was seen live on television eating the supervillain Rhino after a gruesome battle.
This infection spreads to many around the world, however, before the initial spread, Frank Castle was accidentally exposed to the chemical and after initial illness gained an immunity to the disease. The rest of our Marvel heroes weren't so lucky. The Punisher with the help of Wolverine sets out to end the tribes created by these infected heroes and goes to war with the Marvel universe.
4 EARTH-2149
This universe started much like the mainline until the hunger virus. Yes, Earth-2149 is home to the infamous series Marvel Zombiesand is one of the most headache-inducing series out there. Explaining the origins of this virus would take a whole article as there is usage of multidimensions and time travel. That doesn't make this universe's fate any less dark especially with all the horrifying things that happened throughout the series.
With all our heroes turned into evil zombies that plan to dimension-hop once their universe is eaten dry the only hope of the multiverse becomes a regret-filled zombie Spider-Man.
3 EARTH-807128
The film Logan may have given Marvel movie-goers a peek into this reality, but the series that inspired it gives us an even darker look at what could be the future of Marvel. Old Man Logan offers a look at a world where the villains banded together, killed the Marvel heroes, took over the United States.
Wolverine, manipulated by Mysterio, kills the X-Men and sets out to live his life in peace and solitude. However, a blind Hawkeye won't let him rest so easily. They go on an apocalyptic quest full of run-ins with symbiote dinosaurs, the Red Skull, the Hulk and his inbred children, and more. This version of Logan gave the mainstream universe a visit in the 2015 Secret Wars series but has since returned home and is set to return to comic shelves soon with Avengers of the Wastelands.
2 EARTH-811
This is the universe home to the famous and often revisited story Days of Future Past. This is one of the first significant alternate realities in Marvel history and was the result of Senator Robert Kelly's assassination. His death leads to a future ruled by the mutant-hunting Sentinels and of a murder spree of superpowered beings both mutant and not.
This timeline was canceled by Kitty Pride in the main Marvel universe but it hasn't been forgotten by any that read it in Uncanny X-Men. It, of course, has inspired many adaptations such as the film X-Men: Days of Future Past.
1 EARTH-10011
A world where life finally defeated Death. Life began to be powered by the Many-Angled Ones and soon the balance of the world was flipped due to life being left unchecked by death. This leads to gruesome mutations of the Marvel mutants, birthing the sinister Ex-Men. Along with them, the Avengers are led by a corrupted Mar-vell becoming the evil Revengers.
This universe took center stage in the massive cosmic series event Thanos Imperitive during a war to close the door to it from Earth-616. It has since then made its presence known once Nova escaped from it after years of dying over and over again while trapped inside in Nova volume 7.
Up until recently (in the anime) it was easy to assume that Midoriya was All Might’s biggest fan. But we have since learned that there have been other major fans in the series, including the one and only Sir Nighteye.
But there’s more to know about Sir Nighteye than his massive fan status. He’s a complex character, and was actually a decent pick for training Midoriya (even if it wasn’t fully willing at the time). In fact, there are plenty of things fans should know about Sir Nighteye before we dive into this latest plot involving him and all of the others.
This list includes spoilers for My Hero Academia season 4 (from the manga).
Sir Nighteye's real name is Mirai Sasaki. He's a lean and tall man and one of the few heroes who doesn't wear a noticeable hero costume. Instead, he tends to wear his suit, going for an understated look that allows him to blend in.
One of the most notable traits about Sir Nighteye is his fandom. He and Midoriya have that in common. Both characters practically worship All Might. And in fact, it was that dedication that resulted in his falling out with All Might.
9 Brilliant Intellect
Sir Nighteye has a reputation for being one of the more intelligent heroes in the business. It's the reason why he got assigned to tracking Overhaul and the goings on of the existing Yakuza. He's capable of logically working his way through almost any given situation. And he'll always lean on cool logic over any emotional reaction.
The Ultra Analysis Book ranks Sir Nighteye's intelligence as a five out of six, which is respectable all things considered. That combined with a controlled way of thinking explains everything we've seen him do so far.
8 His Time As A Sidekick
As mentioned above, Sir Nighteye is a massive fan of All Might. His obsession more or less matched that of Midoriya's, and he somehow managed to convince All Might to allow him on as a sidekick. That in itself was impressive since All Might hadn't wanted a sidekick.
Sir Nighteye quickly made himself useful, being the brains behind All Might's superhero runs. He was usually the one that would create strategies for All Might to use. He likely also did most of the reconnaissance, when required.
Ultimately, Sir Nighteye and All Might split apart when All Might failed to take some of Nighteye's advice – mainly that All Might needed to retire on the spot.
7 Appreciation of Humor
This little oddity of Sir Nighteye is perhaps the most surprising. Sir Nighteye has a healthy respect for humor and laughter. He believes that they are vital to individuals and society as a whole. For a man that we've rarely seen laugh, this seems a bit odd.
However, he clearly believes in it. We've seen Nighteye go out of his way to torture/tickle his sidekick when she didn't present her report in a light and humorous manner. Likewise, Midoriya was encouraged to make Sir Nighteye laugh in order to land the internship.
6 Slow to Anger
Sir Nighteye is one of those characters that is extremely slow to anger. We saw him resist the horror and anger that many other heroes felt when learning of Eri's situation. And yet we've also seen him jump to the defense of those he respects.
For example, he became genuinely angry at All Might when he refused his advice and thus refused to retire. This anger came from a place of fear, as Sir Nighteye was convinced (thanks to his quirk) that All Might would die if he kept on being a hero.
5 Foresight
Sir Nighteye's quirk is known as Foresight. If you're read the manga or watched the anime, you probably already know how his quirk works. Basically, all he needs to do is touch somebody and he can see their future (but only from their point of view).
That means that for the next hour, he can see anything and everything they would do. We don't know how far into the future he can see – but he can evidently see a couple of years into the future, based on his prediction of All Might's future.
Foresight only lasts for an hour at a time, and then Nighteye cannot reuse it again for an entire day. So there are very clear limitations to this quirk.
4 His Fear
There's one additional limitation to Sir Nighteye's Foresight. You see, Nighteye has been becoming increasingly more afraid about his quirk and what it can potentially mean. Without knowing how his quirk works – meaning without knowing how it predicts the future – he's afraid to overuse it too much.
For example, Sir Nighteye is afraid that by looking into the future he is locking that scenario into stone. So theoretically he could be ensuring that something horrible will happen with no opportunity to avoid it.
This fear was likely exacerbated once he glimpsed the (potential) fate of All Might.
3 Opinions on One For All
Unsurprisingly, a man like Sir Nighteye has a lot of opinions. And one of those opinions surrounds One For All – the quirk that All Might passed down onto Midoriya. You might have noticed that he was less than welcoming, when he first met Midoriya. That was not jealousy (or at least, not solely that). You see, Sir Nighteye had already made his suggestion for who should inherit All Might's quirk, and Midoriya didn't even make the list.
No, Sir Nighteye firmly believed that the powerful quirk should have been passed down to Mirio, aka Lemillion. And it's an opinion he held onto until very late in the game. But first, he needed to get a chance to know Midoriya and better understand All Might's decision.
2 A Hero Without Physical Abilities
What is perhaps the most unique fact about Sir Nighteye is the fact that he has no physical abilities. Yes, he can move fast – and combined with Foresight that is a powerful advantage. But otherwise, Sir Nighteye is not a physically powerful or imposing character.
And he prefers it that way. Sir Nighteye's specialties have always been more cerebral, between his quirk and his intellect. And that makes him the perfect supporting hero, or a hero to be tasked with the serious investigations that would naturally occur.
1 What Happened To Him
Skip this final section if you don't want some major spoilers from MHA season four.
Sir Nighteye entered the fight alongside dozens of other heroes during the raid on the Shie Hassaikai compound. During this battle, Nighteye looked into the future with his quirk and determined that there was no way to both save Eri and win the fight. He was wrong.
Ultimately, Deku did successfully save young Eri. But that's not all that happened in the fight. Sir Nighteye was fatally wounded during the fight, and he ended up dying later, but not before he had a chance to say goodbye and make amends for some of the things he said.
Marvel Comics has a rich history dating back to World War II, but unlike DC, they never actually had a superteam back at the time of the war. Sure, Captain America, Bucky, Human Torch, Toro, Namor, and others would work together, but there would be no official team back in the 40s.
That changed in 1969, when the Invaders were introduced. A retcon that made those unofficial partnerships into a team, gathering together Marvel's WWII heroes and chronicling their adventures. While not as popular as DC's Justice Society of America, they would still boast some powerful members and this list sets out to rank them.
10 Bucky
James "Bucky" Barnes was Captain America's sidekick. He was a skilled fighter and it would later be revealed that he did a lot of the dirty work that Cap himself wouldn't do, sneaking behind enemy lines and carrying out commando missions. This never dampened his youthful spirit or cheerful demeanor.
That said, he was very young and a completely normal human with no enhancements. He was good with weapons, but calling him powerful would be a mistake. He definitely had his place with the team, though, and served his role admirably. Later, he would become the Winter Soldier, gaining a robotic arm and clashing with Captain America before coming back to the heroic side.
9 Silver Scorpion
Betty Barstow was a secretary who foiled a robbery at a costume party and became the superheroine Silver Scorpion. She would fight against the Axis powers on the homefront and would eventually be made into an honorary member of the Invaders.
She was one of many costumed vigilantes of her time that had no powers, using her fists to fight crime and the Axis. In a battle with Battle-Axis, she would be injured and go on to don a suit of armor that fired a "scorpion sting" from wrist mounted blasters. She would eventually abandon the armor and continue the fight against the crime after the war.
8 Union Jack
Lord James Montgomery Falsworth was a British nobleman who served in both WWI and WWII as the costumed operative Union Jack. The British answer to Captain America, he would hold up British values and defend the land from the Germans, taking the fight to the enemy and joining the Invaders.
A seasoned soldier, Falsworth had no superpowers, but was a formidable combatant. He would even be able to take down the vampire, Baron Blood, saving a leading member of the British Parliament from the German allied monster. His son would take up the mantle later, keeping the legacy alive.
7 Captain America
Everyone knows Captain America's, origin story. A 98 pound weakling who wanted to fight the Axis, he was subjected to a government experiment and became the pinnacle of human development. Armed with an unbreakable shield, he would take the fight to the enemy, becoming a living legend.
While he's easily the greatest hero of WWII, powers wise, he doesn't stack up to other members of the team. Though, as an expert fighter, with vast physical strength and acrobatic ability, he would be able to more than hold his own. He would go on to the lead the Avengers and cement his legendary status.
6 Whizzer
While on an expedition to Cameroon with his father, Robert Frank was bitten by a cobra. His father would inject him with mongoose blood and the blood would interact with his mutant physiology, giving him superspeed. He would join the Invaders when a call was put out by Bucky to save other members of the team brainwashed by Red Skull.
His superspeed made him a formidable opponent. He would meet his wife Miss America on the team and they would go on post war adventures together. The two would be suspected to be the parents of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch for years before various retcons would reveal it otherwise.
5 Spitfire
Union Jack's daughter, Lady Jacqueline Falsworth was abducted and bit by the vampire Baron Blood. Given an emergency blood transfusion from the android Human Torch, she would develop superspeed and vampiric superstrength and become Spitfire, joining the Invaders.
While the team had another speedster on it, it's her limited vampiric abilities that put her above Whizzer in the power department. Add to this vampiric regeneration and she would be a formidable member of the team, luckily never having to ingest blood to fuel her abilities.
4 Human Torch
Not to be confused with the Fantastic Four's Johnny Storm, Jim Hammond was an android created by Phineas Horton. He was one of the first Marvel Comics heroes, premiering in Marvel Comics #1. He, along with his sidekick Toro, would go on to join the Invaders and battle the Axis powers.
He would have wide fire based powers, being able to generate a nova flame blast, envelope his body is fiery plasma, and control flames. He also could fly and had thermokinesis, which allowed him to manipulate the ambient temperature of a room. These powers would serve the team well in their battles.
3 Blazing Skull
Mark Todd was a journalist covering the Second Sino Japanese War. During a Japanese attack, he would be saved by the Skull Men, a mysterious mystical sect. They would go on to train him, showing him how they tapped into their abilities and would become the superhero the Blazing Skull, going on to the join the Invaders.
These abilities would include superhuman strength, immunity to flame, a regenerative healing factor, flame generation and control, and eventually the ability to turn invisible. His look would go on to inspire the look of Ghost Rider, although the two heroes have no relation other than cool blazing skull heads.
2 Namor The Sub-Mariner
Namor McKenzie was the son of a human and an Atlantean. This would make him one of Marvel's first mutants. He would become the king of Atlantis and wage war against the surface world on multiple occasions, but during WWII, he would fight against the Axis powers, becoming a member of the Invaders.
Namor's powers include superstrength, super durability, super stamina and reflexes, flight, a telepathic link with sea creatures, and many other abilities. After the war, he would tangle with the Fantastic Four before becoming a member of the Avengers and the X-Men. Recently, he would tangle with the Avengers again, in another attempt to combat the surface world.
1 Vision
Vision, not to be confused with the android Vision who would go on to become a member of the Avengers, was an interdimensional being named Aarkus. A "Keeper Of Law" on his home plane of Smokeworld, he would eventually be drawn to Earth and fight crime, before getting embroiled in WWII and joining the Invaders.
While not a well known character, he had a variety of superpowers, including smoke control, teleportation, immunity to all toxins, the ability to manipulate gaseous matter, superstrength, super agility, super durability, flight, telepathy, cryokinesis, and the ability to manifest an astral form. This wide variety of powers made him the most powerful member of the team.
k-On! is one of those anime that combines all feel-good factors. Produced by KyoAni, K-On! tells the tale of three high schoolers, Ritsu, Mio, and Tsumugi reviving the glory of their school's Light Music Club. They will do absolutely anything in their might to achieve their goal, including hire a rookie to play the guitar! As diabolic as that sounds, once Hirasawa Yui is taken in, she does a bloody good job out of it.
The four girls work day in and out, battling issues at school to get their club started. Each of the girls has a peculiarity, which makes her different. When they work as one, you can't help but root for them.
K-On! is a musical comedy that puts you in a great mood. There are similar anime from 'slice of life', a musical genre that will put you in a good mood. Here is our compilation of the best ten.
A-Channel is the tale of Tooru and Run who have been friends since the very beginning. Although the plot doesn't break new ground with an overused girl-gang setting. But atleast, slice of life, Seinen and comedy factors warm your heart like K-On! does. Run is a ditzy character at most, overprotective of her best friend Tooru. Joining the girl gang, are the two characters Yuki and Nagi also centered around Tooru. A-Channel finds a place on the list because just like K-On! it is an easy watch.
9 SOUND OF THE SKY (2010)
Don't let the military visuals deter you from watching Sound of the Sky, for it is more than that. Besides the sci-fi and military genre, it is about music and slice of life, too. A solider in the Helvetia army camp, Kanata Sorami, wants to learn the bugle. Sergeant Major Rio Kazumiya mentors her. In the process, it's truly magical to see a bugle club emerge in the army. Other soldiers unfettered by the ill effects of war are Noël, and Kureha. All three are led by their musical mentors Major Rio and Captain Felicia. Before you know it, heavenly sounds start coming out of base camp.
Sound of the Sky deserves all praise for the portrayal of the human side of the army. The sound and the art style in particular, will take you back to K-On!
8 YURU YURI (2011)
A thoroughly eccentric comedy, YuruYuri is the tale of school kids, with the club-revival theme, of course. It begins as Akari Akaza meets middle-school girls, Yui, and Kyouko who have set up an amusement club. From there on, it is about a couple of schoolgirls who fawn over tea and have fun. Do not look for more than the plot claims. You can watch Yuru Yuri for heartwarming moments, comedy and amusement.
Another music, slice of life and comedy anime, Tari Tari is quite similar to K-On! For starters, it tells the tale of Konatsu Miyamoto, a high schooler who wants nothing next to singing in her high school club. But that sadly can't happen since she's barred by her vice principal due to a previous year's mishap.
Konatsu in her stead takes a u-turn, she forms her own singing club to vent out. Set on a difficult path, Konatsu is joined by Wakana Sakai in her endeavor. A standard coming of age musical anime, Tari Tari is an easy choice.
6 HIBIKE! EUPHONIUM!/SOUND EUPHONIUM, (2015)
Kumiko Oumae, now a high schooler has given up on her euphonium passion due to a mishap in middle school. Years later, she finds herself surrounded by people with a passion for brass band. Together they start the Kitauji High School band. With tubist Hazuki, contrabassist Kawashima, euphonist Asuka, trombonist Tsukamoto, and trumpeter Kousaka, the band must figure a way to win the national Kansai Band Competition.
Music, drama, and school; these three elements in Hibike reckon with K-On!
5 THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA (2006)
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is about a slightly different high school club: supernatural. Belonging to comedy, mystery, slice of life and sci-fi genre, this anime originally aired in a nonlinear fashion. But once you get hold of the chronological order, it makes for a pretty decent watch.
It tells the tale of Haruhi Suzumiya who possesses reality-altering powers. Her main interests lay in meeting aliens and time travelers, so she ends up forming the SOS Brigade. She's joined by fellows Kyon, Yuki, Itsuki and Mikuru in her outlandish adventures.
Amagi Brilliant Park just like K-On! is KyoAni's brainchild. The anime is centered around outlandish creatures who have set up an amusement park on Earth. Just when things are going good, the team realizes they don't meet sufficient grounds to break even with the owner of the theme park.
Enter: Kanie Seiya who is thoroughly impressed by theme park and it's Maple Landers. She decides to save the park from being permanently shut down. Truly heartwarming like K-On!, it's worth a watch.
3 LOVE LIVE! SCHOOL IDOL PROJECT (2013)
Consider Love Live! School Idol Project and K-On! two sides to the same coin. Love Live! offers the same slice of life, music and school genres, albeit in a different setting. It tells the tale of Otonokizaka High School that is about to be shut down due to a lack of applicants. Determined to change her school's status, Kousaka Honoka decides to form an idol group. Her plan is to lure more students into joining the club by means of the idol group. The girl-gang of nine doesn't give up in the face of adversities, especially student council president Eri Ayase.
Watch this idol anime for its outstanding artwork and peppy characters.
2 CLANNAD (2007-2008)
Clannad belongs to all genres. It is a slice of life, comedy, drama, romance anime. It tells the tale of Tomoya Okazaki and someone he just met, Furukawa Nagisa. It may not be a musical anime, but the battle is quite similar; to restart Tomoyo's school drama club.
A loner and an underperformer, Tomoya is a couldn't care any less about his school life. Until one day, he meets Furukawa who turns his life upside down. Furukawa wants to revive the Theatre Club at school more than she wants to live. Next, you know, Tomoya has joined her cause.
Despite the unrealistic characters, the redeeming quality lies in Clannad's emotional plot.
1 FREE! IWATOBI SWIM CLUB (2013)
Free! Iwatobi Swim Club is a slice of life anime with the old-friendship-gone-wrong theme. Ittells the tale of four elementary schoolers; Haruka, Rin, Nagisa, and Makoto who compete and triumph at a relay race. Soon after, they separate ways, Rin goes to a middle school in Australia, others stay back and the group is disbanded.
Until one day, Haruka, Makoto, and Nagisa cross paths again (bit tropey) and decide to revive the Iwatobi Swim Club. They are joined in the adventure by Rei, another swimmer feller. And then, Rin enters the scene. Turns out, he isn't over the cliquey crap, still. The swim club treads on an arduous journey to battle against Rin.
There is an abundance of heroes in the My Hero Academia series. But we can all agree that they were not all made equally. Some have more impressive quirks than others. And they all have their own focuses.
But let’s talk about their hero costumes. You’ve got to admit that some of the heroes out there are looking sharp. Meanwhile, there are sadly some heroes who could use a total makeover, at least in the costume department. At least with the UA students, we know that their costumes are likely to change over time (minor changes perhaps, but changes nonetheless). We can only hope the same for some of these guys.
Here are the five coolest hero costumes, and five hero costumes that could use a little TLC (or more).
Bakugo may think an awful lot of himself, but you've got to admit that his hero costume is looking pretty cool. Granted, it looks like a hero costume and more like a vigilante or villain costume. But perhaps that is why we like it so much.
His costume may be a little bit over the top, but it seriously does work for Bakugo. After all, his personality and temperament are also over the top. And he does pull off the look. We especially love the mask and larger than life look of his outfit.
9 Lamest: Uraraka's Pink Suit
Let's face it: Uraraka's is not that great of a costume. Even Uraraka herself admits that she doesn't like it. Take it as a lesson learned: always be clear about what you want in a hero costume, or you'll end up with something like this.
The pink and the black are actually fine. But the hoof-like feet and overall design are disappointing. And they don't hint towards her quirk at all – nor do they seem to help enhance it in any way, shape, or form. In short, this is just a disappointing piece all around.
8 Coolest: Snipe's Aesthetic
We absolutely adore Snipe's look. This guy can pull off the grunge cowboy look. And while the mask should throw off that whole vibe, all it seems to do is further enhance his look. The holsters and weapons help complete the look. And they make it easier for him to get to his weapons, which is really a win-win when you think about it here.
One thing is for sure, if you're a villain and you see Snipe show up, odds are good that you're going to try and run. Or get some cover.
7 Lamest: Mineta's Diaper
Poor Mineta. The dude might be a total pervert, but even we feel bad for him in regards to his costume. Granted, he doesn't seem to mind it at all, which is mind-boggling. But to each their own, right?
But seriously, that purple outfit and worse – that massive diaper is just not a good look. Especially not for somebody as small as Mineta. It makes him look like an infant. And we doubt that there are any positives to this look.
6 Coolest: Hawks' Punk Style
Okay, so we know part of the reason Hawk looks so good is thanks to his quirk. Those massive wings are stunning. But we also adore the overall look that Hawk has going for him. The jacket and casual shirt combo really look great, even if there's nothing resembling a uniform here. Combined with his glasses, and Hawks is looking like one of the coolest heroes in the field. No wonder he's got so many fans!
5 Lamest: Native's Questionable Garb
Do you remember that hero that Stain was trying to kill, before Iida showed up? That was Native. We don't know where Native is from, so there's a chance that this isn't a horrible example of cultural appropriation. But we're not counting on it.
Perhaps we're being just a bit biased here, since we didn't get any chance to see Native do anything heroic at all, unless you count him telling the kids to run and leave him behind (which is something).
4 Coolest: Ingenium's Armor
The Ingenium armor is another costume on our list that we love. We've seen the Ingenium Armor on two heroes now. First on Iida's brother, and then again on Iida once his brother was taken out of action.
We don't much care who is wearing it, so long as we can see more of it. Because this is a great looking costume. And it's one of the few pieces we've seen that actually resembles armor. We're hoping it functions that way as well.
3 Lamest: Best Jeanist's Denim Look
Sorry Best Jeanist, but your costume is making the list of lamest hero outfits. We get that the outfit is actually useful to him, since his quirk depends on threads being in high number and close proximity. But the idea of a pair of jeans being so high as to cover one's face? It's pretty offputting.
Plus, we just can't get over the fact that his costume has not one, but two belts on it. Just, what? We don't even understand the need for a belt over the face, except to maybe make it blatantly obvious that it's a pair of jeans on his face.
2 Coolest: All Might's Inspiring Costume
All Might has what you might consider a stereotypical superhero costume. It's got a clear American hero influence. But honestly? We love it. Not just because it's bright and looks so dramatic, but because of everything it stands for.
All Might is the symbol of peace, and he knows exactly what that means. And thus, he knew that he had to look visually stunning while representing everything about safety and being a hero. That means he needs to look tough, approachable, and indestructible. We think he nailed it here.
1 Lamest: Midoriya's Subtle Suit
And lastly, we're going to have to put Midoriya's costume on the lame list. Sorry guys. We adore Deku as much as the next person, but his costume leaves a lot to be desired. For one thing, it's pretty understated and subtle all things considered.
For another thing? We're just going to say it: it was literally made by his mother. How many heroes can say that? It's sweet and cute and all. But it doesn't add any advantages to his quirk (in fact there's a good chance it wouldn't hold up to his quirk at full strength), nor is it at all flashy.
In "Reason to be Excited," I spotlight things from modern comics that I think are worth getting excited about. I mean stuff more specific than "this comic is good," ya know? More like a specific bit from a writer or artist that impressed me.
Today, we look at Gail Simone and Walter Geovani's thrilling genre-bending adventure in the Death-Defying Devil's current miniseries.
First off, it is kind of hilarious to see how they try to get around using the name Daredevil but also not calling himself something else. In other words, apparently they're still sticking with Daredevil for the character (this is the original Daredevil, before Marvel swooped in and grabbed the trademark in the 1960s for their own character by that name), only using an apostrophe in front of the Devil part.
I have no problem with the approach, it was just kind of interesting to see in practice. You wonder if DC should have started calling him, 'Tain Marvel.
Anyhow, Dynamite has been doing new stories with these Golden Age heroes for some time now, but Daredevil hasn't had one in, I believe, over a decade, but Gail Simone, Walter Geovani and colorist Adriano Agusto and letterer Simon Bowland cleverly treat that gap as insignificant. Daredevil has just been out there fighting crime as normal over that missing period of time, only now he gets sucked into a situation he had no way of expecting.
The concept is pretty simple, but it's a great one. Daredevil steps in and protects a married couple from being assaulted (and the wife from being raped) but he is beaten severely in the process, so they take him into the boarding house that they share with a bunch of interesting people...
It turns out that a mysterious Mr. Donovan wants to tear down their house, but they won't sell it. He has practically had them holed up inside the house so that if they go outside, they're threatened and/or attacked. This seems like a normal enough situation for Daredevil to step in to help them with. It's like the plot of every third A-Team episode.
However, Simone cleverly goes from the ordinary to the extraordinary as the next two issues see Daredevil displaced into different realities, all centered around this house. One, a western (well, a western FILM, that is)...
and the other, with the house now a nursing home and Daredevil an elderly patient there...
This works really well because Daredevil is just your ordinary "punch the bad guy out or use a boomerang on the bad guy" hero and so it stands out more when a hero who pretty much relies on his fists being thrown into a supernatural adventure. It's a clever contrast.
Geovani has worked with Simone on both her Red Sonja run at Dynamite and then her Vertigo series, Clean Room, so this is his first superhero work and I think it's nice that Simone has made his first superhero work a genre-bending deal that plays well to Geovani's strengths.
The whole endeavor is an enjoyable ride and well recommended.
Okay, this feature is a bit less of a reader-interactive one, as I'm just spotlight stuff in modern comics that specifically impressed ME, but heck, if you'd like to send in some suggestions anyways, maybe you and I have the same taste! It's certainly not improbably that something you found cool would be something that I found cool, too, so feel free to send ideas to me at brianc@cbr.com!
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson wants Jumanji co-star Kevin Hart to be part of Jaume Collet-Serra's Black Adam.
Speaking to ET Canada to promote Jumanji: The Next Level, Johnson and Hart spoke about reuniting for Black Adam. Hart said, "We’ve already discussed it. We talked about it earlier, so we’re finding that out. No matter what, he’s not going to do it and not put me in it. How selfish would that be?”
Johnson added, "We’ve got to find the part for Kevin in Black Adam within the DC Universe."
Hart and Johnson first worked together on 2016's Central Intelligence. Since then, the comedic duo has starred together in the two Jumanji movies and Hart even nabbed a cameo in 2019's Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. Apart from starring in 2008 spoof Superhero Movie, Black Adam would be Hart's first foray into comic book movies.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Black Adam stars Dwayne Johnson. The film is scheduled to arrive in theaters Dec. 22, 2021. Production is expected to kick off in July.
The presence of Conan the Barbarian in the newest relaunch of Marvel’s 2099 roster of titles might seem like a bizarre decision in the eyes of some readers. Since Marvel regained the rights to publish stories with Robert E. Howard's iconic fantasy hero, the publisher has reveled in his return by publishing his own adventures and inserting him into pockets of the larger Marvel Comics Universe. Broadly speaking, Marvel’s latest efforts with Conan have been successful. The team in Savage Avengers is a unique gaggle of overtly violent characters, and the time-displaced Conan fits in just fine alongside heroes like Wolverine and the Punisher.
While Conan 2099 #1 manages to capture the fun of having the character split skulls in a time period not his own, the construction of its narrative doesn’t quite stick the landing.
A book like Conan 2099 #1 can skate by on a lot of charm. Seeing the Barbarian slash at futuristic villains with what looks like a lightsaber claymore should put a smile on just about anyone’s face. It’s an image that feels tailored-made to be hung on a teenager's bedroom walls. However, a truly great comic can’t survive on style alone, no matter how hard artist Roge Antonio and colorist Erick Arciniega try. They come damn close, though.
The general concept behind Conan 2099 is undoubtedly cool. If you’ve already accepted the character showing up in Earth-616 and becoming a permanent fixture, then there isn’t much of a leap to accept Conan being the same age 80 years in the future. Without spoiling too much, suffice to say that writer Gerry Duggan makes it work. The only problem is that the unfolding of the explanation does a bit too much hand-holding.
Duggan, who is wonderful scribe when given the right material, shows his hand pretty early. By this point, Marvel has had plenty of time-displaced characters whose very presence leads to a puzzle box mystery, most notably Captain America in Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert’s Marvel 1602 comes to mind. However, Duggan doesn’t play any cards close to the vest. Instead, he holds them out to the rest of the players at the table and asks if he won the hand before anyone else has time to place their bets.
The pacing of the issue is brisk, despite its sudden departures into expository flashbacks. While Roge’s art is dynamic and crisp, there are occasion hints at the idea of fascinating page layouts that never come to fruition. especially on a panel involving Conan climbing a rope and how his progression is conveyed.
Conan 2099 #1 is gorgeously illustrated by Roge Antonio and is built upon concept so weirdly fun that's it’s impossible to disregard its merits. There is plenty of meat on these bones, but there’s also dash of trepidation regarding how the dish is prepared. At its best, Conan 2099 #1 is a fun romp with enough eye candy to keep readers engaged. At its worst, it’s a clever pop culture mash-up t-shirt that's come to life.
In the lead-up to Avengers: Endgame, Black Widow was the biggest female superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After Scarlett Johansson's Avenger debuted in Iron Man 2, Natasha Romanov proved an essential companion to Captain America and the rest of the heroes, atoning for her largely unseen sins over the course of several films. While Natasha did prove a vital part of Avengers: Endgame -- after all, without her, the Soul Stone would never have been retrieved -- she didn't have as big a presence in the film as many going in might've expected.
While Natasha's story came to a close in Endgame, a surprising heroine proved to be the real MVP of the film. In many ways, she ended up having the biggest growth over the course of the film, with arguably the strongest emotional resonance throughout. Instead, the cosmic former villain Nebula had the greatest impact on the whole story and stands as the film's true female lead.
Nebula, up until this point, proved a somewhat nebulous character. She started off as a glorified henchman to another glorified henchman in Guardians of the Galaxy, before taking on a somewhat more prominent role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Despite playing a supporting role in each, the core tenants of her character shone through: she has a complicated relationship with her sister and had a one-sided, abusive relationship with Thanos. While she still desired his validation, she was ultimately willing to turn against her adoptive father, Thanos.
Her arc in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 brought her to the point where she'd make a futile attempt to face Thanos on her own, as seen in Avengers: Infinity War. Still, as one of the few cosmic heroes not snapped out of existence, she ended up being one of the few people left alive following the Snap. Even more so, she was stuck on Titan with Tony Stark, a person she has never interacted with until that point.
While Nebula had nearly no screen-time in Avengers: Infinity War, many of the characters who had a huge presence in that film had little presence in Endgame. so Nebula was well-positioned for a meaningful arc in Endgame.
Shortly after the cold open on Hawkeye's ranch, Endgame begins by focusing on two core characters of the film to come: Tony Stark and Nebula, as they work in tandem together in order to forge a path home again. In prior films, Nebula had only received kindness from Gamora, her now-dead sister. But Stark shows her empathy and warmth, even showing self-sacrifice in the face of inevitable death. She, in her various small ways, reciprocates this kindness, and this kindness is key to her arc throughout the film.
Even her arrival on Earth, though under horrific circumstances, leads her to more kindness. She lost almost everyone she knew in the Snap, more than any other single character. She ends up finding a new one of sorts in the Avengers, finding acceptance from Rocket Racoon (the only remaining member of the Guardians), War Machine (who is similarly augmented by metallic augmentations) and the rest of the Avengers.
While all of the Avengers find companionship with one another in the half-depopulated world, Nebula finds the most companionship, which makes it even crueler when she's forced to confront her past.
By comparison, Black Widow is barely a presence in the film. Black Widow's arc is mostly complete by the time Endgame starts. She's a former assassin who had committed so many sins in her lifetime that she feels beyond atonement. For her, Captain America:Winter Soldier proved her greatest instance of development, as it allowed her to see that she has worth outside being an assassin, that people value her and her needs.
By the time we start Endgame, she's managing an inter-planetary task-force that manages the world. In essence, she's become the second-in-command of the Avengers, becoming a pseudo-Nick Fury in the process. She lives for her family, and she feels home here, despite the stresses that come with the job.
But while this is a stage in her general arc, she doesn't truly grow from here. She starts at this point, remains at this point, and all actions she takes from here stem from the point she's at where she starts the story. This dedication to others especially comes through when she sacrifices herself to gain the Soul Stone. In doing so, she helps Hawkeye move on with his arc. She completes her arc, which is encapsulated by her funeral and memorial service before Hulk uses the Gauntlet.
Black Widow's entire arc in the film establishes the Avengers are her family and that she is sacrificing herself for someone else as a final service to those who gave her life meaning. Despite playing such a huge role in the Avengers, she plays a surprisingly small role in the narrative, and her presence in the film, until she sacrifices herself for the Soul Stone, is small.
Compared to Nebula, Black Widow feels minor in Avengers: Endgame's plot.
However, the entire third act of Endgame could not take place without Nebula. If Nebula didn't cross paths with her past incarnation, past-Thanos and past-Nebula would never have reached the current era. This means that the sins of Nebula's past effectively result in Iron Man being forced to sacrifice himself.
This time travel aspect also reveals what could've been, if Thanos had gained power over the Infinity Stones earlier than he did. The past Nebula, feeling trapped under Thanos's glove and desperate to please him -- if even for her own sake -- ends up bringing Thanos to the future to retrieve the Gauntlet.
It is only when Nebula gains the trust of her sister Gamora and kills her past self that we see just how far Nebula has come as a character since her first appearance. She would have destroyed the world for him, but by the time Infinity War started, she's willing to die to stop him.
In "Reason to be Excited," I spotlight things from modern comics that I think are worth getting excited about. I mean stuff more specific than "this comic is good," ya know? More like a specific bit from a writer or artist that impressed me.
Today, we look at Chris Giarrusso's crossover between G-Man and Action Cat and Adventure Bug from Art Baltazar and Franco's Aw Yeah Comics!
G-Man is about a young man named Mikey G who gained superpowers and became the superhero known as G-Man. Mikey then draws a comic series about G-Man and Giarrusso uses those strips for frequent metafictional commentaries about his own career in comics. You can read Giarrusso's webcomic at his website here. However, in addition, Giarrusso then reprints the stories about a year later in the Funny Pages section of Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon.
The Funny Pages is this awesome bit where Larsen will print some webcomic material from various awesome independent comic creators. Giarrusso debuted G-Man in the back pages of Savage Dragon back when Giarrusso had a more regular back-up feature in the series. Now, it's just when his material is collected into a few pages.
In Savage Dragon #244, the crossover between Giarrusso's G-Man and Art Baltazar and Franco's Action Cat and Adventure Bug (from their Aw Yeah Comics!) was covered.
Naturally, Giarrusso did his typically clever, offbeat take on the concept, as Action Cat and Adventure Bug want to team up with G-Man for him to...draw a comic for them.
What's especially funny is that it is not even for a comic book starring the three of them, but for some new character named Shifty...
Shifty is an over-sensitive jerk...
This leads to some of that fourth-wall breaking stuff...
And then probably the key aspect of Giarrusso's comics. There's Mikey's older brother telling him how people on social media are reacting to the comic...
and then comic book convention appearances. Giarrusso has NAILED these throughout his career. He even has an awesome collection Tales From the Con. He really gets the whole frustrating Catch-22 aspect of being an independent comic creator in a world where people seemingly only want books from the Big Two. Like this comic where he references the fact that Giarrusso is probably still best known for his Mini-Marvels comics and Baltazar and Franco are best known for their Tiny Titans work...
You can just feel the annoyance in that. "We love both of you! It would be great if you crossed over! But just on a Big Two book." ARGH!
Anyhow, there's lot more fun stuff in this crossover...
You just can't win. Well, Mikey G just can't win, that is.
But really, just check out Giarrusso's website. Buy his awesome comic collections.
Okay, this feature is a bit less of a reader-interactive one, as I'm just spotlight stuff in modern comics that specifically impressed ME, but heck, if you'd like to send in some suggestions anyways, maybe you and I have the same taste! It's certainly not improbably that something you found cool would be something that I found cool, too, so feel free to send ideas to me at brianc@cbr.com!
In the days leading up to American Thanksgiving, Supergirl star Melissa Benoist shared her experience with domestic violence, often referred to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), on social media. Many online expressed their support for Benoist, including her husband, Chris Wood.
On Twitter, Wood wrote, "Happy Thanksgiving! I’m going to kiss my wife and hold her tenderly. All day. And every day. How do YOU show love? #IStandWithMelissa."
Wood, known for playing Malachai Parker in the sixth season of The Vampire Diaries and Mon-El on Supergirl from 2016 until 2018, married Benoist in September 2019 after a two-year courtship. Wood and Benoist worked together on the former's "I Don't Mind" website, which launched in 2017 and is geared towards destigmatizing mental illness.
"By sharing my story, hopefully I can empower others to seek help and extricate themselves from abusive relationships," Benoist said in her video. "Everyone deserves to be loved void of violence, fear and physical harm."
Airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers, David Harewood as Martian Manhunter, Mehcad Brooks as Jimmy Olsen and Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers.
Diana Prince's helmet in Patty Jenkins' upcoming Wonder Woman 1984 may have just been revealed by merchandise for the film.
An image of what is said to be official merchandise from Comic Con Experience in Brazil was posted to Reddit. The picture shows Diana wearing a helmet reminiscent of the one she wears in Kingdom Come. At this time, it isn't clear if any such helmet will actually appear in the movie. It's also noteworthy that the armor may be a different color, as the original poster for the film featured Diana wearing armor that was much more golden.
Wonder Woman 1984 is a sequel to 2017's Wonder Woman, which made $821 million at the worldwide box office. The sequel will pit Diana Prince against Barbara Ann Minerva/Cheetah and Maxwell Lord, while also dealing with the return of Steve Trevor, who seemingly died at the end of the first movie. At this time, it's not clear just how or why Trevor will return.
Directed by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman 1984 stars Gal Gadot as Diana, Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva/Cheetah, Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord and Natasha Rothwell. The film opens on June 5, 2020.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the Titans, streaming now on DC Universe.
The first two seasons of Titans have had a lot of daddy issues. At the heart of the story is Dick Grayson trying to move out of the shadow of Bruce Wayne, while Rachel Roth fights to escape her destiny, and the clutches of her father, the interdimensional demon Trigon.
That theme continued with Slade Wilson's vendetta against the original Titans, whom he blamed for the death of his son, Jericho. In his quest for revenge, he transformed his estranged daughter, Rose, into his pawn. But with Season 3, it's time for the series to eliminate the father figure as antagonist.
Although it may be difficult to view Bruce as a traditional antagonist, that's certainly the role he's played in Dick's mind. After all, his former sidekick began the series declaring "Fuck Batman" before, in the Season 1 finale, killing his adoptive father as part of a nightmare vision created by Trigon. While Dick made peace with Bruce in the Season 2 premiere, the mentor leased real estate in the young man's mind, becoming a manifestation of the young man's conscience.
Rachel vanquished her own father with surprising ease, but one of the subplots this season is her enduring, sinister connection to him, resulting in her otherworldly powers increasing beyond her control or understanding.
Yet it's the Slade arc that has dominated the season, as his neglect (and manipulation) of his children collided with the Titans, leading to death -- or, well, "death" -- of his son, Jericho, and, later, the weaponization of his estranged daughter, Rose. Knowing now that Jericho has been trapped inside Deathstroke's head for five years raised the stakes dramatically, but it's a relief to see that plot line brought to an end -- by his daughter, no less -- in the finale.
As the final moments of Season 2 makes clear, Titans isn't about to give up on family conflict: Blackfire has arrived on Earth, in the flesh, and is no doubt plotting to kill her sister, and rival for the throne of Tamaran, Kory. However, we can only hope that Season 3 doesn't introduce a secondary antagonist in a resurrected Trigon, or even Lex Luthor (who is, after all, one of Conner's "fathers").
With Dick finally becoming Nightwing, the series needs to move him fully out of Batman's shadow -- as terrific as actor Iain Glen is, that's enough Bruce Wayne, thank you -- and focus instead on him leading this newly re-formed Titans, complete with Jericho, who's now camping out in the mind of his half-sister, Rose.
Rachel also needs to grow further, even in darkness, to become a fully formed character, not a girl frightened of her powers, her nightmares and her father. It would add nuance, and create a stronger study of someone trapped in a state of duality and perpetual despair.
Most of all, without such all-consuming daddy issues, there first-generation Titans are forced to take on more responsibility as mentors to the younger heroes. Donna Troy may have fallen in the finale, but Dick, Dawn Granger and Hank Hall remain, joined by Kory, with Gar, Rose and Conner now proteges, of sorts. Rachel and Jason will almost certainly return at some point, further expanding the ranks of fledgling heroes.
It's time for Bruce to return to Gotham, and stay there, for Trigon to remain vanquished, and for Deathstroke to, um, stay in the grave. The Titans need to step out of the shadows of their pasts, and focus not on family traumas, but instead on becoming the heroes their world needs.
Streaming now on DC Universe, Titans Season 2 stars Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson, Anna Diop as Kory Anders, Teagan Croft as Rachel Roth, Ryan Potter as Garfield Logan, Curran Walters as Jason Todd and Conor Leslie as Donna Troy, with Minka Kelly as Dawn Granger, Alan Ritchson as Hank Hall, Joshua Orpin as Superboy, Chelsea Zhang as Rose Wilson, Chella Man as Jericho, Drew Van Acker as Aqualad, Esai Morales as Deathstroke and Iain Glen as Bruce Wayne.
In "Reason to be Excited," I spotlight things from modern comics that I think are worth getting excited about. I mean stuff more specific than "this comic is good," ya know? More like a specific bit from a writer or artist that impressed me.
It's 2019, so obviously we are all well past the notion that cancellation really MEANS anything. Books get canceled left and right and it has long since moved past a sort of stain on your record that it clearly was back in the 1980s or 1990s. Few new ongoing series are expected to last that long, so if a new series is canceled, it is not a huge shock. Still, it is always tough when a series is cut short all of a sudden. That's also something that has happened forever in comics (I have a whole feature called Wrap It Up about how comic books are so abruptly canceled that another comic book then has to resolve the dangling plots from the abrupt cancellation. One of the earliest Chris Claremont and John Byrne X-Men stories actually resolved a big cliffhanger from a Doug Moench and Val Mayerik Ka-Zar series that had been abruptly canceled). So it happens to the best comic creators.
However, rarely is an abrupt cancellation ever handled quite as well as Daniel Kibblesmith's brilliant pivot in the middle of his final issue of his current (excellent) Loki series, which, in turn, makes the cancellation all the more painful.
During Walter Simonson's run on Thor, Christopher Priest (then Jim Owsley) did an excellent Wild West story featuring Loki. Priest later revisited it during his Black Panther run. Kibblesmith returns to that era for a new "untold tale" of Loki in the old west with art by guest-artist Andy MacDonald (who's brilliant, as well) and David Curiel that guest-stared Wolverine...
The story then abruptly shifts to Loki in the present day being interrogated in a prison cell by a mysterious other person (who Loki is clearly quite familiar with)...
Clearly, after the western story was already in play, they learned that the book was ending and so Kibblesmith deftly pivoted to this new interrogation model, while mixing in parts of the original story into the narrative, as well, and the whole thing ends up becoming a beautiful tribute to the series as a whole.
First, I loved the metafictional bit about how superhero movies essentially are the modern day western...
but then we get a nice send-off for the "God of Outcasts"...
with the return of a former Loki supporting cast member (from the Al Ewing Loki series) that allows the book to have a happy (well, at least bittersweet) ending that promises a whole lot more awesome Lokik stories in the future.
There's also a fascinating comparison to the cult classic film, The Wizard of Speed and Time (which Kibblesmith notes in the letter column is now canonically Loki's favorite movie)...
and an excellent bit discussing Loki's various incarnations through the use of playing cards, but I'm not going to spoil the whole thing here, there's still a trade paperback coming out. Go buy that and maybe they'll do another Loki series!
Abrupt cancellations are almost never this good. It's a real testament to Kibblemsith, MacDonald and Curiel. They should be really proud of this one.
Okay, this feature is a bit less of a reader-interactive one, as I'm just spotlight stuff in modern comics that specifically impressed ME, but heck, if you'd like to send in some suggestions anyways, maybe you and I have the same taste! It's certainly not improbably that something you found cool would be something that I found cool, too, so feel free to send ideas to me at brianc@cbr.com!
Metal Gear Solid, is a widely popular video game franchise by Hideo Kojima, published by Konami. Arriving in the year 1987, MGS has stayed for over 3 decades. However, it caught attention in 1998 when the third series arrived on Sony's PlayStation. Since then multiple spin-offs, OVAs of the game have come out. Back in 2016, the exit of Hideo Kojima from MGS marked the end of an era. But that didn't stop the resolve at Konami. Post Kojima, MGS is as fantastic as ever.
One of the things that MGS gave gamers is an anime-ish video game with unique gameplay and uber-cool villains. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the game provided a whole new meaning to nuclear non-proliferation and world order. If you loved the game, here are a couple of anime based on a somewhat similar premise.
10 KINGDOM
Action, history, military: these aspects of Kingdom converge very well with MGS. The story is based on China's warring time where a dragon has burnt cities to the ground. As warring factions race for domination, seven powerful states emerge. A war-orphan Piao is recruited by the king to fight in his battles. As a result, he parts ways with his fellow Li Xin. After the King is overthrown and Piao is killed, Li takes the grand scheme of things head-on.
Warring times and power struggles are constant in MGS and Kingdom, both.
9 ARGENTO SOMA
Argento Soma is an underrated hidden gem of an anime. Riddled heavily with Robots, it draws a similarity with MGS in that respect.
The story revolves around a lab manufactured bio-engineered alien Frank. In an invasion on the lab, Frank accidentally comes to life, he destroys the lab and everyone in his wake. Meanwhile, Takuto, the boy who chiefly assisted in creating Frank is paid a mysterious visit by Mr. X in the hospital.
High on emotions of vengeance, Takuto accepts X's offer to reclaim a new identity as Ryu Soma.
8 ARSLAN SENKI
Both MGS and Arslan Senki are riddled with themes of political warfare.
Arslan's father, King Andragoras III is dethroned by a warring neighbor and his army is wiped out. The prince is on the run with his trusted general Daryun. The story of Arslan Senki is a pretty generic one. He comes of age and builds his support from the shambles. Arslan is on a quest to reclaim what's taken from him.
7 MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM
Military, sci-fi and action, you'll find these similarities in both MGS and MSG! Both the franchises talk about the ugly side of a war.
The anime is a long-drawn battle between humanity and space cluster named Principality of Zeon. Zeon uses mobile suits, powerful mecha robots to advance their causes. Those living on the Earth, call themselves as Earth Federation, develop their own suit called Gundam to respond back. As the attacks intensify, a young boy named Amuro helms the battle on behalf of the Earth Federation.
6 CODE GEASS
The Metal Gear Solid 4 specifically resonates with Code Geass. For starters, an ongoing uprising against the government is shown in both. The other similar elements are the horrors of war and mass genocide. The underlying theme in both being: absolute powers corrupts absolutely.
Code Geass is the story of a boy Lelouch Lamperouge. He lives in the era of Japan's resistance against the conquering Empire of Britannia. Incidentally caught in the crossfire between the resistance and Britannia, he is saved by a mystery woman C.C. The woman bestows upon him the 'Power of Kings'. With this power, Lelouch responds to his true calling, to free Japan from the occupying outsiders.
5 BLACK LAGOON
Black Lagoon does full justice to action and Seinen. It tells the tale of Rokurou Okajima, a worker for a Japanese corporation. He breaks bad on an official trip to Thailand. As a bunch of pirates take Rokurou hostage, he realizes the true meaning of being alive. Rokurou breaks out of his shell and finds freedom in the pirate life.
In both MGS and Black Lagoon, the protagonists face mercs, assassins and crime syndicates. You will encounter endless gunfights everywhere. Not to mention, the common Russian angle in both.
4 NEON GENESIS EVANGELION
Psychological, drama and action, that's how Neon Genesis Evangelion overlaps with MGS. Not to mentionwar, abuse of power and political gimmicks.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a hot topic anime since it came out in 1995. Directed by Hideaki Anno, the plot kicks off when a 14-year-old Shinji Ikari is reluctantly summoned to join the NERV by his overbearing father Ritsuko. The primary responsibility of NERV is to defend Tokyo-3 against monsters called Angels. As Shinji pilots the titular Evangelion, a gigantic robotic machine and he chooses duty over everything else.
3 TRIGUN
A $60,000,000,000 bounty on some donut loving buffoons head? Trigun reminds not to judge a book by its cover. Meet Vash, the anime protagonist who is synonymous with 'The Humanoid Typhoon'. He lays a trial of death everywhere he goes. As Vash travels across No Man's land Gunsmoke, his insurance agents Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson try to minimize the damage.
Trigun and MGS are similar in two respects: intense gun battles, similar story arcs.
2 COWBOY BEBOP
Bounty hunters, genius Corgis, and criminals: welcome to Cowboy Bebop. The anime is set in 2071, where humankind are reduced to colonizers of planets and satellites, alike. The might of colonizers rests on The Inter Solar System Police. Aiding the police are bounty hunters known as Cowboys, aboard their spaceship Bebop. The ragtag team of five in their space ship hunt for criminals that may pose a threat to peace.
Cowboy Bebop is truly exceptional on account of many things. Although it borrows heavily from Western pop-culture, all of that can be overlooked on account of its audiovisuals and style.
1 GHOST IN THE SHELL
Ghost In The Shell anime resembles MGS the most. Set against a similar backdrop: an over-arching government, optical camouflage, cyber brains, hacking and ethics and most of all, what differentiates humans from the rest. Other similarities between the two are heavy state policing and mind-blowing action.
Ghost in the Shell is a futuristic anime that tells the tale of Niihama City where technology has overtaken almost every aspect of life. Citizens are able to replace their limbs with robotics parts and whatnot. In a global world order, a mysterious hacker hacks into the minds of men and erases their memories. It leaves you heavy-hearted, thinking about existentialism and the fundamentals of human life. A true masterpiece in every sense of the word.
