In "Reason to Get 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 how Ed Brisson combined horror tropes with classic Marvel superhero tropes in the recent Contagion miniseries.
Contagion was a five-week event series written by Ed Brisson with different artists for each issue (Roge Antonio and Veronica Gandini in #1, Stephen Segovia and Gandini in #2, Mack Chater and Segovia with Gandini and Andrew Crossley in #3, Damian Chouciero and Gandini in #4 and Adam Gorham and Gandini in #5).
The concept is that a mystical fungus gets loose from K'un-Lun...
It ends up in Yancy Street, where it infects a young member of the Yancy Street Gang...
Soon, it has engulfed most of New York City by issue #3...
including all members of the Fantastic Four other than Ben Grimm...
Slowly but surely, heroes and villains are picked off until we get a ragtag group of survivors against the entire city. It's just the Thing, Moon Knight, Sparrow, Iron Fist and Pei (from the K'un-Lun contingent), Jessica Jones and Piledriver of the Wrecking Crew.
Here's the thing that Brisson picked up on, though. The final stand in horror films is very much like the ragtag superhero team in superhero comics. What is different from this and the heroes thrown together in the Kulan Gath storyline in Uncanny X-Men? Or the heroes in Peter David's The Last Avengers Story? Or the X-Men in Operation: Zero Tolerance (where the team came down to Iceman, Sabra, Marrow and Dr. Cecilia Reyes)? This is just classic superheroics here, just with a very much horror bend to it.
Anyhow, Moon Knight figures out that his peculiar brain make-up will allow him to enter the hive mind and perhaps break it down from inside...
Then Pei is captured and Moon Knight won't let her be taken....
And sure enough, while he is getting the full brunt of the psychic attack of the entity, Pei freed all of the other heroes under the control of the magical fungus...
And things went back to normal by the end of the series, but in the meantime, Brisson was able to merge genres really well, as he highlighted some of the distinctive similarities between the two famous genres.
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 "Reason to Get 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 how Michel Fiffe's willing to bank on readers of Copra to either already be fans or be willing to bear with his awesomeness and pick it up from there.
When Fiffe last left off his independent series, Copra, in 2017, it was with a cliffhanger. Now, after putting the entire series until this point into a series of new Image Comics trade paperbacks, Fiffe debuts Copra #1 from Image...which is really just Copra #32, including resolving a cliffhanger from over two years earlier!
The amazing thing, though, is that, as you can tell from the pages above, it is not like you can't understand what is going on in the story, right? One of the only things that you can't follow with comics, in general, is when you don't know the names of the characters and Fiffe takes care of that stuff with quick name tag captions.
Fiffe's a student of comic book history and he knows that, for generations, it would be weird for a new reader to ever pick up a story ON the first issue of a given comic book series. It was much more likely that you were going to start your comic book reading on a larger issue that was part of a long-running series. In fact, in the old days, DC Comics specifically tried to HIDE the fact that a book was a number one because they felt that people would feel that it was untested if it was so low-numbered (it is the same reason why most of the major relaunches of the 1950s and 1960s involved renumbering titles, like Flash taking over the numbering of Flash Comics, Thor taking over Journey Into Mystery, etc.
So Fiffe is just following in the footsteps of generations of comic books that expected any issue to be the point where you could jump on, even if it was in the middle of a narrative and that is certainly the case here.
However, while you are better off knowing the history of the Copra characters, it really doesn't matter as much as the adventure in this given issue and, of course, that strikingly powerful Fiffe artwork (with his beautiful colors, as well).
I'll be frank, I just wanted to show you the opening of Copra #1 to assuage anyone who was afraid of it not making any sense. It totally does, right? Even if you don't know the particulars, you can easily pick up the plot and if you can tell so by those pages above, then you really should be reading Copra. It is balls to the wall over the top action with heart, to boot!
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 "Reason to Get 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, as we conclude fitting a month's worth of Reasons to Get Excited into a few days, we look at how Mark Millar and Eric Canete (colors by Giovanna Niro) deliver an time traveling adventure spectacle that has a sweet and heartfelt position at the center of the narrative.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
When Mark Millar and Sean Gordon Murphy launched Chrononauts, the real selling point was just how over-the-top the drama was. Murphy is such a brilliant artist that he could draw whatever wild ideas that Millar could come up with and Millar can come up with a whole lot of wild ideas. So the first series was just a fun time. It was a good comic book, but it was definitely on the lighthearted side of things.
Thus, when Millar returned to the world of Corbin Quinn and Danny Reilly, now with Eric Canete filling in for Murphy, it is understandable to expect such an approach in this series, as well.
The first issue opens up with them as basically scientist rock stars...
After they are lost in time in their attempt to go to the future, they quickly figure things out and they return as rock stars/conquering heroes...
However, Corbin Quinn then realizes that the reason he hasn't been able to get into the future is because someone has been blocking it from him and that's when he discovers that his old mentor, Professor Cross.
He has turned the future into a seeming utopia and he soon gets Quinn and Reilly on board with working with him. The idea is that whenever something goes wrong in the future, they go into the past and change things so that it is fixed in the future. Like, if some guy is causing trouble, you just convince him to get out of one field and into another and voila, he's no longer a problem.
The issue is that there is a far right extremist who is causing ALL sorts of problems in the past and ultimately, Cross decides that he has to have her killed before she becomes too influential, which is when she is 10 years old. He sends Corbin and Danny, but they can't do it.
This leads to a masterful battle through time, with Millar using all the tricks you can think of (including Chekov's wristband computer that works on voice command) until the good guys win, but in the process, the future is doomed.
Instead of following in Cross' footsteps, though, Corbin decides to ADOPT the racist little girl and teach her a better way and thus build a better future. It's an awesomely sweet and optimistic ending for the series.
Meanwhile, Danny knows he can't change his mother's death, but he never gives up, either, and comes up with an ingenious solution to that issue, as well. It's all really heartfelt stuff.
It's probably one of the happiest endings I can recall for a Mark Millar comic book series (and he's had a number of happy endings, just noting that this is probably the happIEST).
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!
The massively popular battle royale game, Fortnite, has reached a level of cultural dominance that has made way for some truly epic crossovers. Over time, we've seen the game successfully crossover with Stranger Things and Avengers -- resulting in the ever-popular Thanos dance -- just to name a few. And it seems highly doubtful the crossovers will be coming to an end anytime soon.
Still, while the crossovers have all been notable for a plethora of reasons, some have been better than others. With that in mind, we break down the best pop culture crossovers in Fortnite.
Ralph Breaks the Internet, Disney's follow-up to the 2012 hit Wreck-It Ralph, followed in its predecessor's footsteps by being chock full of references. Since the sequel took its main characters into the world of the internet, the references expanded from just video games to all corners of pop culture. So, naturally Fortnite was a perfect fit, given its pervasive impact on the internet through memes, streaming, and Esports. In the film, Fortnite's Battle Bus makes a brief cameo, and Ralph himself performs the "floss." A dance popularized by the game.
However, this list is covering references in the game, and while Fortnite and Ralph Breaks the Internet reference each other, the only appearance of the latter in the game is a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo. At the time of the crossover, players who landed in Risky Reels, an area modeled after a drive-in movie theater, could see Ralph himself dash across the screen. It was easy to miss and wasn't guaranteed to appear in every game, so while a fun moment for players who caught it, it's too brief to rank any higher on this list.
In November of 2018, the National Football League (NFL) announced that they were partnering with Epic Games for a crossover that would allow players to unlock jerseys from all 32 NFL teams. The crossover was partially motivated by the amount of NFL players who had become fans of the Fortnite. Many of the dances used as emotes in Fortnite became popular celebrations on the field of NFL games. In addition to the jerseys, players could unlock football-themed emotes as well as tools and gliders.
Since this crossover was purely cosmetic and didn't come with a new game mode or in-game items, it remains low on this list.
The next crossover on this list is also the most recent. To promote the release of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Epic revealed a collaboration with EA that would allow players who purchased the game on the Epic Games Store to get an Imperial Stormtrooper skin in Fortnite. While the skin is purchasable to players who don't buy Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, it's a nice incentive to Star Wars fans. Additionally, the Imperial Star Destroyer appeared in the sky above the island in Fortnite. While initially, some players thought this would to something as the ship moved closer to land, it appears it is staying put.
While this is one of the more light crossovers, it gets placed a little higher than the previous two because it's still on-going. With Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker being released in theaters next month, the event may return with more content related to the sequel trilogy.
To celebrate and promote the release of Stranger Things 3, Netflix collaborated with Epic on an event that allowed players to play as Chief Hopper or the creepy Demogorgon. While just another minor cosmetic crossover, Fortnite x Stranger Things gets ranked higher than the others due to the strategy of its release. Leading up to the official event, portals started appearing around the in-game Mega Mall location. These portals were designed after the portals to the Upside Down in Stranger Things and would take players to different parts of the mall. This was a nice reference to the heavy emphasis on the Starcourt Mall setting in Stranger Things 3. What made this all the more fun was that the portals started appearing before Epic announced the crossover, stirring up excitement and confusion in equal measure.
To celebrate Batman Day this past September, DC collaborated with Epic to bring Batman to Fortnite. The event included two Batman skins and one for Catwoman, as well as emotes and other cosmetics like the Batglider. However, the most exciting addition to this event was the two new in-game items, the Grapnel Gun and the Explosive Batarang. The former allowed players to pull themselves towards wherever they could shoot it and then glide across the map, much like in the Batman: Arkham series. The Batarang acted as a proximity mine, that could either be thrown directly at enemies or placed like a trap.
Additionally, the Tilted Towers location in Fortnite was re-skinned to become Gotham City. New challenges also appeared, some of which were tied directly to Gotham City. This crossover marks the first on this list to feature significant gameplay content.
While this may be one of the more out of place crossovers on this list, Fortnite's collaboration with the Jordan brand brought new skins, challenges, and an entirely new game mode for Fortnite's Creative Mode. The Downtown Drop limited-time mode took players to an entirely different map than the normal Fortnite island. Downtown Drop had players sliding around streets modeled after New York City to collect coins and grab and achieve the highest score
Starting off the top five is Epic and 2K Games' collaboration for the release of Borderlands 3. Included is the expected cosmetics, such as a Psycho skin and Claptrap backpack, but additionally, players could walk through a rift and visit a portion of the map that was designed after Pandora. The Pandora Rift Zone felt like a true crossover as Fortnite players could feel like they were literally walking around in Borderlands 3. The event also included content for players to use in Fortnite's Creative Mode, allowing them to build their own little section of Pandora to play. This crossover felt like a true love letter to Borderlands, which more than earned its spot this high on the list.
In Fortnite's third season, a skin was added to the game called The Reaper, which bore a striking resemblance to the character John Wick, played by Keanu Reeves in the film series of the same name. The skin was informally dubbed "John Wick" by fans and streamers alike, which no doubt prompted this crossover in Fortnite season nine.
To promote the release of this past summer's John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, Epic added a pack of gear and a, finally official, John Wick skin that actually bore the likeness of Keanu Reeves. Along with the cosmetics, a new game mode was added called "Wick's Bounty" that allowed players to defeat opponents to earn coins, at the risk of becoming the highest value target.
This crossover adds quite a bit less content then some ranked lower on this list, but the sheer hype of having the unofficial John Wick reference come full circle is what earns it its spot.
In a truly unprecedented event, Fortnite hosted a concert for the massively-popular EDM artist, Marshmello, in the form of a limited-time mode called "Showtime." The ten-minute medley of some of Marshmello's biggest hits was attended by over 10 million players worldwide. It is so far a completely unique event that may very well inspire others like it. Of course, also included is the requisite cosmetics such as a skin allowing players to wear Marshmello's stage costume.
The first major crossover between Fortnite and a pop culture IP was the unexpected collaboration with Marvel for the release of Avengers: Infinity War in 2018. The event included a new limited-time mode that allowed players to grab hold of the Infinity Gauntlet and become the Mad Titan, Thanos, himself. While playing as Thanos, players had access to a number of exclusive powers that made him very difficult to stop. However, while playing as Thanos you were visible to other players on the map, making you a target to every other player. Only one player could grab the Infinity Gauntlet at once, making the opening seconds of the game a mad dash to find it.
This crossover was made possible because Avengers: Infinity War directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, were big fans of Fortnite, often sneaking in games during the editing process. Joe Russo called up Epic creative director Donald Mustard and the two sparked the idea for the game mode.
Joe and Anthony Russo returned the favor from the previous Fortnite collaboration by including the game in a scene in Avengers: Endgame. In a hilarious scene, Thor's buddy Korg is playing the game against a player called Noobmaster69. Thor takes the headset and taunts the player on the other end. It's a great scene but it's made even better by the collaboration continuing in the form of another limited-time game mode around Avengers: Endgame's release.
The mode allowed players to play on teams of 20 on either the side of Thanos or the heroes. On the Avengers' side, players had access to Iron Man's Repulsors, Thor's Stormbreaker Axe, Captain America's Shield, or Hawkeye's Bow. On Thanos' side, players were Chitauri soldiers wielding laser rifles. All six Infinity Stones were also placed around the map, each with unique effects. The first Chitauri to grab one would power up and become Thanos himself. Of course, the event also included skins and challenges.
The Avengers: Endgame crossover is ranked at the top of this list for a number of reasons. Not only is it made all the more sweeter that Fortnite had a fairly major reference in the film, but the game mode was incredibly fun and included a bunch of very unique content that showed that the Avengers were surprisingly fit for Fortnite's gameplay.
There have been some other smaller crossovers, including references to Pennywise from It: Chapter Two and a follow-up to the NFL event for Super Bowl LIII, but these are all of the major official crossovers Epic has made possible for Fortnite. Now that the doors have been blown wide open with some major pop culture properties, anything seems possible for future crossover events.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Infinity Saga saw the establishment and assemblage of Marvel's mightiest heroes, culminating in nearly every one of them coming together in the climax of Avengers: Endgame. However, while the past 10 years of Marvel Studios films have covered the rise of the heroes, it may soon be the villains' turn.
In the comics, the aftermath of the company-wide crossover Onslaught event saw the Marvel Universe in a state similar to the one the MCU is in now. With some of Earth's Mightiest Heroes like Iron Man, Thor and Captain America no longer defending the planet, a new team stepped forward to replace the Avengers: the Thunderbolts. The twist, of course, was that the super team was actually comprised of villains in disguise, and the MCU already has the perfect foils to fill the roster.
Not seen since Captain America: Civil War, Zemo is one of the few MCU villains to survive through the end of his debut movie. Throughout the film, he established himself as possibly the MCU's greatest mastermind, enacting a complicated plan involving countless moving parts that nearly succeeded in tearing the Avengers apart. Next set to appear in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, there's nobody more deserving of the leadership role than Zemo himself. It also helps that the character is intrinsically tied to the Thunderbolts team of the comics, leading it both originally and in various incarnations thereafter.
Possibly the most hotly anticipated MCU villain return is Abomination, although Marvel seems to have a hard time finding just the right play to reintroduce him without a solo Hulk film. Debuting in The Incredible Hulk, Abomination was like a demented Captain America who Hulked out after getting hungry for more power, and since the film's conclusion, he's been imprisoned by the government without further issue. It's hard to imagine better muscle for the team than Emil Blonsky, and Tim Roth would be a stellar addition to a Thunderbolts cast.
While a lot of casual moviegoers may barely remember Batroc from his all-too-brief scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, comic fans remember him fondly as a cool, modernized update to an otherwise silly concept. Batroc is known as "The Leaper" for his frog-like jumping ability, though in the MCU, he was a kickboxing terrorist pirate who held his own against Cap. He was last seen in interrogation after being captured in Algiers, and much like Abomination, he's presumably been sitting in his cell twiddling his thumbs until the government asks for a favor.
Another member of the team straight from the comics, the MCU's Ghost may seem like a puzzling choice for the supervillain team given her sympathetic motivations. Throughout Ant-Man and The Wasp, she sought a cure for the condition that caused her to phase through solid matter, and when the heroes agreed to help her find one, she seemingly found redemption. However, curing Ghost's condition completely fell to the wayside after The Snap. Although Scott Lang went to the Quantum Realm to help cure Ghost, when he emerged five years later to find half of all life dusted away, he didn't seem to give it another thought. It could be that the villain is looking for revenge or simply needed to find a certain evil genius to help cure her.
This pick is the longest shot of the bunch, but probably the one that would elicit the biggest fan reaction. While the MCU films seem to largely ignore their small-screen counterparts, hope always remains that the whole universe will tie together in a way that feels more substantial than a brief wink or an Easter egg. Using the maniacal sociopath Benjamin Poindexter from Season 3 of Daredevil would go miles in terms of making up for the neglect and subsequent cancelation of the Marvel Netflix series.
At first an FBI agent who embraces his dark side to work for the crime boss Kingpin in a plot to ruin Daredevil's reputation, Bullseye was the centerpiece for innumerable scenes that showcased his deadly efficient accuracy. Whether he was ricocheting bullets to shoot around corners or embedding office supplies into drywall, Bullseye proved himself to be a supervillain-caliber threat. Plus, the character of the comics always had a fun dynamic on the Thunderbolts team, somehow managing to make all the other bad guys look downright moral by comparison.
The Justice Society of America is DC Comics’ original superhero team, but since the timeline erasing antics of Flashpoint/The New 52, these legacy heroes have gone into limbo. However, this changed in recent years, with the team making an appearance in the Arrowverse and having been brought back into continuity through the legacy restoring DC Rebirth.
With the team becoming more prominent, WB has decided to capitalize, setting live-action appearances for the Justice Society in DC Universe's Stargirland the upcoming Black Adam movie. But one question still comes to mind: Given their years of being more or less unused, why is there a sudden push for the legacy team, and what does this mean for DC Comics and Entertainment going forward?
The existence of the Justice Society by nature adds another layer of legacy and history to DC’s superhero universe. This can be seen in the Arrowverse, Smallville, and DC’s Post-Crisis continuity. Their past provides an added legacy to certain heroes, such as The Atom, Hawkman, and especially the Flash and Green Lantern. Many of the Flash’s multiversal stories would not be nearly as common if not for his interaction with his Justice Society counterpart, Jay Garrick.
DC has always had a much firmer Golden Age connection through these characters than their biggest rival. While Marvel typically glosses over its WW2 era characters beyond Captain America and Namor, DC embraces them. One of the reasons for this is Marvel’s seeming ambivalence to give the Golden Age Human Torch as much publication existence as Johnny Storm, whereas DC has had Jay Garrick coexist with Barry Allen and Wally West for years.
Another reason for expanding the JSA brand may be in priming some of its less mainstream characters for stardom. While DC may not allow Jay Garrick or Alan Scott to supersede Barry Allen and Hal Jordan, characters with less competitive history, such as Sandman, Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite would be able to circumvent this issue. There’s also the very Justice Society centric legacy of Starman, whose history remembering series by James Robinson was one of the most acclaimed of the 1990s.
By making the JSA more mainstream within comics, TV, and movies, the way is paved for prominent members to be spun off into their own projects. DC could gauge the appeal of certain IPs by seeing how they are received as part of the Justice Society first, and then pushing forward from there.
The Justice League is unquestionably DC’s go-to team, both within the comics and in other media. That aura is damaged, however, by the not so positive reception of the 2017 Justice League movie. A poorly done attempt at a course correct, following the controversial elements of the previous DCEU movies, Justice League was a notorious flop. While the universe is certainly recovering with films such as Aquaman and Shazam!, there’s no one clamoring for a Justice League sequel. In fact, the DCEU will be moving in a more solitary direction for its characters. With their biggest team of heroes damaged as an intellectual property, what better way to recuperate than by using the number two DC team? By hinting at these characters in productions such as Black Adam and Stargirl, DC could again stir up interest in the group as a whole before using the team members in other productions of their own. This would also alleviate the issue that many had with the Justice League film, which was rushed in comparison to Marvel’s Avengers.
Justice League threw several unestablished characters together into one film, whereas the heroes in Avengers had previous appearances, if not their own movies. On the other hand, given that the JSA members have historically been more defined within that team than having books of their own, they wouldn’t need full-blown movies like what was expected for the Justice League members, who have almost always had had their own comics. Ironically, the situation very much resembles Marvel Studios’ necessity for leaning into the Avengers characters due to their then lack of owning the film rights to the more popular X-Men.
It remains to be seen if DC pushing the JSA in all mediums will result in the team getting any mainstream success. Hopefully, the result is more like Marvel’s attempts with the Avengers, and less like theirs with the Inhumans.
DC's animated Harley Quinn comes to life in a new statue that's ready to go out swinging.
With Harley Quinn now streaming, DC Universe released a new statue commemorating the latest take on the character. Caught mid-swing and bearing the likeness of the new animated character, voiced by Kaley Cuoco, the statue stands approximately 10" high and will run $125 for DC Universe members.
The long-gestating series finally debuted on the streaming service, putting one of DC's most popular characters in the spotlight. Of course, she won't be alone, as everyone from Batman to Joker to Poison Ivy to the Legion of Doom make an appearance on the new show. We'll even get a very different take on Bane.
Unfortunately for fans of Harley's love life, Harley and Ivy won't be an item in Season 1, according to the creators. Neither will Harley and Joker for that matter, as the first season of the show is all about the Clown Princess of Crime herself. And given the character's allure—and all the cameos—that should prove more than enough for fans.
DC Universe's Harley Quinn stars Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Diedrich Bader, Alan Tudyk, Rahul Kohli, Christopher Meloni, Tony Hale, Ron Funches, Wanda Sykes, Natalie Morales, Jim Rash, Giancarlo Esposito, Jason Alexander and J.B. Smoove. New episodes are released on Fridays.
The weird trailer for The Joker takes the dramatic DC film and makes things bizarre—with lots of cameos.
Aldo Jones released the latest in his line of "Weird Trailers," turning the serious Joker into an absurd, pop-culture-filled extravaganza. Not only do a number of Simpsons characters make an appearance, but Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn joins forces with Mister J. And Joaquin Phoenix isn't the only Joker in town.
Though Harley wasn't actually in this year's DC film, fans will have plenty of her over the next few years. DC Universe's Harley Quinn series will satisfy fans of Weird Trailers with its absurdity and willingness to poke fun at the DC source material—just ask Batman.
Meanwhile, Robbie will actually reprise her role in next year's Birds of Prey, followed by a starring role in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad in 2020. Of course, the Jared Leto version of the Joker doesn't appear to be in either film, so this new fan edit may be the closest audiences get to a Harley/Joker team-up in a live-action movie for some time.
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. The film is now in theaters.
Welcome to Adventure(s) Time's 104th installment, a look at animated heroes of the past. This week, we celebrate the 35th anniversary of Transformers by examining the property's comics and cartoon debuts. (I managed to work this one in just a few weeks before the anniversary year passed!) And if you have any suggestions for the future, let me hear them on Twitter.
Having found great success with its partnership with Marvel Comics to promote G.I. Joe, Hasbro followed the same model when rolling out the Transformers line. Having licensed the Diaclone and Micro Change toylines from Japanese toy company Takara, Hasbro turned to Marvel to develop a mythology for the toys, and a promotional comic book.
Exploiting the lack of Federal Communications Commission regulation on comic book commercials, fully animated television advertised the comics. (Toy commercials could only feature a certain number of seconds of animation; not so with comics.) Hasbro employees report calls from excited children as soon as the commercial aired, even though the toys had yet to be announced. Kids simply recognized the same style of animation from the G.I. Joe spots, and guessed this had to be a Hasbro product.
Former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter has detailed his involvement in developing the line on his blog. Shooter indicates he stepped in after editor Denny O'Neil gave a less-than-inspired effort, writing out the basics of the mythology (without asking for money or credit, accepting this as a part of his job at Marvel). While the name "Optimus Prime" survived O'Neil's treatment, we know today that Marvel editor Bob Budiansky took over Shooter's notes and contributed the names and personality profiles associated with the characters today.
Budiansky, an artist and editor, had little experience as a writer, which might explain why he wasn't asked to write the comic (initially planned as a miniseries). Bill Mantlo, who'd successfully adapted the Micronauts toyline into a comic, was given the assignment to plot the book, with editor Ralph Macchio scripting. They were joined on the first issue by penciler Frank Springer and inker Kim DeMulder. The cover is from Bill Sienkiewicz, of all people!
The opening animated miniseries was developed simultaneously, using the basics of the comic's storyline as a sort of outline. "More than Meets the Eye," written by George Arthur Bloom (an established sitcom and variety show writer) and animated by respected Japanese studio Toei, debuted on Sept. 17, 1984.
Shooter has indicated a kind of rivalry between Marvel and Griffin-Bacal, the ad agency hired by Hasbro and the owners of Sunbow, the production company that created the cartoon with Marvel Productions. (Shooter also feels Marvel Productions, an '80s animation studio that shared an owner with Marvel Comics, also had beef with the comics division. So much drama.)
The comic and the cartoon both open with a narrator detailing the story of the Autobots and Decepticons, and their troubled planet Cybertron. In the comics, the planet is in the path of an asteroid belt, requiring the Autobots to clear the way. On the cartoon, the planet's energy reserves are dangerously low. Regardless, both plots have the Autobots aboard a ship ambushed by the Decepticons.
Following that attack, the Transformers crash-land on Earth. There, they remain dormant for four million years, until a volcano awakens machinery inside the ship. (That's likely inspired by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.) It assumes automobiles to be the dominant species on this planet, and creates alt-modes for the robots to give them appropriate disguises.
From there, the stories diverge in significant ways. The cartoon depicts Decepticons searching for an energy source to fuel their return to Cybertron. That leads to them attacking an oil platform, soon defended by the Autobots.
Here, we meet middle-aged father, Sparkplug Witwicky, and his son, Spike. Identifying the pair as blue-collar types, always in their work clothes, is specific to the cartoon.
The Autobots save the Witwickys, Spike quickly becomes the viewpoint figure for the young audience, and the Autobots and Decepticons clash in assorted locations. The second episode has a rather famous confrontation between Optimus Prime and Decepticon leader Megatron atop a dam. It's nowhere to be found in the initial comics, but it's later adapted for the Marvel UK series by Simon Furman and John Stokes.
Ultimately, the Autobots sabotage the Decepticons' ship, preventing their return to space. A voiceover from Spike reveals Earth's governments have united to provide the Autobots with the fuel they need to return home. Remember, this was a miniseries; there were no plans for an ongoing at this time.
The comics, meanwhile, place the Transformers in more of a suburban setting. While the cartoon had this idea of the Transformers crashing in the desert, the comic is set near Portland, with drive-in movie theaters and small automotive shops.
Here, we meet a teenage Buster (not Spike), who aspires to become a writer. His dad, Sparkplug, is pushing him to become a mechanic, but Buster would rather hang with his friends, "O" and Jesse.
Buster encounters the Transformers at the drive-in, where they attempt to communicate with the cars, still ignorant of this whole "human" thing. Buster befriends Bumblebee, and convinces his father to repair the Autobot after a battle. Sparkplug, though, has far more complex feelings about the Transformers in this canon.
Other issues from the initial comics storyline, which had Jim Salicrup stepping in to write the rest of the mini, include a Spider-Man guest appearance (toy company Mattel, already producing Spider-Man toys for the Secret Wars line, wasn't so thrilled with this) and an origin for the Dinobots, set in the Savage Land.
Most shocking is the conclusion to what had been sold as a miniseries. Shockwave, the Decepticon representative left on Cybertron, arrives on Earth. He makes his presence felt, triggering a laser blast that seemingly kills the Autobots.
It's OK, though. Because the miniseries sold so well, the series continued for years. The cover to the last issue is a classic, announcing Issue 80 is the final chapter in a four-issue miniseries.
The early issues of the comic are notorious for featuring outrageously off-model designs for the Transformers. As inker Kim DeMulder told Back Issue on 2006, "When I started inking this, the marketing hadn't actually started ... originally we had no access to any reference other than the toys themselves. Marvel actually gave me several of the toys as the only reference I had! Just after I had left the book, all the Transformers artists got those wonderful, clear model sheets that the animators were using."
The look of Megatron, with the black helmet, has always confused fans. Apparently, this is based on an early prototype, abandoned by the time the animation models were designed. More info on the contradictory designs can be found at the TF Wiki.
What's the deal with the Witwicky kid having two different first names? Shooter indicates he always wanted Spike as the name, but was told Hasbro didn't like the violent connotations. And yet, somehow, this became his name on the show, while the comics were stuck with "Buster." Later, Spike had to be established in the comics as Buster's brother when Spike showed up as an actual toy. Buster's blond helmet hair, meanwhile, is typical of early-'80s Marvel.
It's no secret that no one at Marvel particularly wanted to write Transformers -- especially in these early issues, when no one knew it would be a hit. While the animation has a snappy pace and quippy patter, the earliest comics issues are often bogged down by clunky exposition and stilted dialogue. Particularly the first issue, which is honestly a slog to read. While the basics of the canon come from the comic, it's the cartoon that's truly shaped the public's perception of the Transformers. It's also worth noting that the iconic Energon cubes are an invention of the cartoon, not the comics.
A legend has also developed over the years regarding the final page of Transformers #4. It is true an alternate, "happy ending" page exists, archived today by the TFArchive site. The page ran in the Marvel UK collection of the first mini in order to provide a clear conclusion to the story.
It's amazing to think of how much mythology, still in use today, comes from this relatively short run of comics and cartoons. Is this an airtight, carefully conceived universe? Nope. Establishing the Transformers' ship as resting for four million years lodged into a mountain with no one noticing is just bizarre. Even worse, the story does shift back to Cybertron, where we have to buy essentially nothing has changed in the millions of years the stranded Transformers were off-line.
There's also the complication of having the Transformers exiled on Earth, even as new toys continually repopulate the line (all with Earth-based alt-modes ... even though they're aliens). Presumably, if Shooter knew he was actually setting the stage for an ongoing series, he would have made different choices.
Still, the basics of an inherently heroic team of robots defending humans from the other robots who view them as little more than ants ... that's a strong concept. It's easy enough for a kid to grasp, but also with enough story avenues to entertain teens and adults. The Michael Bay films, as juvenile as they are, aren't kid-friendly at all, but still brought in large audiences. Unlike some of the other '80s toy properties, people don't feel a need to defend their love of the Transformers. To think a concept that's survived for decades, and been adapted across the world, originated as a last-minute pitch to appease a toy company...that's pretty impressive.
So that’s all for now. Until next time, check out the G.I. Joe novels I wrote for the Kindle Worlds project for free over at Smashwords. And thanks to Matt Re for his research help.
I Lost My Body, from director Jérémy Clapin and Amélie screenwriter Guillaume Laurant, arrives on Netflix as one of the year's most acclaimed animated films -- it's the first cartoon to win the Grand Prize at Cannes' International Critics Week. It's certainly a different sort of animated movie than what audiences are used to, and visually, it's stunning. The story, however, is a mixed bag, the best parts not as impactful as they could be and the worst parts truly tiresome.
The better half of the bifurcated narrative focuses on the adventures of a severed hand in search of the rest of its body. This is where the film demonstrates the most of its visual creativity and animation talent (everyone knows how difficult hands are to draw well), and it's just weird enough to work. Yet even this doesn't have as much impact as it should.
You'd think a severed hand trying to navigate a hostile world on its own would be funny or scary, or both. Yet Clapin intentionally restrained any comedy or horror to maintain a mood of utmost seriousness. The extremely serious music in particular drowns out the potential humor. It's an odd approach for a scenario that, on its face, has more in common with the grotesque slapstick of Rick and Morty's "Pickle Rick" episode (particularly in an encounter with a group of rats) than with anything else.
The advantage of that serious tone is that it allows these dreamlike scenes to blend in with the other, more realistic, half of the story, in which we see the hand's memories of Naofel, the person to which it was attached. Those memories are initially glimpsed in abstract fragments but eventually give way to a more traditional, and tired, romance story in which Naofel desperately attempts to woo Gabrielle, a woman to whom he badly delivered a pizza.
Naofel's behavior is stalker-ish, and it's more difficult to sympathize with him than with his disembodied hand. To be fair, the movie acknowledges that; when Gabrielle realizes who Naofel is, and why he's been doing the things he's doing, she calls him out for his actions. The problem with the movie isn't that Naofel is an unlikable character, but rather that it prioritizes his self-actualization over providing any sense of Gabrielle's interior life.
I Lost My Body is one of those movies you can show those who still need convincing that animation is capable of telling serious stories for adults. It might also please those animation aficionados who lament that adult cartoons in America tend to focus on crude humor. Yet for all of its crudeness, there's honestly more joy and intelligence in "Pickle Rick's" treatment of both an unnaturally sentient creature braving the elements and of a selfish man called out his selfishness than there is in I Lost My Body's handling of the same material. It's great you can make animated movies about anything in any style. However, that doesn't mean that I Lost My Body's distinctiveness makes it a great film.
Ever since the Frozenfirst opened, many have theorized that Elsa (Idina Menzel) is lesbian. And, while not officially established in either the original or the sequel, there is still hope for the future.
Speaking to Buzzfeed's AM to DM, Frozen star Josh Gad -- who voices the lovable snowman Olaf in both films -- weighed in on why Frozen 2 did not address Elsa's sexuality and the possibility of a third movie exploring that part of her identity.
“The directors wanted to tell a story that didn’t necessarily feel like it was about Elsa necessarily searching for or looking for love," he said. "It was more about Elsa embracing Elsa."
Gad explained that the film is more about "self-love" than love with another, but left the door open for future relationships. “It’s not to say that journey can’t still happen in the future.”
That future is looking more and more likely, as Frozen 2 is on track to become Walt Disney Animation's highest-grossing theatrical sequel ever. Producer Peter Del Vecho and writers/directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck stated that Frozen 2 was the end of the story of Arendelle but still left the door open for a third entry.
In theaters now, Disney's Frozen 2 reunites directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck and producer Del Vecho with voice actors Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad. Returning musical talents include Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
The 2010s have been a time of a bit of upheaval for DC Comics. In 2011, the publisher implemented the New 52 initiative, rebooting the continuity of their entire line. It paid dividends at first, but the cracks began to show quickly, as creator shuffles and unanswered questions about the continuity began to sour fans on it.
In 2016, they started the Rebirth initiative, aiming to bring back long time readers by reincorporating old continuity into their books. They scored a coup in 2018, as longtime Marvel mainstay Brain Michael Bendis came over to them and began to work on multiple titles. This list is going to run down the most important stories of the 2010s for the publisher.
10 Convergence
There are very few fans that would argue that Convergence is a good story. It involves Brainiac stealing cities from around the multiverse and putting them onto one world, where the inhabitants are forced to fight. It reeked of something similar to Marvel's Secret Wars.
What makes it so important is that it brought back the post-Crisis Superman and Lois Lane into the continuity of the New 52 and made a very important addition- their son, Jon Kent. The family would go on to star in the Rebirth-era Superman books, and would begin the process of restoring fan goodwill.
9 Action Comics #1 (2011)
When the New 52 began, superstar writer Grant Morrison would be given the reins of Action Comics. It was a no brainer of a move, since Morrison had written one of the most beloved Superman stories of all time, All-Star Superman. Morrison would bring his trademark mix of gonzo storytelling and deft characterization to the book, but the first issue of the book is easily the most important of the entire run.
Morrison reintroduced the origin of Superman, making him more like the crusader of the people that he was under Shuster and Siegel. This would mark an important change for the Man Of Tomorrow and Morrison's young Superman would be much more relatable to a world of people who were still reeling from the corporate crashes of the late '00s.
8 Heroes In Crisis
Tom King and Clay Mann's (with additional art by King collaborator Mitch Gerads) is a very controversial story. King introduced the idea of Sanctuary, a place where superheroes could go to get help with their issues stemming from a job that was much more extreme than most people could ever put up with.
The murder mystery at the center of the whole thing turned a lot of fans off, especially once the culprit was revealed. The book starred Harley Quinn and Booster Gold as they struggled to clear their names of the crime and had some questionable moments from the two. What makes it so important, though, is that it revealed that superheroes weren't these perfect paragons that could deal with the insanity of their lives without batting an eye. However, it's still a lot of wasted potential and could have been so much more.
7 Man Of Steel
Brian Michael Bendis's first DC book, Man Of Steel had a lot riding on it. Bendis had spent years at Marvel, writing some of their biggest books and was immediately handed the keys to the kingdom of DC's flagship hero.
He did some rather radical things, revealing a new reason why Krypton was destroyed, introducing a big new villain, and setting up his run on Superman and Action Comics. He separated the Kent family, a move which angered a lot of fans. However, the story was still an entertaining one and heralded a new era for the Man Of Steel.
6 Court Of Owls
Court Of Owls was the first story arc in Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batmanrun. It was the opening salvo for one of comics' best-selling characters in the New 52 and set the tenor for Snyder's run. Introducing a shadowy group that had been controlling Gotham for decades, it would lead to more stories involving the titular Court Of Owls.
Its success would cement Snyder and Capullo as darlings of DC and allow them to keep telling amazing Batman stories and eventually another big story on this list that would set the tone for the DC Universe as readers know it today.
5 Multiversity
Grant Morrison had been promising Multiversity since the end of Final Crisis. It didn't come out 'til 2014, but when it did, it was a definite hit. Working with a variety of artists, Morrison set each issue in one of the worlds of the Multiverse.
The reason the story is so important is that it finally gave a shape to the DC Multiverse. Fans had been wondering about what worlds would be a part of the Multiverse and Morrison not only laid it out, but even included a map of the Multiverse. This map would become important to the next story on this list.
4 Dark Knights: Metal
After their stellar run on Batman, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo teamed up for the big event of 2017, Dark Knights: Metal. The story would play on a lot of the concepts introduced in their run, pitting the Justice League against Batmen from the Dark Multiverse, a twisted version of the DC Multiverse.
The book's conclusion would set up the next few years of Justice League books, as the heroes had to go some pretty extreme methods to stop the dark Batmen and their leader Barbatos. It would also introduce one of the biggest new villains of the DC Universe, the Batman Who Laughs, a twisted amalgamation of Batman and the Joker.
3 Doomsday Clock
Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Doomsday Clock was supposed to tie up the loose ends of DC Rebirth #1. A sequel to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's seminal comic, Watchmen, it would cross the book's character over with those of DC. Controversial from the outset, the book would suffer multiple delays, turning off many fans.
That doesn't change who important the book is. Combining the biggest comic of all time with the DC Universe was and remains a huge deal. Seeing Ozymandias, Doctor Manhattan, and others interact with characters like Batman, Superman, and the heroes of the DC Universe is something fans never thought they would see.
2 Flashpoint
Flashpoint was a risky venture from the start. Teased back in 2009's Flash: Rebirth, the story would take Barry Allen into a parallel DC Universe, one where Thomas Wayne was Batman, the Amazons and Atlanteans are war, and Superman is nowhere to be found.
The risk came from the story's end, as DC continuity would go through a hard reboot and lead to a completely new DC, the New 52. This move would set the tone for the publisher until 2016, leading to successes and failures. It was a bold move and easily one of the most important DC stories of the decade.
1 DC Rebirth #1
By 2016, the New 52 had mostly run out of steam. Longtime DC fans weren't happy with it and a change was needed. Geoff Johns was ready to make that change. Reincorporating elements of the old post-Crisis continuity into the line, DC Rebirth #1 would become an instant sell out, pleasing fans and critics alike.
Johns brought back fan-favorite Wally West, using him as a symbol of hope for a universe that was short on it. He would also bring the characters of the Watchmen universe into the fold, using Doctor Manhattan to explain why DC continuity was so malleable. The book would spearhead the Rebirth initiative, leading to a creative renaissance for the publisher.
Black Cat has been teetering the line between hero and villain for a long, long time now. Though she’s spent a lot of her time with one of Marvel’s greatest heroes, Spider-Man, his morals haven’t exactly rubbed off on her.
While Black Cat has often aided Spidey in his effort to save the city, she’s also been a very bad kitty. From stealing and murder to blackmail and extortion, Black Cat has done it all. But what are the very worst things that the cat-like thief has done? Let’s find out in our list.
Like many of her villainous companions in the know, Black Cat has repeatedly used the fact that she knows the web-slingers secret identity against him.
Though she may be in love with Spider-Man, she has very mixed feelings about the man underneath the mask. She may not have spent her time threatening Peter’s family on the regular, or attempting to kill all of his closest loved ones, but with the knowledge of Spidey’s most closely guarded secret she has definitely done some damage.
9 Eating Iron Fist
Black Cat has done some pretty horrendous things in her time teetering the line between hero and villain, but perhaps one of her most horrific actions was full-blown eating a superhero.
Okay, Okay. She may have been a zombified version of herself at the time (this would be in the Marvel Zombies universe but that certainly doesn’t change the fact that she bit clean through an (apparently) scrumptious looking Iron Fist. Though he had managed to punch a hole clear through her chest, even that wouldn’t stop the hungry cat. Talk about a fancy feast.
8 Faking Her Own Death (A Bunch)
Like many found throughout the wonderous panels of comic book history, Black Cat has found herself dead and resurrected more times than she can count. What’s unique about her situation, however, is that most of the time she was simply lying about being dead.
Time and time again she has fooled an all-too-gullible Spider-Man into believing that his feline crush had met her demise. Though she may be playing a bit too heavily into the whole “cats have nine lives” stereotype, it has managed to actually save her life a few times.
7 Killing A Friend
Black Cat has done some truly despicable things over the course of her very long career, but perhaps one of the worst things she’s done is murdering her own friend. After becoming a crime boss (which will be discussed later), Black Cat decides that the easiest way for her to go about her day would be use mind control on the police and courts, so she can avoid being the target of any investigations.
So she contacts an old friend, a mind-control specialist, in order to help her out. This friend, however, would find themselves on the wrong side of the cat’s claws after the pair become cornered by some of New York’s finest heroes.
6 Bad Luck Powers
Black Cat and Spidey have an incredibly complicated relationship, to say the least. At various times throughout the course of their long history, Black Cat has wanted to help Spidey, save Spidey, Kill Spidey and everything in between. However, it was during one of the times when she hopes to help Spidey that she managed to do the most damage.
After hanging around Spidey for a while, Cat began to feel in little inadequate as a normal human being. Spidey could do any number of extraordinary things, yet she was only capable of so much as a regular human. In order to fix the gap in their abilities, Black Cat sought out a way to get powers that would match her purrfectly. However, the bad luck powers that she received, later revealed to be the workings of Kingpin, made Spidey’s life miserable as long as she was around.
5 Becoming A Thief After Saving Her Dad
Though Black Cat has bounced back and forth between hero and villains so many times that even Reed Richards couldn’t count them all, when she first put on the costume it was for a (relatively) noble cause, saving her father. Sure, maybe her father was an infamous thief.
Sure, maybe she had broken into police precincts in order to find the blueprints of the prison that her father was locked up in, but the guy was her father. And he was about to die in prison. So sure, saving her father wasn’t such a bad thing. It was everything that came afterward that remains in question.
4 Beating Up Mary Jane Watson
Though Black Cat and Mary Jane have rarely been on the best of turns, typically it hasn’t turned violent. They may be rivals to the affections of New York’s favorite spider, but under normal circumstances, they have respected each other enough not get into an altercation.
However, on the opposite side of that, Mary Jane Watson has been attacked by Black Cat before. In Amazing Spider-Man #331, Felicia ambushes MJ in her apartment and threatens to steal Spidey away from her and threatens her. Thankfully, Mary Jane has survived Black Cat’s assaults and the pair have even worked together on several locations.
3 Stealing Peter’s Blood
This list is filled with some of the most messed up things that Black Cat has ever done. However, while she has been a very bad kitty time and time again, this is perhaps one of the worst things the villainous Black Cat has ever done.
Not only does she abuse Spider-Man’s trust by breaking into a lab and stealing a vile of his blood that a price had been put on, but she then hand delivers the vile to one of Spider-Man’s rogues, Morbius.
2 Letting Her Jealousy Take Control
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but jealousy cause that crazy kitty to do so of the worst things she’s ever done. Black Cat has vowed to destroy Spider-Man after finding out that he had gotten married to Mary Jane Watson during one of her many disappearances. As previously mentioned, Cat has opened an entire can of whoop-ass on Mary Jane before.
Black Cat may be elegant and graceful when it comes to toeing the line between good and evil, but when she gets jealous all pretenses fall away and she goes right for the kill.
1 Becoming Kingpin
Though Black Cat has made a career on becoming one of the finest thieves in the entire Marvel landscape, a Cat can only climb so far before she runs out of upper trajectory.
With this in mind, Black Cat decided to team up with the like of Scorpion and Tombstone in order to make a play for more power than she had ever been able to accumulate on her own. But as her quest for power continued, Black Cat inched closer and closer to becoming a straight-up villain.
Ever since fans have been introduced to the fire-bending hero Endeavor, there’s definitely been a bit of animosity towards the man who would eventually take the number one hero position from All Might. Though fans have been told that he’s strived his entire life to become the number one hero, he doesn’t exactly act like someone who is fighting for the side of justice.
His personal life is filled with the atrocities he’s committed regarding every member of the family he’s created. Beyond that, his attitude towards his fellow heroes and the civilians he’s sworn to protect is less than ideal. Endeavor is the perfect example of a person who shows one face to the public while living a completely different life in private.
10 He’s Abusive AF
While he is known as the number two hero in his public, in his private life Endeavor has always been significantly less than heroic. Not only has he created a family for the sole purpose of creating an heir that could unseat the number one hero in the world, All Might, but he’s also incredibly abusive towards his family.
There isn’t a single member of Endeavor’s family that has escaped his abuse. His children, or at least the ones viewed as “failures” were left entirely neglected by their father after he deemed them “failures”. His wife suffered his rage perhaps longer than anyone. And last, but not least, there’s Shoto, who had to bear the brunt of his father’s attention after his quirk manifested.
9 Almost The Number 2 Teacher As Well
Though he has played number two to All Might’s number one for his entire career as a professional hero, there was a time when he almost played number two as a teacher as well. While it never made its way into the actual manga or anime, there was a time when Horikoshi considered having Endeavor be a teacher at UA as well.
However, this idea was later rejected, as he realized that having both the number one and number two hero at UA would make any conflict that happened at the school or with the students would be resolved rather quickly and painlessly.
8 Match Called On A Technicality
For his entire career as a professional hero, Endeavor has had to play second best to All Might, the number one hero in the world. While this was always something that enraged Endeavor, the flame hero was always driven to push himself further and further in order to bridge the gap between himself and the number one hero.
But after All Might retires and leaves the number one position to Endeavor, the hero can barely contain his rage due to the fact that although he had become the number one hero, he had never managed to actually bridge the gap. And now he would never be able to.
7 Becoming The Number 1 Hero (And A Real Man)
After becoming the number one, Endeavor is left at a loss. While he has finally become the number one hero that he always wanted to become, not only did it come to him on a technicality, but it hadn’t really changed who he was. Though he was now revered as the greatest hero in the world, his personal life was still in tatters. There was nothing he could do to fix the pieces of his life that he had spent a lifetime incinerating.
After discussing the responsibilities of the number one hero with All Might, however, Endeavor realizes that in order to truly become the number one hero (and a real man) he must face his past actions and work to make amends with the people in his family that he had spent so much time burning.
6 Hot-Headed Hero
While he is known as one of the greatest heroes to have ever lived, Endeavor is also known as one of the biggest jerks to have ever become a hero. His short temper and hot-headed are known well to both the hero community and the citizens of Japan.
While fans of Endeavor view his attitude as essential for instilling fear in the hearts of villains, his critics remark that though that is correct, there must be a balance when it comes to caring for the citizens he’s sworn to protect.
5 His Quirk: Hellflame
With his quirk, AKA Hellfire or Hellflame, Endeavor is able to subdue his enemies incredibly quickly all while controlling the flames to such a degree as to not severely injure villains or any of the citizens in the area. Through his extremely precise manipulation of the flames he controls, Endeavor is capable of things that might not be expected.
For instance, he is immune to pretty much any other fire, which makes him essentially invulnerable to burns of any kind. He’s also capable of using his flames for flight and propulsion.
4 Weaker Enemies Get Low-Temp Attacks
Though Endeavor is the number two (and eventually number one) hero, it likely that many fans and citizens of the world of My Hero Academia don’t entirely understand how impressive Endeavor is.
When commanding an element as power and devastating as fire, Endeavor must exert an incredible amount of control in order to make sure that he’s not only keeping the civilians safe, but also taking great care to not kill or even irreparably injure the villains that he’s fighting. In times like this, when dealing with weaker foes, Endeavor uses much lower temperature flames to subdue his enemies.
3 The Risks Of High-Temp Attacks & Finishing Off Powerful Enemies
While Endeavor has trained himself to take down weaker baddies with low-temp flames, he’s also able to raise the temperature when it comes to taking the really pesky villains. Though Endeavor has incredible control when it comes to how he expels his flames and the temperature at which the come out, there are some pretty serious consequences when it comes to raising up the temperature in order to take down a serious foe.
One of the main dangers of turning up the heat for Endeavor is that fact his body temperature actually rise along with the flames. He doesn’t have the ability to cool himself as his son does, so it can become very dangerous very quickly.
2 Endeavor’s Indomitable Will
Though Endeavors quirk is incredibly powerful, it wouldn’t be nearly as much of a threat without another one of Endeavor’s greatest weapons, his indomitable will.
While Endeavor would eventually become the number one hero in the world, he never would’ve reached those heights had he not been so relentlessly persistent. It is this same drive, however, that causes him to burn every last bridge in his personal life as far as his family is concerned. It took a long time for Endeavor to even begin to believe that his ambition and will to never give up were not always a good thing.
1 Birthday Buddies
Endeavor’s birthday is on August eighth, which makes him a Leo. A fire sign that is ruled by the sun. This makes absolutely perfect sense for the flame hero Endeavor. However, there is another hero that fans have been introduced to with the exact same birthday.
This hero may be larger than life, confident and loud, much like Endeavor, but somehow it still just doesn’t make sense that these two are cut from the same cloth. The hero is, of course, Fat Gum. So like, do they get together for a pizza party or something every year? Endeavor and Fat Gum, bestest birthday buddies forever.
When Disney+ first released, Vizio smart TV owners were greeted with some bad news: the streaming service was unavailable on their devices. Not even a Google Chrome would let Vizio customers enjoy an afternoon of Duck Tales. However, December could bring goods news for those with Vizio TVs.
According to Digital Trends, the Television company plans on releasing a software update that should fox the Google Chrome issue in "early December," with no specific date given. Still no word on whether this update will include a Disney+ application on the TV itself. Currently, only those with AirPlay 2 can stream Disney+ on their Vizio TV.
The recently released Pokémon Sword and Shieldhas been getting some flak recently from fans for its reduced Pokémon roster. At the time of this article, out of the 1,111 Pokémon that now exist, only 400 appear in Pokémon: Sword and Shield. Whether it's due to memory limitations or marketing stratagems, there's no doubt a few Pokémon had to sit this one out. Some fans are outraged, which is understandable, as everyone has their favorite pocket monster. That said, not every Pokémon is made alike.
Due to the nebulous nature of Pokémon, it's fitting to have some pocket monsters look like wild animals under a Snapchat filter, while others look like G-rated abominations. For every adorable electric rodent serving as the face of the most successful franchise of all time however, there are a plethora of pocket monsters based on whatever the animators had in their pockets at the time.
To qualify for this list, the Pokémon in question had to give us pause in some way, whether that's through a baffling physical form, a bizarre backstory laid out through several Pokédex entries or just by simply being straight-up weird. Mind you, we aren't saying that the Pokémon who comprise this list are necessarily terrible. As a matter of fact, we love a lot of the Pokémon on this list specifically because they are so ridiculous. Whether you love them or hate them, let's explore the 10 most questionable Pokémon designs of all time.
It may sound ridiculous for an entire fandom to be upset about Pokémon Sword and Shield's formidable 400 pocket monster roster, but for fans of the series both old and new, it can be disheartening to learn that your favorite Pokémon like Squirtle or Jigglypuff didn't make the cut. That being said, we can say with 100% certainty that no one is missing Castform. What's really weird about Castform is that despite the diverse nature of Pokémon designs, ranging from super cute varmints to bipedal insect tanks straight out of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Castform somehow doesn't look like a Pokémon.
Castform just looks incomplete, even when you consider its alternative forms. Castform's gimmick is that it is the Weather Pokémon, meaning that its appearance and type will change based on the weather. Truth be told all of Castform's forms looks pretty much like his normal form above, if not worse.
Though its name is a portmanteau of "Queen" and "Tsar," perhaps "Mistress" would better suited for Tsareena. Whether its the thigh-high stiletto "boots", its literal apple-bottom or the delight it takes in stomping on things, Tsareena is a dominatrix.
Every Tsareena starts out as a Bounsweet, the helpless Fruit Pokémon. Once it turns (level) 18, Bounsweet becomes Steenee, a sweet-smelling dancer Pokémon. Once Steenee learns the move Stomp however it evolves into Tsareena, who is really into foot stuff. Take Tsareena's Pokédex entry from Sun: "Its long, striking legs aren't just for show but to be used to kick with skill. In victory, it shows off by kicking the defeated, laughing boisterously." Shield makes it weirder: "A kick from the hardened tips of this Pokémon's legs leaves a wound in the opponent's body and soul that will never heal." Who...who exactly is writing these Pokédex entries?
See, Wormadam's Trash Cloak doesn't appear to actually be made out of trash like the literal Garbage Pokémon Trubbish, rather Wormadam wields what Game Freak considers a "trashy" cloak-- a hot pink number with matching eyebrows.
Introduced in Pokémon X and Y, Mega Evolutions transforms certain Pokémon into an exaggerated super form, like putting a Pokémon filter on a Pokémon. For instance, Mega Kangaskhan is just Kangaskhan, except her baby joins the fight. Though the child is taking its first steps out of the protective pouch, it's also taking its first steps into the grave.
We're not being morbid, Mega Kangaskhan's motif is the fleeting impermanence of life. Check out their Pokédex entry from Pokémon Moon: "Thanks to Mega Evolution its child grows. But as the child is good only at fighting and nothing else, its mother feels uneasy about its future." Ultra Moon makes things ultra worse: "When the mother sees the back of her Mega-Evolved child, it makes her think of the day when her child will inevitably leave her." So yeah, Mega Kangaskhan is mega depressing.
We could use a pallet-cleanser, so here's Litwick, the cute Candle Pokémon. Surely, there's nothing sinister behind this Ghost-Fire type Pokémon's smile, right? Let's check Litwick's Pokédex entry from Pokémon Sword: "The flame on its head keeps its body slightly warm. This Pokémon takes lost children by the hand to guide them to the spirit world." Sounds bad, but that entry is ambiguous enough to interpret it as Litwick guiding already deceased children. Pokémon X removes this ambiguity: "When shining a light and pretending to be a guide, [Litwick] leeches off the life force of any who follow it."
Pokémon Black confirms that Litwick is pretty terrible: "Litwick shines a light that absorbs the life energy of people and Pokémon, which becomes the fuel that it burns." Is Litwick literally a sentient burning glob of people and Pokémon fat? Let's remain in the dark about this one.
While we're on the subject of lost children perishing in forests, there's Phantump. Whenever a Litwick successfully "spirits away" a lost child in a forest, that child's spirit will inhabit a tree stump to become a Phantump. That's so needlessly morbid: Several tree Pokémon exist, so why couldn't Phantlum just be a tree-ghost and not like, the plot of Annabelle? When traded, Phantlum evolves into Trevenant, a protector of the forest that can control plants at will -- basically Swamp Thing, but somehow more depressing.
To recap: a candle Pokémon lures innocent children into the woods so that they can become haunted pieces of wood that could then be theoretically used to defeat and capture God (a Pokémon named Arceus) because the world of Pokémon is as adorable as it is horrifying.
Given the British motif of Pokémon Sword and Shield's Galar region, its regional rendition of Weezing is meant to represent the Industrial Revolution of Victorian England, wherein the only thing more boundless than the top hats and facial hair was smog and smoking. Serving as the main inspiration for this list, the Galarian Weezing totally looks like a bong.
We're not even trying to read into this, but Galarian Weezing has two smokestack hat pipes of differing sizes that are constantly billowing out smoke. Mind you, this white smoke is totally different from the clumpy green smoke that forms Weezing's (possibly hipster and/or beatnik) facial hair. The rest of Weezing remains unchanged, but considering his newfound love for jazz cigarettes, Weezing does look high. Granted, Weezing doesn't look as blazed as Torken or Espurr, but there's this glazed over effect in Weezing's eyes that just screams "Tokémon."
Speaking of mind-blowing substances, we have the Burst Pokémon, Blacephalon. Blacephalon doesn't look like a Pokémon whatsoever because it (Blacephalon is genderless) is an Ultra Beast, which is basically a Lovecraftian horror that has torn through the void into the world of Pokémon. Blacephalon is the strangest Ultra Beast, as its whole existence is spent slithering right up to your face to show you its own glowing, exploding face. So, Blacephalon is like if that movie Scanners was a Pokémon.
Here's Blacephalon's Pokédex entry from Ultra Moon: "A [Ultra Beast] that appeared from an Ultra Wormhole, it causes explosions, then takes advantage of opponents' surprise to rob them of their vitality." Gee, "rob them of their vitality" is a clever way of saying "homicide." So, Blacephalon is a clown-themed eldritch invader with weird eyes on the side of a detachable, exploding head? Yeah, Blacephalon is Pokémon's version of Pennywise.
You can't have a list of questionable Pokémonand not mention Mr. Mime. Though they are fairly humanoid, at least it's easy to discern that Mr. Mime isn't actually human, right? If Pokémon Detective Pikachu is to be believed, then we know Mr. Mind cannot pass for human. The problem is that Mr. Mime is literally evolving. Introduced in Pokémon Sword and Shield as the evolved form of Galarian Mr. Mime, Mr. Rime is an entertainer, specializing in tap dancing and comedy. Those weird growths that serve as "hair" now serve as Mr. Rime's mustache, as if to better camouflage Mr. Rime as a human. Furthermore, Mr. Rime wields an icicle as a walking stick, further selling the illusion.
Why does the lifecycle of a Mr. Rime involve the approval of humans? Does the increasing humanity of Mr. Mime suggest that maybe, not every Pokémon is really a Pokémon?
Though it is officially known as the Key Ring Pokémon, Pokémon number 707, Klefki, truly is the "Tongue-in-Cheek" Pokémon. Klefki is essentially the response to the growing criticism that Pokémon designs were getting incredibly lazy. It's as if Game Freak said "You want a lazy Pokémon design? We'll literally pull a pocket monster right out of our pockets and you will love it." The crazy thing is, we do love Klefki.
Klefki even has a cute backstory: Have your keys ever just vanished? Well, you may be dealing with a Klefki. Klefki loves to horde keys to hang off of its ring-like body, possibly to serve as either jewelry or war trophies. Additionally, Klefki uses the rattling sound of its body to ward off would-be predators and/or comfort crying babies... and we just realized that Game Freak is calling us babies.
Christos Gage (W) • Diego Olortegui (A) • Cover by Josemaria Casanovas
Variant Cover by Phil Noto
Alerted to a potential tear in the dimension, the Fantastic Four go to investigate - but what they discover is so much worse than they prepared for! Will the Fantastic Four be able to hold back the Scourge or will the Negative Zone finally succeed in tearing this family apart? Overrun, the Fantastic Four are about to learn: No one ever truly comes home from war.
Matthew Rosenberg (W) • Ibraim Roberson (A) • Cover by Josemaria Casanovas
Variant Cover by Eduard PetrovicH
The universe hangs in peril! With no room for old grudges, Nova is forced to team up with one of his most nefarious adversaries – ANNIHILUS! But can Richard Rider trust the ruler of the Negative Zone to fight alongside him – or will this turn into a war with two fronts?
NICK SPENCER (W) • OSCAR BAZALDUA (A) • COVERS BY TONY DANIEL
ISSUE #35 - 2020 VARIANT COVER BY DAVE JOHNSON
ISSUE #35 - 8-PART CONNECTING VARIANT COVER F BY ARTHUR ADAMS
ISSUE #36 - 2020 VARIANT COVER BY DAN PANOSIAN
ISSUE #36 - VENOM ISLAND VARIANT COVER BY DECLAN SHALVEY
ISSUE #35 -
Spider-Man. Doctor Doom. ‘Nuff said?
NO WAY! The Chameleon has insane plans that have put all of NYC (and the very future of the universe!) in danger, and only Spider-Man can save the day.
All he has to do is convince Doctor Doom to help him. Uh-oh.
ISSUE #36 -
New York City is covered in Doombots and things are looking bleak for Spider-Man.
What does all of this have to do with Silver Sable?
And can she help Spider-Man save the city and the future?
