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With the sad passing of director Joel Schumacher, fans have had an opportunity to visit both of his iconic - for many different reasons - Batman films from the '90s. Schumacher took over the franchise with Batman Forever and took it in a bold, new direction that involved, well, bat-nipples among other things.

For as many weird and goofy innovations as Joel Schumacher introduced in his notably neon-lit campy Batman films, they were still very faithful to the comic books that inspired them - despite what some detractors may say. A lot of classic and then-modern comics informed the movie, ten of which have been listed here.

10 The Opening Helicopter Chase

The movie kicks off with a heist sequence in which the audience is introduced to the very amped up Two-Face, played by Tommy Lee Jones. It's actually a trap, set to capture Batman inside the vault of a bank which Two-Face then drags out of the building with a helicopter.

The ensuing struggle recalls one from the comic books, which recalls the story in Batman #314 back in 1979. Batman and helicopters generally don't mix, as has been seen numerous times, such as in Batman: Year Three, which is a book that definitely informed Batman Forever.

9 The Statue of Liberty (Er, Freedom)

The helicopter set-piece at the start of the movie ends with the chopper crashing into the face of the Statue of Liberty - or the Gotham equivalent of it.

Exactly where Gotham is in terms of American geography had been a subject of speculation for a long time among comic book fans, and it's been numerous real-world cities in different movies (Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York, sometimes all at once like in The Dark Knight films). But the statue here is actually from the comics, labeled the 'Statue of Freedom,' first seen in Detective Comics #411.

8 Two-Face's Origin

The brief flashback sequence in Batman Forever that shows how Harvey Dent became Two-Face is pretty much lifted right out of the book. The origin of the villain was first set down way back in Batman #66, in August of 1942.

This Golden Age story translated into the movie almost intact, with District Attorney Harvey Dent scarred in court by crime boss Sal Maroni, who decides to go full jerk and throws acid in his face. Batman tries to stop Maroni, but can't, and Two-Face is born.

7 The Death Of The Graysons

Being the first feature film the introduce Robin, Batman Forever spends a good chunk of narrative real estate showcasing his tragic origin. The youngest member of The Flying Graysons loses his family in much the same as the original back story for the character, but the film takes most of its notes from a more recent one, Batman: Year Three.

The depiction of their tragic fall is very similar to that story, including the update of having Bruce Wayne be present. A major change: Two-Face is the one responsible instead of Boss Zucco.

6 Two-Face Attacks The Circus

In the movie, Two-Face is basically terrorizing Gotham for the fun of it, governed only by the flip of a coin. He attacks Gotham Circus, which ends up being the nexus of the film's story. Harvey actually did this a few times in the comic books, and the film seems to at least reference the spirit of them.

The first time occurs in Batman #50, in 1948, where Two-Face robs the crowns of Siamese twins. The next is Batman #81 a few years later when he pretty much just sticks up a clown.

5 Bruce Finds Batman In The Cave

Batman Forever is in many ways a movie all about origins. Along with the stories of Robin, Two-Face, and Riddler, Batman's beginning is recounted again, but this time the flashback adds another dimension.

Taking a cue from the scene in The Dark Knight Returns, young Bruce Wayne loses his way in a dark cave. His fear escapes him, and he thinks he sees a monstrous bat, as he does in the film. This sequence would go on to inform other adaptations, including later films like Batman Begins and animated series.

4 Two-Face's Hideout

Villains generally like to go for a theme, and Two-Face is no exception. His bifurcated personality is reflected on his twisted wardrobe and his sense of interior design. His lair in the movie recalls his hideout in the classic comics. One half of his lair is dark and gauche, and the other is light and simple.

This homage hearkens back to Two-Face’s first appearance in the comics - the aforementioned Batman #66 - and would recur in his choice of a hideout in later appearances as well.

3 Dick Grayson Saves Batman Just As Tim Drake Did

The tragedy of Dick Grayson's origins in Batman Forever calls back to the comics, and so does his transformation into Robin. Initially, Batman doesn't want a sidekick or partner, which reflects his comic book reticence regarding Tim Drake, who succeeded the tragic Jason Todd. This happens in A Lonely Place of Dying from 1989.

Like in the film, Two-Face buries Batman beneath some rubble, and Robin saves him by suiting up for the first time. In the comics, it's Tim but in the film, it's Dick Grayson.

2 The Bat-Transformer Is Comic Accurate

In the climax of Batman Forever, Batman has to rescue Chase Meridian, played by Nicole Kidman. He flies out toward the aquatic base of Two-Face and The Riddler in the Bat-Plane, which then transforms into the Bat-Submarine.

As goofy as this transformation may seem today, this completely awesome transformation came right out of the comics, specifically World’s Finest #81 back in 1956. "The True History of Superman and Batman" features some pretty gonzo stuff, including time travel and Superman stealing animals from a zoo, but this is legendary.

1 The Riddler & Synaptic Kid Share The Same Fate

In what is likely to be the least obvious deep cut from the movie, The Riddler's brain-melted fate recalls something that happened in the comics as well.

In Detective Comics #633, from 1991, a psychic villain named the Synaptic Kid attacks Batman to find out his true identity. He gets inside the Caped Crusader's mind but ends up going insane. Synaptic Kid is driven made to the point where he thinks he's Batman, as Riddler does. He also gets a grossly distorted cranium for his trouble, just like The Riddler.

NEXT: Batman: The 10 Worst Things The Riddler Has Ever Done

There’d be no Dragon Ball franchise without Bulma. Premiering in the very first chapter of the Dragon Ball manga, Bulma introduced Goku and the readers to the entire concept of Dragon Balls, thanks to her own quest to find them. Though she never became a martial artist like Goku and his many other friends, Bulma has always played a major role in the series, often through her scientific expertise.

She has also been a great source of comedic relief, thanks to her vanity, temper, and ability to make powerful things like Vegeta and Beerus shiver. Unsurprisingly, the humor she brings to Dragon Ball has also made her the subject of several fantastic memes.

10 Bulma And Vegeta Face Swap

Original image here.

Face-swapping apps have become all the rage in recent times, and it looks like Bulma and Vegeta have decided to join in on the fun. The results, as one might expect, are immediately noticeable, with Vegeta sporting Bulma’s wide blue eyes, thin eyebrows, and red lips. Bulma, on the other hand, looks outright terrifying with Vegeta’s devilish smirk, small black eyes, and scratchier features. It almost makes one wonder what an evil version of Bulma might actually be like: would she create planet-destroying contraptions and follow in her husband’s footsteps? The universe might be better off not finding out…

9 Bulma’s Sickest Burn

Original image here.

This meme recreates verbatim a memorable moment from the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, where Chi-Chi and Bulma are arguably over whether Vegeta or Goku will win the Adult Division. Chi-Chi’s obviously remembering Goku’s fight record with rose-colored glasses, and Bulma’s not afraid to let her know it. The last image is a Photoshopped version of “The Rap Battle,” the famous comedy video where “Supa Hot Fire,” a.k.a. MrDeShawnRaw, defeats all of his challengers with some of the weakest raps imaginable. Supa Hot’s face has been replaced with the similarly unbeatable Beerus, while King Kai stands in for a spectator running across the scene. What might a rap battle between Bulma and Beerus be like, one wonders?

8 So Weird

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Akira Toriyama famously didn’t plan much in advance while working on Dragon Ball. While the approach gave the series part of its trademark spontaneity, there were moments where it was clear Toriyama was making things up as he went along.

When the author first created Goku and Bulma, it’s likely he hadn’t really thought too much about what their universe would look like, and therefore hadn’t yet decided it would be partly populated by animal people. Thus Bulma’s shock at Goku tail probably didn’t seem too odd to Toriyama when he wrote and drew the scene, but it sure seems weird in hindsight.

7 Wishes Do Come True

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When Bulma first appeared, she was still in the throes of puberty. Single and not thrilled about it, Bulma went hunting for the Dragon Balls so she could wish for a flawless boyfriend. She never got her chance, her wish instead being used up by Oolong to stop Emperor Pilaf from asking Shenron for world domination. Yet Bulma ended up doing pretty okay in the love department anyway, first dating Yamcha and then marrying the last Saiyan Prince, Vegeta, and starting a family with him. Just don’t call Vegeta “Prince Charming”…

6 Skewed Priorities

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Funimation’s original in-house dub for Dragon Ball Z was known to take unusual liberties from the source material. In the Japanese version of this scene, Bulma had simply called the Z-Fighters to tell them she created a remote that could shut down the Androids. The U.S. dub tried injecting the moment with more humor: after overhearing Yamcha tell Chi-Chi to reject Bulma’s call because the scientist was calling collect, Bulma threatened not to hand over the remote unless Yamcha rubbed her feet—something he hated doing. Funny or not, gambling the fate of the world on a foot massage from her ex wasn’t one of dub Bulma’s better ideas…

5 Streaming Wars

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Many people on the dating scene are well aware of the term “Netflix & chill,” which is generally a euphemism for intimate relations— “Netflix” part is usually optional. This meme pokes fun at the expression by jokingly suggesting that swapping Netflix for Crunchyroll, the popular anime streaming service, not only leads to a happier future, but one that’s decidedly more Dragon Ball-looking. Perhaps “Bulma” could loan the stressed Netflix mother a Dragon Radar, as a wish or three from Shenron might help make her life a bit easier. At the very least, she could ask Shenron for some child-rearing tips?

4 Technology Freeze

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With compact discs already beginning to be phased out by companies like Apple, it’s a safe bet to say they probably won’t be commonly used with newer technologies. Not so in Trunks’ future!

The CD Bulma is holding was indeed created by her future self, as a means of fixing any software issues with Trunks’ time machine. Sure, it seems like antiquated technology for the distant future to still be using, but it can be a little hard for a society to technologically innovate when being devastated by the Androids and later Goku Black for nearly two decades.

3 Vegeta’s A Flirty Bird

Original image from SaiyanPrince541’s DeviantArt page.

Bulma’s husband has never been shown to have a wandering eye, but a little caption magic from SaiyanPrince541 makes it look like she thinks otherwise. Dragon Ball Super fans will recognize this scene from Episode 16, in which Vegeta tried to convince Whis to train him by cooking the greatest meal in the world.

Yet the Saiyan Prince wasn’t even able to properly crack an egg. Just as he was about to give it one last try, his final egg cracked opened by itself and a chick emerged. Which, in this meme, is where his and Bulma’s troubles began…

2 “Scumbag Bulma”

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Memes are great at telling harsh truths in hilarious ways. Is Bulma a scumbag for marrying Vegeta, a man once infamous for murdering the innocent and defenseless? That’s up for each fan to decide on their own, although the meme’s poster definitely seems to think so.

Adding more fuel to the fire is the fact that Vegeta had been the one to tell Nappa to plant the Saibaman who killed Bulma’s ex, Yamcha. Sure, one could argue that Vegeta could not have predicted what any of the Saibamen were going to do, but he clearly had Nappa plant them so that they would kill the entire Dragon Team.

1 Bulma: Crab Hunter

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Dragon Ball Z has inspired a lot of fan content, including Dragon Ball Z Abridged, which has undeniably become a phenomenon of its own. Many scenes from the web parody have inspired memes, such as this one, which homages Bulma’s fateful battle with a gigantic Namekian crab in Episode 22. This meme portrays Bulma as particularly more bloodthirsty than she was in that episode, gripping a crab in her hand while frothing at the mouth. Frieza clearly wants in, or at least a taste of Bulma’s prey, having just finished fighting what appears to be a badly bleeding Vegeta.

NEXT: Dragon Ball: 10 Hilarious Vegeta Memes Only True Fans Will Understand

Light novels have inspired some great anime. While many people are aware anime like Sword Art Online and Spice and Wolf started out as light novels, the history of adapting short illustrated books into full-blown anime dates back far into the past. Classic anime like The Slayers, Record of Lodoss Wars and Vampire Hunter D all started as light novels. It seems inevitable that there would also exist light novels based off anime.

However, these anime adaptations are usually lackluster. Even good ones simply don't hold up next to their anime counterparts. Some light novels, like the recently released Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, are compelling in their own right, but don't hold up to the high points of their mother franchise. Others, like One Piece: Ace's Story, come across as informative but not particularly compelling. And others still, like Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA or Oh My Goddess! First End, are simply so completely absurd they cannot be taken seriously. It's vital to understand these failures, so that future writers can avoid these pitfalls.

Most light novel spin-offs are written for fans of the source material. This is fine, but the problem is that this process already cuts down on the potential audience for a light novel. If a light novel series tries to stand alone, it usually takes place in a different point of time or in an alternate universe. However, if it takes place during the anime or manga's timeline, it needs to respond to a great deal of lore, introducing several names the average person picking up the light novel would be unfamiliar with.

The result is a tough barrier of entry, where new fans are incapable of understanding what is happening. Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World has this problem in spades. In the first hundred pages, at least thirty or forty characters are introduced. To a casual fan, the bombardment of names would be more than a bit overwhelming. Without a strong visual component, many of these characters might blur together.

Furthermore, many plot points that existed in the past need to be known by readers to move forward. If you aren't familiar with the manga-exclusive Thousand-Year Blood War arc, then nothing in Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World will make any sense. Some light novels, like Evangelion: ANIMA, attempt to avoid this problem by presenting an alternate portrait of canon. However, if you aren't familiar with how original events played out, you will still be confused -- though an ironic twist, hardcore fans will still be confused.

A lot of light novels are handled by people other than the original creator. Often, these new writers lack have some connection to the anime but lack novel-writing experience. Oh My Goddess! First End is written by Yumi Tohma, who voiced Urd in various adaptations of the series. Evangelion: ANIMA is written by Ikuto Yamashita and Yasuo Kashihara, who have no other novel-writing credits. Kashihara, however, was an animator who designed mecha for Gainax.

Many of these light novels creatively counter the spirit of the original. One Piece: Ace's Story is a spin-off of One Piece, a series known for being full of high adventure, fantasy insanity and hot-blooded characters. The novel, however, lacks a sense of adventure and rarely goes into any of its characters' personalities. Oh My Goddess! First End is an adaptation of a romantic comedy story that starts with the main character dying, result in an oddly melancholic story. Worst of all, Evangelion: ANIMA completely lacks original anime's existential psychology. All of them lack what made people fall in love with the original.

The big problem with many anime-based light novels, however, is a lack of stakes. Audiences read these novels knowing little of what transpires will impact the series' main plot. Everyone knows what Ace does in the main plot of One Piece, so knowing his backstory doesn't really change anything that fans already knew. Stories like Oh My Goddess! First End and Evangelion: ANIMA don't impact anything in the main stories of either, so they don't really matter.

While many people come to light novel adaptations of anime in order to revisit beloved worlds, the problem is that many spin-off light novels fail to take risks. For fans of the original, this is especially frustrating because, unlike the main series where there are tons of stakes all throughout the work, these novels fear to disrupt the status quo of the original. By design, they fail to make themselves necessary to enjoy the plot. As such, they feel inconsequential to longtime fans.

This is where works like Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World manage to succeed. They take place after the events of the narrative, affect side-characters who aren't the protagonists we know live to see the epilogue and deal with an entirely original plot that spawns from the original rather than tries to squeeze its way inside or around it. More light novels need to take inspiration from this work, because the alternative is we receive more churned-out, uneventful novels that fail to stand apart from the legacy of their brand.

KEEP READING: Yu-Gi-Oh!: Yugi ISN’T The Franchise’s Best Duelist Protagonist

One of the hardest decisions a superhero has to make when they have a secret identity is who to tell. Are they able to trust their significant other? Will it keep them safe or put them in more danger?

Marvel definitely has more couples where both members are superheroes, so it's definitely easier for them. However, they mostly get over these issues because they are just meant to be together. What could be more romantic than being introduced to the world at the same time? Here are five Marvel couples who hooked up in the same issue and five more who did so later.

10 APPEARED TOGETHER: Hulkling & Wiccan

As founding members of the team, both Hulkling and Wiccan share their first appearance within the pages of Young Avengers #1. Originally taking the name Asgardian, Billy Kaplan uses his magical abilities to fight crime alongside his teammates, and after being properly taken in and mentored by Scarlet Witch, he becomes Wiccan

Despite the name, Teddy Altman is not related to Hulk. His Kree-Skrull genetics allow him to shapeshift. The two serve as a power couple throughout the pages of the series, and when Wiccan fell into a depression after losing his powers, Hulkling proposed to him.

9 APPEARED SEPARATELY: Spider-Man & Mary Jane Watson

While Gwen Stacy can give her a run for her money, it's pretty much established that Mary Jane Watson is Peter Parker's soulmate. Peter became Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy #15, and was a hero for a while before Aunt May introduced him to her friend's niece, Mary Jane Watson.

While she made a cameo in Amazing Spider-Man #25, her first full introduction in Amazing Spider-Man #42 gave her an iconic phrase synonymous with her character: "Face it tiger, you just hit the jackpot." MJ's entire personality is in that line. She's a super model, major party girl, but she loves Peter more than anything else, and will stand with him no matter what. It also doesn't help that for the longest time, Gwen's sole purpose in comics was to die tragically in front of Peter.

8 APPEARED TOGETHER: Reed Richards & Sue Storm

They say you shouldn't date your coworkers, but it seemed to work well with the Richards. Introduced in Fantastic Four #1, Reed is an extremely intelligent scientist who led a space expedition with a team of 3 others. Ben Grimm, his best friend and space pilot, Johnny Storm and his sister Sue. The Four became inseparable after their exposure to cosmic radiation left their bodies changed forever.

They formed the superhero team the Fantastic Four, and Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman fell deeply in love. The wedding was an annual issue and everyone who was anyone was there - even Stan Lee and Jack Kirby tried showing up!

7 APPEARED SEPARATELY: Gambit & Rogue

It's safe to say that part of the reason these two are such a popular couple is through the X-Men animated series of the '90s, but they were introduced nearly a decade apart. Rogue was initially a villain in Avengers Annual #10, but she became a member of the X-Men shortly afterward. Unfortunately, her absorption powers cause her to be too afraid to touch anyone, even in a platonic way. Until Gambit showed up.

Remy LeBeau first appeared in Uncanny X-Men Annual #14. The cajun mutant had the ability to manipulate any object's kinetic energy, but his weapon of choice was a deck of playing cards, where his powers allowed them to become daggers of energy. The two got married in Mr. and Mrs. X #1.

6 APPEARED TOGETHER: Cyclops & Jean Grey

Move aside, Logan! These two belong together. Alongside the rest of their teammates, Jean Grey and Scott Summers first appeared in X-Men #1. Scott has two brothers who also have mutant powers, Vulcan and Havok. While most people think Cyclops' power is simply heat vision, it's much more complicated than that. His eyes are portals to a dimension of infinite energy.

Jean Grey is one of the most powerful members of the X-Men, with her abilities of telepathy and telekinesis. Her most iconic story is the Dark Phoenix saga, where she became possessed by the Phoenix force and was one of the most powerful villains in Marvel comics. She's also died and come back more than probably any other character.

5 APPEARED SEPARATELY: Daredevil & Elektra

The man without fear made his first appearance in his own title published in 1964. When Matt Murdock was a boy, he pushed a man out of the way of a truck barreling towards them. Radioactive material began leaking from the truck onto Matt's face, blinding him. Despite this, Matt's other senses where extremely improved, giving him many abilities even a sighted person is incapable of.

Elektra Natchios was a violent mercenary introduced in Daredevil #168, created by Frank Miller during his legendary run on the character. She met Matt Murdock while the two attended school together at Columbia University. Despite their feelings for each other, their different interpretations on true justice brings too much division between the two.

4 APPEARED TOGETHER: The Hulk & Betty Ross

The ever-loving Hulk and his girlfriend Betty Ross first appeared in the character's debut issue of the new title The Incredible Hulk. When a young man named Rick Jones accidentally crosses into a gamma testing base, Doctor Bruce Banner saves the boy's life, taking extreme exposure to gamma radiation himself. Since the accident, when Bruce lets his anger get the best of him, he transforms into The Hulk.

Betty was another scientist working on the project with Banner, and was present for the Hulk's initial transformation. Her father, General Ross, is a major critic of Banner, and even became the Red Hulk as a last resort to take him down. Betty herself became a Red She Hulk during the 'Fall of the Hulks' storyline.

3 APPEARED SEPARATELY: Captain America & Peggy Carter

In Captain America Comics #1, readers are introduced to Steve Rogers, a frail, weak young man driven by his patriotism and dedication to try to fight against the Axis Powers. After failing multiple health examinations, Rogers volunteers for a secret experiment called the Super-Soldier project. The procedure is successful, and Rogers, now going by Captain America, is an athletic marvel, the ideal soldier.

His main love interest, Peggy Carter, first appeared in Tales of Suspense #77. Peggy was a member of the French Resistance who fell in love with Cap after working multiple missions together. After the war, she used her fighting skills to become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

2 APPEARED TOGETHER: Thor & Jane Foster

Donald Blake first appeared in Journey Into Mystery #83. A doctor with a leg disability, Blake was hiking in the mountains of Norway when strange rock creatures appeared from the sky. Frightened, Blake ran to hide into a cave, where he lost his walking stick. Using a knotted tree branch to support him, it transformed into Mjolnir, Thor's hammer. After becoming a hero, it's later revealed that Odin had cast Thor to Earth as Donald Blake and gave him amnesia to teach him some humility.

Jane was a doctor who fell in love with Donald Blake and then remained with him after becoming Thor. During the Original Sin storyline, Thor lost his ability to wield his hammer, and Jane picked up Mjolnir and fought of Malekith the Accursed. After Odinson regained his powers, she served as a representative from Earth to Asgardia, and fights threats as Thor.

1 APPEARED SEPARATELY: Vision & Scarlet Witch

Vision, a synthezoid created by the villain Ultron, turned on his master and joined the Avengers after first appearing in The Avengers #57. Despite being a major Avengers character, Wanda was originally a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants, and first appeared alongside her brother Quicksilver in The X-Men #4

Despite Vision being an synthezoid, the two teammates fell in love while fighting in the Kree-Skrull War. After getting married in Giant Size Avengers #4, the two left the team to explore a normal life, which was detailed in two limited series, both titled The Vision and The Scarlet Witch. These two are even getting their own Disney+ series, which is based on the relationship that wasn't fully explored in the movies.

NEXT: WandaVision: 5 Things From Tom King's Vision Comics That Need To Appear In The Show (& 5 That Don't)

DC Universe's Harley Quinn animated series has been a surprise hit for both comic and movie fans of the character, with the recently concluded second season continuing to draw in an older crowd thanks to its adult-aimed entertainment. While fans wait hopefully for the announcement of a third season for Harley Quinn, the success of the animated series has proven that these characters can work just as well when geared for adult audiences, which is a market Marvel needs to explore further with its own mature animated adaptations.

Marvel has quite a few different animated series based on its most popular characters, however, they are all developed to appear to a younger crowd. Characters like Spider-Man and the Avengers work well in that demographic, but Marvel has a few great teams and characters that feel like they were designed for an adult animation adaptation, with a few characters who almost made the jump to adult animation before they were prematurely canceled.

The most obvious Marvel character that could potentially fill the Harley Quinn-sized hole in Marvel's adult animation line-up is Deadpool, who has also starred in a successful R-rated live-action franchise, proving the character's appeal to adult audiences.

Fans almost got to see a Deadpool animated series on FX that was in the works from Atlanta creators and comedian/musician Donald Glover that was later canceled due to "creative differences," which seemed to reveal a lack of confidence in an adult-oriented series from Marvel. Thankfully an animation test was leaked to give fans a sneak peek at what the series might have looked like, though the tease is bitter-sweet.

More recently an animated series for Howard the Duck was being developed by Hulu alongside other unique choices for adaptations like Tigra & Dazzler, MODOK and Hit Monkey as part of a new animated comedy block on the streaming service.

Unfortunately, both Howard the Duck and Tigra & Dazzler were later canceled by Hulu though the other two series remained in production, leading fans to believe there might still be a place at Marvel for more adult animated series.

While She-Hulk is slated to appear in the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe as the star of her own series on Disney+, the comic version has at times displayed a similar meta-understanding of her comic reality that Deadpool experiences and Harley Quinn referentially explores which would work well on the small screen.

And while She-Hulk has never attempted to rule the criminal underworld alongside a team of zany villains, she is a lawyer who works alongside a team of zany lawyers representing odd superhuman criminal cases that comedically dive into the history of the Marvel Universe with an animated superhuman Law and Order that wasn't afraid to explore the funny side of She-Hulk's character.

Harley works incredibly well as a comedic character, and a number of the series biggest laughs come from the usually serious characters like Bane and Poison Ivy who have been given hilarious reworks to exist in Harley Quinn's unique world of Gotham City.

An animated adaptation of Blade that was aimed at adult audiences would be able to explore his violent extermination of vampires in ways even the comics sometimes fails to portray, and his own dark sense of humor would only add to the series, especially if paired with an equally humorous take on the Nightstalkers or Midnight Sons.

While the team involved in the Superior Foes of Spider-Man comic series by Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber may prefer to be called the Sinister Six, they usually operated with only five members and spent as much time betraying and fighting with each other as planning heists.

The team was organized by Boomerang and included other Spider-Man villains like Shocker, Speed Demon, Beetle (Janice Lincoln), and Overdrive, though they debuted alongside the Living Brain. Superior Foes of Spider-Man hilariously explored the desperate plans of a team of loveable losers that weren't necessarily geared towards an adult audience in the comics, but would certainly benefit from it in an animated adaptation.

Much like Blade and his no-frills to the point demeanor, Laura Kinney/X-23 isn't exactly known for her comedic timing or hilarious anecdotes. Instead, as the cloned daughter of Wolverine, she is simply the best there is at what she does, and what she does isn't always very nice.

Not only would a mature animation be able to better capture her unique brand of bloody violence, but she also often finds herself working alongside characters like Gambit and her own cloned sister Honey Badger that could be further comedically pushed over the top to better play off of X-23's dark and somber mood while she takes apart the various mutant related threats that could appear in the series.

The short-lived Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. series from Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen offered a unique take on the superhero genre with an odd grouping of Marvel heroes who were assembled by Dirk Anger and the Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort as its super-powered strike team.

Nextwave included characters like Monica Rambeau/Spectrum, Tabitha Smith/Boom-Boom, Elsa Bloodstone, Aaron Stack/Machine Man, and the man known only as the Captain, whose previous name was so offensive that Captain America beat him senseless after hearing it. The series was hilariously violent and violently hilarious and is without a doubt Marvel's best choice for an adult animated series, plus, Nextwave already has its own theme song!

KEEP READING: Harley Quinn Confirms Jim Gordon Is Gotham's WORST Villain

Rare's seminal FPS Goldeneye 007 is one of the most well-known video games of all time. It regularly tops "best of" lists for video games in general, and is ALWAYS at or near the top when it comes to games strictly for the Nintendo 64. It's a great game, but there is another FPS on the Nintendo 64 that outdoes Goldeneye in every way possible.

Rare followed up Goldeneye with Perfect Dark in 2000 and had another hit on its hands. But 20 years later, the game doesn't get nearly as much credit as it deserves. This is despite the general fan consensus that Perfect Dark is just plain better than Goldeneye.

1997 was a year the gaming world would not soon forget. It was the year that one of the trailblazers for first-person shooters as a genre was released to the public. Goldeneye was already a movie that brought James Bond back into the limelight, and the video game tie in would do the same for first-person shooters as a genre.

The game was a staple for any gamer in the 90s, it helped popularize couch co-op (as many games on the N64 did) and cemented Team Deathmatch as a must-have game mode for the FPS genre. It did a great job translating the events of the movie into a coherent and fun single-player campaign and had plenty of bonus James Bond related easter eggs to find. It's almost impossible to downplay the significance of the game for the genre and gaming as a whole.

Sequels often don't live up to what they are based on, but even Goldeneye 007 stands in the shadow of what came next: the trials and tribulations of one Joanna Dark.

Three years after Goldeneye 007 changed the game for FPS, Rare decided to go even further. That's where Perfect Dark comes into play. Rare lost out on the bid for the next James Bond tie-in game, Tomorrow Never Dies, to EA. So instead, they took the engine that was used to create the world of Goldeneye and expanded it and enhanced it to be the basis for a brand new IP of their own creation. Perfect Dark is a spiritual successor to Goldeneye in every way.

Working with a team double the size of the one behind Goldeneye, Rare poured their heart and soul into Perfect Dark. They knew they wouldn't have the licensed name to fall back on, so they would have to sell the game on it being purely amazing. Taking inspiration from famous works of fiction like Blade Runner and Judge Dredd, Perfect Dark is equal parts spy thriller and cyberpunk dreamscape. The story has perfect pacing that starts simply and escalates all the way to an alien invasion, all the while keeping a gritty and mature outlook on the FPS gameplay.

Utilizing the power of the Nintendo 64 expansion pack, Rare was able to ship the game bursting at the seams with content compared to Goldeneye. The upgrade in graphics is noticeable, and Perfect Dark is the best looking game on the system by a mile. The best part about Goldeneye, the multiplayer, is VASTLY expanded upon, featuring more levels, completely customizable game modes and even AI to fight with and against.

So why is Perfect Dark always a footnote compared to Goldeneye? Nostalgia plays a significant factor. People remember Goldeneye as the big-name game and the trailblazer for the Nintendo 64. The firsts are often remembered fondly, even when there are better games that come after; just look at the hype behind Ocarina of Time vs. the superior sequel Majora's Mask. Perfect Dark also came close to the end of the lifecycle of the N64, so many people were moving on from the system, and the hype for Perfect Dark just didn't get a chance to simmer as it did for Goldeneye. Many gamers just didn't have the opportunity to play it.

Goldeneye 007 is still an amazing game, and nothing can take that away from it. Perfect Dark just had the benefits of a better engine, and a bigger team to come out with a superior game. Gamers need to cast nostalgia aside and recognize Perfect Dark for the masterpiece it is and place that crown on its head as the best FPS on the Nintendo 64.

Next: Need for Speed: Underground Deserves a Next-Gen Game

Godzilla: King of the Monsters director Mike Dougherty has shared storyboards and script pages for an unused post-credits scene that would have featured the Mothra Twins. Although scripted and storyboarded, the scene would never be shot and only exists in this form.

The scene takes place in Tokyo and follows Dr. Chen making her way through a busy street before entering a side street ramen bar. Inside, she gives a knowing nod to the chef before making her way into the back and down some stairs to the basement. Behind a secret door, Dr. Chen navigates her way through a torch-lit tunnel that features "familiar hieroglyphics" etched into its facade. She then approaches a figure who is revealed to be her twin sister Lin, and together, they thread their way toward the sound of children singing in the distance.

"When do we begin?" Lin asks after finding a Mothra egg, to which Dr. Chen replies, "Soon. Very soon." As they smile, the post-credits scene would have then cut to black.

The Mothra Twins were first introduced in 1961's Mothra as twin fairies whose singing is instrumental in awakening the titular monster. Although this scene was never shot, the 2019 movie does feature hints of Mothra's origin, its fictional Infant Island where the Mothra Twins reside and the idea that Monarch has been utilizing the skills of multiple generations of twin sisters for its project. In fact, one of the headlines featured during the credits is about a mysterious egg Monarch has discovered.

Godzilla has featured in numerous movies from both Japan and America. The next American film to feature the King of the Monsters is Godzilla vs. Kong, directed by Adam Wingard and starring Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry. The film arrives in theaters Nov. 20.

KEEP READING: Godzilla Vs. Kong Synopsis Reveals Why The Titans' Paths Will Cross

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Detective Comics #1023, by Peter J. Tomasi, Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessey, Brad Anderson and Rob Leigh, on sale now.

As the Joker steadily builds up his power base and seizes Batman resources to turn against in the upcoming "Joker War," one of the greatest weapons in the Dark Knight's extensive arsenal has been repurposed by another longtime villain ahead of an explosive showdown: Two-Face. The past several months have seen a renewed conflict between Batman and Two-Face.

And in Detective Comics #1023, Two-Face brings the powerful Bat Armor into the mix. Introduced during Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's landmark New 52-era Batman run, Gotham CIty's greatest tool may be the weapon of Batman's impending destruction.

The Bat Armor was introduced by Snyder and Capullo during the "Superheavy" story arc, following Bruce Wayne's presumed death after a fiery showdown against the Clown Prince of Crime. Desperate for a new Batman, Gotham City commissioned the corporate firm Powers International to develop a high-tech suit of armor that was loaded with an impressive array of gadgets and weapons. Jim Gordon trained to wear the suit and became a new kind of Dark Knight who worked directly for the company and the Gotham Police Department to keep the city safe. Following Bruce Wayne's return and reclamation of his superhero destiny as Batman, Gordon returned to his position as police commissioner with the armor was mothballed.

The armor made its DC Rebirth debut at the start of Joshua Williamson and David Marquez's run on Batman/Superman, where the World's Finest faced off against the Batman Who Laughs and the superheroes he had corrupted with his modified Joker toxin. Gordon was one of the first figures that the cackling villain from the Dark Multiverse turned, and he targeted his old friend with the Bat Armor. Using the armor's automated sentry mode, Gordon and armor outnumbered Batman until Superman appeared in the nick of time to destroy the armor and subdue the corrupted Gordon.

For Two-Face, the Bat Armor is only the latest part of a lengthy campaign against Batman. Two-Face has steadily built up his own cult of personality, commanding a religious-like sway over his army of followers. As Harvey Dent attempted to keep his villainous alter-ego in check, Two-Face escalated his campaign to reshape Gotham in his image, pulling out all the stops in his most ambitious rampage yet. However, it's not clear when Batman rebuilt the Bat Armor since the prototype's destruction at the hands of the Man of Steel. Given Bruce's propensity for constantly upgrading and expanding his inventory of gadgets and vehicles in his ongoing war on crime, he likely had the armor rebuilt almost immediately after the initial model's destruction, only for it to fall into the wrong hands once again.

"Joker War" writer James Tynion IV had previously revealed that the upcoming crossover storyline would have the Clown Prince of Crime turn Batman's resources against him for the fate of Gotham City. Peter J. Tomasi Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessy's story has Two-Face beat the Joker to the punch by piloting the heavily-armed Bat Armor for his own villainous vendetta. Of course, the Joker hasn't been idle, awakening a new loyal agent and bringing him to the fray to confront the Dark Knight. Between the upgraded Two-Face and Joker's reinforcements, the Caped Crusader is outnumbered. With Superman nowhere in sight this time, Batman will have to rely on his own wits as he confronts the Bat Armor and the Joker's murderous new ally.

KEEP READING: Joker: The Clown Prince Of Crime's BEST Disguises EVER

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for DCeased: Dead Planet #1 by Tom Taylor, Trevor Hairsine, Gigi Baldassini, Stefano Gaudiano, Rain Beredo and Saida Temofonte, available now.

In the original DCeased miniseries, the Anti-Life virus took over the entire world, infecting countless people and turning them into mindless, raging, blood-thirsty monsters. This virus claimed the lives of billions of regular humans, as well as some of the biggest superheroes in the DC Universe such as Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman and Martian Manhunter. With little hope left, the remaining heroes took as many survivors as they could aboard large spaceships, and they left an Earth overrun with the Blighted Ones behind to search for a new home away from the Anti-Life virus.

Now, the sequel series, DCeased: Dead Planet, picks up where the original left off. In the first issue of the series, we find the survivors in some far corner of space on Earth-2, five years later. Instantly, we see that much has changed in those five years, and one of the biggest revelations is that humanity now has a new President: Lois Lane.

At the start of Dead Planet #1, we learn that the surviving heroes and the millions of humans they saved started a new life on Earth-2. This planet is not without its enemies -- nor is it without its protectors. After all, we first find Earth-2 under attack by an alien armada from the same solar system, while the new Justice League -- which is comprised of Jonathan Kent's Superman, Damian Wayne' Batman, Cassie Sandsmark's Wonder Woman, and Black Canary's Green Lantern, among others -- is hard at work staving off the invasion.

However, it soon becomes clear the League isn't fighting to kill -- in fact, the last thing they want is a war with these aliens. What they are fighting for is peace -- a message delivered to the alien king directly by Lois Lane, who introduces herself as the President of Earth-2.

Since they now live in the same solar system, Lois simply wants to find a way that they can both exist peacefully in the same space quadrant and, in order to do so, they enter talks to broker peace.

This is an incredibly important new role for Lois Lane, and it's one that speaks to the character's strength and relevance. Lois being elected President of Earth-2 makes a lot of sense given that she is essentially the perfect middle-person between humanity and the Justice League. Her unique prominence in both worlds makes her someone that others can look up to, no matter which side of that divide they fall on.

She is an inspired choice, and she's the most logical human leader, from what everyone we know of humanity's survivors. Her qualities make her the most well equipped to deal with these inconceivable circumstances. She commands respect, admiration and love and she's just as much an embodiment of hope as her late husband, Superman, and their son Jon.

She may not have any superpower to speak of, but Lois Lane is still one of the most important characters in the DC Universe. DCeased: Dead Planet #1 just gives her a new responsibility that reflects this well-established fact.

KEEP READING: DCeased: Tom Taylor Teases Sequel Showing A Post-Undead Heroes World

Cindy "Shiv" Burman wants a seat at the Injustice Society's table -- and now, she has taken her first step towards that goal. On last week's episode of Stargirl, Cindy seized an opportunity to attack Courtney, who had found her way into the ISA's network of underground tunnels. The ensuing battle saw Shiv take the upper hand, only for her to be knocked aside by Justin the Janitor before she could strike the killing blow. In "Shiv, Part Two," she will have to deal with the fallout of that decision and how it impacts her relationship with her father, the villainous Dragon King.

Speaking to CBR, Shiv actor Meg DeLacy offered some insight into Cindy and her insecurities. She discussed how she originally auditioned for another role and how she prepared to unleash her inner mean girl for the part. She hinted at a tragic future for her relationship with her father, as well as some Shiv storylines that could be explored in Season 2. She also teased more superpowers, Cindy's potential for good and more.

CBR: Tell me a little about how you landed the role.

Meg DeLacy: So, interesting story! I originally auditioned for Yolanda and tested for it. I did not see Yvette [Monreal] in the room, because she was shooting something else in a different country. But I did meet Anjelika [Washington], who plays Beth.

When I found out I didn't get Yolanda, a couple of days later, they were like, "Hey, they want you to read for the villain." And I was like, "Oh! A villain! I didn't even know they were even casting for a villain!" So I got the sides and I kind of tried to figure out who she was just in general, because the story, or the project itself, was very under wraps. Then they were like, "You're definitely the villain, because you were the only one with the edge that Cindy needed." But I was reading Yolanda and they were like, "Oh, okay, that doesn't make sense," but Cindy apparently made sense!

A lot of these characters have extensive backgrounds in the comics, but in comparison, Cindy is more of a blank slate. How did that impact the way you approached the character?

So actually, Cindy has -- so yeah, she's a blank slate in a way, where her origin story has not yet been dived into. But her whole story and backstory of who she is and why she is, is pretty extensive, to the extent of her dad and her family.

She's been experimented on since she was seven. That's why she has those blades in her arms. She's kind of half human. She is, like her father said, her father's favorite experiment. So she's been tested on and put through the wringer and trained to be the best supervillain her dad has ever made.

So that effects, then, her high school life and the way that she portrays herself and how she has a power issue, how she wants to be in control. Within this whole story, within the first season, you find out, obviously, she's like, "I'm not gonna wait anymore. I want to be part of the ISA. I want to put on my suit." And so then it kind of takes off from there.

But when I dove into this character, I sat with a lot of just family beliefs and how crazy and unbearable that was and that brought the mean girl from within out.

Cindy's relationship with her father is obviously very complex. How does that continue to evolve?

Well, I'm constantly trying to find his approval. All she wants is like a warm hug from her father. She wants a "good job." She wants him to say, "I'm proud of you," and has never gotten that. So that's a constant struggle within the whole show. Still, even at the end of it, she still doesn't get that warmth that she wants, so she kind of goes insane. She's like, "Are you kidding? I proved myself. I do all these things. You're not listening to me."

She's literally by herself, so that's why she is just outraged or needs to show yucky parts of herself, because she's alone. And that will never end. That relationship with her father, I don't think the audience will see it get any better, but she'll just take over. [laughs]

We've seen flashbacks for some of the other characters. Will we see any of Cindy's younger years? How does the show continue to explore her past?

In Season 1, there will not be any flashbacks. There will be moments of us talking about things in the past. Very discreet, not too much information, but I'm sure the second season will get to it.

Cindy has shown off a few of her superpowers so far, but have we seen all she can do?

No. We have not. That's probably a second season exploration.

In last week's episode, Cindy had a run-in with Justin the Janitor and he suggested that maybe she isn't all bad. Does the show explore that idea at all?

I mean, I honestly think it's up to interpretation. Every actor I've worked with that plays a villain, they all talk about the tinge of good in them, which then makes it even easier to become bad. It all roots from something, and I've said it before: her insecurities -- these insecurities -- that's where all of her yuckiness roots from, and that's very human, and that's okay. Insecurities are good to have, because you learn from them and you grow. With her, they're so large that she's almost a little blinded by them, but she still is struggling.

She's a teenager, too, during all this stuff. So, because she hasn't yet reached her top "I'm the villain, I'm evil," I'm sure Janitor Justin was like, "Hey, before you go and jump in and try to be this insane villain... you haven't jumped yet, so just beware, be cautious and know what you're doing before you do it."

DC Universe's Stargirl stars Brec Bassinger as Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl) and Luke Wilson as Pat Dugan (S.T.R.I.P.E.). The series airs Monday on DC Universe and Tuesdays on The CW at 8 pm ET/PT. It also stars Amy Smart, Yvette Monreal, Anjelika Washington, Cameron Gellman, Trae Romano, Jake Austin Walker, Hunter Sansone, Meg DeLacy, Neil Jackson and Christopher James Baker.

KEEP READING: Stargirl Basically Confirmed Justin The Janitor's Secret Identity

The My Hero Academia fandom revolves around just as much character shipping as any other major franchise. For the most part, this practice isn't so much based around fan theories founded on hard evidence than it is a way for fans to express their love for and investment in the original source material. Sometimes, this even helps them to identify and express part of themselves within a fictional world that is otherwise underrepresented.

This is why the sexuality of the characters being shipped together does not always match up with their sexuality as presented in the original work. For My Hero Academia's Deku, whose sexuality is something of a misnomer within the canon, the subject draws a great deal of speculation within the fandom.

One of the most popular ships in the My Hero Academia community is Deku and Bakugo, largely because enemies-to-lovers is the most common shipping trope. And, why not? It's very easy, and somewhat cathartic, to transmute the intensity of a rivalry into feelings of attraction. All of the anger can easily be interpreted as a frustration stemming from the inability to communicate true depths of feeling... the fanfic practically writes itself. However, there is also a great deal of fan fiction and fan art depicting Deku having romantic feelings for virtually every other character in the manga/anime, demonstrating a shift in Deku shipping in a more concrete direction, toward a shared headcanon that identifies the protagonist as being either bisexual to pansexual.

The term "headcanon" is important to highlight here, as that there is no hard evidence (as of yet) to be found anywhere within the anime or manga that puts put a clear label on Deku's sexuality, whether that be heterosexual or otherwise. However, following the typical shonen pattern, it's pretty obvious that Midoriya is set up, from the first episode, to end up in a relationship with Uraraka Ochaco. It's also been made clear that she has feelings for him, but as for reciprocation, we've seen a minimal amount from him. Instead, Deku has expressed far greater depths of emotion in some of his other relationships.

The safest bet is clearly on Deku and Uraraka becoming the future power couple of the hero-dominated world, but it's this predictable outcome that lies at the heart of the interest in and reinterpretation of Deku's identity.

A big part of this is that Deku does not spend nearly as much time acting on his sexuality -- whatever it may be. In the absence of him displaying any, or at least, very little romantic interest or impulses, it's easy to graft almost any identity onto him.

The second major alteration is the emotionality Deku presents. It's true that Naruto perfected and (let's face it) over-did, the art of the emotional flashback but these often took place so far back in a character's past that any emotional "weakness" could be attributed to their being children, and in the present was, for the most part, only reflected as the anger or determination -- some of the only emotions men in patriarchal culture are allowed to publically display. Deku, on the other hand, expresses a far broader emotional spectrum in the present and achieves victories (specifically his battle with Todoroki) that depend more on his ability to empathize than his fighting prowess.

To put a point on it, he is only given One For All in the first place because of his ability to care so deeply for Bakugo. Naruto, Goku and Luffy want to be the best; Midoriya simply wants to help people.

Of course, none of this makes him necessarily queer, it simply demonstrates that he presents a more non-traditional form of masculinity than we're used to seeing from these types of characters. Rather, Deku's marked differences as a shonen protagonist simply make it easier for fans to seriously identify with him in ways that weren't truly possible with most of his predecessors. This includes, but isn't limited to, viewing him as a member of the LGBTQ community. Beyond that, there is a serious argument to be made for his Quirkless status "othering" him within hero society in a similar way that being queer "others" people in a heteronormative society.

While these can be seen as subtle alterations on a time-tested formula, it only makes sense for the anime of a new generation to reflect more modern ideals, specifically within a genre that has a large influence over young people. Shonen manga and anime have precious few canonically LGBTQ characters as it is, let alone the lead protagonists of major franchises. Confirming Deku fans' headcanon would be a huge, progressive step forward. But, in the very least, continuing to leave his identity up in the air gives them ample room to fill in the blanks for themselves.

KEEP READING: My Hero Academia: Why Kirishima is the Most Relatable Hero

DC Comics Publisher/Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee shared his take on one of the most twisted relationships in comics history. Lee's recent charity sketch features Harley Quinn in the arms of the Joker, as they dance around and around.

Lee revealed the sketch on his Twitter account. He is holding a three-day auction for the sketch on his eBay page. At the time of this writing, the sketch has a price tag of $10,288.

Harley Quinn first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series as the right-hand woman of the Joker. It wasn't until the comic book one-shot Mad Love by series architects Paul Dini and Bruce Timm that light was finally shed on her origins. Doctor Harleen Quinzel was a new hire at Arkham Asylum who found herself falling for the Clown Prince of Crime after several sessions. Eventually, she donned a red-black-and-white jester suit and broke him out of prison. Though Harley has changed her look and broken away from the Joker, Lee's sketch is a haunting reminder of her past.

Lee plans to draw 60 sketches, each focusing on a different DC character. All proceeds from the auctions will go to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC), which is helping support comic book shops in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Other artists, such as Olivia de Berardinis, have contributed sketches to the auctions.

KEEP READING: Wonder Woman Celebrates Her New Creative Team With a Jim Lee Variant

By posting several images of herself on the set of 2017's Justice League, Gal Gadot's stunt double, Caitlin Burles, has issued a challenge to other professionals working in the arts.

Burles shared a set of photos on Instagram, two of which featured her in full Wonder Woman gear, seemingly preparing to do a scene. "To all the professionals in the TV, Film and Arts world, join the challenge to post a picture of you in your job," Burles commented. She also provided the hashtag #savethearts, which many professionals have also shared along with their own images.

Burles has been Gadot's stunt double for many films, including Criminal, Justice League and Wonder Woman. Additionally, she had small acting roles in Justice League and Wonder Woman, portraying an art thief in the former and a Queen's Guard in the latter. Burles is also set to return as Gadot's stunt double in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film Wonder Woman 1984.

Wonder Woman 1984 is the next DCEU film set for release and will show the heroic Amazon princess on an adventure in the '80s. Meanwhile, both Gadot and Burles are appearing in Zack Snyder's Justice League, which will feature many new elements not seen in the 2017 theatrical cut.

Directed and co-written by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman 1984 stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal and Natasha Rothwell. The film arrives in theaters October 2.

Issue #300 of Heavy Metal magazine will feature the debut of a new science fiction serial titled Dark Wing, from Heavy Metal creator and CEO Matthew Medney, German Ponce, Protobunker and Pete "Voodoo Bownz" Russo.

Heavy Metal's official press release is below:

LOS ANGELES, CA - Heavy Metal Magazine announces the launch of creator and CEO Matthew Medney’s Dark Wing #1 serial, which will kick-off in the upcoming 300^th issue, on-sale August 19^th, 2020.

The first chapter of the new serial takes us back millennia ago, where a rogue black hole viciously engulfed the solar system known as Ipitoe 3 in the distant zones from the Karandu Galaxy, and flung its planets unceremoniously into the abyss of space. A human-like species known as the Quails worked with technologies beyond the imagination as they constructed the Dark Wing.

Scientist Simon Fredrick has the idea to propel the planet of Tiberius through space by effectively transforming the rogue planet into a ship. Centuries later, long after the architect of our future was lost to time, the Dark Wing was birthed. An impressive macro-engineering exo-skin 5 times the size of the planet Tiberius itself. 25% of the planet's core was turned into a sustainable interstellar S.I.R.E.N Drive (Sophisticated Interstellar Radio Emitting Navigator Engine).

Today, 4021 A.S. (After Separation), The Dark Wing has a new captain. Benedict Gunn, our fearless pilot is tasked with shepherding the resilient people of Tiberius across the galaxy, in search of a new system to call home.

This is a true passion project for CEO and Creator Medney, who is eager to share his project with Heavy Metal fans new and old. "Fans of Star Trek and The Expanse will find plenty to love about Dark Wing. German Ponce’s bold illustrations and Protobunker’s dynamic colors really transport the reader, and I cannot wait to hear what the fans think."

Writer: Matthew Medney

Artist: German Ponce

Colors: Protobunker

Creative Director: Pete “Voodoo Bownz” Russo

Special Thanks / Creative Team: Bruce Edwards

Serialization: Heavy Metal Magazine: 300-309

Volume Number: 1

Volumes in Series: 10

Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure

KEEP READING: Heavy Metal Celebrates Issue #300 With Official Pinball Machine

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Dragon Con announced it will forgo its traditional physical event and instead host a virtual show.

"After an exhaustive attempt to consider and uncover every possible option to hosting a safe and much-needed [Dragon Con] this year, it has become apparent that we cannot, in good faith, move forward with our 2020 event," Dragon Con tweeted.

"We are heartbroken to make this announcement, but do so with the support of you, our fans, our partners, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau Main Office, and City of Atlanta Government," it continued. "For that, we thank you. While we aren’t able to welcome you back in person this September, we will be taking our 2020 event virtual this Labor Day weekend with a free to the universe experience. Keep those calendars marked and stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks."

The Atlanta-based event joins Comic-Con International: San Diego in taking its event virtual due to the pandemic, along with Emerald City Comic Con and Atlanta Comic Con.

Dragon Con will still take place over Labor Day weekend, Sept. 3-7, as a fully online event, with more details coming in the next few weeks via its official website.

Cinemark, AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas joined a lawsuit against New Jersey's governor and acting health commissioner, arguing that it is unfair for theaters there to remain closed while "similarly situated" places like houses of worship have been allowed to reopen.

The lawsuit by the National Association of Theater Owners of New Jersey alleges that "unconstitutional and unlawful distinctions" between theaters and other venues amount to First Amendment violations, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

New Jersey is in Stage 2 of its reopening plan, which allows various places such as shopping malls to reopen. The lawsuit notes that houses of worship were allowed to open June 13 but theaters will not until Stage 3, which does not have a target date. Gov. Philip Murphy and Judith Persichilli, acting health commissioner, are the named defendants.

The filing states, "Although Defendants have issued orders allowing other public assemblies such as religious services and ceremonies to open, they have withheld approval for movie theatres, which are similarly situated, if not less of a risk, from a public health perspective." It goes on to compare the relative risks of public gathering in theaters and houses of worship and lists the steps theaters will take to protect public health.

The lawsuit demands that theaters be treated akin to other businesses and that the closures "constituted a deprivation of just compensation."

KEEP READING: Majority of Americans Aren't at All Ready to Return to Movie Theaters

Superman calls forth the heavy metal thunder in a variant cover for Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's upcoming Dark Nights: Death Metal #3.

DC tweeted the image by Doug Mahnke and colored by David Baron. Snyder later tweeted a color animated version.

The 1:25 variant shows an alternate version of the Man of Steel shredding his very own red Gibson Flying V -- with glowing red eyes to match. As befitting a rock god, the long haired, buffed up version of Superman is replete with sleeveless tank top and plenty of chains adorning him from the waist down. An audience of undead fans in the background are either enjoying the performance, or preparing to rush the stage, while the shadow of an ominous Bat-figure lurks behind.

The same incarnation of Superman briefly appeared in Dark Nights: Death Metal #1, powering the sun of Perpetua's new world, and said by Mister Miracle to have "almost succumbed to the Anti-Life."

Dark Nights: Death Metal is the sequel to Snyder and Capullo's 2017 Dark Nights: Metal series. In the new series, the DC Universe has been reimagined by the multiverse-creating Perpetua into a twisted, patchwork world combining elements of the more familiar mainstream incarnation. In Metal, the heroes of the DCU defeated Barbatos and his Dark Knights, sparing the multiverse but inadvertently freeing Perpetua in the process.

No telling if Mahnke and Baron's Man of Steel has turned evil, or if he just likes to thrash.

Dark Nights: Death Metal #2 goes on sale July 14. Issue #3 goes on sale August 11.

KEEP READING: The Robin King: What We Know About The Batman Who Laughs' Ghastly Successor

Marvel Comics is the latest to reveal its plans for the virtual Comic-Con@Home, with a trio of planned panels.

Comic-Con International: San Diego canceled its 2020 event in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, In its stead, Comic-Con@Home will offer virtual panels, and anyone with an internet connection is welcome to attend. For the House of Ideas, in addition to the previously announced Marvel 616 series, digital versions of the Marvel HQ and Next Big Thing panels will also be held.

Marvel HQ is a panel meant for younger fans, featuring LEGO battles and a sneak peek at an upcoming episode of Spider-Man: Maximum Venom. Meanwhile, the Next Big Thing will discuss upcoming comics such as Empyre, Amazing Spider-Man #850 (which sees the return of Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin) and the X of Swords crossover event spanning the X-Men line.

Marvel's full Comic-Con@Home schedule is below:

Marvel Panel Information
Disney+ / Marvel's 616 : Thursday, July 23, 1:00 PM PT
Marvel’s 616 explores how Marvel’s rich legacy of stories, characters and creators exist within the “world outside your window.” Each documentary, helmed by a unique filmmaker, explores the intersections of storytelling, pop culture and fandom within the Marvel Universe. Join directors Gillian Jacobs, Paul Scheer and executive producers Sarah Amos and Jason Sterman as they discuss the making of this Disney+ original anthology series with moderator Angélique Roché.

MARVEL HQ: Thursday, July 23, 4:00 PM PST
This is the destination for all our young Marvel fans (and their families)! Check out everything Marvel HQ has to offer about your favorite Super Heroes, with a comics read-along, an epic Lego battle, and a behind-the-scenes look at our animated series, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Maximum Venom. And grab some paper and a crayon because we’re going to draw that symbiote baddie together in Marvel Draw! Visit Marvel HQ at www.youtube.com/marvelhq .
Marvel Comics: Next Big Thing: Friday, July 24, 11:00 AM PST
Join Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski as he breaks down all the latest and greatest coming from the House of Ideas with some of Marvel’s most epic creators! Tom Brevoort, Al Ewing and Dan Slott will dive into the cosmic calamity coming to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the pages of EMPYRE! An army is gathering in the latest X-Men crossover event, X OF SWORDS, and Jordan White, Tini Howard and Gerry Duggan have all the juicy details! Nick Lowe, Nick Spencer and Mark Bagley will discuss the landmark AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #850 ushering in the return of the Green Goblin! Plus Nick Lowe rejoins the panel to discuss the return of the classic Marvel character, Werewolf by Night, with creators Taboo and Ben Jackendoff!! Be there, True Believers!

Comic-Con@Home will stream from July 22-26 on the official Comic-Con YouTube panel.

KEEP READING: Helstrom: Comic-Con@Home Conjures Up Hulu's Marvel Horror Series

(via Marvel.com)

What makes one Avenger better than the other Avengers? Is it having a day of the week based on their name? If so then ladies, gentlemen, and friends beyond the binary, Thor is the best Avenger of all time... or at least that's what he'd like to believe. After all, he isn't even recognized as the "Strongest Avenger" in the MCU!

Everybody loves Thor and because of that, he gets a pass on a heavy amount of nonsense. Is he all that great, though? He looks amazing and lightning is cool but what exactly does he bring to the table other than a hammer and a fistful of Norse mythology? Find out why he's the strongest Avenger and why he's also overrated here.

10 OVERRATED: He Got Beaten Up By Undead Vikings

In his MAX miniseries, Thor was slapped around by 1,000-year-old Lord Harald Jaekelsson before being chained to Mjolnir and tossed in the harbor. So much for The Mighty Thor. After humiliating Thor, Jaekelsson, leading a horde of unkillable Vikings, raped and pillaged their way through New York.

The death toll can be assumed to stretch deep into the hundreds of thousands. Walls of severed heads acted as blockades and Times Square was filled with pikes adorned with the heads of Marines. The best Thor could do was rely on Dr. Strange to solve the problem for him. It should be noted, though, that this miniseries was written by Garth Ennis, who famously hates superheroes so much that he depicts them as idiots every time he gets his hands on them so take this power level with as much salt as needed.

9 UNDERRATED: He's Literally A God

At almost every turn, someone will fail to mention and be blown away by the mere fact that Thor is literally a god. Any time where that person (either in-universe or reading the comics) doesn't immediately ask the walking god what to do during an apocalyptic event count as a moment when Thor is underrated.

Maybe this forgetfulness or denial is a coping mechanism the Avengers use to help themselves process Thor's existence, which all but confirms religions and mythologies to be fact. It's not right and it's not fair, but it happens all the time. It must suck to be underrated as an Avenger and underrated as a god.

8 OVERRATED: He Got Captured By A Space Taser

It goes without saying that Thor: Ragnarok is an epic movie. With so much going on like Jeff Goldblum's Grand Master to Hulk in full gladiator attire, it's easy to overlook Thor being defeated by a basic space taser.

He is captured and sold into slavery all thanks to Valkyrie's spectacularly mundane space taser. If only his previous enemies had known all they needed to stop the God of Thunder in his tracks was a taser, Earth would have been conquered a long time ago! None of this makes sense when he can take a punch from the Hulk and get back up again.

7 UNDERRATED: He Can Fly A Spaceship

For those who saw Thor: The Dark World without first having watched a trailer, the spaceship sequence was a bit of a surprise. Honestly, walking into a Marvel film and not expecting to see something crazy is a little crazy in itself.

Anyway, the spaceships belong to the Dark Elves, ancient Asgardian foes who resurfaced in search of the Reality Stone. The thing that is really special about all this is Thor being able to pilot one of their ships, despite it being the very first time he even saw such a vehicle. With the help of some insults from Loki, Thor manages to figure out how to start the engines by hitting buttons randomly. This previously uncatalogued superpower deserves praise

6 OVERRATED: He Was A Thug For Hydra

Defenders of Thor will say that he had no choice here. Truth be told, that sounds like something that would have been said at the Nuremberg Trials.

During the infamous Secret Empire, Steve Rogers was the victim of an altered history and became Hydra's main squeeze. Evil Steve/Captain Hydra swiftly set about conquering the world for Hydra, as well as making other Avengers complicit in war crimes. Thor didn't do the right thing and allowed himself to become a hitman for a fascist dictatorship. Long time readers will know this was not the first time or last time Thor would do this (more on that later). It didn't take much convincing for Thor to get onboard with fascism, and it's possible he'd do it again.

5 UNDERRATED: His Knock Out Power

During the events of Avengers vs X-Men event, Thor knocked The Phoenix Force out cold. That's right, Thor is strong enough to K.O. a nonphysical entity made of cosmic fire and psychic energy. This is an insane piece of information and it raises questions.

Can he K.O. the wind? Could he punch sadness into a coma? What can't he K.O.? Even if he could do either of those things, how could anyone disprove or prove it? On that note, who would be brave enough to tell the literal God of Thunder that he didn't beat oxygen into submission? Perhaps Reed Richards could build a machine that could determine this, but that doesn't sound like the kind of project he'd have time for.

4 OVERRATED: His Connections To The Third Reich

Remember the time during World War II when Thor tried to assassinate Stalin for Hitler? Yeah, awkward. During this time, Thor worked for the Nazis as a hired thug. Thor was not mind controlled or brainwashed, and he only relented after he heard Hitler ranting over an intercom. It's hard to decide if Thor abandoned Hitler after learning about the Holocaust or if it was the fact Hitler ranted about working with Thor's enemies, the Trolls. Let's face it; it was the Trolls.

Thor is not a nice guy. He even wipes everyone's memory of his wartime actions before vanishing back to Asgard. It's hard to believe that a key Avenger was a Nazi goon, but here it is.

3 UNDERRATED: His Thick Asgardian Skin

A case of mistaken identity with Wolverine involved could become catastrophic. When Wolverine begins hallucinating regular people as his most fearsome enemies, things go south fast. Luckily for all involved, Thor is around. Believing Thor to be Sabertooth, Wolverine tries his hardest to cut him into ribbons.

This leads to the discovery that Asgardian skin is too thick for Adamantium claws to cut through. Being able to withstand the storm that is an angry Wolverine is as impressive as being the God of Thunder. It does raise the question though: Just how thick is Asgardian skin and would the thickness make it feel super weird to touch?

2 OVERRATED: He Keeps Letting Asgard Get Destroyed

Would it be too much to expect an Avenging superhero and god to be able to save your world? Apparently, yes. Thor has saved Earth more times than can be counted and yet in both the comics and the MCU, Asgard gets trashed.

To give credit where credit is due, Thor evacuates and saves as many Asgardians as he can but he can never save all of them or Asgard itself. When Asgard's not being smashed in half, it's invariably being ruled over by Loki brazenly or in a disguise. Thor can't even keep his people safe from his own family.

1 UNDERRATED: No Sleep Required

Becoming Unworthy is a big deal for anybody. For Thor, this is the worst thing that could happen to him. It's the reason he avoided sleeping for over nine months and four days. In another example of extreme durability, Thor's lack of sleep, exercise, diet, and health in general did nothing to slow him down during the events of Avengers: Endgame.

Think of how effective this makes Thor in any kind of emergency. Day or night, he's ready to go and he won't need to stop for almost a year. It makes the fact that he normally sleeps once a day a little confusing, though.

NEXT: Thor Vs Hulk: 15 Biggest Fights In Comics

From Dragon Ball Z onward, transformations and dramatic power-ups were part and parcel with the Dragon Ball experience. Son Goku, Son Gohan, Vegeta, Frieza, Trunks, Cell, Son Goten, Broly, Cooler, and countless others have unveiled dramatic new forms that have changed the playing field and oftentimes changed the fight in their favor.

Of course, this hasn't always been the case. There have been transformations that were underwhelming and didn't change much in the grand scheme of things. Oftentimes, it's been Son Goku's new power-up that has saved the day or the villains that get the dramatic transformations that blow everyone away, leaving the likes of Vegeta, Piccolo, and Trunks seeming like so much chopped liver.

10 DRAMATIC: Super Saiyan

We'll start with the most famous transformation as well as the most obvious choice. The original Super Saiyan transformation by Son Goku while fighting Frieza on the Planet Namek isn't just one of the most exciting and dramatic moments in the series, but in anime as a whole.

It's Goku reaching his full potential (for now) and reaching heights of power on par with even the great Emperor Frieza. It's almost as dramatic when Vegeta, Son Gohan, Trunks, and Son Goten do the same, and it works as a stepping stone for other dramatic transformations throughout the series.

9 UNREMARKABLE: Super Saiyan 2

Super Saiyan 2 was the first step beyond the regular Super Saiyan form, and it was first achieved by Gohan while training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Goku later achieves the form as well, and Gohan dramatically uses it in his final battle with Perfect Cell.

While that battle was fantastic, the aesthetic change between Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2 is very subtle and not all that interesting. The first Super Saiyan transformation was distinct and dramatic; you wouldn't notice the change between Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2 if characters didn't point it out.

8 DRAMATIC: Super Saiyan Blue

After Super Saiyan 3, Super Saiyan Blue/Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan is the next complete visual overhaul in the chain of Super Saiyan transformations. In a show where the power of most of the heroes is determined by what's going on with their hair, flipping the script and changing it blue was quite a development.

It was a heck of a reveal in Resurrection F when Goku achieves this form in his fight with the returned Frieza, and it has been used in several stunning fights since then. It's become the iconic look for Goku and Vegeta in Dragon Ball Super.

7 UNREMARKABLE: Super Vegeta/Super Trunks

During the Cell Saga, Vegeta and Trunks' training led them to achieve a new form of Super Saiyan where they use their ki to dramatically increase their muscle mass and physical strength.

Unfortunately, this also means that they are far slower and larger targets. Trunks was able to grow even larger than Vegeta, but they both were wiped out easily by Perfect Cell.

6 DRAMATIC: Legendary Super Saiyan Broly

Both the original and Super transformations of Broly have always been stunning. Like the Super Vegeta and Super Trunks forms, Broly's transformations result in him gaining incredible muscle mass and power.

However, Broly proved to be infinitely more deadly in this form and took a lot of effort and teamwork to bring down. In Dragon Ball Super Broly, it took Goku and Vegeta performing the Gogeta fusion and achieving Super Saiyan Blue to bring down Broly's powerful Super Saiyan form.

5 UNREMARKABLE: Full Potential

During their time fighting Frieza's army on the Planet Namek, Piccolo, Krillin, and child Gohan met with the Great Elder Guru of the Namekians and had their "full potential" unleashed.

It did little to help them in the subsequent fight with Frieza and his followers. It took Piccolo fusing with the dying Nail to even keep up with the likes of the Ginyu Force and the earlier stages of Frieza.

4 DRAMATIC: Golden Frieza

Ressurection F also brought about the arrival of Golden Frieza. This form of the Emperor gives him a shiny golden sheen and makes him powerful enough to even take on Goku in his Super Saiyan God form.

Each new enemy in Dragon Ball Z is exponentially stronger than the previous, but the Golden form of Frieza put him beyond the likes of Perfect Cell and Kid Buu. It took Goku going beyond the Super Saiyan God transformation to finally put Golden Frieza down.

3 UNREMARKABLE: Mecha Frieza

Frieza's arrival on Earth in a new cyborg form as Mecha Freiza as well as the presence of his father, King Cold, was a shocking return for the Frieza clan at the start of the Android Saga.

Unfortunately, this new Frieza and his large father proved nothing but mince-meat once Future Trunks arrived. Mecha Frieza and Cold were dead in the blink of an eye.

2 DRAMATIC: The Fusions

Gogeta, Vegito, Gotenks, Kefla, and other less-canon fusions have always been one of the most exciting parts of Dragon Ball. The idea is simultaneously so ludicrous yet so awesome that one can't help but relish when a new fusion is on the table. They first popped up during the Buu Saga.

Vegito, the Potara fusion of Goku and Vegeta, and Gotenks, the union fusion of Trunks and Goten, were the first to appear and battled Buu, but other versions of these specific fusions and fusions of other characters have succeeded the concept since then in Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, and the affiliated videogames.

1 UNREMARKABLE: Ultimate Gohan

Ultimate Gohan is the final transformation that was granted to Gohan in Dragon Ball. It was granted to Son Gohan by the Kai Elder Kaioshin, and Gohan has been able to make this form a power on par with even Super Saiyan Blue since then.

However, it really didn't add much of a visual change for Gohan like other transformations, but it did allow Gohan to dominate Super Buu. Still, it wasn't enough to bring down Kid Buu, meaning Goku had to save the day once again on this one.

NEXT: Dragon Ball: 10 Characters Goku Never Fought (But Should Have)