FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS!!

WELCOME TO THE FIRST IN (what I hope to make) A NEW WEEKLY SERIES! FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS! Yes, I know it's Friday afternoon, but CLOSE ENOUGH! Each week I will feature 2 super heroes or villains from nearly any universe in a fight to the end. Not necessarily death, but just til one is knocked out or immobilized.

This week's battle comes from the first episode of The Good Shit podcast (now available on soundcloud). My co-host and best bud, Jimmy Nonas, suggested I write out a fight between Darth Vader vs. Jean Grey. Yeah, crazy right! I'll start by giving an overview of both characters.

Darth Vader

The evil Lord of the Sith, Master of the Dark Side of the Force, the one the prophesies spoke of that would bring balance to the Force. And he does. Twice! Once when he (as the most effective) Jedi killer in the galaxy and as a Sith Lord when he overcame the Emperor's influence & power and tossed him over the railing! Vader is THE most powerful Jedi/Sith. Yes, I am aware of the many other force users that aren't shown in the movies blah blah blah. If you are one of those people that think there are stronger force users in the Star Wars Universe, then you are a crazy person that I would love to talk to. We all know Vader, we know that he is a MASTER force user. Vader is cold, and calculating. In a recent Darth Vader comic book series titled VADER DOWN, he faced an army of Rebels and was the only one left standing. In the movies, he force choked a dude from ACROSS THE FREAKING GALAXY! He can use his force telekinesis without moving his body, not even Yoda or Darth Sidious (the Emperor) could do that! Then, after he died saving Luke and balancing the Force again, he joined Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda on the astral plane without anyone to guide him or teach him how (Yoda taught Obi Wan how to hear Qui-Gon Jinn, who would then teach Obi Wan how to reach the astral plane and achieve immortality). Obi Wan mentions this to Darth Vader in Episode IV: A New Hope right before Vader strikes him down. With only THAT piece of information, Vader taught himself the secret to immortality. Wowzers.

Jean Grey
Jean's powers are almost the same as a Jedi but with one added bonus. Instead of being able to use telekinesis and move things with her mind, but she is also an extremely powerful telepath; meaning she can also read people's minds. Jean is one of the most powerful mutants in the Marvel Universe. As a child, when first brought to Professor Xavier, he realized how powerful she was and put psionic (mental) shields in her brain to keep her from using her telepathy and telekinesis at full power until she was old enough to control it. Once she trained and was old enough to remove the shields, Jean became a founding member of the X-Men along with future husband Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, and Angel. Jean's dedication and loyalty along with her powers made her the first mutant to be possessed by the Phoenix Force. A sentient cosmic entity of limitless power that manifests itself as a giant bird made out of cosmic fire. As Phoenix, Jean was one of the most powerful beings in all of the Marvel Comics Universe. She was, however, manipulated by Mastermind (a bad guy with the power to project images into people's mind, and thus using them to do his bidding) into becoming the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club (a bunch of X-Men villains). When she was finally able to reject Mastermind's projections, she sent him into a coma and then went insane becoming The Dark Phoenix and enemy of the X-Men. Now, Jean didn't always have the Phoenix Force and therefore will not in this battle, BUT her abilities without the Phoenix Force are comparable to Darth Vader.

Overview: If ever these two were to meet, it would be quite a battle. Vader is ruthless and calculating. He does not let emotion get in the way and has no problem with inflicting pain. Using the force, he would be able to detect Jean's abilities, but would also underestimate them. Physically, Vader would be the aggressor; attempting to keep Jean distracted with physical attacks. He would count on the force to protect him from psionic attack. Jean would have to use a lot of her concentration on maintaining a psionic force field to keep her safe from Vader's physical attacks. But using Vader's confidence against him, she would find a way into his brain and find a weakness.

The FIGHT:

It's a beautiful sunny day in Westchester, New York. Outside Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Jean Grey waves goodbye to the last of the X-Men for some much needed downtime. It doesn't happen often for them, so when the chance to take some time off comes up, they take it. This time it's Jean's turn to stay home and make sure the X-Mansion stays in one piece.

After a nice peaceful jog around the school grounds, Jean looks up to the sky to admire the setting sun. She squints to see what looks like a tiny dot in the distance. The dot is getting bigger by the second until the dot turns into the shape of a TIE INTERCEPTOR. The ship stops and hovers in mid air about 100 yards from her and then lands. A landing ramp descends from the bottom of the ship and Darth Vader slowly walks down.

Jean takes a moment to behold this intimidating presence. She doesn't need telepathic powers to know that this guy is dangerous. She scans him anyway, but can't get a reading. "Ahhh!" she screams in pain and thinks, "I can't read him. There's some kind of protective force surrounding him."

"You," says Vader. "You are a mutant. One of considerable power. I could have use for you. Come with me and I will teach you the ways of the Dark Side."

"Stay away from me!" yells Jean, as she turns to run away.

"So be it." says Vader. He raises his hand, palm up. Behind Jean a section of the mansion's roof becomes seperated from the rest of the building. Vader closes his hand into a fist and crushes the roof into a ball to show off his power. "Come with me or be destoryed, Mutant," he warns.

"Never!" Says Jean and she starts to run away. Vader hurls the building ball at Jean, attempting to crush her. But just in the nick of time, Jean is able to throw up a force field, protecting her from being crushed.

Vader stalks forward, using the force to scan for signs of life. Jean is fine, but she knows that she can't stay where she is under the rubble. While still keeping her shield up, Jean focuses as hard as she can telepathically. Reaching out for any way into Vader's mind. Once again she finds resistance. "There's no way in, this force of his is all encompassing. There's no way around it," she thinks to herself. "I'm guessing he has to concentrate like I do. So how about a little distraction?"

Vader is closing in on Jean, when suddenly the rubble explodes sending debris straight at Vader. It happens so quickly and with such force that Vader is overwhelmed and is hurdled back.

"The force is strong with you," Vader says as he gets back to his feet. "But your abilities are still no comparison to the power of the dark side."

"Buddy, I don't know what you are talking about." replies Jean. "Why don't you just get back in your space ship before somebody gets hurt."

Vader turns and notices that his TIE Interceptor is hovering behind him with guns trained on him. "This is no game, girl." says Vader coldly. He turns and faces Jean, crossing his arms. The Interceptor then slowly turns and flies towards Jean, laser fire landing all around her. Jean has no choice but to use her force field again. A missle launches and detonates next to her, throwing her through the air. It's taking nearly all of her energy to keep the force field from failing. The laser fire intensifies, pushing the Jean in her bubble like force field half a foot into the ground. With a last ditch effort, Jean throws out her hand, reaching with her telekinesis to grab Vader's breathing apparatus on his chest. Using all of her might, she crushes the box. The laser fire stops and the Interceptor crashes to the ground as Vader crumples to his knees, grabbing at his chest. Jean, catching her breath, stands and focuses her energy on Vader's breathing, choking him.

Vader can't breathe, but yet he does not panic. He meditates for a moment, refocusing his energy, allowing the force to sustain him. But then suddenly he stops and directs every ounce of force energy to force grab Jean by the throat. Both combatants are now using all their might to choke the other. Vader's hand goes from what looks like a choke hold to a closed fist, and suddenly Jean's throat and brain stem is crushed in an instant. Her head tilts to one side before her body crumples to the floor.

Vader stands, redirecting the force to help him breathe again. He looks down at Jean's lifeless body and casually hits a button on his belt, calling for an evac.

Winner: Darth Vader. Because, as strong as Jean is, Vader is right. Her power is still no match against the power of the dark side.

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES to the comic world! SPOILERS FOR CIVIL WAR 2 INCLUDED BE WARNED!!

So there have been some major changes to the comic book world in the last few weeks. I'm talking about both DC and Marvel, but more specifically Marvel. DC is running their latest reboot, REBIRTH, which is performing well and has been a good read thus far. Marvel is also performing well, despite what some may say.

Marvel recently launched their 2nd Civil War story line. Issue #3 was released yesterday and WOW! Now, since it was released yesterday, and this is my blog, and I make the rules; then I'm going to spoil the shit out of this!

Issue #1 killed off 2 characters! THE FIRST ISSUE! And they weren't minor characters either, these were well known, well loved characters.  Let me give you some back story without spoiling too much detail. There are 2 major teams that take the spotlight for main Marvel stories. There's the Avengers (new line-up, not at all like the movies. Led by Iron Man), and the Ultimates (a team full of mostly new characters that I am unfamiliar with but am excited to learn about). Sides are drawn between members of both of these teams, as well as the Inhumans (don't know the Inhumans? Check out one of my older posts!), and the X-Men.

So this new Marvel Comics Universe has super humans like Captain Marvel and Spider-Man, mutants like the X-Men, and Inhumans like Medusa (Queen of the Inhumans). The big deal here is that the population of Inhumans is increasing exponentially due to the Terrigen Mist (a cloud of alien gas that causes any Inhuman DNA found in humans to trigger, therefore giving these certain humans powers) floating around the globe. This is a problem for the mutants, because of the mutant gene in their DNA the Terrigen is poisonous to them and is responsible for a mass decrease in the mutant population. This does not stop the X-Men and the Inhumans from working together, but does add a real nice underlying tension between the 2 groups.

One of these new Inhumans is a man named Ulysses. His powers are that he gets visions of a "possible" future. Rather than just seeing these visions, he experiences them and is also able to share this experience with people around him. Ulysses gets a vision and alerts the Inhumans, Avengers, and the Ultimates in time to stop a "giant alien Celestial Giant" (Ms. Marvel's words) from destroying the planet. They do, but then the question is asked, "are we saving the future or are we altering the future?" Iron Man believes that by acting on these visions, that they are actually altering the future which may not be a good idea. While Captain Marvel believes that they should follow these visions to save as many lives as possible. Good moral quandry right?

Well, as if there wasn't enough tension after that conversation, but soon after Ulysses gets another vision. This time he alerts just the Ultimates because of how Captain Marvel feels, and this time it's in time to ambush a newly resurrected Thanos and stop him from stealing the Cosmic Cube. However, during the melee War Machine is hit and accidentally hits She-Hulk with a missle. He is terrified that he's killed her, and while distracted with checking on her, he's attacked and killed by Thanos.

So right after Tony Stark argues about altering the future, the actions of Captain Marvel and the Ultimates lead to the death of his best friend and former teammate. Stark kidnaps Ulysses from Attillan (the kingdom of the Inhumans) in order to learn how his powers work. This leads into issue 3, when the Ultimates and Inhumans catch up to Stark and Ulysses gets his 3rd vision, this time sharing it with everyone in the room. And this time his visions show a rage filled Hulk several stories tall and holding half of Iron Man's body in his right hand.

Quick backstory about Hulk these days. Last year Marvel introduced the Totally Awesome Hulk, a title that I can't stand. I also do not like the story. Basically a young child prodigy named Amadeus Cho has been assisting Bruce Banner for many years. Last year he developed a bracelet that would remove gamma radiated cells from Banner's body and give them to whomever wore the bracelet. Banner would then hide himself away in a secret mountain laboratory to experiment on himself. This comes as a shock to his friends later on. Cho uses the bracelet for himself and becomes the new Hulk. I don't like it, but whatever.

Anyway, the Avengers, Inhumans and the Ultimates arrive to confront Banner. Captain Marvel and Tony Stark approach the situation from opposing sides. Danvers wants to take Banner into custody to avoid any future possibility of Banner "hulking out", while Stark wants to stay with Banner to keep him safe.  At this point in his life, Bruce Banner hasn't had a "hulking out" incident in a year, but is terrified that he might have or will at any moment. The tension grows and Banner starts to get mad, but before he gets a chance to hulk out, an arrow with a special arrowhead comes out of no where and strikes Banner through the head. Killing him. That's right. The fucking Incredible Hulk was killed in issue #3 of Civil War II. I was stunned. Then the killer was revealed. Hawkeye aka Clint Barton was apparently contacted by Banner months before. He tells Hawkeye that he hasn't had a Hulk incident in a year, but he's terrified that he could at any moment. He reveals that he developed the arrowhead himself, specifically to kill him. He goes on to explain that he's asking Hawkeye because he knows that Hawkeye is the only one he can trust to be able to move on after killing Banner.

I was shocked. I already felt as if the ground underneath me was falling out with this All New All Different Marvel Comics, but they just killed off 2 Hulks and War Machine. Who the hell is next?!!!

I'm going to mention one other significant change to ongoing comics that seems to have people in an uproar. Every few years, the writers decide to change an old character a bit by either killing off the classic character entirely and replacing them or coming up with a way to keep the character alive but still use a new character in the title role. Follow me? No? Ok then...so the last major character to go through a big character change was Captain America aka Steve Rogers. A year or so ago Captain America started aging, and would soon be too old to continue heroing. So the mantle of Captain America was passed on to the Falcon. This is not the first time. There have been several Captain American's that were not Steve Rogers. The time before this Bucky Barnes (the Winter Soldier) took over as Cap after Steve Rogers was "assassinated" at the end of Marvel's first Civil War. So now Falcon is Cap, but also Steve Rogers is back as Cap. Yes, that's right. There are 2 Captain America's currently. Why? I don't know. I don't particulary care for this at all. I was never a fan of Falcon to begin with. But I digress. The uproar with Cap was that in issue #1 of Captain America Steve Rogers, it was revealed that Cap was an agent of Hydra this whole time. People went bonkers. Then issue #2 came out and he was back to where he belongs. But that's not the change I want to talk about.

There's a new Iron Man. And she, yes SHE, is a 15 year old black girl. Personally, I love this idea. I believe all characters need a change from time to time. Other people have worn Batman's cowl in Bruce Wayne's absence, there are currently 2 Spider-Mans (Spider-Men?) in the Marvel Universe, and also 2 Captain Americas. But people are freaking out about this new Iron Man. Their complaint is that Marvel is changing iconic character simply for politically correct reasons. And I call bullshit. Personally, the idea to go with a young Muslim girl as Ms. Marvel was a great idea! Miles Morales, a half black, half hispanic teen is a great idea! And now a black female Iron Man is also a great idea! It mirrors our society! We don't live in a world or even a country of all just one race of people, so why should the comic world be full of all white super heroes and just a few that represent another race? These same people would then argue that it's not the diversity they have a problem with, it's the unoriginal thinking of the writers. Here I also disagree. I will respond to that argument with a question; Would you be more likely to pick up a new comic featuring a new hero with totally original powers and name that was of a different race or would you simply continue to buy the comics that feature your favorite heroes that don't ever really change? The answer is simple. If given the choice between what they know and what they don't, people choose what they are familiar with before trying something new. Sales numbers for the new Ms. Marvel were fantastic! Would that be the case if she wasn't called Ms. Marvel? Probably not.

My point here is, change is inevitable. In comic books and in life. There is nothing we can do to stop change, so instead of resisting we should be embracing. Change is scary, but it is also exciting. I look forward to seeing the many changes my favorite characters will be going through in the years to come and hopefully I will have a hand in those changes as well.

Thanks for reading. We're recording episode 2 of The Good Shit podcast today, so that will be available on soundcloud tomorrow, be sure to listen in. Jimmy and I have a new guest and some great topics to talk about. See you next time!

Who's got the best Bad Guys? Exploring Classic Rogues Galleries

Super heroes are fun and interesting on their own, but the most popular heroes are the ones that have a large and serious rogues gallery. We all know what a rogues gallery is right? Well I'll explain just in case, as I will be referring to it throughout today's post.

A Rogues Gallery is a list of all the villains a hero faces on a regular basis. I'm going to jump right in with the most classic and well known Rogues Gallery. BATMAN!

Batman is arguably the most popular character that will be on this list, also the oldest, and he also has the most iconic villains in comic book history. Here's the list, starting with the biggest of baddies: The Joker - the most famous of all the Dark Knight's adversaries. A mass murderer, with no specific agenda other than causing chaos and mayhem.

The Penguin - Another famous villain. Oswald Cobblepot is depicted more as a gang boss, often in control of the black market arms deals in Gotham City and beyond.

The Riddler - One of my personal favorites. Edward Nigma is more of a nuisance to Batman, and vice versa. There is still so much potential for the Riddler to become an even nastier villain than he has been shown in the past.

Catwoman - Sometimes rival, sometimes lover of Batman. Either way, Selina Kyle deserves a spot on the list simply because of how she is able to get under Batman's skin. He genuinely cares about her wellbeing, but won't hesitate to taker her down if the situation calls for it. These days, I think Catwoman is more of an anti-hero that helps Batman and the Bat-family rather than work against them.

Bane - The man who broke the Bat. One of the, if not THE, most physically threatening villain Batman has ever faced. On top of his physical ability, he's also a top notch tactician and strategist; making military like manuevers to further his criminal aspirations.

For time and space sake, I'm going to just list the rest of them: Killer Croc, Hush, Hugo Strange, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Solomon Grundy, Firefly, Killer Moth, Mad Hatter, Man-Bat, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Ra's al Ghul, Scarecrow, Ventriloquist, Zsasz, Deadshot, Clayface, the Calandar Man, and the Court of Owls. Might have missed a couple. No wonder Batman is so great huh?! Superman has a decent rogues gallery, but it's nothing like this! These are hardcore, classic comic book villains. Many people have died by their hands, and many classic capers. Read Batman: The Long Halloween and then Batman: Dark Victory and then Batman: Hush for a real fun reads that feature most of Batman's Rogues Gallery.

Next up on the classic rogues list is also a DC comics hero. They actually refer to themselves as "the Rogues". I love it. They're the villains of THE FLASH!

Flash's rogues gallery consists of Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Weather Wizard, Mirror Master, the Trickster, Heat Wave, Pied Piper, Gorilla Grodd, Abra Kadabra, Golden Glider, and the Top. There's one or two more, but these are the classic bad guys. I love this group because they still have the cheesy comic book villain names like Captain Cold, who uses a freeze ray, or Weather Wizard & Mirror Master. You can probably figure out their abilities just by their name. If you have not seen the Flash TV show, then you are missing out. Best super hero show on TV! Feels like the comic book pages have come to life on my tv screen.

Jumping companies to Marvel. Most iconic Rogues Gallery on this side is of course Spider-Man! He's got classic villains like Doctor Octopus, The Vulture, the Chameleon, Rhino, Mysterio, Scorpion, the Lizard, Green Goblin (Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn), Kraven the Hunter, Jackal, Electro, the Sandman, Hydro-Man, Speed Demon, the Kingpin, Hobgoblin, Molten Man, Demogoblin, Hammerhead, Tombstone, Morbius the Living Vampire, the Beetle, Boomerang, Scarecrow, Looter, Shocker, Silvermane, the Kangaroo, the Big Wheel (yep, real guy), the Gibbon, Grizzley, Man-Wolf, Tarantula, Will o'the Wisp, Jack O'Lantern, Alistair Smythe, Slyde, Styx and Stone, Venom, Grey Goblin, Mister Negative, Morlun, and Carnage.

Wow, what a list! Do you see how this list is almost as famous as Batman's? These guys are vicious too! Doc Ock highjacked Peter Parker's body for like a year! Norman Osborn (as the Green Goblin and not) has killed Gwen Stacey and her father, has been a consistant thorn in Spidey's side, and turned Peter's best friend Harry against him! Harry Osborn was Peter's best friend, as the Green Goblin, he was possibly Peter's most dangerous foe because he knew Peter's secret. Venom, during his first villainous run, KILLED PEOPLE ALL THE TIME! Then they changed him into kind of a good guy to help Spidey fight Carnage, who was even worse and KILLED EVERYONE IN HIS PATH!!! Maximum Carnage is still one of the most violent comic book stories I have ever read, but I also highly recommend it.

So who has the best Rogues Gallery in your opinion? Batman or Spider-Man? Let me know what you think.

The Rogues that didn't make the list are: Superman's villains: Lex Luthor, Braniac, Bizarro, Parasite, Cyborg Superman, Mongul, Doomsday, Bloodsport, Conduit, the Intergang, Metallo, Mister Mxyzptlk, Toyman, Ultraman, and General Zod. There's only a few on here that are worth talking about, that's why the list doesn't hold up.

The X-Men have a terrific rogues gallery! But, since the X-Men are a team and therefore often face another team of villains led by an overall bad guy. Love this concept, but it's not the same as Batman, Flash or Spider-Man. Here's a list anyway: Magneto and his Acolytes, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Mr. Sinister and the Marauders, Donald Pierce, Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers (more like Wolverine's villains, they all have a personal grudge against the old canuckle head), the Brood, the Sentinels, Apocalypse and his Horsemen, Dark Riders, the Externals, Freedom Force, Factor 3, the Hellfire Club, and the Mutant Liberation Front. Like I said these are mostly groups. Their ranks range from 5 to 10 plus members. Some villains that are worth noting specifically (they're members of at least 1 of the teams listed above): the Juggernaut, Stryfe, Gideon, Sauron, Mojo, and Spiral. Also the Shadow King is worth a mention.

Don't know a lot of these names? Interested in who they are? Good! Ask me for specifics and I shall give them! Comic villains are fascinating to me.

Thanks for reading. Until next time, interweb-slingers, enjoy yourselves and each other.

Ultimate Team Ups

As a lifelong comic book reader, a lot of my favorite issues involve team ups. Team ups are great, they take two or more popular heroes (and/or villains) and team them up for an issue or mini-series. A current popular team up is Deadpool and Spider-Man. Spider-Man was the most popular super hero when I was growing up and so there were a butt load of Spider-Man titles available. There was Spider-Man (of course), The Amazing Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Deadly Foes of Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Astonishing Spider-Man, Marvel Team up featuring Spider-Man, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, Spider-Man Unlimited, The Sensational Spider-Man, Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man, and Marvel Knights: Spider-Man just to name a few. So obviously there were many opportunities for Spider-Man to team up with someone.

My favorite team ups had to be the bad guys though. And Spidey has a FANTASTIC rogues gallery. Above I mentioned Deadly Foes of Spider-Man, within those pages I met the Sinister Syndicate, an offshoot of my favorite group that I will get to in a minute. The Sinister Syndicate consisted of baddies The Beetle (armored suit that made him look like a beetle. Had stuff to make him a tough opponent, he was also the leader), Boomerang (hot shot loud mouth dude that has rocket boots and themed boomerangs that he can throw extremely fast and accurately), Hydro-Man (remember Sandman from Spider-Man 3? Him. Except water), Speed Demon (a speedster like The Flash, but not nearly as fast or as charming), Rhino (every group has a strong guy and that's Rhino. He's a big dude anyway, but in the comics he also wore an armored, imprenatrable suit. Always a tough fight for Spidey), and Shocker (Herman Schultz wears a self invented suit that provides defense from physical attacks, and gauntlets that project concentrated vibrational air blasts. Another tough one for the Webhead).

Then there's my favorite Spider-Man rogues team up. Then Sinister Six! There have been many incarnations of the Sinister Six over the years, sometimes their ranks grew to be the Sinister Sixteen! I'm not going to list their powers with the guys, there's too many.

Original line up - Doctor Octopus, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio (Quentin Beck. Also several people who have been known as Mysterio), Sandman, the Vulture (original one, Adrian Toomes)

Others that would eventually join and leave at different times were: Hobgoblin, Gog, Beetle, Scorpia, Shocker, Venom, Green Goblin, Boomerang, Chameleon, Hammerhead, Tombstone, Venom (when Mac Gargan, formely Scorpion, had the alien symbiote. Ask me about this later, good fun stuff.), Grim Reaper, Lizard, Trapster, Rhino, Living Brain, Overdrive, Speed Demon, SPIDER-MAN (during the Superior Spider-Man storyline when Doctor Octopus' mind was in control of Peter Parker's body), and many others that aren't even worth mentioning.

Other groups I was a big fan of was The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Enemies of the X-Men that had various members throughout the 90's. I think my fascination for these baddie team ups came from my early years. Even before I could read comic books I was watching shows like He-Man & the Masters of the Universe, Thundercats, Silverhawks, and Super Friends. Super Friends and He-Man stick out the most for me. If you're unfamiliar with Super Friends, it was a cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera that started in 1973 and ran until 1986. It was the Justice League of America basically, but written only for children. Very cheesy, ya know what I mean? I loved it. But my favorite part wasn't Superman, or Batman & Robin, or Wonder Woman, or Aquaman, or Green Lantern, or Plastic Man, or Green Arrow or Marvin & Wendy or the Wonder Twins, or even Wonder Dog! Nope, it was the Legion of Doom! The bad guys!

The Legion of Doom met in a big Darth Vader helmet in a swamp and they were led by Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mind of all time! Members were Lex Luthor, Bizarro (a reverse Superman, he even speaks in opposites), Black Manta (Aquaman villain. A real good one too, I'll talk about him another time.), Brainiac (Superman baddie that I hope we see in the Justice League movie), Captain Cold (Flash villain, would become a very interesting character to me in 30 years), Gorilla Grodd (super intelligent gorilla villain of the Flash), Riddler (Batman's Riddler), Scarecrow (another Batman bad guy), Sinestro (Green Lantern's arch nemesis), Solomon Grundy (Batman villain. I think I'll do a Batman Rogues gallery vs. Spider-Man's tomorrow :-) ), and the Toyman (Superman villain who, 20 years later, would be responsible for the murder of a child in an issue of Superman. I remember how much that bothered me when I first read it.)

So who would be my ultimate team up, you ask? Well not only will I tell you, but I'll show you!

Can you see who those guys are?! They're the ULTIMATE SINISTER SIX! Apocalyspe (X-Men villain, featured in last X-Men movie), Darkseid (big baddie of the Justice League, the Thanos of DC comics), Kang the Conqueror (Avengers villain), Magneto (X-Men villain and sometimes leader), Lex Luthor and SKELETOR (He-Man villain)! Ignore the Lego Ghostbusters, I assure you they have NOTHING to do with the PURE EVIL that stands next to them. Now, I never actually intended to team these guys up, it was a happy accident that happened when I was setting up a bunch of my old toys for my cousin's and my friend's kids to play with while the adults drank adult drinks on Saint Patrick's Day. Don't judge.

Who is your ultimate team up? I'm on twitter, you can tweet me (i really don't like saying that or writing it either for that matter), @SuperNerdyNews or leave me a comment on here or on my Facebook page! If I get enough responses I'll talk about them on my podcast, The Good Shit, now available on soundcloud.com.

 I would love to hear who you would put on your ultimate team. It doesn't have to be Villains or Good Guys! It can be both! AND your team up could include ANYONE from ANY universe out there! Have fun, interwebslingers!

The State of Comics Today

I have been a comic book reader ever since I first learned to read as a little kid. I didn't have a comic book shop down the street from where I lived though, not like now. So my comics came from off a rack or in a multi-pack from the local Hobby Store in my hometown. The multipacks usually had smaller titles that I wasn't very interested in, like GI Joe or Star Trek, I think I even got an Indiana Jones in there once. Still have that one. Occasionally, I would luck out and get a Spider-Man, Wolverine, Superman, Batman, or a What If (as a kid I loved the What If...? issues) My point is, back then I didn't know anything about stories staying cannon, or crossover events.

Those early years I spent reading, and buying books (but before I really started collecting), there were major comic book events that I was completely unaware of. The 3 biggest being Marvel's Secret Wars (the original published between 1984 & 85), DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985-1986) and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (1986).

I'm making myself feel old, because that all happened 30 years ago. Today, comic books are everywhere. The 90's saw a rise in their popularity, but also revealed what happens when a title is too popular. (I'm talking about the Death of Superman fiasco, where everyone and their mother went out and bought an issue or the entire series thinking that in 50 years, it would make them rich. Little did they know, that by purchasing an issue that they were causing the comic book bubble to grow. When it finally popped, DC has printed millions of the same issue and was king, but Marvel had declared bankruptcy and that's why the movie rights to X-Men and Fantastic Four are currently owned by Fox Studios and the rights to Spider-Man are owned by Sony).

In the early 00's, comics were no longer as popular as they were in the 90's. But there was a new exciting media that was beginning to grow. The most popular comics of the 90's, the X-Men, hit the silver screen in 2000, followed by Spider-Man in 2002. These movies would help to revitalize comic book popularity.

Crossover events became more common. A crossover event is something in comic books that involves heroes from all over the universe. In Marvel, crossover events are usually centered around The Avengers, while DC the stories are centered around the Justice League. Both teams are composed of most of the companies' major characters. I alone have collected (almost) all major Marvel and DC crossover events since the 80's. In the last 10 years, Marvel has published a crossover event almost every year! Sometimes multiple in 1 year!

A couple of years back, both Marvel and DC announced plans to "reboot" their comic book universes. Because of the success of movies like The Avengers and Iron Man, both companies went after all of the potential new readers that these movies created. Now, many long time readers believe that comics are too reflective of the movies. I, personally, understand why these companies would choose to do this, but a lot of people are not happy with this path.

DC comics has rebooted twice in 2 years, because their first attempt (the New 52) didn't go as well as they liked, and book sales fell. Marvel has been leading sales since at least 2007 when they released Civil War. After Civil War came World War Hulk (one of my personal favorites), then Secret Invasion (great story and concept, another favorite), which led to Utopia (where the Dark X-Men were created), which then led to Dark Reign, which led directly to Siege. A little after that came Chaos War, Fear Itself, Schism (the only X-Men centric story I'm listing here, AWESOME read), Avengers vs. X-Men (so much fun), the poorly recieved Age of Ultron (not the movie, the comic that movie took the title and some story elements from), Infinity (Inhumans centric, not the first Inhumans crossover story, but one worth listing); Original Sin in 2014 revealed the darkest secrets of the Marvel Heroes (very fun, whodunnit story, with some great team-ups that you wouldn't think of before it happened ie Doctor Strange and the Punisher), Death of Wolverine (character centric, but Wolverine was such a presence in the Marvel Comics Universe, so his death was very significant, especially now), AXIS (have yet to read it, not at the top of my list), then Spider-Verse (again Spider-Man character specific, but from what I'm told, it's a FANTASTIC read. I'm looking forward to it). All of these events were mostly successful, and I purposefully left out a lot of smaller events that were specific to the X-Men or other characters. Point being, there has been a shit ton of crossover events.

2014 brought us Marvel's Time Runs Out event. This was the beginning of the end of the Marvel Comics Universe(s) I had grown up with. ***Sidenote, Marvel had created an alternate universe called the Ultimate Universe. It first debuted in 2000 with Ultimate Spider-Man, The Ultimates (the Ultimate Universe's version of The Avengers), Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four. This universe, also called Earth 1610, introduced fans to Miles Morales who would become Ultimate Spider-Man after that universe's Peter Parker died.**** Time Runs Out is on my "To Read" list, and it only covers 2 titles, but it tells the story that leads to the demise of the original Marvel Universe (Earth 616) and the Ultimate Universe (Earth 1610). This leads to the 2015 Marvel crossover event, SECRET WARS.

Secret Wars was awesome! I don't want to go too into detail, but it featured heroes and villains like we've never seen them before. Doctor Doom is God and controls the universe, but there are remnants (heroes, original Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, original Reed Richards, Ultimate Reed Richards, Black Panther, and a handful of others) from the original 616 and 1610 Ultimate universes. They develop a plan to overthrow Doom and bring back the world they know. This all takes place on a new planet that Doom created called BattleWorld. Marvel literally blew up their universe and started from scratch. Definitely give this a read.

So, Marvel was really busy right? Well, DC was too, but just not nearly as successful. DC was having a tough time keeping up. Their comic sales were down, and their Universe reboot plan was not going well. Fans were just not enjoying the New 52. One event that I really enjoyed was called Forever Evil. Basically all the villains took over their rivals monthly titles for a month, for example, instead of an issue of Batman it was Joker #1. Instead of Superman it was Lex Luthor #1, or instead of the Man of Steel it was Doomsday #1, etc etc...

Forever Evil did not sell the way DC hoped, and overall reviews were mixed. On top of this, DC released their first attempt at rivaling Marvel at the movies. In 2013 (1 year after The Avengers came out), Man of Steel was released. It performed well, made enough money for DC and Warner Bros. studio to move forward with their own shared cinematic universe just like Marvel was doing. Except, Man of Steel was no where near as good as The Avengers. DC was on purpose doing something different than Marvel. Where Marvel released several solo hero movies that led to The Avengers, DC went with introducing Superman and then moving directly into a movie introducing the begining of the Justice League in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Without giving the rest of the heroes (The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg) an introductory solo movie. They will come out after the first Justice League movie.

After the failure of the New 52, DC decided to reboot their universe once again. That's 2 reboots within 2 years! Fans were already aggravated with all of the changes to their favorite characters, and the story they went with was a bit confusing and sales remained low. The storyline that connected the New 52 to the new universe was GREAT though. Actually, I think the books were some of the best comics I have read in years. The details are a bit confusing, but totally worth the read. It's called The Darkseid War and is told over 10 issues in Justice League. From the ashes of the Darkseid War rose Rebirth, DC comics' new universe. So far, I have been really enjoying this new direction. Check it out.

Marvel's crossover events did not take a break at all. After last year's reboot, they jumped right in to keep up with the movies. Marvel's Civil War II was released in April just in time to coinicide with the release of Captain America: Civil War in theaters. Neither story has anything to do with the other, but new readers and young fans don't know that and so once again Marvel dominated monthly comic sales.

Reading comics and collecting comics are very different things. As a reader, I like to keep up with current story lines of my favorite heroes. For example, Wolverine is one of my absolute favorite characters. His death was a major moment for me. Once that story was told, I figured he would be brought back to life by now. He's not. Instead, Marvel went with a character introduced in an alternate universe called Old Man Logan (my absolute FAVORITE Wolverine graphic novel, it's SO FRIGGIN GOOD!). This Wolverine was an old man, who was taken from his world during Secret Wars, and brought back into present day New York City. In his lifetime he saw the bad guys take over the world, and watched all of this friends die, so in his world he had no one but his wife & kids. Until they were taken from him too. When this Wolverine is brought back to New York, he's not only a man out of time, but he's an old man thrust back into a world he thought was long gone. It's been very interesting with how they're writing him now. I recommend Old Man Logan, the graphic novel, the Brian Michael Bendis Secret Wars issues, and the current run very highly.

As I said before, reading comics and collecting comics are very different. As a collector, there are specific issues I want. For example, I am collecting Wolverine's career from the 80's to his death and beyond, the major moments of Batman's career (Year One, Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Death in the Family, Knightfall, Hush, Dark Knight Returns, the Killing Joke, etc...) and all major Marvel and DC crossover events. Collecting is more about obsession than it is about enjoyment. Although I enjoy my collection more than I do my new monthly readings. There's something extremely satisfying about looking over at my bookshelf and seeing my comic book library.

So what's the actual state of comics today? They are more popular than ever, more titles are being published more than ever before and there is no sign in slowing down. There is a lot of great stuff to read out there, and it is much more acceptable to be reading a comic book or graphic novel now than it was in the 80's or even the 90's. I read my books openly and often in public. Adults and kids ask me about what I'm reading.

Today is truly a great time to be a comic book fan.

Brandon Stark the new Three Eyed Raven

So I realized today that I have spent nearly 0 time talking about Bran this season. I briefly mention him in one of my last posts. Well, his scenes definitely deserve another look at and discussed. Let's begin.

When we first see Bran this season, he's being trained by the 3 Eyed Raven (in the books, he's Bryndon Rivers, a bastard Targaryan). We're introduced to how Bran can travel through time. At first it's fun to watch him walk around and see his father Ned and Ned's sibilings. We meet Lyanna Stark for the first time and (sob) Hodor before the incident. I noticed something rewatching this scene in episode 2. Hodor responds to Bran as if he has full brain function but only says "Hodor". So when Bran says, (looking at Hodor)

"Willis? That was your name?"

Hodor replies, "Hodor." Quietly, like saying, "yeah."

Then Bran goes on. "You could talk. What happened?"

Hodor looks at Bran with this very sad expression and says, "hodor." As if to say, "you happened." HEARTBREAKING! HOLY BALL SWEAT DO I LOVE THIS SHOW!

Anyway, next time we see Bran is at the Tower of Joy flashback Part 1! This scene is AWESOME! Ever since the flashback in the finale I have wanted to go back and see this episode again. Arthur Dayne is truly a great swordsmen! Book readers, did you notice that Ned picks up Ser Arthur's sword Dawn in this first part, and then has it with him when he sees Lyanna in the tower? I'm going to do a post about ancestral swords of Westerosi Houses, like Dawn and the Stark's greatsword Ice.

This scene shows us that even as a spirit (or whatever the hell he is. A ghost?), he still can influence the past. Now, that does NOT mean he can change the future. This is what is a called a "closed Time loop". There can be no alternate future if Bran does something while in the past. Now there is a theory floating around that Bran may be the reason King Aerys II became known as the "Mad King". Could Bran go back in time and disturb the past in a way that Aerys goes crazy? Or maybe every few Targaryans carry the "mad gene".

Next Bran stuff is in episode 5 The Door. Yeah. That door. Poor Hodor. Poor door Hodor. HA! Sorry. We get to learn about the origins of the White Walkers! Cool. I'll get more into them another time. Bran, once again, is able to interact with wherever the weirwood tree takes him. It's not clear, but it seems as though Bran is whisked away to someplace that will help explain a piece of the plot at a perfect time for the audience to know. I love this device. I love that moment when you are reading or watching something and a big piece of a mystery falls into place. Yeah, that's some good shit.  ANYway, the Night King is not only able to see Bran, but touch him too! This dude must be CRUH-AZY powerful! And now we're heading towards a showdown between Bran and the Night King possibly on the astral plane? That's like Professor X fighting the Shadow King!!!! Did I mention that I love this show?

Lastly is the Tower of Joy flashback part 2. Lovely. Jon or maybe Jaeharys Targaryan (more on that another time ;-) ) is born and Bran sees it all. He knows who Jon's real parents are!!! What is he going to do with that information! My wife is a strong believer in the theory that Meera Reed is actually Jon's sister. I also believe this to be true. Season 7 could potentially start off with a close up of a young Ned Stark looking down at a baby Jon while he sits next to his now dead sister. Suddenly, a baby cries, but it's not Jon. Ned looks over to see the handmaid with a baby girl. Since Howland Reed had no problem stabbing Ser Arthur Dayne through the back of the neck, I bet he'd be down to adopt a baby girl. There is some solid evidence to back that theory up too. Just look at Meera. She looks exactly like Jon. She is also the same age. A fact that is in the books, but you can roughly judge how close in age they are despite them never sharing screen time.

So where does Bran go from here? We know he is at the Wall, and because of Benjen Stark, we know that magic helps protect the Wall and all beyond it. Maybe Bran goes through the Wall like he does in the books, by way of a magic door in the Night Fort. That would be pretty cool. Or maybe he goes through at Castle Black like everyone else has done. There he meets Dolores Edd, who sends a raven to Winterfell addressed to the new King of the North. Holy shit this show is so great, I can't believe I have to wait another year to see new episodes.

Thanks for reading! The first 2 parts of my new podcast The Good Shit is now available on soundcloud.com the link is here: soundcloud.com/mike-milnes-802160554/good-shit-official-episode-1-part-1-jun-23-002

See ya next time!

Game of Thrones - What's next?

So it's been a few days, but we're still feeling the glow after that masterpiece that was episode 10 "Winds of Winter". But what's next? What does season 7 have in store for us? Well, there are of course, no definite answers, BUT we have some clues from the finale to go off of so we can speculate what the season premiere will feature.  Let's take a looksee:

So Cersei is now the Queen of Westeros. Fully in command, but she has yet to talk with Jamie. I can't imagine Jamie being very happy about Cersei's choices, especially when one of those choices led to the death of their youngest child.  I don't think Jamie will react so fiercely that he'll kill her right away. Cersei will most likely be the main antagonist in Westeros throughout the next season, hopefully with a showdown between her and Dany. How awesome would that be? I think Cersei is headed for one of the biggest comeuppances (I think I made up that word) we have ever seen in the show. She is a terrible person, and the only part left to the prophecy she's connected to is her own death. Dany could attack King's Landing, and Tyrion could be the one to finally end Cersei's life. That would be fitting, but there are too many parallels between Jamie being called the Kingslayer and now Cersei being Queen.

As for Daenarys, the last shot of the finale was her and her forces sailing across what looks like the Narrow Sea. But is it the Narrow Sea really? Did you notice Varys standing just behind her on the ship? How could he travel half way across the world from Meerheen to Dorne and then back to Meerheen before Dany leaves? Unless, he didn't. I can hear your brains. "What is he talking about?" What if Dany didn't wait for Varys to come back. What if she met him at Dorne and is now sailing on to where they'll make camp. Makes sense right? And where do you think the fleet should land? How about the fortress that Dany's ancestors built when they first came to Westeros? That's right, I'm talking about Dragonstone! Yes, Dany could sail to and hide in Dorne, but why would she hide? She already has the backing of 2 great houses, Highgarden and Dorne, now she needs a place of her own. She'll take back Dragonstone, which we haven't seen since Stannis left it in Season 2, and from there she will launch her assault against King's Landing. Dany has really set herself up to totally conquer Westeros. An army of Unsullied, the mercenaries of the Second Sons, the power of the largest Kahlasar the world has ever seen, half of the Iron Fleet plus her own armada, and 3 nearly full sized dragons! What does Cersei have? The Lannister army basically, and a heavily fortified capital city.  I can't wait to see that fight!

Jon and Sansa have had quite the season, and really next year is up in the air about what will happen with them. I think Sansa is not done with Little Finger. She needs to keep him close to ensure that he won't betray her in anyway, and yet I feel like that betrayal is coming no matter what she does. She spurned his marriage proposal, but I don't think that will be the last time it is discussed. Little Finger has been holding onto a grudge against the Starks and Tullys since he was a boy. I do believe he wants to marry Sansa, as that would be a victory to him, like he got the last laugh after not ever being loved by Catlyn. Although, his ties to the Starks could be one he feels is necessary and a way of honoring Catlyn. Of course, with Little Finger, anything is possible.

As for Jon, we all know what his priorities are. He's most likely going to spend his time in season 7 preparing the Northerners for the war against the White Walkers. Although, now that he's the King of the North, he may need to act diplomatically. And along with encouragement from Sansa and possibly Little Finger turn his attention South to King's Landing. I don't know how much interest the Starks will have in taking the Iron Throne after just getting back Winterfell. Typically the North didn't get involved in happenings in the South unless absolutely necessary. But there is definitely one thing I think we all want to see happen! And that is either Jon discovering the R+L=J secret for himself or reuiniting with Bran!

I actually highly doubt Bran will reunite with his family next season. Bran is the 3 Eyed Raven now, and his priority is protecting the realm from the White Walkers and the Night King. Bran was last scene just outside of the Wall. That's where he'll stay too. Maybe the new Lord Commander Dolores Edd will contact Jon about Bran being there. But I think Jon discovers the truth of his parentage himself. And what could that mean for him?

Jon is such an interesting character. Led to believe he's a bastard his whole life, leaves the family he loves to take the black at the Wall, loses the only family he has at the Wall when Benjen disapears, gets taken captive while out on his first ranging, joins the Wildlings as an undercover brother, CLIMBS THE WALL, escapes the Wildlings, takes over command of Castle Black during the battle for the Wall which in turns gets him elected the new Lord Commander, learns that his entire family is either dead, missing or a hostage, gets MURDERED BY HIS OWN BROTHERS (of the Night's Watch that is), brought back to life, retakes his home from the Boltons, AND is named King of the North despite being a bastard in the eyes of his bannermen. AND NOW he's about to find out that the other half of him that is not a Stark is actually a TARGARYAN!!!

That in itself is a bit crazy. What little Jon knows of the Targaryans he's learned from Maester Aemon or from stories told by Old Nan when he was a boy at Winterfell.  However he discovers this secret, he's going to have butt loads of questions.

Season 6 ended with everything resolving wonderfully. Season 7 is set to be pretty awesome, but I have a feeling the good guys' victory won't last long. Cersei is in power, and who knows what that means for the rest of Westeros. Sigh. Unfortunately we all have to wait until April 2017 to find out.

If you didn't know already, the next 2 seasons will be shorter. Instead of 10 episodes, season 7 will probably only have 7 or 8 episodes, while season 8 (the last season) will only have 6 or 7. This sounds crappy, I know, but the show still has the same budget for each season as it has before. So each episode will actually be longer in run time and feature more each week. So, we're really not losing anything. In fact, as a believer that the story is the king, this is a fantastic decision. LOST was a show that suffered from having too many seasons. So if the creators of Game of Thrones only need 7 episodes to tell their story, then that is fine with me. Nobody wants a Hobbit situation, where they take 3 movies to tell 1 story.

So that's it right? No more GoT until next year? Yeah. BUT I'm still going to post about it! I rewatch the show from start to finish every year and there are so many theories and predictions to discuss. So, don't fret, this isn't the end, I swear to the Old Gods and the New.