Monday, December 31, 2012

Gaggy Gagsworthy

Gaggy Gagsworthy (yes, that's his real name) use to be circus tightrope walker. However, he lost that position to the Flying Graysons (Dick Grayson and his parents) and was forced into become a clown, which he really hated. During an act, he attacked one of his fellow clowns. This got the attention of the Joker. Gaggy, who was willing kill people for a laugh, became the Joker's answer to Robin. The duo of the Joker and Gaggy committed various crimes before Batman and Robin sent them to prison. However, the Joker was declared insane and was sent to the Arkham Asylum, thus leaving Gaggy alone in prison. Gaggy was released and went to the Joker's old lair only to discover that the Joker had a new sidekick: Harely Quinn.
Abilities
Gaggy has a variety of abilities. He is extremely agile and is shown skilled enough  to compete with Dick Grayson. He is also a skilled fighter. He has sonic screaming powerful enough to break mirrors and knock out Catwoman. Gaggy also carries around various gag-based gadgets à la the Joker.
References
http://www.comicvine.com/gaggy/29-51451/.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Mr. A

Mr. A is a superhero created by Spider-Man creator Steve Ditko. Mr. A is an objectivist superhero. His name is reference to the phrase "A is A". Many people think he was an indirect influence for Rorschach from Alan Moore's Watchmen.
Rex Graine is a newspaper reporter (for a newspaper Daily Crusader). As Mr.A, he wears metal gloves and mask; a fedora hat and a detective suit. No origin is given, which begs the question why he dresses up like Mr. A if he acts the same way regardless of if he is Mr. A or Rex. He has a half-black and half-white calling card.
Mr. A believes in pure good and evil without any moral grey. He believes in objectivism. He is willing to kill people if an innocent life is at stake and does so mercilessly. He only feels for "the innocent and victimized". He constantly rants on and on about his philosophy even when it means grinding the story to halt (much to the readers' annoyance).
A typical story has someone doing a small crime. Then, they do more crimes. The crimes escalate to the point that the person tries to cover their crimes or run away. The person tries to justify what they are doing without actually blaming themselves. Then, the story ends with Mr. A confronting them and telling them about how they are guilty. Other times, the "story" is just Mr. A denouncing people for having "compromised their values" and debunking their arguments.
My sources was:

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Professor Ojo

Professor Ojo was the son of an assistant at a nuclear facility. Ojo's father was exposed to radiation causing Ojo to be born without eyes. Naturally, Ojo grew to hate atomic enegry. Being a genius despite his handicap, Ojo built a machine to allow him to see. He became an associate of the League of Assassins. He stole an "atomic submarine" only to be stopped by Richard Dragon and Ben Turner (G.O.O.D. members). Turner tried to confront Ojo because one of Ojo's lackey killed Turner's wife. However, Ojo brainwashed Turner into being the assassin Bronze Tiger and sold off his services. Ojo placed a giant flying eye over Star City. Green Lantern Guy Gardner destroyed it after Green Arrow and Green Lantern Hal Jordon failed to do so. He had another flying eye and used it to attack the Arkham Asylum thus freeing the villain Crumbler (real name Alexander Tuttle). Ojo teamed up with Alex so they could attack a nuclear power plant and show the world the horrible effects of radiation.  However, Green Arrow and Green Lantern stopped them.
For those you don't known, "Ojo" is the Spanish word for "eye".
My source was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_Ojo.

Friday, December 28, 2012

Sublime

In my posts about the U-Men and Xorn, I mentioned a villain called "John Sublime". So, I decided to do a post on him since most of you likely have no clue he was.
Sublime is a sentient bacteria and one of the first lifeforms on Earth. When multicelluar lifeforms appeared, he discovered he could possess them. However, mutants (like the X-Men) were immune his powers thus being a threat to him. It is hinted he started the fear of mutants (which if true would completely miss the point of the X-Men mythos). Sublime founded the Weapon Plus project by taking over a human body and taking the alias "John Sublime". The idea of the program was to create living weapons. The phases of Weapon Plus are referred to as "Weapon [Roman numeral]" such as Weapon V or Weapon XI. However, Malcolm Colcord caused Weapon X to be independent program. John Sublime founded the "TransSpecies Movement", which focuses on humans transfering mutant organs in their bodies thus giving them super power, and the U-Men. The X-Men discovered Sublime's "mutant farms" and tried to stop him. Sublime tried to buy Xorn from corrupt Chinese officals. Emma Frost seemly killed Sublime by accidentally dropping him off a building. However, Sublime survived and went back to leading Weapon Plus. Weapon XII-XV were Sublime's attempt to make genocidial mutant hunters that would look like a "Saturday morning cartoon come to life". Ultimaton (Weapon XV) was the only loyal member and was killed by Wolverine. Sublime made Xorn / Magento take over New York City via his mental powers in "Planet X". Xorn / Magento was killed by Wolverine. Chamber tried (and failed) to kill to Sublime. After "House of M" and most of the mutants losing their powers, Sublime tried to kill the X-Men with an army of robots and failed. The mutant haters Lobe, Thug, Verre, Burst and Bouncing Betty claimed they were working for Sublime.
Sublime has various powers. He can possess people. Under normal conditions, he cannot possess mutants. However, he can bypass this if the mutant is using the fictional drug Kick. He can control minds and enchance the powers of his host. He can cause his hosts to regenerate, which is how he can survive so many near-death experiences.
My source was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sublime.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Arm Fall Off Boy

The Legion of Super-Heroes comics have a recurring gag where the members interview potential new members that have moronic powers or an inability to use them correctly. One of these rejects is Arm Fall Off Boy. 
Arm Fall Off Boy's origin is unknown. Matter-Eater Lad claimed Arm Fall Off Boy got his power by holding onto the anti-gravity Element 152 (which, based atomic mass given, should be Europium) too long. However, he may have been joking. As you probably guessed from the intro, Arm Fall Off Boy tried to join the Legion and failed. 
In the Zero Hour timeline, his real name is Floyd Belkin and goes under the name Splitter. It is also stated he from the planet of Lallor, making Matter-Eater Lad's claim seem more plausible since most of the planet's inhabitants are normal people. In Legionnaires #43, he tried out for the Legion and was among of the finalists. However, he was rejected for literally falling apart during the last test. Later, he was seen as a member of the Heroes of Lallor (Lallor's main superhero team). 
Arm Fall Off Boy easily has one of the dumbest powers ever. He can detach his limbs, which seem to harden, and use them as clubs. He can reattach them as well. Unlike the M. F. Enterprises Captain Marvel, he cannot fire him like a missile and has to use his other arm. 
My sources were:

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Armless Tiger Man

Yes, this is real.
Hertz (no first name given) was a German Factory worker. However, his lost his arms when they got caught in machinery. He learned how use his feet and teeth to compensate for his lack of arms. He gained a hatred of machines. During World War 2, Hertz was sent to sabotage American factories. He was defeated by the Golden Age Angel and was sent to prision. Later, in Incredible Hercules issues 129-131 (which takes place in the year 2009), the Armless Tiger Man is seen as one of the villains in the underworld attacking Hercules, Amadeus Cho and Aegis.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Key

Golden Age
The Key was an originally one-shot JSA villain. He was a major crime syndicate leader with agents across the world. He was being chased by the JSA. So, he ended up jumping out  a cable car and seemly to his death (he hasn't been seen since).
Modern Age
A new and seemly unrelated villain named Key appeared in Justice League of America (vol. 1) # 41. He was a chemist that worked for the villain team Intergang. Later, he used "psycho-chemicals" to allow him use the unused 90% of his brain (the writers still thought humans only use 10% of their brains despite that not being true). This allows him to use 10 senses that uses to commit crimes. He uses a Key-Gun and has henchmen called "Key-Men". He had several clashes with the JLA, but just disappeared. He returns two years later in real time. He was apparently in a coma due to the chemicals, which now changed his appearance (as seen above) and enhanced his mental powers. He broke in the JLA's HQ and trapped the JLA members into various fantasies via "a dream-like flu" he made. However, Conner Hawke (who wasn't there when Key did this) stopped him by beating him up when he was distracted. Key was thrown in the Arkham Asylum, where he unsuccessfully tried to get Batman to kill him (claiming he was trying to "escape life"). In the aftermath of  the storyline "World without a Justice League" (see JLA #120-125), he was sent to the "dream realm" (not to be confused with the Dreaming). He later escaped by unknown means. The  Key was seen in a special prison cell, which negated his powers. He somehow escaped off-panel. In Final Crisis, he was a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains. In The New 52 universe, he started at riot at the Arkham Asylum to distract the Justice League for a then-new villain.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_(comics)

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Xorn

Warning: This article may be confusing.
Xorn was a mutant that was seemly sold to the villain John Sublime by corrupt Chinese officials. He wore a skull-like mask that supposedly block the energy emitted from his "star for a brain". To prevent him from killing himself, Cyclops (with the aid of the telepathic Emma Frost) offered to let him join the X-Men. Cyclops found him in a monastery, where they were kidnapped by aliens. They escaped and Xorn used his healing powers (the monks at the monastery claimed he had such powers) to heal the X-Men from a nanobot infection and fix Xavier's spine (which was the reason he couldn't walk). When he was on the team, he acted optimistic and somewhat naively. It was revealed his helmet blocked telepathy. He was put in charge of the "Special Class". In the "Planet X" story line,  Xorn turned out to be Magneto in disguise (he claims he was controlling the nanobots and used some of them to "glue" Xavier's spine to fake his healing powers). He conquered New York City. However, the combination his use of drugs, going insane and hypocritical acts (such as killing normal humans like a Nazi despite being a Holocaust survivor) turned his supporters against him. Wolverine chopped off his head, because he killed Jean Grey.
Marvel Comics wisely decided to make it so Magneto really didn't do that. A mutant named Shen Xorn revealed that John Sublime was using pyshic powers make his brother, Kuan-Yin Xorn, into pretending to be Magneto (pretending to be Xorn) and doing all the previously mentioned actions. Emma Frost read Shen's mind and revealed he was telling the truth. Shen lost his powers in House of M.
The Scarlet Witch accidentally turned millions of mutants' powers into a "big ball of mutant energy" (according to Joe Quesada the editor-in-chief) called the Collective. The Collective merged with postal worker Micheal Poster. He unintentionally killed the superhero team Alpha Flight. The "big ball" retained the original Xorn's personality (Quesada claims it was because of his "pyshcokinetic powers" despite his powers not being pyshcokinesis). It claimed it (when it was Kuan-Yin Xorn) took Magneto's image because he thought mutants would follow him that way. Despite various heroes destroying the Collective, Micheal retained the powers he had used and joined the Omega Flight.
My sources were:

Friday, December 21, 2012

U-Men

Belief System
The U-Men's belief system around the teaching of the fictional John Sublime. They believe the world is imperfect and must not be exposed to "fallen Earth". As such, they wear special containment suits (although they have to pay for the suit themselves) and only eat special "clean" food.
The true insanity of their religion is that they are humans that harvest the organs of mutants and implant the organs in themselves to get super powers. However, this process can kill them if the organ aren't transplanted right. They believe this turns them into a "Third Species" ("Homo perfectus" as Sublime calls them) and will steal the mutant organs of dead U-Men. They use special weapons (such as bullets and razors) to get said organs.
U-Men work in teams. Each squad has a team leader and his/her lackeys. These team often go on mission to collect organs.
Appearances
We first saw the U-Men as a group of them hunt down Angel Salvadore (who has fly-like powers). They are about to dissect her until Wolverine attacked and get killed. As such, more U-Men attack the X-Men's mansion only for Jean Grey and several students defeat them sending them running away in fear.
Next time we see them, Xorn was taking a class on field trip. Xorn gets distracted and left the group. A single U-Man got beaten by the students. The students discovered Xorn "slain" other attacking U-Men.
Kid Omega and his gang got high on a drug called Kick. Drunk, they decided to attack an U-Men headquarter. They end up killing several U-Men. Why are we suppose to treat them as threat?
A single U-Man was attacked by mutants on Planet X.
References:

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

The OTHER Iron Man

He is the guy in the metal underwear (in case you were wondering).
Yes, there is a character named Iron Man that isn't owned by Marvel Comics. This Iron Man was created 1941 thus making him the first Canadian superhero and predating Tony Stark. Despite the pitcure shown above, the comic was actually one of the few colored (most Canadian comics at the time were black and white).
Iron Man was a member of a race of an amphibious human mutants that lived in the South Seas. However, an earthquake killed all of them save for Iron Man. He lived in a sunken castle (mourning the rest of his race's deaths) until World War II. He was "summoned" by someone named Major and two kids. He decided to fight the Nazis (who he thought were no better than the pirates he hated ... just roll with it).
He has various super powers. As mentioned before, he is amphibious. However, he is also super strong (allowing to punch through steel and jump higher than normal person) and indestructible.
My source was:

Friday, December 14, 2012

Danny Chase

Danny Chase was a short-lived member of the Marv Wolfman-era Teen Titans comics. He was intended to be a comic foil to other characters (especially  Beast Boy). However, because he criticized the other member despite being useless in battle, he came off as an egoistical and rude brat. As such, he became extremely unpopular with the fans. Despite Marv's attempts to make Danny more appealing, the negative reception was enough to have Danny written out of the series.
Danny was the son of international spies. As such, he was trained in being a spy himself. For unknown reasons, he had telekinesis and photographic memory. He joined the Teen Titans. He briefly became "Phantasm", using a hockey mask, fabrics and robot-voice simulator (that he stole (Our hero!)) to hide his identity. He gave his life to save Azarath (Raven's home world). His and other souls merged into a being called "Phantasm". This being has appeared time to time in various DC Comics since then. Brother Blood briefly brought Danny back as a zombie. In the Blackest Night event, his body was turned into a Black Lantern. However, Dawn Granger destroyed the Black Lantern Danny.
Danny's main power was telekinesis. However, the power is extremely limited. He could levitate himself when sitting Indian-style and throw small  objects, which annoyed people more than hurt them. Despite claiming to be a super-spy, he would panicked during battle thus enforcing idea he was a useless jerk.
My sources were:

Sunday, December 2, 2012

The Captain

The Captain is a parody superhero that appears in the Nextwave comic series. He is a fouled-mouth, cynical and hard-drinking  superhero. He wears in civilian clothes like the rest of the team. More specifically he wears sneakers, a trenchcoat, camouflage pants and a t-shirt with a black star.
Little is known about his past. What we do know may not be true since the comic Civil War: Battle Damage Report claims the team might have had their mind and memories altered. He claims to be "from ☠☠☠☠ Brooklyn". He was born while his mother was listening Roxy Music's Avalon. His mother hanged his teddy bear leading him to hate teddy bears even to this day. As an adult, he was drunkenly walking around Brooklyn when two aliens, Spa-Fon and Squa-Tront, gave him with the power of "the Heartstar of the space between the galaxies" to make Brooklyn a better place. However, he mistook them for leprechauns and attacked them.
He became a superhero for unknown reason (claims it was "for the mask" despite him not wearing one in the entire series). He became Captain ☠☠☠☠ ("☠☠☠☠" being a censored cuss word so bad that Captain America beat up and shoved soap in his mouth). Then, he tried the names Captain Kerosene, Captain Marvel, Captain Avalon, Captain Avenger, Captain Ultra, Captain Universe, Captain L. Ron, Captain Ron and Captain Power, but had to give them up since other people already took them before him. He eventually had to pay a "marine-looking melon farmer" for his current name. A text box claims that the Captain is not a captain of anything. According to his fellow Nextwave member Aaron Stack, Captain cannot remember his real name and uses Captain as his name.
He joined Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort (H.A.T.E.)'s superhero group the Nextwave. However, he and the rest of the team went rogue when it turned out H.A.T.E. was working for terrorists known as the Beyond Corporation. He helped the team defeat the Beyond Corporation and H.A.T.E.
The Captain has a "generic set of super-hero abilities". He has super strength, super durability, flight and super vision. He has been shown fight the Godzilla-like Fin Fang Foom and even managed to brake one of Fin's fingers with his bare hands. However, when was trying to get his name, he was seen getting beaten up by multiple people. Alcohol does not hinder his super powers although he can still get drunk.
Resources:

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Interlac

"As the official U.P. language, Interlac is taught in schools throughout the system and is the common form of communication between most sentient United Planet races."  - Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #   1
Interlac is a DC Comics fictional language. It is the main language used by 30th century United Planets (think the United Nations IN SPACE) in the Legion of Super Heroes comics. It was first referenced in Adventure Comics # 379.  However, the actual letters and numbers weren't reveal until years in Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 2) # 312 by writer Paul Levitz and artist Keith Giffen. 
Language / Numbering System
The language has 26 letters that corresponds with each the English letters and it's numbering system uses a ten as a base (as shown above). As such, it has ten digits corresponding with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 0. However, the numbering system is flawed due to 42 and 7 looking the same. It has a similar problem with 41 and 6. Despite being written differently, Interlac sounds exactly like English.
Babylon 5
In Babylon 5, there is an unrelated language also called Interlac. This version of Interlac is a universal language based on math. This is flawed idea to the possibility of aliens having non-decimal based numbering system.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlac

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Mercury Man

Mercury Man was a Golden Age superhero who has fallen under public domain. So, now anyone can use him without approval from his original publisher.
Merco was an alien from the planet Mercury. They were "ruled by greed, hatred, and fear". Since they have super advanced weapons, they ended up killing each other in nuclear Armageddon. However, Merco managed survived because the radiation gave him super powers and turned him metallic... for some reason. He had small wings on his ankle and had wing-like ears. He went to Earth as the superhero Mercury Man to prevent the Earth from suffering the same fate. He stopped a nuclear attack on the US. Dr. Penn (a female scientist he met) gave him the power to become a normal human and turn back (although his metallic form was the only time he could use his powers). The next time we see him, he (now in a different costume) takes various "warmongers" to Mercury to show what could happen to Earth if they don't change their ways and trap them there when they refuse to do so.
Merucry Man has a variety of powers. He can fly, turn into mercury, fire disintegration bolts, use minor telepathy (which allows him to find people) and has super strength. He has also been shown surviving in the vacuum of space and the explosion of a nuclear bomb. He also has scientist-level intelligence.
My sources were:

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Grasshopper

Neil Shelton
The Grasshopper(s) is a series of parody superheroes of the same name that each die shortly after they are introduced to spoof the tendency of superheroes dying and being replaced by a new hero with the same name. My main source was Wikipedia.
Doug Taggert
He was an employee for Roxxon Oil (an fictional oil company). He was a security guard that used a suit of power armor allowing him to jump superhuman heights, but provides little to no protection despite being armor. Doug has a crush on  his co-worker Cindy Shelton, who has a crush on the Grasshopper (his alter ego). He tried to stop a robbery and joined the Great Lake Avengers... for five seconds, since the Batroc's Brigade (the people committing the robbery) killed him shortly after.
Neil Shelton
Neil was another Roxxon security guard that gained Doug's suit. However, it was altered and was more like Iron Man's. Cindy Shelton fell in love with him thinking he was the original Grasshopper. Unfortunately, she was Neil's cousin. So, Neil used his "Maximum Jump" to avoid her, which (according to Doorman) killed him because he exited the Earth's atmosphere and burned upon reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.
Unknown
A person claiming to be "The All-New Grasshopper" was a member of the GLA (now called the "Great Lakes Initiative"). His neck was snapped by a disgruntled Deadpool when the latter was kicked off the team.
Skrull Impostor
A fourth Grasshopper joined the team. He was revealed to be a Skrull (a type of shape shifting alien) impostor. Mr. Immortal (the team leader) was shocked while Big Bertha (a female member of the GLA) thought it was obvious.
References:

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Freedom Ring

Comic writer Robert Kirkman felt that it was unrealistic that teen heroes almost immediately adjusted to their superpowers. So, he wanted to create "an inexperienced hero who would get beaten up constantly and probably die". So, he created Curtis Doyle / Freedom Ring for Marvel Team-Up #20 and had him killed in issue 24. However, because the character was gay, people have accused Marvel of being homophobia. Kirkman later admitted to regretting for killing him off due to the small amount gay people in comics.
The villain Ringmaster had made a ring out of a Cosmic Cube (a type of reality warping object), but lost it when the Punisher shot his ring finger off (Ouch). Captain America found it and was going to give it to SHIELD. However, he lost it when he was attacked a MODOC Squad. Curtis Doyle found the ring. He accidentally created a ice cream sundae and realize the ring allowed him to warp reality. He got the name "Freedom Ring" from his friend, Troy, who called the ring a "free dumb ring" (not realizing its power). Troy (who turns out to be a Skrull) became a superhero Crusader and Freedom's partner. FR battled Abomination and got seriously injured. He used the ring to heal himself and made himself stronger, faster and tougher (due to Crusader convincing him to do so). He battled Iron Maniac (an alterate reality version of Tony Stark) whose armor expand outwards and ended up killing Freedom Ring. Crusader later ended up with the ring.
My sources was Comicvine page "Freedom Ring" and Wikipedia page "Freedom Ring".

Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Badger

The series is a mismatch of genres: its a superhero spoof with magic / fantasy element, but has realistic martial arts. The tone varies from black to light comedy. Some people complain about the comedic portrayal of mental illness. However, others find it very funny. The setting is the very accurately portrayed Madison, Wisconsin.
Norbert Sykes, the main character, is a veteran from Vietnam that has multiple personality disorder. Among his personalities is the Badger. The Badger is a martial arts expert "superhero" that attacks innocent people due to his mental illness warping his perceptions of  what is going around him. He tries to help animals or environmental causes. He also the bodyguard for the wizard Hammaglystwythkbrngxxaxolotl ("Ham" for short), who he met after escaping an insane asylum. His other personalities include Emily (that of a nine-year old girl), the homicidal Pierre (who has a French accent), Leroy (that of a dog), Max Swell (an architect) and Gastineau Grover Depaul (who acts like an "inner city African American").
The series has other notable characters. Daisy is Nobert's caseworker. Marvis is Norbert's wife and expert in Vietnamese martial arts. Lord Weterlackus is a demon that used to working with Hammaglystwythkbrngxxaxolotl. 
My source is the Wikipedia page "Badger (comics)".

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Bozo the Iron Man

Yes, this is real. Bozo the Iron Man was a Quality Comics character featured in Smash Comics until issue 42. According to Comicvine, Bozo has fallen to public domain.
Hugh Hazzard was a man with connections to the police. He found a robot and (temporily) deactived it. He enter the robot (it was hollow). He used to go back to find where it came from and found out it was made by an evil scientist. A fight broke out and the scientist died. Hugh took the robot and used to fight crime, dubbing it "Bozo". He altered the robot to make it fly. The robot was either used like a mecha robot (controled by a walkie talkie) or power armor (a la Iron Man). Bozo has made several cameos in DC Comics (who owe a majority of Quality Comics' superheroes). Bozo was the inspiration for the DC Comics villain "Gonzo the Mechanical  B*stard".
My sources were the Wikipedia page "Bozo the Iron Man" and the Comicvine page "Public Domain Characters".

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Force of July and Freedom's Ring

Yes, I know the pun is lame. The Force of July is an antagonistic superhero team in the DC Universe. They are an extremely patriotic superhero team that works for the government. However, they end up fighting with other superhero teams such as the Outsiders and Suicide Squad. This team consisted of the leader Major Victory (a super strong hero who flies and fires energy bolts), the energy-blasting Lady Liberty (who could also fly), the self-duplicating Silent Minority, Sparkler (who could project light in the form of beams or fireworks and fly) and the planet-controlling Mayflower. All the original members would sooner or later be killed.
An offshoot of the team, called Freedom's Ring, appeared in  Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Blüdhaven. They protecting the titular city. Members were new versions of Major Victory, Lady Liberty and Silent Minority. The latter two were killed by the Nuclear Legion. The Freedom Ring was absorbed into First Strike (a special team working for S.H.A.D.E. led by Father Time). It got new members including the "grey skinned giant" Bigfoot, tiny soldier Doll Man, the robot Gonzo the Mechanical B*stard, Human Bomb (who can detonate matter), Lady Liberty III, Silent Minority III, Phantom Lady (who "bend dimensional reality" via her black light projector), Major Victory II, psychic Replicant and villain Major Force (the unrespected leader).
My sources were:

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Captain Marvel...Sort Of

Time to talk about Captain Marvel. Not the the DC one nor any of the Marvel Comic versions. I am talking about the Captain Marvel of M. F. Enterprises. He was made when Captain Marvel wasn't being published.
He is alien robot from another planet. He went to Earth when his planet exploded. He became the superhero Captain Marvel. He befriended a young Bill Baxton (sound like Billy Batson doesn't it?)
Despite being able to "fly, shoot lasers from his eyes, deflect bullets, and emit eletrical shocks", his most notable power was the fact by saying "Split" he could shoot off his limb and reattach them when he said "Xam" (I'm not joking nor were they). The character had only a handful of appearances.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Transformers Generation 2

Some of you may know about Marvel's Transformers comics. You may not know about its sequel: Transformers Generation 2 (a comic based off the toyline of the same name).
After the first Transformers comic series, Decepticons (the villains) were defeated and exiled. Optimus Prime (the leader of the heroes) and the Autobots encountered Jhiaxus (the yellow-red guy pictured), a mysterious Transformer, and his army. Jhiaxus revealrf, in the years the Transformers were comatose when they first crash landing on Earth prior to awaking, both factions (save for the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth) ended the war and unified. However, Optimus' Autobots opposed Jhiaxus because he was attacking defenseless planets. 

On Earth, Cobra, enemies of the G.I. Joes, rebuilt Megatron for no reason. Megatron took over the Ark (the space ship the Autobots landed on Earth with) to draw out Optimus and steal the Matrix of Leadership. The G.I. Joes and Fortess Maximus destroyed the Ark. Simply delayed, Megatron decided beat up Bludgeon, the current leader of the remaining Decepticons, to regain leadership.
After eerie visions and encountering Jhiaxus, Prime, with aid of the Cybertronian elders, discovered that the Transformers once could reproduce but lost this ability when Cybertron (the Transformers' planet) had enough of a population. However, the elder reactivated this power when the Autobots went missing. The elders screwed this up so the new Transformers (such as Jhiaxus and his army) were flawed. Prime tried to convinced Megatron this is a serious threat. Megatron turned on Prime and stole the Matrix, despite beliving them, and later attacked Jhiaxus... only for Jhiaxus to take the Matrix. Decepticon Starscream defected to Jhiaxus' side in the hope of stealing the Matrix.
The Swarm, a "black energy" mass byproduct of the reactive reproduction, started to eat anything metal and went towards Earth. The Autobots and Decepticons battled Jhiaxus and his army. Starscream did manage to steal the Matrix only for it temporary mind wiped him into being good long enough for it him to give it to Optimus. Jhiaxus went crazy and nearly killed Optimus only to be killed himself by the Swarm. Optimus, figuring out what his visions meant, used the Matrix to give the Swarm a conscience. The Swarm disappear and the Autobots-Decepticons tensions temporary came to a halt. Apparently the outcome of this will be determined by a G2 Drone (the foot soldiers for Jhiaxus) and the mysterious Liege Maximo's conversation. THEN, the series just stops without explaining who Liege Maximo is.
My source was the Wikipedia Page "Transformers Generation 2" and the Atop the Fourth Wall Video "Transformers Generation 2 # 1".

Friday, May 11, 2012

Captain Copyright


Captain Copyright was a superhero made Canada's Access Copyright agency. He was designed to teach kids about copyright laws. His comic (and website) was canceled due to controversy involving the character (see below). The website is no longer viewable to a "400 Bad Request".
Controversy soon arose. Despite the fact he is the Captain Planet of copyright, some people question if the agency was actually following copyright laws. For example, the character's website had incorrectly sited Wikipedia quotes, which where quickly removed upon recovery. The comic is biased towards that it supports the commerical entity and not the little guy. It also "forgets" to mention concepts like fair use or blank media tax.
The comic has been parodied several times by supporters of fair use.
My sources were the Wikipedia page called "Captain Copyright" and http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20060601/0139207.shtml

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

CrossGen Comics

In January 2000,  Ron Marz, Mark Waid and Barbara Kesel (with the aid of Mark Alessi and Gina M. Villa expanding the fictional universe) founded CrossGen Comics. The company tried to diversify its publications  by covering various genres while sharing a single fictional universe (unofficially called Sigilverse).
The first wave of CrossGen included a "military science fiction space opera" called Sigil, a fantasy called Mystic, Meridian (inspired by "traditional folklore"), Arthurian legend-inspired adventure called Scion and a fiction universe-expanding CrossGen Chronicles. Each of the protagonists of these comics had sigils that gave them powers and were dubbed "Sigil Bearers".
The first wave was quickly followed by other titles. 2000 unveiled the Homer myths-inspired The First. After 2001, the Atlantean myth-based Crux, epic fantasy Sojourn, Victorian detective story Ruse and Negation. Horror comic Route 666, samurai drama The Path and comedic Way of the Rat came out of 2002. 2003 had titles building up to "Negation War": Solus and Mark of Charon (which were meant to explain the origin of the sigils), Chimera ("about a Sigil-bearer on the far reaches of the Universe" according to Wikipedia), sword and sorcery Brath and pirate story El Cazador. Despite supposedly being in the same universe, these titles rarely crossed over. The most notable exmaple of an actual crossover was Negation War, a company cross over that never was finished. 
CrossGen became CrossGen Entertainment in 2003. They formed 11 sub-companies. For reference, Stan Lee managed to write 8 comics by himself, yet these guys (with more people) need  11 sub-companies. Code6 (one the sub-companies) published out-of-continuity comics, such as The Crossover, Demonwars and The Red Star, that were actually owned by CrossGen Entertainment. Comics on the Web (another sub-company) allowed fans to download digital copies of actual comics, however users had to hover over the word balloons to actually read them.
When a scandal involving "systemic financial problems" was exposed, creators left like it was a sinking ship. This and Barnes and Nobles and Borders returning tradepaperbacks led the company to file bankruptcy.
Joe Quesada, editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, announced Marvel will try to revive CrossGen.
My source was the Wikipedia page "CrossGen".

Friday, April 20, 2012

Nintendo Comics System


Valiant Comics (a year after its founding) created a series of comics books collectively called the Nintendo Comics System based on various Nintendo game and related shows. Here's a list of the featured comics:
  • Based on the three main NES Mario games and The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, the Super Mario Bros comic featured Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool (Princess Peach), Toad and Bowser as the five main characters. The comic had infrequent appearances of Wart (the main villain from Super Mario Bros. 2), the Koopalings, the Doctor Mario Viruses and well as all new characters (such as the idiot King Toadstool) . This was later replaced by a new Super Mario Bros. and Adventures of the Super Mario Bros. comics.
  • Gameboy was just as based much on the Super Mario Land game as the actual Gameboy. Tatanga (main villain of the before mentioned Super Mario Land) and his army would enter the real world episodically only to be beaten up Mario, who would also enter the real world.
  • The Legend of Zelda comic wasn't too notable. Aside from being based on the two Legend of Zelda games, it was also based on the cartoon segment from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show.
  • Captain N: The Game Master comic was based on the cartoon series of the same name. However, some changes were made: all third party characters (Simon and Mega Man) were replaced by Samus (who never appeared in show), Kid Icarus' (Pit) toga became yellow, Uranos (a Kid Icarus villian) was a main villain (despite not even featured on the show) and Princess Lana got a scepter to use as a weapon. Despite this, mistakes in the show were also in the comic (such as King Hippo being light blue).
  • Punch-Out!! and Metroid had graphic novels.
Despite the comics' cancellacation, there have still been Nintendo comics just not published by Valiant.
My source was:

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Civil War

Due to all the damage superhero-villain fights cause, Marvel Comic universe US government passed the "Superhuman Registration Act", which would force all super humans to have to register. The act got real support from the public after Nitro killed 600 people with his explosive-based powers due to the New Warriors botching up. This caused a divide between the superhero community: the pro-SRA side led by Iron Man (I have no clue why) and the anti-SRA side led by Captain America.
While the Anti-SRA are arresting actual villains, the pro-SRA arrested anyone unregistered hero or villain alike. The X-Men and the Runaways (some of the few mutants left after M-Day) decided to be neutral, while some villains move to Canada. Captain America and his forces were ambushed by Iron Man's forces. Refusing to talk, Captain America attacked Iron Man leading to a fight. A clone of Thor was sent to capture the anti-SRA heroes, but ended up killing Goliath. While the pro-SRA restrained the clone, the anti-SRA heroes escaped. Iron Man and Mister Fantastic built an prision, Project 42, in the other dimension Negative Zone, to contain the anti-SRA people. Spider Man (originally aiding the pro-SRA side) turned on Iron Man when he discovered that he didn't plan on releasing the caputred oppopents of the SRA. The Punisher stole plans for Project 42.
The anti-SRA heroes reached the prision only to met by the pro-SRA heroes (including Iron Man) and nanites-controlled villains. Hulkling freed all the captives leading to a full-on pro-SRA side versus anti-SRA side fight. The "fixed" Thor clone and Captain Marvel join the pro-SRA side in the battle only for Namor and Atlanteans to join the anti-SRA side. Seeing the destruction caused by the fight, Captain America surrended. Two weeks laters, the Fifty State Initiative (a government superhero program) was lauched and the remaining anti-SRA heroes either went to Canada or became "underground" heroes. Captain America was sent to trial...only to be shot by Crossbones.
My source was the Wikipedia page "Civil War (comics)".

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Dynamo 5


The Dynamo 5 was based on the concept of "a team that was a biological family but did not act like it".
Captain Dynamo is the protector of Tower City and husband of Maddie Warner. Maddie found him dead via poisoning by the Windowmaker. She also discovered that the Captain was cheating on him. Despite being naturally upset, she realized the city's villains would try to take advantage of his death so she decide to round up five of his illegitimate children. She exposes them to the radiation that gave the Captain his power thus unlocking their latent super powers (they each inherited one of his powers). These people include the geek Hector Chang (got super vision abilities), respectable activist Olivia Lewis (flight), cynical womanizer Spencer Bridges (shape shifting), a film school graduate Bridget Flynn (super strength) and "arrogant jock" Gage Reinhart (telepathy). Maddie acted as their mentor and tried to mold them into a family despite having almost nothing in common. They used the Captain's former base. A year later, after Hector's parents are nearly killed, all the member (save Olivia) gave up being superheroes. Olivia formed her own team, which the former members ended up having to save. They decided to reform the team. The team fought the villain Synergy (another illegitimate child of Captain Dynamo), which causes them to have their powers messed up and manifested new ones. In Dynamo 5: Sins of the Father, the three sons of Dominex, a villain that got beat up by Captain Dynamo, Omni-Man and Supreme, came to Earth to regain their family honor by beating up Earth heroes. Despite the aid of other superhero teams, the D5 failed to stop them. When the sons killed his girlfriend, Hector (now having super strenght) stole the Strong-Suit (which amplify one's strength) and killed them (even when one surrender much to everyone's horror).



My source was the Wikipedia page "Dynamo 5".

Friday, April 13, 2012

First American


First American is a parody superhero that appears in the America's Best Comic series Tomorrow Stories.
The First American is middle-age man that is slightly overweight. Despite his claims, he has no powers and likely has below average human physical and mental abilities. He has incompetence that borders on mental illness. As such, his origin and back story is muddled. He claims to be "genetically engineered today for our nation's tomorrow"; not the First American, but Christopher's descendant.  He is supposedly a man born in the Great Depression and that got his powers from a convoluted series of events parodying the origins of Daredevil, the Hulks. Batman, Superman, Fantastic Four. Spider-Man and etc. He has an ex-stripper U.S. Angel who hates him and wants to be "The Next American".
My source was the Wikipedia page "First American (comics)" and the image was from Comicvine.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Action Philosophers!


Action Philosopher! is a humorous non-fiction comic written by Fred Van Lente with Ryan Dunlavey on art duties. The series explains the philosophy and lives of various philosophers throughout history in a humorous and simple way that the average Joe can understand.
The comic often will have straight-forward, simple explanations of the philosophies with humorous cartoons often with pop culture references. It at times it homages famous cartoonists such as Jack Kirby, Bil Keane and Charles M. Schulz. The series has been praised by Philosophy Now and was nominated for an Ignatz Outstanding Debut Award.

  • Issue 1 features Plato, Bodhidharma, and Nietzche. This issue has the series' most famous line: "PLATO SMASH!".
  • Issue 2 is the "All Sex Special". This features Ayn Rand, Thomas Jefferson, and Saint Augustine.
  • Issue 3 is titled "Self Help for Stupid Ugly Losers". This touches on Freud, Carl Jung, and Joseph Campbell.
  • Issue 4 is called the "World Domination Handbook". This focuses on Karl Marx, Machiavelli, and the Kabbalah.
  • Issue 5 is entitled "Hate the French". Descartes, Sartre, and Jaques Derrida are the focus here.
  • Issue 6 is "The People's Choice" issue. People actually got to vote for the people that appeared in this issue. The winner were Kierkegaard, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
  • Issue 7 is titled "It's All Greek to You". This was various Pre-Socratics philosophers, Aristotle, and Epictetus.
  • Issue 8 is the "Senseless Violence Special". This talks about Kant, Schopenhaur, Hegel, and John Stuart Mill.
  • Issue 9 (and the final issue) was "The Lightning Round". We got a helping of Diogenes the Cynic, Lao Tzu, Micheal Foucault, Confucius, David Hume, George Berkeley, Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Mary Wollstonecraft, Gottfried Leibniz and Baruch Spinoza.
My sources were the trade paper back The More Than Complete Action Philosophers! (which rearranged the stories to be chronologically correct) and the Wikipedia Page "Action Philosophers!"

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Johnny Turbo


"Throw caution to the wind and go all-out on one of your rivals with a series of comic book-styled propaganda and recycle the same two games within them as "proof" of your machine's superiority while introducing a laughable spokesman who, the marketing department not caring, decides to model after a co-worker so as to mock him." - TvTropes describing the Johnny Turbo
Some of you might know about Captain N: The Game Master, a quasi-superhero cartoon that was basically an ad for Nintendo products. Johnny Turbo is the Captain N for Hudson Soft and NEC. Johnny was not only an ad for their system the TurboDuo (a TurboGrafx-16 and TurboGrafx CD hybrid capable of playing CD games), but also propaganda against Sega, a rival of Hudson Soft and NEC who released a similar product called the Sega CD. According to TvTropes, the comic also made fun of the real-life people John Brandstetter and (possibly) Tony Ancona. The comics' issues was published in issues of Electronic Gaming Monthly.

In issue 43 (the first issue), FEKA's (Sega parody) CEO, FEKA Czar / Mr. FEKA (he's called both), explained his evil plan to sell their CD console: claim it is the first and only CD console despite the TurboDuo being first. John Brandstetter learned of this and switched into his alter ego of Johnny Turbo (we don't get an origin story) and confronted agents of FEKA. After exposing their lies and attacked them, he discovered they're "not even human".

In issue 44 (issue 2), Mr. FEKA came up with plan B: tell kids CD console is a stand alone system even though it isn't. After bashing on Sol-Feace (having said it "doesn't even compare" to the similar TurboDuo game Gate of Thunder), John Turbo interrupted the sales of FEKA system and outright threatened Mr. FEKA.

In issue 45 (issue 3), Tony (Johnny's roommate) had a surrealistic dream in which Johnny told him about Gate of Thunders, Lords of Thunder and a code for the 3-in-1 disc that unlocks a Bomberman game.

Reception of the comic was poor. Jonathan J. Burtenshaw called the comic "overly confrontational" and "petty". Linkara (from Atop The Fourth Wall) mocked the comic on one of his live shows pointing out the plan in issue 44 isn't something Sega did and how the comic's argument boils down to "we did first" and nothing else.

My sources were the Atop the Fourth Wall episode "Revenge of the AT4W Live" and the Wikipedia page and TvTropes "Johnny Turbo".

Monday, April 2, 2012

Superman Meets the Quik Bunny


I said "Archie Meet the Punisher" was the dumbest crossover ever. I forget about this one.
The comic starts with Superman finding a flood coming out of nowhere. Meanwhile, the Quik Bunny and the Quik Qlub (kids obsessed with a single drink object) building a multi-story tree house, which the inside of which is metal. They turn a television and see what Superman is doing. The Quik Bunny convinces the Quik Qlub to aid Superman. The Quik Qlub turns into a rocket-helicopter hybrid and flies off to Superman (I'm not joking). It turns the flood was caused the villain, weather-controlling Weather Wizard. The Quik Qlub put info into computers and figure out the Weather Wizard was behind the flood. They use a microphone to tell this to Superman. Weather Wizard froze ice around Superman and ran away. The QQ use a mechanical hand in their club to grab the ice cube letting Superman unfreeze himself (despite the fact the impact would have little effect on the invulnerable superhero). The Quik Qlub figure out Weather Wizard went to Washington DC. Despite Superman telling them not to, the Quik Qlub follow him to DC and turn the club house into a hot air balloon. The Weather Wizard unleashed a tornado to cause chaos, which according to Superman will make him president. The Quik Qlub go into the the tornado's eye. The Quik Bunny distract the Weather Wizard thus ending the tornado. Weather Wizard (who says he'll go there), Superman and the Quik Qlub (now the tree house is a jet) go to Egypt. WW caused a snow storm near a pyramid. Superman is being vexed by a mummy, which the Quik Bunny easily defeat. The Superman rip the pyramid apart and find WW. The kids accidentally distract Superman thus allowing Weather Wizard to go to China and loudly saying so. Superman and Quik Qlub fly to China only to be attacked a hail storm. The club house turn into a boat and land in a river. Via a radio, the Quik Qlub discover Superman and WW is at the Great Wall. The Quik Bunny (via drinking Quik chocolate milk) gets an idea. The Weather Wizard attacks via lightning what he thought was the Quick Bunny, but it was a metal statue the deflect the bolt and knocked out the WW. Randomly inserted throughout the book are pointless and easy puzzles.
My main source was the Atop the Fourth Wall episode about the comic.

Friday, March 30, 2012

The Authority



The first volume of the The Authority was done by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch. This series introduced "a team of superheroes who promised to get the job done by whatever means necessary" called the Authority. The team consisted Jenny Sparks ("the Spirit of the 20th century"), Jack Hawksmoor ("Gods of the Cities"), Swift (a Tibetan woman with bird-like wings and talons), Apollo (a genetically engineered Superman pastiche who is gay), the Midnighter (a Batman pastiche and lover of Apollo), the Engineer (who replaced her blood with nano-technology) and Doctor (a Dutch junkie with magic powers). The team also had a living space ship called "The Carrier" This lasted 12 issues with 3 story arches. It was noted for it use for decompression (see my post on the topic) storytelling. Mark Miller and Frank Quitely (the latter uses a pen name) took over. They added a "revolutionary attitude" (the team challenging the status quo even when it comes to nations). Jenny dies (due to the 20th century ending) and Jack become leader. The US government form a counter team called G7 when they get annoyed by the Authority. Jenny Quantum (the spirit of the 21st century) was adopted by Apollo and Midnighter (who are now married). The Doctor overcame his addiction, but felt guilty for missing one the team's greatest challenge due to his addiction.

The second volume was written by Robbie Morrison and the art was mainly done by (a special related to the series feature other artists) Dwyane Turner. This lasted 15 issues (issue 0-14). This version was noted for "gratuitously placed and stylistically jarring four-letter" cuss words. In a four way crossover with Stormwatch: Team Achilles, Sleeper and Wildcats v3.0, the Authority took over the United States of America.

Volume 3 was actually called The Authority: Revolution. This was written by Ed Brubaker and had Dustin Nguyen and Richard Friend on art. This focused on the problems the team faces as the rulers of USA.

Volume 4 was the shortest volume. Grant Morrison was suppose to write a bimonthy series with Gene Ha on art duties. This lasted two issues. In this, a guy called Ken search for a downed submarine and finds not only the submarine, but also the Carrier. Ken later met the team. Keith Giffen was suppose to take over only for that to be scrapped.

Christos Cage and Darick Robertson wrote a miniseries called The Authority: Prime, which was basically volume 4.5. It focused on Stormwatch Prime and Authority teaming up to investigate a secret bunker.

Volume 5 had Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning writing and Simon Coleby as artist. This tied with the World's End crossover. Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman took over as writers and Al Barrionuevo became artist. Christine Trelane (former co-leader of Stormwatch), Death Blow, former Stormwatch member Flint, Freefall from Gen13, Grifter from WildC.A.T.S., powerless ex-villain the High and Rainamaker also from Gen13 joined. Tom Talyor took over as writer and Mike S. Miller was the artist for the last two issues.

My source was the Wikipedia page "The Authority".

Sunday, March 18, 2012

"Archie Meets the Punisher" or "The Punisher Meets Archie"


This is likely the dumbest intercompany comic book crossovers ever.

Comic is about the Punisher hunting down a drug dealer called Red (however a deal the Punisher made with the government means he cannot use his normal lethal methods). Red decided go to Riverdale (home of Archie). Unfortunately, Red looks like Archie (although the art makes Red look more muscular, but this wasn't commented on) and as such this leads to a comedy of error. After the Punisher and Archie figure out what is going on, they team up to capture Red. The comic ends with Professor Xavier telling Wolverine to hunt the world's most powerful mutant: Jughead.

My sources were the Wikipedia Page "Archie Meets the Punisher" and the actual Archie Meets the Punisher comic.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Lobster Random


The British comic book 2000 AD has a tradition of giving their main characters distinctive visual appearance. This is one of the weirdest.

Lobster Random is a solider that genetically altered to not feel pain or need sleep. He also had two huge lobster-like claws coming out of his back. After being kicked out of the army, he decided to hire out his services because he is skilled in torturing people mainly in getting infomation.

He is a cynical, very grumpy and at times psychotic due to not sleeping for years and experiences after his discharge. He doesn't care about the methods he uses to get his job done.

My source was a Wikipedia page "Lobster Random".

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Ultraforce


Ultraforce was a comic book published by Malibu Comics and then Marvel Comics, when they brought out Malibu.
Pre-Black September (i.e. before Marvel bought Malibu), the team was formed to protect the public by "ultras" (the Ultraverse' (Malibu Comics' fiction universe) term for super beings). The team consisted of the leader Contrary (who can "stimulate the pleasure/pain centers of the brain"), the undead Ghoul (who can re-attach limbs, speak to the dead and sense death), the super strong Hardcase (one of the first publicly known ultras), technician Pixx (who can project images), the Captain Marvel-rip off Prime (a 13-year old that turns into a hero with the generic Superman powers and energy blasts), Ultra-Tech company corporate spokesman-mascot Prototype (who has "biological energy generators" implanted in his body controlled by his power armor), warrior queen Topaz (who is super strong and tough and has power staff that turn her skin pale purple and shoot energy blasts) from another dimension called "Gwendor"; and minor members Siren (who is super strong and has liquid-based powers, unbreakable bones and super reflexes), Electrocute, Zip-Zap, Grenade, Spectral and Atom Bob (I can't find any info on the latter five).
Post-Black September (i.e. Marvel buying out Malibu Comics), the team was banded together again. Hardcase, Contrary, Prototype (replaced by Bob Campbell, who is his predecessor to the armor). The new team consisted of the leader Black Knight (who is a swordsman with magic senses and became the leader), the Bob Campbell Prototype , Amber Hunt (who has various mental, fire and light-related powers), Hellblade, Iron Clad, Lament, Maxis, Ripfire, Wreckage (I can't find any info on the latter 6 and no I'm being lazy the info on this team is near non-existence); and old time members Prime, Topaz and Ghoul. This is series lasted 15 issues until Marvel drove the line of Malibu Comics into ground.
My sources were the Wikipedia pages "Ultraforce", "Contrary (comics)" "Ghoul (Ultraverse)", "Hardcase", "Prime (comics)", "Prototype (comics)", "Topaz (Malibu Comics)", "Black Knight (Dane Whitman)", "Amber Hunt (comics)"; and Marvel Wiki pages "Ultraforce (Earth-93060)" and "Jennifer Pearson (Earth-93060)".

Sunday, February 26, 2012

DV8


The team DV8 were different from most superhero teams: they were self-indulgent jerks. In addition to not caring about anyone else, they don't like each. The team were basically just pawns of the amoral cyborg Ivana Baiul, the leader. However, the members, especially Frostbite, start to develop a conscience.

Aside from Ivana, the team consisted the psychotic psionic Threshold; the "tough", density-shifting Sublime; the emotion-controlling, amoral Bliss; the nice guy, heat-absorbing Frostbite; emotion converting into power Powerhaus; the mind-controlling, multiple personality Copycat; the insensitive Evo (able to turn into either a bat, wolf or amphibian form); and the upbeat and likable, probability-altering Freestyle. An insane guy called Sideways Bob was the team's "guardian".

The series lasted 32 issues and end with a eight-issue mini-series DV8: Gods and Monsters. The series was characterized by extreme and graphic violence, sexual themes, mild language and how the team were not nice people.

My source was the Wikipedia page "DV8".

Monday, January 16, 2012

Zbeng!


Zbeng! is Israeli humor comic series targeted towards teens, written by Uri Fink. The series focuses the everyday life of adolescent students of an fiction high school in Gush Dan. It spoofs Israeli culture, adolescent experiences, society and the overall human condition. The comic's characters are basically all exaggerated stereotypes. The main characters (there are too many to list save the main four) are:

  • Gal Tichon- He is the main protagonist. He is a popular kid that everyone likes. He likes surfing and playing the electric guitar. As such, he is the guitar player of the My Limpy Sister band. His girlfriend is Sigal (although them breaking up between them is common).
  • Jinji / Ronen Sagiv- He is Gal's red head friend. He obsesses over sex despite every women that meets him hates him. He is the My Limpy Sister's bassist.
  • Sigal Sagi- She is Gal's girlfriend. She is also a "feminist-left wing-vegetarian" and a well-liked and skilled student.
  • Yaron Tichon- He is Gal's book worm, computer nerd brother. He loves to preform experiments in his lab despite a majority of them ending badly.
Zbeng! is a strip for a teen magazine called Ma'ariv La'noar. It immediately became popular upon first appearing in August 17, 1987. It started as a single page strip, but soon expanded to being multi-paged. Part of the comic's success is due to the author's willingness to change characters to reflect the times. Despite its popularity, Israeli parents and educators criticized it for it's stereotypical characters, "portrayal of sexual activity" and contempt for authority (especially adults).

My source was the Wikipedia page ""Zbeng!".

Friday, January 13, 2012

Fab Four

You are probably wondering why I am talking about the Beatles. I am not. I am talking about the superhero team that starred in the Dell Comic series Super Hero.

Four kids, Reb, Tom, Polly and Dan, went to the Dell Hall of Heroes which wax statues of heroes despite Dell only having a handful other superheroes and not enough for a museum. They wandered into the "Future Room", which for some reason had experimental robot superheroes. Doctor Luuki (the discredited maker of the robots) caused an electrical explosion causing the Enndo-Man robot to come alive and go berserk. The explosion also caused gave the kids the ability transfer their minds into the remaining robots. They stopped Enndo-Man and Luuki and become the super hero team Fab Four. They also fought the Coal Man, Johnny Boom Boom, Mr. Nutt and the Clown. The Fab Four's comic Super Hero lasted four issues.

The teams members were Crispy (really Reb), who could freeze things; Hy (Tom), who could generate sound waves; the super fast, resistance to heat Polymer Polly (Polly), who was also super fast and generate super strong polyfilament fibers (hence her name); and El (Dan), who has x-ray, infra red and heat ray vision.

My sources were the International Catalogue of Super Heroes pages "Fab Four" and "Dell / Gold Key Comics".

Thursday, January 12, 2012

New Guardians

The New Guardians were a superhero spurned off out of the crossover Millennium. The Guardians of the Universe (who are basically the CEOs of the Green Lanterns) found several humans, with "superior genes" that are suppose to help humanity survive for the next millennium by passing their genes on, and gave them super powers. They got their own series. It became infamous for SnowFlame, a cocaine-powered super villain.

Their members were racial (and, in Extrano's case sexual) stereotypes. The team consists of Betty Clawman (a disembodied head with ill-defined powers); the Spanish stereotypical gay man Extrano (who has magic powers); the plant man Floronic Man (who should be a villain, but isn't in this series), the Chinese Gloss (who has earth-based power that somehow involve dragons); flying, self-replicating, energy-using Harbinger (who accidentally killed her boss the Monitor); the English, electromagnetic field-controlling Jet; the Japanese cyborg Ram; and Green Lantern's pal Thomas Kalmaku (who gained the power to "bring out the best in people").

In the "New 52", a New Guardians team appears. The team are representatives of the various Lantern Corps. Members are Kyle Rayner (Green), Fatality (Star Sapphire), Arkillio (Sinestro), Saint Walker (Blue), Bleez (Red), Munk (Indigo) and Glomulus (Orange).

My references were Atop the Fourth Wall episode "New Guardians # 2" and the Wikipedia page "New Guardians".

Friday, January 6, 2012

Marville

Marville was a parody comic created for the U-Decide contest. U-Decide was a contest to see if Peter David's Captain Marvel series, Bill Jemas's Marville or Ron Zimmerman's Ultimate Adventures would sell better.
The actual comic itself is suppose to be about (it loses focuses as it goes on) Kal-AOL. Kal-AOL is the son of Ted Turner from the year 5002. When Ted thought the Earth (now called AOLon, due to being bought by AOL) was going to be destroyed by meteors, he used his time machine (made out of old video game systems) to send Kal-AOL to the past, where he tries to be a superhero despite his lack of superpowers.
Marville was poorly received. Lewis Lovhaug called it one of the worst comics ever made. Similarly, Comic Alliance listed it as one of "The 15 Worst Comics of the Decade". The some sources of criticism were the "lame" jokes and out-of-date references to Ted Turner.
My sources were a Google search of "reception of marville comic", the Wikipedia page "Marville (Comics)" and the Atop The Fourth Wall episode "Marville # 1"