Tag Archives: superheroes

Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (Up and Away!)

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Adventures of Superman v1 #424

When I saw the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge yesterday, my mind immediately went into autocomplete mode and Up became Superman’s familiar exclamation:

Up, Up, and Away!

The Man of Steel turned 75 earlier this week and as such he’s been on my mind. Yesterday, I stumbled across a few boxes of old comics at my parents house and I took some pictures of the coolest comics featuring the Big Blue Boy Scout that were there. Here’s what I found …

World’s Finest Comics v1 #69

World's Finest Comics v1 #69

Superman has been teaming up with Batman for the better part of their collective history. I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve had almost enough grim & gritty super-hero movies. I’m secretly hoping that one day we’ll get to see a buddy-cop style movie featuirng the duo.

Superman v1 #162

Superman v1 #162

Long before Elseworlds, the Last Son of Krypton had a long line of “What if?” type stories. Super-hero speculative fiction? Count me in!

Justice League of America v1 #63

Justice League of America #63

Right, like anyone needed convincing that Superman was the most powerful member of the Justice League. Is he stronger than everyone else on the team (put together)? Most definitely. Is he faster than the fastest man alive—the Flash? Check. Is he capable of space flight like the GL? Oh, yeah!. Can he hold his breath underwater indefinitely and communicate with marine life — um, who cares?

Superman v1 #167

Superman v1 #167

An awesome super-hero deserves equally awesome super villains. The man in the blue suit and red underwear (boots and cape) had them in spades. But, none were more deadly than Luthor and Brainiac. While they couldn’t match him physically they forced Kal-El to outsmart them—which was never a small feat.

Adventure Comics v1 #356

Adventure Comics v1 #356

For decades, Adventure Comics chronicled the (you guessed it) adventures and shenanigans of a young Superboy and, on occasion, his time-traveling super-pals, the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Ever the symbol of “truth, justice, and the American way”, the Man of Tomorrow continues to inspire us. Here’s to 75 more years!

This post is a part of the ongoing WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge series.

Want to participate in the challenge? Head on over to The Daily Post and follow the instructions below.

  1. Each week, [they] provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use a “postaday2013” or “postaweek2013” tag.
  3. Subscribe to The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements. Sign up via the email subscription link in the sidebar or RSS.

Now, take a picture that captures this week’s theme and post a link to it in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, but are © DC Comics unless otherwise noted.

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A DC Comics Tribute to Hostess Snacks

As soon as I heard the news of snack-cake maker Hostess’ impending demise I thought back on all the Twinkies, Cupcakes, and Ding Dongs I’d eaten over the years and all the great ads they used to run in the comics.

So, I scoured some old books I had laying around and … (ta-da) I found a couple vintage gems to share.

Hawkman Saves the Day and the Cupcakes

Hawkman Saves the Day and the Cupcakes Ad 1980

Hawkman preserves a plummeting parachuter and his precious perishables in this ad scanned from The Flash #282, 1980.

Penguin Fruit Pie Heist

Penguin Fruit Pie Heist

The cops foil the Penguin in his attempt to steal all the Fruit Pies for himself. Rather than applauding the policemen, the bystanders toast the pie filling in this ad from the pages of Green Lantern #99, 1977.

Apparently both superheroes and villains will shill for just about anything if properly motivated. I’ve seen everything from BB Guns and Chuck Norris Action Jeans to Sea Monkeys and hovercrafts in the comic book ad pages. Sadly, we’ve probably seen our last Hostess ads.

Which Hostess products will you miss the most? Sound off in the comments below.

All images in this post appear courtesy of DC Comics.

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Review: X-Treme X-Men #1

I consider myself a comics geek even though it’s been years since I read comics with anything remotely resembling regularity. I pick up the occasional trade paperback or graphic novel every now and then, but I really haven’t been a serious reader since the 90s.

Calvin & Hobbes - Mom Doesn't Understand
Image via GoComics.

My favorite team book back then was the Chris Claremont and Jim Lee run of X-Men. So, when I recently scored a free copy of X-Treme X-Men #1 (courtesy of the comic’s scribe, Greg Pak) I was really looking forward to seeing what a modern take on the series had to offer.

To the X-Treme

***Spoiler Alert!***

Skip to end.

This incarnation of the X-Men all come from one of many infinitely different realities within the “Multiverse” with the exception of Dazzler, who comes from the standard Marvel Universe.

This gives Pak tremendous liberty to write these characters however he pleases without the limitations of decades worth of continuity to constrain him (or legions of comic nerdboys to contend with if when he violates canon). He uses this asset with aplomb, so that even though the characters are recognizable they are unique.

Doing What He Does Best

For example, the X-Treme version of Wolverine still has claws that go “SNIKT!” when they pop out, but as the former “Governor General of Dominion of Canada and Viceroy of Her Majesty’s Expidition to Shagri-La” he seems much more stable and much less of a berserker.

Emmaline Frost-Summers still treats everyone like she’s better than them (waiting to see how different she is). Emma Frost was never a favorite character of mine and she didn’t have the chance to change that impression this time around either.

Nightcralwer is now a Califorinian teen instead of an angsty German adult. Again, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this character. What little I remember of Nightcrawler was him poofing in and out of sight with a “BAMF!” and a whiff of brimstone and him always referring to everybody as “mein freunde” Similarly, he had limited opportunities to make me like him.

Xavier Heads

Let’s not forget about Professor Xavier, or rather Professor Xavier’s head which floats around in a jar like Richard Nixon on Futurama.

Oh, and then there’s Dazzler. This comes as the biggest surprise to me of all. Dazzler. Really?!? I mean, isn’t this the same disco-singing, roller-skating, Xandadu-castoff-looking, my-mutant-power-is-turning-sound-into-light X-man from the early 80s? Casting Dazzler as a lead and not a supporting character may be the gutsiest thing Pak does, and it could also have huge dividends. I’m looking forward to seeing where he takes her and how she evolves.

Dazzler

And now for the plot …

When a legion of floating Charles Xavier heads band together to teleport the entire population of a dying world the results are good and bad.

  • Good: everything from the dying world has been saved
  • Bad: there are now 10 evil Charles Xaviers from other realities—each more dangerous than the last—hellbent on destroying all of creation

Issue #1 ends with the Faux-verine doing what he does best in any reality and the new team being teleported by Xavier’s floating head to find and defeat the first of the other ten Evil Xaviers.

***End Spoiler***

No sir, this ain’t yer daddy’s X-Men. Heck, it only vaguely resembles my X-Men—and that’s a great thing!

X-Treme X-Men #1 was a good book with a nice hook into the next issue. Despite, some initial quirkiness, this was an X-Tremely (couldn’t help myself, sorry) fun read and I can’t wait to see where Pak and team take this new band of misfit mutants.

X-Treme Baby

You can pick up your copy of X-Treme X-Men #1 wherever comics are sold. If you prefer to read your comics digitally check it out on Comixology.

Want a peak at Greg Pak’s work? Download the Vision Machine trade paperback for free from his site.

What was that last comic you read? Sound off in the comments below. Excelsior!

All images via Marvel Characters, Inc, unless otherwise noted.

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The Avengers: The Best Hulk Movie Ever

Avengers #001

Sorry Spider-Man and Batman Begins; I’ve got a new favorite superhero movie. Today I saw the Avengers. Again. And guess what? It’s … still … awesome! This time I took Bongo & Lulabelle and they loved it, too.

Incredible Hulk #321

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Avengers. To me the team was always just the big three—Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor (none of whom were particular favorites of mine, but whose recent movies were all very, very good)—and a rotating cast of B-list superheroes who couldn’t hold their own titles.

Incredible Hulk #102

Why do I like the movie so much more than I ever did the comics? There’s one major reason and he’s the “ enormous green rage monster” who stole every scene he appears in. The physical humor that played through in his fight with Loki and later in his sucker punch to teammate Thor were priceless! I can’t remember laughing so hard during an action movie ever.

Incredible Hulk #006

Nothing against Eric Bana or Edward Norton, they’re both fine actors in their own right, but Mark Ruffalo played a better Bruce Banner than either of them ever were. I believed that he was equal parts genius and monster.

Incredible Hulk #314

Have you seen the Avengers, yet? What did What did you think about Marvel’s not-so jolly, green giant? Sound off in the comments below.

All images via Cover Browser unless otherwise noted.

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Marvel Comics Seven Best Super Hero Catchphrases

Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (June 1972). Cover...

Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (June 1972). Cover art by John Romita, Sr. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We’re going to see the Avengers tonight, so to commemorate the occasion I thought now would be the perfect time for me to post my all-time favorite super hero catchphrases.

I’ll be restricting this post to only characters from the Marvel Comics pantheon of heroes. So without further ado …

1)

Hulk Smash

What the Hulk lacked in the speech and brains department he more than made up for in brute strength and rage. Unable to eloquently express what he intends to do the simple “Hulk Smash” sums it all up.

2)

Clobberin Time

Aunt Petunia’s favorite nephew, the everlovin’ blue-eyed Thing was the main muscle of Marvel’s First Family of Comics—the Fantastic Four. This is the comic book equivalent of Popeye’s “That’s all I can stand, and I can’t stand no more!”

3)

Sweet Christmas

Luke Cage (AKA Power Man) was the first African-American super hero I remember that didn’t have the word black in his name—I’m looking at you Black Lightning, Black Panther, Black Goliath, etc. Obviously, he was written by guys who were neither African-American, nor had actually spoken to an African-American themselves or else they never would have made this poor excuse for a jive turkey of a catchphrase.

4)

Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth

I’m at a loss for what this actually means. I know what a host is, but I’ve never seen a hoary host. And don’t get me started on Hoggoth! It’s only memorable to me because it’s the only thing I remember Dr. Strange every saying.

5)

Spider-Sense

One of the best things about Spider-Man was that Peter Parker was an equally great character in his own right. At the heart of it all, he’s just a kid. He’s got amazing, spectacular, and sensational powers mind you, but he’s still just a nerdy, wisecracking kid. When he said that his senses were tingling you knew something was gonna happen.

6)

Avengers Assemble

Captain America may have said it first, but it’s been used by every other chairperson of the Marvel’s premier super squad.

7)

Nuff Said

Stan, the Man, Lee is a comic book legend. He penned nearly every single of the above idioms. What else can you say when you’ve said it all?

Well, true believers, there you have it—my list of the best catchphrases in all of Marvel Comicsdom. What are your favorite super hero quotes? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

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How to Trick a Girl into Watching a Superhero Movie

My Hero
Image via my flickr

Superhero movie season is upon us once again. Thor, X-Men First Class, Captain America, and Green Lantern (sadly no Wonder Twins movie though) will all grace the big screen this summer.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve already begun thinking about how you can possibly trick convince the girl (or guy) in your life to see one all of these with you.

My wife is a trooper and I’ve already been able to talk her into seeing one of these with me, but I want to see them all! How can I get her to go with me?

The following exchange between my five year-old son and his older sister provides the answer. (They were in the process of negotiating which DVD they were going to watch when I overheard this…)

Bongo: How about this one?
Lulabelle: No, I don’t want to see it.
Bongo: You’ll like it. It has romance!
Lulabelle: I am not watching Spider-Man!

OK, so maybe it didn’t work out quite the way that he had hoped, but guess what? 90% of the time it does. Plus, you’ve got to give the kid credit for playing the romance card—did I mention he’s only five?!? He’s smooth that one, real smooth.

It turns out that most superhero shows are so good these days that all you don’t need to resort to trickery to get non-fans to watch them with you.

Because Bongo asks her, he has gotten Lulabelle to watch everything from Justice League Unlimited and Batman Beyond to Iron Man and yes, even Spider-Man with him!

All you really need to do is ask.

What tactics will you use to get your gal (or dude) to watch this years superhero flicks? Got anything better than flat out asking? Sound off in the comments below.

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This post was featured on the 9rules Noteworthy Content of the Week blog on June 8, 2011!