Panel Vision - Lady Cop, Forgotten Feminist Hero

Edited by Robert Beach

Last week, CW’s Arrow had a very special episode premiered directed by Lexi Alexander, one of the most vocal female directors of color in genre fiction. It was a pretty fun episode and a good way to mark Alexander’s return to the realm of comic adaptation after directing Punisher: Warzone 7 years ago; however, what struck me about the episode was the character played by Rutina Wesley, officer Liza Warner, head of the Star City anti-metahuman task force. 

You may have assumed that Liza Warner was just some random character made up for the episode, but no, she’s actually an adaptation of one of the most obscure DC characters I can think of: Lady Cop, a one-off character from the DC anthology comic 1^st Issue Special, one of the greatest comics of the 1970s. Given that I’m a massive ‘70s comic book geek, I’m also a major fan of Lady Cop, mainly because her first appearance is one of the most amazing and bizarre comics ever written.

Suicide Squad Gets Empire Magazine Covers

In case you didn’t know, DC Comics is looking to start up their own shared universe of films and characters to rival that of Marvel studios.  So far this shared universe experiment has been pretty abysmal as the sole entry so far is the terrible Man of Steel and the pretty bad looking upcoming film Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  However, DC has one other flick waiting in the wings to make a splash in the DC shared universe pool and that flick is Suicide Squad.  Scheduled for release late next summer with David Ayer directing Suicide Squad is an adaptation of the DC universe team of the same name, a government developed squad of villains designed to be sent out on high risks missions with the thinking being that because all the squad members are villains they’re powerful but also expendable. 

The trailer for that film leaked earlier this summer to a lot of praise though none of it was from me because I actually don’t think Suicide Squad looks very good but we’ll get more into that later.  Anyway, DC seems decidedly desperate to remind everyone this shared universe experiment is going to happen so they’ve started actively promoting Suicide Squad with a series of snazzy Empire Magazine covers featuring tactical team leader Deadshot, played by Will Smith, team wildcard the Joker, played by Jared Leto, Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie, and, for some reason, Enchantress, played by Cara Delevingne. 

Comics Rainbow - Supergirl

Edited by Robert Beach 

So, Supergirl has premiered, and I loved it. It’s a fun show that absolutely cuts to the heart of what makes Supergirl such a great character and proves how easy it is to actually get the Superman franchise right without descending into the same disappointing well as Smallville, Quest for Peace, Superman Returns, or Man of Steel.  It’s actually a pretty impressive feat given the fact that Supergirl has always had a decidedly checkered history in the comics. 

Like a lot of female heroes that emerged out of the comics code to support superhero families, Supergirl’s design, origin, and backstory have been through a plethora of alterations; none of which was helped by her sidelining in the mid-80s when DC wanted to revert Superman to the last Kryptonian survivor on Earth.  In honor of Supergirl’s triumphant debut on the TV landscape, this is your full spectrum look at Supergirl, all her shades, shames, and successes. 

Static Thoughts - Forward Unto Dawn

Halo is a game franchise I’ve always regarded with a certain amount of fascination if not quite favor.  I’m not saying it’s a bad series and I’ve really enjoyed a lot of the entries; Halo 2 is a super fun shooter, Halo 3 was the go-to game throughout all of high school for my friends an I, and Halo: Reach’s story was actually pretty well told and engaging.  All of that said, I’ve never quite engaged with the Halo universe story the way I would’ve liked, or might’ve expected given its prevalence and importance in defining the modern era of shooters. 

I respect Halo for its massive success and its place as a seemingly universal touchstone of gaming, especially after witnessing the insane fervor over Halo 3 got me back into gaming again, but with the exception of Reach I’ve always found the games’ stories to be a little uninvolving.  So, with the release of Halo 5 I decided to revisit the Halo franchise through a more narrative-based medium, namely the 2012 made for streaming Forward Unto Dawn Halo mini-series produced as a quasi-prequel to Halo 4.

Panel Vision - The History of DC Comics' Many Firestorms

Edited by Robert Beach 

This past week CW’s The Flash featured an episode entitled "The Fury of Firestorm." The character of Firestorm has been a major part of the show’s continuity since about mid season 1, but this latest episode has had to deal with the tricky situation of Ronnie Raymond actor Robbie Amell dropping out of the series due to scheduling conflicts with his film career. 

This means working out a way to swap in a new Firestorm actor, a task that would normally be pretty tough if this was any other hero but Firestorm. Firestorm is one of those weird superhero cases where multiple identities and various characters are built right into the characters DNA as well as populating his thoroughly bizarre history. 

Static Thoughts - Back to the Future Animated Show

Last week the world celebrated ‘Back to the Future Day,’ a general celebration of the classic film trilogy that coincided with the day Doc Brown and Marty McFly were supposed to appear in the future in the 2^nd film.  It was a fun time had by all that mainly consisted of people meme-ing the film online and celebrating how much the movies still rock, and with good reason.  Aside from a few questionable aspects with Marty stealing rock ‘n’ roll music in the first film the Back to the Future trilogy is one of the best film trilogies of all time, a wonderfully written and super engaging sci-fi comedy series that was instantly beloved and remains a cultural touchstone to this day.  

Back to the Future was such a massive hit that even Ronald Reagan quoted in his 1986 state of the union address.  With a  hit that big it’s only logical that there would be some kind of extended universe material to continue the adventures of dweeby Marty McFly and crazy Doc Brown, especially given that the 3^rd film gave Doc a wife, kids, and a flying time travelling train car.  Well, in 1991 some cruel madmen decide to tell us what future Doc Brown and family did make for themselves and the abomination that is the Back to the Future animated series was birthed into the world. 

Movie Monthly - The Crazies

And so we reach the final film in the Month of the Zombie.  So far we’ve seen weird dehydration comet zombies, voodoo zombies, and resurrected mortician corpses so I thought I’d close things off with a much more contemporary film featuring a more modern understanding of the zombie: the infected.  The idea of “infected” rather than zombies is part and parcel to the explosion of zombie popularity that hit during the culturally defining years of 2007-2010. Zombies had been brewing for a come back in the nerd culture sphere since the early days of the 21^st century with popular cult hits like 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, and the Dawn of the Dead remake feeding the flames.  However, from 2007-2010 we had the birth of Left 4 Dead, the Call of Duty zombie mode, Zombieland, Dead Snow, and The Walking Dead, a 5-way punch that cemented zombies as the defining cultural monsters of the 2010s.  However, with this resurgence came change as the idea of zombies as shambling corpses gave way to a more fast paced and destructive flesh machine zombie and the term “the infected” developed to describe them.  Suddenly zombies became infinitely more dangerous and powerful than humans but in only one film did they actually get smarter, 2010’s The Crazies. 

Panel Vision - Top 10 Tales of the Zombie Covers

It’s October, Halloween is happening, I’m talking about zombie movies for literally the whole month, and the Walking Dead is on every Sunday.  Given that, of course I had to dedicate a listicle to the best zombie book covers.  The only thing is that there are as many zombie comics as there are stars in the sky and it’d be nearly impossible for me to cull through all of them so I’m narrowing my list to just one zombie comic.  It was originally meant to be Walking Dead before I remembered Walking Dead’s covers are incredibly bland so instead I fell back on my standard answer to most comic book questions: the ‘70s.  I’ve mentioned before that in the ‘70s an agining audience forced DC and Marvel comics to experiment more with what content they were putting out.  DC started releasing its classic horror anthology comics again and Marvel released a whole ton of horror comics including Tomb of Dracula, Frankenstein, and today’s topic Tales of the Zombie, and the covers by the brilliant artist Boris Vallejo. 

Comics Rainbow - Batman Family

So, this past week Gotham revealed the central mystery around its new villain Theo Galavan.  The “big reveal” of was that Galavan was actually a radical revision of the Batman supporting hero Azrael and the Order of Saint Dumas, now reimagined as a disgraced Gotham family returning to seek revenge on the Waynes.  It’s a pretty dumb idea that got me thinking about how much I hate Gotham, but also how much I love Azrael and Batman’s extended roster of fellow heroes.  Batman has one of the largest rosters of supporting heroes out there and the idea of Batman working alongside other heroes has been furrowed into the character almost since the beginning.  As much as people like to believe Batman is a deadly lone squirrel he’s definitely a pack animal, as best demonstrated by the major success enjoyed by both the Bat Family comic line and the Brave and the Bold comics and shows that paired him with fellow heroes.  So, this is your full spectrum look at the Batman Family in all their shades, shames, and successes.  

7 Cartoons that Deserve Live-Action Adaptations

Check out my latest Laser Time listicle about the animated shows that deserve to live action adaptations:

http://www.lasertimepodcast.com/2015/10/21/7-cartoons-that-deserve-live-action-adaptations/

Titans Hunt #1 Review

The Teen Titans are back...in the most disappointing and unimpressive way possible, I review Titans Hunt in full over on All-Comic:

http://all-comic.com/2015/titans-hunt-1/

Karnak #1 Review

I check out one of the All-New All-Different Marvel line's better entries with Warren Ellis' Karnak #1, full review over on All-Comic:

http://all-comic.com/2015/karnak-1/

The Flash - Family of Rogues Review

Captain Cold returns alongside his villainous father played by the incomparable Michael Ironside on the latest Flash episode, check out my review over on Front Towards Gamer:

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/10/24/flash-family-of-rogues-review-tv/

The Flash - Flash of Two Worlds Review

Worlds collide and classic comics come to life on CW's Flash of Two Worlds, check out the full review over on Front Towards Gamer:

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/10/19/flash-the-flash-of-two-worlds-review-tv/

Superman - Lois & Clark #1 Review

Superman - Lois & Clark is one of the strangest comics to come out of the DC You reboot, one that seems more like a living joke or a dare than an actual comic, full review of what I mean over here at Front Towards Gamer:

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/10/19/superman-lois-and-clark-1-review-comics/

Gotham - Scarification Review

The big mystery of Gotham season 2 revealed and guess what?  It's really stupid and gets my nerdy dander up, check out my raging and explanations over on Front Towards Gamer:

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/10/24/gotham-scarification-review-tv/

Gotham - Strike Force Review

I continue my look at Gotham's downward slide into television oblivion with Michael Chiklis' debut episode 'Strike Force,' full review on Front Towards Gamer:

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/10/18/gotham-strike-force-review-tv/

Doctor Who - The Girl Who Died Review

Maisie Williams of Game of Thrones fame makes her debut on Doctor Who with this fun 5th episode, check out my full review on Front Towards Gamer:

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/10/21/doctor-who-the-girl-who-died-review-tv/

Doctor Who - Before the Flood Review

I review the best episode of Doctor Who in this decade over on Front Towards Gamer, check it out here:

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/10/18/doctor-who-before-the-flood-review-tv/

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #50 Review

It's issue #50 for IDW's excellent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic and I give it the full review over on Front Towards Gamer, check it out here:

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/10/13/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-50-review-comics/

Doctor Strange #1 Review

I review Jason Aaron's All-New, All-Different Doctor Strange comic over on Front Towards Gamer, it's one of the best of Marvel's reboot books, check out the full review here:

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/10/13/dr-strange-1-review-comics/

Movie Monthly - Dead & Buried

Edited by Robert Beach

Welcome back to Movie Monthly’s Month of the Zombie where I celebrate zombie movies that only I consider to be zombie movies. There are just so many generic zombie films out there with your standard range of infected rage zombies or slow, shambling Romero zombies that you don’t need another person spotlighting them. In keeping with that trend, the zombies from this week’s movie are less of your standard issue undead and something more like the bizarre hybrid children of Re-Animator, The Fog, and Shutter Island.

It’s also notable as being from the writing team behind Alien…sort of.  Ronald Shusett, who’s credited with creating Alien’s story, while Alien’s actual author Dan O’Bannon has repeatedly distanced himself from the film, wrote the main script.  It’s a bizarre mash-up of zombie flick, seaside terror tale, retro throwback and atmospheric horror. Let’s talk about Dead & Buried.

Top 12 Prequels Hollywood Should Make Instead of Die Hard

Edited by Robert Beach 

In case you hadn’t heard, there’s been some recent talk about making a new Die Hard film. The twist with this proposed 6^th installment of the most overrated action franchise the world has ever produced is it would be a prequel of some kind. Obviously, most folks have picked up on this as a terrible idea given that there’s really nothing for a Die Hard prequel to actually explore.  Everything interesting in the Die Hard universe started with the first film. 

There’s no point in extending the universe prior to that point as it’d more or less be the same as our world. That’s the thing about bad prequels, which is to say most prequels, is that they make the mistake of trying to follow a character back to a time when they were less interesting; however, this announcement has got me thinking about prequels that would be interesting to see, so here’s my top 12 prequels list.

Hulk & Valkyrie to co-star in Thor: Ragnarok

Edited by Robert Beach

One of the biggest problems facing Marvel’s Phase 3 slate is what to do with the Thor franchise. Thor was one of the bigger hits of phase one, both financially and achievement wise. It was the first film to cement the idea Marvel could integrate the truly out-there and bizarre aspects of its comic continuity to the big screen; however, when Thor: The Dark World rolled around in 2013, things took a decidedly sour turn.  The film is the lowest-grossing Marvel sequel to date and thoroughly failed to find real engagement from audiences.  

Thor in phase 1 had firmly carried the banner of Marvel merchandising and Marvel cosmic weirdness, but now at the close of phase 2, Thor toys have been a bit of a non-starter and Marvel’s much more successful Guardians of the Galaxy now carries the banner of cosmic weirdness. Given all this, it’s not surprising that Marvel is walking on eggshells about the upcoming third Thor film: Thor: Ragnarok.  The title alone promises major shake-ups to come for the God of Thunder along with heavy ties to the ongoing Thanos saga leading up to Avengers: Infinity War.  Now Marvel has made their concerns about the film even clearer by officially adding The Hulk and Valkyrie as additional main characters.

Fox Launches 2 X-Men TV Shows

Edited by Robert Beach

After months of hearing nothing from either camp, it seems some agreement has been reached between Marvel and Fox to allow Fox to make X-Men TV shows…kind of.  Rather than making a TV Show out of anyone attending Xavier’s school or its sundry collection of graduates, these new shows will focus on some of the quasi-villains and supporting characters of the X-Men mythos. 

The two announced shows coming soon to TV are Hellfire, a show about the eponymous Hellfire Club last seen in X-Men: First Class, and Legion, revolving around the mentally unstable yet extremely powerful son of Charles Xavier. One thing is for sure: this is a major milestone in the Fox/Marvel beef that has everyone speculating, especially in the wake of early rumors that Fox had deferred the Fantastic Four rights back to Marvel. 

Moon Knight May Replace Iron Fist on Marvel's Netflix Series

Edited by Robert Beach

You may have heard some seriously weird rumors about Marvel’s Netflix line up lately. In case you hadn’t heard, Marvel is planning a whole slew of interconnected Netflix shows over the course of the next couple years. This shared Netflix universe already started earlier this year with Daredevil and is set to continue this November with Jessica Jones. Next year we’ll see Marvel’s Luke Cage show in spring, which will mark the first Marvel enterprise to be headlined by a black character.  

After Luke Cage, the plan was for there to be an Iron Fist show about the character of Danny Rand: a billionaire who was trained in martial arts in the hidden city of K’un-Lun and gained the ability to channel his life energy into his fists. After that, the plan was for all of four of Marvel heroes to crossover in a mini-Avengers style mash up called Defenders; however, the Iron Fist show has hit some serious hiccups, and now the rumor is it’s been canceled. With Daredevil season 2 slouching in to fill its spot in 2016, rumors that a new show featuring Moon Knight will take Iron Fist's place. 

 

Static Thoughts - More Great Goosebumps Covers

So, in 3 days the Goosebumps movie will hit theaters.  While not exactly a landmark event for cinema it’s still a notable moment of truth, especially for culture watchers like me.  If Goosebumps scores big at the box office it could mean a legitimate return to the forefront for Jack Black after his summer comedy show The Brink earned him some moderate praise.  More importantly, when coupled with the mass success of Jurassic World earlier this year Goosebumps financial success could bring about the long awaited coronation of ‘90s nostalgia as a cultural force.  ‘90s nostalgia has been quietly picking up steam for awhile now in the middle years of the 2010s and with upcoming revivals like X-Files, Independence Day, and Power Rangers waiting in the wings Goosebumps could cement the trend of leave it floundering and unsure. 

Given all that I’ve decided to use the opportunity to write a bunch more Goosebumps articles, starting with this sequel to one of my earliest posts.  The Goosebumps books really aren’t GOOD by any metric of the term but they were fun for what they were and a big part of that fun was the covers.  So, since I’m already an art dweeb who loves covers let’s look at some more great Goosebumps covers.

Comics Rainbow - Marvel's Legion of Monsters

Edited by Robert Beach

Well, it’s October: the Goosebumps movie is about to come out; Halloween is just around the corner, and I have a crippling addiction to ‘70s comic books. Let’s talk about Marvel's Legion of Monsters. As I’ve mentioned before, the ‘70s was a time of serious upheaval and horizontal expansion at both DC and Marvel. The young readers the companies had attracted over the Silver Age were growing up to be young adults with disposable income and a continued interest in comic books, a relative first for the medium. 

This ended up fueling a rush to diverse the story market with stuff beyond the straightforward superhero fair of the previous decade.  Marvel had always prided itself on creating stories and content that was beyond the boundaries of the superhero genre. Many of their core characters like the Fantastic Four or Thor sprung out of weird science and epic fantasy respectively. 

When it came time to diversify, they were ahead of the game on DC and came out of the gates strong with a whole slew of new, horror-based comics. This was right around the time the Comics Code, a self-imposed industry code of censorship, was losing its teeth, so the horror genre was finally getting its fangs back after being neutered for well over a decade. 

Marvel cranked out all sundry manner of demons, vampires, zombies, mummies and anything else they could come up with and, occasionally, they all teamed up to become the Legion of Monsters. Since then, the title has been resurrected multiple times for new monsters of the Marvel universe. So this is your full spectrum look at the Legion of Monsters in all their shades, shames, and successes.