Agents is better than Legends...

I saw the first episode, and it's very 'meh'.

Here's all of DC's television characters who have either been written off an existing CW DCTVU show, or haven't been given one of their own. Thrown together for some reason explained by Rip Hunter - a time traveler...

...played by Rory Williams . And no, the irony isn't lost on me.

Why do this?

If DC were working towards incorporating their TVU with their CU, I'd overlook the ridiculous factor and chalk this group up to being their 'Defenders' as they work their way towards their 'Avengers'.

But they're not, so I can't.

At least AoS is keeping their shark as far from jumping distance as possible.

It's been two and a half years, and after all of this time I can finally admit (out loud) that I hate this show. They've lost me from the beginning, but have limped along with some actually pretty engaging episodes. You know - the ones with actual Marvel characters in them. They should just end this show at Season Three and move the show to Netflix. Because for some reason, Netflix allows Marvel Studios to tell engaging stories...with actual characters...that move said stories along. Most of the episodes feel like filler that serve no purpose other than to justify season length.

Just sayin'

The other good thing from DC at SDCC...

...aside from Injustice, which is still badass, is this little clip of animated Elseworld goodness:

Bravo DC on your continued success in something animation. Kudos to you...

Meanwhile, over at Marvel...




Yep, it's happening...


...yeah, I know...

What else? How about...
                 =         
F**K YEAH!!!!

Lets see...who else is coming to the screen...oh yeah -
 will be in Cap 2. I am very pleased about this.

The working title for Thor 2 is Thor: The Dark World. My guess is it will deal with Dark Elves.

And...Edgar Wright showed his Ant-Man footage. I'm sure it will leak to the net soon, and you can be damn sure I'll watch it.

All in all, I think Marvel kicked DC out of Hall H and told them to go play their little game in the corner, and DC took roughly a third of the audience with them. But I'm okay with that, because in the end all of us fans are the winners.

DC...This is just SICK...

I own two comic-based videogames.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (which is awesome) and X-Men Legends II - Rise of Apocalypse (which sucks a bit only because it came out before M:UA and I started playing it after).

But THIS...

This just may be the first DC based game I buy...sorry Arkham...if for no other reason than I'll bet you can have DCU and DCnU versions of the same character beat the S#!T out of each other!!!!!


That...is...AWESOMENESS IN A BOTTLE!!!!!

Father's Day 2012...

So, having mentioned several female Avengers that took on the challenge of motherhood for Mother's Day, I felt obligated to do the same for Father's Day. But there's Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises coming out next month...decisions, decisions...

Aww, screw it...

1) Thomas Wayne


There's been a revelation recently in the DCnU that affects Bruce Wayne. I won't mention it here, but whether or not you accept that as canon, this man is still Bruce Wayne's father. A man with old money that decided to become a doctor rather than follow in his family's footsteps. His death...in whatever DCU you accept...was essential for Bruce Wayne becoming Batman.

2) Scott Lang


The second (and best) person to don the ridicule...I mean persona...of Ant-Man had a daughter named Cassie who grows up and becomes Stature, a member of the Young Avengers, after her father's death.

3) Jim Gordon


While his relationship with Barbara Gordon depends on which universe you follow, (is she his daughter or his niece?) there's no doubt that he has a son - James Gordon Junior. If you don't know Gordon's relationship to Batman...stop right now and visit your local comic shop damnit.

4) Luke Cage
     

This former Hero for Hire became an Avenger in New Avengers #1 (January, 2005). He married Jessica Jones and has a daughter named Danielle.

5) Jack Drake


Jack is the father of Tim Drake, the third (and best) Robin. He was a Gotham businessman until the Obeah Man killed his wife and left him in a wheelchair. He fought against Bruce regarding Tim's activities as Robin, but eventually accepted his son's decision. Jack died in Identity Crisis #5, but he really shouldn't have.

6) Mister Fantastic


You really think I'd mention Sue on Mother's Day and not include Reed today?

7) Bruce Wayne

Yep...depending on your universe. First, on Earth-2 Bruce married Catwoman and they had a daughter named Helena Wayne who became Huntress. Then, in Kingdom Come, he had a son with Talia al Ghul named Ibm, al Xu'ffasch who was a member of Lex Luthor's Mankind Liberation Front. Now his (and Talia's) son's name is Damian, and is the current Robin.

8) Spider-Man


Back in my days as a Marvel Zombie, Peter Parker was married to Mary Jane Watson (an inspiration for dorks everywhere) and as far as I'm concerned, they're still married. (Suck it Mephisto!) And they have a daughter...May Parker...Spider-Girl...and there's nothing you can say to change my mind (covers ears) la-la-la-I-can't-hear-you...

and finally...

9) Stan Lee


I know this is a cheap one, but this man is partly responsible for creating The Entire Marvel Universe! Without Stan, there's no Fantastic Four, no Spider-Man, no X-Men, no Avengers, no Hulk, you know the rest.

And for the record...he has a daughter - Joan.

The biggest problem with The Dark Knight Rises...

I've touched on this before, but I feel it's important.

The hype around this film deals with (among other things) who Joseph Gordon-Levitt will play, will Talia al Ghul show up, how good Anne Hathaway's Catwoman will be, and the "oh boy" factor of Bane being in it...

There's a lot going on.

But that's not the problem.

There's talk of the plot being a combination of the "Broken Bat" and "The Dark Night Returns" comics - two different stories from two different writers at two different periods in Batman's comic history.

But that's not the problem either.

The problem is right there in the poster...in the bottom right hand corner.

No, not the release date...right above it:

"The Legend Ends"

This is the final film in the Nolan trilogy. Props to him for committing to and sticking with all three films. Same for Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, and the rest of the cast and crew for their continual hard work. However...

...this is the final film in the trilogy.

Yes, there's talks of DC "reinventing the character" in future films to go along with a more unified DC movie universe, which is a fine idea...

...but they're essentially hitting the "reset" button...AGAIN.

Is this all DC can do now? Get out (somewhat) decent stories only to start back at zero when things get too convoluted?



This is why I stopped buying DC books in the nineties. Zero Hour was the big thing and it was an attempt to fix what went wrong with their Post-Crisis universe.

Which didn't work, because they had to start over again...



...and again...



...and again



By the way, DC is having (another) "Zero Month" in September, 2012.

I've said it before. There are two ways to build a comic-book universe:

1) Organically, from the ground up, like Marvel and the original Valiant Universes, and

2) Through acclimation - the buying up of failed comic companies' characters, like DC.

Neither one is wrong per-se, but the inherent problems facing any published comic universe - expansion, gaining new readers and updating characters for example - are more difficult when also trying to incorporate multiple companies' worth of characters into the same damn universe.

Every time DC hits that reset button, a little more of the DC fanboy in me dies.

I'm forty years old...there's only so much of me left.

So, is it really worth seeing The Dark Knight Rises when we all know things will be completely different in two years?

I say yes it is...not because I want to see something new or exciting...but because I just want to see how this Dark Knight...well...ends...

WTF?

Superman - Grounded

A while back, before the DCU became the DCnU (arguably called the DCfU), Superman spent some time “walking the Earth” in the ‘Grounded’ storyline. I understand the thoughts behind this; he went around meeting people in an attempt to get back in touch with his humanity, as DC attempted to get their flagship character back up in sales, but the execution fell far short of expectations.

What they should have done was give Clark control over the family farm.

Jonathan and Martha Kent are old. They’ve been running that farm for a long time, and even with the hiring of hands during the busy seasons the two of them just can’t do as much as they used to.

So why not have them visit Clark in Metropolis and ask him to take over?

This would have given Clark the opportunity to be “grounded” and get back in touch with the common man by doing his part to feed the country if not the world. He would have been working the Earth instead of walking it, and brought much needed attention to the struggles farmers face today.

But no, DC thought Kal-el was better off being Caine from Kung-Fu.

Marvel already did that storyline in the eighties when Steve Rogers gave up being Captain America and drove across America in his van before becoming The Captain – a guise that eventually went to John Walker and he became USAgent.

Stupid DC…

52 and the DCU vs. the New 52 and the DCnU

I’ve been hesitant to comment on this. Everyone has an opinion, and I was letting some time go by for some issues to come out and to let the fires die down.

Let me be clear – I haven’t read a single issue of this New 52 business, but I’ve seen the pics and read some reviews and felt now is the time to throw my hat into the ring.

I understand why DC did this. Readership was down and they were losing money. A shot in the arm was needed for both themselves and the industry in general.

My problem is how DC chose to address these concerns. By starting from scratch, DC succeeded in gaining new readership, and put many of their issues in the top ten sellers for the past two months…but they alienated many fans, such as myself, who grew up with these characters. This once again proved to me a glaring reality:

I am not the target market for either of the Big Two’s publications.


I’m approaching 40 and have a wife and a child, a mortgage, and a 40+ hour a week job spanning nights and weekends. A good night’s sleep is a rarity, a night out to see a movie in the theater is an endangered species, and a blessed weekend to sit in peace with a stack of comics to read at my leisure doesn’t exist anymore.

My point is that DC desperately wants my money, but isn’t writing stories with me in mind. They have changed their universe to appeal to the younger, allowance driven generation and left mine and those before me in the wind.


Now this isn’t a new idea for DC. In fact, they’ve done it at least twice before.


The Silver Age of comics began with a new Flash, replacing Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick with Barry Allen. – Goodbye loyal Golden Age readers.

DC attempted to bring Golden Age fans back by re-introducing Jay to (then) current DC Universe with the creation of Earth-Two. But this begat multiple Earths to the point where the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline was needed to merge all parallel universes into one “New” Earth. Oh, and Barry Allen is replaced by Wally West as the new Flash. – Hello Post Crisis, goodbye loyal Golden and Silver Age readers.


This new DCU had problems as well, since Superboy no longer existed, that meant that neither did the Legion of Super-Heroes. So along came Zero Hour. While the debate exists whether or not this new “New” Earth is in fact another beginning to the DCU, Zero Hour caused at least some changes to most characters…including Flash by killing Wally West. – Goodbye loyal Post-Crisis readers.

So this goes on for a while, but DC decides to throw more crises into the mix, with Barry coming back, Wally coming back, Bart Allen becoming Flash, and a lot of other crazy stuff. – Good luck following that.


Then came 52, which didn’t deal with Flash too much. Wally was back, but powerless and 52 new Earths are created (including Jay’s Earth-Two). This was a great story that felt to me as a swan song; a tip of the hat to all DC had done before. It wasn’t a slate-wiping event, but a great “jumping-on” point for new readers without pissing off whatever loyal readers DC had by then.


But apparently DC wasn’t done pissing readers off.


So now we have the “New” 52, starting the DCU over from scratch (again), ignoring everything that came before (again…including Crisis on Infinite Earths and 52 by the way). – Goodbye whatever loyal readers DC had by then.


I gave up reading DC a while ago, but my interest never waned. I still cared about these characters even when I couldn’t afford to follow them on a monthly basis. Now it has gotten to the point where I simply don’t give a rat’s ass what happens anymore.


I’m done with DC as it is now and wash my hands of it. Any money I spend on DC will be filling in the holes of my collection. And when I retire, I’ll spend my golden years sitting down every weekend reliving the “good ol’ days” with a stack of comics and follow my beloved characters when they made sense…in between long naps and the occasional night out.