Thursday, April 30, 2015

So, Who Would Win?: The Masters Of Evil VS. The Legion Of Doom

TGIT!!!!!

Gotta' get this out of the way first, and speak a little on this.
In case you didn't already know, legendary comic creator Gerry Conway added his name in a long list of comic creators screwed over by the big two, Marvel and DC.





















Well this time, this one's on DC.

He recently wrote on his blog about the strange case of Caitlin Snow, the alter-ego of his creation, the DC supervillain, Killer Frost, and how thanks to DC's legal mumbo-jumbo double speak, apparently no one created her.

Yeah that's right. According to DC, she just poofed on the page like the imacculate conception.

I included the full blog posting in the link, but you get the gist of it.
In order to get out of paying Conway his richly deserved creator royalty check, Killer Frost has been deemed a "derivative character", meaning since she's related to another already created and DC-owned creation, Conway doesn't have any legal rights to or is deserving of any profits off any licensing of said Killer Frost.

It seems that DC has now made it very hard and time-consuming for creators to recieve royalites off their creations. Its now the expressed responsibility of the creator to track down and formally submit in writing every character they ever made if they want monetary compensation from any merchansing of their likenesses.

This is pretty done on purpose so that the creators will get so frustrated and overwhelmed by the whole process and tracking down who and what, that they just give up and say fuck it.
And to someone like Conway, who estimated to have created at least over 500 characters in all the years he worked at DC, specifically the years 1969-1985, you can image what fucking hassle that's got to be.

Sigh.

















Does the bullshit ever stop with these people!?
Seriously, does it really cost a company/corporation like Marvel or DC, that much money to pay a mere pitance to a creator when they rake in millions and billions worldwide of merchandise and box office movies?
Surelt not, but I'll be damned if like that miserly Uncle Scrooge McDuck, they don't try and keep every penny of those millions and billions.

I'm sure dirty, underhanded shit like this must be all sorts of attractive to current and future creators who dream about bringing their own creations to either of the big two when bullshit like this happens, or is waiting to happen to them.

Goo and I have talked about this before, but shit lik this is exaclty why you do see more true "derivatitve" comic chacaters at Marvel and DC. After all, why risk losing the rights and future royalties when you can just play it safe and ape off existing comic creations, and make a She-Hulk, Red She-Hulk, Red Hulk, Superboy, Supergirl, etc. instead.

Shit like this is why the indies and self-publishing look more and more attractive as an alternative when at least you konw sink or swim, at the end of the day, you own your creations rather than a megamanical corporation.

Well they ever learn?
Probably not since superhero movies are all the rage nowadays. Their beyond huge success at the box office will just further cement how right these corporations are in using the law to screw others out of thier money.

Alright kiddies, last post of the month, and as well as the last So, Who Would Win? fantasy battle.
For this week's edition, I wanted to pit two of the best supergroups of evil from their respective universes against each other.

Namely......

Marvel Comics' Masters Of Evil versus DC Comics' Legion Of Doom.


































Apparently I'm not the first person to consider this match-up as I dscovered while gathering images representing both sides.

Here's one blog's take on the fight, complete with some pretty solid analysis:
http://comicartcommunity.com/2012/07/masters-of-evil-vs-legion-of-doom/

I'll let you guys read it all for yourself, but I definitely agree in who should be the leaders of these teams, if not all of the members.

Baron Zemo should lead the Masters, and Lex Luthor should definitely lead the Legion.


Beyond that, it's kind of a toss-up of popular opininon on who makes the cut on either roster.
Well for the sake of this match-up, I decided to go all in and play the numbers game and unleash the large roster of villains that suits the purpose of these groups forming in the first place.

So, for the Master of Evil side, I'm using the Baron Zemo-led, "Under Siege" era Masters and pitting them against the classic Luthor-led Legion of Doom roster we all know and love.

So,

The Masters Of Evil





VS.

The Legion Of Doom




Who Wins and Why?
You guys know you wanna' weigh in on this one:)


Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Back-Issue Spotlight: Flash#100 (Vol. 2)

Happy Hump Day People

























Wrapping up the April only-themed back issues that get highlighted this month, today I've chosen an old favorite of mine, Flash#100. This was the last part of Terminal Velocity, an amazing arc by Mark Waid.

It was also one of a few centennial isues coming out back then. Wonder Woman, Superman, and Justice League of America all hit the centennial mark around this time, and this was Wally's turn.


Flash#100 (Vol.2) Terminal Velocity: Overdrive "The Quick and the Dead" by Mark Waid, Salvador LaRocca, Carlos Pacheco, and Oscar Jimenez.

Quick recap time: Okay so Waid had a lot of plates spinning up in the air within this arc.
Kobra and his international terrorist organization had set its sights on Keystone City, trapping the city and all of its people inside a seemingly impentrable forcefield. So Wally has to deal with that. He's also trying to mentor Impulse(Bart Allen), teaching him to grow up and use his powers responsibly....and failing miserably.
Wally's sense of urgeny about this is due to the fact that the Speed Force keeps calling him every time Wally runs, pulling him to merge with it. And since running is what he does, yeah, Wally's kinda' fucked. Wally's trying to smarten Bart up because he needs him to be his replacement. Replacement? Yeah in the beginning of the arc, Wally has a nightmare, a premonition, that he and his city would die.
And then there's his not-yet-wife, Linda to deal with. So yeah, lots of stuff to deal with, and only a short time left to do it all in.

By #100, Kobra's seemingly killed Wally, which he didn't but the rest of the city doesn't know that, and now the rest of the speedsters(Max Mercury, Jesse Quick, Bart, and Jay Garrick) along with Linda and the Pied Piper have to save Keystone City by themselves.

And man are they having a rough time of it....


Jesse and Jay get put on the shelf, leaving the rest to pick up the slack.
Oh and while this is happening, Kobra's hedging its bets by simultaneously attacking multiple cities around the country. Leading to scenes like this:

Yep, cue obligatory scenes of various heroes doing their thing.

But Wally's still "dead", and dispite their best efforts, it looks like Kobra's going to win out in the end.
Not that brave Linda believes that, as she intends to go out guns blazing. Literally.

Try as she might though, Kobra's just too powerful.




 And just as it seems that Kobra's won, it starts to storm.....and lighting crashes.


Talk about a timely save right?



Wally seemingly comes back from the "dead" and heals his friends' wounds, and saves the city he loves, thus preventing the horrible future that haunted him at the beginning of the arc.

But was it really Wally, or all just a dream?

 Of course it wasn't.....





Now that's how you tell a story, but you hacks at DC wouldn't know anything about that.

As it turns out, Wally didn't die, but merely merged with the Speed Force. Other speedsters got permantely stuck there once they followed the call, but not Wally. His love for Linda is what kept him grounded, much like Barry had Iris as his anchor. Of course, up to this point, Wally was the only speedster that came back, thus further moving him out of his Uncle Barry's shadow.

Waid would stay on for a few more years, take a break, and then finally end his legendary run. But most think, myself included, that he should've ended his run with this issue since the rest of his run after this just wasn't as good.

Still, this is definitely a key arc in Wally's overall story as Flash, and it would go on to define him for the rest of his career.....until Flashpoint and Dan Dildo fucked all that up.

You can find Terminal Velocity in trade form or the individual issues on the cheap in the quarter bin.
Do yourself a favor and go find it. Its well worth it.





Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The Joke's On You Scooby Doo!


In the tradition of weird and unbelievable match ups like in comic history like The Punisher and Archie, and Attack On Titans and Marvel Comics, I humbly present the following.....

The Joker and Scooby Doo.....











The End

What's that about Clown Business?
Yeah, I definitely stole that line. Guilty as charged;)

Monday, April 27, 2015

"I Feel That Ice Is Slowly Melting"



File this skit under "T" for Topical....




















The End

Yep, in case you haven't been surfing the web, Bendis outed the younger Iceman in All-New X-Men#40.
So yeah, he's gay now. Which I guess shouldn't be a big deal since rumors of Iceman being gay have been around for years. It's just that its done really for shock value, and to "show diversity."

Well they ever learn?

Oh, and BTW, yes, Kity Pryde did agree to marry Starlord. Fat chance that'll do him since Battleworld has already interuppted those nuptials,, and replace his Kitty, witht the more agressive Age of Apocalypse version. Good luck on that one Peter.

"Closing time. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here."

Well..... I kinda always knew this day would come, and it sure has. It's been a hell of a ride, but it's time to for it end. Ti...