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The DC Universe

Much like I talked about the Marvel Universe I also talked about DC and its properties.

DC has its own expansive universe/multiverse however seemingly more limit in true scale then Marvel’s. DC has its own multiple Earth’s and different realms such as Heaven and Hell. 

If Marvel is a Gods Amongst Men type of world the DC would be the opposite, Men Amongst Gods. Often times the characters in DC are incredible powerful, and we see a few that while they can stand with them aren’t truly that power. An example being most versions of Batman. Because although with enough prep and information Batman is said to be able to beat anyone he can’t truly compare to the absurdness that is Superman. 

Often times these characters in DC don’t truly grow, but rather are weakened in order to fit the plot of certain stories. The Flash for example can run millions of times the speed of light. (and as discussed before in my Flash blog, basically manipulate time via the Speed Force). However, during solo Flash comics and Justice League comics he doesn’t show this same speed. As with such speed the Flash could potentially defeat anyone as he would be many times faster than the light that would have to travel to someone's eye in order to see him in the first place.

So, overall DC has Gods Amongst Men that get weakened for plot purposes. Sometimes, we can see character growth but often times these characters don’t have room to grow further normally. 

However, for all of it’s faults DC produces excellent characters and storylines though oftentimes more gritty and dark than Marvel’s comic. 

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The Marvel Universe

So, throughout the weeks I’ve been talking about some of the things that we find in the Marvel Universe. But, today let’s talk this universe overall. 

The Marvel universe in it’s entirety is massive. The countless worlds in its multiverse and normal humans to all powerful cosmic entities. 

However, more often we witness God Amongst Men. 

Though not weak in a general sense the Marvel Universe focuses more often on the more unique but general weaker beings. So, when we see things like Thor and World Breaker Hulk we see near god like beings among the more common or “average” heroes. 

This might be true, but the interaction of the characters and their personalities shine through as we aren’t focused on them being these incredible powerful beings. 

Throughout each character’s life span we see grow. They grow strong to meet a challenge that they are faced with, and often times we’ll see character growth because of it. 

Marvel generally gives us the feeling that their characters are normal people even when they might be anything but normal.

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The World Breaker

If your wondering who was the one that Darwin (the last post) couldn’t counteract with his powers, that would be this guy. 

This is the Hulk rather a version of him called World Breaker Hulk. 

This is basically what happens when you really piss of the Hulk.

In the comics the Illuminati, an organization with he greatest minds on Earth, sent Hulk away from Earth as he was a threat/hazard.

He would land on a battle planet where he would fight through the ranks until he became the leader of the planet. During this time Hulk and Banner once again became a perfect combination of the two. 

Through a series of events he returns to Earth in a rampage. Because of his powers the angrier he gets the stronger he gets. And he was pissed. He absolutely plowed through various superhero teams with little problems. 

When the X-Men attempted to fight him they wanted to bring in Darwin in order to counteract his massive strength and durability. The first thing that Darwin’s power gave him was the ability to absorb gamma radiation, but the amount of radiation Hulk was producing was far greater than what could be absorbed. Once that failed Darwin’s powers simply gave him teleportation and teleported him away because the best way to survive Hulk at this point was to simply not fight him at all. 

This form of Hulk has been seen moving multiple continental plates using sheer strength alone. This is after stomping hard enough to split said continental plates. This is how he got his title World Breaker Hulk. 

This version of Hulk is his strongest though based on his powers this isn’t the strongest that he could be as we don’t know his limits. 

It just stands to reason that if you weren’t afraid to miss with Hulk before then you should be now.

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Darwin

Now, who is the being in Marvel that is the most survivable? Deadpool? Wolverine? No. 

With the exception of Gods and those at that level, Darwin would be.

Now, what’s this guys power?

That would survivability/adaptability. He has the power to survive no matter the circumstances. Most of the time this involves his developing the power needed to counteract the situation he is in. There is really one time when his powers didn’t give him a power to counteract the opposing force. 

Darwin is simply his hero name. (Based on Darwin’s theory of evolution). His real name is Armando Muñoz. He was often made fun of and bullied during his time in school. He father left when he was young and his mother blamed him. She would continue to reject him. 

He would fight alongside the X-men and various mutant teams throughout the comics, and once was able to become a being of pure energy then reform a physical body because of his powers. 

During the movies that featured him once severely reduced his powers and abilities seeing as he died pretty quickly even though his power is literally being able to survive anything. 

At one point he adapted mutations from Hela, the Asgardian goddess of death in Marvel, and so became a Death Harbinger, and continues to call himself one even after losing most of those mutations. 

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God of Strength Superman

Much like Batman, Superman became a god during the Darkseid war. 

During this time Lex Luthor and Superman were teleports to Apokolips the home of Darkseid. Superman steadily lost his power due to the lack of a yellow sun. Desperate to restore Superman to full power considering Lex is basically powerless himself, Lex pushed Superman into one of the many fire pits. 

The raw energy in that fire pits transformed Superman.

He gained his power back and more. However this dark energy corrupted him. He not only became a photo-negative version of himself but he also lost most of his morals. 

This new energy made him violent and cruel, and this new Superman tortured Lex and stranded him on Apokolips for what he had done. 

Back on Earth he became cold and more alien after see he would never be seen as human. He would later be reminded that he wasn’t alone and goes on to save Metropolis and reuniting the League. 

Mobius Chair/God of Knowledge Batman would find out that the transform that Superman underwent is in fact destroying his body. 

Superman would died defending the planet from Vandal Savage and Denny Swan.

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God of Knowledge Batman

So, what happens when you give the Batman, the man who plans for anything and everything and said to be the greatest detective, the knowledge of everything?

Yeah that doesn’t seem like that would work out well for most people.

So, where did this come from?

Well, during and event called the Darkseid war most of the main Justice League become gods or something similar. 

Batman becomes the god of Knowledge. During this event Batman finds and sits on the Mobius Chair. This chair has access to basically all knowledge in the universe/multiverse thus allowing Batman to wield that knowledge. 

Though, unlike what we normally see of Batman he doesn’t seem to try to strike fear in criminals. Rather, he proactively arrests criminals and make their lives difficult. For example, he teleported a wife beater to Themyscira, the home of the Amazons. 

Of course, Batman abuses this power but this doesn’t follow the terminology of absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

This particular power up didn’t last forever, but we got to see Batman as a god. 

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Inhumans

So, there is yet another way to get powers in the Marvel...

Yeah yeah, there's magic, mutants, and serums so what is it this time?

Well, this time its having ancestors that were part of an ancient alien experiment to make soldiers and slaves. 

Alright this doesn’t sound great or even all that real, but let me explain what inhumans are. 

So, like I had said before a long time ago an ancient alien race, the Kree, came to Earth in order to experiment on humans. They did this in order to gain soldiers and/or servants that would have powerful and unique abilities. 

Now, eventually the Kree left and let the world grow. Of course there are quite a few inhumans, though seemingly outnumbered by mutants. 

So, how does this all work? 

Well, the Kree did its experiments and left something called the Terrigen in order to activate these inhumans. They would undergo terrigenesis. This process would transform the inhumans and is deadly to anyone else, and particularly to mutants. 

The releasing of the Terrigen in mist form around the would is was an event in the comics led to quite a few confrontations between the mutants and inhumans. 

Inhuman powers can range from pretty weak to being able to shatter super-structures with a whisper. Hence, why the inhumans king is Black Bolt, otherwise known as the man that could probably shatter the world with a yell. 

Like I said Inhumans are yet another thing that allow characters to have powers in the Marvel Universe. 

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Iron Man

“I am Iron Man” 

Of course, we all know this line from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Ok, so who is Iron Man.... Well ok we know this too, its Tony Stark.

Tony Stark is, rather was, a rich, arrogant, playboy that was an incredible smart. 

He would later have an accident that resulted in him needing an electromagnet in his chest. This resulted in him designing and making a miniature arc reactor. 

Most of the time this accident results with Tony being captured by a terrorist group and later building a suit also powered by the arc reactor to escape. 

He would later claim the title of Iron Man. 

He would make dozens of suits, some useless and other meant to kill gods.

He is very much Iron Man and Iron Man is very much Tony Stark. 

Throughout the movies we see all aspects of Tony grow. From his tech to his attitude. 

An good example of his growth is the context of his famous line “I am Iron Man.” 

The first time he said it, it was in front of the press right after the event of Iron Man 1, but the last time he said it was purely to counter Thanos whilst he snapped in order to save the universe. 

Tony is a very interesting character that has too much story to tell in one post.

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Meta Humans

Much like in the Marvel Universe and it’s Mutants the DC universe has much the same thing.

These are humans that once again had a genetic mutation that gave them unique powers. 

One of the most known of these meta humans is the Flash. Though his situation is relatively unique. Seeing as his power comes from the Speed Force.

The terminology of meta humans had varying context. For example, you have the usual meta human that just got their power for a mutation of some type. However, beings like Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and even Batman have been considered meta humans at some point or another. 

This stems from the fact that the meta human just means beyond humans. So, those beings could be said to be meta humans. (Batman, even though he is purely human, could be considered meta human for his intelligence, fighting capabilities, and for being at peak human strength.)

Generally speaking meta humans are much like their Marvel counterparts, Mutants, however they are more well accepted. Seeing as mutants are feared and hated in Marvel. While meta humans tend to turn out as heroes though with just as many villians.  

In some media meta humans only came about after certain events. The one most well known, because of the show, would be the particle accelerator explosion. The dark matter released from the explosion mutated quite a few people and made the meta humans. 

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Homo Superior

Otherwise known as mutants.

So, in the Marvel universe there are many ways to gain power. 

One of those ways in having the x-gene. This gene once activated gives someone an ability ranging from telepathy to reality warping. 

This leads to a group of beings called Mutants or rather Homo Superior. This is essentially the next step of human evolution. 

The main figure heads of the Mutants would be Charles Xavier or Professor X and Magneto.

 Professor X is the “good” side of the mutants. He leads young and aspiring mutants to be able to fight for good, control their powers, and defend themselves. He wields telepathy and telekinesis to great effect to protect himself and others. Also with the help of Cerberus he is able to find new mutants in order to invite them to his school.

Magento is thus the “bad” side of the spectrum. He wields control over magnetism. He and Professor X used be friends, but differing views on how mutants and normal humans should interact pitted them against each other. He competes with Charles to get new mutants in order to train them to subjugate normal humans as he sees them as inferior. He wears a helmet that blocks out telepaths. 

Other famous mutants include people like Jean Grey and James Howelett.

Jean Grey is a powerful mutant with similar powers to Professor X, and most of the time is the host for the cosmic entity the Phoenix Force. 

James Howelett better known as Logan or Wolverine has an extremely powerful healing factor and claw like bones. He would later be experimented on and gain a near indestructible skeleton.

Overall being a mutant and having the x-gene is one of many many ways to gain power in the Marvel Universe.

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The Lantern Corps and The Emotional Spectrum

In the DC universe the Emotional Spectrum exists. This spectrum has all the major emotion. The Emotional Spectrum is less of an actual spectrum and more just a grouping of emotions that a collectively strong enough to physically empower someone.

Each of these emotions also has a cosmic entity that represents it as well.

Based on this spectrum we have the Lantern Corps. Each separates Corp represents a different emotion.

The most well known would be the Green Lantern Corps. This is a corps powered by willpower with Ion being the willpower entity.

Next, is the Yellow Lantern Corps or better known as the Sinistro Corps. This is a Corp based off fear. This Corp was founded by Sinistro (if you couldn't tell by the name) with the cosmic entity Parallax.

Next, is the Red Lantern Corps. This is the Corp based on rage. The unique thing about this Corps is that once you put on the ring you can't really take it off. The red Lantern rings replaces the wearers blood. So, you take it off and you just don't have blood anymore. This Corps entity is called the Butcher.

Then there's the Indigo Tribe, a corps based on compassion. This Corps members are selected from those that show the least amount of its main emotion rather than the most like the others. So, it chooses the greatest sociopaths in order to rehabilitate them. Proselyte is thier representative entity.

There is Orange Lantern Corps. This is less of a Corps and more of just a person. There is only one member, Larfleeze, who makes construct out of enemies that he has beaten. His representative entity is called Agent Orange.

Next on the list, is the Blue Lantern Corps which is based on the emotion of hope. With their representative entity being Adara.

Then there is the last of the main color Violet. Aka the Star Sapphires. They represent love. Their entity is called Predator.

Now we have the extremes Black and White.

Black is like Orange in that it only really has one wielder. They wear the ring and they can summon/raised zombies. The Black Lantern Corp represents death. Nekron acts as its representative entity.

Conversely is the White Lantern ring. This ring represents life, but doesn't truly give powers over like (by itself). Someone can gain a white Lantern ring by mastering every emotion and so every Lantern color. Kyle Ryner is the only one to have done this, and through a series of event he also gain the Life Equation. Because of the power he gained from the Life Equation he ended up having to spilt up the power and so start the White Lantern Corps in earnest.

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Spider Totems

Spiderman is surprisingly more important in the Marvel Universe then he first appears.

Well, for some background, the Marvel multiverse could be considered a web. This web connects the varying universes and serves to connect fate and such, too.

Now, what you may ask do I mean by that?

A vital key to keeping this web intact are beings called spider totems.

In every universe there is a spider totem. These totems bind the universes together.

There are certain totems that are more important than others. These include The Great Weaver, The Scion, The Bride, The Other, and The Patternmaker.

The Great Weaver is, well, the Weaver of the web that makes up the universe. The Great Weaver can be any of the spider totems or a beings that has consumed their essence. They maintain the Web of Life and Destiny, and only death would relieve them of thier duty.

The Other is a powerful and combative multiversal being that chooses one host to impower.

Each of these main totems act to keep the multiverse in check.

The Bride weaves hidden threads allowing spider totems to arise through chance and luck

So, if the Other, the Scion, and the Bride all die then multiverse and the web that connects it would unravel.

Overall, the Marvel multiverse is and interconnected web of spiders and fate.

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DCU (vs. MCU)   [Movies]

So, everyone knows the Marvel Cinematic Universe and everyone knows the DC Cinematic Universe, and most everyone knows that the MCU is multitudes better than the DCU. Why is that though?

First, let’s see what made the Marvel Universe so successful. 

Well, overall it would have to be the dedication. They put effort into details and actually building a universe between the movies that they made. Marvel also didn’t shy away from spending money in order to make money. Hence why the budding Marvel Studios spent the money to hire someone like RDJ (Robert Downey Jr.). Along those same lines they handpicked each actor, and overall helped build the characters based on the actors too. 

However, the DCU failed on many of these parts. Overall they don’t really have bad movies, but they tend to fall flat half way through. They know how to pick good actors; like Henry Cavill as Superman, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, and even Jason Momoa as Aquaman. The DCU also seems rushed and lackadaisical. For example, the Justice League movie came out before any of the other characters were even really introduced. The only characters we “knew” were Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. We only only got a movie for one of the others after the fact. 

Also though they used the fact that Batman being Batman would know were each of the other characters are we have no reason to believe that they would even trust him. So, they overall failed to properly introduce each character. Also most of the movie seems more like one shot movies rather than an interconnected universe. 

Overall the DCU seems rushed and frankly half-assed. 

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Magic [part 2 (final)]

Unlike magic in DC magic in Marvel tends to be very broad yet narrow subject matter. 

The only ones that truly use “magic” are the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj along with the different Sanctums around the world. 

However, beings such as the Scarlett Witch use a form of magic though isn’t considered a true magic user outside her title naming her a witch. 

Other than the sorcerers among earth there are the Witches and such from Asgard. Specifically, in this context is Freya who taught Loki magic. Loki being hailed as one of the strongest magic users in the Marvel universe. 

The reason that the topic of magic in the Marvel Universe is an odd one is the fact that there are many people that hold forms of energy manipulation and the like. (These being the explanation of their powers). This is done yet the are called magic users in some contexts. So, the line between it just being another superpower and it being “magic” is blurred. 

For a bit of context. The DC universe often explains a lot of what happens in its supernatural world as magic and tend to keep that line pretty clear in that regard. 

So, its hard to describe “magic” in the Marvel Universe beyond those that have been classified as the wielders of such more times than not. 

Thus, we look at the magic used by the Sanctum Sanctorum. Overall we really don’t see too much of the various branches of magic practiced by the masters there, but we know a few things. Unlike the portrayal of magic users being weak with their bodies in other media the sorcerers at Kamar-Taj often train their bodies as well as martial arts and weapons training. Also we general see all magic preformed via magical circles. With that and a lot of what has been said about how magic works there it can be determined that the sorcerers generally pull magic from the surroundings and even other dimensions in order to properly use spells. 

Their magic can also use other things as mediums as well. This is seen by the Sorcerer Supreme (the leader of the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj) using the time stone (a physical manifestation of time in the universe) in order to use time related magic. The time stone is held in a necklace(?) which along the stone is called the Eye of Agamotto. 

A staple of the sorcerers are their sling rings as well. This allow for teleportation up to an unknown distance.

Also, unlike other media the sorcerers usually use their magic to make personal shield, energy whips, and bindings. We haven’t really seen a sorcerer say cast a magical fireball. Though along those lines we don’t really see flashy magic like that among their spells. 

Though based on the fact that a sorcerer can connect to certain dimensions in order to achieve certain effects it could be assumed that elemental magic is possible (among others all depending on the dimension).

So, Kamar-Taj’s magic is more based around personal hand to hand combat rather than other media portrayals of magic users.

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The Multiverse [part 2 (final)]

Once again the idea that there are multiple worlds is something used within comics.

So, today I’ll be talking about the DC multiverse.

First things first, there has been two DC multiverse. The first was a multiverse twisted by it creator, Perpetua. Later the source remade the multiverse. Doing this surrounded the Multiverse with the Source Wall [see previous blogs] and at same time locked Perpetua on the other side. 

Everything is held with the Source Wall, expect of course Perpetua, but also the Source itself is technically outside the wall and the The Overvoid isn’t restricted by the wall. 

Within the wall is all of the Earths as well as a lot of the conceptual realms. Among these realms is Heaven, Hell, Apokolips (the home of Darkseid), and New Genesis (the home of the New Gods and the Highfather).

Other concepts such as Limbo reside here to.

Much like the Marvel Multiverse there are multiple earths that are both parallel yet different. Any possibility creates a new earth were it happened.

Of course, starting with the canon world is Earth 1 (unlike Marvel whose canon earth is earth 616). Earth 1 has everyone’s favorite heroes and their generally accepted canon. 

Another earth that is visited quite often would be Earth 2. Much like Earth 1, but with a few differences. For example, the speedster of Earth 2 is Jesse Quick and her father rather than Barry Allen or Wally West. 

To keep with the theme here (The Earths frequently present in the various DC shows), Earth 38 is the Earth where Supergirl makes her home. 

Now, an Earth that most anyone that can travel throughout the Multiverse tend to avoid would be Earth X. More often then not Earth X is the Earth where Nazi won. All, or at least a majority, of the heroes are evil (by otherworld standards, but I guess for that world they would be the “heroes” that enforce the law and such). Many of the normal villians are also the ones that lead the rebellion on that Earth.

So, to talk about the other realms within the Multiverse briefly. 

Apokolips is the home of Darkseid after he left the New Gods. This is also the home of parademons that main fighting force of Darkseid’s army. It consists of a hellish landscape and could be called hell if there wasn’t already one.

Of course, there is Heaven and Hell. These are generally representations of Christianity’s Heaven and Hell.

New Genesis, otherwise known as the home of the New Gods and ruled by Highfather. This is where the New Gods, a group of incredible power beings, live, fight, train, etc. Its pristine and could generally be viewed as the opposite of Apokolips.

Of course, there are countless earths and realms within the multiverse and so we cant get to all of them during this blog.

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Magic [part 1]

Among the countless other power-ups and superpowers, magic is one of the biggest categories of powers is magic.

This being said that means both Marvel and DC have magic wielding superheroes and villains.

Today I’ll be talking about DC’s resident magicians.

So, you can’t talk about the vast magic community of the DC universe without talking about John Constantine.  

Constantine is a formidable anti-hero who has been said to do anything to get the job done. Though, he is a magician he relies more on his wit and his luck (which has been considered one of his various abilities as he will usually meet just the right ally he needs, avoid harm, and even win money just because his luck). He has been credited as the greatest con-man and he uses that much more often than he does his magical abilities.  

Another magician would be Zatanna, a frequently member of the Justice League.  

As I have said there are a vast amount of magical entities. Among them are the evil and their children. The famous (I would assume) is Trigon. He is an incredible powerful magical warlord, and his daughter is one of the most famous magical users in the DC universe (mainly because of her exposure to the broader audience). His daughter is Raven, one of the Teen Titans. She wield amazing powers and has been said to be stronger than her father at her strongest. You can hear her signature “Azurath Metreon Zinthos” as she cast her spell or uses her powers.

Now we talked about the evil magic users, Trigon, we can talk about the magic users that are all about justice and balance. The paragon of this would have to be Doctor Fate. He is an extremely powerful magic user and sit unparalleled in the art of casting spells. Doctor Fate though is more of a title than a real person. A chosen host would wield the Helmet of Fate. The helmet allows Nabu, a lord of order and justice, to empower and/or take over the host. He is yet another member of the Justice League in its current host and was part of the Justice Society of America in his previous host.

Magic is a fickle thing and many people use it in varying ways, and more time than not with various means to do so. Magic and it’s users are everywhere in the DC universe.

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Deadpool’s Voices

Yep, back to Deadpool. (One of my favorite comic book characters). 

Now, traditionally Deadpool has voices in his head. Hence, the reason why most people call him crazy. He tends to have two voices. These would be Deadpool’s normal (his actual voice) voice and his serious voice. This serious voice tends to mostly act as Deadpool’s sense of reason and logic. 

There was a time in the comic lines for Deadpool where he had three voices. There previously two mentioned voices, and one more even crazier and insane voice that took up the appearance of a yellow text box. 

How did this happen? Well, because of certain events there were quite a few heroes saving the day and preventing the Merc with a Mouth from having some fun. This lead to him sitting on a roof, where a man named Mad Cap “booped” Deadpool. Things happened and Daredevil arrived to attack them. Of course, because of the abundance of heroes Thor also happened to be flying by and though that Daredevil could use some help. By end of this fight Mad Cap and Deadpool are turned to dust. Once all healed up (Mad Cap had a roughly Deadpool level healing factor too) only Deadpool was sitting there. Turns out that Deadpool basically absorbed Mad Cap. 

Mad Cap went on to be Deadpool’s crazy, violent, and irrational voice that made him even more unhinged than before. However, this voice and so Mad Cap didn’t last for too long as Deadpool gets cut in half or cuts himself in half and they then both heal separately into their own beings. 

Mad Cap became a massive pain in Deadpool’s backside and when searching for a way to get rid of him he meets the Collector which wants Deadpool for his collection, mainly because of his healing. Deadpool offers up Mad Cap in his place solving both of their wants.