#Darkseid challenged by Thanos | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thevindicativevordan · 4 years ago

Text

Mongul

Wanted to chat about another Superman Rogue who has been around a while: Mongul.

Background

Now this guy enjoys something of a mixed reputation. On one hand he, unlike many other Superman classic Rogues, has actually been in some good stories. There’s the iconic For The Man Who Has Everything by Alan Moore which is the perfect encapsulation of his core character traits. There he’s a hulking brute, with enough raw power to go toe to toe with Superman and actually hurt him with physical force alone. He’s crude, making misogynistic comments to Wonder Woman, and gleefully reveling in the conquest he plans. Yet he’s also clever, using the Black Mercy to incapacitate his foe, and has an air of faux affability to him that only adds to his menace.

It should come as no surprise that an Alan Moore story is still Mongul’s best showing, but there are other stories worth mentioning as well. There’s Superman: Exile, the first meeting between the Post-Crisis Superman and Mongul and personally one of my favorite Post-Crisis Superman stories. There’s Mongul’s debut Pre-Crisis issue where he and Warworld first appear. There’s his attempt to hijack the Sinestro Corps during the Johns era of Green Lantern. Finally there’s his usage in Bendis Superman, which has been the first time in ages he’s been treated as a serious threat, and given an interesting way to serve as a contrast as Superman.

So why does he suffer from a mixed reputation? Well...

He sure does look familiar doesn’t he? He was created by Len Wein and Jim Starlin, and Starlin you might recall was the creator of Thanos, who was a ripoff of Darkseid. So Mongul is a copy of a copy, lacking the grandeur of Darkseid and the ambition of Thanos. He and Apocalypse are both cast in Darkseid’s mold, and have both gotten one really great and iconic storyline that guarantees they’ll stick around, but have also not traditionally fared well outside that one story. Also like Apocalypse:

He has a really bad habit of jobbing and being used by writers to prop up their characters. Jurgens used him to prop up Hank Henshaw in Reign of the Supermen and Henshaw again along with Zod in the Rebirth arc Revenge!, giving him a reputation as a joke. He also got killed by Sinestro pretty easily during his coup attempt.

Besides that he’s also unfortunately been treated as a generic tyrant for Superman to beat up, lacking much in the way of characterization, or in being a meaningful contrast to Superman beyond “Superman uses his strength to serve others, Mongul uses his to oppress them”. For a while I kind of wrote him off as a lost cause, someone that really didn’t offer anything as a Superman opponent beyond that one Alan Moore story. But recently I’ve changed my opinion; I’ve come to believe Mongul does in fact serve an important purpose and should be treated as an essential part of the Superman Rogues Gallery. Part of this turnabout was caused by really enjoying his usage in Bendis’ Superman run, which caused me to do a reread of Mongul stories, and got me thinking about who Mongul is, what he’s about, and what role he plays.

What Role Mongul Plays

A crucial realization hit me while I was rereading Mongul stories: Mongul is The Bully of the Supermythos.

He’s the guy who doesn’t delude himself into thinking he’s the hero like Lex does. He doesn’t consider himself above petty emotions or notions of right and wrong like Brainiac. He doesn’t have a sympathetic background like General Zod does. He’s the guy who enjoys pounding people into the dirt, who doesn’t mask his desire to lord over the populace behind pretenses of noble intentions. He’s gleeful as he crushes his enemies beneath his heel, he’s petty in that he enjoys forcing people to fight for his amusement, he’s dangerous in that while Darkseid can be bargained with, Mongul is always going to prefer to take what he wants via force and is powerful enough to do just that. In other words, he’s the exact kind of guy Superman started out wanting to take down, just living in the cosmic space where Superman can actually kick his ass without it feeling like punching down.

That core ethos, beautifully summed up in All-Star Superman, is in direct opposition to Mongul’s entire lifestyle. When the United Planets starts to form in Bendis’ Superman, Mongul is outraged, not just because it may pose a threat to him, but because the very idea of the “weak” uniting into a stronger whole downright offends him. He runs Warworld to cull the “weak and unfit” of the universe for his own amusement and entertainment, the petty schoolyard bully who has turned a planet-sized Death Star into his own playground, and he climbed to the top via crushing anyone that stood against him with his own two hands or outwitting them with his brain. He’s got no time for others who think they can rise above their station in life without the physical/mental power to back that desire up. If Superman believes that everyone is capable of greatness, Mongul is a firm believer that greatness is the sole purview of the very few (and really only himself).

This core conflict allows writers to bring back the bully hunter of the Golden Age and early New 52 t-shirt and jeans Supermen. Here’s a guy, a foreign ruler no less, who is actively oppressing people. We get to enjoy seeing Superman taking on a foreign dictator because he’s off in space instead of doing so here on Earth where thorny parallels to American interventionism abroad would be raised. Superman can be the Champion of the Oppressed again, and that’s always something I enjoy seeing.

I’d also like to bring up why Mongul was originally created. Len Wein wanted a foe for Superman who could match him physically. In other words, Mongul is like Doomsday if Doomsday actually had a personality. Mongul offers the opportunity for deeper exploration of Superman that Doomsday can’t. We know this literally because Mongul’s best story isn’t just a slugfest between the two the way Doomsday’s is. For The Man Who Has Everything is one of the best explorations of just how damn lonely being the Last Son of Krypton is for Kal. Exile explores the ethics of Superman’s no kill rule, his belief in the sanctity of life, his struggles to hold onto that belief in the face of the cruelty of others. His usage in Bendis’ run is to illustrate just how fragile the United Planets is, how easily it can break apart, and how hard Superman is going to have to strive to make it work. PKJ used Mongul in his Future State Superman: Worlds of War stories to show the lengths Superman will go to liberate others, his defiance in the face of Mongul’s attempts to break him. There’s an opportunity for psychological evaluation of Superman when Mongul shows up that just isn’t there with Doomsday. That alone is reason to keep him around, but he also brings a bunch of cool shit in addition.

Cool Aspects Mongul Brings to the Supermythos

He’s got a Death Star that doubles as a gladiator coliseum, where we get to see Superman compete with other gladiators from across the cosmos. Mongul lets Superman channel that Conan brutality in a very entertaining way, putting Superman in a setting where he’s facing lots of foes who can go up against him with raw strength and numbers alone.

It’s a place that channels that pulp science fiction that Superman was borne from in a very entertaining way in my opinion. Also they should set a Superman video game there (but that’s another blog post). The gladiators are also useful, either as oppressed prisoners for Superman to liberate, and showcase directly how he makes life better, or as bloodthirsty mooks that can actually challenge Superman without dimishing him.

The Black Mercy is an awesome science fiction concept. While it’s been overused in relation to Mongul, it’s also the embodiment of the unknown wonders and threats of DC Cosmic. In the right hands it’s a great tool for exploring characters’ psychology.

Bendis and Fraction reestablished that the name “Mongul” is a legacy one. The current Mongul is from a long line of Monguls, the sons killing their fathers when their fathers show weakness. Given how Rebirth has established the importance of legacy to Superman with Jon, something continued by Bendis, this may be a very crucial aspect to play off of. The way “Mongul” as a mantle is assumed is a dark contrast to the way the “Superman” mantle is taken up by others after Clark. Exploring the Mongul father-son relationship in contrast to the Clark-Jon relationship may be in the cards for the PKJ run given Mongul will be the first classic Superman Rogue appearing in PKJ Action. If not I hope some other writer will take a chance to explore the way the two contrast and compare with one another because it could be very interesting.

What I Would Change About Mongul

I think there’s already a pretty damn solid base to build off of with Mongul, but some aspects that I would play up to better establish him as separate from both Clark and Darkseid:

Making him more of a hedonist. This is a guy who eat, drinks, and fucks, and enjoys himself while doing so. He loves being a bad guy and isn’t “weighed down by his sins” or any such nonsense

Showcase his knowledge more. Mongul is smart, he’s been all over the cosmos, he learned about Warworld and the Black Mercy, show that he knows other dangerous secrets as well. Weapons, planets, florua, fauna, Mongul knows stuff not even the Guardians do

Establish some underlings. Instead of having Mongul job, use some of his gladiators, elite ones raised above the riffraff who can pose a threat and hold off Superman while Mongul accomplishes his goals

Appearance wise I’d like to make him look more different from Darkseid. I’d want to draw on dinosaurs for his look. If you need to justify it, just have another son replace the current Mongul and become the new Mongul, or have Mongul modify himself with enhancements in order to beat Superman

Mongul is cool and brings a lot to the table, DC just needs to stop treating him as a jobber and more as a legitimate threat. I was happy with how Bendis used him, and I am hopeful that PKJ will continue to treat him well. He’s a villain who actually has stories that showcase why he rocks, and not just cool ideas that have never come together like other Superman Rogues. Hopefully he’ll get more opportunities to showcase that.

#superman #mongul #dc comics #alan moore #brian bendis #phillip kennedy johnson #len wein #jim starlin #warworld #future state

32 notes · View notes

ninalevy · 6 years ago

Text

Zoinks!

Attack of the Shaggy Meme:

Stoner vs Kaiju and Saiyan

During the last 15 or so years of parenting, I have felt like there is always a new Scooby Doo movie or TV show sneaking up on me while my back is turned. I wouldn’t say that our kids are major Scooby and Shaggy fans, but their appreciation for the pair has tested my patience on many occasions.

But until recently, I had no idea thaT Shaggy had been proliferating out of control in the world of online memes.

On this napkin, overpowered Shaggy is knocking down Goku, one of the superhuman fighters from Dragon Ball, after having walloped Godzilla.

I would have liked to include a few more antagonists: Thanos? Darkseid? King Ghidora?

Sadly, this was challenge enough.

#shaggy memes #shaggy #daily napkins #napkin art #fan art #godzilla #goku #jump force

22 notes · View notes

hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 6 years ago

Text

Please shut up about Marvel having too much continuity

That’s a phrase I hear thrown around endlessly by fans, ‘fans’ and comic creators themselves.

Continuity is bad we need to get rid of it or cut it down because it’s too intimidating to readers.

This is provably untrue.

Exhibit A: The Marvel Cinematic Universe

The MCU has been running since 2008. As of this writing there are 20 movies in the MCU with more on the way and I don’t even know how many short films and episodes of various TV shows.

Now sure, the movies are mostly self-contained and don’t require you to check out any of the other stuff. The same is true of the Netflix MCU TV shows

True but the other TV shows (like the long running Agents of SHIELD) aren’t so self contained. The Netflix shows do trade off of events in other Netflix shows. And even if you confine it to the movies you still have those 20 movies.

And sorry but if you wanna check out the latest of the 2-3 Marvel movies out in any given year being asked to watch twenty films is a lot of continuity to ask of someone. Far more than is reasonable and honestly for a new viewer it might as well be as intimidating as 50 years of comics.

And the harsh truth is... a lot of people just don’t do that when they go see a Marvel movie. But it’s also true that most people seem to like Marvel movies.

How is this possible?

How could they possibly enjoy the latest instalment in a film franchise without having seen everything before?

Well this video about Avengers Assemble raises two key explanations.

The gist of things is that Avengers Assemble in part traded off of the modern way we consume media and trusted people could Google or Youtube what they needed to know to ‘get’ the movie. See the endless number of articles and videos explaining what audiences ‘need to know’ before they check out the latest MCU film or revealing telling things in movies they’ve already seen. An example would be all the articles explaining who Thanos was after his mid-credits tease in Avengers Assemble.

However the video’s other more salient point is that Avengers Assemble, like the movies leading into it and in fact the movies after it, was actually written to be accessible on it’s own.

Sure you get a more rewarding experience if you checked out everything beforehand, but it’s not necessary.

Even in a bonanza like Infinity War, in 2018 everyone is aware of who most of those characters are in the first place and even if they aren’t they know who a few of them are and can thus get invested in the movie for them.

It’s kind of like every movie is written with the belief that it’s someone’s first...which is exactly how Marvel used to write all of their comics!

Exhibit B: The DC Animated Universe

Before Marvel made film history DC made animation history by replicating the shared superhero universe of DC comics in animation.

Comprised primarily of Batman the Animated Series, Superman the Animated Series, Batman Beyond, the Zeta Project, Static Shock and Justice League (with some seasons rebranded under different names and status quos) the DCAU lasted from the early 1990s until the mid 2000s with easily in excess of 100 episodes between the shows. Which doesn’t even count the tie-in comics, video games and more significantly four animated films.

All of these shared continuity in particular in the Justice League TV show where of course virtually every DC character from earlier in the DCAU cropped up alongside a massive amount of new ones.

What made things even more complicated was that Justice League was released after Batman Beyond, a show set in the distant future of the DCAU, meaning the show was even drawing upon continuity from stories that chronologically took place way later.

Confusing right?

Well...not if you go by the ratings, critical acclaim and strong fan following.

Let me stress the DCAU predated the easier access to the internet we have today, it wasn’t until the DCAU was wrapping up that its various shows began to get complete home releases.

It is extremely unlikely that everyone or even the majority of the viewership of any given DCAU show were fully aware or up to scratch on the continuity of the DCAU as a whole.

And yet the DCAU was extremely successful.

In fact Justice League was so successful that it was renewed twice after originally intended to wrap up the DCAU as a whole. And both attempts drew upon older continuity, especially the second of these two attempts.

Exhibit C: The market for superhero info books

Fun fact, I’ve worked for D.K. books which has made a lot of comic book based info books diving into the (mostly in-universe) history of the various characters.

The first of those books I know of was Spider-Man: the Ultimate Guide published about oh...in 2001.

It’s fourth and newly updated edition was released last year.

In fact with the surge of superhero popularity D.K. had to make more guidebooks than ever before, so many in fact that they had to drop some.

Here is some inside baseball but to capitalize upon Thor: Ragnarok there was supposed to be an ultimate guide book all about Thor but due to producing stuff for Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Wonder Woman, Black Panther and Justice league the project had to be dropped.

Guidebooks about individual franchises were not even the only types of info books D.K. did.

They’ve recently published what amounts to an encyclopaedia about the entire Marvel Universe since the 1940s!

And by the way, these books aren’t aimed primarily at the established/older hardcore fan.

They are aimed at a mass audience, chiefly kids who’ve maybe seen the movies, cartoons or read a little about the characters and now want to go deeper. And they are sold in general book stores as well as comic book speciality stores.

And they’ve been doing this since 2001...internationally!

So OBVIOUSLY there is thriving market for the large in depth histories of these characters. Clearly people love the idea of there being wider lore for them to explore.

It’s not even a phenomenon exclusive to comic book nerds, just ask Lord of the Rings fans!

Exhibit D: the DC Universe

If you count absolutely everything, there has been in truth at least six different versions of the DC universe since it began in 1938.

That means on six separate occasions DC has chucked out aspects of their history and in theory made it more accessible to readers because hey, there is less history for you to read now. Their biggest attempt of recent years was in the New 52 in 2011.

And yet in general Marvel has systemically outsold DC comics and especially did so during the New 52 when the DC as whole suffered massive sales losses linked in no small part to their decision to reboot their universe and throw out the history readers had invested in.

Exhibit E: Soap operas

Soap operas that are intended to last indefinitely rarely (if ever) have facilities to enable viewers to catch up on older episodes across their massive sometimes 1000+ episode count. And even if they did such options wouldn’t have existed before the 21st century when DVDs and digital media and recordable TV isn’t what it is today.

Yet these soap opera kept running and running and running sometimes for decades?

How? They couldn’t have maintained the same viewership across that entire time.

Could it be that the new viewers of these soap operas just tuned in and rolled with it/the soap opera were written in a relatively accessible way so that they continued the ongoing plots whilst allowing new viewers to jump on ship at any time?

Exhibit F: The 1980s-1990s

The notion of Marvel’s long continuity being a bad thing, of being a problem hampering them is dependent upon the idea that after a point there is just too much history in the way of readers to jump on board. The Marvel Universe has lasted since 1961 after all*.

The foolishness in this mentality is that it wholly fails to recognize that catching up on and keeping up with even 20-25 years worth of comic book history is such a daunting task that it might as well be 55 years!

And yet in the 1980-early 1990s the comic book industry was over all healthier than it is now despite there already being a huge amount of history and lore to most Marvel characters.

In fact easily the most popular Marvel franchise of the 1990s was the X-Men which was THE most complicated and convoluted franchise Marvel had at the time.

Compounding the challenge new fans allegedly had to face was the fact that reprints, trades, info books and internet based resources to help them catch up or learn the wider histories either didn’t exist or weren’t what they are now.

There comes a point when getting a grip on 55 years of history when you have endless resources to help you do that and instant access to those stories on your phone is infinitely easier trying that with 20-25 years of history when you have next to nothing.

But there were MORE comic book readers in the 1980s-1990s than now and they were able to jump into the long running narratives decades into their histories.

How is this possible?

Because back then Marvel practiced a mantra preached by Stan Lee himself.

Every comic is someone’s first.

So every comic pushed the characters stories on but also made sure they invited new readers along for the ride too.

Exhibit G: Myself

When I was 12 I began watching the Justice League cartoon show and fell in love with all those characters, only slowly realizing that the Superman and Batman of this show were the same ones I’d seen on Batman the Animated Series and those 6 episodes of Superman I’d seen years ago. I didn’t even know who Darkseid and Brainiac were? It didn’t matter they were clearly big deal bad guys and I loved their 2 episodes in Justice League. I loved Justice League Unlimited even more even though I didn’t realize it was capitalizing upon plot threads set up in yet more Superman episodes I’d never seen.

When I was 11 one of my best friends who was nowhere near as much into comic books as I was showed me his new book. Spider-Man the Ultimate Guide. In it was pages and pages about Spider-Man, his powers, his costumes, his friends, his foes and his history over all. I needed my own copy of that book and re-read it multiple times because wow I didn’t know Spider-Man was once buried alive and there was a Spider-Man in the future and this one time Spider-Man battled the Juggernaut and it was awesome and this other time Spider-Man turned into the Lizard and the Hulk!

When I was 10 I read my first ever Spider-Man comic book and began following the character religiously.

This comic book was Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75.

This was the very last part of the very last story arc in the single most convoluted Spider-Man story of all time, the Clone Saga, with even that one issue drawing upon and referencing continuity from 27 years earlier!

And yet it hooked me.

All those things hooked me.

Because it’s not about how much continuity you have.

It’s about how you choose to use it or not use it when crafting a compelling story.

#Marvel #marvel comics #DC #DC Comics #MCU #DCAU #DC animated universe #marvel cinematic universe #Spider-Man #Clone Saga #batman the animated series #superman the animated series #justice league #justice league the animated series #justice league unlimited #batman beyond #static shock #Avengers 2012 #Avengers Assemble

102 notes · View notes

getbacktoblogwarts · 5 years ago

Link

Big ‘ol mannequin challenge video! This was fun. Channeling my inner Matt Fraction Hawkeye. Had enough of your crap, Thanos. Not having it. At least, not until I’ve had my coffee. Featuring nationally renowned cosplayer Michael Wilson as Darkseid and Cleveland Crunch champion Otto Orf as Aquaman.

#charity #superheroes #cosplay #mannequin challenge

1 note · View note

true-halloween-tales · 6 years ago

Text

2018: #12-SUPERVILLAINS

The origin of the word “villain” reveals a secret about the significance of villains and supervillains. The origin of “villain” is the Latin word villanus; it curiously means farmhand. It refers to workers on villas or plantations. Over the years it transformed into the word “villein,” which meant serf or peasant. A villein came to mean that a person was lacking the politeness or chivalry of a knight – that the person was of a lower social status. Over some more years and human negativity further tainted the term. “Villein” in French is now “vilain” meaning bad or ugly, and the Italian “villano” means rude. What has happened is that one type of people has vilified another type of people as seen in the etymological corruption of the meaning. The significance of this is the difference between a criminal and a villain. A criminal is symbolically branded as a wrong-doer for breaking the law. A villain could be a mislabeled, misunderstood, oppressed person, a farmhand, and not necessarily a wrong-doer. Therefore some supervillains could be more like social rebels and less like evil criminals…

Early villains in fiction wore all black with a tall black hat and a twirly mustache. This was the archetypical image of villains such as Snidely Whiplash from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Early villains included the Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin Hood, Professor Moriarty with Sherlock Holmes, and Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon (see 2012: #8-MING THE MERCILESS IN THE FOGGY RING OF HELL). In the 1960’s some villains started to emerge who had huge agendas, including: Blofeld from the James Bond series and the Master from Doctor Who (see 2017: #4-SPIES and 2018: #2-GUIDE TO DOCTOR WHO). Perhaps the furthest a villain can go is to have a successful take over of the entire universe. To be able to threaten the universe’s existence nearly as a god, and to make announcements to the occupants of the universe as your subjects is when you have won the supervillain game. This has been done by the tv villains of the Master and Mantrid from the Lexx series, and each ended up destroying at least a section of the entire universe. Now that’s very, very bad and leads us to supervillains…

Supervillains are primarily comic book villains. The term originates from the 1960’s. The most simple definition of “supervillain” is a villain who has a superhero as an opponent. Supervillains often have specific costumes or outfits, catchy names, special talents or gimmicks, henchmen, secret hideouts, secret identities, and master plans. Supervillains appear in comic books to be challenging opponents of superheroes. If the supervillain does not have special powers, then they may have special skills that distinguish them like being a genius. A predominant supervillain personality trait is that of having megalomaniacal delusions. Many supervillains have similarities to dictators, terrorists, and gangsters, with aspirations of world domination.

Supervillains are not always criminals. Sometimes they behave as social rebels. They may not be farmhands or serfs, but they sure are rebelling. Heath Legder’s Joker standing there laughing with millions of dollars burning behind him is the quintessential film scene depicting this. Jack Nicholson’s Joker art gallery scene brings the rebellion to art. Burgess Meredith’s the Penguin only ever had one goal: to have Batman arrested, sued, entrapped, and disgraced. Sometimes supervillains are even depicted as being sympathetic. Magneto from the X-Men comics and films is a supervillain basically because he was a Nazi victim in WW2. Sometimes the line between the hero and villain becomes blurred. Sometimes supervillains become the good guys temporarily at least. The Legends of Tomorrow tv series has included such supervillains as Captain Cold working on a team for a common aim with other supervillains. Since there are so many supervillains, to understand them we must classify them…

The first classification of supervillain is for highly talented people without any special powers. This includes Lex Luther, the Penguin, the Riddler, Harley Quinn, and Cat Woman. A sub-classification are highly talented people with special training: Deathstroke, Kingpin, and even the Joker supposed to have studied chemistry. Another sub-classification of supervillains are highly talented people with scientific gizmos: Dr. Octopus, Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, and the Scarecrow who often uses hallucinatory drugs on his victims as seen in the excellent Batman Arkham video game series. Many gizmo users are also mad scientists (see #2018: #5-MAD SCIENTISTS).

The second category of supervillains include normal people who gained special powers. This often means that the person came into contact with a rare manufactured substance that transformed them. This classification includes the Reverse Flash, Sandman, Bane, Poison Ivy, and the alien-looking Black Manta appearing in December 2018’s Aquaman film. There are a rare few supervillains in this classification that had their transformation sparked by a natural phenomenon. One such supervillain was Vandal Savage who was seen on season two of Legends of Tomorrow. Vandal Savage was a caveman who touched an alien meteor and developed super powers including eternal life. Another supervillain in this classification, Juggernaut from the Deadpool 2 film, received his size, strength, and power from touching the magical Crimson Gem of Cyttora.

A third classification of supervillain are those with natural, special powers that they were born with. This often signifies that the person is a mutant, usually placing them in the realm of the X-Men. This classification includes: Magneto, the blue Mystique, and the also blue Apocalypse, the first mutant from 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse film. A sub-classification of supervillains with powers are aliens, with many from the Superman comics. Superman’s foe, General Zod is an alien, originating from Superman’s home planet of Krypton. General Zod also created an evil Superman clone with grey skin named Bizarro. The strange Mister Mxyzptlk is another Superman supervillain, the “imp from the Fifth Dimension.” Another sub-classification of supervillains with powers are demigods and actual gods, such as Loki or Hela, the goddess of death from 2017’s excellent Thor: Ragnarok. Thanos falls into this sub-classification, from 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War film. Thanos is basically a Grecian Titan even though he is an alien, an Eternal. The top villain in the D.C. universe is Darkseid, whose father was Zonuz, the first god of evil and also the last Old God. Darkseid had the ultimate goal of controlling everyone in the universe. The one superhero who fights the most amount of deities, demigods, and cosmic entities is Doctor Strange. His first foe was Nightmare, evil ruler of the Dream Dimension. He fought the godlike Eternity and had a regular fantastic foe with the cool-looking Dormammu, ruler of the Dark Dimension who briefly appeared in 2016’s Doctor Strange film.

A fourth classification of supervillains exists, those with dark powers. These are supervillains who border on being monsters or really are monsters. One such supervillain is Flash’s foe, Gorilla Grodd. Gorilla Grodd was a gorilla in Africa that came into contact with either a meteor or a spacecraft. In either case, he became ultra-powerful, brilliant, telepathic, and he could control minds. Venom is a particularly cool villain because he is a monster, created by an alien symbiont lifeform. What is surprising about Venom in the comics is that he sort of becomes a hero for homeless people. Eventually a harness is put on him and he works for the military on missions as Agent Venom. Hopefully a sequel to the 2018 Venom film will be made that is a proper cult film. In 1944 D.C. Comics had a wealthy merchant named Cyrus Gold get killed in Slaughter Swamp near Gotham City in All American Comics. He then rose as a zombie fifty years later, as supervillain Solomon Grundy, and went on a killing spree and became a Green Lantern villain. Morbius the Living Vampire is about a man who transforms himself into a vampire via a chemistry experiment, and he dons a cool outfit and transforms from being a Spider-Man supervillain to becoming an antihero superhero with his own comic and a film on the way in the future.

A fifth classification of supervillain are atypical supervillains who may fit in no other categories. These usually are supervillains that did not originate from comic books. M. Night Shyamalan’s film from 2000, Unbreakable, features Samuel Jackson as Elijah Price, a supervillain who is returning in January 2019’s Glass along with James McAvoy’s character from 2016’s Split. A sixth classification of supervillains are those appearing in comedy. The Terror appeared in both series of The Tick, and the new Amazon The Tick live action series is pretty good. The animated Adult Swim tv series from 2006-2008, Frisky Dingo, created by Archer’s Adam Reed, featured the supervillain main character of Killface who appeared as a ridiculous but powerful lich obsessed with destroying the Earth with his mad scientist weapon, the Annihilatrix. There are not many supervillains appearing in comedy.

But there are quite a few teams of supervillains. The Suicide Squad is a team of supervillains forced to work for the good guys. The 2016 film was awful, and a sequel is in the way. The Suicide Squad team members change a lot throughout the comics but usually include Deadshot and Captain Boomerang. The Sinister Six are a group of Spider-Man supervillains who are rumored to appear in a future film. The team includes Dr. Octopus, the Vulture, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and the Sandman. 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home will nearly include the Sinister Six with: Michael Keating reprising his Vulture, Michael Mando as the Scorpion, and Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio. Yet another supervillain team is the Legion of Doom which appeared in 1978’s Challenge of the Superfriends cartoon tv series. The Legion of Doom consisted of: Bizarro, Cheetah, Captain Cold, Black Manta, Gorilla Grodd, Sinestro, Solomon Grundy, and more!

If we toss all of the supervillains into the Cauldron of Creepiness, which three bubble up to the top and rise above the rest? The Joker is pretty much the number one villain. And Venom is pretty much the most monstrous villain. So those two are easy. I would have to say that Superman’s strange supervillain, Mister Mxyzptlk, would be the third to rise to the top. Since he is from the Fifth Dimension he can virtually do magic and twist reality. The Joker, Venom, and Mister Mxyzptlk are probably the top three coolest supervilllains. But if the top three strongest supervillains were selected, it would be a completely different group. Thanos with his Infinity Gauntlet is certainly in the top three; he sure had plans on making major alterations to the universe! Dormammu is definitely one of the top three most powerful supervillains with godlike powers. His head is made out of evil fire. Dormammu would not be affected by the Infinity Gauntlet, and he could take Thanos down with ease. But Dormammu could be taken down by Galactus, an alien from the planet Taa from before the Big Bang. Galactus survived the destruction of his universe by bonding with the Sentience of the Universe. He gestated for billions of years in our universe until he woke up, and he woke up hungry so he started devouring whole planets. An alien eventually made a deal for Galactus not to gobble up his planet, and the alien was transformed into the herald of Galactus, the Silver Surfer. So Galactus is pretty much the most powerful supervillain.

Superhero films pretty much started with 1966’s Batman: the Movie with Adam West. The quality of the film is usually directly related to the quality of the depiction of the supervillain. 1989’s Batman with Tim Burton’s vision and Jack Nicholson as the Joker is a classic. The Dark Knight with Heath Ledger as the Joker is also an incredible film. The Dark Knight Rises with Bane is also a decent film with an amazing scope. As for tv, Adam West’s Batman series is one of the best for outrageous supervillains. Cesar Romero’s Joker is excellent, Burgess Meredith served up the best Penguin to date, Frank Gorshwin provided an effervescent and the best Riddler, and Vincent Price laid a wonderful Egghead. All three seasons of the series are finally available on disc. Ralph Bakshi’s Spider-Man cartoon series from 1967-1969 was a great series also for its supervillains. It delivered the best Green Goblin even from any film, included traditional supervillains from Electro to the Rhino, had neat-looking monsters, and it featured great incidental music. The Legends of Tomorrow tv series features interesting supervillains, including some who are members of the team of the superheroes. Captain Cold and Heatwave are Flash supervillains who made the transition into being acting superheroes. An entertaining recent depiction of a supervillain was by Tom Cavanaugh as the Reverse Flash on the first season of The Flash tv series. These days Netflix is starting to cancel the Marvel superhero series – the ones with the least interesting supervillains.

Back to the derivation of the word, villain. Could supervillains be related in any way to farmhands, serfs, the poor, or social rebels? Are the superheroes now the super-rich land owners, the knights? Are superheroes ever depicted as being millionaires? Like Bruce Wayne…Tony Stark…Oliver Queen… Hmmm, maybe sometimes the supervillains may not be as bad as they seem, and the superheroes may sometimes be really more villain and less hero…

#true halloween tales #halloween #superhero #the joker #batman #superman #doctor strange #dormammu #avengers #thanos #infinity war #sinister 6 #venom #the dark knight #spiderman #spiderman cartoon

12 notes · View notes

hellyeahheroes · 7 years ago

Video

youtube

Shuri is in this trailer for a second or so (0:50) so hell with it, let’s talk about OH MY GOD THE HYPE: The Movie.

You know... I think it’s telling that the parts of the movie I feel excited about seem to be all concerning battle for Wakanda and I’m sure quite few people ( @fandomshatepeopleofcolor for example) will be happy it seems that both Falcon and War Machine are participating in it alongside T’Challa and Dora Miraje. Even if it is a battle against a generic bunch of Xenokcockoffs, which feels like a step down from the colorful, bright and cool-looking final battle of Black Panther.

The rest? Eeeeeh. I mean, aside from that scene where Ebony Maw turns Benedict Cumberbatch into a needle pillow I cannot muster to care. RDJ looks so fucking DONE it won’t surprise me if Tony dies. While the rest of the GotG crew looks serious, Star-Lord has one sentence and he is so annoying I wanted to punch him in the face. Scarlet Witch and Vision seem disjointed from the rest of the movie, Thor is there, Black Order exist - just a bunch of scenes saying “hey, these guys are in the movie” that makes me wonder HOW do they cram so many characters into one production. I mean, I have same wonders about Shuri, she has a small scene here that is to....hold the hologram of Vision’s head But at least she is in Wakanda, it makes sense for her to be there. And hell, it shows how popular she is if they gave her a scene in this trailer. Spider-Man’s jokes don’t land and the fact they seem to be building him and Strange as headliners of next phase of MCU/heirs to Tony’s mantle of MCU’s leading face (when let’s be honest, it should be Black “1 Billion Dollars in Box Office” Panther) irritates me.

Thanos is the hype, but then again he is the fucking hype machine this movie’s marketing stands on, after all those years of build-up. He does that “imposing evil guy” thing remarkably well and enough for the mainstream audience, but...I mean, I will probably enjoying seeing him wrecking Tony’s shit and possibly having MCU version of that one classic scene with Steve Rogers, but.... I don’t know if they will land any of that “depth” they promised for him. On the other hand, they hype it up as his movie more than they hype “all your favorite heroes* join together!” aspect.

BTW, it kinda makes me wonder if DC’s recent announcement of New Gods directed by Ava DuVernay isn’t the result of somebody realizing they only really have one guy who can counterbalance Thanos’ hype train and that’s Darkseid. Which...Guys, I haven’t seen a Wrinkle In Time but I know right-wing media outlets are trying to paint DuVernay as anti-white racist in a way that betrays how much they believe their audience to be a bunch of gullible idiots, so what I’m gonna say is in no way aimed against her, but...I don’t think New Gods will be a good movie if they set it up to be a counter for this. I mean, look at what Warner/DC and FOX are doing - they pick up one of their upcoming movies and declare “this will be the one that defeats MCU”. And then they keep messing with this movie until it’s broken. Happened with Suicide Squad, with several “main” X-Men movies, with Justice League and now seems to be happening with Deadpool 2 and New Mutants. Meanwhile the movies they don’t believe in or treat as side-projects to the “main” movie, Wonder Woman, Deadpool, Logan, are the ones that succeed and possibly the ones that paved the way for MCU to finally starting to evolve, be it with giving Thor 3 some actual themes to talk about or with Black Panther smashing genres and formulas fans got used to. I don’t think New Gods will be such a movie to challenge MCU. I think DuVernay is capable of making it if she will be left alone, but I have zero faith Warner won’t screw it over while desperately trying to win dick-measuring contest with Disney.

* - Ant-Man not included :P

- Admin

#Shuri #Avengers: Infinity War #Black Panther Movie #MCU #Marvel

7 notes · View notes

moviebuzzr · 1 year ago

Text

#clash: thanos vs darkseid #darkseid challenged by thanos #darkseid vanquished by thanos #showdown: thanos vs darkseid #thanos conquers darkseid #guardians of the galaxy #darkseid's downfall against thanos #darkseid defeated by thanos #epic battle: thanos vs darkseid #911 fox

0 notes

karingudino · 4 years ago

Text

REVIEW: ‘League’ is flawed but brave

It appears at first counterintuitive to supply folks considerably extra of one thing they did not very a lot get pleasure from within the first place — like a chef who follows up an unsuccessful meal by giving the sad patrons extra entrees in take-home packing containers — however, within the case of Zack Snyder’s long-agitated-for prolonged reduce of “Justice League,” HBO Max is providing extremely anticipated fan service of the best order.

In any case, returning to the above analogy, it is extra as if patrons had gone to this restaurant particularly for the chef, who midway by means of making their dinner needed to abruptly depart and was changed by a brand new prepare dinner, nabbed from a completely completely different restaurant down the highway.

When Snyder was in the midst of his would-be opus again in 2016, a tragedy involving his daughter pressured him to desert the movie to be able to be together with his grief-stricken household. Determined, and on quick discover, the producers shortly plucked Joss Whedon, the director of the primary two “Avengers” installments, and, as an emergency screenwriter, the savior of struggling options for many years earlier than. As has been fairly famously chronicled at this level, it was, let’s assume, not a superb match. Whedon grated on members of the crew and forged, and rewrote many sections of the movie to try to lighten the darkish, dour temper of Snyder’s unique, which left the movie feeling like a horror present mishmash of concepts and tones.

Now, 4 years later, Snyder has lastly returned to recut, reshoot, and restore his unique imaginative and prescient. The result’s actually combined — largely depending on how a lot Snyder you loved within the first place — however at the very least the still-grieving director has been allowed an opportunity at redeeming his ardour challenge. That lots of the unique flaws are nonetheless there, some exacerbated, would not take away from his dedication underneath clearly excruciating circumstances.

That stated, to separate the artist’s anguish from the artwork, with a movie, at a staggering 242 minutes, actually twice so long as the hybrid unique, it’s a must to ask whether or not this new reduce was definitely worth the effort. The reply relies upon largely in your perspective.

It’s at the very least improved: The story, as hackneyed because it stays, makes a superb deal extra sense, every character will get extra display time and at the very least some kind of backstory (with sure tales working extra successfully than others), and there are an incredible many extra characters and subplots concerned in consequence. There’s additionally an prolonged, multi-scene epilogue that serves to arrange a number of additional DCEU installments, offering sufficient fodder for obsessed fan-folk to chew on and speculate over for months to return. However although Snyder has added one other movie’s price of fabric into the primary one, his film nonetheless feels choked with an excessive amount of occurring too quick and too little time for any of the characters to breathe. As superb as this will likely sound, even at 4 hours, it feels rushed.

The story principally follows the MCU “Avengers” system for uniting a disparate super-team: Throw a bunch of MacGuffins over the earth (on this case, a trio of sq. cubes referred to as “Motherboxes,” an indestructible expertise from a distant alien race that has the flexibility to reshape matter) and ship an alien emissary to retrieve them and obtain world dominance. Solely, rather than Marvel’s baddie Thanos, ruthless whereas additionally philosophic about his objective, now we have Steppenwolf (voice of Ciarán Hinds), an enormous, hammer-headed being who speaks in boring, evil platitudes (“I’ll bathe in your concern,” and “The good darkness begins!”) and who’s solely there to get again within the good graces of his ultra-baddie chief, Darkseid (Ray Porter), a Thanos-dead ringer save for the shortage of purplish hue and scrotal chin.

As a way to defend the Earth, Batman (Ben Affleck) and Marvel Lady (Gal Gadot) must scour the globe to make pleas to different superbeings to affix them, particularly within the wake of the demise of Superman (which occurred within the earlier “Batman v Superman: Daybreak of Justice”), leaving the planet weak. Finally, they persuade a number of different supes to affix the fold, together with the Flash (Ezra Miller), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and Aquaman (Jason Momoa), which nonetheless proves no match for the closely armored Steppenwolf, till the heroes get the thought to make use of one of many Motherboxes to convey Superman (Henry Cavill) again to life to avoid wasting everybody.

Much more occurs, as you possibly can think about, involving subplots with Cyborg’s creator (and father) Silas Stone (Joe Morton) and his assistant Ryan Choi (Ryan Zheng), a lab employee who will ultimately turn into DC hero the Atom; Marvel Lady’s house island of Amazonia, lead by Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielson); the Flash’s falsely imprisoned father; Superman’s beloved Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and mom (Diane Lane), grieving his loss; and a mysterious further hero I will not reveal, who begins to make his presence felt because the story proceeds.

At its engorged coronary heart, nonetheless, Snyder’s movie is all in regards to the resurrection of Superman — the only greatest scene, as with the unique, arrives when the reborn Kal-El, confused and offended about his rebirth, does fast battle in opposition to the remainder of the League till Lois Lane involves consolation him — a momentous second, each for the DCEU, and, it seems, the remainder of the planet.

Certainly, because the movie involves its action-packed climax, it turns into fairly clear having Superman (returned, ultimately in a jet-black and grey uniform that makes him seem like he tapped Batman’s tailor) on the group is the equal of placing LeBron James on a highschool JV squad: With the Man of Metal on board, the group makes remarkably fast work of the hazard risk posed in opposition to the planet, with out a lot breaking a sweat.

And, right here is among the methods this new movie falls prey to certainly one of DC’s oldest bugaboos: Having a personality so omnisciently highly effective as Superman creates an unlimited drawback for writers hoping to craft a story that efficiently places its heroes at risk. The MCU handles such issues by ensuring every of its heroes, even the cosmically enhanced members, are nonetheless weak, both emotionally, mentally, or bodily, sufficient to be threatened (see the Hulk in the previous few “Avengers” movies). Superman is so bloody unstoppable, when he is in your aspect, it is close to unattainable to lose, until the villain in query occurs upon a brick of inexperienced kryptonite.

It additionally has the impact of creating many of the different superheroes completely superfluous, save for Cyborg, whose father in some way gave him complete dominion over all issues tech or internet-based (so, kind of like a digital native 5-year-old), and whose superhacking ministrations assist use the motherboxes in opposition to Darkseid when it issues.

There are additionally the same old plethora of aggravating Snyderisms — visible particulars meant to additional punch up dramatic affect that make no earthly sense, similar to Aquaman rising from the raging depths of the ocean in denims and untied workboots, and Cyborg’s dad, who heads a lab that makes use of essentially the most fashionable expertise accessible, recording a loving message to his son on an older-than-OG microcassette recorder — that appear harmless sufficient, however add to a rising sense of unreality in moments that might use extra grounding. In Snyder’s largely CGI creations, all the things’s at all times at peak drama — if there’s rain, it is a deluge; snow, a close to blizzard; if a metropolis appears burned out and decaying, it is relentlessly so — leaving each second overladen and overwrought.

It is an adolescent kind of conception, by which each second should be dropped at its fullest potential degree, that begins out wearisome and turns into completely distracting after a number of hours inside its overripe confines. Satirically, it is also the pure outcropping of what folks used to consider with youngsters comedian books — an unsophisticated, melodramatic artform combining pulpy narratives with cleaning soap opera emotional beats — however it does a critical disservice to the style, which is vastly extra refined within the fashionable period.

Sadly for the DC Prolonged Universe, the Marvel Comedian Universe has set the usual for superhero flicks — for higher and worse, it should be stated — and their managing to stability emotional weight and all-out battle soirées, at their greatest, could be a masterful exploitation of the medium. Snyder, to his credit score, would not simply wish to copy the MCU codex, however create one thing of a unique taste from the Disney-spawned behemoth — that is actually extra notable in Snyder’s reduce, as Whedon, recent from his adventures behind the digicam for the “Avengers,” angled issues way more within the Marvel vein, resulting in a lot of the tonal dissonance within the first place — however after this, Snyder’s third movie within the DCEU, the restrictions of his grim imaginative and prescient are fairly clear.

Nonetheless, it is vitally necessary to not lose sight of the deeper significance with this launch: The director movingly dedicates the movie to his misplaced daughter, rolling the credit underneath a spare model of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and one hopes the completion of the movie has supplied Snyder an opportunity at some semblance of solace. As an act of defiance within the face of unimaginable grief, it is commendably courageous, which could finally be extra significant than any of its inventive deserves.

Extra Information

��Zack Snyder’s Justice League’

83 Solid: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Joe Morton, Jeremy Irons, Amy Adams, Connie Nielsen, Diane Lane, J.Okay. Simmons

Director: Zack Snyder

Ranking: R, for violence and a few language

Working time: 4 hours, 2 minutes

Taking part in theatrically and on HBO Max

Batman (Ben Affleck) groups up with a bunch of superheroes to resurrect Superman and (as soon as once more) save the planet within the long-awaited (in some quarters) “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.”

Source link

source https://fikiss.net/review-league-is-flawed-but-brave/ REVIEW: ‘League’ is flawed but brave published first on https://fikiss.net/ from Karin Gudino https://karingudino.blogspot.com/2021/03/review-league-is-flawed-but-brave.html

0 notes

aion-rsa · 4 years ago

Text

Zack Snyder’s Justice League: Why It’s Better Than the Joss Whedon Cut

https://ift.tt/3lqZB9g

This article contains spoilers for zack snyder’s justice league.

The long-awaited Snyder Cut is here at last. After nearly four years of rumors, innuendos, hints, allegations, online harassment, and everything else that’s good and bad about fandom, Zack Snyder’s Justice League has been willed into existence by the filmmaker and his legions of fans.

Four hours long–one for each year you’ve had to endure the clamor of Snyder acolytes demanding the filmmaker’s vision be restored–Zack Snyder’s Justice League is the ultimate version of the movie that Snyder never completed in 2017. Instead the version of the film that reached theaters was a truncated, patched-together mess that nearly stopped the DC cinematic universe in its tracks.

If you detect a bit of snark in the preceding paragraph, you’re not off-base. The very notion that a vocal contingent of fans could make enough noise to actually get a version of a piece of art or entertainment in their preferred format opens a proverbial Pandora’s box. Everyone treats whenever fans sign online petitions to get movies, television finales, or the like remade as jokes. But a cynic might wonder if the Snyder Cut gets us closer to that happening.

There is of course a key difference between Snyder finishing his passion project and other flair ups between fans and creators: The Justice League that came out in 2017 was a Frankenstein’s Monster of a movie, with half of the finished picture rewritten and reshot by a director (Joss Whedon) with a completely different tone and approach. This occurred after Snyder had to abandon it due to a terrible family tragedy–which, in the most cynical version of this tale, the studio (Warner Bros.) saw as an opportunity to hijack the film and retool it to their liking.

So now that Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a thing, with the original director restoring hours of footage that he shot (and adding some freshly filmed material at the end) while throwing out everything he didn’t, there is one question that burns as fiercely and brightly as the raging eyes of Darkseid himself: Is it better than the 2017 theatrical version, aka the Whedon Compromise?

The answer is unequivocally yes.

Now that doesn’t automatically make ZSJL a good film. Nor does it necessarily make the Whedon version a wholly bad one–but there’s no question that the 2017 version suffers greatly and is diminished by comparison. In fact, it’s almost not fair to call that version the “Whedon” one; regardless of the man’s personal controversies, it seems apparent that he was put in an almost impossible position when he was recruited to finish Justice League back then.

Whedon was tasked by the studio to make a movie more like his own The Avengers out of material that couldn’t be more different in terms of tone, visual style, pacing, and structure. He was also asked to recreate what Marvel had taken six movies to do: introduce and assemble a team of superheroes all in a single film and in less than two hours (minus credits). And he did that by stitching together footage that was already shot by a different director with scenes that he had to craft almost on the fly, all with a desperate, panicking studio breathing down his neck. Whedon could have summoned Scorsese, Coppola, and the ghosts of Hitchcock and Kubrick to help him solve it and it still might have defeated him.

The result was a movie that was the soulless, corporate product that critics accuse all Hollywood blockbusters, particularly superhero movies, of being–but which most are decidedly not. Whedon’s own The Avengers is proof that a studio can make a heartfelt, earnest, charming, and still awe-inspiring spectacle with the right people, story, and vision in place. The vision behind 2017’s Justice League–which does have its lively moments and does benefit in some ways from better pacing (but is ultimately hurt more by its shortened running time)–is a vision only of bottom lines and quarterly profits.

So, yes, ZSJL is the better movie. For one thing, it’s clearly a personal work. Whatever one thinks of Snyder’s directorial vision and peculiar take on superheroes, it’s all there on the screen and unashamedly his, just as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and, to a lesser extent, Man of Steel were. The fact that the DC film franchise has long moved past his approach doesn’t necessarily factor into ZSJL. It stands alone.

On its own terms, it hits all the marks that Snyder probably wanted to hit. The story and several of the characters are developed much more than they ever were in the 2017 edition. True, a lot of exposition is needed to make that story more cohesive and complete than it was before, but there are plenty of new visuals to go along with that foundation building as well. There is much more representation here of the full breadth of the DC universe, from ancient gods to Jack Kirby’s Fourth World.

The back story of Darkseid and the Mother Boxes, and the first battle for Earth with the Atlanteans, the Amazons, and everyone else somehow seems better articulated and executed. The connective tissue joining Darkseid’s quest to that of his lackey Steppenwolf–tying it all to the death of Superman, whose removal from the board cleared the way for Steppenwolf to return–is strengthened. Bruce Wayne’s quest to put together the team to defend the planet takes longer and has more steps to it, making it feel like much more of a challenge than it did four years ago.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Some of that team are given much better treatment this time, with Victor Stone/Cyborg getting the most out of the deal. He truly does become the heart of the picture in many ways, getting two extensive flashbacks that are equal parts elegant and clumsy but do a lot to round out a character who was little more than a special effect in 2017.

Ray Fisher’s performance is assured and graceful, and one can now see why he is so angry about what happened with the theatrical cut: it’s quite possible that some backroom studio committee meeting came up with a variation of “we can’t have an unknown take up so much space in a movie starring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.”

Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen/the Flash also has more to do than make jokes, although the much-ballyhooed introduction of Iris West (Kiersey Clemons) is little more than a walk-on, seen once and never heard from again (there’s a bit of that going around in this picture). Similarly, Lois Lane’s grief over the death of Clark/Superman is explored with somewhat more depth, although an otherwise poignant scene between her and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) is nearly ruined by a pointless twist.

Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) are less developed here, and their characterizations clash with what we’ve seen since in their standalone movies. There is a much more melancholy resonance to the absence of and longing for Superman. And although he’s still no Thanos in terms of complexity and nuance, Steppenwolf at least has a clearer motivation in this film. He just wants to get back on the boss’ good side, which kind of makes him weirdly amusing in a movie notable for its almost complete lack of humor.

All the banter that Whedon wrote and shot–the flirting between Bruce and Diana on the plane, Aquaman sitting on the Lasso of Truth–is gone. There are still some laugh lines in the movie, but ZSJL is as self-serious and grimdark as Snyder’s previous two DC entries. That makes it feel heavy-handed, as does Snyder’s deployment of agonizing slow-motion for so many scenes that it feels like he could have lost an hour just by speeding up the film. The colors are murky, mostly brown and gray, and while a number of visual effects are pulled off handsomely and seamlessly, this is supposed to feel mythic but ends up feeling just artificial more often than not.

But most importantly, the story and characters in this Justice League are still ill-served by the way the film was conceived in the first place. Even though our heroes are overall given more to do, this is still a movie that has to introduce three of those heroes, their backstories, and their worlds in one fell swoop. There’s no sense of culmination or victory in seeing them together, like there was in The Avengers. And in the end, Steppenwolf’s pursuit of three magic boxes just doesn’t carry the entire four hours.

Movies

Zack Snyder’s Justice League vs. the Whedon Cut: What are the Differences?

By David Crow

Movies

Zack Snyder’s Justice League: A History of Steppenwolf

By Marc Buxton

For all the world-building that Snyder (and screenwriter Chris Terrio) do, the placement of the “Knightmare” epilogue and its Joker cameo undermine everything that has come before, and undermine the character of Superman again. By the time the movie’s ending rolls around, Snyder is still basically saying that our heroes are going to keep letting us down–especially poor Superman, who’s going to turn evil in the future after being killed off and brought back once already as a rage monster. The addition of a Martian Manhunter cameo (his second!) at the very end is also superfluous, pointless fan service.

It certainly seems as if Snyder put every scrap of footage he shot into this version of his magnum opus, and perhaps that is what it took to give him closure, both for the film and for the unspeakable loss he endured while making it (there is a poignancy now to the movie’s major plot point of trying to bring back someone from the dead). But just because he could do it doesn’t mean he should have. Incredible as it seems, there may be an even better two-and-a-half or even three-hour cut of this Justice League that we’ll never see.

As it stands though, this one we now have will be the one spoken about in the years to come. Meanwhile the 2017 version will fade into history as an oddity. And that is, in the final analysis, the way it should be.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is now streaming on HBO Max.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post Zack Snyder’s Justice League: Why It’s Better Than the Joss Whedon Cut appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3150FWJ

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

0 notes

ramajmedia · 5 years ago

Text

Shazam Just Proved He Can Kick Superman's Ass (Easily)

Warning: SPOILERS for Batman/Superman #1

In just the first issue of DC's new Batman/Superman series, the magical hero Shazam has proven that he really can kick Superman's ass! And in far easier fashion than fans of either superhero would probably have expected.

Billy Batson has always been one of the most inspiring heroes in the DC Universe, but he has recently been turned to the dark side to become the monstrous villain known as King Shazam in the pages of Batman/Superman. He's not alone, either, as DC's heroes are turning evil one by one after they are infected with darkness. Shazam, also known as the young boy Billy Batson, was one of those sleeper agents, targeted by The Batman Who Laughs to tear the world apart. He reveals himself in Batman/Superman #1--but he hasn't come to ask for help, or act ashamed of who he is becoming. Quite the opposite. Billy claims that he was freed, and he let's Superman know it... right before he grabs him by the throat and proves once and for all that HE is the more powerful of the two.

RELATED: The Death of Superman is About To Get Even Darker

For anyone who missed the setup to this new series, promised to be the biggest DC Comics story in years, The Batman Who Laughs has launched a plan to turn many of Batman and Superman's allies against them. In Batman/Superman #1 they realize they have no idea who they can trust, or who their enemy would have targeted. But as they are attacked by one of the evil Batman's sidekicks, they quickly realize they are mistaken. This boy was forced into the uniform, but he is no Robin. Unfortunately, it takes the heroes a moment to understand the truth... which is more time than a bolt of lightning takes to find this dark champion.

Comic fans are always speculating which of their favorite superheroes would win in a fight (or supervillains like Thanos and Darkseid). Well, DC fans no longer have to wonder about Superman and Shazam, since the challenge of bringing Superman to his knees is accomplished in a split second. Dark Shazam not only knocks down Batman, he gets the jump on Superman, stating that he always wondered if he could kick his ass. The answer is quite simple, and obvious: yes he can.

Sure, Batman and Superman were distracted, and likely don't want to hurt their fellow hero. But desperate times call for desperate measures. At the end of this issue Batman admits if heroes were to ever start acting like the villains, they would be better villains than they ever were. Will Dark Shazam get the better of Superman and Batman? Or will they flip the script on him? Find out when the fight between Batman, Superman, and King Shazam takes to the skies in Issue #2.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN #1 (2019)

Written by: Joshua Williamson

Art by: David Marquez

Cover by: David Marquez

Up in the sky, in the dark of the night, trust no one - for the infected walk among us. Spinning out of the devastating events of THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS, Superman and Batman are together once more in an all-new monthly series - and they're facing a terrifying new threat that could strike from anywhere. The Dark Knight and the Man of Steel must journey into the depths of Gotham City to learn which of their fellow heroes has been transformed into the horrifying horseman of their most dangerous and deranged foe ever. Our heroes will need to fight to survive, but an even more dangerous question lurkes in the shadows: Can Superman and Batman even trust each other?

Batman/Superman #1 is available at your local comic shop, or direct from DC Comics.

NEXT: Batman's Former Robin Reveals NEW Costumed Identity

source https://screenrant.com/shazam-evil-fights-superman-dc-comic/

#screenrant

1 note · View note

impactcomicscbr · 7 years ago

Text

NEW STUFF FRIDAY 29th DECEMBER 2017

Add to your standing order

New Release Comics & Magazines

ACTION COMICS #994 ACTION COMICS #994 ALTERNATE COVER AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #793 – Legacy AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #793 VARIANT 1:25 STEGMAN COVER AMAZING SPIDER-MAN RENEW YOUR VOWS #14 – Legacy ARCHIE AND ME COMICS DIGEST #3 BACK TO THE FUTURE TIME TRAIN #1 COVER A LEVENS BACK TO THE FUTURE TIME TRAIN #1 COVER B ARTIST ED MURPHY BATGIRL #18 BATGIRL #18 ALTERNATE COVER BATMAN BEYOND #15 BATMAN BEYOND #15 ALTERNATE COVER BATMAN CREATURE OF THE NIGHT #2 (OF 4) BEAUTY #18 COVER A HAUN & FILARDI (MR) BEAUTY #18 COVER B MACDONALD & FILARDI (MR) BEN REILLY SCARLET SPIDER #12 – Legacy BETTY & VERONICA JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #259 BLACK EYED KIDS #15 (MR) BLACK PANTHER #168 – Legacy BLUE BEETLE #16 BLUE BEETLE #16 ALTERNATE COVER BONEHEAD #1 BPRD DEVIL YOU KNOW #5 CAPTAIN MARVEL #127 – Legacy CINEMA PURGATORIO #13 (MR) CINEMA PURGATORIO #13 CODE PRU COVER (MR) CINEMA PURGATORIO #13 MODDED COVER (MR) CINEMA PURGATORIO #13 PERFECT UNION COVER (MR) CINEMA PURGATORIO #13 VAST COVER (MR) DARK NIGHTS METAL #1 DIRECTORS CUT DEMON HELL IS EARTH #2 (OF 6) DESPICABLE DEADPOOL #291 – Legacy DETECTIVE COMICS #971 DETECTIVE COMICS #971 ALTERNATE COVER DOCTOR WHO 10TH YEAR THREE #12 COVER A SHEDD DOCTOR WHO 10TH YEAR THREE #12 COVER B PHOTO DOOMSDAY CLOCK #2 (OF 12) DOOMSDAY CLOCK #2 (OF 12) ALTERNATE COVER ELFQUEST FINAL QUEST #23 ETERNITY #3 COVER A DJURDJEVIC ETERNITY #3 COVER B MULLER ETERNITY #3 COVER I PRE-ORDER BUNDLE ED EUGENIC #3 (OF 3) SUBSCRIPTION RODRIGUEZ VAR FLASH #37 FLASH #37 ALTERNATE COVER FU JITSU #4 GAME OF THRONES CLASH OF KINGS #7 COVER A MILLER (MR) GAME OF THRONES CLASH OF KINGS #7 COVER B RUBI (MR) GASOLINA #4 (MR) GFT DANCE OF THE DEAD #3 (OF 6) COVER A ABRERA GFT DANCE OF THE DEAD #3 (OF 6) COVER B SPAY GFT DANCE OF THE DEAD #3 (OF 6) COVER C MELONI GFT DANCE OF THE DEAD #3 (OF 6) COVER D MEGURO GLITTERBOMB FAME GAME #4 (OF 4) COVER A MORISSETTE-PHAN (MR) GO GO POWER RANGERS #5 MAIN & MIX GOD COMPLEX #3 (MR) GOTHAM CITY GARAGE #6 GREATEST ADVENTURE #8 COVER A NORD GREATEST ADVENTURE #8 COVER B SMALLWOOD GREATEST ADVENTURE #8 COVER C CASTRO HACK SLASH RESURRECTION #3 COVER A SEELEY (MR) HACK SLASH RESURRECTION #3 COVER B GIFFORD (MR) HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #35 HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #35 ALTERNATE COVER HAWKMAN FOUND #1 HAWKMAN FOUND #1 ALTERNATE COVER HELLBLAZER #17 HELLBLAZER #17 ALTERNATE COVER INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #595 – Legacy JAMES BOND KILL CHAIN #6 (OF 6) COVER A SMALLWOOD JEM & THE HOLOGRAMS DIMENSIONS #2 COVER A KEENAN JEM & THE HOLOGRAMS DIMENSIONS #2 COVER B SEARLE JESSICA JONES #15 – Legacy JUNGLE FANTASY SURVIVORS #7 WRAP (MR) JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #21 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #21 ALTERNATE COVER KAMANDI CHALLENGE #12 (OF 12) KAMANDI CHALLENGE #12 (OF 12) ALTERNATE GARCIA LOPEZ COVER KAMANDI CHALLENGE #12 (OF 12) ALTERNATE SOOK COVER KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #250 LUMBERJANES #45 LUMBERJANES #45 S/O SUBSCRIPTION WONG COVER MICKEY & DONALD CHRISTMAS PARADE #3 COVER A FRECCERO MISFIT CITY #8 (OF 8) MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR #26 – Legacy MOON KNIGHT #190 – Legacy MOTOR CRUSH #9 COVER A TARR MOTOR CRUSH #9 COVER B STEWART MY LITTLE PONY LEGENDS OF MAGIC #9 COVER A FLEECS MY LITTLE PONY LEGENDS OF MAGIC #9 COVER B HICKEY MY LITTLE PONY LEGENDS OF MAGIC #9 VARIANT 1:10 COVER NIGHTWING THE NEW ORDER #5 (OF 6) OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA #32 (MR) PHOENIX RESURRECTION RETURN JEAN GREY LH #1 (OF 5) PHOENIX RESURRECTION RETURN JEAN GREY #1 (OF 5) VARIANT 1:25 FRISON COVER PHOENIX RESURRECTION RETURN JEAN GREY #1 (OF 5) VARIANT IN-HYUK LEE COVER PUNISHER PLATOON #4 (OF 6) (MR) RASPUTIN VOICE OF DRAGON #3 (OF 5) RASPUTIN VOICE OF DRAGON #3 (OF 5) ALTERNATE FRANCAVILLA COVER REDNECK #8 (MR) RICK & MORTY #33 RICK & MORTY #33 ALTERNATE ESPINOSA COVER RIVERDALE (ONGOING) #9 COVER A CW BLOSSOM PHOTO RIVERDALE (ONGOING) #9 COVER B CW PHOTO ROBYN HOOD THE HUNT #6 COVER A BIFULCO ROBYN HOOD THE HUNT #6 COVER B DIAZ ROBYN HOOD THE HUNT #6 COVER C DELARA RUFF & REDDY SHOW #3 (OF 6) RUFF & REDDY SHOW #3 (OF 6) ALTERNATE COVER RUGRATS #3 RUGRATS #3 S/O SUBSCRIPTION BOYLE COVER SAVAGE DRAGON #230 (MR) SCARLETTS STRIKE FORCE #1 COVER A TOLIBAO SCOOBY DOO TEAM UP #33 SECRET WARRIORS #11 – Legacy SPIDER-MAN DEADPOOL #25 – Legacy SPIDER-MEN II #5 (OF 5) STAR TREK BOLDLY GO #15 COVER A SHASTEEN STAR TREK BOLDLY GO #15 COVER B ARTIST ED HERNANDEZ STAR WARS JEDI REPUBLIC MACE WINDU #5 (OF 5) STAR WARS JEDI REPUBLIC MACE WINDU #5 (OF 5) VARIANT 40TH ANNIV COVER STAR WARS JEDI REPUBLIC MACE WINDU #5 (OF 5) VARIANT CHRISTOPHER ACT COVER STAR WARS LAST JEDI STORMS OF CRAIT #1 (OF 1) STAR WARS LAST JEDI STORMS OF CRAIT #1 (OF 1) ALTERNATE MOVIE COVER STAR WARS LAST JEDI STORMS OF CRAIT #1 (OF 1) ALTERNATE WIJNGAARD COVER STARGATE UNIVERSE BACK TO DESTINY #3 LAROCQUE MAIN COVER STARGATE UNIVERSE BACK TO DESTINY #3 PHOTO COVER STEVEN UNIVERSE ONGOING #11 STEVEN UNIVERSE ONGOING #11 S/O SUBSCRIPTION TSAI COVER STREET FIGHTER RELOADED #4 (OF 6) SUICIDE SQUAD #32 SUICIDE SQUAD #32 ALTERNATE COVER TEEN TITANS #15 (SONS OF TOMORROW) TEEN TITANS #15 ALTERNATE COVER (SONS OF TOMORROW) THANOS #14 – Legacy TICK 2017 #2 TRANSFORMERS LOST LIGHT #12 COVER A LAWRENCE TRANSFORMERS LOST LIGHT #12 COVER B ROCHE TRANSFORMERS LOST LIGHT #12 COVER C MILNE TRANSFORMERS LOST LIGHT #12 VARIANT 1:10 COVER TRUE BELIEVERS DEATH OF PHOENIX TRUE BELIEVERS PHOENIX ORIGINS TRUE BELIEVERS PHOENIX WHAT IF TUROK #5 (OF 5) COVER A LOPRESTI TUROK #5 (OF 5) COVER B SARRASECA UNCLE SCROOGE #33 COVER A GRAY UNCLE SCROOGE #33 COVER B CAVAZZANO UNDERWINTER FIELD OF FEATHERS #3 (MR) USAGI YOJIMBO #165 VARK KNIGHT RETURNS #1 VOID TRIP #2 (OF 5) (MR) WARHAMMER 40000 FALLEN #3 (OF 4) COVER A BETTIN WARHAMMER 40000 FALLEN #3 (OF 4) COVER B QUALANO WONDER WOMAN #37 WONDER WOMAN #37 ALTERNATE COVER WWE #12 X-MEN BLUE #18 – Legacy X-O MANOWAR (2017) #10 COVER A LAROSA X-O MANOWAR (2017) #10 COVER B ROCAFORT

IMAGE PLUS #5 (WYTCHES THE BAD EGG PT 5) MARVEL PREVIEWS VOL 04 #6 JANUARY 2018 EXTRAS PREVIEWS #352 JANUARY 2018

2000 AD PACK NOV 2017 COMICS REVUE PRESENTS DEC 2017

New Release Books TPBs GNs & Hardcovers (plus merch)

AVENGERS TALES TO ASTONISH TP BATMAN BRAVE & BOLD BRONZE AGE OMNIBUS TP VOL 01 BLACK PANTHER MAN WITHOUT FEAR COMPLETE COLLECTION TP BLACK PANTHER PANTHERS QUEST TP BLUE BEETLE TP VOL 02 HARD CHOICES (REBIRTH) BPRD HELL ON EARTH HC VOL 01 COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO GN DOCTOR STRANGE LORDS OF FEAR TP DOCTOR STRANGE TP VOL 04 MR MISERY DOSTOYEVSKY LIFE AND WORK GN ICEMAN TP VOL 01 THAWING OUT INJUSTICE GROUND ZERO TP VOL 01 MIGHTY CAPTAIN MARVEL TP VOL 02 BAND OF SISTERS MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR TP VOL 04 GIRL-MOON NATSUMES BOOK OF FRIENDS GN VOL 21 POLLYANNA ILLUS SC RECORD LODOSS WAR GREY WITCH HC GN GOLD ED ROBIN TP VOL 05 WAR OF THE DRAGONS SAGA TP VOL 08 (MR) SECRET HERO SOCIETY HC VOL 03 DETENTION OF DOOM SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 TP VOL 09 CONTINUITY SPECIES DOMAIN GN VOL 04 STAR WARS 5 MINUTE STAR WARS STORIES STRIKE BACK HC STAR WARS LAST JEDI COBALT SQUADRON HC SUPERMAN ADVENTURES TP VOL 04 THANOS TP VOL 02 GOD QUARRY UNMAGICAL GIRL GN VOL 01 VAMPIRELLA TP VOL 01 FORBIDDEN FRUIT VENOMVERSE TP

Back in Stock Products

Back in Stock Comics and Magazines

HAWKEYE #12 JUSTICE LEAGUE #33 METAL MIGHTY THOR #701 2ND PTG DAUTERMAN LEG MIGHTY THOR #701 2ND PTG DAUTERMAN LEG SUPERMAN #22 TMNT ONGOING #76 COVER B EASTMAN WITCHBLADE #1 RETAILER APPRECIATE VAR X-MEN GOLD #15 – Legacy

Back in Stock Books TPBs & Harcovers

100 BULLETS TP BOOK 05 (MR) ASTRO BOY OMNIBUS TP VOL 01 AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER LOST ADVENTURES TP VOL 01 AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 05 SEARCH PART 2 AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER TP VOL 12 SMOKE & SHADOW PT3 AVENGERS TP VOL 01 AVENGERS WORLD BATMAN 66 MEETS STEED AND MRS PEEL TP BATMAN 66 MEETS WONDER WOMAN 77 HC BATMAN 66 TP VOL 01 BATMAN 66 TP VOL 03 BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT TP VOL 02 BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT TP VOL 03 BATMAN ARKHAM SCARECROW TP BATMAN DARK KNIGHT MASTER RACE HC BATMAN DARK KNIGHT TP VOL 03 MAD (N52) BATMAN THE MAN WHO LAUGHS TP BATMAN TP VOL 01 THE COURT OF OWLS (N52) BATMAN TP VOL 05 ZERO YEAR DARK CITY (N52) BATMAN YEAR ONE DELUXE SC BEFORE WATCHMEN OZYMANDIAS CRIMSON CORSAIR TP BERSERK TP VOL 01 BLACK SWORDSMAN (MR) BLACK BUTLER GN VOL 05 (NEW PTG) BLACK BUTLER GN VOL 06 (NEW PTG) BLACK BUTLER GN VOL 08 (NEW PTG) BLACK BUTLER GN VOL 09 (NEW PTG) BLACK BUTLER GN VOL 21 BLACKEST NIGHT TP BTVS SEASON 8 LIBRARY HC VOL 01 LONG WAY HOME BTVS SEASON 9 LIBRARY HC VOL 01 CHOBITS DARK HORSE OMNIBUS ED VOL 01 CHOBITS DARK HORSE OMNIBUS ED VOL 02 COURTNEY CRUMRIN GN VOL 01 NIGHT THINGS (SQ1) DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS TP VOL 01 ENLISTED DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS TP VOL 03 UPRISING DC SUPER HERO GIRLS A KIDS COLORING BOOK TP DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH DELUXE EDITION HC DEADPOOL KILLUSTRATED TP DEATHSTROKE BOOK AND MASK SET DEEP TP DESCENDER TP VOL 01 TIN STARS (MR) DISNEY DESCENDANTS ROTTEN TO THE CORE GN VOL 02 DOCTOR STRANGE HC VOL 01 DRAGON AGE MAGEKILLER TP FABLES DELUXE EDITION HC VOL 05 (MR) FLASH TP VOL 01 LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE (REBIRTH) FLASH TP VOL 07 SAVAGE WORLD FLASH TP VOL 08 ZOOM FLASHPOINT TP GOTHAM ACADEMY TP VOL 01 (N52) GREEN ARROW TP VOL 01 DEATH & LIFE OF OLIVER QUEEN (REBIRTH) GREEN ARROW TP VOL 03 EMERALD OUTLAW (REBIRTH) GREEN LANTERN TP VOL 08 REFLECTIONS GUARDIANS OF GALAXY BEST STORY EVER TP HAL JORDAN & THE GLC TP VOL 01 SINESTROS LAW (REBIRTH) HAL JORDAN & THE GLC TP VOL 03 QUEST FOR HOPE (REBIRTH) HARLEY QUINN TP VOL 02 JOKER LOVES HARLEY (REBIRTH) HARLEY QUINN TP VOL 03 RED MEAT (REBIRTH) HARLEY QUINNS GREATEST HITS TP HAWKEYE VS DEADPOOL TP I AM A HERO OMNIBUS TP VOL 01 INJECTION TP VOL 01 (MR) INVINCIBLE TP VOL 06 DIFFERENT WORLD (NEW PTG) JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR POWER OF THE GODS TP JUSTICE LEAGUE VS SUICIDE SQUAD HC (REBIRTH) KONOSUBA GOD BLESSING WONDERFUL WORLD GN VOL 03 LUMBERJANES TP VOL 04 LUMBERJANES TP VOL 05 MARVELS GUARDIANS OF GALAXY PRELUDE TP MAXX MAXXED OUT TP VOL 01 MILES MORALES ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ULTIMATE COLL TP BOOK 01 MIRACULOUS TALES OF LADYBUG AND CAT NOIR TP VOL 01 MONSTER MUSUME I HEART MONSTER GIRLS GN VOL 01 (OF 2) (MR) ( MONSTER MUSUME I HEART MONSTER GIRLS GN VOL 02 (OF 2) (MR) ( MONSTER MUSUME I HEART MONSTER GIRLS GN VOL 03 (OF 2) (MR) ( MONSTER MUSUME I HEART MONSTER GIRLS GN VOL 04 (MR) MONSTRESS TP VOL 02 (MR) MS MARVEL TP VOL 05 SUPER FAMOUS MY LESBIAN EXPERIENCE WITH LONELINESS GN (MR) NEW AVENGERS BY BENDIS COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 01 NIGHTWING TP VOL 03 NIGHTWING MUST DIE (REBIRTH) POWERPUFF GIRLS HC VOL 01 HOMECOMING PREACHER TP BOOK 03 (MR) PRISON SCHOOL GN VOL 01 (MR) PUNISHER BORN TP NEW PTG (MR) PUNISHER MAX TP COMPLETE COLLECTION VOL 03 (MR) PUNISHER MAX TP COMPLETE COLLECTION VOL 04 (MR) PUNISHER MAX TP COMPLETE COLLECTION VOL 05 (MR) RAT QUEENS TP VOL 01 SASS & SORCERY (MR) RAT QUEENS TP VOL 02 FAR REACHING TENTACLES OF NRYGOTH RICK & MORTY TP VOL 03 (MR) SAGA TP VOL 04 (MR) SAGA TP VOL 05 (MR) SAGA TP VOL 07 (MR) SANDMAN TP VOL 04 SEASON OF MISTS NEW ED (MR) SANDMAN TP VOL 08 WORLDS END NEW ED (MR) SANDMAN TP VOL 09 THE KINDLY ONES NEW ED (MR) SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN TP VOL 01 SCOTT PILGRIM COLOR HC VOL 01 (OF 6) SCOTT PILGRIM COLOR HC VOL 05 (OF 6) SERENITY BETTER DAYS TP SEX CRIMINALS TP VOL 03 THREE THE HARD WAY (MR) SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING PRELUDE TP STAR WARS DARTH MAUL TP STAR WARS DARTH VADER TP VOL 04 END OF GAMES STAR WARS HC VOL 01 CASSADAY COVER STAR WARS LEGENDS EPIC COLLECTION EMPIRE TP VOL 02 STAR WARS LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK ATTACK OF CLONES STRONG FEMALE PROTAGONIST GN BOOK 01 (MR) SUPERMAN ACTION COMICS TP VOL 01 PATH OF DOOM (REBIRTH) SUPERMAN THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN TP NEW ED TEEN TITANS TP VOL 01 DAMIAN KNOWS BEST (REBIRTH) TITANS TP VOL 02 MADE IN MANHATTAN (REBIRTH) TOKYO GHOST TP VOL 01 ATOMIC GARDEN (MR) V FOR VENDETTA BOOK AND MASK SET (MR) WALKING DEAD HC VOL 10 (MR) WALKING DEAD HERES NEGAN HC (MR) WALKING DEAD TP VOL 06 SORROWFUL LIFE (NEW PTG) (SEP088207) WALKING DEAD TP VOL 11 FEAR THE HUNTERS (MR) WALKING DEAD TP VOL 12 LIFE AMONG THEM WALKING DEAD TP VOL 27 WHISPERER WAR WAYWARD TP VOL 01 STRING THEORY (NEW PTG) (MR) WE3 TP NEW ED (MR) WICKED & DIVINE TP VOL 03 (MR) WOLVERINE ORIGIN COMPLETE COLLECTION HC WYTCHES TP VOL 01 (MR) X-MEN CLASSIC OMNIBUS HC X-MEN EPIC COLLECTION TP CHILDREN OF ATOM

0 notes

talk-time-live · 8 years ago

Photo

THE HISTORY OF THE OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT

by Daxavier Josiah

With the OFT 4 coming very soon it was best to look back at the crazy, intense, and epic Facebook Fantasy Fighting tournament.

THE ORIGINAL OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT

The first OFT (with the help of A.C.M.G. member Quincy M. Price) was put together using fighting game characters to see if the members of ACMG would be interested in seeing who they believed was the number one character of all of the tournament. Fighters from some of the most popular games in history such as STREET FIGHTER, FATAL FURY, TEKKEN, MORTAL KOMBAT to name a few were paired in a fantasy fighting match up. Members of A.C.M.G. voted democratically to see who they thought was the more dominant combatant.

When it came to the FINAL FIST ROUND it came down to legendary characters RYU and the EMPEROR SHAO KAHN.

The votes were in and the results was unanimous. RYU was our first ever OMEGA FIST CHAMPION.

A NEW CONTEST IS BORN IN THE FORM OF OFT II

With the success of the first tournament, it allowed me to make an attempt to really step it up. Making it into something that members of the group would really want to jump on. The one thing that people love to do is discuss and/or debate on who they believe is the best. People also like it even more when they can convince people of what they believe is true.

This gave me the idea to make a contest out of the concept giving contestants a chance to debate and campaign their picks to see who in fact the members of .A.C.M.G. felt was a dominant team. YES! This time I up’d the stipulation with a TAG TEAM BATTLE which this time was based on US Comic Book characters. Contestant would have the chance to pick two characters with a few rules. HERE IS THE VIDEO THAT TALKS ABOUT THE RULES OF OFT 2

youtube

The winner of this tournament would win an assortment of prizes from VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D. (vfisad.com) and former sponsors PRINTHEADZ: Custom Prints and Design who provided a CHAMPIONSHIP package (A T-shirt, Mug, and Mouse pad designed by VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D.)

THE CONTESTANTS OF OFTII

12 contestants and members of the A.C.M.G. stepped up to the challenge to claim their teams as the second OMEGA FIST CHAMPION (and proclaiming them as the first ever OMEGA FIST WINNER).

OMEGA 12:

Brandon D Daniels

Quincy Price

Compound Fracture (Former Member)

Robert A Moore (now co-host of TALK TIME LIVE podcast)

Logan Dobbs (Former Member)

Lou Johnson (now co-host of TALK TIME LIVE podcast)

Dennis Glover

Nate Drowell

Ed Douglas

Robert Wilson (former Member)

Mike Jones

Randy Green

The match making for the tournament was quite a challenge as I had to make sure that fantasy fights were fair and balance at the beginning. It was very important to give everyone a chance to make it. Now granted their pics are their own so if they pick a character that may be considered weak to the rest that is the gamble that they make. The other important thing to note is that none of the contestants know what the other contestant has picked for as their chosen characters in the tournament until the very moment they compete.

There were some real intense battles with some real power players. There were also some “interesting” picks like former member Compound Fracture (origin or such a name is unknown in the world of Goggle other than the definition) who chose Thanos and Megatron (which I can see why he chose the two).

But a REALLY interesting pick goes to one Robert Wilson who went with the fun picks of War Machine Vs. Justin Hammer (seriously he even made a campaign video for the OFT II hyping the arrival of Justin Hammer).

The battle went back and forth with fun (and sometimes intense) debating that led to the FINAL FIST ROUND (a Triple threat final round consisting of three teams due to the number of contestants that participated that year) which became a very EPIC and controversial conclusion.

The Controversial FINAL FIST ROUND!!!

The EPIC Battle!

After an epic debate in a triple treat battle between the teams of Quincy Price (representing King Thor and Darkseid), Nate Drowell (representing Franklin Richards and Prof. Zoom), and Randy Green (representing Superman and Dr. Fate) the members of A.C.M.G.

The battle throughout the day went back and forth. Every hour one tied while the other superseded in votes.

By the end of the time limit there was a very interesting development that occur for the first time in OFT HISTORY.

The result of the count turned out to be a tie between Quincy Price’s team and Nate Drowell’s. Randy Green had the lowest amount eliminating him from the TRIPLE FIST FINAL ROUND.

In the event that there was a tie I would step in to make the final vote (something that I didn’t want to do at all). Consequently I had to do much extensive research on the two teams to see who I thought was in fact the more dominant team. NOTE: This actually would not be a tie if not for a member of the group playing around with their vote. The rules were said that if you make a vote you have to explain why they thought that team was the most dominant team of that match up and they had to do so before the 12 hour time limit. Here’s what went down as explained in last year’s post: LAYING DOWN THE LAWS OF THE OMEGA FIST

“If you read the previous results of the OFT first round eliminations we discovered that voting was becoming unjust. Members were voting for the more popular vote of characters they may have seen on TV or movies (e.g. Superman) or because they knew a person who was a contestant in the tournament which means that they are not voting for a character particular which I found to be unfair, unethical, and irresponsible on the part of some voters.

A rule was then added to assure that people would be legit and valid reasons as to why they are voting for the characters chosen by the contestant. This not only met with fair results, but it also educated others (myself included) to characters that we never had the chance to invest in.

Again, make sure your vote count.

Unfortunately that was not the case for one of the members as he decided to play around and not make a valid call. Some of the members didn’t understand what he was saying or doing as he posted pics of Rey Mysterio Jr. from the WWE and reciting remix versions of the song in relation to the Thanos and Thor. It came off convoluted in translation and didn’t make too much sense.

As a result of counting the votes two times to make sure that it was indeed a tie which means I have to read all 144 comments that was on that post.”

And at the end of the day, I made my decision and we had a winner.

QUINCY M. PRICE became the 2015 OMEGA FIST CHAMPION

Quincy won after careful consideration which I have explained in detail. You can read it by clicking here. For winning the OFT II Quincy received the prizes on behalf of PRINTHEADZ

And thus ends an epic event in A.C.M.G. history. How will A.C.M.G. top this?

ENTER THE OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT III A NEW WAR BEGAN.

vimeo

By upping the ante on all aspects. This year we added 16 contestants.

ENTER THE OMEGA 16

Some veterans and a lot of new contestants ready to go! Each competitor this year choose some very interesting characters to compete. The match ups will not be easy. Also this year we now have a OFT committee which now consist of myself, former competitors Mike Jones, co-host of TALK TIME LIVE Lou Johnson, and 2015 OFT CHAMPION Quincy M. Price. We will be handling the judgement and order of the tournament to continue to strength and integrity of the OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT. Everyone was excited about OFT3. EVERYBODY.

We also have new sponsor this year that will provide great prizes to this years tournament including:

HACK and SLASH GAMES:

Hack and slash games have put together a hell of a card battle combat game called OPHIDIAN 2360 which is one of the most innovative and fresh concepts in quite sometime. Mixing elements of RPG, MMA, RTS, and more to create this HYBRID EPIC experience. They not only provided us with an OPHIDIAN 2360 prize package for this years champion (which consist of the ULTIMATE COLLECTION of OPHIDIAN 2360 cards, but also the game mat as well), they will also provide a starter deck of cards for every contestant in the Facebook Fantasy Battle. But wait, there’s more!!! Also sponsoring the tournament this year in none other than J1 STUDIOS who will provide a FREE SUNDAY PASS for this year’s J1-CON event in Philadelphia to the winner of the tournament (NOTE: If you are in the west coast and can’t make it to the event we will find a replacement prize).

And this is not all, this year we are adding a SECOND OMEGA FISTS TOURNAMENT in the form of STREET FIGHTER V

ENTER THE OFT: STREET FIGHTER EDITION

A.C.M.G.’s first venture into a fighting game tournament. The winner of this will receive a $100 PSN Credit Courtesy of VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D. multimedia design firm.

More information will be reveal for this version of the contest soon.

So there you have it. How will this year’s EPIC event turn out? Who will have the dominant team in the tournament. Who will win this year’s new SF EDITION?!!!

EXTRA BONUS FOR THE TOURNAMENT WAS OUR EXCLUSIVE TALK TIME LIVE PODCAST

We at TALK TIME LIVE decided to take a step further and produce a special edition podcast included highlights of the tournament. You can here each episode here:

EPISODE 1

EPISODE 2

EPISODE 3

EPISODE 4

SPECIAL GUEST: THE WORLD WARRIOR

To top all of this great chaos TALK TIME LIVE had the opportunity to talk with none other than Kyle Hebert himself. Known for voicing many great characters in anime (Gohan, Kiba from Naruto, Captain Aizen, and more), he is also the voice of the iconic Street Fighter character RYU (also the the character to be voted as first ever OMEGA FIST CHAMPION).

In this very fun interview he not only talked about STREET FIGHTER V (newly released at the time before the Story Mode) but he also gave best wishes to all of the contests of the SFV EDITION of the OFT3 and provided us with a greetings soundbite for the OFT 3 highlight podcast. EPIC!!!

The WATCHERS of the OMEGA:

A lot of close calls throughout the tournament but this time we enlisted A.C.M.G. member who were willing to oversee the tournament and make sure that no controversy would take place and we get a sure winner to each match and the contest. ENTER the “WATCHERS of the OMEGA” a select group that will no doubt keep watch, interject if needed, and determine a winner if in the event of a tie. This group consisting of Mike Jones, the First ever contest OFT CHAMPION Quincy Price, and COSMIC Lou Johnson did a phenomenal job covering the tournament.

ONE SHALL STAND, MANY SHALL FALL:

Many great battles in this tournament including the rematch of now TALK TIME LIVE co-host Robert A. Moore and A.C.M.G. favorite Dennis Glover.

Each battle provided a lot of critical thinking and opportunity to learn more about the characters chosen by our 16 contestant. Those who participated like the McKinnon Bros (Travis and Elisha) who said they almost lost it waiting to see if they won their match ups. As always the tournament would start at noon. The first rounds of the tournament is always interesting as the contestant know who they would be facing but do not know what characters they have chosen which creates a lot of eagerness, pressure, and anticipation. If they survive the first rounds then they can soon strategize on how to compete with the next competitors hopefully making it to the final fist round.

Many great battles in this tournament including the rematch of Nate Drowell and A.C.M.G. favorite Dennis Glover.

WHO BECAME THE WINNER OF THE OFT3?

The OFT3 was a much better contest with honorable contestants looking to have a great debate over their favorite fandom. Each contestant performed greatly as they campaigned to the voting members of A.C.M.G. as to why there chosen character team is in fact the most dominant of the 16 in the OFT. When it was all said and done there was only ONE LONE DOMINANT CHAMPION, and his name was………..

Robert Moore became the 3rd annual OFT CHAMPION (and the second contest winner) with his team of Doomsday, Superboy Prime, and Mobius.

His match up against A.C.M.G. member JAY PAT (who also competed in the OFT3 SFV Tournament) was as epic as you could get. Had Jay or Robert won the FINAL FIST ROUND he would have made legendary status with the OFT if he had the chance to win both tournaments.

However the votes were in and the member’s votes heavily favored Robert’s team.

Robert’s team was awarded the pretigious OFT3 title belts and Robert was awarded his customary OFT3 CHAMPION T-shirt along with the card battle box set courtesy of HACK and SLASH GAMES.

THE EPIC WIN IN THE OFT3 SFV EDITIONS WENT TOO……………..

The video game tournament portion of OFT was no cake walk as contestants were very much skilled and ready to compete for the bragging rights and a $100 PSN credit and a STREET FIGHTER Encyclopedia courtesy of VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D. along with a chance to head to J1-CON 2015.

For three weeks they competing in some very hard hitting fights especially with the McKinnon Bros debuting into OFT and A.C.M.G.

At the end it came down to FINAL FIST ROUND finalist Jay Pat versus A.C.M.G. moderator and co-host of TALK TIME LIVE Andre Stokes. NOTE: Since Andre was heavily affiliated with A.C.M.G. the deal was that if he won he would give half of his PSN credit to the MVP of his choice in the SFV Tournament. There battle was hard and epic as the two went back and forth. But the question is who won? Here is the video of that final match up.

youtube

So in essense the OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT 3 was a complete success without any form of controversy.

The big question is, HOW THE HELL DO WE TOP ALL OF THIS?!!!! Believe it on not, we have…………….

ENTER THE OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT 4: THE RISE OF THE OMEGA!!

This year we have upped the anti in the biggest way we know how. Part of our tradition is that we create a custom title belt which is worn to the winning team’s characters. Well this year we not only are gonna make that happen with this new designed OFT4 title.

But for the very first time EVER in OFT history we are not only providing the winning team with a title, the WINNER of the 4th annual OFT will also have an actual title belt provided by VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D.

This year, the OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT just got REAL!!

Along with receiving the prestigious OFT CHAMPIONSHIP title the winner will also receive the latest set of OPHIDIAN game card set courtesy of returning sponsors HACK and SLASH GAMES.

New sponsors InksterPrints Custom T-Shirts will provide the this year’s winner with their traditional custom t-shirt designed by VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D.

But that’s not all!! Just like last year all of the contestants of the main tournament will be provided with a starter pack of OPHIDIAN game cards and for the first time each contestant of the main tournament will be provided with the signature OFT4 t-shirt courtesy of InksterPrints Custom T-Shirts in South St. Philadelphia

and much like last year we will have a video game tournament which we renamed:

This year we have added a new stipulation to the video game portion of the tournament. Not only will the contestants compete in STREET FIGHTER V

But they will also compete and this year’s BIGGEST FIGHTING GAME hits! INJUSTICE 2 and TEKKEN 7

This year we not only will be providing a $100 PSN credit to the winner, but A.C.M.G. members and world traveling entertainer & magician RAN’D SHINE will add another $100 credit courtesy of Randy Shine Entertainment. There may possibly be a an extra prize which is TBD. So this year’s OFT4 is nothing short of EPIC!!! The MONTH of OMEGA this year will fall upon the AUGUST. Are you ready?!! Who will enter, who will win, and who will be able to own the very first OMEGA FIST CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE!!!

LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!!!!

#anime #comics #movies #games #video games #omega fist tournament #oft4 #oft #marvel #DC comics #kyle hebert #street fighter v #injustice 2 #tekken 7 #contest #tournament #manga #cosplay

0 notes