After watching Jessica Jones (friggin’ excellent by the way, but full of horror), this question has finally coagulated enough to bubble up to the surface of my brain. One of the basic tenets of the superhero, one that decisively divides them from the villain, is this: thou shalt not kill. At least not intentionally and not mortal humans. Yes, there are exceptions: Superman killed Doomsday, Wolverine killed Jean Grey in X-Men 3, Silver Surfer allowed entire planets to be wiped out until he ‘converted’. There are characters who don’t follow the rules, like Deadpool and The Punisher, but they make it clear they are anti-heroes. They are bad guys fighting…
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Let’s Laugh at the Guy Who Doesn’t Know Marvel Comics (Part 1)
I’m not that really that old, but I am out of touch. I only just recently read Batman: Hush and Transmetropolitan. I’m trying to catch up on my comic stuff, but there’s a long way to go. I saw Lego Marvel Super Heroes played on Co-Optitude and thought, goddamn I’d love to play that game. I’d finished Lego Lord of the Rings with 100% completion and it was a blast. So when I found it on the Summer Steam Sale, I bought it right away. Like in LOTR, there are a ton of unlockable characters. Unlike LOTR, they are a lot more varied. More than just orcs and “weary Frodo”.…
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The Books I Read: May – June 2014
vN by Madeline Ashby In the first chapter, a five-year-old child robot eats her estranged grandmother, python-style, and goes from kindergartner to adult in an instant from the additional biomass. Good opening, and there are some interesting WTF circumstances (like robots were created to fill out the Earth after the rapture) but the rest stagnates. Once again, it’s a book where the robots don’t act like robots. They act like people. The only difference is they know they were artificially created. But other than that, they eat, they fall in love, they procreate. You can’t tell the difference. The interesting things are just background — they don’t come into play…
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The Hot Girls You Don’t Know About: Starfire
It’s official, I’m in love with Starfire. Not the one from the comics. Not the adult one who got wrenched into a sex object, revamped into a tiny costume and huge tracts of land. Yeah, not that one. The one from the Teen Titans cartoon. That’s right. The cute redhead with bangs and a more (although not that much more) modest outfit. She reminds me a little of Gadget. She’s adorkable, but where Gadget is a scatterbrained mechanic, Starfire is an alien. She mixes words up, she drinks mustard, she has a native language that sounds like Dr. Seuss wrote it. She’s just so darn cute. Out of all of…
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Sexy Batman Villains
I’ve been looking for porn about thinking about Poison Ivy, the Batman villain. She’s a good character, but for being a plant-woman, she sure exudes sexuality. In fact, that got me thinking about all the Batman villains, especially the difference between the guys and the girls. I love Batman’s villains because they all represent fractured psyches of the hero. Unlike just about any other comic book villain, who are just about power, revenge, or greed. Enemies like the Joker represent chaos opposed to Batman’s order. Bane is what happens when you have too much power. Two-Face is the double identity getting away from you. Scarecrow is fear (which Batman uses…
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How I Would Write a Supergirl Movie
A few nights ago I foolishly kept myself up late in bed, thinking of how I would write a Supergirl movie. I’ve already talked about how Supergirl is an interesting character, and I believe, unlike Wonder Woman, she’s got a lot of story potential. Certainly more than Superman, who’s a bland, God-like, force of nature with no personality, no weaknesses, and nothing to lose. The unfortunate part is that most Supergirl’s vulnerabilities extend from being a “kept” woman. In the comic books, most of her storyline conflicts are about keeping her identity secret. At least in the silver age. Superman’s got the same problem but her’s are a little more crucial because…
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Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Will Become Superman (1978)
Time will not be kind to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man. I have come to this realization. Its the Marvel equivalent of Christopher Reeve’s Superman. It lit the fuse for superhero movies, but hasn’t nearly the explosive power its successors will (X-Men, Iron Man, etc.). The movies were a well-loved phenomenom now, but the trilogy is finished. And a reboot is months away, only ten years after the first. Why? I hardly need to say much that hasn’t already been said. Sure, they’re good movies. Sometimes great. Good casting. Well imagined. Fun special effects. And far be it from me to disrespect anything with Bruce Campbell in it. But Sam Raimi is…
