Princess Batman

I don't care for the "spooky" part of Halloween, the dressing up as gory monsters and demons. I don't like the egging of houses and other similar Halloween pranks.

What I love about Halloween is summed up perfect in this picture of Mabel, the Batman Princess.

I love the FUN of Halloween! Kids getting to use their imaginations to the fullest, dressing up as their favourite characters or people, or whatever they can come up with. In Mabel's case, she responded to the question of what she wanted to be for Halloween with "Batman Princess". And great credit to her mother, that's what she got! This is what Halloween to me is all about, and even though I don't usually buy DC comics anymore I would buy the first issue of Batman Princess in a heartbeat.

The original (very short) article about Mabel the Batman Princess can be found at http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/10/30/batman-princess-halloween/

Youtube Friday - Five for Fighting

There are a lot of Five for Fighting Superman clips on Youtube, and this is just one of them, but man are they good.

Where Has My Marvel Universe Gone?

I've been reading comics for about 20 years, which is kind of scary when I think about it since I started reading them when I was 8 years old.  I got my start with Marvel, and while I spent some time collecting a lot of DC and read books from other publishers as well, I have always read Marvel books during those 20 years. 

I hardly recognize the Marvel Universe anymore.

I am finding it harder and harder to stick with the characters that I have loved for all these years. 

This is what Spider-Man
should have done.

I refused to buy the Spider-Man titles (other than the very rare mini-series, such as Spider-Man/Human Torch) after the resurrection of Aunt May, as Amazing Spider-Man #400 is one of the best "death of" stories ever.  I was at the point where I was willing to forgive and come back when the reveal of Gwen Stacey and Norman Osborn's twins came about.  That drove me futher away then the Aunt May thing did, and since then the added atrocity of (poorly) magic-ing away Peter and Mary Jane's marrage came to pass.  It's too bad, because Spider-Island sounded like a pretty fun concept, but since I now feel I've outgrown the character I haven't picked it up, nor will I return to the Spider-titles.

I no longer recognize the Avengers.  Ever since Avengers Disassembled I haven't recognize the team.  To me, the Avengers are the go-to team when the world is in danger, and around the time I dropped New Avengers (approximately #35), I really felt that the then-current line-up would have no real chance against a Skrull Invasion or the Masters of Evil.  That line-up mostly remains in place today, and I cannot stand the writing of Brian Michael Bendis on the Avengers to even entertain picking up the current adjectiveless Avengers title.  From what I've seen on-line it's still not "my" Avengers anyway.

Thor has undergone some really great character development over the past few years under J Michael Stracynski and Kieron Gillen.  Then Matt Fraction took the reins and I no longer even recognize the character.  Under JMS Thor was quicker to think and slower to act, he had a grandeur to him that made you feel he truly was a god.  He no longer spoke in Shakespearean tones but still had a tone of voice that conveyed he was something special.  When Fraction took over, that was all thrown out the window in favour of a brute who smashes first and thinks later, if at all.  He is a petulant man-child who is angry at his resurrected father (despite the two making peace under JMS), who recently died as prophecized (even though JMS made a large point of the breaking of the Ragnarok-cycle signalling a fresh start for the Asgardians).  If not for the hammer I don't know if I'd recognize him.

Continuity is ignored, a lot.  I'm not talking about contradicting a story from 20 years ago, I'm talking about contradicting a story that came out 2 months prior.  As mentioned with Thor, it looked like Matt Fraction didn't even glance at the issues put out by JMS or even Gillen before he got started.  Characters are free to be on multiple superteams across the country at the same time.  Wolverine has long has the superpower to be in every book put out in a month, but to have him be a regular member of the X-Men, Avengers, and X-Force is a bit much, especially when the X-Men were living in San Fransisco while the Avengers are based in New York!  Spider-Man is having solo exploits, running around with the Avengers, and is a member of the Future Foundation!  Considering how often Marvel has their books crossover with each other, this is pretty hard to swallow.

I remember when a character crossing over to another book was special.  It didn't happen every issue because the books had sub-plots, character development, and a main plot of it's own to move forward.  Now it seems almost every book has to be tied-in to whatever Event-of the-Month is happening, and it really derails the other books from doing anything of note.  The best books from Marvel, I feel, are the ones that can hide in their little niche corner away from the main events to tell the stories they want to tell.  Daredevil, up until Shadowland, was a great example of a brilliant book that pretty much got left alone.

There is a splash page in Secret Invasion that has always stuck with me.  In it, a ship full of Skrulls disguised as "classic" Marvel heroes is squaring off against the then-current Avengers, and honestly, I found it very hard to not root for the Skrulls since they looked a lot more like heroes I know and love.

I just cut out The Mighty Thor and Secret Avengers from my pull list, and I'm not sure how long my other Marvel titles are going to last.  As a Marvelite for 20 years, that makes me really sad.

Top 10 Reformed Villains - The Left-Outs

While compiling my Top 10 Reformed Villains, there were some characters that could have made the list, but I left them out for specific reasons.  I suppose you could say they are honorable mentions, but to my mind they just didn't quite fit the criteria.

Magneto and Dr. Doom - Magneto is currently running around with the X-Men, and has before in the past, while Dr. Doom is currently a part of the Future Foundation.  However, I have little doubt that these two will return to their villainous ways as they are simply too important in their roles as arch-villains for the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and the Marvel Universe in general.

Angel and Spike - While I included other characters from the Buffyverse, I specifically left these two out.  In Angel's case, the character was created to be a hero.  He was not designed from the outset to be a villain, that came later.  Besides that, I looked at how Angel and Angelus are essentially two different beings occupying the same body, and that was a big part of the disqualification.  Spike is in a similar boat, in that the loss or regaining of his soul defined whether he was a hero or villain.  While his personality remains pretty much the same either way, Angel/Angelus was the precedent and I'm sticking to it.

The Vision - Vizh got his start as a tool of Ultron, but from a character creation standpoint he was never intended to be a villain, based on his very quick turnaround to help the Avengers defeat his creator.  The intention was to create a new hero, not a villain.


Sandman - I desperately wanted to include the Sandman on my list, as I was quite fond of him as a hero/mercenary with the Wild Pack.  I particularly liked his extremely brief stint as an Avenger, where he called in the team to deal with an arms shipment and Captain America told him it was kind of beneath what they usually did.  Sandman had a fit, and I think it was justified.


Wow, Marvel has a lot more reformed villains than DC...other than maybe Plastic Man and Major Disaster I'm having trouble thinking of any, especially with the same prominence as the Marvel characters.

Top 10 Reformed Villains - #1

Okay, this took a little longer than I thought to complete, thanks to an absolutely insane schedule last week. However, I'm back now and ready to reveal the #1 Reformed Villain!

1. Vegeta - Probably my favourite ongoing storyline thoughout Dragon Ball Z and GT is that of Vegeta.  When we first meet him, he is evil incarnate; he kills his own partner, Nappa, because he disobeyed an order.  Later, on Planet Namek, Vegeta is forced to work together with the heroes to stop a greater evil, but he makes it very clear he is still serving his own agenda.  Vegeta is humbled by Frieza, and finds himself on Earth with the rest of the survivors from Planet Namek. 

Due to his actions on the doomed planet, some of the cast, most notably Bulma, seem willing to give Vegeta the benefit of the doubt and try to accept him.  Vegeta wants none of their companionship but only to train to surpass Goku.  He helps the Z Fighters against the android menace and Cell, not because he wants to save the earth, but because he wants to prove he's the biggest badass around.  However, it is at this point that Vegeta has had a son with Bulma, even if he doesn't really acknowledge his existence.

Vegeta has begun to mellow, but he still cannot accept that Goku is a stronger fighter than he is.  As such, he actually allows himself to be enslaved by the wizard Babidi so he can return to his evil roots, feeling he has gone soft, and to gain the power to best Goku.  But even under the influence of Babidi Vegeta is no longer the evil villain he once was, as he sacrifices himself to try and save the planet.

All throughout the series, with the exception of his initial appearance, Vegeta has lagged behind Goku in power but has been close enough to keep it close.  By the end of the series though, Vegeta accepts that Goku is the more powerful, and the two work together to defeat Buu.  It really was fun to watch these two finally, truly work together, instead of their old "Stand aside, I want to fight him!" approach to "teamwork".

In Dragon Ball GT, Goku has made the gap even wider between them, and it is so great that Vegeta regains his fire to stay even or surpass Goku, and in the end he does seem to finally match him again.  One thing that comics have gotten right is making sure that even the top dog hero has peers who are able to challenge him (Thor has Hulk and the Silver Surfer, Superman has Martian Manhunter and Captain Marvel), and the world of Dragon Ball sometimes forgets that and leaves Goku clearly at the top of the mountain unchallenged.  Seeing Vegeta regain his share of that summit was great to see.

The best villain reformations are ones that are done gradually over time, and Vegeta's was a slow burn that evolved organically that lead to a satisfying conclusion.  The story of Vegeta is, I think, the best part of Dragon Ball Z and GT.  Sorry Goku!

That's it, that's the list!  There are some omissions that may seem criminal (you have Harmony and not Spike or Angel?!!), but later this week I'll lay out why I disqualified certain characters from making the list.  That being said, are there characters you think I missed?

Youtube Friday - Batman: Dead End

This is one of the best fan-made films I've ever seen, just from the production values alone.  I've never seen any of the *SPOILER* films but it didn't diminish my enjoyment at all.  Check it out!

Colossus by Julie Bell

I love Colossus and I love this image of him!  It is done by artist Julie Bell and it is absolutel fantastic!