Justice Blog of America

Via Cinematical:

The ranks of Asgard are just about full! Marvel Studios reports that the Warriors Three will be joining Thor in all of his frosty battles, and as usual, Kenneth Branagh has done a bang up job with the casting. Stuart Townsend, Tadanobu Asano, and Ray Stevenson have joined the cast as Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg, respectively.

Good lists from io9: 15 Dumbest Superhero Retcons and 7 Superhero Stories Too Big For Movies. Good reading.

This Website has been running a pretty funny tournament in which various popular comic book characters face off. It’s now wound down to a face-off between the Hulk and The Batman. All three commentators on the site have come to the same conclusion: Batman kicks the Hulk’s big, green, Gamma-ray ass.

And I agree.

‘But wait,’ you might say if you have a passing familiarity with comic books. ‘The Hunk is one of the strongest, meanest, toughest, most indestructable characters in comics books. Batman is a guy with now powers and a utility belt. How can Batman win a one-on-one, face-to-face batter with the Hulk?’

Simple. He’s Batman. He always wins. There’s a line a comic in which Batman teams up with Green Arrow against a super-strong, street-smart gangster called “Brick.” The gangster tells Batman he has no intention of facing him in one-on-one combat. “You’re the *&#@*! Batman.”

That’s because the Batman always wins.

He’s prepared in advance for this contingency. There’s no way Batman allows himself to get into a fist-fight with the Hulk. He lures him somewhere and springs a trap, where he can knock Hulk unconscious with sedatives or something, then waits for Bruce Banner to make an appearance.

He’s *&#@*! Batman. He WILL find a way to win.

Which is why Batman will always be cooler than the Hulk.

From AICN:

James Vanderbilt, screenwriter of “Darkness Falls,” “Basic,” “The Rundown” and the first draft of “Spider-Man 4,” is already on board to script “Spider-Man 5” and “Spider-Man 6,” even if Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst aren’t signed to “5” and “6.”

Kirsten Dunst is expendable. Mcguire and Raimi? Ummm …

I bet he still has the suit:

Even when accompanied by the crappiest YourTube animation ever, the theme from the original Spiderman cartoon is a classic:

How does one get a college degree (presumably) and not know that there are animals called “wolverines” and they are related to badgers, NOT wolves. I think I knew what they were from watching “Wild Kingdom” when I was a kid.

And here are some really cool clips from the movie.

Legion of Superheroes, No. 47. I forget how many issues exactly former Marvel EIC Jim Shooter has been writing this book. Maybe that’s a mercy. I know that Shooter’s original run on this book (at least three resets ago) is considered legendary. But I have finally concluded that Shooter is not the guy for this book. Yes, I know that the whole concept of Dream Girl being dead, but being alive inside Brainiac 5’s head was put into play before Shooter took over. And if you think about it, it’s a logical pairing of Intellect and Intuition.

But as this issue illustrates, Shooter lacks the subtle touch necessary for the situation. In this issue, he has Brainy consulting a psychic, who arranges for Dreamy to possess her body so the two can have an actual physical date. And as it’s made implied, Brainy and the woman do the nasty thing. And the artwork of Art Leonardi and Dan Green is apparently something we are going to have to suffer through while all the good artists are sucked into one of DC’s never-ending parade of super-duper, the-DC-Universe-will-never-be-the-same weekly crossover series.

I am comforted by two facts: The original Legion of Superheroes — an adult version of the kids Superboy used to hang with, minus the Keith Giffen 5-year-later-continuity — are still kicking around; as is the acceptable follow-up that includes the Legion Lost storyline. This version had signs of promise, but Shooter is taking a bug fat dump all over the series.

Two out of 5 stars.

Supergirl, No. 35. I’m quite fond of what D.C. is doing with the Superman mythos recently. They have pretty much given up the ghost on the John Byrne version that he brought to DC some 20 years ago, and then abandoned. In this version, Superman was the ONLY survivor of Krypton. No Supergirl, no Krypto, no Phantom Zone criminals, no bottled city of Kandor.

Well, they are ALL back now, and I’m loving it. Clark Kent is a nerdy guy who is the butt of Steve Lombard’s practical jokes again.

Part of the renaissance is the recent New Krypton storyline, which deals with the aftermath of Superman’s rescue of Kandor from the clutches of what turns out to be the real Brainiac. The others were just impostors.

But, Kandor is now longer bottled and safely tucked away in the Fortress of Solitude. It’s been returned to normal size and the inhabitants are roaming the Earth, a fact that has a certain presumed dead military figure plotting to do away with Kandorians and the Superman family.

So how does this play out in the pages of Supergirl? She’s arguing with her parents in the Metropolis apartment she shares with Lana Lang, now a business columnist for the Daily Planet. It seems they want her to return to Kandor with them, while she wants to spread her wings in the big city.

I can see why. Because as people who can fly at, I dunno, close to the speed of light, it’s not like she could visit each other in less time it takes you or me to get a can of soda from the fridge. Any excuse for angst.

I’ve ranted about this before, but I hate the direction this book has been taking. They have poor Kara wallowing in teen girl angst, being victimized by boyfriends and being haunted my memories of her parents being evil. At one point, they had her possessed by Phantom Zone ghosts while crystal spikes erupted from her body.

Her horrified parents diagnose this is a case of Kryptonite poisoning that must be cured immediately. But the process releases repressed memories. Thankfully, the memories gibe with the current plot line. So maybe — MAYBE — we are done with “poor-little-Kara-copes-with-her-demons” stories for a while.

I somehow doubt it.

If anyone wants to know how to best do a Supergirl comic — check out how she was used in opening The Brave and the Bold story arc, especially her team-ups with Green Lantern and Lobo. She is a cute, flirty, self-assured and just a tiny bit vulnerable. Not. One. Moment. Of. Angst.

This one was brought to us by Sterling Gates, Jamal Igle and Keith Champagne.

3 out of 5 stars.

Amazing Spider-Man, No. 578. This is yet another Marvel Comic that has wormed its way back onto my must-buy list. After the artistic abortion that was Civil War, I thought Spider-Man was going to be eternally dead to me. But Marvel pulled a DC, and pressed the magic do-over button, in the form of some mystic mumbo-jumbo that changes history so that Pete never revealed his identity to the world. Part of the deal was that the part about marrying Mary Jane never happened ever.

Yeah. I know.

But it worked.

Spidey is better than ever. Pete is still the nerdy guy struggling with keeping a job and the other mundane tasks of life while trying to live up to the responsibilities great power bestows.

This issue opens with Webhead sitting  in the rain on a ledge under a make-shift web umbrella trying to enjoy some Chinese takeout. He’s got to get across town to meat up with Aunt May, but he doesn’t have money for subway fare. He finds a lost fare card and is on his way. He meets up with a hot model who just happens to need someone who can take pictures.

But Pete’s luck is true to form, and the subway explodes. He runs into an old villain and a family member of another.

The action  flows nicely, and Spidey is as full of quips as ever.

All and all, writer Mark Waid and artist Marcos Martin turned in a fine effort.

This makes the third ASM in a row I took home with me.

Terra, No. 1 and No. 2: How long has it been since this new version of Terra appeared  appeared for the first time in the pages of Supergirl? I forget. It was so long, I had forgotten to keep an eye out for this new title. And I WAS keeping an eye out for it. That issue was probably the best issue yet of the uneven Supergirl title, and almost perfectly presented lighthearted, whimsical version of the Girl of Steel.

So I was surprised when I saw issue No. 2 on the “new this week” section, and pleasantly surprised when I saw issue No. 1 in the “past issues” wall. In fact, I was so surprised, I accidentally bought two copies of No. 2. I hate it when that happens.

“Terra” is brought by the same artistic team — well, the penciler for sure, I’m not sure about inker and writer. And the “good girl” art style is great, perfect for the “guest star,” the super-endowed Power Girl, who is drawn like a Nazi dominatrix in virtually ever other DC comic in which she appears.

Issue No. 2 is an especial treat, as the title character prances around naked for the first three pages. And Kara leans over a lot, which is always nice.

The story? Frankly, I found it to be standard super-hero fare without a lot of character development. And here is something I’d like to see once in a while: A doctor OTHER than Dr. Mid-Nite treating an injured superhero. At least Mr. Terrific wasn’t called in to consult.

All in all, a good effort from Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor.

Coming soon, reviews of the most recent Supergirl and Legion of Superheroes.

Via iF Magazine:

As far as the villain, Favreau is looking to use the Mandarin, but has indicated that it’s unlikely he will be the primary focus. “We’ll see how that basic group of four people moves forward towards the inevitable AVENGERS that’s coming and how the Mandarin, how largely he looms in the next one, that’s mostly what we’re doing,” Favreau said.

And who is “Mandarin?” Some Chinese guy who wears ten rings, each one with a different “power.” Oh, and he’s also a master martial artist.