For The Love of Comics

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Cracker’s Note: This is a repost from the new Awesome Arena Site! You now have a choice between discussing the results here or over there; you’ll be awarded your points either way. Of course, if you decide to conduct all of your Awesome Arena business on the official site, I hope you’ll stop by to visit me here once in awhile.

Anyway, on with the show!

Welcome, one an all, to the results segment of Awesome Arena Tournament of Champions. For the sake of simplicity, Mike and I decided to move everything into one central location, so you’ll be able to fulfill all your T.O.C needs right here.

Of course, you’re always welcome to visit Mike’s battle announcements and polls to award points, so no more stressing out or giving yourself carpal tunnel syndrome commenting everywhere.

Sound good? Awesome (pardon the pun), let’s get started.

The commentary of last week’s battle comes to us via the legendary Midknight. Midknight has been awarded five bonus points.

The Hulk and Wolverine enter the ring. Wolverine trash talks a little which just pisses the Hulk off more. The bell sounds and the two combatants blast out of the corners, charging at one another. Wolverine gets there first with his trademark claws out and ready for rippin’. He ducks below the Hulk and stabs him in the back of his right thigh and his left kidney. The Hulk roars in pain. Wolverine just fucked himself. The Hulk swings around violently, tossing Wolverine back first into his own corner. The Hulk charges after him and lands a huge fist right in Wolverines face. Wolverine is out cold but The Hulk isn’t done just yet. He follows up his attack with some major blows to the body, causing Wolverine massive internal bleeding. Finally the Hulk lifts Wolverine compact frame clear over his head and throws him clear out of the arena.

HULK WINS!!! My prediction streak continues!

Thanks, Midknight - your bonus points will be reflected in the current standings. The same deal goes this week, folks. Give me your best commentary on how you think this week’s battle between Superman and Sentry will go. The person whom I judge the winner will receive five bonus points. As you’ll be able to see, this can give you a pretty big boost. And make this one good, folks - Mike’s been waiting for this battle almost two months now!

Speaking of standings, here they are:

AJ is holding onto his lead with six first round points for correctly predicting victories for Martian Manhunter, Thor, Red Tornado, Captain America, Green Lantern, and Hulk, sixteen bonus points for posts on his myspace blog and view askew, and three more bonus points for signing up for an account on The Forums of Awesome for a total of TWENTY-FIVE POINTS!

Midknight has moved up to second place with six first round points for knowing that Batman, Thor, Red Tornado, Captain America, Green Lantern, AND Hulk ain’t nothing to mess with, seven bonus points for posts on ComicVine, one bonus point for helping Mike search for Batboat pictures, three more bonus points for signing up with Forums of Awesome, and the five bonus points awarded for his breakdown to give him a total of TWENTY-THREE POINTS!

He’s gunning for you, AJ

RJP has dropped to third with his Sean Connery impressions with two first round points for supporting Batman and Red Tornado, 16 bonus points for posts on Between The Staples and his Facebook account, and three bonus points for signing up for the Forums of Awesome for a total of TWENTY-ONE POINTS!

In fourth, Xers has four first round points with victories for Martian Manhunter, Thor, Red Tornado, and Captain America, two bonus points for posts on Cre8Buzz and BlackPlanet, and three more bonus points for signing up with Forums of Awesome for a total of NINE POINTS!

Patrick D. is in fifth place with two points for backing Batman and Martian Manhunter (I wonder who he’ll pick when they fight eachother?”), two bonus points for posts on Patrick Says and his Twitter, and three more bonus points for signing up at Forums of Awesome for a total of SEVEN POINTS!

In sixth place, DougFungus has three first round points for supporting Batman, Red Tornado, and Captain America and three bonus points for signing up at Forums of Awesome for a total of SIX POINTS!

In seventh, Weston backed Martian Manhunter, Thor, Red Tornado, and Captain America for a total of FOUR POINTS!

Finally, in eighth place, Naimad89 backed Batman to give him ONE POINT!

Once again, the standings are:

1st place: AJ - 25 points

2nd place: MidKnight - 23 points

3rd place: RJP - 21 points

4th place: Xers- 9 points

5th place: Patrick D. - 7 points

6th place: Dougfungus - 6 points

7th placeWeston - 4 points

8th place: Naimad69 - 1 point

Once again, don’t forget to vote in the poll and tell us who you think will win and why in the comments either there or here! And don’t forget to tell me how your pick will win for a chance at five bonus points!

Technorati Tags: Awesome Arena, Tournament of Champions, Hulk, Wolverine, Superman, Sentry

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Popularity: 12% [?]

I don’t even own a next-gen gaming console since all my money goes to comics, midgets, and the woman, but this Mortal Kombat vs DCU video game sounds like a horrible idea.

I mean, this trailer may look kinda pretty…

… but superhero fighting games are notoriously lame and MK has kinda run its course.

Not to mention, they’ve taken away the coolest thing about the MK games - “there will be no fatalities and little-to-no blood”! If I can’t have Scorpion rip out Superman’s heart, I don’t even want to play!

Technorati Tags: Mortal Kombat, DC Comics, DCU, Video Game, Batman, Scorpion, Superman

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Popularity: 10% [?]

Bahlactus has risen!

And Mr. Big, Bad, and Purple has decreed that we take this thing back to the basics - we’re going black and white, people!

This week, Superman shows Earth-man what he thinks about people perverting his legacy.

By the way, I know I kinda mocked the first issue of this Legion of Superheroes arc in Action Comics, but it actually turned out to be very good. If/when it’s collected in trade, or if you can catch it in the back issue bin, I highly recommend picking it up.

Technorati Tags: Friday Night Fights, Bahlactus, Superman, Earth Man, Legion of Superheroes

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Popularity: 12% [?]

CBR has an interview with Kurt Busiek about DC’s FINALLY revealed next weekly series, titled Trinity. As the title implies, the series will focus on DC’s holy trinity of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Busiek will be the main writer for the series, with Fabian Nicieza handling partial cowriting and Mark Bagley handling art.

“The most obvious is that it is about Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. But the term ‘trinity’ means more than that there are three of them. Why are they a trinity? What’s important about them being a trinity? The word ‘trinity’ and the concept of ‘the trinity’ are central to the story we are telling. It’s not just a fancy way of saying ‘three guys.’ There is more to it than that.”

Rumors have been circling for months that Jim Starlin’s “Death of the New Gods” mini-series was possibly making way for DC’s holy trinity to make the leap themselves to a god-like status in DCU, but Busiek said drawing a religious parallel to the book’s title may be a bit of a stretch.

“Clearly, Superman is the father, Wonder Woman is son and Batman is the Holy Ghost,” laughed Busiek. “Yes, first we will start with the ‘Song of Solomon’ but it will be the ‘Sound of Solomon Grundy.’

“No, ‘Death of the New Gods’ is one of the series that is leading into ‘Final Crisis.’ ‘Trinity’ is not ‘Final Crisis’ related. It is a relatively self-contained story that follows its own track. It’s part of the DC Universe, but it’s not one thread in the giant plot structure that is a big event. It is its own story. It has a beginning, a middle and an ending. There will be repercussions, yes. It has new characters that are introduced that I sure hope will spin off into their own mini-series or series or things like that, but it’s not leading to ‘Final Crisis 2: This Time It’s Personal.”

So speaketh the Busiek.

To read the entire interview, check out CBR’s article.

Perhaps I should know better after Countdown, but I’m kind of excited about this series. The beginning of Batman and Superman was excellent, the creative team on this series is top-level, and they’re avoiding my main problem with Countdown by making this series self-contained, all very good signs.

Regardless, it appears that we have about four months before we find out if DC’s learned their lesson or this whole weekly concept has run its course.

Technorati Tags: Comics, DC, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Trinity, Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza, Mark Bagley

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Once again, it’s time for Friday! Night! FIGHTS!!11!!!111ONE!!!

This week’s contribution comes to you from the pages of Countdown 13.

1. This is an alternate universe’s version of Superman and another alternate universe’s version of Batman. For some reason, Superbrat Prime is more powerful than the real Superman, so who knows what’s up here.
2. Most importantly, the dude who wrote that scene also thinks that Countdown is a quality product.

I rest my case.

Technorati Tags: Friday Night Fights, Comics, DC, Countdown, Superman, Batman, disinformation

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Popularity: 12% [?]

If you’ve been reading the comments on Mike Haynes’s Countdown posts over at Panels of Awesome, you’ll have noticed that I’m a big fan. His most recent post on the Top 5 Comic Book Rivalries has really captured my interest, though. I’ve been running over what I think the greatest rivalries are and then I got to thinking about what exactly makes a good rivalry.

This is what I have so far:

They need to have a fairly even balance of power, or way to counteract each other’s power.

This is why, not matter how many times Reed Richards scares off Galactus or talks him into leaving, the Fantastic Four and Galactus aren’t considered “rivals”. If Galactus so chooses, he could eat each and every one of them like candy.

Human Torch? Hot fry.

Mr. Fantastic? Gummy worm.

The Thing? Jawbreaker.

Invisible Woman? I… I got nothing. But trust me, she’d go down smooth as the mountain streams.

As a matter of fact, this is why Galactus has no real rivals. This rule is also why it’s so hard to have a real rival to Superman and consequently why I’m not much of a fan of Supes. He’s a great guy, but there’s no real dramatic tension for me.

The one real, consistent rival I can think of for Superman is Lex Luthor. His cunning, ruthlessness, and intelligence allows him to give Superman a run for his money, which satisfies this requirement, but there is another reason that this rivalry is so great, and to me this is THE rule…

The opposing forces are, for the most part, defined by their conflict.

Without Superman, Lex Luthor would be just another Donald Trump. Rich, famous, but not nearly as driven as he is by his need to bring Superman down. That drive is what has made Lex great and possibly THE leader of the criminal element of the DCU. Without Lex Luthor, would there be nearly as much corruption and strife for Superman to fight against, especially in Metropolis? In his constant battle to maintain “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” against Luthor’s grabs for power, Superman has been defined as THE defender of “Truth, Justice, and the American Way”.

Batman and Joker are another example of this. Batman is the grim, serious defender of Gotham city. Joker is the psychopathic, always laughing mass-murderer of Gotham City. Joker is defined by his need to break Batman, to prove that all it takes is one bad day to make you just like him. Joker represents the worst of the crime that Batman has dedicated his life to ending. In some continuities, Joker MADE Batman. In some other continuities, Batman MADE Joker. There are very few characters as intertwined as these two. Joker is so obsessed with Batman that he has killed those who planned to kill Batman, believing that honor to be his alone. Joker realizes how much he needs Batman, but does Batman realize how much he needs Joker?

All the great rivalries fit this rule. Wolverine despised Sabertooth because he represented what Wolverine fights becoming; Sabertooth constantly came after Wolverine to remind him what he “really” is. Kingpin represents the crime and corruption that Daredevil must clean up off of the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. Spiderman and Green Goblin are essential to most of each other’s defining moments. The major tragedies of Peter Parker’s life, other than the deaths of his parental figures, are because of Norman Osborn. All Norman Osborn ever wanted from Peter Parker was for him to look at Osborn as a father figure. Thor and Loki’s conflict has raged for ages – can you really think of one without the other? Professor X and Magneto are two sides of a coin – they don’t hate each other, they only wish the other shared their dream. And if either joined the other permanently they just might be unstoppable. But both are defined by their respective versions of “the dream” and thus by their conflict.

Speaking of two sides of a coin, possibly the most interesting rivalry/conflict in comics to me is between two characters that really do hate each other - The Hulk and Bruce Banner. Both are defined by their loathing and wish to be free of the other. They would each kill the other if there was any way to do it. The short time that Banner gave into Hulk’s rage against the Illuminati is the exception to this, obviously, but for the majority of their history, each has striven to be rid of the other. Theirs is the ultimate story of self-loathing and this is why I love The Hulk.

Okay, so in the end I only came up with two real rules for a good rivalry:

There must be an equal distribution of power or reasonable way for each to counteract the other; otherwise it’s not a rivalry but more like a Chihuahua barking at a Rottweiler

And they each must be, to a large part, defined by their conflict or it’s just a good fight, not a rivalry.

Do you have something to add? Do you have some more essentials for a decent rivalry, or a reason that mine don’t fit?

What are your favorite rivalries?

Do you think Mike Haynes will ever let me be his nemesis?

Comment away!

Also, if you’re not reading Panels of Awesome, you should be!

tag: Comics, Rivalries, Battles, Comic Books, Nemesis, Nemeses, Mike Haynes, Panels of Awesome, Hulk, Bruce Banner, Batman, Joker, Fantastic Four, Galactus, Superman, Lex Luthor, Professor X, Magneto, Wolverine, Sabertooth

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Ok, just a few quick links and blurbs here…

Geekanerd has compared some promo shots from the upcoming Watchmen movie with corresponding panels from the comic.

Here’s my favorite, even if it doesn’t have a direct counterpart in the comic:

Newsarama has an interview with Mike Carlin and Tony Bedard about DC’s Countdown and has some preview images of what’s coming, most notably this:

Rich Johnston has a new rumor regarding a new series being spawned:

Look for a new “Gotham Girls”-style series to spin out of “Countdown,” starring Harley Quinn and Holly Robinson. And on art, none other than Stephane Roux.

I’m sure I heard one fangirl out there go “squee.”

That squee was me, actually.

Back to Newsarama, who has new preview pages for Fantastic Four #554 (I don’t care) and the new X-Force #1, which is kinda awesome.

Here’s their pitch:

X-Force, Party Patrol?

Comic book crossovers are like a party. Characters come over, hang out, have a good time, put their feet up on the furniture, and then after leaving a mess for the host to clean up, they go their own way. Marvel, because of the leaving-the-mess-behind part, had not done an X-Men crossover in over a decade until this fall’s cataclysmic “Messiah Complex.” But even that storyline left a mess behind that had to be cleaned up. The X-Men were on the hunt for the first mutant child born since House of M depopulated Marvel’s mutant population. Not everything went well, and that’s where February’s X-Force #1 comes in!

In the aftermath of “Messiah Complex,” Cyclops comes to realize that there are some problems the X-Men simply aren’t equipped to deal with. Special circumstances call for special operatives, and he assembles a new X-Force team — Wolverine, Warpath, X-23, and Wolfsbane — to handle the dirty jobs, the questionable jobs that no one else can handle — or be trusted to handle! New X-Men writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost and artist Clayton Crain open a new chapter in X-Force history in the first part of “Angels and Demons” as the team comes together for their first assignment, one that the X-Men can never know about!

No Marvel mutant fan will want to miss this high-octane team book. With a line-up of some of the X-Men’s most feral characters, X-Force #1 promises action and excitement as the team takes on the dirty missions — and the post-crossover-party clean-up! Look for X-Force #1 in this month’s Marvel Previews, and catch the excitement!

Finally, MTV Movies Blog reports that eagle-eyed viewers of I Am Legend will catch plenty of inside jokes and shoutouts, including a fake movie poster for my favorite film that will never be made:

Sometime around the turn of this century, movie geeks began buzzing over a proposed showdown between the two biggest icons in comic book history. Now, a new movie poster is advertising 2009 as the release date for the long-awaited “Batman vs. Superman,” and the flick is finally coming to a theater near you.

Annnd I’m spent. Back to Heroes and my comic book backlog

tag: Batman Beyond, Batman vs Superman, comics, Countdown, Cyclops, Feral, I Am Legend, Warpath, Watchmen, Wolverine, X-23, X-Force, Movies, Countdown, Harley Quinn, Holly Robinson, Batman, Superman

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Popularity: 9% [?]

Lions DB Fernando Bryant thinks Superman can beat Batman, proving that he’s been tackled a bit too hard.

I would impose sanctions on this foolish mortal, but I figure playing for the Lions is punishment enough.

tag: batman, comics, DC, Fernando Bryant, Football, Lions, Superman

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Popularity: 9% [?]

Still about a week behind, but I’m trying to catch up. This is what I got through today:

52 Aftermath: Crime Bible - 5 Lessons in Blood

A scholar writes a book denouncing the Crime Bible as a myth but seems to have far too much information. The Question (Renee Montoya) tries to find his connection to the Cult of Cain, or whatever they are calling themselves. I really enjoyed the writing in this, but it’s Greg Rucka, so no surprise there. From the ending and comments made to Montoya/Question, it seems like she will be learning one of the “Lessons of Blood” in each issue, possibly leading up to her being qualified to be a Priestess of Cain?

I seem to recall reading (possibly in 52) that this whole thing was started by Darkseid and some gangsters. I know next to nothing about the New Gods and all that, so it’s always possible that I’m missing something.

The good thing is that a friend has lent me all of the essential reading for Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, so I should be fairly knowledgeable soon. Try to be patient with me for now, and if you know of anything I missed here, let me know?

Action Comics 858

Superman is called into the future to help the Legion of Super Heroes save the future, apparently contrary to the wishes of most of the Legionnaires.

I’m not a very big fan of the Big Blue Boyscout, so you may want to take this with a grain of salt. Right off the bat, I don’t like how Geoff Johns seems to be trying to return to the days of a “bumbling Clark Kent. Kent doesn’t need to be a laughingstock in order to protect the identity of Superman. Perry White’s comment that Clark’s only friend is Jimmy Olsen and that he needs to get out and meet more people seemed especially odd to me - the man is married to Lois Lane; he seems to have that interpersonal interaction down pretty well.

And I won’t even get into the fact that I’m totally confused about continuity. DC continuity in general is confusing; Legion continuity is totally FUBAR.

The art also really bothered me; there are just too many lines, especially on the faces. Even Jimmy Olsen and the teenage Clark Kent look like old men. Here, look:

Dude looks ancient!

On the bright side, it does look like we’ll be finding out what the deal was with the Legionnaires and the Lightning Saga in JLA and JSA.

There’s also a rather nice twist at the end regarding Superman’s powers.

Batman 670 (A Prelude to the Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul)

This is another run that I’m going to have to do some background reading on. I’ve never really had much of an opinion on Ra’s al Ghul, so I didn’t really care that he’s coming back, but I have alot of questions that I’d probably have the answers to if I’d read up on the Demon’s Head. Anyway, the show must go on.

This issue basically breaks down to Batman finding out that Ra’s is back. It opens with Talia’s henchmen apparently looking for Nanda Parbat, but I have no idea why. Should I? Would someone like to help me out here? I do like this game of shadows that al Ghul seems to be playing with Batman, I wasn’t even sure that he really was Ra’s al Ghul until the end. There was a very interesting reveal regarding Damien’s origins, intended purpose, and possible destiny at the end of this issue.

This crossover just might be enough to get me into Ra’s Al Ghul; this issue definitely has piqued my interest.

Countdown Presents Lord Havok and the Extremists

I didn’t know who these people are, other than those guys who captured Bob the Monitor and Co. and told Monarch to shove his army up his ass. Nor did I really care who they were beyond that. I picked up this issue anyway, hoping to be surprised to actually find something worthwhile coming from Countdown.

The Extremist’s corner of the multiverse is a kind of obvious analogue to the Marvel Universe, down to the slight twist on Civil War, and I’m really not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, this issue gets points for familairity and showing these characters in a different light; on the other hand, it seems kinda lazy to basically just be reusing characters. Are they trying to make some kind of point and I missed it? Because I’m not seeing much originality so far.

After reading this issue, I’m really not sure if I care about this corner of the multiverse. I probably will pick up the next issue, though, to see if they’re actually going somewhere with this if nothing else.

Annnnd that’s all I got to today. I guess it’s sort of obvious why I’m a week behind on my readings.

tag: 5 Lessons of Blood, Action Comics 858, batman, comics, Countdown, Crime Bible, Damien, DC, Fourth World, Greg Rucka, Legion of Superheroes, Lightning Saga, Lord Havok and the Extremists, Multiverse, Nanda Parbat, New Gods, Ra’s Al Ghul, Renee Montoya, Superman, Talia al Ghul, The Question

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Popularity: 9% [?]

I’ve tried several times over the last few days to write something explaining how awesome the recent “Escape From Bizarro World” arc in Action Comics was, but I couldn’t quite get it right. I think it has something to do with normally not liking Superman very much.

But then, as I was net surfing and trying to avoid doing any actual work, I came across the review that I wish I had written over at Again With The Comics and thought to myself “perfect”, although I will add my favorite moment from issue 857…

tag: batman, Bizarro, comics, DC, Flash, jla, Review, Superman

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Popularity: 8% [?]