Save the Heroes From Fashion Vol 1: Superman

In the history of comics, you'd be hard pressed to find a hero more recognizable than DC's powerhouse Superman. He was created in 1938, so it comes as no surprise that he's received a few costume overhauls in the 72 years since his creation, but how many people could actually tell you what they were?
Looking back on his creation in '38, Superman is mostly recognizable to the modern audience. His now famous crest was a simple triangle with a "S" in it. He's pretty much an everyman in spandex. Years later came the look we all know as the right one, which is shown at the top of the article.
In 1992 DC comics made a drastic decision. They killed Superman, and in the wake of his death, they introduced four new Supermen, all with a distinct look.
From left to right, top to bottom of this picture on the left: the homicidal Last Son of Krypton, the "too good to be real" Cyborg Superman, the imperfect clone Superboy, and the man in armor Steel. For months, DC ran an arch where these four Supermen fought over who was/would take over as the "real" Superman, but the real reason for their fighting was to get us ready for the nigh unbelievable, a costume change.
Superman returned from the dead in this appropriately colored getup. It didn't last long, but it served the purpose of testing the water for major changes to the character.

In 1998 Superman developed electric based powers, which after bad storytelling and an event involving the Cyborg Superman, Superman split into two separate beings, Superman Blue and Superman Red. Each took a part of Superman's personality, and neither could get along with the other. Eventually, after more ridiculous stories and love triangles, the two were once again merged into one being, the Superman we know and accept, but hey, what can you do. There are also many "elseworld" versions of Superman, but that's a story for another day.

Do you have a character you'd like featured in this segment? Do you have a better name for this segment? Do you want to put in your two cents worth? Drop us a line at mamaslittlepansys@gmail.com.

Que the music. No, the good music!

I don't know about everyone else, but when I was a kid there was one thing I held above all else in the world. My cartoons. I liked Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Transformers, but none of them help a candle to the super hero shows. I'd sit down to watch them every weekend, and if my dad didn't have something to do, he'd watch them with me, because he grew up with these characters, and he wanted to see what I was learning about them. From the interest he saw that I had with these characters, he started hunting down the cartoons he watched as a kid, so I could see them, and see how he got into comics. The thing I could never get past on any of them was the themes. With that in mind, I'm going to share the themes from then and the themes we grew up with, to show you how far we've come.

First of is The Hulk.

And now the theme from the show that started after the movie by Ang Lee.


Next is one of the few old themes that most people know, Spider-man.

Here's the little known Spider-man and his amazing friends.

And now, the 90's version.


Everyone knows about the Adam West Batman show, and how campy it is. Well, that just makes the theme even funnier to watch.

And then, when Bruce Timm, who previously had started Tiny Toon Adventures finally got the go ahead to make a Batman animated series, he did the unexpected. He used a Danny Elfman score for a cartoon theme. (Thanks for the catch)

The music and art style went together so well, and I doubt it will happen that well again.

I know that most people that have been in an arcade of any type have seen the X-Men arcade game. It is arguably one of the biggest arcade games of our generation, but did you know it's based off of a failed tv show?

And then a few years later they released the show that everyone remembers.

And then a few years after that ended came X-Men Evolution.


The next stop on our comparison trip will be the slew of Iron Man cartoons. The first one if from around the same time as the Spider-man show.

Then came the first season of the 90's show.

And then the second season, which was much better all around.


The last comparison we make is of the Fantastic Four shows. I put them here because when it aired, it was the second show of "The Marvel Action Hour" placed behind, you guessed it, Iron Man. Speaking frankly about the themes, I think this is the only show who's theme got worse on the remake. But I'll let you judge for yourself.

And now the 90's version.


Having gone through the whirlwind of cartoon themes, I know I'm a little tuckered out, so I'll keep the writing to a minimum. These shows were fun and the themes really show you where we were at the time of release, and for that you can't bash too much. Some of the younger readers my notice that we're missing a couple theme songs. Namely the newest Spider-man, Iron Man, and Batman themes. Here's the deal. I didn't watch them, so I left them out. And before you ask, yes, I watched X-men Evolution. I was just young enough when it came out to not know any better about how bad it would be.

So did I miss any other themes. Do you feel jaded that your favorite didn't make it? Let us know! We're always open to new ideas! And speaking of new ideas, do you have a post you want to see made? Tell us in the comments, or e-mail us, and we just may write it!



If you're still reading, I've got something special for you. Extra Credit Videos. I couldn't include them in the meat of the post, because they aren't being compared with a remake, but they're too good not to share.

Captain America


The God of Thunder: Mighty Thor


I dare you to get through this one.

"First Class" casting is second rate.

Just a quick story I found and thought I'd share. James McAvoy, who played the main character of Wanted, and that goat boy from Chronicles of Narnia, will be playing Charles Xavier in the upcoming movie X-Men First Class. The story is early on in the mythology, when Xavier and Eric Lensherr were still friends, and it leads to the start of the war between them. Granted, I think they need to leave the franchise alone, seeing that X-men as a series is turning to crap, but let alone doing a prequel. Has Hollywood no shame? Of course not, that's why we see all of these crappy license movies.

But that's not my real problem. My problem is casting. McAvoy isn't a bad actor, he's just not a Charles Xavier type. I mean take a look and judge for yourself.



Vs



Nope, bad casting.

Remebering a legend.

On May 10th 2010, a legend in comics and the art world died of a stroke.


Frank Frazetta worked in comics early in his career, but will be known much longer for the cover art he did for such titles as Conan the Barbarian, and the album covers for the first three Molly Hatchet albums. His most recent work can be seen on Wolfmother's CD, Wolfmother.

Frazetta's work on the covers for Conan the Barbarian help to bring in, and give a definite look to the age of sword and sorcery.



Born in 1928, no one can say he didn't live a full life, but that doesn't mean he won't be sorely missed.

The reason I don't read X-men.

When I was a kid, the only comic I could seem to get into was X-men. Somewhere between junior high and high school, my parents stopped buying me comics on a regular basis, because they were using them as a way to get me to read real books, and I had picked up that habit pretty hard. That's not to say I stopped reading about superheroes. I would pick up every Spider-man, Avengers, or X-men book I could get my hands on, but most of them were just re-tellings of older comics for a new generation.

When I started picking up comics again, I went with the safe bets. Captain America, Batman, Green Lantern, but I kept away from X-men because I didn't like the team at the time. Plus, it's incredibly hard to jump into an X-men story. They tend to build. So when issue 500 hit stands in July of 2008, I picked it up for the cover, and a part of me that hopes the 500th issue becomes a collectors item down the road.

Having bought it, I decided to read it, and I was shocked as to the horrible things they've done to that group. Honestly, I'm not getting into that now, this post is already too much like a rant. I just wanted to share some videos making fun of what writers have done to the X-men in the last decade. I had no part in making these, but love them so much, I had to share.









Hope you enjoyed, and I'll have more like this for you soon.

Routine Maintenance Check up

Just got back from Iron Man 2, and without any spoilers, it's worth seeing. It has it's share of problems, but as I heard before I watched it, if you liked the first one, you'll like this one. More comedy, more action, more tech. Everything you probably expected. Yes I was right about a thing or two, but I take back my comments on Rourke's ability to be a convincing villain.

In short, I give it an A-.



I tried to find a pic of Iron Man giving a thumbs up, but couldn't find one. After a while of searching, the only one I could find was Obama from the Spider-man issue that couldn't sell, so I just used this. If you find one, drop me a line from the contact me and I'll change it.

Now for the spoilers. If you don't want to read, go away. I'll give you a few seconds to go.











That should do it. Ok, they are aren't biggies, but some people would be upset to see them without watching first. I know because I am among those that would.

First off, I was right about the Black Widow. She's American. She speaks russian among many other languages, but she's full blooded American.

Second, there are many homages. Cap's shield shows up, much more noticably, and not complete this time. You can not miss it. A screen shows images from Incredible Hulk(not Bana's ode to crap, but Edward Norton's decent ode to destruction) which places this movie on a timeline at the same time as Hulk.

Third, as if you didn't already know, stay until after the credits. It's worth it.

And last, Whiplash, for a decent portion of the movie, looks much more like Omega Red than the character he's supposed to be. Not like we didn't know that from the merchandise, but you'll have that.

I know, I'm not giving away much. But I like to watch things and experience them rather than be told.

That's it. Have fun and hope you watch it.

Land of the Lost....Comic Characters. Marvel Edition

The history of comics is full of characters that were added for convenience, pop culture, or even shameless promotion. Marvel is far from an exception.

In 1991 Marvel released an ongoing series about an NFL player who saves a child, hurting his knee in the process. Unnecessarily long story short, he steals an indestructible football uniform and uses it to fight crime. Bad story, but wait till you hear the name. NFL Superpro.
Even if you aren't completely convinced this is a bad series idea, try reading it. Even as a kid, I couldn't help but see that this was nothing but a shameless advertisement for the NFL. Plus, the first issue had Spider-man in it, like every series of the early 90s that they knew didn't stand a chance, but still wanted to be forced down people's throat.

Not only did he suck, but his villains did too. Quick Kick, a ninja kicker. Instant Replay, a time manipulating assassin. And last but not least a football player who used steroids and turned into an insane giant monster.

Where is he now? The most recent reference to him was in a Marvel Team up issue, where Stilt Man tells Daredevil "I beat up a guy called Superpro last week. Silliest looking guy..."

This next shining example "I've got a GREAT idea for a character!" is none other than this strapping man. His name is Demolition Man, but you won't see him labeled as much other than D-Man, except for his listings online. His first appearance was as a wrestler in a super hero wrestling league, and his big fight was against the Thing. They wrestle and the Thing wins, despite D-Man's unwillingness to throw the fight. A couple of years later, he joins up with Captain America and becomes one of the many heroes at Cap's disposal during and leading up to when Cap stops being Cap and becomes USAgent. Honestly, the story on D-Man is really not that interesting. Like most characters that writers didn't know what to do with, they made him mentally unstable and then secluded him from the rest of the Universe.

Where is he now? D-Man has popped up in Marvel in a couple of the recent events. If you read the Captain America portion of Civil War, you'll see a hologram of him used as a distraction to help the resistance achieve an objective. He apparently also pops up in Dark Reign as a military man.

The next stop on our tour of the obscure isn't obscure if you've read Captain America's comics. He's none other than Batroc the Leaper.
Batroc has been around for ages. He first appeared back when Captain America shared a book with Iron Man.

Batroc has had a long history as a villain. He's fought everyone from The Punisher, Spider-Man, Gambit, Black Panther, to attacking the Avengers as a whole. He has no super powers, and his only real threat is his martial art, savate, a french form of kick boxing, and his strategical mind. Despite the fact that he is a criminal, Batroc prides himself on his code of honor. He's reformed a few times, once with Baron Zemo's Thunderbolts, and again later by joining the Initiative, training soldiers in combat.

Where is he now? Unlike the other characters we've looked at today, Batroc is a constant in the Captain America world. Every time the series is restarted, or even when certain writers took over, he is brought in to either commit a crime, or just for a rematch with Cap. Unfortunately, in the newest run, he wasn't brought in until the new Captain America was already in uniform.


That's all the characters for now. So here's your homework. Any one that can go back to the D-Man picture and tell me what 2 characters Marvel ripped-off to create the costume for D-Man will get a prize when they become available. Limit first 3 people to correctly e-mail me the correct answer. Winners will be posted once there are 3. Click the contact me button above the mission statement and write "D-Man contest" in the subject box.

Does Iron Man's suit rust?

I think this Iron Man 2 is going to be crap. I said that when I heard the cast list, and I can't help but continue to echo it, and I doubt that will change until I watch it and it floors me. I'll admit I said the first one was going to suck, and I promptly ate my words within the first ten minutes of the movie. But the second installment of trilogies is most often the worst. My pre-rational argument gripes aside, let's take a look at the first trailer.



Starting with the first trailer, it's obvious Mr. Favreau knows what one of the things that made Iron Man a success is and isn't going to let it go. The humor. This trailer gives a healthy dose of that. AC\DC? They're back too, not that it means much. They make a point of showing Scarlett Johansson, but not long enough to really see anything about how she'll do as the Black Widow. Their lack of material does nothing to ease the tension I have about her taking on this very important role. Granted, I'm not big on the character to begin with, but I know what a big role she will have in the Avengers movie, so they need to get someone who can handle the weight being hefted on their shoulders. She's cute, but I've never thought too much of her as an actress. Second big gripe I have is Mickey Rourke. The man may have been something in a past life, but now he's just a troll. If that's not bad enough, they bring him in as Whiplash? Who the hell cares about Whiplash. He's a tool with a freakin whip. He's a lackey at best. Plus since seeing the bobble head version of him I can think of only one way to describe the look they were going for in this.
The low rent Omega Red. If you don't know what he looks like, google it. If you look closely at the end of the trailer, you'll see that the power ring in his chest is now the triangle from modern Marvel continuity. Now onto the second trailer.


There are only a few things that this trailer adds. The only one that you don't need to know the character for is Ms. Johansson still doesn't say a word, but it seems she can do the action needed. The additions in this trailer for readers of old you have to look for. First off, Justin Hammer. He is the anti-Stark. He is evil business man talking to Whiplash. In the comics he's put out hits on both Stark and Iron Man separately. He's a very bad man. The last 2 things to notice are actually one and the same in the trailer, but 2 separate entities in the comics. Old school Iron Man, after he ditched the ugly gold and silver hulkish outfits wore the breast plate because it was a pace maker, but after his tech got better, he hauled it around in a briefcase. Tada, it shows up in movie two. This is a promise that he won't always need that damn Ultimates set up to get in and out of the armor. Second, the armor in the suit case is the Silver Centurion armor, which he wore in the West Coast Avengers. Both are nice call outs to fans. Did you miss it, watch again by all means. It's the end of the trailer.

So now that I've gotten this off my chest, I can honestly say I hope this movie rocks, but I'm afraid it won't. You agree? You disagree? Sit on down and let me know.

PS. Here are pics of the Silver Centurion armor and Omega Red, just because I spoil you so.

Is there a closet in the Bat-Cave?

I was looking through my dad's old comics with him some time back, and was astounded at some of the things he had. He's has X-men #1(but it's coverless, which sucks). He has a large number of Fantastic Four, Spider-man, and even a few Power Man(almost all of which are coverless, or half-coverless. He was a kid and didn't care what condition they were in). But the comic he had that shocked me more than anything was this.


I picked this up out of the box and immediately started cracking up. He asked what was so funny, and through my tears of joy, I barely got out "what the hell is rainbow batman?" He then explains the story, which I guess makes since for the time, but it still raises some questions.

Here's how it goes. Dick Grayson is publicly heroic as himself(instead of Robin, if you didn't know) and everyone knows that Dick is hurt. He saw some criminals at the same time, and can ID them, but if he goes out as Robin injured, everyone will figure it out. So Batman's first idea is to dress up in all sorts of different colorful batsuits to draw all attention to him and away from Robin. The culmination of these is the rainbow suit.

It's questionable as to whether this was a simple good idea badly executed, or an underhanded way of telling everyone Batman's sexual preference(rainbows are a gay rallying point after all). I personally don't care. I just find the comic hilarious. You can make your own inferences, it's your right to.

This next picture is one I ran across while looking for the above images, which I've seen before, and it always seems to at least make me smirk.

Where are the pants?

In the early 90s Marvel Comics had a fascination with scantaly clad super heroes, and seemed to do whatever they could to show them. I'll level with you. I saw these pictures and had to share them. I didn't do much research, and probably won't when I'm done writting this. In fact, as soon as I'm done, I'll probably bleach my eyes, face, and hands, but only because they typed the words that found this stuff.

And with that, we shall begin.
This is the first image along this line I ever saw. It was in an issue of X-men from around the time I was watching the cartoon. In all honesty, it isn't that bad. It's very tame and not very fun(except for he right reasons. Iceman freezing the pool, Jubilee trying to flex like Collasus, etc.). But this is hardly where it ends.
This next picture is trying to be in the same vein, and it might have succeeded if it weren't for the characters still wearing their masks. Also notice that Iron Man is not only wearing his armor, but he has a swimsuit on over the armor.

These two pictures are of She-Hulk. They show two very different art styles for the character, but neither make much sense to me. The one on the left shows a lot of muscle definition in the upper body, but as you work your way down, the body looks more and more like a model. Whatever the artist was told to do, I think he forgot about it until the end of the work. The picture on the right can be summed up in one phrase and one word. Side boob and dragon. We've all had moments where those two words work together... Oh, is that just me...?
This picture begins the "what were you thinking Marvel?" section of our time together. Make your own comments on this one.

This picture is supposed to be sexy tiny Wasp, but all I see is Wonder-thong and the Patriotic Package. You'll understand if I don't linger to talk more about it.

This last piece is the reason first I came across tonight. I was researching another piece I'm working on, stumbled across this and had to share. Here's what I see in this picture. Captain America, wearing an American flag as a speedo. He's holding his shield. I get it so far. Who hasn't stripped down to their skivies, which demean everything you stand for, and feel so darn exposed that you hold a piece of armor. Below him is a blonde bombshell, wearing another American flag as a bikini. But the real notice isn't what she's wearing, it's how she's wearing it. Her top and bottoms are being worn in opposite directions. Now look at where she's looking. That's right, directly into his crotch. If that doesn't say "child-friendly" I sure don't know what does. Next we look behind them. And what do we see? A tribe of people with shields and spears WATCHING them. None of them is doing anything but watching the half naked people sit there. It's like the inverse of National Geographic. Oh, and there's also a waterfall.

Well, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope to have a real piece in the near future.

The Ultimates vs. Ultimate Avengers

Marvel comics has a history of trying to revamp themselves every so often. They tend to do it at least once every decade. In the 80s Chris Claremont turned Jean Grey into The Phoenix. The 90s led to Heroes Reborn, and ultimately, ignoring that Heroes Reborn every happened(don't worry, I'll catch you up on that mess soon).

In 2002 Mark Millar, a Scottish comic writer, who would later go on to write Wanted, was tapped by Marvel to write the story of Ultimate Marvel's Avengers. In the comics they were called, simply, The Ultimates.






It's popularity led to a cartoon version produced in 2006 released under the name of Ultimate Avengers. Despite the fact that Ultimate Avengers is based on The Ultimates, it bares little in the way of similarities to the original work.

As one reads through(or watches, depends on which you did second) the first major difference they will come across is Captain America. In the books, he is a soldier. There's little more to it than that. He wants to get in, do the job, and get out. In the movie, he is still very determined to do the job, but he's closer to the original character, a paragon of hope.

The second big difference one comes across is the Hulk. The movie makes the Hulk very modern Marvel. "Hulk mad, Hulk smash." We've seen it, kids can handle it, nothing too rough. The Ultimates wrote him a little different. He's a mix between a horny pre-teen, who will do anything to have sex, and Maestro, a future version of the hulk, where Bruce Banners brain and the Hulk's might have finally mixed into the ultimate being. This combination leaves a Hulk who is strong, carries out motives that he believes will help Banner, and is extremely horny. Beyond these changes, they also choose to leave out the overkill execution of the Hulk.

The next big change from book to movie is the wife-beating scene. Anyone who has followed The Avengers for any time knows that Hank "Ant man/Giant Man/Yellow Jacket" Pym and Janet "The Wasp" van Dyne got divorced after he went a little nuts and beat the crap out of her when Marvel decided every hero should have a low moment. Millar adds this to the Ultimates, which adds drama to the story, and honestly, feels very natural in this dark story. Not surprisingly, the cartoon version leaves this out. It's an obvious omission, but it has to be pointed out.

The next stop on our tour takes us to the title page of Chapter 8. The Experts. This entire team is left out of the movie.

In the comic, Hawkeye and Black Widow are cold blooded killers. Plain and simple. They are hardcore, they do not belong in a cartoon. If you've seen the movie(or looked at the pretty picture I left up top for you), you may be asking "Why does he say none of this team is in the movie? Black Widow is a big part. That's true, but the characters are so distinctly different, that they can't be compared. The omission of Black Widow and Hawkeye does lead to a loss of some of the better action sequences, including the time they storm an office building and kill Everybody inside. It was an awesome sequence, and really did fit the story they were telling.


Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver are a different case all together. They are brother and sister but act way more like lovers. And there is absolutely nothing to make you think there is any other possibility.

The last big change, which is a deal breaker for me is the Chitari. They're the alien race attacking us in The Ultimates, but who are they really? If we read the book, they will tell us themselves. They are the Skrulls. SKRULLS!!!!!!!! It would really make the movie make more sense if they would just add that one freakin detail!

In the end, I understand why they cut out the adult themes, shortened it, and took out the best action/creepiest family values. It was being sold as a kids' story. I don't blame them for taking out what they did, but I do blame them for even trying to make a kids' movie out of a book that is so obviously shooting for an older audience.