SWG Tales

Hrm. The guy I would most want to re-write/draw is The Flash.

I know Seret's a huge fan, but the whole "Speedforce" or whatever the christ they're calling it = the lame sauce.

I mean, it's just begging to be re-written with genetic engineering, combined with performance enhancing drugs, speed suits from Nike, etc.

It's a project I wanted to screw around with, but I've got other stuff going on. I'll post on it later.

Green Arrow is someone else who's begging to be re-written as more of a Legolas style character (young, special forces, pure human talent), and not this lame-assed hand-off to the little crack-baby sidekick.

As far as top ten heroes? In no particular order other than my #2 and #1:

10: Deathstroke the Terminator
9: Vigilante (I used to really like it when it first came out).
8: Dwight from Sin City. Marv is awesome but too 1 dimensional.
7-4: X-Men. I don't have a singular favorite. I've just always loved them as a team/book.
3: Daredevil (FM years only)
2: Batman
1: Spidey

I love Batman because a person can accually be Batman. He's an atheltic Detective with gagets that can be made with current tec (with the exemption of some of the far out stuff with I rarely see) to aid him. I love it when Jeff Loeb writes him my favorit book he did was the Long Holloween. The way he writes Batman is the way every one should, a detective who wear's a costume.

1. Batman.

My list needs no others.

Abos wrote:How is batman a superhero when he's just a rich boy with toys and has no super powers? :x

Yeah, that's a big part of the point. Batman has no super powers, but there is not a Superhero alive that he can't beat. I can think of seven times that he and Superman has faced off, and Batman took him out each time.

TramelRaggs wrote:

Abos wrote:How is batman a superhero when he's just a rich boy with toys and has no super powers? :x

Yeah, that's a big part of the point. Batman has no super powers, but there is not a Superhero alive that he can't beat. I can think of seven times that he and Superman has faced off, and Batman took him out each time.

Sort of like how The Punisher is a normal guy who uses lots of guns The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is one of my favorites. He kills pretty much every super hero under the Marvel logo in that book :P

10. Nightwing (aka robin) (DC)

9. Morph* (created via the cartoon for xmen)

8. Superman (DC)

7. X-men as a whole (marvel)

6. Green Arrow (DC)

5. Havoc (Marvel)

4. Agent X (aka deadpool)

3. Punisher (marvel)

2. Wolverine (Marvel)

1. Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) (DC)


it should be noted:

while i think batman is the most uninteresting hero to be so widely popular, he does play coutnerpart to the greatest villain ever, the Joker is the perfect villain.

For fanboys that would like to see something cool, contact me on AIM (WVUGreenLantern) and i'll send you a copy of a trailer for a fanfilm based on a story where batman dies and robin takes up the job, its cool...looks a bit cheesy because obviously their budget is low but good ideas.

Novall wrote:

TramelRaggs wrote:

Abos wrote:How is batman a superhero when he's just a rich boy with toys and has no super powers? :x

Yeah, that's a big part of the point. Batman has no super powers, but there is not a Superhero alive that he can't beat. I can think of seven times that he and Superman has faced off, and Batman took him out each time.

Sort of like how The Punisher is a normal guy who uses lots of guns The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is one of my favorites. He kills pretty much every super hero under the Marvel logo in that book :P

I'm with ya there, Novall, if only because it was written by my favorite writer, Garth Ennis. His current run on the Punisher is amazing and if you want a REALLY good read try the entire seires of The Preacher.

One of my prized possessions is a bust from The Pilgrim from the Garth Ennis series Just A Pilgrim. Last year for my birthday I got a package in the mail from my buddy Darick (artist of Wolverine and now the upcoming Nighcrawler series). When I looked at the back of the bust it was signed "To Tom, Garth Ennis." This was amazing because Garth lives in Ireland and doesn't do public signing appearances. Darick and him are good buddies so he mailed it to him for him to sign. So like I said, that bust is my Holy Grail of Geekdom.

Seret sweet hook up and connections. I'd kill to know some one in the idustry might make me breakin in a little easier but I'll have do it the old fashion way.

10 - Gambit
9 - Thor
8 - U.S. Agent (Bum take off of CA but I liked his colors better)
7 - Vision
6 - Iron Man
5 - Colossus
4 - Superman
3 - Professor Xavier
2 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Yes all of them tie at 2)
1 - Wolverine

Can ya tell I'm a Marvel kinda guy? What can I say, I grew up on the X-men!! And the TMNT were a big part in there too... those were the only 2 sets of toys that I owned almost every figure created until I was in about 6th or 7th grade...

My favorites, not necessarily "best"

10. Havok - always liked the name, the outfit, the shaky temper, and oh yes, the power that rocks city blocks.

9. Silver Surfer - the "Cosmic Cop". If you're aiming to screw with the universe then expect to see the Surfer high beaming you to "pull over". The board is slick, too.

8. Doctor Strange - I'm a big fan of "sorcery" and I always dug this character. The mystery and subdued demeanor, despite the power. Though he's not my number one, I'd like to see him in a feature film more than the rest of the list. Also

- the cool incantations and spells he quoted ("By the Flames of Faltine!" "Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth!" A bit corny, but me likey still).
- reading magical tomes while levitating
- slick accessories like the Eye of Agamotto and Levitation Cape
- Pimp Daddy House with limitless magical square footage
- Pimp Daddy outfit of them all (blue, red, black, gold with magical forearm tattoos and high collars - Adam Warlock and Lando Calrissian are both jealous)

7. Punisher - really crystallized the anti-hero surge of the late '80's -early '90's. And let's face it. It might be fantasy but tieing up the crooks next to the their drug lab with a note for the cops would probably get them acquitted. And that's if the cops could arrest them in the first place. But dead is dead. No "super" powers except for his Ruger Super Blackhawk Magnum 44.

6. Wolverine - long before the Punisher as the anti-hero, but becoming prevalent after, Wolverine is easily the scrappiest character out there. What won me was X-Men #129 (original from the '70s) in the basement of the Hellfire Club. Logan, dolo-challenge-any-team-or-solo wades into a swarm of Mercenaries. Character defining moment and a classic in X-Men lore.

5. Batman - once before I said that I like Batman because there's no "overnight might" in his creation. Childhood tragedy aside, no freak science accident gave him awesome power. He's self made. A lifetime in the gym, dojo, and library makes him a superhero in my book.

4. Conan - "...Hither came Conan ...a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the earth under his sandaled feet." That's mah DAWG! Love it! Forget the movies, read any Conan by Roy Thomas. I can still lose a day reading his stuff. No matter how many fantasy beasts, wizards, and wenches he conquers I never get tired of it.

3. Iron Man - the first major character to tackle some real adult adversity. Marvel asked the question, "How would a real person hold up under the strain of the super hero lifestyle? Is there always a Superfriends laugh at the end?" For Tony Stark the answer was a cocktail...or eleven. He became an aclcoholic and lost everything he had. His billions, his company, his women, and most of his friends...like a real alcoholic might. Landmark character.

Apart from that my favorite stories were when Tony had to improvise with his armor. Making some on the spot modification to survive in the clutch. See Iron Man 98-100 against the Mandarin.

2. Shang Chi - one of the more obscure Marvel titles but equally one of the most profound and well written over the long term. Writer Doug Moench made a name for himself with his character development, slick plots, and knack for blending genuine Asian philosophies into this title. Adapted from the old Fu Manchu stories, Shang Chi was inserted as the son trained to be a killing machine for his father's criminal empire. Shang rebelled and dedicated himself to ending the "fiendish plots". Some of the best hand-to-hand fight scenes ever drawn.

1. Henry Pym and all of his incarnations (Giant-Man, Goliath, Ant-Man, Yellow Jacket). - another slightly obscure character, also one of the first really flawed heroes in comics history. Written with guts for the time, Doctor Pym was a founding member of the Avengers and a scientist extraordinaire. Mild mannered to a fault, he tried to save his marriage by altering his personality. This experiment (and some mind games from his enemies) brought on a psychotic breakdown that cost him his wife and his position in the Avengers.

I also liked that he was dynamic in his inventions, creating bio-chemical formulas, "pocket" dimensions, and super sophisticated robots.

Honorable mentions: Spider-Man, The Hulk

Hey Keer what did you think about the Avanger story arch Avengers Disasembled where some of the good as well as the bad where offed. Hank Pym, Vision and Hawk Eye are all dead.

Jerrel wrote:Hey Keer what did you think about the Avanger story arch Avengers Disasembled where some of the good as well as the bad where offed. Hank Pym, Vision and Hawk Eye are all dead.

I haven't read that story. There were a lot of titles that I had to pass by for simple financial reasons. I stopped reading comics steadily about a year ago. And even then I mostly stuck with the Ultimate Marvel titles. To me those were a comics dream come true for my Marvel characters. Also the revisioned Fantastic Four I really liked as well. The only Avengers that I read were the re-visioning of them as The Ultimates which started off as some really really great mature work.

The really big kick for me came when I had wandered into a comics store after 8 years of not reading (since back in 1994-5 when Marvel over-extended themselves then imploded into bankruptcy). I'd heard about the Ultimate Spider-Man title and wanted to check it out. When I saw the writer's name I flipped. Brian Michael Bendis is an old acquaintance of mine from back in 1990-94 in Cleveland, Ohio. I knew him when he was just a comics store clerk across the street from the video store that I worked at then in downtown Cleveland. I bought TONS of comics from him and if there was anyone that reminded me of Peter Parker in real life, it was Brian Bendis. I remember recommending him to my boss then for some freelance graphic design.

Once in 1991 Brian came back from a comics con where he met Frank Miller. He passed Miller some of his writing and told everyone in the store that Miller had given him high praise saying that "it was the best he'd seen in a long time". Almost everyone rolled their eyes at this, but me, not having read any of Brian's stuff at the time had no reason to disbelieve him. I went into the military, he started writing for the local newspaper and we lost contact.

Fast forward 10 years and the kid is rockin'! During that time he'd become acclaimed with works like Torso about grisly murders in Cleveland during the 1930's. Then as of two years ago he'd been tapped to bring Spider-Man into the 21st century with Ultimate Spider-Man. At the same time he was breathing new life into Daredevil and took over the reins of Ultimate X-Men after the original writer fell behind schedule in early 2003. And his work is very good and at times great. Especially what he did with Ultimate Spider Man.

It's too bad but to save money I stopped reading all comics and missed out on alot of good stories in those Ultimate titles. In The Ultimates, Hank Pym was very much alive, still brilliant, and more of a conflicted soul than ever. In the Ultimates rendition he's a world saving spouse abuser

Keer wrote: What won me was X-Men #129 (original from the '70s) in the basement of the Hellfire Club. Logan, dolo-challenge-any-team-or-solo wades into a swarm of Mercenaries. Character defining moment and a classic in X-Men lore.

/Total comic geek mode on

ACTUALLY...X-Men 129 is when Professor X came back to Earth and started riding Cyclops about being a bad leader...then split the team to check out two new mutants that cerebro picked up (Dazzler and Kitty Pride). The issue you're thinking about was X-Men 133...and they were from 1980.

/turns the geek mode off

You may now go about your business...nothing to see here.

Sure you love these Super Heroes now, in their prime, but will you love them when they let themselves go?

Click this link (work-safe) and answer that question...
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~ahminnem/index.html

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.