Ideas for Wildstorm's Integration into the DCU

Last week we brought you the news that DC was shutting down the WILDSTORM imprint.  DC hinted in their press release that the characters wouldn't die, just the imprint, the characters would live on in the DCU proper.

There are some obvious uses of of Wildstorm characters in the DCU.  Some might be a little too obvious like suddenly adding Gen13 characters into the Titans or having Apollo befriend Superman and hang around with the Justice League.  I'd fear fan reactions to those set ups. 

One "obvious" integration I wouldn't fear? 

ZEALOT (and by extension the Coda) being seen in the pages of WW, living as Amazonians.
"Zannah took the name Zealot when she formed a sisterhood of warriors, known as The Coda, on earth. She fought with them for many years, even leading the group for a while. However, an incident occurred in Troy (presumably during the Trojan War), causing her to be branded a traitor and expelled from the order. She arranged for the Coda to help the Greeks conquer Troy in exchange for 99 female babies to be raised as new coda. She helped Ulysses conceive of the trojan horse and stationed Coda warriors inside it. During the fighting she decided that the killing of all of the unarmed women and children of Troy was going too far, so she saved the life of the royal family"~wikipedia
Zealot was obviously created from the same ink well as the "warrior" version of Wonderwoman. They've done a good job of making her unique while staying close to the template.  She'd fit right in.

The Wildstorm integration could be used to breathe new life into characters.  Some of which never really reached amazing heights of popularity but might if given a shake up and a new station.

UNION is drafted into the Green Lantern Corp.
"Ohmen was a member of a faction, called the Protectorate, on his home world of Aegena. The world was mired in a long civil war, as the Protectorate fought against another faction, the Directorate, for control of the planet. The members of both factions had special "stones" (in reality, a symbiotic organism) embedded in their chests. The stones imbued them with a variety of powers, including super strength, flight, energy manipulation and a staff composed of pure energy."~wikipedia
With a costume redesign, his experience with the JUSTICE STONE of the PROTECTORATE would make him a natural with a ring.

In my opinion the best way to ensure that the Wildstorm characters successfully integrate into the DCU is to immediately bring Wildstorm villains in and put them through the ringer.  Begin having the DCU heroes battle them and this will bridge the gap between the two universes.

Helspont battles both the Green Lantern Corp and the Justice League in a year long theme within DC.
"He may not look like it, but Helspont is a Daemonite, a race of aliens harvested to serve the Kherubim. The Daemonites rebelled and the Kherubim/Daemonite war began. Helspont became a military commander sometime during this war and was stationed on the Daemonite ship that crashed on Earth thousands of years ago. He, along with the two other highest ranked surviving Daemonites, took the title High Lord and became a leader to the other Daemonites. Helspont controlled most of the Daemonites but the other High Lords (Defile & Hightower) became his enemies, each with their own plan to either take over or destroy Earth. Sometime during his time on Earth, Helspont somehow managed to get a hold of an Acurian body, and since all Daemonites are capable of possessing other beings, he stole it. The exact circumstances for his acquisition of the alien host are unknown, but according to Spartan, it happened some centuries after the fall of the Roman empire."~wikipedia
As Helspont's back story begins to unfold, so too can the back story of the Wildstorm characters as they make minor appearances at first.

Here's hoping that we do see plenty of Wildstorm characters in the DCU very soon.

Have a great weekend,

Caine

A new Lost Universe?

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is another one of Caine's explorations into the Lost Universes of defunct companies. You can read other Lost Universe articles here. - Jim

Today were going to take a look at what is reportedly the newest comic book universe to to join the ranks of the "LOST UNIVERSE'S" here at the FBU, that of the WILDSTORM Universe.

Dan Didio & Jim Lee had this (and more) to say on the subject:

"After taking the comics scene by storm nearly 20 years ago, the WildStorm Universe titles will end this December. In this soft marketplace, these characters need a break to regroup and redefine what made them once unique and cutting edge. While these will be the final issues published under the WildStorm imprint, it will not be the last we will see of many of these heroes. We, along with Geoff Johns, have a lot of exciting plans for these amazing characters, so stay tuned. Going forward, WildStorm’s licensed titles and kids comics will now be published under the DC banner. "~The Bleed

Of course, they are saying that the WILDSTORM characters will not vanish into the wind and will show up in the regular DCU but to what end?  The DCU has 75+ years of history and the characters know one another.  The WILDSTORM characters, as stated above, only have 20+ years and they don't all really know one another so well.

Where will characters like Midnighter, Apollo, and Mr. Majestic (who's been in the DCU proper before) find a place in the DCU when they were basically created as an analog to pre-existing DCU characters in the first place?  Its easy to hypothesize a miniseries where Midnighter goes toe to to with Batman, or Apollo meets Superman in space but beyond that it's any ones guess.  Could Lucas "Midnighter" Trent be one of the Batmen we've been told to expect?  Would he want to?  Bruce Wayne had a raving psychotic on his staff once before, Jean Paul Valley, so I'm not sure he'll go for it again.

What about the non character type entities of the WILDSTORM universe?  What about organizations (I.O., Black Razers, Black Ops etc)?  The DCU all ready has Checkmate, The Suicide Squad, and others.  What about alien life forms ( Kherubim, Daemonites, & The Drahn)?  The DCU all ready has Tamarans, Ungarans, & Kryptonianans.

I don't think this will be good for the Wildstorm characters at all.  I'm not the only one either....

"I received a bit of bad news yesterday, Wildstorm will cease to be at the end of December. While WS and I didn't always see eye to eye, a good part of my life happened there. First pro work, met Jess there, learned the ins and outs of comic production. So it's with mixed feelings I write this, sad to see it go, hoping that the old WS might see a resurrection in the DC universe. Hoping that whoever does something with Backlash doesn't change stuff just to change stuff. Good bye Wildstorm, you will be missed.  Brett [Booth]"~Demon Puppy

"My thanks to Bob Harris for believing in us...for Jim Lee for believing in Bob and us and for the crew at wildstorm for letting us get a bit nutty under their guidence. As well a big thanks for all the wonderful talent that were along for the ride...the best of the best. Below is a cover gallery of some of those books. Enjoy."~ Jimmy Palmiotti

As for me, I don't think I ever enjoyed an entire universe of comics more.  I remember discovering StormWatch, about a international peace keeping force stationed on a space station, completely by accident.  When I flipped open the pages I saw art done by Scott Clark, who'd drawn another comic I'd liked before although the Wildstorm art he was doing was very different. 

It was in StormWatch where I learned of a costumed spy who could turn to mist, kind of like a vampiric Nick Fury (Backlash) who was just as cool, if not cooler than Batman (he who all heroes are judged against :).  This led me to a mini series where he and another guy with a trench coat, a jagged red rag of a face mask and two big pistols (Grifter) took on a  pack of Ferrel people.  I haven't stopped buying comics since.  Thanks Wildstorm.

They even published some of my art...




Have a great weekend,


C Dorr

Comic Book Genre Examination

While doing research for this post I discovered that most readers I'd poled don't collect comics within "comic book genres" the way a person who buys (collects?) mystery, scifi, or romance novels will consume books of the same genre for years.

Based on that research it would seem that comics are generally widely collected by the following criteria. They are listed in order of frequency:

1. Character (Green Lantern)
2. Universe (X-Men)
3. Style (Anime)

Or

1. Writer (Bendis)
   
2. Artist (Perez)
   
3. Company (Dark Horse)

Still, there must be some fans out there who collect comics based on "Style" or "Genre" right?

Anyone? All right, I'm sure you've all ready guessed that it is I who collects comics this way.

With the exception of "tie-in" comics (Farscape) I collect two genres: A.) "street level masked vigilantes" most of whom have little (Daredevil) or no (Nightwing) powers and travel by roof tops most of the time & B.) High-Concept type stories with a twist (Power CO.) usually with some sort of scifi twist to it.

There are far more Street Level Vigilante books out there than High-Concept books.


I regularly pick up Detective staring Batwoman (soon to have her own book), Nightwing (currently staring in the Batman books as Batman), MoonKnight, Daredevil (both of whom are in SHADOWLAND right now - I'm picking up ALL of that - which has also introduced me to another street level vigilante who fits the bill: SHROUD), Batgirl, The Red Hood and more.

In addition I have plenty of other books staring Night Man, Hawkeye, Solitaire, Ragman, Ronin, Robin, Ricochet, X, Night Thrasher, and the list goes on and on. I'm sooo true to the genre it self that I even own Bruce Wayne: Agent of Shield which has an amalgamated character of MoonKight and Nightwing called MoonWing in it!




So why oh why do I not have boxes and boxes filled with any ShadowHawk comics?

ShadowHawk debuted in IMAGE comics as Paul Johnstone. Paul was an ex attorney and ex district attorney who, through a traumatic time in his life (HIV among other things which was pretty ground breaking at the time), was motivated to become Shadowhawk:

"Johnstone decided to don the suit, christening himself "ShadowHawk" after his favorite superhero (a name that would eventually lure out the psychotic and racist villain Hawk's Shadow, who believed he was the one entitled to bear the mantle of ShadowHawk), and was taught how to fight effectively with the help of Christine, promising to "take back the night." Johnstone also kept the pills needed to slow his reaction to his HIV infection in small pouches on his belt so he could take them as needed. Early on, ShadowHawk's actions against criminals were brutal. He would catch violent criminals in the act and break their spines, leaving them to be discovered by police with no indication that he had attacked them other than hearsay from the criminals. This led to ShadowHawk garnering a reputation as an urban legend as well as being hunted by both criminals and law enforcement alike."~Wikipedia

This character is the exact type of character I collect, and fits nicely into the genre. He doesn't have any powers, he hides his identity, he has one of those "bird" and "shadow" type names, and he's taking to the roof tops by night to get around the city on patrol.


Jim Valentino (ShadowHawk's creator) has been quoted regarding ShadowHawk's origin that Jim wanted to create a "Batman Clone" but wanted to fix the problem with Batman (as he saw it): that his rogues kept getting out of jail/Arkham and causing more pain suffering and destruction on the citizens of Gotham (hence ShadowHawk's breaking of backs).

It would be one thing if I hated the character, I don't. I own a few. I've read a few more. I'm just not compelled to collect this character like I am the others. Why? I mean he's a clone of Batman after all & I think it's safe to say that I collect all of the other Batmanish characters out there.

Lots of the characters I listed above are DC characters, could that be it?
No, I listed other company characters as well: Dark Horse, Ultraverse, Marvel.

Lots of the characters I listed above work in conjunction with each other, could that be it?
No, Night Man, Solitaire, and X, work strictly alone.

Lots of the characters I listed above are rich (or know a rich guy) and can afford gadgets a plenty, could that be it?
No, Night man and X do their heroing on a budget.

I'm not alone in this either, check out these sales numbers from the same month in 2005 (I couldn't find 1992 - 1994 numbers):

18 Batman 646 $2.50 DC 69,931
38 Daredevil 78 $2.99 Marvel 45,042
46 Nightwing 113 $2.50 DC 39,811
51 SP-Nighthawk 2 $2.99 Marvel 35,161
53 Robin 143 $2.50 DC 34,119
223 ShadowHawk 6 $3.50 Image 4,280

The truth is not really such a mystery. Tweeting about ShadowHawk last night brought the answer I was looking for chirping to the top of my brain:

ShadowHawk did die (multiple times) but more importantly it suffered from missed deadlines. There were more than a couple of gaps between issues. Each were significant in time, and more than one coming in between what I'd call "key" issues.




Don't forget that WIZARD magazine was covering Image comics like no other publisher at the time. Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, they didn't get half the page count that Image stories got back then. Every. Little. Thing. Image. Did. It was in WIZARD and I would have been chomping at the bit to get my hands on ShadowHawk in between issues of Youngblood and Wildcats!

What's a street level vigilante comic book genre fan to do when his book isn't on the shelf week after week?

He finds another one!

Thank you Jim Valentino you helped introduce me to the ULTRAVERSE (The Night Man) and Dark Horse's COMICS GREATEST WORLD (X).

I owe you a debt of gratitude I can never repay. :)

- Caine

Lost Universe: Defiant: Warriors of Plasm

Editor's Note: Today we are proud to feature an article by RKB, a friend of the Flashback Universe who has has proven himself a fan of comics old and new with some fantastic Golden Age articles on his Pigs In The Industry blog. In his own words, he says...

I first became a fan of comics with Green Hornet #2, but stopped reading them completely eventually due to my disappointment in the story and schedule of some of the Image titles. Ten years later on a lark I go into a comic book store looking for back issues of From Hell, and notice Jim Lee is drawing Batman. Catching up on what I missed left me with more of a appreciation for forgotten, ignored, or independent comics works, and even less appreciation for Marvel or DC company wide 'events'.

We would like to welcome RKB as a contributor on the FBU and hope you enjoy his look at another great Lost Universe. - Jim

---

In 1993 I was too young to appreciate the difference between a ’Shooter’ book vs. a lot of what was on the stands, but I knew it was there. First I read the rumors, then the reports, and finally the full page ads that Jim Shooter was returning to comics. Jim Shooter decided to start over from his exit at Valiant by creating a new company, and a new universe.

That company’s name was Defiant, and its universe was begun in the lynchpin first title Plasm.

Well actually the title was changed to Warriors of Plasm to avoid a lawsuit from Marvel, but Solicitors of Evil are Jim Shooter’s archenemies so he got sued anyway.



Terry Stewart (then Marvel president) said the suit was for trademark infringement over a planned title called Plasmer.



Plasmer was about a woman who distilled out her good and bad halves. The ‘good part’ going on to become a super-heroine combination of Plastic Man, Metamorpho, and Short Order from Tribe. Marvel representative Gary Guzzo said it was “not a big deal” and Marvel had agreed with Defiant to change the name to avoid a suit, but then they didn‘t like the new logo.

The ‘Warriors of’ part of the logo appears to be pasted on, since it is smaller than and colored differently from the rest of the emblem.

[p 20, Wizard #27]

As might be expected Jim Shooter remembers the fight over the font differently:

When their lawyers came after us, our lawyers said, we'll change the name, what do you want? They said, if you just add some words to the name, so that it doesn't seem like one character, that'd be OK. We offered them Warriors of Plasm. and they said, give us a couple of them and we'll pick from them. We offered them Warriors of Plasm and a couple others and they didn't reply. This is May. They didn't reply. Our lawyers said, we can't get them to reply, so here's what we'll do. We'll do the change unilaterally, because as far as we agreed, if we do the change, we'll be OK. Warriors of Plasm had worked for me. What they did was they waited for the day the book was shipping and they waited for a temporary restraining order. Well, we anticipated that. My publisher at Quebecor had arranged for our shipment to be interlaced with Marvel shipments. they couldn't stop [our] books unless they stopped theirs. So our books shipped. [Part 2, Comic Book Resources Interview]

Defiant won the lawsuit at a cost of $300,000 in legal fees. Defiant also lost a anticipated $9 Million dollars worth of licensing fees for their properties due to concerns over possible future lawsuits. With the drop in sales as the comic boom went bust, Defiant bleed out of cash/went out of business before they had the chance to do their company wide cross-over story Schism. Comic book cards were popular back in the 90s, so it was a innovative decision on Defiant’s part to bring out the #0 issue of Warriors of Plasm as a trading card set. It also included various character cards and limited chase cards to collect. Warriors of Plasm would run for 13 issues, along with a one-shot graphic novel, and every title Defiant published would either tie-in, or be a spin-off.

Warriors of Plasm took place on the living sentient world the Org of Plasm. Imagine the Gaia hypothesis twisted into a nightmare where everything on the planet (and the planet itself) is made out of living Plasm. The people, their houses, their weapons, are all alive. Most of the people/plasmoids have no concept of being a individual they just want to be one with (I.e. dead fodder for) the Org. Mix and mangle the mindsets of hardcore socialists with homicidal religious cultists, on a planet-wide scale. A few plasmoids rebel against those ideas and plot to overthrow their society, one of those is lead character Lorca. He falls in love with a ’heretic’ who believes in individualism named Laygen. She is killed by Lorca’s rival Ulnareah, so Lorca plots to take over the planet in revenge.

Turns out Earth is hidden ‘beyond the veil or reality’, but Lorca has discovered it. He brings 10,000 humans to Plasm to genetically reengineer as his rebel army, 9,995 die, but the other 5 receive their super powers:
Mrs. J./Glory -grandmother who received super strength/invincibility became one of the most powerful characters. She also had a lot of octogenarian sexual tension with fellow revolutionary Preach, and was slated to receive her own series before Defiant folded.

Preach -older man and church bishop who had the ability to absorb and manipulate light into energy.

Nudge - department store counter-girl who gained telepathic powers she struggled to control.

Shooter - named after the company founder, former military man who gained enhanced strength/speed and the ability to turn invisible. Shooter got his own spin-off series Dogs of War that lasted 5 issues.

Mouse/Caution in keeping with Shooter’s tradition of heroes sporting the ‘regular guy look’ an overweight one-armed contemplative auto-mechanic who gained super strength/invincibility -but not as powerful as Glory. He got his own series with a human woman/ass kicking warrior he met on Plasm called Prudence. Prudence and Caution lasted 2 issues.

Later in Warriors of Plasm it was revealed just what was really going on. All the dreams of humanity was expressed in energy that created a place called the Dreamtime. During the time of the Black Death on earth all the sorrow and suffering was wrecking havoc on that dream world. Two characters Arhq Tsolmec and his wife Zahnree Phla created a ritual to save their world. It went wrong and Arhq ended up as a symbol of death in his own Defiant title called War Dancer.

Zahnree was devoured by a serpent and became the soul of the Org of Plasm. The Dreamtime was cut off from earth and became it’s own separate world. Meanwhile, humankind still dreamed and that energy created the ‘quantum substratum’ a shadow reality populated by demons. Michael Alexander was the hero who fought them in his own title Dark Dominion for 10 issues.



Lorca’s lost love Laygen taught him each person is unique, they live once then never again. Over and over, Lorca clones Laygen because he is so desperate to see her again. Over and over, he has the clone destroyed, or does it himself, because he knows that betrays her memory by going against her beliefs. Finally Lorca is given a choice: be the ruler of Plasm, or have a non-clone, free-thinking, reborn Laygen returned to him.

Warriors of Plasm had a solid -if standard- fantasy/Sci-fi-/Super-hero set-up. What made it great was all the fantastic allegory and pathos. Lorca could be any would be revolutionary leader, willing to compromise his principles, betray his supporters, in pursuit of power. Until he found out how powerful the ‘Plasm 5’ were, Lorca wanted them killed to hide his involvement, and to feed the people of earth to the Org. Lorca started instituting his changes with their help, until they returned to earth and Lorca’s backsliding begin.

The series was a good example of how well Jim Shooter could wield the basic narrative principles and interweave them with finer elements of storytelling. Alongside the central story in Warriors of Plasm, one will fine more complex themes like: Ingénue idealism, self-serving noblesse, the burden of duty and self-mortification.

If you get a chance, dig through the back issue bins at your local comic shop, or check out ebay for a complete run of the series. At current market prices, you'll get a great bargin!

- RKB

Lost Universe: Found | Milestone: Hardware

This article is another one of Caine's explorations into the Lost Universes of defunct companies. You can read other Lost Universe articles here. - Jim

Today were going to begin expanding the "Lost Universe" to include a few other universes; some that have never really been completely lost to us, some that have been brought back after long absences, and some that continue to be rebooted over and over again but are still being published.

Today we'll take a look at the MILESTONE books which were printed by Milestone Media with an arrangement with DC Comics (Similar to the arrangement that Wildstorm has today).

"Although Milestone comics were published through DC Comics, they did not take place in the DC Universe. Under an arrangement similar to the one DC and Wildstorm established later, all Milestone characters existed in a separate continuity that did not fall under DC Comics' direct editorial control (but DC still retained right of refusal to publish). Unlike Wildstorm, whose properties were bought by DC Comics, Milestone Media retained the copyright of their properties. Fundamental to Milestone’s agreement with DC was they would not relinquish any of the legal or creative rights to their work. Throughout the negotiations, Milestone, and their lawyers, insisted on three basic points: (1) that they would retain total creative control; (2) that they would retain all copyrights for characters under the Milestone banner; and (3) that they would have the final say on all merchandising and licensing deals pertaining to their properties. In essence, DC had in effect licensed the characters, editorial services, and creative content of the Milestone books for an annual fee and a share of the profits. All Milestone Media titles were set in a continuity dubbed the "Dakotaverse", referring to the fictional midwestern city of Dakota in which most of the early Milestone stories were set. Before any titles were published, an extensive "bible" was created by McDuffie and other early creators, which provided back-story and information on all of the original Dakotaverse characters, as well as detailed information about the history and geography of Dakota. Cowan produced the original character sketches that served as a guide for the other artists." ~wikipedia

While DC has come up with Zuda as a means to expand in today's marketplace (digital), in the comics boom of the 90s DC brought on Milestone just as Image was being founded by all of those defecting creators jumping the Marvel ship.

While HARDWARE & ICON were the first two books published by Milestone it was BLOOD SYNDICATE that first gave readers a glimpse into Dakota - the city at the heart of the Milestone "universe" and it's island neighborhood Paris.

"The Big Bang is a significant event in the fictional history of Milestone Comics, in which many of the superheroes and super villains of Dakota - including Static and the Blood Syndicate - got their powers. The concept was the brainchild of Christopher Priest, who cites African-American urban legends as the inspiration.[1]
The event took place on Paris Island, which had long suffered from heated gang wars. In 1993, the leaders of each gang decided to settle their grievances once and for all in a massive "gang bang" confrontation dubbed the "Big Bang." Word of the confrontation eventually reached Dakota's police department. Mayor Jefferson ordered them to spray every gang member present with an experimental tear gas laced with a radioactive marker that would allow the police to track the participants down later. The mayor was hoping that this would boost her reputation for being "tough on crime."
However, the gas also contained a mutagenic compound called "quantum juice" (or "Q-juice"). Most of those exposed to it - police included - died on the spot. The rest mutated, some being deformed, some gaining unusual abilities in the process. Others not personally involved in the conflict also became mutated as well. The survivors were dubbed "bang babies." The mayor disavowed any involvement. The survivors went on to become superheroes and super villains that continued to roam the city of Dakota for years to come. The survivors of two gangs - the Paris Bloods and Force Syndicate - formed the core of the Blood Syndicate, a gang of bang babies which claimed Paris Island as their turf." ~wikipedia

HARDWARE:
Curtis Metcalf, a boy genius into an adult super science freak, finds that his benefactor (Alva) is a criminal bigot who thinks of him as little more than a cog in the machine and has actively enslaved Curtis. This wouldn't be so abnormal accept that the benefactor had a large hand in raising Curtis as a second father and paid for Curtis's multiple college degrees in various sciences & technology.

When Metcalf goes to ask for a raise or a partnership he's told the truth. Digging into the company and Alva Metcalf turns over a windfall of criminal evidence to the authorities only to discover that it would have no effect. In Dakota Alva is completely untouchable. This drives Metcalf to reapply his genius and create the high tech gadgeteer persona known as Hardware.



Dwayne McDuffie masterfully uses the "simplistic" nature of the over arching plot: revenge against a horrific wrong doing, to draw in the reader. He further uses the advanced technology designed by Metcalf for Hardware to dazzle us fans of other comics such as; Iron Man, The Batman, and still more gadget centric comic book characters we've grown to know and love. There are other elements, all common place in genre fiction, such as the older wiser guide who shows him the way, and the strong willed and smart love interest who is so much more, but these elements alone do not make up the entirety of Hardware.

During the comics boom, a time when comic characters sporting little more than stars & stipes or a trench coat sold a million copies of a single issue, McDuffie takes a step in the opposite direction with Metcalf - writing him as if he were a real human being. Metcalf is complicated, and the world he lives in is even more so.



Curtis Metcalf see's him self as a champion, a writer of wrongs, a punisher of the unjust - his genius, a gift others have been profiting heavily from, can now be put to better use as Hardware. In the first story arch (a shining example of how to re-introduce your characters without making each story into an origin issue) Metcalf gears up as Hardware, actively surprising Alva and his mighty corporation but as the story continues into issues two, three, four and beyond we see fate begin to catch up to Hardware, Alva has set a trap and is ready for him.

In the second issue Hardware must retreat, injured. Not heard from for days the people in his life go looking for him only to discover his secret. This paves the way for a comic book character right of passage of sorts: spilling the beans (finally releasing the pressure a secret identity causes) and often times earning a side kick or girl Friday in the process.

True to form McDuffie zigs when you think he's going to zag and those around Metcalf don't quite see him as a champion for justice, a righter of wrongs, or a hero at all. He's wasting his life, and throwing away his gift. He's stolen from his employer, lied, cheated, and worst of all caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage as well as killed several people in the process (that's right, this isn't the A-Team, the bullets actually connect) - and all for what? A raise that he didn't get? This revelation not only makes Metcalf think, but it makes us as the readers think as well. Where did this come from? He's the protagonist after all, the STAR of the book. This never happens, accept that it just did, and we (us the reader & Metcalf too) are all the better for it.



Breaking barriers of all sorts, in story and out of it, Hardware is a great character and his adventures are well chronicled both in his own Milestone series as well as recent stints in the JLA and a new TPB. You should check them out if you like gadget centric superhero comics. You're chance to do so may be sooner than you think..

The Brightest of the Lost Universe

Unless you've been lost in your iPad since the day you were able to get your hands on it then you've probably heard of BLACKEST NIGHT. That event over at DC where heroes and villains alike came back from the dead as costumed Zombies? It's lead to another event entirely entitled BRIGHTEST DAY, that's right - you guessed it, where heroes and villains alike come back to life (for real).

"Brightest Day is about second chances. I think it’s been obvious from day one that there are major plans for the heroes and villains from Aquaman to take center stage in the DC Universe, among many others, post-Blackest Night. 'Brightest Day' is not a banner or a vague catch-all direction for the DC Universe, it is a story. Nor is 'Brightest Day' a sign that the DC Universe is going to be all about 'light and brighty' superheroes. Some second chances work out…some don’t." ~ Geoff Johns via Wikipedia

Both Brightest Day Issue 0 and Issue 1 have come out as of now (it's another DC weekly event) but I'm not going to be reviewing them - that's just not what we do here. Besides I couldn't do any better than the fine people over at IGN...

"Although Blackest Night proved to be entertaining and a commercial success for DC, the ending left fans with a ton of unanswered questions. Now Brightest Day is upon us, poised and ready to give us the answers while hopefully delivering a satisfying story in the process. This first issue features some fantastic artwork, and I found myself enjoying characters that I've never much cared for in the past, but the fact that some heroes got considerably less face time than others fills me with some apprehension about just who the focus of this book will ultimately be. "~IGN

No what were going to do here today is catch all of you up on some of the DC characters who've been lost to us (dead) for quite some time in the DCU ...

RONALD RAYMOND [Firestorm]
Firestorm may be the most powerful character in the DCU, or at least he would be, if he knew how to use/control the full extent of his powers: transmuting scientific elements.
Firestorm has the ability to perceive and rearrange the atomic structure of inorganic matter. He can also alter the density of objects, including his own body, and the ability to render himself intangible. Firestorm can project bolts of nuclear energy, fly at great speeds, and absorb explosive force and radiation into his body harmlessly.

Firestorm has the ability to affect inorganic matter alone. If he tries to affect organic matter, he causes a potentially harmful energy feedback. Also, while intangible Firestorm cannot create energy bolts.

When high school student Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein were both present during an unusual explosion the two became fused into one being: Firestorm.

Nobel Prize winning physicist Martin Stein was the designer of the Hudson Nuclear Facility. One of Stein's colleagues accused Stein of stealing the plans for the facility, thus causing the plant to not open on time. That night, an anti-nuclear power group, including high school student Ronnie Raymond, plans to protest and sabotage the facility. Unbeknownst to Ronnie, the leader of the group plans to sabotage the facility. As Martin Stein attempts to activate the reactor, he is attacked and left unconscious. Ronnie Raymond attempts to rescue Professor Stein, as the reactor goes critical, bombarding Stein and Raymond with radiation, causing them to fuse into Firestorm, the Nuclear Man.

Later Stein himself would be Firestorm (Version 2), and then in 2004 DC would revive Firestorm with a new protagonist: Jason Rusch (Version 3).

With Brightest Day Jason and Ronnie have fused together in the Firestorm Matrix to become Firestorm: The Nuclear Man once again.


BOSTON BRAND [Deadman]
Deadman is a ghost, formerly a circus trapeze artist named Boston Brand who performed under the name Deadman, a stage persona including a red costume and white corpse makeup.

When Brand is murdered during a trapeze performance by a mysterious assailant known only as the Hook (in fact his last words were "Gee, from up here it almost looks like that guy with the hook for a hand has a gun..."), his spirit is given the power to possess any living being by a Hindu goddess (created for the purposes of the story) named Rama Kushna (a corruption of Rama-Krishna), in order to search for his murderer and obtain justice. It is established in Green Arrow Vol 4, #4, that Deadman believes Rama is the supreme being of the universe

In Blackest Night, Boston Brand begins to hear the voices of the dead and his own remains calling for him to protect them. Being a spirit, he is unable to stop his body from being raised as a Black Lantern. He attempts to possess his own body but is ejected after experiencing extreme physical and emotional pain during the attempt.

Boston goes to his own tombstone, demolishing it with a sledgehammer. Afterwords, he picks up a bird that had died falling out of it's nest, and his power ring restores it to life. Boston then hears a voice calling his name, and asking for his help. He then vanishes in a burst of white light. He then appears before the other eleven beings resurrected by the white light, completely invisible to them, and notices that he is the only one still wearing a white ring. He then appears in Star City, where the white ring transforms the area devastated by Prometheus into a lush forest. The voice again speaks to Boston asking him to help the others revived by the light, and to help it live.


Are you reading Brightest Day?

Have a nice weekend,

Caine

Lost Universe Desktops

FBU fans.

Did you know that tomorrow is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY?

Of course you knew that but what you may not have known is that we're going to have an all knew FBU adventure posted here for all of our fans tomorrow & to that end (plus a few others) we've been a little busy as you might imagine.

If you're a fan of the "Lost Universe" posts here on the FBU don't fret as they will continue again in the next few weeks. To tide you over we've provided you all with a few "extras" to decorate your computer desktop this week as we put the finishing touches on our FCBD comic. Click your favorite thumbnail for full size images....







Enjoy,

Caine

Lost Universe: The Brute

This article is another one of Caine's explorations into the Lost Universes of defunct companies. You can read other Lost Universe articles here. - Jim

Today we'll be focusing on another archetype; The Strong man, Muscle Bound, Larger than life BRUTE.

Unlike "The Shooter" (who's large thrust of popularity is often fleeting and relatively new to the last thirty years or so), The Brute is a comic book staple that reaches back to the golden age and even beyond in some cases. If superheroes or villains gathered together and joined forces for the common good (or bad) then you can be sure at least one brute was drafted for the team. Fantastic Four has The Thing, The X-Men has Colossus, The Titans have Cyborg, The Wildcats has Maul, and The Power Company has Bork.

For clarification purposes we won't really be including characters like Prime, who are larger than life but don't really fit the bill as a complete Brute.

To me, when researching this archetype, I was surprised I didn't find more "Brute" characters. Maybe it's the very fact that The Hulk, The Thing, and Colossus are such iconic characters that those publishers making their way in the comics boom wanted to do something different.

Much like DC, Valiant doesn't have a large number of shall we say "dim" muscle bound characters running around their universe the way Marvel does. While you might be able to argue that XO Man of War or a few members of the Eternal Warriors are quite brutish they don't really have a character on par with The Hulk or The Thing. The same could be said for Epic, Comico, First, Now and many more.

We did find some Brutes out there though.

CGW: Mecha
Mecha is an interesting take on "The Brute" archetype.

The "elevator pitch" is that he's a blue color grunt riding around in a 10 Million dollar piece of high tech machinery that calls him master.

In a way Mecha is the opposite of The Hulk.

Where as Bruce Banner is a brilliant scientist who becomes trapped in the body of a raging simpleton driven on nearly instinct alone, Art Thomason is a simple man who found his way into the most advance weapon he's ever experienced in his life.

Art is also continuously driven by honor and duty, something that's always a part of him and only enhanced by his association with Mecha, unlike the core of The Hulk which has always been severely dampened by gamma radiation and rage.





The ULTRAVERSE: Sludge

Frank Hoag was a corrupt NYPD detective who finally grew a spine when he was asked by his mob bosses to kill a fellow dirty cop.

When he refuses, his own murder is ordered; he dies by a hail of bullets as well as a bomb. The explosion covers him with chemicals, which combine with the sewage from where the mobsters dump his body.

The chemicals had regenerative properties and tried to heal Hoag, but combined the sewer substances with his body, transforming him into a huge mass of living slime.

He awakens with a raging anger against criminals and an inability to think and speak coherently. Many words come out replaced with one that sounds similar, such as 'munch' instead of 'mutual'.






Do you have a favorite "Brute" character?

Did I mention it?

Let us know.

Have a great weekend,

Caine

Lost Universe: The Shooter

This article is another one of Caine's explorations into the Lost Universes of defunct companies. You can read other Lost Universe articles here. - Jim

Today we'll be focusing on another archetype; The Shooter, Gun Singer, Armored Hero. I don't know that anyone would argue with me if I stated that Frank "Punisher" Castle is probably the purest distillation of that archetype in comic book form (Cable being a close second). What's interesting about Frank, a character who's been around long enough to have multiple "takes" from lots of different creators, is that he's often known specifically for just that: Shooting. Where as some of the same characters built from "The Shooter" Archetype are almost known for what they do when they don't have a gun.

The "Lost Universe" publishers embraced "The Shooter" archetype, maybe it was a sign of the times, the industry, or the fact that several of the most popular characters being published were gun toting characters. Whatever it was, there were lots of them. Many publishers put out more than one.

VALIANT: BloodShot
"Angelo Mortalli has become the ultimate killing machine. His memories were erased and his blood was infused with microscopic computers called nanites. These nanites allow him to heal wounds quickly, dominate electronic devices, and fully control every aspect of his body to maximize his physical capabilities. A modern-day Frankenstein, he wages a one man war — taking out the mob, the police and his covert government creators — in his struggle to find out who he was and what he has become."~wikipedia


I don't think it would be a huge stretch to label Ninjak as a shooter as well (but I'm saving him for another archetype).

btw - There is a rumor that there might be a Bloodshot movie in the works with Kick-Ass Director Mathew Vaughn purportedly eyeing the character as his next movie. This might open up the door for more Valiant characters to appear in movies.

ULTRAVERSE: Warstrike
Brandon Tark, millionaire by day - mercenary by night, put on an armored costume with lots, and lots of weapons to function as Warstrike. Like The Punisher and Bloodshot Warstrike is often armed to the teeth. Unlike them Warstrike is an "Ultra" with the ability to see alternate time lines depending on his course of action. As an added bonus, causing much drama, Warstrike was addicted to this phenomenon he called "Being on the wire". I wonder if they have a twelve step program for seeing the future and choosing the most dangerous version of it?

Much like Valiant had an "in between" character that could also be labeled "Shooter" the Ultraverse also provided us with Solitaire (again, I'm thinking of another archetype for him).

FIRST: Grimjack
"John Gaunt, alias Grimjack, was born in The Pit, a slum area of the pan-dimensional city of Cynosure, where both magic and technology, humans and aliens intermingle. His mother, Anya (née Laughton) died in childbirth. John had two older brothers, Nick (nicknamed "Young Nick" and named after their father, "Old Nick") and Jake. His father married Anya's sister, Maite (nicknamed "Mouse") and they had one child together, Joe. Joe was the only of his brothers for whom John cared, and he vowed to Mouse that he would watch out for him.[1] Old Nick had one brother, Jack. Young Nick hated and resented John, blaming him for the death of their mother, the only person who loved him. Throughout John's life, Young Nick manipulated their father into hating John in hopes that he would kill John."~Wikipedia

The one "Lost Universe" publisher who embraced "The Shooter" the most? That would be Darkhorse's Comics Greatest World. On top of several solo characters (Mecha, Rebel, Ghost, X, Barbwire & more) there were entire teams of shooters: The Pit Bulls (undercover armored cops), The Wolf Gang (street gang of meta hoods defending their turf), and the members of the super hero team: Catalyst: Agents of Change were always shooting at everything as well (Mecha & Rebel being members).

CGW: Ghost
Elisa Cameron is dead. That doesn't mean her troubles are over with though. She's still tied to the living in Arcadia, including her sister and alcoholic parents. On top of the real life dragging her down her corporeal self is driven to do one thing: kill those who are responsible for ending her own life (a fact that is later disputed if you read the entire series) & she's got twin .45 to get it done with. If the premise alone doesn't thrill you, Elisa crossed over with everyone from The Shadow to Batgirl.

CGW: Barb Wire
"In Steel Harbor, a bombed-out wreck of a town, thrill-junkie Barbara Kopetski - better known as "Barb Wire" - is a bar owner and part-time bounty hunter (in order to pay for her bar, The Hammerhead). She is skilled in many areas, but excels in combat-related abilities. While she has a brother and several allies, she is essentially a loner, although this is something which is uncomfortable for her to think about."~Wikipedia

CGW: X
"X, whose law is that one mark means a warning, the second one death, takes on a collection of business, law, mob, assassins and politics. This includes characters such as Mayor Teal and Police Commissioner Anderson as well as the Llwellyn brothers, their hired assassin named Gamble, Mob boss Carmine Tango and highly connected army officials."~Wikipedia

Have a great weekend,

Caine

Lost Universe: The Dark Avenger

This article is another one of Caine's explorations into the Lost Universes of defunct companies. You can read other Lost Universe articles here. - Jim

A few weeks ago we narrowed in on the Comics Boom and focused on the PATRIOT archetype. With the Patriot we discovered that only one of the LOST UNIVERSE publishers had really attempted to publish a book staring a character wearing the Stars & Stripes (or other flags). Today we'll be looking at THE DARK AVENGER and, with but a few exceptions, the phenomenon is nearly opposite of that of the Patriot. Nearly ALL of the LOST UNIVERSE publishers put out comic books starting Dark Avenger type characters.

The characters within the Dark Avenger archetype all take on different styles (some using tech, others relying only on their wits, some have powers or an intense "gimmick"), which is another near direct opposite from The Patriot archetype (the patriot characters were much more alike than dislike) as nearly all of the patriot character's powers were 'internal' and not really shown to the readers (strength, stamina, invulnerability) contrasting those Dark Avenger characters who did have powers. While their methods may be very different, the motivations of the majority of the Dark Avengers characters are all very similar as they feel the need to take the law (or justice) into their own hands due to the lack of it's presences in their life.

Some do it really just once, while others adopt it as a lifestyle and continue on in the form of a crusade...

For the purposes of this article we'll remove both Tekno & CrossGen from our list of LOST UNIVERSE publishers as both publishers took a unique approach when considering what titles to produce and how they would manage themselves as a comic book publishing company.Neither of them have a real strong Dark Avenger type character that stands out, as neither of them were looking to deliver 'standard' comics to the fans.

Of course, all of the Dark Avenger type characters owe (at least a little something) to those who came before them such as; The Phantom, The Shadow, The Green Hornet, The Spider, The Avenger, Zorro, and more...

THE ULTRAVERSE

The Nightman may be one of the more pure distillations of the archetype that's been published in quite some time (the comic version, not the televisions version). Johny Domino awakens from an accident with a peculiar type of brain damage that now allows him to "hear" evil thoughts (which he can't prove even exist without sounding crazy him self) motivating him to don a costume and prevent those evil actions from ever taking place. The book it self read like a 'year one' tale that showed Johny Domino growing into and adapting his Nightman persona.

COMICS GREATEST WORLD

A bit closer to 'The Spider', X was shrouded in mystery. His intentions were never quite clear, as he'd save a man on one page, only to shove a man out a window to his death on another. He tended to 'mark' his victims (sometimes their picture, a mirror that they use, or even their face) in the form of an X. X, whose law is: that one mark means a warning, the second one death, takes on a collection of business, law, mob, assassins and politics. X is the kind of character, who's creation was drawn from many other sources (all good ones), X is a bit Wolverine, The Punisher, Batman and more all rolled into one.

NOW

Tales of the Green Hornet. While there have been many adaptions and versions of the Green Hornet this is one is a Dark Avenging 'pulp' character through and through going back farther than most on this list. For the uninitiated The Green Hornet is newspaper man Britt Reid, along with his trusted driver/side kick Kato, the two fight crime and injustice as the Green Hornet & Kato.

FIRST

Born in America, Alexis Devin was raised in Japan, and trained in the arts of ninjitsu from the age of 6. She studied intensely, not to be a mercenary killer, but to force her young body stricken with polio, back to life. As she grew she dreamed not of adventure and intrigue, but of a simple, full life. One day those dreams were shattered. Alexis found herself caught in the centre of a murderous power struggle between the lords of Japan's underworld, the mighty Yakuza. Forced to fight for her life, she became Whisper.

PACIFIC

It is Los Angeles, 1938, and the world hovers on the brink of war. Famous adventurer and scientist, Clark "Doc" Savage Jr., builds a one-man jet pack, which will allow a man to fly. Before it can be properly tested, the prototype is stolen by enemy agents. With the authorities in hot pursuit, they are forced to hide the pack in an airfield hanger, where it is discovered by daredevil pilot Cliff Secord. Not knowing its origin, Cliff adopts the identity of the Rocketeer. He acquits himself so well against the Nazi spies that when Doc Savage finally tracks him down, he allows Cliff to keep the device, feeling he has earned it and can continue to do good in the world with it.

Have a great weekend,

Caine