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Showing posts with the label comics

Avengers: Who is Ultron?

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Ultron is probably the most resilient, ruthless and persistent enemy the Avengers have faced and for a very simple reason: he is not alive. True. Ultron is a robot who was created by one of the original Avengers, Dr. Hank Pym a.k.a. Giant Man. Ultron was not supposed to be evil but  a mere aid to the Avengers' cause, however, he was created using Pym's  brain patterns so its intelligence evolved and soon Ultron became aware. Because he had human brain patterns, Ultron developed unusual directives and one of them was to consider all mankind as a threat (including his creator) and therefore all humans are his enemies and subject to termination. Ultron is a machine so he never gets tired and he never quits. Whenever he attacks he has a plan and calculated all the possible outcomes. Every time he has attempted to impose his rule the Avengers have thwarted his efforts and still Ultron has managed to transmit a copy of his consciousness to someone else who was never told he o...

Batman and Superman: Not the First Time

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So Warner has finally understood this is potentially a huge moneymaker. Taking so long for something so evident surely says one thing about them: they are not very bright, are they? Well, having said that. This would be indeed the first time that Batman and Superman will work (or fight?) together in the big screen. Nevertheless it is not the first time they have collaborated in other media and their adventures can be found in comic books and animated movies.   The Dark Knight Returns which was first a story told by Frank Miller and them made an animated movie. It's really a Batman story set in the future after Batman has retired. Gotham has been invaded by a gang called The Mutants who cannot be defeated so Batman decides to reappear but he is different now, more ruthless, obssessed and even sadistic. Superman is sent to stop him and take him to prison but Batman is ready to take part in a fight that is perhaps more meaningful than any other in comic book history. Calmly th...

The Fantastic Four

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One of the greatest, and perhaps the most original, superhero team of all time is the Fantastic Four. It is comprised by Reed Richards, an eminent scientist; Sue and Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm. They all went through an experiment in space that went wrong when some amount of bizarre cosmic energy manfested suring the experiment and altered their genetic makeup forever and giving them different powers. Reed Richards gained the ability to stretch his body unimaginably and is now called Mr. Fantastic. Sue Storm, who would eventually become Reed's wife, gained the ability to become invisible and project force fields. She is know as the Invisible Woman. Her brother can ignite his body without getting burnt. He can also fly and throw fire blows. He is called The Human Torch. Finally, there is Ben Grimm, whose skin is now made up of orange rocks. He is taller than before, invulnerable and extremely strong perhaps only second to the Hulk. He is called The Thing. Occasionally eit...

Superman: Star Light, Star Bright...

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Whoever said comics are for kids only is truly enormously wrong. Take this page for example, the last in a story called "Star Light, Star Bright...". It appears in Action Comics 14 and reveals that in the new redefined DC universe Superman is making every possible effort to discover the right location of Krypton so he has been consulting a real life astrophysicist, Neal DeGrasse Tyson. Apparently, DeGrasse urged by Superman has found a red star in the Corvus constellation and  that star is Rao.   For those who don't know that is the name of the red sun that was the center of the planetary system to which Krypton belonged. Using all the data collected the astronomer and his team aided by Superman manage to see images of Superman's birthplanet but it happens that because of the distance the images they get to see are those of the final moments of Krypton.  Sad, isn't it? But also amazing! (Don't forget to read the page)

Superman and Wonder Woman together?

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  Recently DC Comics, the comics that owns Superman and Batman deicded it was time to revamp all their titles starting them all with number 1s issues. The meaning of that is that in some cases they were looking for a new approach in some heroes with established storylines but for others that meant significant changes in their lives and perhaps the one that came out the most affected, or at least the one whose changes received the most exposure, was Superman. And  here is proof of that: Superman is no longer married to Lois Lane who in turn has another love interest, another man who is not Clark Kent with whom she lives in the same apartment. But Superman is no far behind that line either since as the picture that accompanies this article clearly demonstrates he also has a love interest and that is Wonder Woman herself. Does it make sense? It does. Lois and Clark were destined to never have any children for a simple reason (commercial really but anyway...) and that was ...

Is Luthor Superman's greatest villain?

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Lex Luthor has always been considered Superman's greatest villain, but is this right? Perhaps the whole problem comes with what we call "great". Usually defined as "being such in an extreme or notable degree" this adjective in superlative form may not be th right one to define Luthor as a Superman villain. He is the most recurrent , the most logical, the one that despises Superman the most but that does not make him the greatest. Lex is a brilliant man with a tremendous flaw: he has an oversized ego. This trait in his personality is what makes him find intolerant there is someone greater than him so he uses every resource at his disposal to destroy "the alien" as he calls Superman. He doesn't need any more wealth or power because he has as much of that as he needs (in his current version Luthor is a billionaire and has even been president of the U.S.). What he needs is to be on top alone, a position he does not want to share with anyone, least o...

Why is Magneto such a great villain?

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Perhaps the answer is simple: he is not a real villain. In many ways Magneto was a victim who was used by people who wanted to use him, or better said his power for their own synister purposes. Those manipulations led Eric Lensherr to lose things and people that were valuable to him and eventually develop this hatred for normal humans and also come to the belief that powerless humans were an inferior species. Mutants were Nature's next step in evolution and therefore should be considered a new species with a name of their own, Homo Superior. This new species needs a space of its own which is why Eric, seeing himself as mutants' natural leader, believes that space is being occupied by regular humans. Does this make him a psycho? Perhaps and then again perhaps not. Laboring for what you believe in cannot be called wrong; however, that innocents suffer because of your actions cannot be called right either. If Magneto considers it right he will modify the axis of Earth or invers...

There was another Captain America

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The greatest patriot wants to defend his country during one of its direst hours but is deemed unfit for military service so instead he volunteers to be the test subject in a revolutionary experiment. The result: Steve Rogers is no longer a pushover but a powerhouse armed with a shield of the strongest metal. His codename is Captain America and he's in for a fight with the greatest villains of all time: the Nazis. This is the story we know, but there is another one. Steve Rogers was not the only one to be used as a test subject of the Super Soldier serum, Isaiah Bradley was too. He was an African American sodlier, the only one, out of three hundred others, that survived. It was apparently easier for the U.S. government to spare his African-American soldiers than the Caucasian ones. Because the real serum was destroyed the day Steve Rogers became Captain America what Bradley received was a somewhat closer thing and he fully developed all his potential though he was heroic and ...

Batman: Batman's children

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True, Batman is a father. In fact he has fathered more than one child. Officially Bruce Wayne is still a millionaire playboy that has remained single and has no children, but that's Bruce. Batman is another story. It all began in a graphic novel called Batman: Son of the Demon where Batman faced one of his most intriguing foes, a man called Ra's al ghul (the same of Batman Begins ). Ra is a terrorist of sorts that believes the planet faces a great threat and that threat is called mankind. So in other words Ra has assumed the task to save the planet but once and again "The Detective" as he calls Batman has stopped him. Ra is a difficult adversary for many reasons: he has a lot of followers and wealth is not a problem either besides he has The Lazarus Pit which is a special pool that can rejuvenate individuals and  even resurrect the Dead. More importantly Ra knows Batman's secret identity. To make matters worse Ra has a dauhter called Thalia who happens to be a...

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises one more time

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The next installment of the Batman franchise is due just a few weeks from now and apparently there are some goodies in store for fans of the character. There are rumors that we will get to see Liam Neeson reprising his role, perhaps briefly, as the immortal Ra's al Ghul. They also say that we will get to see appearances by the deceased Heath Ledger as the Joker with unused footage from The Dark Knight, though this has been officially denied. Cillian Murphy as The Scarecrow is likely to be included and we know already that Anna Hathaway as Catwoman is in the movie (as an antagonist or a collaborator?). And of course there will be Bane played by Tom Hardy. Just like Ra, Bane is different from other Batman's villains because he is not crazy. In the movie he is a terrorist of sorts with power enough to destroy Gotham city, one foe that can counter Batman not only physically but also mentally. In fact, as you can see in the picture, Bane once managed to break Batman's back. ...

Thanos: the villain in the Avengers 2?

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Well, now we know that the villain in Avengers 2 is none other than Thanos (or so it's suggested by the bonus scene after the credits). The name is based on Thanatos, the name of the Greek god of death; however, Thanos is not Greek but some sort of megalomaniac superbeing, member of a godlike race exisiting in the Solar System of the Marvel universe. What's the meaning of this? Well, if you're not a fan it'll mean very little. Unlike Batman, Superman or Spiderman who have villains that are well known, the Avengers do not have enemies who are known to the public. Nothing to be surprised if we consider that the Avengers themselves were mostly known only to comics fans before that scene at the end of Iron Man 1 where the Avengers initiative is mentioned for the first time.  Thanos means business. To have an idea of his power level, suffice to say that Loki compared to him...well, in words of us, Guayaquileños: "Loki es un pendejo comparado con Thanos". Every ti...

Black Panther

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Uno de los personajes menos conocidos de universo Marvel es Black Panther (Pantera Negra) que tiene aspectos obviamente tomados del Phantom (El Fantasma). Como aquel personaje Black Panther es un protector de su tierra y de hecho él es el rey de Wakanda, su nación, un país muy especial pues guarda celosamente dos grandes tesoros que las grandes potencias del mundo ansían con vehemencia: el único filón de Vibranium (el metal más fuerte y raro en el mundo, el mundo Marvel por supuesto) y una tecnología que probablemente no es de este mundo y gracias a la cual este país ha podido permanecer inaccesible. T´Challa es el nombre real de Black Panther y él mismo (como el Fantasma) proviene de una larga línea de reyes guerreros que en su momento han sido Black Panther aunque es T´Challa quien recibe un honor que sus predecesores nunca podrían tener: ser un Vengador, no sólo por ser quién es sino porque sin tener ningún tipo de suero de supersoldado es el único humano que puede luchar con el Cap...

New 52

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So DC is at it again. Once in the eighties they noticed it was time for renewal and they did it by releasing a twelve-issue series called "Crisis on the Infinite Earths" that somehow redefined all DC characters updating their origins in an attempt to make them more accesible to new readers. Did it work? Yes. Superman, Batman and eventually all the other heroes in the DC universe got better and became a little darker in the process leaving behind a lot of unnecessary campiness. Twenty years later these heroes got great stories and were more believable, however, DC felt it was time to revamp again not only those characters and their origins, but to do something bigger in scope. That's why all DC books come back to number 1 in September 2011. It's 52 titles all number ones and to make things more interesting significant changes have also accompanied this overwhelming effort: for example, Clark Kent and Lois Lane are no longer married, Batgirl can walk again and the heroe...