Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Bob, Agent of HYDRA

Bob is a popular Deadpool supporting character.
History
Because of his wife accusing him of being unable to hold a steady job, Bob joined the terrorist group HYDRA (they have a dental plan). During his attack on a HYDRA base, Deadpool forced Bob into flying him to safety which Bob did mainly due to dumb luck (he doesn't know how to fly). Bob helped saved Weasel (a friend of Deadpool) from Wolverine. Deadpool and Bob were accidentally sent to the past where they helped Captain America and Bucky. Then, he helped Doctor Strange fix reality when T-Ray (Deadpool's archenemy) broke it. After Deadpool accidentally teleported dinosaurs from the Savage Land into New York, Bob unintentionally killed one of them thus making him an international hero. Bob nearly got killed by Tiger Shark only for Deadpool to save him. Later, Deadpool (wanting to be a pirate) forced Bob to be his parrot. In World War Hulks, Bob (due to having trouble with a time machine) sent dinosaurs to alternate reality, where the Thing was Blackbeard, by mistake.
Abilities
Bob has no powers. While he had HYDRA training, this apparently had lesson such as "If I can't see them they can't see me" and "Hiding behind each other". He has an extreme fear of dangerous enemies of HYDRA (including Elektra, Captain America and Wolverine to name a few). He also shouts pro-HYDRA slogans when stressed. However, he can be extremely lucky to the point he can fly a plane without training. Deadpool claimed Bob is extremely skilled at running away.
References:

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Arrow

Arrow is the first superhero that used archery as his / her gimmick. He also is the third superhero in existence. He was predated by Superman and Clock. He also he is in public domain.
Centaur Comics
Ralph Payne was a intelligence agent of the US. Feeling he wasn't fight crime effectively enough, he became the superhero Arrow. His main weapon was his bow and arrow. However, he is skilled at unarmed combat. Like every superhero of his era, he fought Nazi spies.
Malibu Comics
Arrow was one of the public domain superheroes revamped by Malibu Comics. Rick Parker is a Texas-born avid hunter. He worked for American Intelligence, but resigned upon discovering the US government funded an attack on an innocence Latin American village. He decided to fight for justice as the Arrow. Despite teaming up one or two times, this Arrow mainly worked alone.
Dynamite Entertainment
He appeared in Project Superpowers. In this version, towards the end of WWII, Fighting Yank trapped Arrow and several other heroes in the Urn of Pandora. He was freed 60 years later. Disoriented, he accidently shot and killed Fighting Yank. The Arrow now lives in New York.
References:

Monday, January 28, 2013

Bamf

Sound Effect
Bamf is an onomatopoeia used when popular X-Man Nightcrawler teleports. The reason given is that the air is rushing into the space where Nightcrawler used to be. Some fans also use the word as a term for teleportation.
Species
In issue 153 Uncanny X-Men, Kitty Pryde told Illyana Rasputin a fairy tale, where there are a race of beings called Bamfs, who look like super deformed version of Nightclawer. An unnamed Bamf helped the actual heroes of the story.
In Nightcrawler vol. 1, Nightcrawler was accidentally sent into an alternate universe that was almost the same as Kitty's fairy tale even the heroic Bamf appears.  He also discovered the female Bamfs are look more like female versions of himself than a female version of the Bamfs. Also, the males are flirtatious and lecherous making them annoying when with female Bamfs.
A recurring joke is the appearances of Nightcrawler dolls called "Bamfs". A group of creatures called Bamfs appeared in 2012 X-Men comics. Beast accidentally sent the Bamfs to our world. These creatures look more like the X2 Nightcrawler and nothing like the previous Bamfs. An alien zoologist claims they aren't really Bamfs, but is cut off before he can explain.
References:

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Vampirella: Revelations

Broadway, New York comic publisher Harris Comics got the rights to the character of Vampirella, a vampire-like alien from the planet Drakulon. They hired Mike Carey (as writer), Mike Lilly (penciler), Bob Almond (inkier), Jay Fotos (colorist) and Ed Dukeshire (letterer) to recreate the character in Vampirella: Revelations. Let's see what they did. The comic was published between 2005-06.
Plot
In issue 0 (don't ask), Vampirella slayed several vampires in a bar. During which, Vampirella explained how she kills fellow vampires to redeem his mother, Lilith. However, one vampire (none of them are named) claimed Vampirella isn't a vampire, but Vampirella shot him before he could say anything more.
Issue 1 began with Vampirella talking with a man named Harry. After a bar fight with more vampires, Vampirella revealed to Harry that she has false memories of Drakulon being an alien planet despite knowing that Drakulon is actually in Hell. Following Harry's advise, Vampirella visited Peter Glass, a blind psychic. Peter put her in a cage (he claims this is to protect himself) and use his powers to put Vampirella in a trace-like state where he and she see what really happen (Peter claimed he can do this due to "truth is the bedrock of the soul"). In this trace, they see Lilith talking to her demon lover Belial. After Belial mentioning how Lilith's vampire (or "wamphyri" as Belial puts it) children "deplete" her and make her sick, Lilith created a super-vampire immune to the vampire weaknesses to destroy the other vampires. This super-vampire is turns out to be Vampirella. The duo see Vampirella grow up (thus establishing the plot point of the "Heart of Drakulon", a crystalline structure). While the two are in a trace, three demons appear. One demon murdered a Peter and the other two kidnapped Vampirella.
In issue 2, we see a flashback shows the audience that Belial implanted the false memories to give her more motivation to kill other Lilith-spawn. In the present day, it turned out Vampirella's mind has regressed back to when she was a toddler. A demon soothsayer told Belial that Peter unintentionally broke her connection to the Eidolon, a magic mirror that Lilith used to cast spells on Vampirella, and the process broke her mind. The soothsayer claimed that a blood sacrifice might fix this. The Peter-murdering demon attacked Vampirella. Apparently Vampirella slayed his brother, when the demon wanted to do that himself. While the demon was winning, an astral project / ghost of Peter Glass used his powers to fix Vampirella's mind allowing her to defeat the demon and escape, much to Belial's chagrin.
In issue 3, Vampirella was being chased by demons riding fly dragon-like creatures. She ended up at Lilith's home. After seeing a near-skeletal, seemly dead Lilith, Vampirella entered the castle and destroyed the Eidolon. Belial (who caught up with Vampirella) sent several demons to attack Vampirella. She slayed the demons. However, this gave Lilith enough power to revive herself and fight Vampirella. However, Vampirella used the "Heart of Drakulon" to fry Lilith (somehow). She wounded Belial, but let him live so he would have to grieve for Lilith.
References:
  • Vampirella: Revelations # 0-3

Friday, January 25, 2013

Mopee

Mopee is a character that only appeared twice. However, he has become one of the most hated Flash characters. What made people so mad? Let's take a look.
The Barry Allen Flash got his powers from chemicals splashing on him after they were hit by lightning in a freak accident. However, The Flash #167 begged to differ. It claimed Mopee, a member of the "Initiate 10th Class of the Heavenly Help-Mates", had sent the bolt on purpose. However, Mopee was suppose to use something that belonged to Barry to give him his power. Since the chemicals were owned by the police station Barry worked at, Mopee had to replace them. 
Fans hated the idea of Mopee. The reason was why because he contradicted the basic concept of the Flash's origin being an accident. Mopee appeared in Ambush Bug # 3, which talked about the worst characters in the DC Universe. Here he also claimed to cause the origins of other characters such as the Hulk, the Fantastic Four and Superman. One retelling of Flash's origin showed Barry analzying a drug called Mopee. 
My sources are:

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Atomic-Man

Atomic Man / Atomic-Man (it is spelt both ways) is another public domain superhero.
After hearing about the creation of A-Bomb, Adam Mann was experimenting with Uranium-235. This radiation gave him super powers. Realizing the dangers of this element, he became a superhero. He fought mad scientists, criminals and communists.
He had a variety of powers. He had the standard powers of super strength, invulnerability and flight. However, he can emit radiation from his hand. He wore a lead glove to prevent accidentally poisoning someone.
My sources were:

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Sprite Comics

"If you can't draw, never fear, just steal some graphics from your favorite video game. And add yet another unlicensed pixel comic to the overcrowded, over stunk landfill of web comics." - Strong Bad
Sprite comics are comics (usually on the web) that use video game sprites (or slightly altered sprites) for a majority of the art. People usually make sprites comics due to the fact you don't need a lot of art skills and the ease of making them. Most sprite comics are parodies of the video games the sprites were taken from. Common video game targets are Final FantasySuper Mario Bros.Sonic the Hedgehog, PokemonLegend of ZeldaMetroidMortal Kombat and Mega Man. Common cliches include making the characters stupid, an author avatar, video game in-jokes and self-insulting humor. Sprite comics is different than pixel art comics as the sprites aren't original and taken from elsewhere.
History
The first sprite comic was Neglected Mario Characters. However, Bob and George (a parody of the Mega Man series) popularized these comics. Sprite comics were the most popular in 2000-2007.  However, they dropped in popularity recently.
Recurring Problems
Sprite comics have some recurring problems. Due to the ease of making them, untalented writer will make comics and not put effort into it. Not thinking about the color palette can easily ruin a sprite comic. While these sprite comics are easy to make, they still have to edited, but people tend to forget this. There are potential legal problems although these problems almost never comes up and the video game companies usually just ignore them.
References

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Third Summers Brother

The "Third Summers Brothers" was a plot point in the X-Men comics that wasn't resolve until 13 years later.
Mr. Sinister's Reveal
The genetics-obsessed Mr. Sinister and Cyclops were talking. Mr. Sinister mentioned Scott's "brothers", but Cyclops only has one brother (Alex). Despite Sinister claiming he just misspoke, people began to speculate on who the third brother was.
Failed Attempts
Fans began to wonder who the third brother was. Several writer tried to resolve the plot line, but ultimately failed. Among the intended brothers were:
  • Adam X is a half-human and half-alien. Adam's human parent was suppose to be  Kate Summers (Cyclops' mom).
  • Apocalypse was suppose to be the illegitimate son of Chris Summers (Cyclop's father) and an unknown woman. A time traveller would kidnap the future Apocalypse and send him to ancient Egypt (this makes more sense if you know his origin) thus making the Summers family the origin of the X-gene. This was abandoned due to how overly complex and stupid this was.
Fans suspected other character as the third brother (such as Gambit due to his energy-based powers and ties to Mr. Sinister) despite the writers not intended as such.
It is... Vulcan! Wait, who?
It was a reveal that a previously non-existing character Vulcan was the last Summers brother.So yes, they had to make up a character to end this story. Vulcan was a half-human and alien. However, there could be a fourth Summers brother since Sinister just says "brothers" and not any actual number.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Summers_brother

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Jenny Everywhere

Many comic book characters have fallen into public domain (including Pyroman, Eagle, Captain Freedom, American Crusader, Fighting Yank, Mystico and Ibis the Invincible to name a few). Most of these characters were made in the Golden Age (1930-50s). However, Jenny Everywhere was not only created in 2002, but was created specifically to be in public domain. However, she is mainly used by comic and webcomic creators.
Jenny Everywhere (also called "the Shifter") exists in every plane of reality at once (which is very similar to H.P. Lovecraft's Yog-Sothoth). She also has other mysterious powers that she doesn't like to use because she would prefer to use her wits (she claims the reason is that she wants to "play fair" even though this probably got her killed numerous times and doomed the world). She is an Asian or Native American that wears a scarf and aviation goggles. The character's website says she is of "average size and has a good body image". She is "excitable, passionate, attentive, curious, and caring" (quoted from a post by her creator). Her origin is unknown. Her archenemy is Jenny Nowhere. Nowhere, who is also public domain, has no defining traits aside from being Jenny Everywhere's enemy so the writers can use her in any way they want.
In order to use Jenny, the creator have to add this quote to their work:
"The character of Jenny Everywhere is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Jenny  Everywhere, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed."
While the character is public domain, if she is featured in a story with copyrighted characters, those characters are still copyrighted even though she is public domain.
My sources


Friday, January 18, 2013

Phooey Duck

Phooey saying (in Swedish) "Look what I found in the couch! An empty tube of nitrous oxide!"
Who doesn't remember Donald's nephews: Huey, Dewey, Louie and Phooey? What's that? "Who is Phooey?" Well, that is why I'm doing this post.
Huey, Dewey and Louie, for those who don't know, are Donald Duck's nephews. They enjoy annoying their uncle. They basically all have the same personality. They were popular enough to appear in spin-off media such as cartoons and comics.
The artist(s) of the Donald Duck comic (which featured the tiro) accidentally drew a fourth nephew (despite the fact there are only suppose to be three of them)... several times in fact. Editor Bob Foster jokingly dubbed him "Phooey Duck". One comic claimed Phooey was "a freak incident of nature". So yes, I did a post on a character that technically doesn't exist.
My sources were:

Lilith, Daughter of Dracula

History
Lilith Drake is the daughter of Dracula (before becoming a vampire) and his first wife Zofia. Dracula (who hated Zofia) kicked Zofia and Lilith out of his castle. Zofia gave Lilith to Gretchin (a gypsy) and killed herself. Lilith grew up hating Dracula. Dracula (now being a vampire) killed Gretchin’s son. Enraged, Gretchin turned Lilith into a vampire immune to the normal vampire weaknesses so she will trouble Dracula for the rest of time. Despite originally attacking indiscriminately, she began to only attack Dracula’s targets. She tried to make up with her father, but ultimately failed. Quincy Harker decided to hunt Lilith after Mrs. Harker’s death. Having possessed a woman named Angel O'Hara, she stayed in England and killed criminals. After a battle with Dracula, she returned to her first body and attacked him. Being unable to kill him, Dracula escaped.
Lilith helped the X-Men battle Dracula while possessing Shadowcat, a prominent Jewish character. In a later story, Doctor Strange killed both Dracula and Lilith via a magic spell. However, the two returned. Lilith had an even stronger bloodlust. She fought Scarecrow with Brother Voodoo, but had to leave when her bloodlust got out of control. Lilith used Zombie to gather people for her to turn into vampires. Hannibal King and Spider-Man freed Zombie and killed her vampire servants. Lilith, with the help of scientist Charles Seward, infected Dracula with a “blood virus” only for Charles to reveal the truth to him. Charles worked on a cure for the virus. Lilith again fought Dracula, but Dracula was cured by Charles. Lilith was then forced into the Hollowing Commandos.
In Nick Fury's Howling Commandos # 2, Lilith was soon to be a member of the titular team. In # 3, Lilith and Vampire by Night were sent to go to area near Stonehenge that “Merlin” turned into a fantasy world. Lilith was a jerk towards Vampire by Night for being part vampire. Lilith noticed their teammate Damien Hellstorm was bring brought to the grounds. In issue 4, while spying on “Merlin”, Lilith handed Vampire to Night over to the villains to gain their favor. Hellstorm was not happy to see her. In issue 5, the other Commandos (include a rescued VN) planned to invade the area. In issue 6, Lilith seemly killed “Merlin” only for him to kill her and turn her to ash. After using her ashes to see the future, “Merlin” discovered it wasn’t “his time to rule” and left. Lilith turned back normal when he left.
In Legion of Monsters: Morbius #1, Dracula offered Lilith with a truce so he can rule the vampire clans. Lilith refused and killed the leaders of the vampire clans. Dracula revealed that he intended this so he can rule the vampires without rivals. An added bonus is that Lilith earned herself many enemies. 
Abilities
She is super strong and immune to the weakness of vampires. She can hypnotize people, heal, even from dismemberment, turn into a bat or mist and can command animals. She can possess people. Due to Doctor Strange’s spell, so long as Dracula is alive, she cannot die. Ironically, she cannot directly kill Dracula (hence why she doesn’t use a wood stake to kill him already).
Sources

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Malibu Comics

Logo
You may recall I did a post on Ultraforce. I mentioned their publisher Malibu Comics. Who were they? Let's take a look.
It Begins...
The company was founded by Dave Olbrich and Tom Mason in 1986, with Scott Mitchell Rosenber (who operated Sunrise Distributors) financing the company. Chris Ulm joined them the following year.
The company started by printing black and white, creator-owned comics. However, the company became popular when they started producing comics based off public domain characters, tie-ins to movies / video games and original series. Thanks to Scott, Malibu effectively bought Aircel Comics and Eternity Comics. The company revived several public domain superheroes (such as Mighty Man, Man of War, Ferret, Airman, Aura, Protectors and so on).
Working For Image
The company started to become a publishing house for Image Comics (thus giving Image access to a distributors). This gave Malibu control of 10% of market share for American comic books. Image later broke off and published their comics themselves.
The Glory Days
In late 1992, Malibu combined with video game company Acme Interactive to become Malibu Comics Entertainment. During the spectator craze of the 90s, Malibu created their own line of superhero comics (including Ultraforce) which took place in their own fictional universe: the Ultraverse. These comic used a special coloring system and high quality paper (which they were quick to boast about). The creators emphasized continuity in their comics and often used crossovers. This line were very successful. The company formed the imprints Bravura (for creator-owned series) and Rock-It Comix (for comics based on rock bands).
Marvel Cometh
Due to industry-wide sale declines, Malibu had to cancel several low-selling series. Marvel bought the company for its coloring system. Ulm and Mason left the company. The Ultraverse line was cancelled. In the Black September event, Marvel tried to relaunch the Ultraverse, but was forced to cancel shortly after doing so. Steve Englehart (who works for Marvel) claimed Marvel won't try to bring the Ultraverse character back due to royalties to the original creators.
References:
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malibu_Comics

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Clone Saga

The Original Story
Miles Warren (driven by insane by the death of his secret love Gwen Stacy) created the identity of Jackal and cloned Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. He discovered Peter was a Spider-Man as a result. Jackal forced the Spider-Man clone to attack Spider-Man. However, the Spider-Men turned on Miles and one of them was killed. The survivor realized he is the real Spider-Man because the clone would only have memories before Gwen died, but the survivor have memories beyond it.
The Second Story
In the real world, this storyline was suppose to rival the DC Comics story lines "Knightfall" and "Death of Superman". However, the marketing department (which had the power over stories thanks to Ron Perelman's reorganizing the company) forced them to stretch the storyline for several years.
In the comic universe, Peter met someone named Ben Reily. One of them was the clone, but they didn't know who was the clone since the clone has the memories of original. They were plagued by the villains Kaine, Judas Traveller, Spidercide, Jackal and Scrier. Medical tests claimed Ben was the "real" Spider-Man and Peter was the clone. Peter retired and Ben became Spider-Man. In the real world, fans were enraged so the writers tried to make Peter Spider-Man again. In the comics, it turns out SOMEHOW that the thought-dead Norman Osborn Green Goblin was behind the entire saga and faked the test (even the writers thought this plot point was insanely stupid). He tried to kill Peter, but killed Ben, who degenerated into goo thus proving he was the clone. Marvel released a comic Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal to just explain how Sam Hill Green Goblin was behind any of this.
References:

Sunday, January 13, 2013

The Death and Return of Superman

Doomsday
It won't last.
An alien landed on Earth. The Justice League International went to the landing site. The alien (who the JLI dubbed "Doomsday") attacked them and threw Booster Gold into space, where Superman saved him. Basically, the same scene happens over and over again: Doomsday beat up whatever superhero that tried to stop him. Doomsday and Superman ended up punching each other to death. The other heroes gave Superman a funeral. The trade paper back is titled The Death of Superman as oppose to the proper name.
Reign of the Supermen
(Clockwise) Metropolis Kid,
 Last Son of  Krypton, Steel
 and Cyborg Superman with
Superman in the center
Three months later, DC created a storyline to bring Superman back called Reign of the Supermen. Four heroes came to Metropolis and tried to fill the void Superman left. These heroes were:
  • Metropolis Kid- He was basically a younger and hipster version of Superman with a reckless personality. He hated being called "Superboy". He was revealed to be a clone of Superman.
  • The Man of Steel / Steel- John Henry Irons was a ex-construction worker that used a Iron Man-like suit of armor and a hammer to fight crime.   
  • The Last Son of Krypton- He was a Superman look- alike that wore a visor and could shoot energy. He killed criminals.
  • The Man of Tomorrow / Cyborg Superman- He appeared to be Superman with cyborg parts. He claimed to have amnesia.
People thought one of the latter two could be Superman. However, the Last Son of Krypton turned out be to be a Kryptonian robot and the Cyborg Superman was really the mind of Henry Hanksaw (an astronaut whose friends and wife died in a tragic parody of the Fantastic Four) in a cyborg clone of Superman. Hanksaw (who blamed Superman for the before mentioned accident) went on a rampage and destroyed Coast City (causing Hal Jordon's turn to evil). Steel, Metropolis Kid and LSK tried (and failed) to stop him. Superman (having been a "healing coma") managed to destroy Cyborg Superman's body (Hanksaw's mind can travel via computers) thus stopping his rampage. Lois, Superman and Supergirl then faked Clark Kent being a bunker since Doomsday's attack. The trade paper back is entitled The Return of Superman instead of the actual name.
References

Friday, January 11, 2013

Judas Traveller

Judas Traveller is a perfect example of a recurring problem with "mysterious" characters: the writer forgetting to fleshing out the character in advance. No one fleshed Judas out in advance and had to make stuff up as they were going along. Spider-Man writer Glenn Greenberg said "no one – not the writers, not the editors – seemed to know who or what the hell Judas Traveller was. He was seemingly this immensely powerful, quasi-mystical being with amazing abilities, but what was the real deal with him? ... But to be honest, a character like Traveller didn't really fit into Spider-Man's world."
It was revealed Judas Traveller (yes that is his real name) was a criminal psychologist that had mutant powers triggered by a mental breakdown. Traveller, now thinking he is an vastly powerful immortal, became fascinated by the nature of good and evil. Somehow, he got a group of super powered croonies called "the Host". He visited the Ravencroft Institute and read the mind of the insane crimnals (all Spider-Man villains) thus learning of their hatred of Spider-Man. He then gave Spider-Man a dilemma: if Spider-Man couldn't stop him, the crimnals die. If he did stop him, the inmates go free. Peter Parker and Ben Reilly (a clone of Peter) stopped the inmates, but Judas escaped. Later, Judas tried and failed to get Peter to commit murder. Then, he and his host tried to mess with a geothermal station so it would destory New York City. Traveller was defeated once again. The next time we saw Judas, he was forcing Peter to be part of trial with the inmates of Ravencroft as jury. He unmasked Peter. However, after Kaine (a villain) risked his life to save Peter, Judas decided to erase the unmasking from everyone's minds and let Peter go. Travelller was captured by people working for Norman Osborn (aka the Green Goblin). Norman claimed Traveller was somehow part of his revenge plan.
Judas had some mental powers. He can read minds. However, his main power was to alter people's perceptions. He used this to fake his other powers. However, the extent of his powers are ill-defined at best.
My references:

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Copperhead (DC Comics)


Unknown
The first Copperhead was a Gotham City criminal wearing a snake costume. He was beaten up by Batman and Batgirl. He became an assassin that obsessively hunted his target until he killed them by suffocating them with his tail. His job allowed him to collect transistor radios. He sold his soul to Neron (a demon that likes to Faustian pacts) to be turned into a snake-man hybrid. He was killed by Manhunter (Kate Spencer). He became a Black Lantern, but was destroyed by seven Lanterns working together. He is listed as "John Doe" due to his real name being unknown.
Nathan Prince
The Terror Titans had a member named Copperhead. This guy looked like the first guy before his deal with Neron. In the Terror Titans miniseries, this Copperhead was revealed to be named "Nathan Prince" and has no family ties to his namesake (the rest of the team are relatives of the villains they take their names from). He ran away from his parents after killing his brother. He made money by killing and robbing old men. For some reason, he joined the Terror Titans (this is never explained). He helped superhuman TNTeena during underground superhuman fight club battles, but was forced to kill her. The Terror Titans were sent to help the brainwashed Martyr Militia, who were trying to destroyed LA. However, Ravager and Miss Martian freed the Martyr Militia. The Terror Titans tried to flee, but Clock King killed Disruptor (who has the power to affect superhuman powers) and got them arrested. The TT (including Nate) swore revenge of Clock King.
Powers and Abilities
Both Copperheads are contortists. They both use a metallic and elastic suit coated with Kevlar. The costume is covered in heat / water proof gel. The suit had a prehensile tail and fangs with  a paralyzing neurotoxin that could kill people within 30 minutes.
The original Copperhead became a snake-man hybrid. His reflexes and agility increased.  He got venomous fangs, prehensile tail, a forked tongue and claws.
Clock King claims that Nathan has no powers.
References

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Golem

Golems , for those who don't know, are monsters from Jewish myth. A Golem is a monster made out of mud or clay that is created by humans. So, it is basically a magical Frankenstein Monster. Golems have crossed into pop culture. So, I'll talk about Golems in comics.
Marvel Comics
The first golem we see was made by Judah Loew Ben Bezalel in the 16th century. This golem is made out of purple clay / stone and stood 8 feet tall. He was created to protect the Jewish people in Prague. The golem was deactivated, but was brought back by Prof. Abraham Adamson in modern day. The golem joined a S.H.I.E.L.D. team called the Howling Commandos Monster Force. This version had super strength so long as it touched the ground.
During World War II, Jacob Goldestien was a resident of the Warshaw Ghetto. He turned himself into a golem and fought Nazis. He helped the Invaders when his brother was kidnapped by the villain Doctor Death. He had super strength and stone-hard skin.
There is a criminal overlord named Golem that appears in the Hood series. A golem fought the Thing from the Fantastic Four and lost. Marvel has various minor characters simply called Golem, but weren't actual Golems.
Uri Fink's Golem
Popular Israeli comic creator Uri Fink created a superhero Golem. Despite creating the character in 2003, he gave the character a history stretching to the 1940s.
The Golem was a superhero since the 1940s and met people like Ariel Sharon and Moshe Dayan. Each decade, the golem's origin changed (likely a homage to the tendency to retell superhero origins). He became a superhero via invention made by a scientist named Professor Finstein. Then they said he got powers from  the Seal of King Solomon. However, the most recent telling of his origin claims he was exposed to radiation (akin to the Hulk). The Golem has gone back to time several times most notably to the time of Samson and the wild west.
Mendy and the Golem
Mendy Klein found a Golem in her dad's synagogue (a Jewish place of prayer). The Mendy and her brother had slapstick comedy adventures with the Golem that ending with them getting out okay and learning a lesson from Jewish religious texts. The series had several revamps that combined the series with elements of other genres.
Comico Comics
Tommy Czuchra was a 13-year old kid that died but was reborn and the ability to turn into a stone golem with super strength and durability called Monolith. Tommy was killed when his golem body was destroyed and insurance salesman David Ridgeway became a golem and the new Monolith.
DC Comics
DC Comic had several Golem characters (one of whom was a member of a superhero team Hayoth). However, I could find info on one of them. This Golem is a mud elemental made out of mud from Louisiana swamps. He lived in Louisiana, but was forced to flee when people thought he killed someone he didn't. He joined the superhero team Primal Force / Leymen. This golem preferred the name Paul. Paul had super strength and durability, but could also use clay and mud to heal himself.
References

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Chick Tracts

Jack T. Chick was a evangelist comic book writer. He is mainly known for his "Chick Tracts" comics. These were propaganda comics that were suppose to convince people to convert to Evangelist Christianity. These comics were known for how bizarre they could be. For example, they claimed the Roman Catholic Church caused both World Wars, Communism, Nazism, the Great Depression, the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy (despite JFK being a Catholic) and etc. The comics portrays abortion, homosexuality, the occult, rock music, Harry Potter, left-wing politics, pop culture, theory of evolution, antisemitism and other branches of Christianity in a negative light. In fact, they claim New Age beliefs, rock music, role playing games and Wiccans are tools of Satan (I'm not exaggerating).
As you may predict, these comics have received heavy criticism. Kerr Cuhulain (a Wiccan author) called Jack's theory (and by extension his comics) "anti-pagan" and "anti-feminist". Catholic Answers called Jack and his comics "savagely anti-Catholic", "bizarre" in his conspiracy theories and "often grotesque in their arguments". Many catholics and protestants agree with the latter. Jack claimed "he loves Catholics and wants them to be saved through faith in Jesus." However, he admitted some of his controversial views were, in his own words, "politically incorrect".
My source was:

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Dial H for Hero

Original Series and Silver Age
The series was a recurring feature in the anthology comic House of Mystery. Robert "Robby" Reed, a nerd from Littleville, Colorado (no relation to Smallville), found a dial with weird symbols on it. He translated the symbols (later revealed to be Interlanc, which I did a post on) into English letters and discovered that if he dial H-E-R-O would turn him into a superhero and  O-R-E-H would turn him back. However, other things could be dialed: minor thug Daffy Dagan became a super villain via dialing V-I-L-L-A-I-N and Robby's girlfriend, Suzzie, turned into a female superhero by dialing H-E-R-O-I-N-E. The dial's origin is unknown. However, the back of a Showcase Present trade paperback I own claimed the dial was from another dimension. One point after his series ended in House of Mystery, he helped the Justice League and let them use his dial thus turning them into other superheroes.
Christopher "Chris" King and Victoria "Vicki" Grant
Chris King and Vicki Grant found two dials (which only had the letters "H", "E", "R" and "O") in a haunted house and used them as superheroes to protect their town of Fairfax, New England. These heroes were based on submissions from fans. These dials could override the personalities of user (dialing H-E-R-O turned people into heroes regardless if they were good or evil). The transformations lasted for a single hour and the dials wouldn't work another for hour after use.
We discovered these dials were created by a person called the Wizard (unrelated to villain of the same), who was thought dead. The villains Chris and Vicki fought were lackeys for a mysterious criminal called the Master (a villain obsessed with the dials). The Wizard found the original dial and fused with Master into... Robby Reed! Apparently, Robby dialed S-P-I-L-T to deal with a dead man's switch. Dialing S-P-I-L-T caused him to separate into the Wizard (his good side) and the Master (his evil side). Robby gave his dial to Chris and Vicki's friend Nick.
After their series, Chris and Vicki gained the power to transform regardless if they had the dials. Vicki went insane and joined a cult. Vicki tried to kill Chris (who changed into heroes uncontrollably until he ran out of "energy"), but the Teen Titans saved Chris. Chris decided to use a special suit created by STAR Labs to control his powers and become a superhero again. Later, a guy named Hero Cruz found the dial and was attack by the still-insane Vicki. When Vicki used the dial, she regained her sanity.
H.E.R.O. issue 6
H.E.R.O. 
In 2003, the original dial got its own series: H.E.R.O. The series focused on the dial falling in the hands in various people, who usually end up screwing up their lives with it. A subplot was how an adult and bitter Robby Reed was trying to regain the dial as a serial killer tried to get it for own sinister purposes. The series ended with Robby and several people, who had the dials in previous issues, stopping the serial killer and internalizing the dial's power. The actual dial itself was sent to 50,000 BCE (issue 11 had a caveman finding it).
Dial H
In the New 52 universe, the overweight Nelson Jent found a phone booth that operates much like the dial did. He uses the booth to become a superhero An old woman, Roxie Hodder aka Manteau, also uses the booth.
References

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Halk Kar

Halk Kar and Superman
Mon-El / Lar Gand is long running member of the Legion of Super Heroes. However, the story he first appeared in was a recycled from another story. The original story is the Superman # 80 story "Superman's Big Brother", the only appearance of Halk Kar.
An amnesic Halk Kar crashed landed on Earth and was found by Superman. Due to a note by Jor-El being in the rocket, Superman assumed Halk Kar must be his older brother (despite having a different last name). Superman discovered, while Halk Kar had most of Superman's powers, Halk Kar's powers were weaker than his. Superman decided to use his powers to make Halk seem more powerful to save him from the humiliation of having a younger brother stronger than him. Halk Kar gained a superiority complex and started to trying to date Lois Lane. Halk Kar's memory returned. It turned out he is the from the planet Thoron (which is in the same solar system as Krypton). He accidentally crashed on Krypton before its destruction and Jor-El sent him to Earth (which brings up the question why Jor-El didn't just sent him back to Thoron).
In then-present day, Halk Kar returned home after he got his ship repaired.
My source was: