Clark

Clark and Lois

So, you may think I am talking about Superman. I'm not. I'm talking about his main Marvel universe counterpart.
Overview
Clark (possibly Ken Clarke) is a friend of Daily Bugle employee Joe Robertson. Clark works for an unrevealed and prominent tabloid company (which has also has a television crew). He has interest in superheroes much to the chargin of his partner, Lois. Unlike the DC Comics Clark Kent, he isn't a superhero.
History
Clark has mainly been seen in cameos. He was first seen at Phil Sheldon's party. Next, he met the X-Men before the robot Sentinels attacked them. Clark was later seen at a Daily Bugle christmas party and talked to Joe Robertson. Clark gave a press conference about Ryker's prison. Clark watched Henry Pym's trial and said it was the "biggest peacetime treason case sincce the" Rosenbergs. When Thor gained the alter ego of Sigurd Jordson, Clark bumped into him and was able to recognize him. Clark was seen talking about an infamous, "self-taught" guru (the Beyonder). Clark was seen at a A Comedy of Errors play, but it was interrupted by Mojo and the X-Men fought them. Later, he tried to interview with Black Knight, but was interrupted by Thor. Clark and Lois were among the people noticing Captain Britain looking for Meggan. He dropped a X-Men story in favor for the President's inauguration. He watched the Jennifers Walters (aka She-Hulk) storm out of the Daily Bugle. He witnessed the battle between Power Pack and Star Stalker. At a party for Sersi, he was seen dancing with She-Hulk. He saw Rage and compared his speed to a speeding bullet. Clark married Lois. They were trapped in snowstorm, but was saved by two members of the New Warriors. Lois and Clark were seen reading a newspaper while they were outside Brighton and Associates Office. They were attacked by Blackout, but saved by Ghost Rider. Clark wrote a news article about the Force Works-Avengers crossover "The Crossing". When Mjolnir crashed in Oklahoma, he was among the people that attempted to lift it.
References:
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/kentclrk.htm

The Turtle

Slow... and... steady... wins... the... race.
Turtle I

The Turtle (in the foreground)

He was an enemy of Jay Garrick the Golden Age Flash. He was a slowing moving and talking criminal that used his slowness to deal with the Flash's super speed. His plan revolved around the Flash having trouble slowing down. However, the Flash still captured him. Later, he donned a costume modelled after turtles. Recently, he allied himself with Turtle Man and was seemly killed.
Turtle II / Turtle Man

Turtle Man

Turtle Man / The Turtle was the first villain Barry Allen (the second Flash) fought. Like his predecessor, he attempted to use slowness againist his super fast nemesis and had slow speech and movements. He attempted to rob a bank, but was foiled by the Flash. After having been released from prision, Turtle Man inherieted tons of money. He used this money to create a turtle shell costume and advanced techology to use for his crimes. He changed his alias "the Turtle". Despite not needing money, he still committed crime out of boredom. He allied himself with the Turtle. However, he was hurt by a lab accident and seemly crippled.
Powers and Abilities
Both of the Turtle used slowness in their schemes and terrible hand-to-hand combat skills. The first Turtle was a decent strategist. The second one was a skilled inventor. The second Turtle wore a device that projected a bulletproof force field. He wore a body armor as part of his costume. It could expand to cover his head. His suit contained jets that he can fire as projectiles. He had a ray gun that makes people slow and a laser that slow people's perceptions.
References:
http://www.comicvine.com/turtle/4005-5721/

Deathmate

Solar and Void are in the foreground

This is an extremely infamous comic crossover. Why? It helped cause the 1996 collapse of the comic book industry.
Premise
I found it impossible to find a summary of the complete series. I all I could find was the basic the premise. So, that's what I'll talk about.
Void (from Image Comics) and Solar (from Valiant Comics) met each other and became lovers. However, this somehow "begins to unravel the strands of time, creating an Alternate Universe where Image and Valiant characters exist side by side". Somehow, this will also result in the destruction in the new universe.
Issues
There was six main issues of the comic. Three issues were produced by each company. The only two issues that had to be read in order were the Prologue (which had to be read first) and Epilogue (which had to be read last). The remaing issues take place in-between the latter two, but at the same time. As such, the issues don't have numbers, but colors since they were meant for it to be possible to read the middle issues in any order. Valiant produced issue Prologue, Yellow and Blue. Image produced issues Black, Red and Epilogue.
Problems and Aftermath
Problems popped almost immediately. The basic premise was weak. Jim Valentino, Erik Larsen and Todd McFarlane, despite making up half the creative force at Image, didn't work on the venture. Al Simmons only had a minor role in working on the comic. The creative crew from each company knew nothing about the other company's characters leading to tons of out-of-character moments. Image's over-the-top style didn't work too well for the comic. While the Valiant's issues were publish on schedule, Image's issue arrived late. Even then, Bob Layton had to fly to LA and refuse to leave Rob's doorstep until he finished his portion of the comic. It took Image over six months (despite what the cover dates) to finish the crossover. Because interest died for crossover in the intervening time, retailers had tons of unsellable comics. This is ultimately juggernauted into the 1996 collapse of the comic industry and contributed to the end of Valiant Comics. So the line, "Their love will end worlds!" (used in the advertising for the crossover), became darkly ironic.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathmate
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicBook/DeathMate?from=Main.DeathMate
http://majorspoilers.com/2013/06/09/retro-review-deathmate-black/

Crazy Gang

I mentioned Captain Britain, a popular UK superhero. I decided to talk about some members of his rogues gallery.
Earth-238

Clockwise: Jasper (left), Executioner,
Queen of Hearts, Tweedledope

Mad Jim Jaspers formed the team on Earth-238 (an alternate reality). They were bank robbers based on Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass characters. Lord Mandragon destroyed this reality to prevent its insanity from infecting other realities. As such, the Crazy Gang were killed as well. Members were:

• Executioner- He was a silent, dark and tall member. He decapitated people when the Queen told him to. He was defenestrated by Captain Britain, which seemly killed him.
• Jack of Hearts- Based on the Knave of Hearts, he had super durability and strength. He was smarter than his later counterpart.
• Tweedledope- Based on Tweedledee and Tweedledum, he poured tea and chuckled whenever Jaspers said something.
• Conjurors- Not based on any characters from the books, they were two identical men dressed like stage magicians. They used wands, which fire energy bolts.
• Coco- He is not based on any character. He was the smartest member of the team. He gave several other members orders. He had no powers.
• Dormouse- He was the pilot the gang's getaway vehicle the Teapot.  
• Queen of Hearts- She shouted a lot.

Earth-616

Clockwise: Tweedledope (far left),
Executioner, Red Queen, Knave and
Jester

In the main Marvel universe, Mad Jim Jasper had a counterpart (simply called "Jim Jasper"). When he wanted friends, Jim Jasper created his own version of the Crazy Gang. However, the Fury, a creation of the Earth-238 Jaspers, killed the Earth-616 Jim. Crazy Gang survived and became the most inept villains in Britain. Slaymaster took over and had them commit crimes such as robbing a mint and museums. He dismissed them when he thought had no further use for them. Arcade used the Crazy Gang to lure CB into a trap. They ended up switching bodies with Excalibur (whom CB was a member of) members, but they fixed this and then defeated them. When an English village disappeared, it turned out they willingly went to the Crazy Gang's Alice in Wonderland-like lair. Members of this version of the team are:

• Red Queen- Based more on the Queen of Hearts, she is insane and prone to shouting "Orv wiv 'is 'ead" ("Off with his head" with an accent).
• Knave- He is super strong and durable. However, he has a insecure personality and argues with Jester over the Gang's leadership.
• Tweedledope- Based on Tweedledee and Tweedledum, he is idiot savant. He loves training rats and is unskilled, but dangerous fighter. 
• Executioner- He is a mute android. He wears a hood / robe and uses an axe. It blindly follows what the Red Queen tells him to do.
• Jester- Not based on any Lewis Carroll character, he is an agile fighter. He is the self-proclaimed leader.
• Feron- He is an Excalibur ex-member. As such, he is not based on Lewis Carrol characters.

References:
http://marvel.wikia.com/Crazy_Gang_(Earth-238)
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/crazyg.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Gang_(comics)

Critic Corner: Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow

I recently watched Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow. I decided to do a review on it.
What's the plot? The Avengers are killed by Ultron (Tom Kane), who is attempting to take over the world. Tony Stark (Tom Kane) take their children and hide in secret base. Among these children are Captain America and Black Widow's son James Rogers (Noah C. Crawford ), Giant-Man and Wasp's son Henry Pym Jr. (Aidan Drummond), Black Panther's son Azari T'Challa (Dempsey M. Pappion) and Thor's daughter Torunn (Brenna O'Brien). James accidentally activates several of Tony's Iron Avengers robot thus alerting Ultron of their existence. As such, Ultron attempts to kill them.
What does it do good? The concept is creative. The fight scenes are done well. The designs are decent.
What's wrong with it?  There is no consistency how superhero genetics work: James (the son of  a superhuman and normal human) has no powers, Azari (whose mother (according to Wikipedia) is supposed to Storm, but this isn't mentioned in the movie, and a non-powered human) has energy powers different from his mom and Torunn has the exact powers as her father. The second generation heroes are idiots. While I know they are teenage and kids, they are constantly doing stupid thus making the people criticizing them look right. The entire plot is caused and sustained by their stupidity. In fact, the real hero isn't the kids, but a character introduced in the third act of the film. Tony isn't much better since saying "online" turns on all the Iron Avengers. Herny Pym Jr. has an annoying voice. Torunn's character arch fells abrupt and unnatural. Despite Tony claiming he has conquered Europe, Ultron almost is never seen with henchmen except some he gets towards the end of the first act (after he conquered Europe). Blatant CGI is used at one point in the movie.
This wasn't that great of a movie. However, it's not agonizing. This gets a 2 out of 5.

Plot of Zenith

A 2000 AD (the comic Zenith is in) comic book

I did a post on the main character of the comic Zenith. However, I never explained what the plot is despite me referencing it. So, I am going a summary of the plot. The plot is divided into "Phases".
Phase I 

Reluctantly, Zenith joined up with the remaining Cloud 9 members to fight the Many-Angled Ones (Cthulhu-like other-dimensional monsters) member Iok Sotot. While Welsh member Red Dragon was killed, St. John used his psychic powers to defeat Iok. It was revealed the Cloud 9 member only temporarily lost their powers except for St. John, who retained his powers.
Phase II

A Richard Branson-stand-in attempted to get the female clones, Blaze and Shockwave, and Zenith to breed a race of super humans that he would use to take over the world. Zenith managed to stand on his own for most of Phase II (although St. John had bailed Zenith out from time to time). Chimera, a being composed of pure thought, transformed himself into a mini-universe.
Interlude for Phase II and III
The interlude introduced the reader the concept of alternate universes. It is revealed the "dead" Cloud 9 member were actually living in alternate universes. They were still superheroes except in different universes.
Phase III
The Many-Angled Ones (also called "Lloigor") wanted to destroy various alternate universes to form an "Omnihedron" crystal thus allowing to ascend and then take over the multiverse. British comic book superheroes from the 50s to 70s (either the actual characters or stand-ins depending on their copyright status) attempted to fight them by destroying various realities that Lloigor wanted to.  The heroes eventually destroy one of the alternate Earth needed for the process thus stopping the villains. It was declared a pyrrhic victory due to the high body count.
Phase IV
The remaining Cloud 9 members transformed into Iok Sotot and Blaze's son. After destroying America in their reality, they used the sun to turn into the Many Angled Ones. St. John used the Chimera universe to imprisoned the Lloigor. St. John became Great Britain prime minister. It is implied he had an agenda when he imprisoned the Lloigor.
Appearances Outside of Zenith
Zenith later appeared several other times. On zzzenith.com, there is an one-shot story "Prog 2001". It turned out Prime Minister Tony Blair is the mind-controlled puppet of St. John. Zenith doesn't really care.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenith_(comics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-angled_ones

The Fifth Turtles

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles traditionally had four characters. However, there have been fifth members.
Ninjara (from Archie Comics)

The only non-turtle

She is the only fifth member that isn't a turtle. She was a member of Fox People that lived in Japan. She worked for Chien Khan until the Turtles revealed he was evil. As such, she defected to the Turtle's side thus becoming the fifth "Turtle". She had a romantic relationship with Raphael. While she fought with them, she left when her relationship with Raphael caused problems. She went off to live with the humanoid wolf Mokoshan and his Alaskan clan. She had a daughter with him named Moka. Mokoshan was murdered. As such, she went on an investigation to find who killed him.
Slash

Isn't he a handsome fellow?

He was a criminal from Dimension X and ally of Bellybomb and Krang. The trio escaped to Earth via a waste ship, but was defeated by Turtles. Slash was captured after going on a berserk rage. The Mutanimals discovered Slash wanted to live on a peaceful world unlike his world (which was being stripped mined) and took him to an environmental reservation, where he found peace. He joined the Turtles to avenge the death of the Mutanimals by fighting Mr. Null (their murderer). He drove a ship (with Null in it) into the sun.
He has invulnerability and super strength. He is skilled at using the weapons of the TMNT members and "Pantera claws". However, he is prone to berserk rages and short-tempered.
Venus de Milo (from Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutations)

As she appeared on the show

Venus de Milo / Mei Pieh Chi was created for the Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutations. She was a "Shinobi" (their word) mutated turtle. She  met them when she was trying to save her master, Chung I, and eventually joined them. As such, she was a main character. She tended be portrayed ignorant of Western culture. She wasn't trained in Ninjutsu and used magic instead. She was disliked by fans for various reason ranging from being an inaccuracy portrayal of Shinobis and to being a deus ex machina at times. A parody of Venus appeared in the twelve issue of the Image comic TMNT series. She was referenced by the series' on and off again slogan "No girl turtle guaranteed".
Kirby (from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV concept art) 

Concept art

Despite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time being critically panned, plans for a fourth movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: The Next Mutation (not to be confused with the before-mentioned television series), were on the way. Kevin Eastman (one of the original TMNT creators) drew some concept art. In several of pieces, he drew "Kirby The Fifth Turtle", who was named after Jack Kirby. However, TMNT 4 never made it off the ground. As such, Kirby never had an official appearance.
References:
http://www.comicvine.com/ninjara/4005-51425/
http://www.comicvine.com/slash/4005-51420/
http://turtlepedia.wikia.com/wiki/Venus_de_Milo
http://screenrant.com/tmnt-4-concept-art-kirby/