Brian Michael Bendis has been synonymous with Marvel for a couple of decades. He is one of the main architects of the Ultimate Universe in Marvel. His work on Daredevil and Avengers are still regarded as some of the best for those titles.

Then in 2017 it was announced he would be exclusive to DC Comics. DC Comics offered Bendis any character in their stables to mold into his own. Most people believed he would take the helm on Batman, but to everyone’s surprise he chose Superman.

This all coincides with the 80th anniversary of Clark Kent/Superman. DC launched big into the Bendis era with the milestone issue Action Comics #1000. It is an over-sized issue with multiple stories. The Bendis story introduces a new villain character and a possible new explanation for the demise of Krypton. It also had multiple variant covers representing the different decades Superman has been published.

The stories in Action Comics #1000 are all good in their own right. Many of them tug at your heart-strings while others explore different aspects of Superman’s character. Overall it is a great book and an awesome introduction the the Bendis era of Superman.

I’ve always had a tough time warming up to Superman. I prefer my characters to display some kind of flaw or downfall. It is easier for me to relate to those type of characters. I am hoping Bendis is able to write Superman to have some kind of connection to normal every day people. He has worked magic before. I hope he has a little bit left for Superman.

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We love to see our action heroes duking it out with their arch-nemesis. The bigger the battle, the more we like it. What we don’t typically think about is the mental affect this has on the superhero. Constantly fighting for your life can take a toll on your psyche. DC Comics and Tom King are tackling this subject with their new upcoming title, Sanctuary.

At the DC in DC convention, King revealed that he will be taking the writing lead on this new initiative. There isn’t much more information on the title. We don’t know if it will be an ongoing series, a limited series, or a lead-in to a bigger event.

According to King Sanctuary will follow crisis centers in the DC universe designed for superheroes to come and discuss the personal and psychological effects of a career in crime-fighting. King had this to say at a panel discussing PTSD and trauma in comics and comics writing:

The DCU has a bunch of superheroes and all they do is fight, every time, and that must have a psychological effect on them, right? You can’t live a life of violence and not feel that violence deep in your heart—and we also have a group of superheroes, the Trinity, who care about these other heroes.

They sort of feel like parental figures, the foundation that stands beneath them. And they care about them for two reasons: one, because they’re good people, but two, if superheroes feel trauma and it drives them a little mad, that’s a danger. So, as both a practical and a compassionate matter, they’ve set up something called Sanctuary, which is a place that you can go, modeled on veterans’ crisis centers—which is an interesting name for them—and talk about this trauma and admit that this had an effect on you; where you can admit that being a superhero and seeing a life of violence and seeing people get hurt around you, that that has some sort of impact on you—and Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman can help you.

I like the series that let us have a glimpse into our favorite superheroes personal life. Knowing they have the same fears, frailties, self-doubts as everyone else humanizes them to the reader.

There are also readers that don’t want to see their favorite characters vulnerable. They want to look at the superheroes as something to strive for.

Either way, Sanctuary is a great story concept. Tom King has proven he can write complex stories well. We are in for one heckuva ride.

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DC Comics seems to be making all the right moves since Rebirth. Their comics all seem to work well with each other in the same timeline. Even the big events aren’t stepping on each other.

We have Batman going through some serious stuff in Dark Nights Metal and Superman is gonna be pitted against Dr. Manhattan in Doomsday Clock.

In Doomsday Clock #2 they have shown Rorschach walking around inside the Batcave. They’ve also shown Batman holding Rorschach’s journal.

We have seen Ozymandias in person and they’ve hinted strongly at Dr. Manhattan. We are being introduced to a lot of the Watchmen characters. Geoff Johns has 12 issues to bring this story to completion.

What happens in Doomsday Clock will surely shake the foundations of the DC Universe.

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Jack and I watched the Justice League movie at Alamo Drafthouse in El Paso. We both LOVED! the movie. All the characters got their time in the spotlight. The actors really brought those characters to life. You really connected with each and every one of them.

The villain was very formidable. There were times when he appeared to be unstoppable.

The best part of the movie for me was when they brought Superman back from the dead. They actually gave him some good dialogue this time. He was more than a one dimensional boy scout type character. I am super glad they let him display a full range of emotions, including humor.

The main complaint from the critics is the CGI. Honestly, it wasn’t the best CGI work, but it in no way distracted from the story. The pacing and character development was on point. You are too involved in the story arc to think about CGI for more than a few seconds.

Like I said, we both thoroughly enjoyed the movie. You don’t have to take our word for it though. We asked some of our fellow movie-goers what they thought of the movie and they overwhelmingly agreed with us. If you want to see a good DC Comics superhero movie that is as good as, if not better than Wonder Woman, then go see Justice League. We recommend seeing it at the Alamo Drafthouse with a bowl of bottomless popcorn!

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DC Comics has been introducing lots of questions in their Rebirth initiative. Ever since Rebirth kicked off in May 2016 there have been hints of the Watchmen being pulled into the DC Comics Universe. We are just starting to see answers to our questions. Some of these answers have been in front of our face for some time.

Action Comics #987 and #988 is being solicited as telling us exactly who is the person behind the mysterious Mr. Oz. Both of these issues will have lenticular covers. If you are unfamiliar with what a lenticular cover is, it will show one picture when viewed at a particular angle and another picture when tilted at the opposite angle.

The solicited lenticular cover shows Superman’s biological father, Jor-El, on Krypton as it is about to explode. When you tilt it you notice a blue light engulfing Jor-El and saving him from destruction. This is causing lots of readers to speculate Mr. Oz is actually Jor-El. This would explain his infatuation and near obsession with Clark Kent’s life in Rebirth.

Do you believe Mr. Oz is actually Jor-El? If not, who do you think Mr. Oz actually is? Let us know in the comments.

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The Superman character under the DC Comics Rebirth initiative has been surprisingly good. Just recently the New 52 Superman and the pre-Flashpoint Superman & Lois Lane were merged. This merge was done by the pre-Flashpoint Jonathan Kent (Superman & Lois’s son). Now they are teasing that Superman has something to do with the Doomsday Clock one-shot coming up in November. Lots of things affecting the DC Comics Universe seem to hinge on this character.

**Warning- spoilers may follow**

Between now and November there is a lot of things happening to Superman. In Action Comics #982 we see Superman’s rogues gallery banding together to defeat the Kryptonian. General Zod leads this group of Superman foes (Eradicator, Blanque, Cyborg Superman, Metallo, Mongul) to the front door of the fortress of solitude.

Superman tunnels underground and up into the middle of his group of adversaries in order to give Lois and Jonathan time to escape. Superman has been weakened from his recent time in the Black Vault. The villains are in the midst of an epic beat down of Superman when a group of Superman’s friends show up to save him.

The group of Superman’s friends is made up of his cousin Supergirl, Steel, Superwoman, and Kenan Kong the New Super-man. The most surprising member of this group is Lex Luthor. It seems Lex has done a complete turn around from villain to hero.

Action Comics #983 should be true to it’s name and be chock full of superhero fighting action. Seeing these 2 obscenely overpowered groups going toe to toe should be crazy.

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DC Comics Doomsday Clock on shelves November 2017

Ever since Geoff Johns started DC Comics on their path to the Rebirth event, a lot of questions have been presented with very few answers.  Johns promises answers in Doomsday Clock.

First we had Wally West returning from the Speed Force with the knowledge that Barry Allen (Flash) was not responsible for the Flashpoint changes. Wally claims to have seen something that didn’t belong in the Speed Force. What did he see?

You have also seen Johnny Thunder and Saturn Girl from the JSA. Jay Garrick’s helmet is seen in a few panels too. In fact Johnny is seen rambling about how it is his fault the JSA is gone, but he can bring them back. How does the JSA factor into everything?

Ray Palmer (Atom) sends a message to Ryan Choi, his assistant, saying he needs to be rescued. He also told him he discovered a disruption deep within the temporal nanostructure of the time line. Ray claims there is evidence of something much bigger than a few historical robberies within the very essence of time. Has Ray discovered who or what is responsible for the 5 years taken out of the New 52 timeline?

Mr. Mxyzptlk shows up and explains Superman had been split into the New 52 Superman/Lois Lane and the post-crisis Superman/Lois Lane. Somehow Jonathan Kent is able to merge them back into one entity. How did Jonathan get this power? Why was Superman split into 2 entities in New 52?

The mysterious Mr. Oz has a few characters imprisoned. He had Mr. Mxyzptlk, but he manged to escape. He still has Tim Drake, Doomsday, and Prophecy that we know about. There are some prisoners that have not been shown. Is Mr. Oz Ozymandias from the Watchment? Why is he toying with the DCU timeline? What do these prisoners have to do with his plans?

In the four part “The Button” storyline we saw the Comedian’s smiley face button get activated when it came into contact with Psycho Pirate’s mask. Psycho Pirate was able to remember the original continuity of the timeline. How does he factor into story?

These are just a few of the questions that still linger in Rebirth. DC Comics has been promoting the “Doomsday Clock” by Geoff Johns. Johns has been orchestrating the whole Rebirth story, but this is the first thing he has written since the initial Rebirth one shot to kick off the whole event.

Geoff Johns has promised this won’t be a Watchmen sequel. The imagery of the Watchmen countdown clock with the Superman shield at the midnight hour lets you know there is gonna be a big clash between the two. Johns has said Doctor Manhattan and Superman will weigh heavily into his story.

So far the whole DC Comics Rebirth event has been a great read. A lot of questions still need to be answered. Here’s to hoping we get those answers in November when “Doomsday Clock” hits the shelves.

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Superman in the New 52.  Superman is one of the characters that has undergone a lot of changes in the DC Comics Rebirth initiative.  His story-line has seen quite a bit of upheaval.

Let’s try to get you up to speed without too much unneeded detail.

In the New 52 we saw a younger Superman.  The pre-Flashpoint Superman had vanished from the timeline.  This younger Superman had only recently become a superhero. He was not the squeaky clean boy scout type.  He would not only fight against criminals, but against any injustice, even if it meant breaking the law, battling a corrupt government, or losing his temper with the police.

He had also lost both of his Earth parents before taking a job at the Daily Planet.  He did not have the Kents guiding him.  This New 52 version actually started a relationship with Wonder Woman.

As a result of DC Comic’s Convergence story-line all previous existing universes were brought back and merged into one timeline.  That means the pre-Flashpoint version of Superman existed alongside the New 52 version.

Superman in Rebirth

The pre-Flashpoint version of Superman was married to Lois Lane and they had a son (Jonathan Kent).  Jonathan inherited many of his fathers powers and abilities.  They decided to remain under the radar in this new merged universe.  Pre-Flashpoint Kent kept tabs on his former villains to ensure they did not do as they did in his universe.

The New 52 Superman dies in the Rebirth story-line after expending all his energy in a fight to save innocents.  His body is turned to ash.  Pre-Flashpoint Superman does some soul-searching and decides to step in to replace the fallen hero.

In the meantime Mr. Mxyzptlk has kidnapped Jonathan Kent.  Mxy is upset that Superman did not come to save him while he was imprisoned by who we assume to be Ozymandias/Dr. Manhattan.  While rescuing Jonathan, Superman comes to the realization that he was split in two between the New 52 (red energy) and pre-“Flashpoint” (blue energy).

Jonathan is able to sense the red energy of New 52 Lois and Clark.  He is able to merge the two (red & blue energies).  The result is Lois and Clark being in existence with  a unified history overwriting their individual lives.

We see the mysterious Mr.Oz watching the whole event.  He seems surprised by what has happened saying “Love does conquer all”. Mr. Oz did hint at the beginning of Rebirth that Superman is at the center of the whole Rebirth story-line.
https://youtu.be/f8MBT4dNSAI

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DC Comics and Boom Studios crossover

If you are in any comic book store for longer than a few minutes you will undoubtedly hear the “who would win in a fight between…” arguments. These conversations have been the staple of comic book conversations for as long as I can remember.

If the two parties were from the same publisher you could always cite historical references from earlier years with that publisher. The problem arises when the two parties in the theoretical fight are from different publishers. Since the publishers are competing for a bigger market share, they don’t like to share their characters with other publishers. If you saw crossover events it was usually between different titles under the same publisher…. until recently.

There seem to be a lot of crossover titles between publishers lately. Batman had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appear in Gotham. After that the favor was repaid and Batman had a crossover with the Turtles under the IDW imprint. Now the Justice League is crossing over with The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It seems like DC Comics has learned to play nice and share their characters with the other publishers… and us readers are reaping the benefits.

“Something very, very massive has happened in Angel Grove, in the Power Rangers’ world, and then another massive event sends one of our main characters, Zack, into the Justice League’s world”, said writer, Tom Taylor.

“I can’t tell you too much more, but there’s a bit of conflict, there’s struggle, there’s misunderstanding. Those are classic tropes that you want to see when hero teams that don’t know the other ones are heroes come together. A little bit of miscommunication leads to badness. But eventually, good too! And really it’s just a great opportunity to take these two heroes from two different worlds and bring them together in a way I don’t think anyone could see coming”, Taylor added.

When asked about the villains in the series Taylor responded “Well, we’re definitely going to see Lord Zedd. I can happily tell you that. Lord Zedd will appear in this book. And he is one of the biggest problems. The other big problem is a DC villain who we can’t actually announce yet, but make sure you get issue #2.”

Both publishers, DC Comics and Boom Studios are very excited about this epic crossover. Each company is placing their marquee characters into the other’s universe. We finally get to see what would happen when these two pop culture Goliaths band together to do what they do best, beat bad guys.

“DC and BOOM! Studios teaming up on this crossover is a dream come true for fans of Saban’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the Justice League,” said Hank Kanalz, Senior Vice President, Editorial Strategy and Administration, DC Entertainment. “Stories like this are a great way to have that ‘what if’ itch scratched, combining favorite characters from different publishers in epic adventures.”

“Everyone at BOOM! is thrilled to be part of an event of this magnitude,” said BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon. “We have iconic characters meeting for the first time that are beloved the world over! Our imaginations have been racing since the moment this kicked off with our friends at DC and Saban Brands. Get ready…this is one event that’s not to be missed.”

Press Release

Two of comics greatest teams team up for the very first time! Something terrible has happened in Angel Grove! When the Command Center is breached and the teleporters are damaged, Zack is flung into another universe, where he’s mistaken for a villain by a mysterious masked vigilante. Can the other Power Rangers get to their friend in time to save him from Batman? Co-published with BOOM! Studios.

Art: Stephen Byrne
Cover:: Karl Kerschl
Written: Tom Taylor

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Who is Mxyzptlk?

Mister Mxyzptlk is an impish character who appears in Superman comic books. He is a sorcerer from the fifth dimensions who has a penchant for playing pranks on Superman.

His first appearance was in Superman #30 (Sept. 1944) in the story “The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk”. He is portrayed as a small bald man typically wearing a bowler hat.

His powers in our dimension are nearly limitless. He can only be stopped by tricking him into saying or spelling his own name backwards. Doing this will return him to his home in the fifth dimension. Once he is returned he must stay for a minimum of 90 days. He also cannot stand being ridiculed.

Mxyzptlk on Supergirl

It has been announced that the Supergirl TV series on the CW will be bringing the character into the show. Peter Gadiot has been cast as the mischievous imp. It seems that Mxysptlk has a fondness for Kryptonians other than Superman. It has not been said whether the character will resemble the comic book version or is they will re-imagine him more normal in appearance to help alleviate special effects costs.

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Superman’s weakness

Even non-comic book fans know that Kryptonite is Superman’s Achilles’s heel. What a lot of folks aren’t aware of is just how many different types of Kryptonite exist in the DC Comics Universe. We give you a run-down of all the types of Kryptonite that we could find. This is in no way an exhaustive list. I’m sure there are some obscure Kryptonites that we missed. If you know of one that we didn’t cover please let us know in the comments.

What is Kryptonite?

Kryptonite has it’s origins in an unpublished 1940 story by Superman creator, Jerry Spiegel titled “The K-Metal from Krypton”. It was actually a mineral from the planet Krypton that drained Superman of his powers, but gave superhuman powers to humans. K-Metal is the prototype of Kryptonite.

The mineral was first introduced using the name Kryptonite in the story arc “The Meteor from Krypton” in June 1943 on The Adventures of Superman radio series. It didn’t make it into the comic books until 1949 in issue #61 of Superman.

Kryptonite was originally introduced as being red. It wasn’t until Action Comics #161 in 1951 that it was changed to it’s now familiar color of green.

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