Seattle has a new superhero and he goes by the name Phoenix Jones. Five nights out of the week Pheonix Jones dawns on his costume and goes out into the night stopping crime. He is the leader of a group of eight superheroes in Seattle called "Rain City Superherores."
Phoenix Jones is a six feet one, 205 pound African American 22 year old man is a father of 2. He is adamant about reporters keeping his secret identity. Phoenix says that him and his crew break up about two to three acts of violence a night.
Recently Phoenix Jones was arrested after he pepper-sprayed a crowd. Besides pepper spray some of his other powers include taser, night stick, and tear gas. He also wears a custom made suit with body armor and a kevlar vest.
Real life superheroes aren't a new thing. There are over 200 superheroes across the country.
There's DC's Guardian, in Washington, who wears a full-body stars and-stripes outfit and wanders the troubled areas behind the Capitol building.
There's RazorHawk, from Minneapolis, who was a pro wrestler for fifteen years before joining the RLSH movement.
There's New York City's Dark Guardian, who specializes in chasing pot dealers out of Washington Square Park by creeping up to them, shining a light in their eyes, and yelling, "This is a drug-free park!"
Every summer there are a few constants in movies: big budget busts, over the top action movies, and comic book movies. There are three big superhero movies coming out this summer (2012):
The Dark Knight Rises
This is a fan made poster
Release Date: July 20
Who's in it:
Christian Bale...........................................................Batman
Anne Hathaway.......................................................Catwoman
Tom Hardy...............................................................Bane
Liam Neeson............................................................Ra's Al Gul
Marion Cotillard......................................................Miranda Tate
What's it about:The Plot is still vague. What we do know is that Batman is still on the run from the previous movie (The Dark Knight) from the cops for taking the blame for Harvey Dent's (Two-Face) murders. Bane and Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) are in the film, as well as "Batman Begins" villian Ra's Al Gul. We don't know what Ra's Al Gul's part in the movie will be (flash backs maybe) since he died at the end of the first film. My guess is that the league of shadows (Ra's Al Gul's gang) will be involved in distributing the venom drug (the serum the makes Bane super strong). His daughter will probably be involved as well and try to seduce Bruce Wayne.
Why should you care:I shouldn't have to answer this. It is the final Christopher Nolan Batman in the trilogy. The Dark Knight was the highest grossing Comic Movie of all time (600 Million). Bane not only one of the strongest and smartest villains of Batman, but he also breaks Batman's back in the comics. This will be a guaranteed amazing movie.
The Amazing Spider-Man
Release Date: July 3
Who's in it:
Andrew Garfield............... Peter Parker/Spideman
Emma Stone.......................................Gwen Stacy
Rhys Ifans.............. Dr. Curt Conners/ The Lizard
What's it about: This is a revamp of the Spiderman Franchise (still can't get the taste of Spiderman 3 out of my mouth). The movie will depict how Peter Parker gets his powers and becomes Spiderman. There are a few differences that most movie fans will notice. 1) Instead of having webs come out of his wrist, in this movie Spiderman makes his own "web shooters." This is more accurate to the comic. 2) Gwen Stacy was Peter Parkers girlfriend before Mary Jane in the comics. She gets thrown off a bridge in the comics and dies.
Why should you care: This could either be really bad or really good. The director directed "500 Days of Summer" so it might have an indy low budget feel, which could be refreshing. I like the actor playing Peter Parker. The Lizard is a giant man lizard who could be a really lame villain. This is a toss up for me.
The Avengers
Release Date: May 4
Who's in it:
Chris Hemsworth..........................................Thor
What's it about: Loki, Thor's evil step brother, has taken over a powerful cube and now wants to rule earth. He is to powerful for just one superhero. So Nick Fury brings the Avengrs together. They will probably have problems working with each other at first and establishing a team. But eventually they will come together and work as a team in defeating Loki.
Why should you care: This is the "Ocean's Eleven" of superhero movies, in terms of a bringing in a bunch of big stars. Having so many stars is the pro and potential con of this movie. It will be interesting to see how they will give all the characters and stars their screen time and how so many big characters will interact with each other.
Trailers
The Avengers (BRAND NEW JUST CAME OUT TODAY!)
Click HERE
Thanks to my cousin Samuel (take note if you write on my blog I will do shout outs) I have been thinking a lot about theme songs for superheroes. Most of these are from the mid 60's and they are the most of these are the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. Enjoy the hilarity of the 60's:
I was recently thinking about how I got into comics. It all started in my childhood. I grew up in the mid 90's and like most overweight kids I loved saturday mornings. Not for sports, but for saturday morning cartoons. This was the day of the week I was up earliest, so I could catch my favorite shows. These shows are what my mind refers to when I still read comics. Here are a few of the intros:
X-Men (1992-1997)
Oh man this song still gets me pumped! Easily my favorite show from my childhood. The modern day X-Men comics, movies, and cartoon shows, haven't quite gotten the chemistry of this team.
What I Miss: The greatest part of this show was the chemistry between Rouge and Gambit. Not only was Gambit the coolest character on the show, but Rouge could fly and had super strength. The show had every major character and covered all the great X-Men story arcs, including the Dark Phoenix Saga.
Greatest Moment: In the first episode the most lovable character, Morph, who was the easy going jokester, gets brutally murdered by sentinels.
Worst Moment: Jubilee.
Facts: Longest running (5 seasons) & highest ratings of any Marvel cartoon show. IMDB rating gives it a 8.9. IGN gives it a ranking of 13th for animated shows.
Spiderman (1994-1998)
What I Miss: I loved the continuity of the show. Ever episode was important to watch or else you would be lost in the story. The stories were dark and Peter Parker wasn't portrayed as a dork.
Greatest Moment: Spiderman had epic season finales that usually involved multiple heroes. My favorite moment is when the X-Men and Fantastic 4 would team up with Spiderman.
Worst Moment: The Vulture and the Rhino could be the lamest villain's in Marvel.
Facts: Created by the same people who created the X-Men animated series. 2nd longest running Marvel show (4 Seasons). Longest running "Spiderman" show.
Batman (1992-1995)
What I Miss: Considered the greatest animated series of all time by many. It has earned the highest ratings by critics because of the great voice acting, writing, and animation. Nothing had captured the essence of Batman like the animated series.
Greatest Moment: "Clayface" was my favorite Batman villain, and he scared the crap out of me. Overall I was creeped out by this animated series (I was only 5). But now I appreciate it for what it was.
Worst Moment: That it ended.
Facts: Inspired by Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns." Geared towards an adult-oriented audience. Harley Quinn (Joker's Sidekick) was invented on the show and became so popular that DC comics put her into the graphic novels. In the series Mr. Freeze was changed from a mad scientist with a gimmick, to a tragic figure. The show won two Emmy's.
These were my favorite series and the ones that I watched every Saturday. There were many other Cartoons in the 90's that I didn't care for. For your enjoyment I have posted them below: