During the week, we introduced you to the first registrants in the Infinite Wars Fantasy League! If you have not yet signed up then you should do so immediately! The Fantasy League provides a simple platform of interaction with the Infinite Wars by using the results catalogued in our many reviews! By following submission guidelines you're on your way to adopting a team!
The Fantasy League offers us a great opportunity to acknowledge sponsor websites from across the web. Comic Book Weekness isn't just a great name for a blog, it's also the perfect kind of site for the Fantasy League to engage in. There, Stephen typically gives his own run down of the week's top buys, while also embodying the kind of simple fandom that's a reminder of everything positive about comics. Steve's got his own rundown of his team that you can check out on the blog, and hey, if you haven't done this yourself, then give it some thought! The Fantasy League can be an ocassional bit of fun, or as involving a Meme as you can imagine. Get creative!
As implied; today we're taking a look at some of the back catalogue, featuring members of The Knights of Right! Remember, you too can become a part of the fun by enlisting in the Infinite Wars Fantasy League! Blogger membership is not required, and readers new and old are encouraged to join in and promote their corner of the internet. Points have, and will continue to be awarded, as we count down to the Monthly Punch-Up's reveal of the April leaderboard! PLUS! An upcoming review of some of the new teams, and a rule that could change the game!
Power Man & Iron Fist #90 (February 1983)"The Untouchable!" Busiek/Cowan
Face front, sucka! Sure, Luke Cage might owe his origins to cheesy blacksploitation dialogue, and the seventies standard of teaming kung-fu and afros, but the character has come a long way. Gone is the unbuttoned silk shirt and shiney tiara; in is the smooth scalped surrogate leader of today's Secret Avengers. Quite a noble evolution for a hero-for-hire who rented his services to the highest bidder!
Now an A-lister, Cage stands for everything true, just, and in keeping with high ideals; all whilst playing the unlikely role of father and husband! His villains have escalated to include demonic crooks, zealous cults, body snatchers, and alien invaders -- but make no mistake! Luke Cage knows what planet he came from, and in this flashback, he and Iron Fist take on a street level menace who's such a rat, he'll even rob the locally owned candy store! Sweet Christmas!
Hellboy: The Corpse and the Iron Shoes (January 1996)"The Corpse" Mike Mignola
Characters come and go on the independent publishing circuit, but few deserve and garner the attention of Mike Mingola's seminal creation, Hellboy! Now a star of big and small screen, the character has endured in ways that other popular selling independents have not, maintaining a consistent and admirable identity, while evolving into a monthly phenomenon with spin-off series like BPRD.
An unlikely success story, the character had his fair share of troubles, like an uncertain origin, and a hellacious history that threatened to prevent his ascension to blockbuster film. Fortunately calmer minds prevailed, and the world now knows of this blue collar demon, whose mythological adventures will be detailed in a July sequel! In The Corpse, HB does his best to save a kidnapped child from Irish faeries, and in doing so clashes with some nasty monsters, and a hangman who just wants a place to nap!
Superman/Batman #14 (January 2005)"I Pledge Allegiance..." Loeb/Pacheco
Most of the issues we're flashing back on reveal a moment of triumph for the many characters selected in Fantasy League teams. Not so in this issue, which features a dark alternate history where Batman and Superman have been fostered by a villainous trio from the 31st century, who raise them to be the world's draconian protectors.
Green Arrow's politics are just one of the things that have made him far more than Batman crossed with Robin Hood. Here, the character might not succeed in putting an end to the dictatorship of the world, but it's a very true representation of what Green Arrow stands for in his world. A great character in a story that might just be better a second time around! Sure, victory is what matters in the Fantasy League, but it doesn't mean we can't have some fun along the way!
Superman #216 (June 2005)"Lightning Strikes Twice" Winick/Churchill
Referred to by some as The Big Red Cheese; Captain Marvel is a remnant of the Golden Age that's struggled to endure in the modern era. Despite embodying the kind of innocence and justice that superheroes aspire to, these qualities have proven the character's greatest weakness, leaving many writers confused as they try to figure out how to treat the character in a time where anti-heroes are given more attention.
Once more popular than Superman; it's the feud between these characters, ignited in particular by Kingdom Come, that has helped keep the presence of Shazam's golden warrior in the present. Here we see one of the last tales of Marvel and his mentor, the Wizard Shazam, who granted him the powers of a pantheon, before succuming to the wrath of The Spectre, and his onslaught of the world of magic!
Blue Beetle #1 (May 2006)"Blue Monday" Giffen/Rogers/Hamner
Something borrowed, something blue, and something new!
Why if you were marrying Jaime Reyes, you really would have snagged the total package! Sure, he's a reluctant teen superhero who gets his powers from a freaky mystical scarab buried in his spine, but what's life without it's mysteries, eh?
In the wake of Ted Kord's murder; a new Blue Beetle bursts onto the scene when the DC Universe needed him most! With Kord having been murdered by former Leaguer, turned Project OMAC drone, Maxwell Lord, it's fitting that the out-of-control OMAC satellite would be finally undone by the Blue Beetle's successor! With the Crisis of OMAC seemingly averted, Jaime plummets back to Earth, but out of this conclusion comes the beginning of a new adventure, as Jaime learns more about the powers bestowed upon him, and the fact that the scarab around Green Lanterns? Not so much!...
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