Superheroes from Around the World: The United Kingdom!

Marvel Comic's Captain Britain, A.K.A Brittanic, A.K.A. Brian Braddock is probably the U.K.'s best known superhero. I say that because I'm in the states and I've heard of him. Created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe, Captain Britain made his first appearance in Captain Britain Weekly #1 in October, 1976. Designed to uphold the laws of Britain, Captain Britain was meant to be the U.K. version of Captain America.

Brian was born and raised in the small town of Maldon, Essex and educated at Fettes College in Edinburg. He was a shy and studious youth, living a relatively quiet life and spending a lot of time with his parents and siblings.

After his parents were killed in a laboratory accident, Brian took a fellowship at Darkmoor nuclear research centre. When the facility is attacked by the technological criminal Joshua Stragg (A.K.A. "The Reaver"), Brian tries to find help by escaping on his motorcycle. Although he crashes his bike in a nearly fatal accident, Merlyn and his daughter, the Omniversal Guardian, Roma appear to the badly injured Brian. They give him the chance to be the superhero Captain Britain. He is offered a choice: the Amulet of Right or the Sword of Might. Considering himself to be no warrior and unsuited for the challenge, he rejects the Sword and chooses the Amulet. This choice transforms Brian Braddock into Captain Britain.

Brian is superhumanly strong, able to lift 90 tons, and possesses enhanced reflexes, stamina and senses. He can also fly up to 770 mph for prolonged periods. He derives his energies from the friction between dimensions, focused in a matrix centered on the U.K., and formerly needed his costume to focus his powers and provide a battery when outside the U.K.; however he may have alleviated this weakness when he briefly severed his mystic connection to the U.K. to empower Kelsey Leigh. As Britannic, he had prophetic visions, tied to memories of experiencing all history while lost in the timeline. He is apparently immune to his sister's psionic powers, though not his elder brother's reality warping abilities.

 

 

Since 1978, Captain Britain has been affiliated with a number of different groups. These groups include: 
MI-13, the Corps, agents of Merlin, champions of Otherworld's Camelot, Pendragons, and Hellfire Club.

You can find more information, as well as a detailed history of Captain Britain HERE at Marvel.com!

CEA + RPG = WTF?

Okay, so. Last night we began playing the "Star Wars" role playing game after taking, like, a two month hiatus. After returning to the game, I think I may have been the only person enjoying the hiatus. I don't know what is wrong with me when it comes to RPG's. I've tried D&D, Abberrant, and the "Star Wars" game, and I just don't think I was cut out for the world of role playing games.

It's certainly not a lack of imagination. I think it may be lack of attention span. For some reason I have the ability to imagine what my character looks like, imagine what the area (or ship) looks like, and imagine what my adventuring team looks like, I just can't find that place inside of me that BECOMES that character. Often times I'll be found in my own little world, with a sketch pad and some sharpies creating my vision of the world, meanwhile, my actual gaming character has no idea what is going on, and remains the mute of the group.

The only time I ever open my mouth is when I want to get in a scuffle. I'm truly beginning to believe that there are two types of gamers; those who kick-ass at RPG's, and those who kick-ass at first person shooter type stuff. I'm of the latter group. I like things to go fast, and hard, and intense. RPG games are a lot of discussion, without a lot of actual ass kicking, so I tend to lose interest.

It just makes me kinda sad because I see everyone else having such a great time, and I wish I could do that too. Meanwhile, I'm in the corner doodling, and secretly hoping we'll start up another game of "Give Me the Brain".

I will continue to play because I love my friends. They have been super great about accepting my shortfalls when it comes to RPG's, and they usually take it pretty easy on me. I may not love the game we're playing right now, but my Wednesday night nerds are the best people in the world, and I wouldn't trade my Wednesdays for anything. :-)


Gallery of Carly's RPG Artwork

I have decided to share a couple of pieces of artwork from my RPG gallery with all of you. I hope you enjoy!

DODA. My "Star Wars"  character

Mer-lady. Doodled this one up out of nowhere.

Programming note: The parental units are coming into town this evening, which means I'm going to be maintaining somewhat of a radio silence until Sunday. Evan T. promised me some articles last night, so hopefully, it'll be enough content to get us through the next 2-3 days. I'll be talking to y'all on Monday!

Superheroes from Around the World: Canada!

Continuing our series of superheroes around the world, Canada is next in line! I find this most fitting, especially considering that it's hockey playoff time! Lets get crackin'!

When I think of Canadian superheroes, the first (and most obvious) one to pop into my head is Wolverine. However, I find that one too easy, so we're going to go with Guardian, the leader of Canada's superhero group Alpha Flight.

Guardian first appeared in the February 1978 issue of Uncanny X-Men #109. He was created by Marvel to expand the Marvel Universe, and Guardian was specially made to be the Canadian equivalent of Captain America.

Born in London, Ontario, Guardian (civilian name James MacDonald Hudson) was a leading petrochemical engineer and scientist for the Am-Can Corporation, who was working on developing a powered exoskelleton suit.

When he learns that his work will be used for American military purposes, Hudson raids his workplace, steals the prototype suit and destroys the plans. He leaves the suit to be recovered  and fully expects to be sued and arrested for his actions.


Hudson's girlfriend, Heather MacNeil, uses political connections in the Canadian government to persuade Am-Can to waive the charges against him. As a result, Department H is formed, a secret branch of the Canadian Department of National Defence, and Hudson is named as head of operations. Hudson forms Alpha Flight as a superhero team for the Canadian government and develops his exoskeleton into a battle suit.

Formerly, Guardian used a skintight technological "battle-suit" composed of steel mesh and serves as an exoskeleton, which allowed him to fly, fire energy blasts and has a personal force field for defense. The suit design stems from a geological/oil-exploration exo-suit designed by Hudson during his early career. The original suit was clunky, over-large and awkward, though it did have an energy beam "weapon" system, ostensibly used for drilling/tunneling. The skin-tight suit is considered to be a later, possibly 2nd or 3rd generation, evolution of the original design. The battle-suit is cybernetically controlled and contains a high resolution navigation system. The battle-suit permits flight by directing beams of force towards the ground, propelling the wearer forward at up to Mach 1.

When he returned from space, the technology of the suit that formerly existed as a separate part of him was incorporated into his body. The alien Qwrlln converted James Hudson into a cyborg incorporating much of his battle-suit; some of his mechanical parts were visible on the surface of his body. As a result, his powers were greatly enhanced. Hudson's cyborg brain was half-organic (portions of his original brain) and half-mechanical. Hudson could control his mechanical systems by mental command, though he was vulnerable to being controlled by the Qwrlln through the mechanical portion of his brain. With great effort the human portion of his brain could override this control.

Guardian is a pretty bad-assed character, and as the Canadian equilivent of Captain America, he does a pretty great job keeping Canada safe.

P.S. I took most of the Guardian info off of Wikipedia, so don't be surprised if you go to the Wiki page and most of it is basically verbatim.  It's Wednesday. I'm tired.

Superheroes from Around the World: Germany!

Hello everyone! I thought I'd take a couple of Wednesdays and do some independent research on superheroes from other countries. After the USA, Carly on Comics has the most views from people in Germany (Guten Tag German readers!), so I thought I'd throw some love to them first.

This project proved to be a more difficult task than I had originally thought. Not because there wasn't a lot of information on German super heroes, its because apparently, not a lot of German superheros exist. There were a few though, so I'll start with the one who is seemingly the most popular. 

Franz Mittelstaedt AKA Blitzkrieger first appeared in "Marvel Super-Hero Contest of Champions #1" (1989). He was part of the larger German Superhero group Schutz-Heiliggruppe.

 The following is all of the information I could find in Blitzkrieger via the Marvel.com Wiki page:


Not much has been revealed regarding the early history of Franz Mittelstaedt, save that he was struck by electrical energy from a faulty generator which granted him superhuman powers. With these powers, he called himself Blitzkreig and began a career as a costumed crime fighter. At one point, he was transported alongside various other international heroes by the alien Grandmaster in order to participate in a so-called Contest of Champions, but he returned at the end of the encounter. Later, he was seen among those who helped the spaceknight Rom against the alien Dire Wraiths.


At some point, Mittelstaedt joined a group of German superheroes, the Schutz-Heiliggruppe, and he was among their number when the team was sent to remand the Nazi criminal Red Skull to Germany to stand trial for war crimes, although the Skull later escaped. 

Later still, Mittelstaedt was on assignment in South America where he was accosted by the villain Zeitgeist, also known as Everyman, who killed Mittelstaedt. Mittelstaedt is survived by his wife and son.

If there is anyone out there that can  point me in another direction as far as a German superhero goes, I would muchly appreciate it. I went with Blitzkrieger because Google gave me the most results for him, but I'm sure that there are more out there that I don't know about, but would love to! I hope y'all at least learned a little today, and I can't wait to do this again next week!

Wacky Wednesday: Mickey Mouse Edition!

This video speaks for itself... Enjoy!

Wacky Wednesday: Wonder Woman Edition!

Here comes another rant! Lets start with this article. How many times have I expressed my disgust with Marvel and DC's portrayal of women? I think about 3,000. As you all probably know, NBC has gone to pilot with a new Wonder Woman TV series by David E. Kelly. Here's the picture of the new costume.

Adrianne Palicki looks like a total asshole. Let's overlook the fact that she appears to be holding in the worlds largest fart, and focus on the WTF? pants. Yeah, lets give her pants so tight she'll have to wear Camelflage to "hide" a few things, but what the hell happens if she has to run fast? Either she's going to melt her pants, or she's going to fall because her legs get stuck together! And forget sneaking up on someone... *squeak, squeak, squeak*

I like that Davis E. Kelly says that they're going to portray Diana as "a real complex woman and not just a superhero." Grrrrrrreat. So, we're going to have to deal with "Melrose Place" Wonder Woman? I don't especially care about her feuds with other people, or her many man-loves and trying to balance her work with her super human-ness. I just want a kick ass lady who is confident, and down to earth.

In the new series, she is a CEO of some sort of pharmaceutical company. Why? What's wrong with her being in the military? Or even a boutique owner like the Mod 70's version? Oh, I know, because that would be too releatable for a real woman to understand. You know us women can't think straight, with our hormones and periods getting in the way all the time. Also, the main villain is another female CEO of a rival pharmaceutical company. Wow. That is original. Way to shoot for the moon jackasses at NBC, no wonder your television ratings suck.

I guess I shouldn't be too upset though, because NBC has a track record of making shitty superhero shows. Whether they kill it after one season (like "The Cape"), or drag it's dying carcass around for four seasons (like "Heroes") it will eventually be put out of its misery. If NBC wants a story that real people will like, try asking real people what they would like to see. Don't just throw shit against the wall and see what sticks, because by doing that, you're doing everyone a diservice.

For a *cough cough* FASCINATING interview with Warner Brothers on this show click here. After you read it,  take a moment to let it sink in and realize how unintelligent television executives think we are (OMG! Srsly guys! Katy Perry will be on an episode! We HAVE to watch!!). After that just remember, with any luck, it will be canceled after one season (if it makes it that far).

Wacky Wednesday: Inception Edition!

The Editor, Evan T., Cara M. and myself have been watching one of this years Oscar nominated movies every week for the past month now. It's a pretty fun experience, and we can't wait to share the results once it's all said and done. This week on the agenda is the movie "Inception". The Editor and I have watched it, and it's as amazing as everyone says it is. When I was looking for a "Wacky Wednesday" topic, this little video made its way over to me. It includes minor spoilers if you haven't seen the movie, but if you have seen it, this video will make you laugh. Enjoy!




It's pretty amazing, right? And this guy has a whole bunch of them that he's done. "Titanic" in 60 seconds is pretty friggen amazing too.



And "Gone in 60 Seconds" in 60 seconds...

Wacky Wednesday: Justice League XXX Edition!

Okay, sooooo, this may be considered a little NSFWish based on content. There will be a video, but it's totaly work safe.

So, apparently there is a new porn studio in town, and their specialty is going to be XXX comic book parodies! I know all you nerds are pretty excited! Not going to lie, they did a pretty good job with the costumes. Once you watch the video you'll notice a cameo from Mr. Ron Jeremy as The Penguin, whose make-up is totally great! I mean, these guys have come of the cos players I know beat hands down.

The first movie that they are putting out is "The Justice League: A XXX Parody", and for those of you who are Marvel fans, don't fret because they are putting out an Avengers movie soon as well! Below is the trailer for "Justice League: A XXX Parody", please do enjoy!



To visit the Extreme Comixxx website, click HERE

Wacky Wednesday: The Fantastic Four

Hello! Welcome back kids! Today we will be looking at The Fantastic Four. Admittedly, I have not read the current series, so I had to do a little bit of research on this one before posting. Last month Marvel decided to kill off The Human Torch, thus making them The Fantastic Three. Well, apparently, a superhero team cannot function on just three people, so they've already replaced the Human Torch... With Spiderman.

Yup, your friendly, neighborhood Spiderman, as of March 1st, is now part of two different teams. Fantastic Four and The Avengers. I don't really get it. I understand the wanting to kill off a character. It generated buzz and revenue for your company. Remember when they killed off Captain America a few years ago? Yeah. How long did that guy stay dead? I'm not saying that killing off a key character is unworkable, I'm simply saying, "Spiderman? Really?".

I guess I don't get why ol' Peter Parker is the chosen one. I mean, the guy has three of his own titles at the moment, why does he have to hone in on FF territory too? More than anything I feel like Marvel is whoring Spiderman out. Big time. There is a reboot movie on the way (after NO ONE could get their shit together to pull together a fourth in the original series), and a failing Broadway show. I suppose it's name recognition or something.

It's just that I find Spiderman soooo lame. I mean, I get the bubblegum factor. He's the sweet orphan boy next door who got chewed on by a radioactive spider. How cute is that? You've heard his story told and retold so many times, it's starting to border on Super Man territory where you just get to the point where you're like "Enough already! Can't SOMEONE just kill this guy?".

If killing off Johnny Storm wasn't enough, the FF no longer stands for "Fantastic Four", it now stands for "Future Foundation". Supposedly an homage to the late Human Torch. At the end of the day though, Marvel found a way to increase sales, so good for them . If it's anything we've learned from killing off iconic characters from years past, it's that Human Torch won't be dead very long.

Wacky Wednesday: Batman: The Brave and the Bold Edition

Today's weird wacky thing comes from a recent re-airing of an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. In this episode the lovely Birds of Prey end up having to sing their way out of a night club. Obviously, the song they chose to sing is about wangs. Yup. The girls are singing about the ol' gentlemen sausage, and ranking everyone from Batman to Aquaman. I found this fabulous video of the song in question, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Wacky Wednesday: The Guardian Project pt. 3!

Hello hello! Here is the last part of our three part look at how old and washed up Stan Lee is! Much respect because he is my elder and helped create some fantastic characters, I'm just saying that at this point, it's time to give it a rest. You can see by looking at The Guardians that his "creative skills" are not what they used to be... Also, the blatant sexism is also pouring out of the minds at Marvel once again, because God forbid you ciould have a chick Guardian. It's not like girls like sports, right? I mean, we're more into painting our toenails and brushing each others hair. Ugh. Anyway, have fun guessing!

Is that Bobby Drake AGAIN?

The Coyote: He's the best there is

I thought this was a DC character...

Half man, half God you say? I hear he has a movie coming out this Summer

WTF is he riding?

Ummmmm.... Why does a duck need a wetsuit? I'm just sayin'...

Dark teleporter you say? I wonder if he has a tail too

Isn't this like, the 8th time we've seen Tony Stark?

Wacky Wednesday: The Guardian Project pt. 2!

So, last week we started looking at The Guardian Project made for the NHL by Stan Lee. This week, we will be taking a look at 10 more of these disasters. Have fun guessing what these are!

RAWR!

WTF is software empath?

DOUBLE RAWR!

Kinda looks like Batman--if Batman looked like a total dickhead.

Tony Stark? Isn't this your second appearance?

Hulk Hogan?

Megatron!

Decepticon?

Where's your girlfriend, Jean Grey?

Pyro?

Wacky Wednesday: The Guardian Project

Hello everyone! I have decided to temporarily abandon "Wizarding Wednesdays" in place for "Wacky Wednesdays". In this segment I'll be looking at some of the WTF's in the nerd world. I though a great place to start would be with Stan Lee's fantastic *cough, cough* project for the NHL.

So, to raise awareness for the NHL (read: not starvation, or MS, or violence, they're raising awareness for the friggen' National Hockey League), the NHL asked Stan Lee to come up with a different super-hero mascot for each NHL team. Let's just say that the outcome was... less than stellar.

For any of you that know of Stan Lee, you know that he (along with Jack Kirby) made Marvel Comics what they are today. He is the co-creator of some of the most notable Marvel super-heroes, such as; Spider-Man, the X-Men, Avengers, Iron Man, Daredevil and Dr. Strange to name a few.

In just a moment I'm going to begin revealing some of the "guardians". I won't reveal them all tonight, because there are nearly 50 of them, so I'll put out like 10 or so this week, 10 next week, and so on. While you are looking at these "completely original" mascots, I challenge you to play the game I like to call "Which Marvel character is Stan Lee ripping off?". It's a pretty fun game if you know your Marvel characters. Feel free to post your finds in the comments! Enjoy!

I spy an X-Man!

This one took me a minute... Can you figure it out?

Tornado body? Now THAT is original!

I spy an Avenger with two popular movies!

Another X-Man perhaps?

And yet ANOTHER X-Man?

Another one from the X-Men universe...

This is the only one thus far that I REALLY liked. It actually LOOKS like the Jersey Devil

He he he he...

Is he a galactic defender of earth? Hmmmmm?