Hero Profile: Sunfire

Dropping the atomic bombs on Japan sure has caused them a lot of trouble, both in real life and in fiction. Horrible genetic deformities, hundreds of thousands of deaths, and areas of Japan that are barren and lifeless to this day, in the real world. In fiction it leads to weird superpowers, more widespread destruction, and GODZILLA! The next guy will focus on the first two points. Sunfire, the atomic hero. Let’s get to it.

See this guy hurling fireballs, and I guarantee you'll never
forget the name Sunfire. 

Shiro Yoshida’s mother was pregnant with him and near Hiroshima when the bombs dropped. The residual radiation gradually killed Shiro’s mother, and gave him immense powers based around solar radiation. Because of his mother’s death, Shiro developed an intense hatred for the United States. And, since we kind of DID kill his mom, I can’t exactly blame him. His pain and anger were augmented by his Uncle Tomo, whom desired to turn his nephew into a weapon against the US. Shiro didn’t need much convincing. After a few years of training, he used his powers, which include flight and fireball throwing, to attack the US Capital. He might have been successful, had the X-Men not intervened. The combined might of the original five Mutants forced Shiro to disengage and return home. Back in his family’s home, he witnessed Tomo murder Shiro’s father. Enraged by the loss of his father, and the obvious betrayal of his mentor/uncle, Shiro incinerated his Uncle, and then turned himself over to the authorities.

He was eventually released, and started crossing paths with some of Marvel’s greatest heroes. Like Namor, the Sub-Mariner, and Iron Man. He’s eventually tracked down by Charles Xavier, and recruited to help save the original X-Men from that living island, Krakoa, that I keep mentioning. After the X-Men were saved, Shiro left in a huff, claiming that saving the Team didn’t mean he wanted to be a part of the X-Men. Despite this claim, he seems to cross paths with them on a fairly regular basis. The X-Men help him save Japan from a villain named Moses Magnum, who wanted to sink the island nation. And later, he teams with Wolverine and Cable to stop another villain named Stryfe.

After a few adventures, he learned about one he forgot. When he was first starting out, he worked with the Brotherhood of Mutants, on a mission to steal the secret adamantium bonding process from a man named Lord Dark Wind. He worked closely with Rogue, and another Mutant named Blindspot. The mission ended poorly, no one got the bonding process, and Blindspot used her powers to make everyone forget her and the mission. Imagine the look on her face when she learned Dark Wind’s daughter, Lady Deathstrike was out to get them all. Deathstrike kidnapped Blindspot and released a photo of Sunfire, Rogue, and Mystique breaking into her mansion to draw their attention. Mystique never showed, but Sunfire and Rogue did. When they arrived, Deathstrike struck.

Really isn't a better slot on
Apocalypse's roster for him
than Famine.

Sunfire attacked first, and while he put up a valiant effort, he was fighting a trained cyborg assassin. During their fight, Deathstrike severed both of Shiro’s legs. Rogue surrendered, and when the two were imprisoned with Blindspot, did her best to helps save Shiro. They made him comfortable, but they could only stave off the inevitable. Deathstrike returned to finish them off. In the precious moments they had before her arrival, Sunfire begged Rogue to take his powers and save herself and Blindspot. Rogue had recently lost the powers she got from Captain Marvel, hence her giving up so quickly in the earlier fight, and was hesitant of using her powers on Shiro. Mostly because the power drain would kill him faster. Blindspot took Rogue’s desires out of the equation, and shoved her into Shiro. Rogue absorbed Shiro’s power and personality, and used them both to exact vengeance on Deathstrike. She’d have killed Deathstrike, had the other X-Men not arrived and forced her to relent. They went to check on Shiro’s body, but it had disappeared in the fight.

Months later, Shiro awoke in a hospital in Aspen. A group of ninja had apparently dropped him off there. Shiro was feeling pretty bummed at this point, losing two of your four limbs and your superpowers can do that to a fella, which made him a perfect target for everyone’s favorite Egyptian Megalomaniac. I’m talking, of course, about Apocalypse. Apocalypse offered Shiro his legs and powers back, but in exchange Shiro would have to agree to be one of Apocalypse’ new Horsemen. Shiro, sadly, agreed. He regretted his decision almost immediately. Shiro was forced to listen to the tortured screams of Gazer, a Mutant that was being transformed into the Horseman of War. Shiro tried to escape, with Gazer, but unfortunately he’d been completely transformed into War, and attacked Shiro for his efforts. Shiro was transformed into The Horseman of Famine, regaining his old powers, and the ability to induce feelings of intense weakness and hunger. With his new Horsemen, Apocalypse attacked the X-Men. In the ensuing battle, Shiro was shot down, captured by Rogue, and then mentally healed by the X-Men’s new telepath, Emma Frost. Or so they thought. Shiro was able to break free of Apocalypse’s control, but when the fighting broke out, he captured an unconscious Gambit, and brought them both to his new boss, Mr. Sinister. Shiro and Gambit became members of Sinister’s attack force, The Marauders.

I feel like his name sounds better in Japanese.
Let's see, Fire of the Sun translated is
Taiyo no hi. Yeah, sounds way better. 

Shiro remained with The Marauders until the Mutant Messiah was discovered. This baby was the first Mutant born since Magneto’s daughter Scarlet Witch caused M Day, and took away the powers of 90% of the worlds Mutants. Naturally, everyone wanted a piece of that baby. She was eventually sent into the far future with Cyclops’s son, Cable, and after the fighting dies down, the various teams split up. Years later, Wolverine tracks Shiro down. The former Sunfire had become a drunken homeless man, living on the streets of Tokyo. Wolverine wanted Shiro to join a new team, “The Avengers Unity Squad.” The new Avengers were comprised of classic Avengers, and former and current X-Men. The team was created after the disastrous battle between the X-Men and Avengers over the fate of Hope Summers a year or so before. Shiro was hesitant to join, given his past, and even Wolverine’s assurances that Xavier believed in his potential couldn't convince Shiro to become a hero again. But, when Shiro heard that the villainous Red Skull had stolen the brain of the recently deceased Xavier, he jumped right back into action. It took a while, but Sunfire had found his way back to the light.

Shiro’s powers essentially let him act like a miniature sun. He can absorb solar radiation, and convert it into his own power. Once he has enough juice, he can create giant flames, produce deadly amounts of radiation, and fly using his flames to give him thrust. He has the ability to “psionically shield” himself from both flames and radiation. Basically, he can't be burned, period. He temporarily lost all his powers to Rogue. He regained them and some new ones after becoming Famine for Apocalypse. He gained the power to create bright flashes of light that, when seen, trigger the parts of the brain that feels hunger. Basically, looking into this light makes it feel like you haven’t eaten in weeks. Not pretty. He’s also very skilled in several martial arts, including Kendo, Judo, and Karate.

As X-Men characters go, Sunfire is underutilized. To my knowledge, he’s only appeared once in a series outside the comics, and that was back in the 90s. And it was a cameo at best.

He was a background character in several episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series. I really only knew it was him because he had on his distinctive Sunfire Mask. The most important role I remember him playing was in “Graduation Day,” the series finale. In it, he was one of many Mutants that awaited Magneto’s orders after Charles Xavier was outed as a Mutant and nearly killed by an anti-Mutant terrorist. It’s not much.

He was also a playable character in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. He’s got his standard fire power and flight in this game. I used him a couple of times, but not often.

Overall, Sunfire is a character that I don’t know much about, but I do enjoy him. Conceptually, if nothing else. He’s a lot like the humans that the X-Men have to deal with on a regular basis, but towards the US. He has a semi-rational, semi-irrational hatred for a group that harmed him personally. And, that hatred has shaped his every waking moment. It probably would have consumed him, had he not seen his father’s murder and seen what intense hatred gets you. A buck of crazy, curtesy of Uncle Tomo. The combination of his white and red costume, and that kabuki style mask makes him a very visually striking character, if nothing else. He’s the Rising Sun, the Flame of Vengance, he’s Sunfire. Next time, the New Year begins with Jubilation. Jubilation Lee, that is. The X-Man Jubilee, for those who don't get the reference. Happy New Year, everyone.

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Hero Profile: Havok

“Cry Havoc, and let slip the hounds of war,” from William Shakespeare’s famous play Julius Caesar. Not exactly sure how this relates to Alexander Summers and his codename, but there you go. And, once again, the misspelling annoys me. Is there some other Havoc that Marvel was worried Alex would be confused with? That’s all I can think of why they thought changing a C to a K was necessary. Anyway, let’s get to it.

I wonder if he could cook
a roast with his powers.

Alex was the younger son of US Air Force Major Christopher Summers and his wife Katherine. The Summers family were living happily in Anchorage Alaska when it hit the fan. The family went out on a flight in Chris Summers’ privately owned plane, when they came under fire from a Shi’ar Warship. The Shi’ar are an alien race that occasionally tries to invade Earth, for those who don’t recognize the name. While Chris did his best to keep the plane in the air, Katherine strapped their boys into the only parachute and pushed them out of the plane. Once again, I feel the need to ask why the heck the US AIR FORCE MAJOR didn’t have enough parachutes on his plane. The stupidity of fictional characters astounds me. Anyway, the boys survive, but Scott hit his head in the crash and fell into a coma for a few months.

While Scott recovered, Alex was adopted by a nice family, the Blandings. You know those creepy families you occasionally see in TV shows and movies, the ones where they lose a child, and then adopt a “replacement” and do their best to make the new kid a copy of the old? Yeah, the Blandings fall into that category. Their son had been kidnapped and murdered a few years back, and they tried to make Alex into a duplicate of the boy they lost. Alex did his best to fit in, but that’s a lot of stress to put on a kid. A few weeks into his new life, Alex and his foster sister were kidnapped by the local sociopath. The same evil little turd that had killed the Blandings son and gotten away with it. The emotional stress of the situation caused Alex’s powers to manifest, and he released a bust of plasma that turned the boy into ash. This roused the attention of Nathaniel Essex, aka Mr. Sinister. He’s an evil Mutant Geneticist, literally a Mutant who specializes in Mutant Genetics, that is rather obsessed with the Summers family and their genetic potential. He was also the sick weirdo that orchestrated Alex’s adoption, while keeping Scott at the orphanage so he could experiment on the older Summers. He was kind of kicking himself for letting the other Summers’ slip through his fingers. Sinister used his telepathic powers on Alex and his foster sister to make them forget the night’s events.

Alex remained blissfully ignorant of his and Scott’s Mutant status until he graduated college and was kidnapped an archeologist named Ahmet Abdol aka the Living Pharaoh. Abdol had similar energy absorbing powers to Alex, but learned that Alex absorbed cosmic power more efficiently. He nabbed Alex and used him as a battery. The power he absorbs from Alex let Abdol transform into a monstrous being known as the Living Monolith. The X-Men, led by Alex’s big brother, fought a valiant but losing battle against the Monolith. They were saved when Alex freed himself and cut Monolith off from Alex’s energies. Alex’s powers were sporadic to begin with, they only seemed to trigger when his life was in danger. He was then kidnapped again, dude’s worse than a Robin, by a group of Sentinels. The big scary Mutant eradicating robots, for those who don’t recognize the name. They were working under Larry Trask, son of their creator Bolivar Trask. Larry wanted to turn Alex into a force he could control. He fashioned Alex’s costume and even gave him the codename Havok. Larry was later killed by his Sentinels, and Alex was saved by the X-Men. After a run in with the energy absorbing Sauron, Alex gained better control of his powers and joined the X-Men.

He's gotten better at the whole
radiation powers thing.

Alex was part of the team for a few years before they were all captured by the living island Krakoa. After being saved by the second generation of X-Men, Havok and his teammate/girlfriend Polaris retired for a bit, but rejoined the team when the need arose. Over the years, Alex has become a regular member of the X-Men again, and has served as team leader on a number of occasions. And he’s not getting kidnapped as often. Hooray! But it still happens on occasion, particularly when Living Monolith is involved.

Like his brother Scott, Alex has the ability to absorb cosmic radiation. Alex can the process and release the energy, which heats the air into plasma. He can force the blasts into a single direction, but this requires a lot of mental focus. Alex is immune to most forms of radiation and heat, as he just absorbs it. This includes Scott’s Optic Blast. But, Scott is also immune to Alex’s plasma as he also absorbs the energy. So basically Nature insures that the Summers boys can't have a fight that ends in energy blasts. He’s a fairly competent team leader and hand to hand combatant as well. 

Havok’s appearances have been a little sporadic. Until 2011’s X-Men: First Class, he was only ever really a minor guest character on X-Men TV shows.

He appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series in the episode “Cold Comfort.” In it, he leads X-Factor, a government funded version of the X-Men. In the episode, the two teams engage in a “Friendly Skirmish.” And by that, I mean they had a bareknuckle brawl. When he and brother Cyclops are face-to-face, they don’t recognize each other, and are pretty shocked that their powers seem to cancel each other out. He appears in a couple of flashbacks in later episodes.

Sweet brotherly love.

He has a minor role in several episodes of X-Men: Evolution. In it, he’s portrayed as your standard surfer bum, down to the hair and accent. Like in the comics, he and Scott were separated after the plane crash that killed their parents. They had just been reunited in the season one two-part finale The Cauldron. In it, the Brotherhood Mutants attack the X-Men, each one vying to get a spot on Magneto’s floating castle, Asteroid M. Alex and Scott get a free pass, for some reason. On Asteroid M, the brothers are put into a machine powered by the Gems of Cyttorak, which “evolves” their powers. It also ages them into adults and turns their hair white. The transformation seems to cancel out the negative effects of their powers, Scott’s need to wear protective eye coverings and the arthritis like pain that Alex has in this series and nowhere else. Awesome. It also brainwashes them and turns them into Magneto’s puppets. Less awesome. They eventually break free of Magneto’s control, and use their combined blasting power to destroy the falling Asteroid M. This seems to drain them of their enhancements, and causes them to revert to normal. Alex is a background or side character a few episodes after this, but only really does something useful in “Ascention,” where he helps the X-Men and their allies fight Apocalypse and his Horsemen.

Alex is promoted to an “Original” X-Man in X-Men: First Class. He’s portrayed by actor Lucas Till, and while he’s related to Scott, this version isn’t his brother. At least according to director Bryan Singer. In this movie’s universe, he was in solitary confinement in a government prison when Magneto and Charles recruit him. Overall, he’s less of the confident and cocky potential leader of this X-Men team, and is more of the…dick. Yeah, every line I remember him saying is either sarcastic, pessimistic, or just plain mean. Don’t be a dick to Hank, Alex, he’s got more X-Men street cred then you.

Despite what the promos of X-Men: Days of Future Past would have you believe, Till didn’t so much reprise his role but got a cameo part way through the movie. Apparently in the ten-year gap between X-Men: FI and DoFP he was drafted into the Army and served in a special forces team with Toad and some other Mutants. Mystique saves him and the other Mutants from being picked up by Trask…and that’s the last we’ll see of him. Would have been real nice to see him race to the capital to take part in the finale, but nope, no more Alex.

He’ll return in X-Men: Apocalypse, but I assume he’ll be put on the backburner in favor of Scott. It’s just a feeling.

Havok is a decent character. I like to think of him as Cyclops, if Cyclops ever got that stick out of his bum. While still having the confidence and leadership abilities of his brother, Alex is usually a more laidback character in comparison. And while it’s pretty crazy just how often he was kidnapped in his earliest appearances, he does get a lot better as his stories go on. Also, the fact that he’s pretty hesitant to use his powers, given how much destruction that he can cause, makes him a more interesting character. Or maybe that’s just me. He’s the energy blasting, often kidnapped but never stopped, hellraising Havok. Next time, the rising sun of Japan, Sunfire. He is more interesting than his name suggests.

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Hero Profile: Colossus

I’m a child of the 90s. Born at the start of it, and as such missed out on the whole Cold War thing, and the USSR stuff. All of my knowledge about the conflict stems from either history class, and/or the 80s cartoons I’ve watched where the Soviets were a big deal, or at least noteworthy. Season three of the original Transformers mentions them a few times. Given how…tense things seemed to be back then, it’s a little odd that our next character was featured pretty heavily, and in a very favorable light. You’d think that patriotism back then would have made it difficult to make anyone from the east side of the Iron Curtain seem like a good guy. But that’s the X-Men for ya, finding heroes in places where some would never think to look. Side note, while I know a lot of places use the anglicized version of Piotr’s name, I will not. There are enough Peter’s in Marvel Comics to get confusing as is, without including the international characters that have similar names. Piotr is Piotr, Pietro is Pietro, two less Peters to deal with. We good? Perfect, let’s get to it.

He'll smash you. Maybe.

Compared to yesterday, Piotr Rasputin’s life was pretty simple before his powers manifested. He was born in the former Soviet Union, and worked on a Soviet collective farm with his family. He lived with his parents and younger sister, Illyana, in Siberia. His older brother, Mikhail, was a cosmonaut that had apparently died for Mother Russia. Piotr lived a simple life, working hard for his family and his country. This simplicity actually ended pretty simply. One day while working on the farm, another farmer lost control of a tractor, and it nearly struck Illyana. Piotr selflessly threw himself in front of the tractor, shoving Illyana aside as he did so, and awakened his powers. His skin became like adamantium, and his strength skyrocketed. He stopped the tractor with minimal effort, and there was much rejoicing. A day or so after, Charles Xavier rolled up and offered Colossus a spot on X-Men. The writers seem to gloss over Xavier smuggling Piotr out of the Soviet Union. I imagine the KGB and other USSR higher ups wouldn’t want to lose a metallic titian, especially given later revelations about his family and their power, but hey, it’s a comic. Suspension of disbelief is a must.

In the US, Piotr was given the codename Colossus, and helped the second generation of X-Men save the first from Krakoa, an evil sentient island. No matter how many times I write that description, it never gets easier to process. Shortly after joining the X-Men, a woman known as Miss Locke began kidnapping friends and loved ones of the X-Men. Why? To force the Mutants to help her save her boss, a murderous, game obsessed psycho named Arcade. Among those kidnapped was Piotr’s sister. During the rescue attempt, Piotr is kidnapped and brainwashed by the ungrateful git Arcade into becoming “The Proletarian” and fighting his team. The team saves Piotr and he’s reunited with his sister. She’s taken back to the X-Mansion and made a part of the X-Family. Unfortunately, Illyana is kidnapped by a group of demons and brought to the dimension of Limbo. There, time is a little wonky. While only gone a few minutes, Illyana experiences ten or more years of time. She returns as a teenager, and certifiably insane. But I’ll get into that in her own character profile. Just know that as a teenager, she has the Mutant ability to teleport and has been trained to use magic by demons and hell spawn.

Overtime, he forms an on-again, off-again relationship with teammate Kitty Pryde aka Sprite aka Shadowcat, and a couple other codenames. It’s about as constant as any other superhero relationship. And by that, I mean some stories she’s the love of his life, and others, she’s a girlfriend that he can drop the moment things start getting too complicated and vice versa for her. That’s a rant for another day. Colossus is a caring soul, he tries to use his powers to protect others and does his best to cause as little damage as possible. But still, be careful not to set him off. For example, there was an incident where the insane and cruel Mutant scientist Mr. Sinister sent his own personal strike force, the Marauders, into the New York City sewers to destroy the sewer dwelling Mutants known as the Morlocks. During the battle, Kitty is severely injured, as is Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler, which sets Piotr off. The gentle giant beats the snot out of several Marauders, and snaps the neck of one of its more vicious members, Riptide. Piotr is still severely injured by Riptide, and he, Kitty, Kurt, and the surviving Morlocks spend several weeks recovering.

I think of Drogo's famous line when I see these panels.
"I must break you," Tractor.

On a later adventure, Colossus and the X-Men travel to a parallel dimension. There, they discover that Piotr’s brother, Mikhail is still alive, and has become the Messiah of the local populace. It’s explained that the USSR was aware of Mikhail’s Mutant powers, and put him on a suicide mission to test the limits of his powers. Mikhail has some really poorly defined powers over matter and energy. Huh, given big brother’s ability to control matter and energy, and little sister’s teleportation and magic powers, Piotr is technically the weakest of his family. That is just sooo weird. Anyway, after some deliberation, they convince Mikhail to help them all return home. Upon returning to Earth, Mikhail promptly proclaims himself king of the Morlocks, and transports them to another dimension. That man needs help.

Shortly thereafter, a deadly disease known as the Legacy Virus began to spread. The Virus was designed to attack Mutants, triggering after the victim used their powers for the first time after being infected. They then die horribly as their powers flare out of control. Imagine if Magneto had been infected, metal would fly all over the place, and possibly screw with the entire planet’s magnetic field. One of its earliest victims was Illyana. Emotionally scarred by the loss of both his siblings, Colossus went adrift for a while, working for Magneto and his Acolytes, and later the British X-Men team, Excalibur, before returning to the X-Men. In that time, the Legacy Virus had grown more virulent and had begun effecting non-Mutants. The X-Men’s resident genius, Beast, was able to create a prototype cure, but said cure needed to be inject into a host, and then die to make it airborne. Rather than wait to see if a better method could be found, Colossus injects himself and uses his powers. He died a hero. But this is the land of comics, so obviously he gets brought back. Can’t keep a good Mutant down.

Piotr Rasputin has the power to transform his entire body into an organic steel form. The metal he’s comprised of in this form is incredibly strong, flexible and heat resistant. In this armored state he gains a foot in height, and doubles in weight. While in his armored form, Colossus is almost unstoppable. He doesn’t need food, water, or air, and is virtually invulnerable. It takes a lot of force, heat followed by rapid cooling, or mystical energies to hurt him while armored. He’s strong enough to fight on even footing with the Unstoppable Juggernaut, which is saying something. He’s also had combat training from Wolverine, and Cyclops, making him as skilled a fighter as well as a strong one.

You'd think they'd make his costume out of
sturdier material. Just saying.

Colossus has appeared in a number of X-Men series. He’s perhaps the most well-known Russian of the Marvel Universe. Well, the most well-known Russian to Not be actively trying to destroy America and/or revive the Soviet Union.

He was a recurring character in X-Men: The Animated Series back in the 90s. In “The Unstoppable Juggernaut,” he’s initially blamed for trashing the X-Mansion, before the team realizes the titular Juggernaut is to blame. Piotr gets payback for Marko sullying his good name. He returned in “Red Dawn,” where he enlists the X-Men’s help to stop an insane group of Soviet Generals from unleashing the powerful but uncontrollable Omega Red in a bid to rebuild the USSR.

We see Colossus appear in the third season of X-Men: Evolution. In it, he’s a member of Magneto’s personal guard/attack force, the Acolytes. Unlike his teammates Sabertooth and Pyro, who are in it for the destruction, and Gambit, who seems to be in it because he’s bored, Colossus is being blackmailed. Magneto threatened to hurt his family unless he cooperated. He’s mostly silent in his early appearances, in fact the first line I remember him saying wasn’t until the season three finale. The X-Men and Magneto and the Acolytes are forced to work together to stop their mutual foe, Apocalypse, from resurrecting. While Kitty and Nightcrawler explore Apocalypse’s tomb, Nightcrawler voices his concern about the giant. Kitty claims he’s a softy, possibly a nod to their comic book relationship. A half second later, Colossus crashes after them before saying rather sheepishly, “I-I grew concerned.” Isn’t he cute? Things don’t go well, and Apocalypse is revived. In the season four opener, he’s with the other Acolytes in Apocalypse’ Pyramid. He grew frustrated with Magneto’s methods, claiming Magneto’s wounded pride at losing to Apocalypse is driving the Master of Magnetism insane. When Magneto threatens to crush him like a can, in an incredibly gutsy move, Colossus transforms back to normal and threatens to beat Magneto to a pulp with is bare hands. He’s stopped by Gambit. Would have loved to see how that fight went down. In the Series Finale, he joins with the X-Men to stop Apocalypse and his Horsemen, and is apparently inducted into the X-Men after the fighting dies down.

Yeah, wouldn't want to mess with any one of these three.

For his live action appearances, he’s been portrayed by actor Daniel Cudmore in X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men: Days of Future Past. The X-Men movies, in my opinion, have a bad habit of only characterizing lesser characters by their powers. And, when I say lesser, I mean characters less important to the plot. I’m one that contends any of the more well-known X-Men could be the protagonist of their own standalone movie, and Colossus is no exception. But, again, a rant for another time. In all four X-Men movies that he appears in, I recall no mention of Colossus’ kind nature, love of art, his love for his sister, or pacifism. I just recall the silvery looking dude in the background of a lot of scenes, and laying the smack down on super-Sentinels in Days of Future Past. Oh, and how they complete get Rogue’s powers wrong in a training simulation in The Last Stand. During a fire fight, Colossus puts his hand on her head, and they both armor up. You know how that would go down with Rogue in any other series, heck, in any other point in that movie? Colossus powerless, probably unconscious, while steel skinned Rogue stands guard over his inert form. Not that helpful there, chief.

It looks like Deadpool will be taking the character in a different route. Physically, Colossus is going to be portrayed by actor Andre Tricoteux, but will be voiced by Stefan Kapicic, an actual Serbian Actor. Guess some other folks were a little sick of the Americanization of the Global X-Men. They better make Pyro an Aussie again next time he comes up.

Colossus is a pretty standard gentle giant character. He’s big, soft spoken, and tries not to show off his strength too often. And while he is generic, in that regard, I still love this character. Maybe it’s the emphasis that Colossus puts on sacrificing himself/his desires for others, a very communist but still very good quality. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s very quiet by nature, at least in the adaptations I’ve seen, but quickly becomes more talkative as other characters warm up to him. A trait I share with the big iron lug. Maybe it’s because Piotr puts a pretty big emphasis on his family, which, again, is a big deal for me. And maybe it’s just because I love X-Men, and to me the worst X-Man is still ten times better than most other characters. He’s the Metal Guardian, the Good Iron Curtain, the caring Colossus. Next time, the other Summers, Alex Summers aka Havok. That miss spelling pains me.  

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Hero Profile: Nightcrawler

I’ve been racking my brain to think of a good Theme Week for the end of December/beginning of January. Since I haven’t thought of a perfect theme, I’ve decided to go with what will probably be my standby Theme Week, the X-Men. What can I say? They have some of the best characters. But which to start with? Well, why not the X-Man with the closet ties to the season? I’m talking of course, about Father Kurt Wagner, aka Nightcrawler. You didn’t know he was priest, did you? Well, former priest. Let's get to it.

Can kind of see why some might confuse Kurt
with a demon. 

Kurt’s life has been complicated pretty much since his conception. For those who haven’t read my villain profile for his mother, here’s a quick refresher. Mystique was the wife of a wealthy German Baron named Christian Wagner. She was well taken care of, but Mystique was incredibly bored with her husband. Apparently, while being a good provider and doting husband, he was about as interesting as a stamp collector. In a couple of areas, wink wink, nudge nudge. She had an affair with one of Christian’s business partners, who was also a Mutant, named Azazel. Mystique was impregnated, and later gave birth to Kurt. Unlike his biological parents, though, Kurt was clearly abnormal from the moment he came into the world. He seemed to inherit the most physically obvious Mutations from his parents, his mother’s blue skin and his father’s demonic looking hands, feet, and prehensile tail. Which is really messed up when you consider both Mystique and Azazel are shapeshifters. They get to hide the more noticeable differences, Kurt doesn't get the luxury. The local towns folk considered Kurt an abomination, and mother and newborn were run out of town. Forced to choose between her life and the life of her son, Mystique dropped Kurt into a well. Mystique has always been a survivor.

Thankfully for Kurt, his father is an incredibly powerful Mutant, with multiple abilities like teleportation, and knowledge of black magic. Both of these abilities let him look after his spawn, and save the baby from drowning. He gave Kurt to a Gypsy sorceress named Margali Szardos to raise. Margali was a fortuneteller in a traveling Bavarian circus, and thus Kurt was raised amongst Carnies. Despite his demonic appearance, Kurt was beloved by his circus family, including his adoptive siblings, Stefan and Jimaine. Kurt had a natural grace and agility, which combined with his unusual hands and feet, made him a natural acrobat. He astounded audiences, who assumed he was doing all his aerial tricks in a blue devil costume.

A few years later, Kurt’s circus was bought out by a Texas Millionaire, who’d heard of Kurt and his amazing acrobatic feats. But when he learned of Kurt’s mutant status, he demanded Kurt be put into the Freak Show. Kurt was drugged to keep him compliant, but he was saved by a Mutant child with the power to sense other Mutants. Kurt attempted to connect with his brother Stefan in Winzeldorf, Germany. But, to Kurt’s horror, Stefan had apparently lost his mind and started brutally murdering children. Kurt tracked Stefan down, and tried to talk his beloved brother down, but Stefan was irreconcilable. They fought, and Stefan was killed in the struggle. Once again, Kurt was attacked by a mob. This one blamed him for the child murders Stefan performed. Racists. He very well could have been stoned to death, had not Charles Xavier stepped in. Our favorite Psychic used his telepathy to freeze the mob in place, and spirited Kurt away. Kurt became one of the second generation of X-Men, alongside other fan favorites Wolverine, Storm, and Colossus. And some lesser known X-Men, Thunderbird, Banshee and Sunfire. Once again, Kurt had found a home.

With a group like this, it takes a while to notice the Blue
and furry guy.

Kurt went on many adventures with the X-Men, forming friendships both with his current team, the original five X-Men, and all the Mutants that came after.  He also spent time with the British X-Men team Excalibur, and entered into the priesthood in his spare time. It was around this time that he learned the reason behind his birth. Turns out, Azazel is an immortal demon-like Mutant. His subspecies of Homo-Superior were called the Neyaphem. They battled a group of angelic themed Mutants, the Cheyarafim, that forced them into another dimension. Azazel could escape the other world, for short periods of time, thanks to his teleportation powers. Azazel sought out “unique” women, like Mystique, and fathered children with them. Each of his spawn were born with Teleportation powers. After he’d created enough of these teleporters, he compelled his children to gather, and then teleport all at once. This created a breach in space and time, and allowed Azazel to escape. Kurt, his half-siblings Kiwi Black and Abyss (the only three to survive the teleportation) and the X-Men battled Azazel, and forced the Demon-Mutant back into his prison. Kurt has had many adventures with the X-Men, died, been resurrected and died again. Kurt just can’t catch a break.

Even before Kurt’s main Mutation manifested in his teens, he was obvious not a normal human. Kind of like his fellow blue X-Man, Beast. He has a prehensile tail, three long fingers and two long toes. He’s unusually dexterous and flexible, and his years of acrobatics experience make him a marvel to watch while jumping. He also has microscopic suction cups on his hands and feet, that let him cling to walls. Kind of like Spider-Man. The severity of his physical abnormalities obviously stem from those of his parents, whom are both...noticeable in their natural forms.

A match made in Blue Man Group Heaven.

Kurt’s main power is Teleportation. He is able to transport himself and one passenger though his father’s dimension and reappear at a predestined location. He has a limit of about two miles, but has pushed this limit when under extreme conditions. It also helps to see or be familiar with where he is going, but that's not as strict a limit. When he teleports there is a loud “Bamf” noise, accompanied by the smell of sulfur and brimstone. This is the atmosphere of Azazel’s realm leaking through as Kurt teleports. Fun fact, Daredevil is one of only a handful of characters that can “sense” when Nightcrawler is about to appear. His heightened sense can detect the subtle atmospheric changes his powers create. Nightcrawler is also able to camouflage himself, thanks to his blue fur and a sort of small dimensional portal that constantly surrounds his body and absorbs light. His eyes also glow in the dark, and give him above average night vision. Kurt the Nightcrawler is quiet aptly named, isn't he? He’s also a gifted fencer, and mechanic.

Another important aspect of Nightcrawler that I feel like mentioning is his family. Kurt's relations are a crazy bunch. Through his mother Mystique, he’s related to the mutant hating politician Graydon Creed, and is the adoptive brother of everyone’s favorite southern belle, Rogue. He was related to dozens of unnamed Mutant Teleporters, through his father, but his only living half siblings on that side are Kiwi Black and Abyss. And you thought your family was nuts.

Nightcrawler is a very popular X-Man, but his appearances have been rather limited.

He only appears in two episodes of the wonderful X-Men of the 90s. In the episode “Nightcrawler,” Wolverine, Rogue and Gambit go on a ski trip to Germany. Gambit and Rogue enjoy the getaway, but Wolverine is far more interested in stories of a demon in a local monastery. There they meet Kurt, who is a monk at the monastery. Kurt, despite the harassment of the villagers and one of his superiors, is a very pious man and does his best to inspire faith in others. The three X-Men save him from a mob, and he actually inspires Wolverine to open himself up to a higher power. He returned in Bloodlines, where he is reunited with his mother and adoptive sister Rogue. His brother, Graydon, orchestrated the meeting so he could prune the family tree of mutants. He isn’t seen again, but I wouldn’t be shocked to find out he was spending his time praying for the soul of his half-brother. Kurt’s a good man like that.

Not sure why he needed tattoos in this version. Is being a blue, teleporting
demonic looking Mutant not enough to be noticed anymore?

He was a main character in X-Men: Evolution. This version focuses on the loveable prankster aspects of Kurt, and stays away from his faith. He is the first recruit of the X-Men, and often battled the Brotherhood of Mutant’s more acrobatic member, Toad. This Kurt is able to live a semi-normal life thanks to a holographic “image inducer” which hides his blue fur, pointed appendages, and tail. To this day I find it odd that no one ever asked Kurt why his pointer and middle finger, and ring and pinkie finger were always together. He has a strong friendship with most of his teammates, but none more so than with Cyclops and Rogue. He and Cyclops have a brotherly relationship, which was beneficial to both of them, since Cyclops needed to fill the void his own missing brother left, and Nightcrawler has a habit of getting into trouble. As pranksters do. When it’s discovered he and Rogue are adoptive siblings, he embraces the new depth of their relationship. Rogue fights it for a bit, but seems to embrace the “fuzzy dude” as her brother by the end of the series. This show also delves more deeply into his relationship with Mystique. Upon learning of their relationship, he desperately tries to connect with her. His attempts don’t amount to much. Eventually, Mystique’s quest for vengeance against former boss Magneto has her seemingly turned to stone. After rescuing her petrified form from the Brotherhood’s house, Mystique's former team weren't treating her remains with respect shockingly, Nightcrawler tries to revive her. It’s eventually revealed that Rogue can do it by absorbing the stone, or something, but she instead shoves Mystique off the side of a cliff. Did I mention Rogue is all kinds of bitter from the various Mystique Manipulations? Kurt teleports after her, doesn't reach her in time, and howls in sorrow as she shattered to pieced. He has one of the best lines in this episode, when he asks his mother’s petrified form, “Why were you so full of anger?” and then tries to convince a very angry Rogue to let go of said anger. This leads to the shoving incident mentioned above. He forgives Rogue, it’s kind of his thing, and by series end their relationship is stronger than ever. They both seem to agree that Mystique, who wasn't really dead, shocking I know, isn't worth either of their time. Kurt probably would have forgiven her too, had the show continued. Again, it's his thing.

Please amount to more than Havok and Toad's cameos in
Days of Future Past.

Nightcrawler appeared in X2: X-Men United. He’s portrayed by Alan Cumming. He’s a mutant that first attacks the president, which leads to an attack on the X-Mansion led by William Stryker. Jean and Storm track him down, which saves them from the raid, and learn that Kurt had been brainwashed. Stryker used a fluid that his mutant son Jason’s brain secretes to temporarily control mutants. Kurt helps the X-Men stop Stryker and save Xavier and the kidnapped students. He isn’t seen again, X-Men: The Official Game explains he left the team at the game’s end, because he’s fundamentally a man of peace. Interestingly, this series doesn’t bring up the connection with Mystique, even though they have a few heart to heart talks. Odd.

He was going to appear in X-Men: Days of Future Passed but was dropped because director Bryan Singer felt they were forcing too many Mutants in.

He will return in X-Men: Apocalypse portrayed by Kodi Smit-McPhee. I’m interested to see what capacity Nightcrawler will have in this film. Since he’s a younger character, it may be interesting to see him conflicted with the threat of Apocalypse. A Mutant run world would probably be pretty attractive to a young and confused Kurt Wagner. But that's just me speculating, again. Sigh, if the movies follow current trends, we'll get very little of Kurt, but plenty of Xavier, Magneto and Mystique. Spread the love, guys.

Nightcrawler is one of the most interesting X-Men ever created. And that’s saying something. He is a character of contradiction. A demonic appearance, but an unshakable faith. The son and brother of terrorists, but a man of peace. Despite having every reason to lash out, to hate all those that look at him with malice or scorn, he will sooner pray for their souls than retaliate. So long as he’s the sole target, thought. Don’t mess with those he cares about, he has swords and knows how to use them. I’m always happy to see him in a X-Men series, and hope to see him in many more shows/movies to come. He’s the pious demon, the teleporting terror, the Incredible Nightcrawler. Next time, the Metallic Titan of the X-Men, Colossus.

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Viewer Log: Arrow ep 2

This episode of Arrow opens with a brief summary narration provided by Oliver Queen. He covers the major plot points established last episode, Name is Oliver Queen, five years in hell, must be someone else, etc. Oliver as “The Hood” forces another person on his father’s list to admit their wrong doings and be punished legally. The next day, his family learns about “The Hoods” antics on the morning news, and then the Queens plus Tommy go to court to have Oliver resurrect. Legally speaking. After that, Oliver has another awkward run in with Laurel, and locks onto his next target, Martin Summers. Summers is the CEO of the local docks, and uses this control to ship drugs into Starling City for the Triade.

The eventual Arrow Crew.

Oliver ditches Diggle, attacks Summers, and gives him a day to confess to murdering a dock worker that had threatened to reveal the drug trade to the Starling City Police. Back with the Queens, Diggle is chastised for losing Oliver for like the fifth time. Oliver comes in, and takes some of the heat off Diggle by claiming he was seeing a “lady friend.” Nice save, Ollie. Detective Lance interrogates Summers, but he remains tight lipped about being attacked by the Hood, and explicitly threatens Lance and his lawyer daughter, Laurel.

Back with the Queens, Moira tells Oliver that she wants to give him a leadership position with Queen Consolidated. Oliver is less than thrilled, as board meetings and charity events would cut into his criminal threatening time. Diggle gives him some pretty unique insight. Diggle is a former soldier, having served three tours in Iraq. He claims that being away is easy, that “Home is a battlefield.” Summers calls in a favor with the Triad, and then send a representative. They don’t mention her name here, but she is Chien Na Wei, aka China White. Wei is a top level assassin, and her job this time around is to take out Laurel Lance.

Oliver visits Laurel, on advice from his sister. While they bond over ice cream, Oliver’s…Arrow Senses tingles and uses his own ninja skills to keep Laurel alive. Wei and her goons nearly get them, but Diggle steps in and shows he can kick tons of ass. Oliver saves Diggle, by flinging a butter knife across a room and knocking Wei’s weapon away. Afterwards, Diggle makes it clear that he knows that Oliver is more than he appears.

Oliver goes after Summers again. Oliver gets Summers to confess, by shooting tons of arrows at him. Chien shows up, and she and Oliver have a Kung Fu fight. They’re interrupted by Detective Lance and the cops showing up. Lance almost captures Oliver, but he escapes and gives Lance an arrow with a voice recording of Summers confession. Oliver decides it’s best to pull a Batman, and play up his drunken billionaire side, to ensure that he’ll be free to continue his vigilante activities. We learn that his ploy works really well, enough to convince his mother and her shadowy companion that Oliver has no idea about Robert’s secrets. The plot thickens.  

Arrow uses a lot of flashbacks. Each episode is essentially a “Now” plot, and a “Then” plot. The “Then” plot for this one is rather short, just showing Oliver landing on Lian Yu and his first few days there. He makes a little burial mound for his dad, discovers his father’s secret book, and then is promptly shot several times by a hooded archer. The other plot thickens.

Another solid episode. It expands Oliver’s crusade, and helps show what exactly Oliver is going through. While he’s committed to his mission, we’re clearly seeing the weight that his vigilante activities put on him, and how its effecting his personal life. Diggle’s role is expanded, and we see what a crazy badass veteran he is. He personally takes on several assassins, and only needs an assist when Wei gets the upper hand.  I’m not a huge of Thea Queen or Laurel Lance in this episode, as both characters come across as whiners. But maybe that’s just me. The most intriguing character is Moira Queen. She’s pulling double duty as the caring mother trying to help her son re-acclimate to his life, and yet on the other hand is clearly up to something sinister. So yeah, a good continuation. 

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Viewer Log: Arrow ep 1

This Viewer Log is going to be slightly different than the Jessica Jones one. I’ll be doing this one periodically, given that Arrow already has a pretty well established fan base, and there are just so many more episodes. For those who somehow haven’t heard of it, Arrow is a TV series on the CW Network. It tells the story of Oliver Queen, as we see him progress from Playboy millionaire to vigilante superhero. This is the CW’s second DC franchise, after the long running Smallville. Let’s get to it.

Technically, wouldn't his name make more sense if he was
the Green Bow? 

The episode opens with a shabby looking fellow performing parkour on an island. Shabby sees a fishing boat, and then skillfully launches a flaming arrow into a signal fire set up some distance away. In a narration, we learn that his guy is Oliver Queen, and he’s been stuck on the island of Lian Yu in the North China Sea for about five years. A news report fills in more of the gaps. The News Anchor tells us that Oliver was a well-known partier in Starling City, who disappeared with his father and several others when the family Yacht, The Queen’s Gambit, sank. Back with Oliver, a doctor makes the assessment that Oliver was pretty screwed up, physically speaking. Scar tissue over 20% of his body, several mended bones, and a bunch of new tattoos that one seems to question. His mother, happy to see him, takes him home. He brings a mysterious case with him, that he doesn’t let anyone touch. At home, he meets Walter Steele, the CFO of Queen Consolidated, and his sister, Thea. Smiles all around.

We jump to Dinah Laurel Lance, a lawyer and Oliver’s old girlfriend. She’s doing lawyer stuff when she finds out that Oliver is alive, and that her sister, who was on the ship, is for sure dead. There’s a short flashback, which shows Oliver’s father, Robert Queen, on the Gambit. The storm is getting rough, and the captain is worried. We also see a younger Oliver, and Sara Lance… in a robe. Did I mention that Oliver is a notorious booty hound? Robert tells his son that “romancing” sister’s is a bad idea. Back with the Queens, the family has dinner, along with Oliver’s best friend Tommy Merlyn and Steele. Oliver learns that his mother, Moira, and Steele are married. He’s happy for them, but clearly uncomfortable.

Another flashback to the ship. Sara is “conflicted” with their relationship, but still enjoys Oliver’s attention. The storm then sinks The Gambit, Sara is swept out to sea, but Oliver is saved by his father and the captain. They had a lifeboat. This flashback turned out to be a dream, Moira attempted to wake Oliver, who promptly takes her down. Apparently Moira is willing to believe that a side effect of island survival is ninja fighting skills. Huh. Once alone again, Oliver opens the case; it’s filled with various items from the Island. He gives his sister a stone from the island, and sees that she’s experimenting with drugs. Not so great.

Oliver goes a little nuts with the eye shadow.
Doesn't really seem to help hide his identity.

Oliver goes out with Tommy. Starling City has a pretty severe homeless/unemployment problem. Oliver stakes out an old Queen Consolidated steel mill, and then asks to see Laurel. Obviously, Miss Lance isn’t all that happy to see Oliver. Diddling your girlfriend’s sister will do that. Oliver still tries to ask for forgiveness, but she blows him off. After that, Tommy and Oliver are kidnapped by some goons. Flashback, there are a lot of these, to the lifeboat. Robert basically begs his son for forgiveness, for the situation, and his hand in whatever economic ruin that Starling City is going through. In the present, the goons try to interrogate Oliver about his father’s fate, and what he may have learned from the late Queen. Oliver takes the torture for a few minutes, breaks free, and beats the snot out of them. In the end, he captures the last surviving goon and snaps his neck, swearing that no one can ever learn his secret.

After the encounter, Oliver is interviewed by Detective Quentin Lance. Oliver feeds Lance a story about a man in a green hood saving them, and Tommy was too disorientated to say anything else. If the name didn’t tip you off, Lance is the father of Laurel and Sara, and is also pissed at Oliver for his hand in Sara’s death. So…a pretty C- day. Oliver starts looking into Adam Hunt, a wealthy business man that screwed a bunch of folks out of millions of dollars. Hunt’s name appears in a ratty old book Oliver is carrying, and is the other party in a case Laurel is working on. Oliver is introduced to John Diggle, his new bodyguard. Oliver quickly ditches Diggle, and returns to the steel mill. He starts setting up shop in the steel mill, smashing some stuff, and setting up a rudimentary computer system. He does some training really quick, and then goes after Hunt. Oliver takes out Hunt’s guards, and then threatens Hunt. He has until 10 pm the next night to transfer all the money he stole. The next day, Hunt gets the cops to help him set up a security perimeter around his tower.

Oliver goes to his welcome home party, and despite some set back, slips away when Hunt doesn’t pay up. He singlehandedly takes out Hunt’s forces, and only misses one shot. Oliver escapes just before being caught by the cops, and flees back to his party across the street. The craziness of the party give’s Oliver a decent enough alibi, but both Lance and Tommy are clearly suspicious of Oliver and the Hood. We then learn that Oliver’s one missed shot was anything but. The arrow was a trick arrow that hacked Hunt’s system, and wirelessly downloaded the entire 40 million dollars that Hunt stole. Oliver crosses Hunts name off the list. In the last flashback, we see Robert kill himself and the captain to increase Oliver’s odds of survival. And in the last few seconds, we learn that Moira was the one that arranged the kidnapping.

Overall, this was a solid opening for Arrow. It covers the major plot points, billionaire shipwrecked and then returns a master archer, goes out to be a modern Robin Hood. Steven Amell is amazing as Oliver Queen. He can both be the happy go lucky playboy he pretends to be, and the more brooding vigilante that he has become. For some reason they changed Arrow’s home town’s name from Star City to Starling City for some reason. That’s a minor change, though. There were some pretty major changes too, such as his mother being alive, and the addition of John Diggle and Thea Queen. All three characters are decently portrayed in this first episode. The weakest link is Laurel. I’m not sure if it’s the writing, or actress Katie Cassidy’s portrayal, but there’s something about this version of Laurel that rubbed me the wrong way. But she far from ruins the show. Arrow only goes up from here. Next time, Arrow episode 2.

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Villain Profile: General Zod

So I finally decided which character to do next. It took some thinking, but I finally decided on the second most well-known Kryptonian, General Zod. Zod is another of those DC characters whose origin has been rewritten several times since his initial introduction. This had something to do with DC wanting to push the “Last Son of Krypton” angle for Superman after the company wide event “Infinite Crisis.” Basically, every other Kryptonian previously established was either written out of continuity, or re-written to have non-Kryptonian origins. I don’t know why they did this, as once you write out all the other Kryptonians, there are significantly fewer characters to fight Superman. For a long time, Zod did occasionally reappear, but these were always from parallel universes. Superman didn’t get his old Zod back until 2006. But enough history… er, publication history. Let’s get to it.

You shall Kneel before Zod.

Back on Krypton, General Dur-Zod was one of its most well respected military leaders. He was also friends with one of Krypton’s top scientists, Jor-El. Zod, his wife Ursa, and several of his lieutenants grew dissatisfied with Krypton’s oppressive government. They rebelled, planning to replace the corrupt government with a new, improved version. While they started with noble intentions, Zod and co eventually became petty tyrants that were obsessed with expanding their own power. After several years of this, the group is captured and put on trial. Zod and his followers were to be executed, but Jor-El pleaded on their behalf. Jor-El was able to beat the sentence down from execution, to life imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. There was a provision that Jor-El was to be their jailer, and if they ever escaped it’d be on his head, but thankfully the destruction of Krypton got him off the hook. There’s a silver lining to ever tragedy. If you look really, really, really hard.

While trapped in the Phantom Zone, Zod and Ursa had a son they named Lor-Zod. When Krypton was destroyed, they escaped the Phantom Zone and made their way to Earth. Zod lead as small army of Kryptonian soldiers, about twenty-five or so. Anyone who knows how much damage one Kryptonian can do, knows that against twenty-five, mankind is pretty boned. While prepping for the invasion, Zod and Ursa misplace their young son, whom is discovered by Superman and adopted by the Man of Steel and his then wife, Lois Lane. Worst parent’s ever. Zod and Ursa, not Lois and Clark. Anyway, Zod leads this invading army, and even temporarily traps Superman in the Phantom Zone to keep him out of the way. It was also payback for Jor-El’s hand in Zod’s imprisonment. He seems to have forgotten that Jor-El got his sentence down from, you know, a death sentence. Ungrateful jerk.

While trapped in the Phantom Zone, powerless I might add, Superman was aided by a fellow prisoner, Mon-El and escaped. Back on Earth, Superman recruited the help of some of his Kryptonian hating enemies, Lex Luthor, Metallo, Parasite and Bizarro Superman. The five heroes…er one hero, three villains and one morally ambiguous clone are able to beat back the Kryptonians and force them into the Phantom Zone.

Major Zod, before a lot of bad decisions made
him the monstrous General we know. 

He’s later freed from the Phantom Zone by Supergirl’s mother, and Superman’s aunt, Alura. Alura was one of several hundred Kryptonians freed from ‘the bottled city of Kandor.’ Kandor was Krypton’s scientific hub city. It had been shrunken down, people and all, and turned into a display by the evil Brainiac. Once freed, the scientists and philosophers of Krypton needed a military leader, and since Zod was pretty much the only candidate, their hands were tied. A short time later, Superman visited his people, and was drafted into New Krypton’s army, under Zod. The two had a tense, but functional work relationship. Heck, after Zod survives an assassination attempt, he names Superman his temporary successor. After uncovering the traitor that engineered the plot, Superman and Zod part with a mutual respect for one another. Peace on New Krypton is short lived, however, when Brainiac returned to reclaim his lost prize. Zod is driven by a mad vengeance, as he feels defeating the latest Brainiac would make up for the original loss of Kandor to the original Brainiac. Despite Zod’s best attempts, New Krypton is destroyed in the conflict. Driven mad with grief, Zod declares war on Earth, and attempts to turn it into New New Krypton. Superman and Zod partake in a fierce battle, but Zod is ultimately defeated by his own son. Lor-Zod, going by his Earth name Chris Kent, pushed his dear old Dad back into the Phantom Zone. While trapped again, for now, Zod will not rest until all kneel before him.

General Zod has the same abilities as all Kryptonians under a yellow sun. He’s incredibly strong, nearly invulnerable, able to fly, shoot beams of heat from his eyes, see into the infrared spectrum, has freezing breath, and can survive only on sunlight. And, like most Kryptonians, his main weakness is Kryptonite, irradiated pieces of his destroyed homeworld. He’s also a skilled military leader, and a fierce fighter/soldier. His immense skill is really only overshadowed by his immense arrogance, which is usually the cause of his defeats.

Zod’s appearances in DC Media has been rather sporadic. Superman related stories usually include at least one amoral, power hungry military leader that wants to conquer Earth. But for some reason, they aren’t always named Zod. Not sure why.

 In Superman: The Animated Series, aspects of Zod were mixed into another Superman villain, Jax-Ur. Jax-Ur’s origin was identical to Zod’s in the comics, former military leader that was later imprisoned the in the Phantom Zone after he staged a rebellion. He was freed by his lover, Mala. Mala was also a mix of two characters, Zod’s wife Ursa and a Kryptonian warrior named Mala. They captured Superman in the Phantom Zone and attempted to take over Earth. They are defeated once Superman escapes.

Wasn't mentioned here, but can't forget the original Zod
portrayed by Terrance Stamp.

Two versions of Zod appeared in the CW’s Smallville. The first was the classic Zod, a military genius turned insane dictator. When he and his followers were imprisoned, Jor-El destroyed their physical forms, turning them into formless wraiths. The fifth season is centered on building Zod up, as his minion Brainiac does everything in his power to free his master. Ultimately, Brainiac is able to transform Lex Luthor into a sort of Kryptonian/Human hybrid, which makes him the perfect vessel for Zod’s wraith. Lex-Zod is able to temporarily trap Clark Kent in the Phantom Zone, and goes about conquering Earth. Clark is able to escape the Phantom Zone, thanks to a backdoor exit Jor-El designed for imprisoned El’s, and takes a special Crystal with him. The Crystal is able to excise Zod’s Phantom from Luthor.

A new Zod appears in Season Nine. This Zod is a younger clone of Zod, back when he was a Major. Major Zod and a small army of Kryptonians escape from a special Kryptonian Artifact. He’s portrayed by Callum Blue. These Kryptonians are powerless on Earth, and spend the season trying to reclaim their powers. They form an uneasy alliance with Clark, hoping that he’d get them their powers back. Zod starts off as a good man, forced to make impossible choices to ensure his Kryptonian’s survive on a possibly hostile world. He, unfortunately, makes several bad choices, and suffers a few betrayals, that lead him to become the villainous Zod of the future. One of the biggest betrayals is learning that Jor-El intentionally treated the Kandorians DNA with Blue Kryptonite, ensuring that the Clones would be powerless on Earth. Blue Kryptonite strips a Kryptonian of their powers and makes them more or less human. This was, from Jor-El's point of view, necessary to protect the native human population from Kryptonian overlords. Zod just saw it as another knife in the back. He’s able to get his powers from mixing his blood with Clarks, and “shares” this gift with his fellow refugees. He loses control of the situation, however in the season nine finale. It’s discovered that in anger he killed Faora, his second-in-command and lover. At the time, the Kryptonians were preparing to leave Earth using “The Book of Rao.” The device would transport any Kryptonian DNA off of Earth to a new world. Zod attempted to escape punishment with a Blue Kryptonite Dagger. This plan is stopped by Clark, who takes the dagger to his stomach and jumps off the roof of the building they’d gathered atop. Without the Blue Kryptonite radiation, Zod is forced to ascend to New Krypton. Once there, he’s tried and imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. 

In Season Ten, Clark is tricked into traveling to the Phantom Zone. There, he discovers Major Zod waiting. It’s then revealed that Major Zod united with the Phantom of General Zod, becoming a Major-General Zod. He planned on trapping Clark forever in the Phantom Zone and attacking Earth. Clark and his friend/ally Oliver Queen escape and destroy the exit. Really hope no other El's are ever accidentally imprisoned in the Phantom Zone.

There will be blood. And broken necks.

We see Zod again in Man of Steel. This Zod is portrayed by Michael Shannon. This version is like most Zods, military leader turned revolutionary turned dictator, but with an added twist. In this universe’s version of Krypton, all Kryptonian’s are genetically engineered. Zod was designed to protect Krypton and its people, by whatever means necessary. He’s trapped in the Phantom Zone with his followers, but escape after Krypton’s destruction. They come to Earth with a “World Engine,” a ship designed to terraform planets into “Krypton-like worlds.” They were drawn to Earth when Clark Kent accidentally activated a distress signal on an old Kryptonian scout ship. This was doubly fortunate for Zod, since he needed Clark Kent for his plan. Prior to his death, Jor-El had stolen the Codex. The Codex is a record of all Kryptonian families, and is the key to recreating the genetically engineered Kryptonians. And said Codex is infused into Clark's DNA. Which is why Zod hunts him relentlessly throughout the film Clark, as Superman, is able to stop the invasion, and is forced into an all-out brawl with Zod across Metropolis.  Superman is “forced” to snap Zod’s neck to save a family. I say “forced” with quotes, because I still say that Clark had a dozen other options. But’s I’ve been over that before in my Man of Steel review and Doing it Better. It’s an okay movie.

Zod’s corpse will appear in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Trailers seem to imply that Zod’s body is somehow tied to the creation of the monster Doomsday. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.

General Zod is one of Superman’s most well-known and dangerous foes. Charismatic, driven, and psychotic, he will do anything and everything for Krypton. Like the tragic figures of Greek legend, his hubris is his ultimate Achilles heel. I’m always glad to see him appear and cause trouble for Superman. I’m curious to see how his character will play into Batman v. Superman, you know, since he’s dead. And, I mean, his chant is just so catchy. “Kneel before Zod, Kneel before Zod, Kneel before Zod.” He’s the xenophobic, zealous, sadistic solider, the might Zod. Next time, I’ll do a Viewer Log of the first episode of Arrow. 

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Viewer Log: Jessica Jones ep 13

I think what happened at the end of the last episode needs a little explaining. Obviously, Spoiler warning. The episode ended with Jessica just barely fending off a mind controlled Luke Cage. She had a shot gun to his face, and pulled the trigger. Obviously, buckshot doesn’t have much effect on someone with unbreakable skin. Thing is, while Luke Cage’s skin is unbreakable, and his muscles are as strong as steel, his soft tissues are still, well, soft. Basically, blasting his head and causing him to fly back and slam onto the asphalt, knocked his brain around. It disabled Luke, but caused a fair amount of swelling in his brain.

She went from an excellent PI and kind of sucky person to a
real superhero. And he went from a drug addict to an amateur
therapist. Everyone's moving up in the world.

Jessica rushed Luke to a hospital. Despite the staff trying to get her to stay back, she somehow follows them. While the regular staff is rather…ill equipped to handle someone with skin they can’t cut, thankfully, Clare Temple was on staff. She was the nurse that helped Daredevil in Daredevil, for those that don't recognize the name. With Clare’s help, Jessica is able to get Luke Cage out of the hospital. Cops had shown up, looking for Luke in connection to his bar blowing up, and Kilgrave forced every doctor, nurse, and patient that heard his command to look for her. They’re able to get Cage to Jessica’s apartment, with only a cut on Jessica's leg for collateral damage. After a small seizure/stroke scare, they are able to get Luke stable. Well, as closed to stable as they can. Despite Clare's attempts to bail, Jessica is able to convince the nurse to look after Cage while she takes care of Kilgrave.

With Kilgrave, who is growing rather desperate, he demands that his father give him all of their dangerous cocktail of power enhancing juice. Dr. Anderson is hesitant, but when Kilgrave demands something, it has a tendency to happen. After getting injected, his veins start turning purple, and he roars in triumph.

Jessica and Trish find Kilgrave’s latest hideout. Jessica goes in alone, and finds an armless Dr. Anderson. He’s just alive enough to warn her that Kilgrave is too powerful, and that she should run. Jessica also finds a picture of the Anderson family, back before Kevin became Kilgrave. Make a sad moment sadder…well played. Another picture showed that the owners of Kilgrave’s hideout also had a very nice boat. She and Trish rush to the closest marina. It’s an all-out brawl, Jessica verses Kilgrave’s ever expanding army. No spoilers, but it’s really well done. The episode ends with Luke Cage disappearing, Trish investigating the company responsible for Jessica's powers and Simpson's drugs, IGH, and Jessica continuing to help people at Alias Investigations. With Malcolm, who seems to be taking on a secretarial and/or partnership with Jessica.

This was a solid ending to a good show. It closed out the Kilgrave opening story arc, but still left a few questions unanswered. Particularly the IGH company, and its connection to Jessica’s powers. When it was discovered that Jessica was immune to Kilgrave’s powers, I thought their final showdown would be rather one sided. I mean, without the mind control thing, Kilgrave is just some British dude against a woman with Super Strength. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out who’d win that fight. But, his expanded powers ensure that he had a lot of people willing to do horrible things to Jessica and each other on his faintest whim. That does make things a little harder for our hero. I’m glad I watched this show, can’t wait to see how Jessica Jones ties into the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, and what season 2 has to offer. I wonder if we’ll see her in Luke Cage? Just have to wait and see, I guess. Next time… something DC related. I’ve really been ignoring them lately.

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Viewer Log: Jessica Jones ep 12

Here we are, the penultimate episode of Jessica Jones’ first season. It starts with a bang. More accurately, the explosion of Luke Cage’s bar. He walks out, on fire, but, you know, the whole unbreakable skin helps prevent fire damage. Jessica puts him out, and then hears his story. Apparently, he’d been following Jessica in the hopes of getting his hands on Kilgrave. Vengeance was still on his mind. He didn’t even get a chance to throw a part before Kilgrave took control. He was forced to tell Kilgrave his and Jessica’s history, which lead to the whole bar bombing. He's a jealous fellow, that Kilgrave. Kilgrave ordered him to blow the place. They head for Jessica’s apartment to regroup.

With Kilgrave, he and his Dad are experimenting to see the limits of his powers. Kilgrave is rather upset that his range is limited, and that even after their tinkering, he still can’t control folks for longer than 12 hours.

Stop drop and roll! If it hurts. If not, then just wait for it to go
out, Cage. Unbreakable skin must be kind of awesome.

While Jessica has earned an ally in Luke, she seems to lose one as Malcolm has elected to return to his parents. He was feeling pretty burnt out after nearly dying so many times without a word of thanks from Jessica. After a bit of investigating, Jessica and Luke learn that Dr. Anderson’s research used a specific biochemical, AAV1. They surmise that the chemical is tied to enhancing Kilgrave’s powers. They go to the only lab in town that carries it. Their suspicions are confirmed by Jessica, who points out that the scientists won’t stop working. We don’t see it, but she comments that the whole place smells like P$$% and S&!#. They stake the place out, and bond a little. Cage says that his time as Kilgrave’s minion gave him clarity about what it’s like to have Kilgrave pulling your strings. He forgives her.

Jessica and Cage chase after a Kilgrave controlled currier, but lose him at a park. Jessica finds him again, just soon enough to see him commit suicide. Jessica, while disheartened at losing their only lead, still tries to repay Cage for his help and forgiveness by giving him his wife’s Flashdrive.

Back with Kilgrave, we learn that they’re using the AAV! Chemical in tandem with the stem cells from his and Hopes fetus. They’ve increased his control time, but not to the level that Kilgrave wants. Dr. Anderson demands that he be allowed a couple hours’ sleep, to improve his ability to work. Kilgrave nearly makes him put his hand in a blender. Worst son ever.

While at Jessica’s apartment, they find a video of Kilgrave attempting to control a concert hall full of people. They go to said concert hall to look for clues. Kilgrave shows up, Jessica and Cage split up to keep Kilgrave from controlling Cage. Unfortunately, Cage does get ensnared. When Kilgrave confirms that he still can’t control Jessica despite his powers being radically boosted, he goes with one of the oldest villain clichés. Care to take a guess? That’s right, “If I can’t have her, nobody can,” and sic’s Cage on her.

Certainly looks like the scene of a final show down.
And yet there's still one more episode. Interesting. 

While Jessica’s fight with Simpson was pretty intense, this one is on another level. This time she’s not fighting an above average human, but a man with super strength on par or surpassing her own, and who is nearly invincible thanks to his skin. Oh, and she has qualms with fighting him, as she’s, you know, in love with him. Cage’s smashing is nearly as good as the Hulks, and Jessica dodging is a match for Spider-Man. After wrecking up the concert hall, they take their fight outside. I’ll spoil the ending in the next one.

Trish’s subplot involves recovering in the hospital after her heart attack. Her mother violates her and Jessica’s restraining order, which is bad, but let’s Trish know she’s got some info on Simpson, and the company that made his superpills, IGH. Malcolm also decides to stay after getting crazy neighbor Robyn to forgive him for disposing of her brother’s body.

This defiantly feels like a penultimate episode. Kilgrave’s attempts at increasing his powers is honestly the first supervillain thing that he’s done. Sure, he’s kidnapped, extorted, sexually assaulted, and killed folks. But regular bad guys do that. Supervillains make complex and convoluted plans to make themselves more feared/powerful. Jessica and Cage reconnecting is very good. Their actors, Krysten Ritter and Mike Colter, still have a great chemistry. I enjoy their banter; it was a shame that Cage was only in like five episodes. I still hate Robyn and everything related to her, and am glad that her subplot is finished. I really hope she moves between season. On the other hand, I really enjoy Malcolm, and it’s good to see him wrestle with what he believes is right, and what’s right for him. I’m also glad to see that he didn’t decide to bail. I hope he remains a major part of the show. It feels like things are going to come to a head next time, with the Jessica Jones season finale. 

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