DC vs Marvel Comics # 1

By Mark Rodriguez.

Talk about a blast from the past. I remember reading part of this as a young teen back in the day. For those wondering what would happen if both comic book universes ever clashed... This is as close as we'll get. This is an interesting read, if at least to remember at what place the characters were back in the mid-90's as opposed to how they are now. Thanks to the Bent Wookee comic store I was able to grab all the issues for a cheap price.

This is a 4 part story and while being far from perfect, it's cool for all the cameos alone. One thing to mention are some of the fights were actually decided by reader's votes... So if some of the results seem kinda lame and nonsensical... Well it was the readers fault or the character's own fanbase. As for some others, we just see the characters in 'about to fight' poses or stare downs... but never actually see them come to blows. Like I said.. Far from perfect. Anyways lets dive into the 90s DC and Marvel universe and start with issue 1.

DC VS Marvel Round 1 starts off with a bit of 90's trivia, as we see Ben Reilly coming back to New York as Spider-Man. For those lucky enough not to know, there was a thing called the Clone Saga in most of the 90's in which Peter Parker met a clone named Ben Reilly, and after many twists and turns, there was actually a point in the story where Peter thought HE was the clone and left or whatever, so I guess this is the part of that story where Ben took over as Spider-Man.

To ruin a perfect night of Ben putting his life back together, his spider-sense goes off and he sees a random bum lying up against a huge cardboard box. The box starts to glow and one of beams of light goes through Spider-man's leg. He says he doesn't feel anything strange and then suddenly vanishes.

A random guy walks down the alley and see the bum trying to contain the flashing cardboard box and says 'it's about to begin' and he's glad the guy came over to help him. The guy is confused and doesn't want any part of it.

Spider-Man finds himself in the middle of the rain on the rooftop in the middle of Gotham City, right in front of the Joker. The Joker says Spider-Man changed clothes since the last time they fought but Ben doesn't recognize him (there was a Spider-Man/Batman crossover in which they faced the Joker and Carnage, and apparently Joker is 4th-wall breaking enough to remember). Joker tells Spidey he's in Gotham now and he's ready to blow up the building, but the rain is ruining his fireworks.

Breaking the 4th wall before Deadpool made it cool

Spider-Man wants answers as to what's going on and says he doesn't even know the clown's name. The Joker decided to leave and gives him 'his card' and jumps off the building. Spidey is surprised but Joker has a parachute ready. Spidey looks at the Joker card and wonder's what's going on.

Meanwhile Gambit is charging up a Joker card as he's ready to fight the Juggernaut alongside Wolverine and Storm. Just as Juggernaut is about to punch Wolverine, the mutant vanishes... and then so does he. Jugs sees that he punches the side of the Daily Planet and wonders where he is. He soon gets punched by Superman that tells him he's in the wrong place.

gotta love those classic 90's X-Men costumes

Back at Manhattan the bum has the cardboard box all taped up with.... tape... toilet paper... I can't tell... and mentions how he doesn't want any more characters crossing over. He's surprised the box is still glowing and nothing can hold it back....since you know... tape and toilet paper can perfectly contain a weird glowing interdimensional cardboard box thingie...

Captain America is busy fighting Hydra soldiers when he suddenly vanishes. Wonder Woman saves some people from a collapsing bridge when she also vanishes, before the cops can thank her. Elsewhere, Betty Ross is hanging with the Hulk, who at this time has the mind and total control of Bruce Banner. The Hulk also vanishes. At a beach Superboy is showing off his powers by lifting up two bikini babes (good way to grab some ass) which pisses off his girlfriend Tana... and he also suddenly vanishes. Somewhere in deep space, Lobo is busting up an alien bar when he's suddenly warped away as well.

Superboy, dripping with 90's cheese

At the X-Mansion, Wolverine, Storm and Gambit inform Xavier, Beast and Psylocke about Juggernaut's sudden disappearance. Xavier is saddened that his stepbrother is one of their worst enemies, but Wolverine says to let Juggernaut be someone else's problem. Just then the same mysterious light hits Wolverine, Gambit and Storm and all three vanish. Jean and Cyclops are also confused and wonders what the hell is going on.

Elsewhere, the Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Elektra, The Flash, Thor, Aquaman, The Silver Surfer, Captain Marvel, The Sub-Mariner (Namor), Quicksilver, and Catwoman are all disappearing as well.

In the Batcave, Bullseye has Robin (Tim Drake) hostage demanding that Batman tell him where he is and how he got there. Bullseye threatens to cut Robin's eye, but the Boy Wonder elbows him in the throat. Batman tosses a Batarang but even though he's still choking from the hit, Bullseye manages to catch it and throws it back. Batman manages to duck under it and punches Bullseye across the jaw. The villain is surprised Bats is able to 'make him miss' and says he hits even harder than Daredevil before he passes out.

oddly enough.... Bulleye does look like a Batman, or even Flash style rogue....

Robin wonders who this guy is and how he got into the cave. Batman never heard of him and notes that he was just as surprised to be there as they were to see him. Robin then suddenly vanishes. He then appears in the best place a teenage boy can possibly be, in a teenage girl's bedroom. Yep, Robin suddenly appears on Jubilee's bed and she's already liking his sense of fashion.

and thus Tim Drake and Jubilation Lee lost their virginity....

Superman returns to the Daily Bugle disguised as Clark Kent and finds out it is now run by James Jonah Jameson. Lois and Clark are confused as to who is the new guy that took over the Planet and forced out Perry in favor of Jameson. Jimmy Olsen steps in and mentions he's now a TV reporter. Lois also left a photo for Clark to investigate, and he sees Steel fighting the Absorbing Man and wonders where he came from.

Everyone throughout Metropolis are confused as their heroes and villains are gone and replaced by news ones. Throughout the city, the Green Lantern is facing off against the Green Goblin, Bane is trying to punch through Captain America's shield and Daredevil is taking down the Riddler. Elsewhere, Batman faces Venom, Captain Marvel faces Dr. Doom, Punisher and Deathstroke try to shoot each other, Estrigan faces Ghost Rider and Firestorm and Martian Manhunter team up to fight against the Human Torch and The Thing.

Some of the crossover heroes do get along. Hawkman is friends with Archangel, and Supergirl teamed up with She-Hulk to fight crime. Superman was also fighting against Annihilus, and now Clark notices a pic of Spider-Man taking down Man-Bat. Clark doesn't recognize the hero, and just then Lois Lane introduces the one who took that pic, their new photographer, Ben Reilly. Clark says they're very good pictures and maybe together they can figure out what's going on. Ben says whatever is happening feels like something that's bigger and beyond them.

I feel sorry for the poor punks that try to take down Supergirl and She-Hulk with guns...

Out across the universe, the Spectre from the DC Universe and The Living Tribunal from the Marvel Universe also don't understand what is going on. But they both feel that something is terribly wrong. Elsewhere two giant god-like beings point at each other.

Well... this comic wasn't short on cameos, I'll give you that. This is the first issue and despite the crappy way this is all coming together (some sort of mystical glowing cardboard box that a bum is trying to tape up???) it is fun to see all these characters meet up and throw down, though most of them were one panel scenes. I do like the 90's flair with the whole Ben Reilly thing, and Superboy who appeared after the whole Reign of the Supermen storyline in which four different Supermen appeared after the death of the original and readers had to guess which one was the real deal. This is just the beginning so I can't say too much yet since we do have three more issues to go.

The comic also let the readers vote for who would win the fights in issue 3. The DC VS Marvel Preliminary Bouts consisted of Aquaman VS Sub-Mariner, Elektra VS Catwoman, Captain Marvel VS Thor, Jubilee VS Robin, Flash VS Quicksilver and Silver Surfer VS the Green Lantern.

Then there would be the Marvel VS DC heavyweight bouts which would be Superman VS the Hulk, Captain America VS Batman, Lobo VS Wolverine, Storm VS Wonder Woman and Superboy VS Spider-Man.

place your votes! at least you're not killing off someone's sidekick this time

The comic then comes with very brief bios for Superman, The Hulk, Captain America, Batman, Wonder Woman, Storm, Wolverine, Lobo, Superboy and Spider-Man to help people consider their vote. All votes had to be casted by December 31, 1995 and the issue would hit the stores that February of 1996. You could either cut out the ballot from the comic and mail it on, or vote for it online by casting the votes for each individual hero. I didn't even know there was internet in 1995. Man, this takes me back.

I know it all sounds lame and cheesy now, but I can't even imagine how exciting it would have been back at the day to get the chance to cast your votes (basically like saying place your bets) and actually effect the outcomes of the story. Way better and a lot less morbid than that phone hotline to vote for wether or not Jason Todd should have died. I'll be glad to blog on the rest of this story soon.

I do have to say though, as the thought crossed my mind during that scene between Superman and the Juggernaut. Wouldn't Juggernaut be able to beat the crap out of Superman since his powers come from the magical Gem of Cyttorak and Superman's weakness is magic?

For more Marvel VS DC Action... well this isn't the same thing... but last year we did do a video comparing The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises with our thoughts and opinions.

Death of Superman 2 (Justice League of America # 69)

By Mark Rodriguez

If it's one of the things left out in the Superman Doomsday movie that woulda been cool is seeing Doomsday take down several DC superheroes before Superman himself stepped in. Kinda like in DBZ, the Justice League of America, Bloodwynd, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle, Maxima, Fire and Ice all took a shot at Doomsday and were ripped apart to showcase just how powerful this new mystery monster was. Let's all see how this plays out.

Last time a mysterious monster broke out of some sort of underground containment unit and started wrecking havoc wherever it went. Superman and Lois Lane dealt with Clawster and some Underworlders, as the monster caused a truck to overrun and explode.

Justice League of America # 69 (heh) opens up with 'Down for the Count', as the JLA show up to rescue the victims of the burning truck and stopping the fire from spreading further. The authorities tells them that the monster escaped into the woods. Booster Gold tells them that ambulances are on their way and Blue Beetle tells them to go to The Bug (his vehicle) to look for it. Ice says it's a shame they had this emergency since she wanted to see the Cat Grant show in which Superman was a guest speaker at Roosevelt High School.

The heroes go into The Bug and Booster jokes about capturing the monster to make big bucks if it's really cool. Beetle sees a bunch of trees that have been plowed and know it's the trail of destruction left behind by the monster. Beetle suggests Bloodwynd use his psychic powers to tap into the enemy's mind. Maxima insists on doing so as well, but Beetle was hoping Bloodwynd  would do it alone so he could get an idea of the scope of his powers. Maxima taps into the monster's head and can only feel hatred, death and bloodlust personified.

On TV, Cat Grant mentions how some heroes like Wonder Woman and Enlongated Man live public lives, but they know nothing about Superman, the leader of the JLA. Superman says he's not the leader, and they all have equal roles and votes in the JLA.

The monster is destroying more trees and killing deer until he sees The Bug flying by. He picks up a stick and throws it at it.  The log smashed right through The Bug and it's quickly going down. The flying heroes rescue the non-flyers (Guy Gardner is happy to get his hands all over Ice) and Maxima lowers The Bug down slowly so it won't crash on innocent people. Booster asks if Weapons Master or Despero is behind this, and Bloodwynd says he senses the true creature responsible is nearby.

On TV Miss Grant asks Superman about his fight with Guy Gardner a while back. Superman says they may not always agree but they're colleagues and Guy always gets the job done. She then lets some of the students ask questions, and a girl asks Superman what they do in their free time. Superman says they're pretty normal when they're not fighting crime, Blue Beetle invents stuff, Maxima is adjusting to Earth life and so forth.

The monster sees a truck driving near him and he destroys it with a massive punch. The JLA hear the explosion and Guy Gardner is the first to fly off to kick some ass.

Another kid asks why Guy Gardner isn't a member of the Green Lanterns anymore (he's currently using a yellow ring), and Superman says they have no say in whatever the Green Lantern Corps decides. Kids watching the TV in Metropolis High Schools find the interview with Superman boring and say they should have had Guy Gardner instead since he 'has his head screwed on straight'.

The monster grabs Guy and slams him head first into the ground. He then stomps on his head and punches him in the head. He then grabs him by the face is suffocating him until Fire tosses green flames on him to make him let go.

Suddenly Guy Gardner becomes Yamcha....

One of the kids ask Superman if Ice is really as hot as she looks, and Superman, of course, pushes the question aside. A girl asks if he ever gets scared facing the things he does.

"Actually son, Wonder Woman has the nicer ass."

Back to the battle, Fire keeps the flames on the monster, but they don't even phase him. Bloodwynd summons the powers of the souls of people that died in the general area and delivers a powerful punch... that doesn't even hurt the monster. It punches back, sending Bloodwynd flying through a smokestack and setting him on fire. The others are amazed by the monster's power and wonder if he could survive such an attack.

Superman tells the girl she asked a good question and mentions he's always scared about hurting others and sometimes himself since there are things out there that can kill him. The girl asks if they ever get tired of fighting all the time, and asks if there's a better way to solving problems without violence.

The monster tosses a rock at Fire to knock her out. Beetle jumps into the fire to save Bloodwynd. Beetle manages to get a good look at Bloodwynd's secret identity and is surprised, but before he can announce who it is, the monster grabs him by the back of the neck. He then slams his face into a wall, then into the ground, and then into another wall. Beetle is now in horrible shape and close to dying.

Superman tells the girl that violence is something they wish to avoid but as heroes they choose to defend the world with their lives.

The monster tosses Beetle into the air, and Maxima and Bloodwynd try to catch him. The monster grabs Bloodwynd by the leg and smacks him into Maxima. The smokestack explodes around them. With noone to save him, Blue Beetle has a hard landing. Ice says he seems very still. Booster mentions taking him to the hospital, but Ice says she's afraid it might be too late. Booster Gold is pissed.

The TV show is interrupted with news of a monster attacking a refinery in Ohio, and giving trouble to the entire JLA. Superman flies off to investigate.

Booster fires off a high-intensity blast but the monster keeps on coming. Booster manages to raise his forcefield fast enough to withstand a powerful punch from the monster that sends him flying. As he knocked back, Booster wonders if the monster is alive or if it's some kind of doomsday device. Superman catches Booster mid-flight and says he hears they're having trouble. Booster says it's more than just trouble, it feels like Doomsday is here.

This was an interesting read showcasing some lesser heroes, that with the exception of Guy Gardner, and later Maxima, I knew nothing about. Doomsday just tears these guys apart. Beetle never gets back up from that, and from what I hear he goes into a coma a little after this storyline. Guy Gardner is in horrible shape, but still in the fight. I'm surprised when I saw Maxima was a member of this team. For those that watched the Superman Animated Series, Maxima was a powerful woman from the planet Almerac that was looking for a suitable mate. I honestly thought she was made up for the cartoon. Shows how much I know, LOL

I know this is the JLA comic, so of course we'll only see members of the JLA, but I do wonder why with such a threat all over the news taking down superheroes left and right, the big guns like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel didn't step in?

The classroom scene was cool, I guess more of Superman's gosh-darn-goodness before all that ends next issue. It is is ironic when they ask if anything scares him and he says he knows there are things out that can kill him. I do have to laugh at the girl asking if there's a way around violence. I know it's to deliver the message that violence is wrong, and that violence is not the answer.... and Superman admits he wishes there was another way, but c'mon girl... Look at the guys they fight. Do you really think the Joker, Lex Luthor and hell... friggin Darkseid are gonna stop their evil plans because the heroes calmly asked them to stop and talk things out over some tea?

We'll see how it goes for Superman next time as he comes face to face with what Booster Gold is now calling... Doomsday.

And oh, and in case someone is wondering since this won't come up in this particular story arc... I looked it up. Bloodwynd was Martian Manhunter in disguise and since fire is his weakness, Beetle got to see his true form seconds before Doomsday turned him into paste. Apparently he was forced by a villain to impersonate the real Bloodwynd... and they eventually find and rescue the real one.

Deep Dish Pizzas Muffins

Welcome back to my random recipes and this time I'm going to make a pizza recipe. Very delicious and fun to make. These are fun-sized deep dish pizza muffins, perfect for parties, dinners or whenever you're hungry for pizza! lol This recipe doesn't take long to prep and not long to cook.

When I remade these muffins for this post, I had to make them at my dad's (I was babysitting the dogs) So I forgot my rolling pin at my house. >.> So I tried my best without it. lol

What you need:
Muffin Pan
Rolling Pin
Circle cookie cutter
Refrigerated pizza dough
Cheese (Any preference)
Toppings (Any preference)
Pizza sauce
Cooking spray







Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 Degrees (I used the instructions on the dough package) and spray the muffin tray with some cooking spray



2. Roll out the pizza dough and cut out rounds with a cookie cutter. Place the dough inside the muffin pans.

3. You know what to do it here. Make your dream deep dish pizza muffins..Place your favorite kind of cheese, sauce and toppings. Place another round of dough on top to form the muffin. If you want, you can leave off the top, make it just a deep dish pizza.

4. Place in oven for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown. (I again followed the instructions on the dough package.

5. Enjoy! It's messy, especially if you filled them up! So have plenty of napkins with you!

New 52 Justice League # 1

by Mark Rodriguez

I never had the chance to blog about the 52 Justice League's big intro, but now that the newly announced Justice League War animated feature will be based on the first 6 issues, now's a good a time as any. Unlike past animated movies like Under the Red Hood or Justice League Doom, this time I had the chance to read the original story first to notice any differences in the animated version. Right of the bat, the first change I heard about was them replacing Aquaman with Shazam in the upcoming animated issue. It also seems like they want to put some kind of buddy-buddy relationship between him and Cyborg. We'll see how that works out.

Even though it's 6 issues long, you'll soon see that this story wasn't particularly deep. It was mostly the heroes discovering the existence of each other and stopping a random invasion attempt from Darkseid. So that also leaves for a lot of room for extra padding and subplots to make this story long enough to be a feature film. Anyways, let's check out The New 52 Justice League issue 1.

Justice League part 1 opens with Batman chasing some of sort thing, while the Gotham City PD are chasing after him. This takes place 5 years before the present time, and at this time the world didn't know or trust superheroes, so Batman is being hunted by the police. Batman jumps rooftop to rooftop, tossing smoke bombs to cover his tracks from the police helicopters. He tosses a grappling hook right though the escaping person's leg as he jumps across another rooftop. Batman and the person tumble and roll, with Bats pinning him down and asking him what he was doing by the docks.

The man is some sort of monster and he unleashes some sort of explosive blasts that knocks Batman back. The monster starts to punch Batman until suddenly a neon green light fills the area. A fire truck made out of glowing green energy runs by and slams into the monster, almost knocking Batman off the ledge. As Batman climbs back onto the rooftop, he sees the Green Lantern, who is surprised to see that Batman is real. Bats tells him that he's 'too damn bright' and he should turn it down before they're seen.

Just then the police choppers spot them and start to open fire. Lantern makes a force field to protect them. Batman says the world is afraid of them. Lantern says he says that like it's a good thing, and Batman replies with 'it's necessary'. The monster suddenly sprouts wings and smacks Lantern with them. He then shoots out a mouth blast that blows up the helicopters. Before Batman can do anything, Lantern sends green bats to help save the fallen helicopters.

The monster suddenly grows spider-like legs and escapes to the city below. Batman chases after him and tell Green Lantern to 'take his flashlight and go home' since Gotham City belongs to him. Lantern tells him that the whole space sector belongs to him and there are thousands of Green Lanterns out there patrolling across the universe. Batman doesn't care much about his story and tells him that the monster was spotted trying to plant a bomb downtown, and when cops tried to attack it, it would spit fire from its mouth.

Green Lantern says he has the fires covered as green energy fire trucks are putting them out all over town. He then asks Batman what his powers are, if he can fly or have super strength. He is surprised to find out he's 'just a guy in a bat costume'. Batman suddenly reveals he has Green Lantern's ring in his hand and asks him what it does. As Lantern is surprised as how he got it off, Batman determines it must work off his concentration. Lantern gets his ring back and the heroes throw threats at each other until Batman spots the spider-monster fusing something to a wall.

Lantern flies into it, saying that if it's some kind of bombed, the monster just armed it. The monster says 'For Darkseid' and then explodes in a vicious wave of fire. Batman and Green Lantern are safe in a steel safe made of green energy. Batman says he blew itself up on purpose and tried to take them with it. Lantern says whatever the monster came to do, it did it, and he uses his ring to try to identify the bomb. He's surprised the ring can't identify it, and after Batman examines it, he determines it's some kind of alien computer. Lantern says it might be related to 'that guy in Metropolis' since he heard he's an alien. Batman's heard of him and says he's dangerous due to his power levels. Lantern says he won't be problem for him and says he can fill him in on their way to Metropolis.

It is said  his power level reaches that of over 9000.... 

Batman and Green Lantern arrive in front of some sort of Lexcorp facility and Bats complains about how they arrived in Metropolis is glowing green jet, which would have drawn too much attention to themselves. Bats notices the area looks like Superman was in some kind of fight, but Lantern ignores him and says he'll go in and restrain Superman for questioning.

Seconds later. a red and blue blur socks Green Lantern clear across the battlefield. Superman says he can't be handled easily and stands before Batman. He asks him what can he do.

While many complained about the differences from this version of the Justice League with the one before Flashpoint, I saw it a fresh new starting point for me to get to know these characters. Since I was mostly just a Batman fan, and his story wasn't so much as changed, more like streamlined, this was the chance for me to get into the 'whole new series' and see the characters in their new outfits.

A fun little detail I noticed is that back when people were announcing and giving sneak peaks at the epic brand new N52 costumes, they were gonna give Wonder Woman black pants. The original previews for this cover showed her in the black pants. I guess in the end they decided to change her back to her more traditional star-spangled bikini bottom at the very VERY last minute.

Yeah, people complain about the Martian Manhunter not being a core member anymore, and apparently being replaced by Cyborg, who was one of the Teen Titans. For some reason DC has been pushing Cyborg a lot, making him a big part of the Flashpoint storyline, and even adding him in the animated feature Justice League Doom when he wasn't in the original story the movie was based on (JLA Tower of Babel). For whatever reason, Cyborg was upgraded from being one of the Teen Titans to being one of the founding members of the Justice League.

My personal complaint with the New 52 is how they had to get rid of Batman's costumes. He wore a variety of bat-suits throughout the years and he keeps some of them on display in the Batcave. I know they didn't want to confuse the readers with a different Batsuit in this '5 years earlier' storyline than what he would wear in Batman # 1 and Detective # 1 and so forth.... but still... this (as well as flashbacks throughout the New 52 Batman series) totally retcon it so Batman's New 52 outfit is the ONLY outfit he ever wore. I'm sorry... but I'm always gonna treasure the classic blue outfit with the yellow oval as part of his history from back in the day.

As for the story itself, there's not much to say since at this point it's mostly a Batman/Green Lantern team-up. I love theses scenes, especially when Batman snatched his ring and when Lantern discovered Batman is just a guy in a costume, without any actual super powers. I also like how Batman isn't particularly impressed by the guy that can create basically anything out of thin air. Green Lantern goes into detail about the Green Lantern Corps watching over every bit of the galaxy, and he's like 'uh-huh'. And I loved the 'take your green flashlight and go home' line.

As for Hal Jordan, people complain he was too cocky here, but hey, he's young, he's new, and for lack of a better term, he's still pretty green. I'm not up on Green Lantern's comics, so I assume after discovering these awesome powers that just boggle the mind with his ring (he's somehow controlling green fire trucks to put out fires all over town while hanging with Batman) he hasn't really encountered anything that was an actual threat to him... until he runs right smack into the wall known as Superman.

For more Justice League stuff here's my review on Justice League The Flashpoint Paradox

and also my other Justice League related reviews-
My review of Justice League- Doom
Epic Randomness of the Dark Knight (my first review co-starring the N52 Superman and Flash)
Epic Randomness of the Dark Knight part 2 (more N52 Superman and Flash cameos)

Philly Cheese Steak Inspired Sloppy Joes

Mark and I devoured all the sandwiches before we could take a picture...So I had to borrow a picture...
source: blogchef.net

Who likes sloppy joes and philly cheese steaks?! *Crowd starts cheering* Well I found a recipe that combines both of those favorite foods into one delicious sandwich. It's a philly cheese steak inspired sloppy joe. I found this as a random recipe people share on Facebook. I said hey, let's give it a try! And it was super delicious!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 small sweet onion
1 green bell pepper
1/4 cup steak sauce
1 cup beef broth
Provolone cheese
Buns

1. Prep by chopping the sweet onion. Seed and chop the green bell pepper.
2. Brown the ground beef along with the chopped peppers and onions
3. As the food is halfway cooked add the broth and steak sauce. Cook the rest of the way through.
4. Allow the mixture to simmer so the sauce can thicken.
5. Spoon mixture onto the buns. Finish the sandwich with some provolone cheese on top and place under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is melted.

Death of Superman 1 (Superman Man of Steel # 18)

By Mark Rodriguez

I still remember the media out roar when DC announced the death of Superman. Of course now we can laugh and be like 'oh puuuh-leeeeze, as if they'd really kill Superman', but back then it was really announced everywhere that Superman was going to die for reals. I remember it hitting the papers and tv news. I mean when have you ever seen the evening news announce Batman's son was dying soon or that Doctor Octopus took Spider-Man's body? Everyone was surprised and they were asking if DC was gonna put it all on Batman now since they killed off their cash cow.

I still remember my dad seeing the news reports with pics of Doomsday beating the Man of Steel bloody and being like 'what is this garbage? Superman getting black eyes and bleeding as if he was a normal guy?" Of course we know guys in the comics like Lobo and Darkseid can go toe-to-toe with or even kill Superman if he's careless, but dad's Superman mostly stopped bank robbers or giant robots without breaking a sweat. And even though my memory is foggy, I doubt General Zod or that lame-ass Nuclear Man ever drew blood in the Christopher Reeves movies.

I still remember a friend of mine bringing the TPB to high school back then and letting me read it. Now I was finally able to order and buy a reprint and I'll start reviewing it part by part. Let's go back into the past when Doomsday came for Superman.

'Doomsday Part 1 starts 'somewhere else' (it literally says so) as a gloved hand is punching away out some sort of metallic prison. After six pages of Kraanging against the metal prison, this mystery monster finally breaks free and bursts out from underground.

The one who is known as Doomsday is coming to the place that is known as here

Superman flies overhead as a random black kid watches him, feeling lucky that he saved his life twice. He goes out to buy glow-in-the-dark spray paint. The owner asks if he's gonna use that in the subway... which is probably something he should have asked before he sold it to the kid.

Elsewhere there are monsters called Underworlders led by one called Clawster that are living in the sewers and hypnotizing the underground workers to help them take control of the power station. The kid gets his stuff together and heads out to the sewers, since the monsters have taken his mother. He plans to leave markers with the glow-in-the-dark spray paint to prevent from getting lost.

At the Daily Planet, Lois Lane gets an anonymous tip telling her to send Superman to the basement under the west side power station since Metroplis is in danger. She leaves Clark a message on his computer (at this point she knows Clark is Superman) and heads off.

Elsewhere, the monster, trapped in some kind of green containment suit with one arm still tied behind its back, reaches out and lets a bird fly to his hand. He then laughs evily as he squishes it in his grasp.

Superman returns to the Daily Planet after patrolling the city in search of the Underworlders, and turns back into Clark Kent. Just as he sees Lois' message on his comp, the lights go out. The Underworlders celebrate that they caused the blackout and can now control the city.

Underground, Lois is snooping around when suddenly a large hand grabs her shoulder. She retaliates with a back kick. Unfortunately, she just kicked Clawster, who has rock-like skin, so she falls and grabs her foot in pain. Clawster laughs at her plight, and guy with a shotgun that's with them recognizes her. Lois also knows the guy as someone named Charlie that she sees at a homeless shelter.

That's a pretty awesome kick!

Lois Lane is tied up and feels betrayed and Clawster explains that Charlie learned he is a reject from society just like them. They also have war machines they intend to use to attack the city. Charlie convinces Clawster that Lois would make a good hostage. Clawster agrees but mentions their boss doesn't take prisoners. The black kid is hiding in the area and overhears this, fearing the worst has already happened to his mother.

I have to say, this version of Lois Lane is kinda hot....

Elsewhere the monster punches a tree into splinters. He then starts destroying the forest... because he can.

The kid makes it back to the surface telling himself he should have alerted Superman sooner about the monsters instead of believing their lies. Maybe they don't really have his mother, but he knows they DO have Lois and she will die if he doesn't help. He heard of how the people in Gotham call in Batman with the Bat-Signal, so he tries spray painting a giant S on the street hoping he will see it. Sure enough, Superman does show up, and the kid, named Keith tells him what's going on.

Underground, the Underworlders are preparing to use a giant drill vehicle they call the Borer to cause damage in the city above. Superman shows up and quickly shoves the Borer back. One of the monsters tries to distract him with a grenade, but Superman snatches it and jams it into Clawster's mouth, making it explode and knock him out. The others activate their war machines, but Superman gets past them all and grabs their leader before he can make a break for it. He demands to know where Lois is, but the monster tells him she's probably been killed already by Charlie since they don't take prisoners.

Meanwhile the monster brings down a bridge, causing massive destruction with all the traffic in the way.

Superman don't take no crap when Lois Lane is involved!

Superman soon arrives and sees Charlie with Lois and is about to sock him out. Lois kicks his butt and stops him, telling him that Charlie is their informant. He's a pacifist from the 60's and was able to get the inside info on the Underworlders, and was also the one that sent Lois the note earlier. He just didn't expect Lois to show up and get captured, but he managed to the convince the others that he was going to kill her.

She sure is into kicking everybody today.

Charlie will take Clawster and the rest to trial in the Underworld. Lois offers jobs for Charlie and his friend, but they both agree that they'd rather take their chances underground. As Superman and Lois leave, they wonder if they should have told him about another problem they have named Bloodthirst. Charlie's friend says it's their own problem but they at least know they can count on Superman if they need him.

Elsewhere, the monster runs into a driver in a big truck (the same kind that Optimus Prime is) and easily knocks it over and blows it up. As the monster walks off laughing, the state trooper starts to request for back up as the monster is tearing up all of the interstate as it heads East. The guy on the radio decides this is something bigger and its a job for the Justice League.

Poor Optimus Prime couldn't transform and roll out fast enough....

Well this was an interesting start of an epic story. I assume back in the day everyone was full of awe and wondering just who or what this powerful creature was, able to cause so much destruction with one arm tied behind its back. Sadly we'll find out there isn't much to this monster except that it is an unstoppable force of hatred and destruction and any other information we discover about Doomsday happens in future stories. But for right now, I'm sure at the time everyone was curious about this super powerful being.

The rest of the story was ok, but I guess if I read the past 17 issues of Superman Man of Steel, I would have known more about Keith and the Underworlders. Clawster and his gang seemed to be recurring threats since Superman was already out on patrol looking for them before the story even started. As for Keith, no idea why he thought they had his mother, but I feel sorry for her (and Keith) if they really did kill her.

I have to say, Lois Lane was kinda bad-ass with that kick she threw. Too bad it was against a rock alien monster that could barely feel it. I have seen Lois use basic self defense skills before to try to prevent from being captured... but unfortunately for her, the kidnappers are either real big strong guys or monsters that would give Superman a run for his money... so she ends up being captured anyway.

Superman took care of Clawster and the rest without much problems. The war machines shooting at him slowed him down a little, but he still made short work of everything. A small example of how powerful the Man of Steel can be before he runs into the brick wall known as Doomsday.

I don't have to much to say about this particular part of the story except that it's an interesting beginning and of course I can't wait to see what happens when Superman finally goes face to face with Doomsday.

If you want even more Superman fun, check out what Johnny and I thought of the Man of Steel movie, and also my review on Superman Unbound.

The Superior Spider-Man # 4

by Mark Rodriguez

There was a time when classic Spidey, you know, Peter Parker went on a 'NOONE ELSE WILL DIE' rampage and tried to make sure noone else would die, even super villains. One of the villains he saved, the psychopath Massacre, has returned in this issue.... but how will the Doc Ock version of Spider-Man deal with him?

'The Agressive Approach ' opens with the Superior Spider-Man watching over the city with the Spider-Bots as his eyes. He thinks to himself that Peter Parker lacked ambition in his life, but the Doc won't commit the same mistake. As well as fighting normal crime, he also continues to capture the rest of Vulture's children henchmen that escaped during the last issue. There's even a scene of a lesser criminal, the White Rabbit, that quickly surrenders because she doesn't want to end up like Boomerang and the Vulture. I'm loving the continuity.

After stopping enough crimes, the Doc decides he has other things to do and has his robots rewire other calls to the authorities. Ghost Pete follows and reminds him that as a superhero he has to keep going and fight all the crime he can.

The Doc visits Aunt May in the hospital, who at this point has finally reached the age where she needs a cane to walk. I swear, for being one of the oldest women in the Marvel Universe, she sure has lasted forever. The Doc asks a doctor for any kind of surgery that can repair her legs, but he says she's too old for that kind of radical surgery. The Doc shrugs it off and thanks him for his 'opinion'.

Back at the mad lab, Octo-Pete spends an all-nighter creating  a special kind of exo-limb that will be grafted to a person's brain and spine, enabling them to walk. He plans to use this on Aunt May, which freaks Pete out, and his bosses also think this is going too far and is much too soon to use on human trials. Doc snaps at them reminding them that he is Dr. Peter Parker. His boss reminds him that he has no such title. The Doc looks into Pete's memories and discovers that he has never earned such a title while he was in college. The Doc is furious at this since he earned his doctorate when he was 16, being and evil genius and all. He storms off determined to rectify this.

Meanwhile, at Ravencroft (Spider-Man's Arkham), Dr. Kafka is walking with a guard as they go see Massacre. The guard asks why she is so worried since Massacre doesn't have any super powers. She is still worried due to his complete disregard for human life. When they open his cell, they find a dead security guard. Massacre was the guard she was walking with all along, and he kills another guard. Kafka tries to reason with him, saying he needs her to leave Ravencroft. Massacre says he doesn't need ALL of her...

Doc Ock re-enrolls into college, which is the same one he went to when he was younger. The girls seem to like him and he flirts back, as Peter reminds him that he's too old for their mothers. Pete is worried since earning a degree will take him away from his duties as Spider-Man and as one of the Avengers. Although... considering he's also with the Future Foundation he should just plain give up living a normal life and be Spider-Man full time...

Watch out ladies.... he's older than he looks and he's into tentacles....

Doc Ock recognizes the teacher as one of his former classmates from back in the day (how is that for weird??). He calls him 'The Schnoz' (I assume whatever nickname Otto had for him back then) which surprises him since he hasn't been called that in years. The teacher is not too happy and tells the Doc that his thesis better impress him. Some girl (she's off panel) says Ock is gonna need to be tutored and gives him her card, but vanishes before he could see who it was. Just then, he gets called in for duty.

At Ravencroft, Spider-Man and Jameson discuss Massacre's escape. Jameson calls him out on having saved Massacre's life and promising he would never escape to kill again. Otto and Pete see that Massacre had taken out one of Kafka's eyes to get past the retinal scanner. Pete wants to regain control of his body and stop Massacre once and for all... but the Dock wants to outright kill him.

Massacre is holding all the people at a small diner hostage. He tells everyone that he wants everyone to toss their mobile devices and money on the floor. He will lock them in the back and escape in their cars, and noone has to die. One of the employees activates the silent alarm. Massacre tells everyone that man broke the rules, and he shoot up everyone. He leaves a lady and her child alive for the time being since he needs them as hostages.

Spider-Man shows up at the lab and tells Jackson (on of the lab partners) that he knows he once gave Facial Recognition Software to The Wraith to help her track down criminals. He now needs that software installed into his Spider-Bots so he can locate Massacre before he kills anyone.

At Times Square, Massacre lets the woman go, but warns her that if she makes a scene, he will kill her and anyone else in the area. She agrees and leaves. Massacre head off wondering where to go now.

Elsewhere, the leftover Vulture kids are worried that they'll be eventually captured by Spider-Man and the cops already know about Vulture's hideout. They panic when they spot one of the Spider-Bots, but suddenly someone stomps on it. The Green Goblin shows up and tells them that he can keep them safe from Spider-Man since he knows all his tricks.

This is an interesting issue, and I have to say again that I'm loving the continuity. It feels like I'm watching a new tv show, each episode following up the next. It was mostly a set up issue, showing some of the aftermath of last issue and foreshadowing an epic battle next issue. I'm enjoying Otto's life as Peter. He sometimes forgets that he's supposed to be Peter and 'breaks character'. We've seen him monologue to himself 'accessing memories' whenever he needs to remember something Parker did before him. Now he's actually saying it out loud making his lab partners think he's nuts.

 The whole scene where he realized that Peter never had a 'Doctor' title and is like 'screw that, I'm going to finish college and earn my doctorate right now!!!' was funny, as is seeing him go to college and recognize a teacher as a former classmate back when he was young. I do find it amusing how both Peter and Otto went to the same college, at different time frames of course... but still.

Massacre is also an interesting character. I never read his past story but the comic does explain that he lost all human empathy after suffering brain damage in the same car bombing that killed his wife. Spider-Man saved his life from a SWAT Team because he didn't want anyone to die, not even a super villain. I do wonder what his deal is. I honestly think he would have let the hostages in the diner live if the employee didn't trigger the silent alarm... just like he let the woman live after she drove him to Times Square. But he also didn't have any problems cutting Kafka's eyes out. He's hard to figure out, and now that he's free, even he doesn't seem to know what he's gonna do.

I really want to see what happens next issue, which I hope to get soon. But I also wonder how the Green Goblin is going to factor in all of this. I can't even begin to wonder what the hell he's been up to lately. All I know is that he was killed by his own Glider waaaaay back then... and then came back to life and was somehow behind the whole Clone Saga mess that never seemed to end. Let's see what happens next.

The Superior Spider-Man # 3

by Mark Rodriguez

Since many people seem to hate this series for some reason or another (oh noes! Doc Ock tapped into Spider-Man's memories of nookie-time with MJ), I guess I'm kinda like the Nostalgia Critic of The Superior Spider-Man series. I buy and blog them so you don't have to. So in this issue we see how Doc Ock fares against one of his old partners in crime, the Vulture. Let's check it out.

Like the cover suggests, 'Everything you know is wrong' starts off with Spider-Man flying towards the brand new Spider-Signal that Jameson set up on the rooftop of a police building. Otto blows it up and says it's stupid to have a giant beacon in the sky to announce to all his enemies where to find him. Yes, I do realize this is an obvious nudge at Batman... but now that I think about it, I never seen the Arkham freaks try that out. I've seen them tamper with the Bat-Signal in the sky... but I never seen a comic where Batman swings towards the Bat-Signal and finds Joker and Two-Face ready to beat him up instead of Commissioner Gordon. Correct me if I'm wrong here guys.

Anyway, Otto tells Jameson that this must be some sort of test since he can't be stupid enough to use a Spider-Signal like that. Jameson rolls with it to safe face, and Otto provides him with a shielded phone number. Otto was called in to investigate the Vulture's latest plot, and the police wants him to work with Cooper on the case.

In the NYPD lab, Cooper questions Spidey's latest actions, still suspecting something based on the time the old dying Doc Ock told her he was really Spider-Man. Ghost Pete is still watching and wonders how Otto was able to manipulate Jameson after being in his body for just two weeks. Otto seems to have heard Peter's voice this time. He dismisses Cooper's suspicions and uses the new adjustments on his lenses to find the Vulture and 'stop him once and for all'. Cooper and Ghost Pete don't like the sound of that.

Paige wonders why Spider-Man has boobs in this panel.

Superior Spider-Man swings through the sky with some sort of plan for Toomes, and Ghost Pete is worried. Suddenly there is a shift in scenery and Ghost Pete finds himself in the memories of Doc Ock when he used to work alongside the Vulture in the Sinister Six. Amongst the other members (Mysterio, Kraven, and Electro), it seems there was some sort of mutual respect between Otto and Adrian. It seems Vulture was planning to get one big score to retire on, but Spider-Man kept getting in his way. Pete notices that the Doc and Vulture pause mid-sentence, since Superior Spider-Man had stopped reminiscing and started focusing on present matters. Pete decides to wander around in the Doc's memories to see what he can find.

ahhhh, we missed the classic Doctor Octopus 

Vulture's little Mini-Mes arrive at his hideout with their stolen loot and he rewards them with game tokens and pizza. That's a nice boss. Spider-Man busts in, having followed them. Rather than fight it out, the Doc has a proposition for him, to give him all the money he ever wanted to give up his life of crime. Vulture takes this and another one of Spider-Man's jokes and sends his freaky children after him. 

Spider-Man tries to fight off the mini-vultures as he says he has hidden bank accounts around the world and fifty million dollars could be his, if he'd give up the life of a super villain. Otto smacks one of the henchmen into a wall and realizes that they aren't midgets in little vulture outfits... they're actual children! 

Ghost Pete notices a change in scenery and sees a memory of Otto getting smacked around by his father as a child. In present time, Otto is furious that Vulture made him smack a child. Adrian sees no big deal about it and tells him that he's used youngsters the last time they fought. Otto sees into Peter's memories and says the last time was different since he was using teenagers instead of children. Otto now feels no compassion for Adrian Toomes and is determined to stop him once and for all..

The Vulture takes to the sky and Otto swings after him. Otto says he's gone easier on him before (at least Peter Parker has) but is now determined to kill him. As they fight in the air, Vulture notices the sound of Spidey's web-shooters running out of web fluid. Otto remarks he has inherited everything from Parker, including his bad luck. Vulture puts Spidey in a choke-hold and is ready to finish him off.

Notice how, despite being old since his early appearances, Vulture is about as old in present time as he was in the flashback... and yet Otto went from late thirties/forties to being mega-old when he died?

Otto calls out for plan 'Epsilon Two' which activates the little spider-bomb he tossed at the Spider- Signal earlier. It somehow sucks power from the NYPD's generators and turns the Spider-Signal back on with a violent blinding light. Superior Spider-Man then proceeds to dive-bomb the blinded Vulture right into the Spider-Signal spotlight, smashing the hell out of it. 

FATALITY!!!! Almost....

Carlie Cooper is shocked to all hell to see this and comments that the Vulture is badly burnt and cut to pieces. She says the Spider-Man she knew would never do this and demands an explanation. Otto tries to come up with some sort of Peter Parker excuse, which pulls Ghost Pete back into the scene. Ghost Pete is shocked to see what happened to the Vulture. Otto says the last time he fought the Vulture, he got away while putting Cooper's life in danger. Now he was putting children's lives in danger, and Spidey had to show him the kind of man he was. Cooper says she sees what he means, but Ghost Pete is worried she sees a lot more than Otto thinks. 

This was an interesting read. I especially like the fact that Doc Ock showed he has some morals among his villainy. I can't remember any past plot of his using children, although one has to admit had his plan to destroy most of the world would have succeeded, millions of people, including children, would have died.

 I found it interesting that he tried to see a friend in the Vulture and wanted him to reform. As Spider-Man, Otto no longer has need for evil plans and complex diabolical schemes. He has fame, respect and a decent job that showcases his talents and pays him good money. Despite the devious way he got to be where he is now, Otto appreciates living life the 'good guy' way, and wanted to extend the favor to Toomes. Has he accepted, Toomes would have had enough money to live the easy life without resorting to daring crimes. Of course we saw it all went to hell and the Doc tried to kill his former partner in crime, but it was interesting how he tried to reform him at first.

Again I start to wonder how long this will go on, as we continue to see Ghost Pete lurking around reminding us that he will find a way back someday. Now we also have Carlie Cooper getting too smart too fast, and it's only the third issue. I don't want to repeat myself every time I blog about this series but again I have to say, slow it down guys. Let the Doc be Spider-Man and let it play out for a year. Don't be in such a damn rush to reverse things the way they were before. Are the sales THAT bad? Are that many fans really dropping Spider-Man and Marvel because of this series?

Finally, I'd like to bring up a point that Paige mentioned. The plot that started with Amazing Spider-Man # 698 made it ambiguous exactly when Ock did the mind-switch with Peter. For all we know he could have been Spider-Man for a few stories after the 'Ends of the Earth' storyline and noone would have known. So why is Otto all of a sudden starting to slip up and 'break character' and start acting like a mad scientist version of Peter Parker? It's not a good thing when Wolverine is starting to get suspicious in the latest issue of Avenging Spider-Man.