I thought I read that Damon Wayans was joining the Teen Titans. I'm thinking how is that possible. Is he going to be Blankman. That would be a weird crossover. But no, he couldn't join the Teen Titans, he's too old. Then I re-read the article and it's Damian Wayne, 

Bruce Wayne's son, the new Robin, that may be joining the Teen  Titans...What was I thinking!

Well, it seems like shooting is starting in April 2011 and the release date is July 2012. Chris Nolan is directing and even though no one has officially signed on Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman will definitely be back. As we also now know the Joker will not be returning. Guess we'll never know where he really got those scars.    
Well everyone is wondering what villain will be in the next movie. The high contender seems to be the Riddler. Ok. I like him. The story will probably be about him knowing Batman's true identity and then he reveals it in a riddle. Actually, wasn't that the plot for Batman Forever-also known as Batman 3. Maybe they should skip the Riddler. I would prefer the Penguin. This time let's not have him some deformed malcontent and the let him be the gentleman criminal he's supposed to be.  I would love it if they got Paul Giamotti for the role but I'll go with Philip Seymour Hoffman. I actually came up with a good plot line a few years ago. But I'll keep it to myself. 
 
Actually I think they may bring in Catwoman. Since they killed the only main female character in the last movie they need someone in the third. Why not Selena Kyle. Who else? Vicki Vale? Silver St. Cloud? Jezebel Jet? Well, there's always Talia Al Ghul. She could want revenge for the death of her father in Batman Begins. And don't say Poison Ivy cause I'm sure she doesn't fit in Chris Nolan's real world of Batman. He's not going to have her controlling plants just like he's not going to have Clayface shape-shifting.  If they do pic Catwoman I want Rhona Mitri. I like her and I think she would make a perfect match with Christian Bale's persona. If you don't know who she is look up the movie Doomsday and Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans. Sorry but I think Angelina is a bit over played. But I will settle for Kate Beckinsale.  
 
No matter who they pick I trust Chris Nolan will do a great job. I love the first two Batman movies. I love Memento--my tattoos will prove it. I also liked the Prestige and Insomnia. I can't wait to check out Inception this week. I think it will be the best movie I see this year. I can just feel it. Or perhaps I saw it in a dream...
 
The only thing I ask is when they make Batman 3 they include the line, "things are worse than ever" somewhere. The line is in both the first two movies. Rachael Dawes says it in Batman Begins when she's driving him around Gotham. And some unknown person says it in the Dark Knight during Harvey Dent's press conference when he confesses to being Batman. It happens to be one of my favorite lines from the Dark Knight and I always look forward to it when the scene comes up. I find myself saying it when ever something bad happens in my life. "Things are worse than ever". 
 
While watching Batman Begins recently I heard Rachael say it and I was like they have to use that in the third movie. If not then it's going suck. Well maybe not suck but I know I will be disappointed if it's not in there. So if you could please pass it along. Maybe it might reach Chris Nolan.  I think they should use it for the poster. Batman 3: Things Are Worse than Ever. I would buy my ticket tomorrow if that were on the poster. And I would buy a bunch of posters. 
 
Well I wonder what the title of the next movie will be. It won't be Batman 3. If you notice none of the Batman movie titles have a number in them. I'm thinking The Caped Crusader should be the title for the third movie. The last movie leaves off with Batman as an outlaw and I read somewhere they will have Commissioner Gordon hunting him down--I don't know why since he knows he's innocent--so at some point maybe Batman will prove he is on the side of good. He is crusading for something.  And he wears a cape. So The Caped Crusader. Yeah it sounds a bit corny but it might work.  Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Caped Crusader. I like it.
 
I've seen Batman Begins and the Dark Knight about hundred times each and I want to see what happens next. I would like a few questions answered. Did Luscious Fox resign? Did Coleman Reese tell Mike Engal who Batman was? And what happened to the train system from Batman Begins? The whole thing just disappeared. 
 
I definitely want to see the Batcave and a new Batmobile. And please fix Batman's cape. Especially if you call it the Cape Crusader. It's the one thing that annoyed me  in the Dark Knight. Every time he would fight someone his cape looked like the towel we use to tie around our necks as kids pretending to be Batman. Please, hire one guy and have his job simply be to check on Batman's cape. I don't care how many takes they have to do please get his cape looking nice and flowing. He looks ridiculous with it half hanging off his neck. I know a lot of people were bothered by his voice but it didn't bother me. His dangling cape did. I have to turn my head away each time I see it.  

You don't have to agree with me on any of this but I'm sure about one thing 2012 is too far away. At least I have Thor and Captain America to look forward to next year.

Why the need for change: In Regards to Wonder Woman

For the past two or three days I have been quite upset by the changes that were made to one of my favorite characters. Of course that character is Wonder Woman as mentioned in the titled of this. I first came to know her from the Superfriends and the show Wonder Woman starring Linda Carter. I later read her comics, all versions from the Golden Age until now. I won't say I read every comic, I'm sure I missed quite a few, however I do think I have read enough to give a valid opinion on Wonder Woman and what I think of these new changes.

To be blunt, I hate them. I absolutely hate them. I first saw the change to her costume on an internet posting. I immediately didn't like it. My initial reaction may have come from fandom. Why change the look I was so use to? But then I looked at it again and I didn't understand the change. Why was it necessary? Okay, her comic book is hitting a milestone and turning 600. That could be the case. With the new numbering and the number that it has reached maybe she needed a new look. More as a celebration to her achievement. Okay. I can get with that. But then again. As I looked at the outfit, it just didn't make me see Wonder Woman. That was not Wonder Woman I was looking at. In fact, all I could think was Donna Troy. This outfit might have been better suited for her.

For those who don't know, Donna Troy is Wonder Woman's sister. She used to be Wonder Girl.

Okay. Now I said to myself, "Self...we haven't even read the issue yet. Let's give it a chance." Okay I said. But then I read about what was going to happen in this issue. The article accompanied the picture. It said Wonder Woman's story had changed. had been attacked when she was a child and all the Amazon's killed. She had been smuggled out to Man's World and raised in a mean urban environment. Now her quest was to find out who did it. And that's when I said to myself, "Self...What kind of crap is this? Am I expected to read this and like it?" Well, myself could not tolerate the thought. What were they doing to my beloved Wonder Woman.

Well let me back track some. About a year ago, I heard that Wonder Woman was going to turn 600. Meaning she was putting out her 600th issue. That was great. Superman is turning 700. Batman is turning 700. Wonder Woman, who stands along side of them makes up the DC Trinity, was going to have about as many issues as her two counter parts. Well, there was a problem. See Superman and Batman had been continuous series. Wonder Woman was not. Her series had stopped a few times. With each new series came a new set of numbers. She was now on Series 3 and what should have been her 600th issue was actually going to be her 45th for this series. Well quite a few of us fans, yes me included, decided we were going to do something about it. We felt Wonder Woman should have similar numbers to Superman and Batman. She wasn't getting the same push or respect as they were, so why not give her her due and renumber issue 45 to 600. Seems fair, right? Maybe the renumbering would pique people’s interest in her and new day would begin. Maybe her sales would go up and she could have spin off titles and hold her own franchise like the other two Superheroes. Nice dream , huh?

So the postcards were sent in to DC Comics care of then Senior Editor Dan DiDio. He even put out a notice saying if he received 600 postcards requesting the change he would make it so. And it happened. He received more the 600, sorry I don't know the actual count, and he declared the change would happen. And all us Wonder Woman fans cheered. And to top off the excitement we were to learn that the great writer J. Michael Straczynski   was going to write the 600th issues.

Now for those who don't know who J. Michael Straczynski is he happens to be a very popular comic book writer. But you may have heard of him from writing and producing the show 5. He was also the writer for the movie, Changeling, with Angelina Jolie; directed by Clint Eastwood. It's a great movie if you haven't seen it.

Well I know I was excited to hear he was going to write it. I had seen him at the New York Comic Con a few years ago and his seminar really affected me as a writer. He made me believe I could one day write for comics. And I still hold that sentiment. I still think he is a great writer. However, a few months ago I read somewhere he was planning to destroy in issue 600th. Now this didn't bother me. I was like "Okay, if he destroys , maybe he might relocated Wonder Woman somewhere else". I always felt she needed her own city to protect--Superman has Metropolis and Batman   has . At one time she was located in . Why not send her back there? The current Wonder Girl had been living there. Since had been destroyed and the Amazons killed off it would seem likely she would go there and live with Wonder Girl, the last of their kind.

Well that's not the case as we now know. Sure Wonder Woman has her 600th issue but she also had her outfit and storyline changed. I have read issue 600th. I had to. The thought was killing me. The issue itself is not bad. There are three stories. The first two have her in her iconic outfit. The first story she is fighting alongside some other DC Heroines and they are admiring how she takes down the bad guys. Yeah. That's Wonder Woman all right. The example. The second story she fights alongside Superman. See...she can hold her own alongside him. In fact she takes out the bad guy and Superman praises her for it. Awe. Always the Boy Scott. Throughout the issue they show off pictures of Wonder Woman by various artist and in each picture she's in her old outfit. Oh doesn't she look spectacular. Then comes the third story.

I have nothing against the story itself. It seems pretty interesting. Well written. Well paced. My only bias being it was not what I expected or wanted. I wanted a continuation of Wonder Woman. Here they're going back and restarting her again. But wait...not really. Cause they do mention and I have read this elsewhere that it's an alteration of  her timeline. I’m guessing all the other Wonder Woman stories had occurred but the timeline has been changed. Sort of like what they did with the Star Trek movie. Now what bothers me about this and I’m also kind of thankful they did is that this may only be a temporary storyline. The events in the story could lead up to Wonder Woman changing things and it all goes back to the way it was. Or it could continue on. But this all depends on fans reactions of course. But if it can be changed why make it out like this is the way it’s going to be? Why not say we’re testing it out. See what people think and if they don’t like it we have a way to change it. I mean, what a nice little back door they have there. It’s an altered timeline. If things don’t go they way they planned well they got an issue set up to rectify the matter. If this is actually the case I’m pleased. But I'm only speculating. I hope it is cause I want Wonder Woman the way she was.

Now don't get me wrong. I have no problem with making changes to her character, her outfit and/or her storyline. I don’t have a problem when they do this with any comic book character. I think change needs to come from within and these changes are clearly from without. Change needs to happen from within the framework of the character and the story told so far. There needs to be changes made that make sense to the character and from whats already been established. It makes the character seem like they evolved and it isn’t jarring to the fans because they would be familiar with many of these aspects already. It will seem like a progression and not a complete overhaul.

At the end of issue 600, they have an article explaining why the changes. I have also read a few articles that go further into their reasons. Something about Wonder Woman needing to fit with the look of the times and her needing to be more urbanized or something like that. I could give you quotes but I none of them make sense to me. There was something they weren’t telling me. I read the articles again and something wasn’t sitting right. Okay I get changing her outfit. Maybe she is due some alterations. But the whole “urban” thing I didn’t get. They think it’s a good idea if she had been raised on the streets. Huh? Why? What was wrong with her growing up on an run by highly advanced super warrior woman. She really needs to be raised like some ghetto superstar? She needs to be more “gritty”.   Another big, Huh? I don’t get it. And how is this updating her to the current climate of today’s comics? I see a lot of other Super Heroines dressed like her. In fact, they copied her. Then this morning it hit me.

It’s all about selling Wonder Woman to . You know that place where dreams are born. See they have been trying to get a Wonder Woman movie made for years. The problem is no one knows how to do it. Not when your main character is cloaked in Greek Mythology and she runs around in a star spangled bikini. How do you sell that to anyone? Not only a studio but to the general public. Now as I stated in the beginning of this article I first became familiar with Wonder Woman from the Superfriends and the TV show with Linda Carter, who by the way wrote the opening article to issue 600, and I’m sure many of you have were introduced the same way.

I think this is what the executives think of when you mention Wonder Woman. Sort of like in the 80s when they were shopping a Batman movie around. They weren’t thinking Michael Keaton or Christian Bale. They were thinking Adam West and Burt Ward. Pow. Zap. And when they think Wonder Woman they think Linda Carter and her big hips spinning around and flying in her invisible plane.

Oh may I say this for those who don’t know…in the comics not only was her plane invisible but she was as well. They showed her sitting in the plane so you knew she was in it. When they did the TV show they didn’t realize other people were not to see her. They thought it was as pictured in the comics…her sitting down flying through the sky with the outline of her invisible plane.   If you ever thought that made no sense then that’s why. Oh and how did she find it. The plane was linked with her tiara. She knew where it was by her mental connection to it. See how wonderful she actually is.

Well getting back. The whole idea is that they need to sell Wonder Woman for the big screen. They can’t have her looking the way she does. To them it won’t sell. They have to modernize her. Jazz her up for The Dark Knight crowd. You know, make it “gritty” and “urban”. Same thing they want to do with Superman. That’s why they want to get Chris Nolan and his crew to produce the next Superman movie. And possibly Wonder Woman. The DC Trinity. So look at the way they are describing her. Nothing like the character she is supposed to be or what she symbolizes. She supposed to be about Truth. She’s not only the Amazon Princess but the Goddess of Truth. And these changes don’t speak a word of truth. It has nothing to do with making changes for her to fit into the comicbook world. It’s for the movies.

There was a time when the movies changed the characters to sell them to the audience. Now it’s the comic book company changing the character to sell it to the movie company. Well it’s one thing when the movie company does it but a crying shame when the people who are supposed to protect their product do it. But wait a minute. Didn’t DC Comics have a whole new revamping and became DC Entertainment. You know the restructuring so they could be able to put out movies and TV shows. They are owned by Time Warner. They were given they’re own division to develop material from within. Of course Time Warner still distributes the films. They just develop the product. Now the pieces are falling into place. Why wait for to make the changes. Do it yourself. And why not hire J. Michael Stracynzski. He’s worked in . He knows the type of stuff they’re looking for. You know young urban and gritty. And that’s what they did with her character. They dressed her up and sold her off. I guess you can say they pimped her out.

Of course this is all speculation on my part. You may have wanted to see a change in her character or more so her outfit. Something a bit more updated. Something that made sense. Okay, so how does she fight in that old outfit and her breast not pop out? Why does she wear the star spangled bikini? Could she cover up some? Sure make changes. But change those aspects. Make her chest plate where her breast won’t pop out. Give her pants. But still, make her identifiable as the character people know and love. Sorry but the jackets got to go. She’s a superhero not a member of a biker gang.

But hey, I like her old outfit and had no problem with it. Sure I’m a guy and I like a half naked chick fighting a cheetah woman--but I think it symbolized true female sexually. She grew up in a world of women where it was okay to walk around half naked because no one cared. She wasn’t seen as a sexual object. She could go around with her legs out and her breast bobbing up and down. It didn’t matter. But in our world it does. A world designed and run by men. And because of men, women have a frustrating sense of their own sexuality. What to wear. What not to wear. And where not to wear it cause who knows who might be looking and what they’re intentions might be.

This is what Wonder Woman’s outfit symbolized. That she could walk around in our world, Man’s World as her Amazonian sisters called it, and not be judged or condemned or criticized or thought less than based on how she looked and what she wore. Her mission was to show that woman were equal to men in every way and they should be allowed to express themselves in whatever manner they feel and don’t have to change or conceal it to satisfy the taste and so called normalcy of others. And she proved it by dressing how she dressed and acting how she acted. That’s what made her a feminist symbol. And that’s what made her a symbol of being a female. She is who she is.

But how can she now. Once long ago, her bracelets where the symbol of how the Amazonian women were no longer going to be shackled to the rule of men. They broke their chains and lived in harmony on . But now look at it. destroyed. Her sisters killed. She has to live in a gritty, urban jungle fighting for her life. Now she’s covered up with long pants, a jacket and sensible shows. Why? Because its the will of the Gods? No. Because a group of men decided this was better entertainment. This is what Wonder Woman needed to make her more interesting to the general public. This is what would get her to . Yeah. Sounds like something they tell young girls when they’re fresh off the bus dreaming of being an actress.

What’s that Pink lyric? Something about, “Yeah we’ll make you a big star, just change everything about who you are.” I think that’s about right.

I went to the Big Apple Comic Con this weekend. It wasn't that bad. I got to see a few B list and below celebrities I like. I realized that R2D2 is annoying. They had him running around beeping all over the place. After awhile I wanted to kick the crap out him. He was like a smoke alarm you couldn't turn off. He was just beeping and buzzing. But no disrespect to R2. I love him in the movies. In person, he sucks. But anyway. 
 
I go to most of the Comic Cons in New York. One day I hope to branch out and go to one else where. Especially the San Diego one. I'm thinking it's like a Geek Mecca. You have to make a pilgrimage there at least once in your life, right? It looks great on TV. Well one thing I do whenever I go to a Comic Con is I look out for my number one superhero: Aquaman. The problem is he isn't a lot of other people's favorite. And because of that there seems to be very little merchandise for him. Sure I got plenty of Aquaman stuff. I think well over a hundred. But when you think about it Superman and Batman and Spiderman have ten times as much.  
 
I thought maybe I couldn't find anything new because I had it already. But as I looked around Aquaman merchandise was rather scarce. Most of the stuff they had on display I already had but if they had one Aquaman they had twenty for Batman and Superman. And different kinds of stuff.  I was hoping for a hat or t-shirt. Nothing. The only thing I found was a button I bought for a dollar. And it wasn't even a good button. It looked like they got the image from a VHS bootleg and pressed it on. 
 
I am happy in the coming months there will be a couple of Aquaman statues coming out. I will be one of the first to pick one up. Hopefully I will have better luck with these statues than the last few I bought. I got them on Ebay. When they arrived at my house they were chipped or broken. I bought the Aquaman snowglobe and when I opened the box I discovered a dime sized hole in the glass dome and the water leaked out into the box. Luckily I got my money back and could buy another one in good condition. But some of my other purchases didn't end with happy results. Especially when the items are limited edition. 
 
I am hoping one day Aquaman will become a major character again and they'll make all types of items for him. I'm an Aquaman junkie. I'll go to a 12 step and admit that. I have no shame about it. He's my favorite character, even if I don't agree how he's been portrayed for the last twenty or so years. I liked him better in the Golden and Early Silver age. I'm so glad they changed him from King Orin with the harpoon hand and back to the classic orange and green. Maybe one day someone will come along and breath a new and better life for him. But until then...

I'm not going into an in dept criticism and i promise no real spoilers. I really liked this movie. I think it might be the best DC animated film so far. I loved the animation and the voice acting. Clancy Brown is Lex Luthor. He gives him such a presence of menace but likability. My only problem is the movie is short. It's only an hour. It leaves you wanting more. Especially when other superheroes and supervillains start showing up. You asks, where is this one and where is that one? It would have been cool for an all out DCU presentation. Another problem I had and it's minor. Okay Superman is hit by someone and thrown backwards about thirty feet. Batman is hit by that same person and thrown thirty feet.  Um, why isn't Batman dead? If someone is strong enough to hit Superman then Batman should be dead if hit by that same person. It's like in video games where Superman takes as many hits as Batman and has a relative strength level. People have to think about this stuff when putting it together. Superman is ten times maybe even a hundred times stronger that Batman. Superman is nearly invincible. Batman is a mortal man and will die like you and I would die if taking the same assault as Superman. Now I may  be wrong about the movie but it seemed like Batman was walking away from some fights he should have been seriously injured by. Other than that, it's a fun movie with plenty of action. I love Amanda Waller and glad they included her. The kiss kind of creep me out. I'd watched it again and I recommend it. Hope you enjoy as well.

Diane Nelson, head of DC Entertainment, says there are currently no plans for a Superman movie. there was no explanation given but I wonder if it has to do with the lawsuit with the Siegel family. Siegel as in Jerry Siegel the co-creator of Superman along with Joe Shuster. I'm not sure because last I read Time Warner had to make a Superman movie by 2011 or they would lose the rights to certain aspects of Superman's origins. 

Well, maybe DC Entertainment doesn't care about losing the rights to Superman's origins. I don't know the deal that was made or any of the stipulations. From what I read it sounded like they could lose and couldn't use references to Kyrpton, depictions of how he got to Earth or his Kryptonian family. Some say that is fine. We already know all that and do we need another movie about Superman's origins? 

I can agree with not wanting to see another origin story. We all know it. But then again if you are doing a reboot, and I am so hoping for one, you may want to start back at the beginning. I loved the first Superman movie and Superman 2. I actually liked 3 and 4 but will agree they suck. i like them simply cause Superman's in it. But you have to admit the fight between Superman and Evil Superman in part three was rather cool.

I did not like Superman Returns. i have written plenty of times why I did not like that movie and I won't go into now but I would love a Superman reboot to erase this movie fro I don't want a Dark Knight treatment to it. Superman should not go dark however it should be treated with a serious and m people's and especially my memory.

I don’t think it should go the Dark Knight. It shouldn’t be made dark. Superman is not dark. He’s about Hope. So the movie should have a hopeful, uplifting feel to it. The cool thing about the first movie was they said by the end you will believe a man can fly. And if you were like me after seeing that movie you were jumping off the furniture with a towel around your neck humming the theme music pretending to be Superman.  

That was my major problem with Superman Returns. It was very inspiring. Superman is supposed to inspire. I felt weird about Superman. He had an illegitimate kid. It was like watching an episode of Maury. Parts of the movie were dark and mean the lighting. It looked drab. And they had Lex Luthor seducing an old lady for her money. The greatest criminal mind of all time seducing an old lady? Oh it still pains me to think about.

Well, I said I won’t talk about that movie. I have read about Mark Millar’s pitch. His idea is to make a trilogy—the first movie would be on Krypton like a thousand years before Superman is born. It covers the history of Krypton and ends with baby Kal El being sent to Earth. The second movie is Superman on Earth and doing some stuff. And the third movie is Superman on Earth as the yellow sun turns red and he loses his powers. Sounds great. But I don’t want that to be the movie. It sounds better if it would be a graphic novel or a mini. Maybe a direct to video release.

First, let me say, I don’t care about what happened on Kyrpton. I don’t care about who Jor El was and what he did. The first Superman movie would have been better had they cut the opening scene down a bit. I want to see Superman. I don’t want to see his father. It’s like going to see a Batman but instead we get the life story of Thomas Wayne. Who cares? The movie should start with Jor El and his wife putting Kal El in the little shuttle and then boom! Krypton blows up—cut to Kal El landing on Earth and then flash forward to him as an adult. They you go. The first five minutes.

I like the idea of the yellow sun turning red and Superman losing his powers. But then where do you go from there? It doesn’t sound all that exciting. What will Superman do? Walk around and ponder his place in the world? Find other ways to be a superhero. I don’t know. It might be a good read but I can’t picture it up on the big screen.  

What most writers need to know when pitching a superhero movie, and not just a Superman movie, is there is a certain formula that works. You have to first follow that formula and then work outside of it. Like when people say you have to think outside of the box. Well first you have to define the box then you can work outside of it. If no one knows what the box is, how do they know you worked outside of it. It simply leaves your ideas a bit muddled and confused.

I don’t think the Dark Knight is the formula to follow. It is something definitely worth trying to match and surpass but it’s a unique movie. I think in lesser hands it could have been terrible. I wouldn’t have others try to copy it. They’ll only make their product look even worse had they followed nothing at all. Like I said, Superman should not go dark. That wasn’t even what made the Dark Knight good. It was dark because Batman is a dark character. It was a good movie because it stayed true to the character. If you want Superman to work, stay true to his character and you can’t go wrong.

I am hoping what Diane meant was there are no plans at this time meaning this week or sometime soon. I’m hoping that some time down the road and I mean in the near future they start discussing something. I don’t think it should be that hard to make a Superman movie. You got two movies showing you how to do it and three on how not to. Contrast and compare. Take your pros and cons and you should find a happy medium. Don’t try for anything that’s so called big and better and new and different. Superman is a classic character and should be treated as such. Treat it with the classic theme of good versus evil. Truth. Justice. And the American way. Mom and apple pie. The most important thing is that Superman must inspire and it must give hope. And it must make you believe a man can fly. If it does none of these if not all then the whole project will fail. I’m sure every fan boy wants to see Superman get into a big fight with some monster like Doomsday, but Superman is more than that. If you want to see that, go watch Smallville.

Until they make a new Superman   movie or at least consider one…

Joshua Rainey    

I've been a Luke Cage fan since I was kid. Growing up a black youth there weren't many black super heroes featured. He was the number one where I was from. I would go places, that didn't have comics, and I would see someone with a Luke Cage poster or picture. Most of them were often home drawn. I don't remember  a lot of merchandise for him back in the day. Now I see there is a great many products you can purchase. My problem is Luke cage never looks the same. 
 
At my local comic shop, Comic Book Jones in Staten Island, New York, they were selling Luke Cage statues. One was the classic look where he's wearing the yellow coat and the metal headband around his afro and a chain belt around his waist. The other was him in a black outfit with bald head and sporting a pair of shades. I have to say that I Iike the classic look better. The new updated looks he's been sporting don't do it for me. He doesn't look distinct enough. If they didn't say it was Like Cage I wouldn't know it was him. I would think it was some ordinary black guy running around. 
 
Now I know the classic look is kind of silly. It was silly back in the 70s and it's silly now. What I would like is a new look for him but a sort of mesh between him then and him now. I like the yellow jacket. Or was it a shirt? Well the yellow makes him stand out. Why not give him a yellow jacket and maybe a white t-shirt? Take away the metal headband and maybe make it a pair of metalic silver shades. He can wear them on his forehead and when he wants to look cool he pulls them down over his eyes. 
 
The chain has to go. It makes me think of Ghost Rider and other superheroes with chains. But I think he should have a belt. Maybe a belt with a huge buckle. Across it he could have the words Powerman written on it. Also I've seen his with four finger links. They had his name on the front. Luke on his right hand and Cage on the other. I don't remember if they did this in the comics but it would be cool for him to punch somebody and leaves his name bruised on their skin. It would be a street thing. Now every one would know who beat that guy up. His name would be branded on him for a while. 
 
And bring back the afro. It doesn't have to be Angela Davis big but the fro is so him. I don't like the bald head. And the sideburns. Bring them back as well.   Maybe a soul patch would be a cool addition. One of his character traits is that he thinks he's really fashionable but he's not. But then again he's so cool he can pull off some bad looking outfits. Hey I don't know anything about fashion or style but I do know he needs a look that makes him recognizable. One that makes anyone, even the casual reader or non-reader, say hey that's Luke Cage. It's better than them saying who's that black guy hanging out with the Fantastic Four?
 
While I'm talking about Luke Cage, I wish they would bring back the character Diamondback. Luke needs an arch foe and he seemed the best candidate. I know he died in like issue 2 of Luke Cage Hero for Hire but it's a comic book--does anyone really die? I say bring him back, give him some upgrades and have them go at it. I want to see a new Luke Cage series. I like the Luke Cage noir but it's not the Luke Cage I know and love. I mean if I had my way I would go back to his Hero for Hire days.  Sorry but I'm not into him marrying  Jessica Jones and having a kid. I have no problem with interracial coupling, I'm a product of it myself, but I never saw it with Luke. Maybe he might have the occasional fling with a white girl but I can't see him settling down with one. It doesn't seem true to his character. 
 
And I'm all in favor of a Luke Cage movie. Not sure I want Tyrese Gibson to play the big man. He doesn't have the size and his voice doesn't sound right. I can't imagine him saying Sweet Christmas and pulling it off. Does he even say Sweet Christmas anymore? They changed him around so much I don't even know who he is anymore. Bad enough I can't identify him visually. I played that game Ultimate Alliance, the first one, and I had no idea who he was. He looked stupid running around with Spiderman and Thor. If he's going to be a superhero he should look like one. I'm hoping if and when they make the movie they have him look like Luke Cage.  He should be tall, big and scary looking. Like a dude you don't even want to see in daylight. But of course he's the nicest guy you'd ever meet.
 
No matter how they stylize him I say keep the yellow jacket. I think a big black dude walking through Harlem wearing a yellow coat is a scary idea. You have to picture it in your mind for more than a minute. Think about it. He's either wearing it because he can't afford anything else or he wants someone to say something about it just so he can pop them in the mouth. I'd say both statements are true. And it sounds like Luke Cage to me.

 

Okay, Wonder Woman isn't turning 600 in age but she has an upcoming issue, number 45, where it will be the 600th issue of a Wonder Woman comic.

Wonder Woman has been around since 1941 first debuting in Sensation Comic #1. Since then she has had her own self-titled series but each one came to an end and a new volume was presented. Right now she has series out, volume 3, and it started back at number 1. She is currently at issue number 35. When the series reaches number 45 it will be the 600th issue featuring Wonder Woman as the main character.

There is currently a campaign by die hard Wonder Woman fans who want the series' number to change from issue 44 to issue 600, instead of 45. They believe that Wonder Woman should receive the same treatment as Superman and Batman, who's series have numbered beyond 600. They are asking people to send postcards to DC Comics asking for this change. Dan DiDio, Senior VP and Executive Editor for DC comics has asked if people really want it, it will happen, but he wants 600 postcards stating so.

For those who are not aware, Wonder Woman makes up what is known as the DC Trinity. In the DC Universe, she ranks alongside Superman and Batman. But as they have had on going series, she hasn't. They also have had big screen movies and she hasn't but that is another story. The thought is if her numbered issues were changed to 600 she would seem to be more on par with them and maybe her popularity would grow. Not that she isn't popular. Not only having her own series she has been a prominent member of the Justice League and made many appearances in the books of other characters.

I happen to love Wonder Woman. She is my second favorite DC Superhero, Aquaman being my number one, and I think the change in number might be a step in the right direction. DC will being getting a postcard from me in the coming week. The only problem is when looking at one's Wonder Woman collection the numbering is going to look funny. To go from 44 to 600? Yeah. That seems like a huge jump.  And to someone on the outside they may get confused. My opinion is that DC, when making the change should put out a companion piece stating the change and also showcasing the different series she has appeared in. With this companion piece they can also state the changes that have happened to Wonder Woman over the years.

Superman and Batman have had relatively little changes made to their storyline. Superman came from Krypton and Batman's parents were killed when he was a child, however Wonder Woman's origins have changed and so have her cast of characters. Steve Trevor use to be her love interest and Etta Candy was her friend. At one point, she lost her powers and was trained by a martial arts masters. It seemed with each new series there was a different story to go along with it. The latest series has pretty much kept up with the changes made back in the 80s. But then how do you make all these changes and then connect them into one series leading up to 600?

Well I think the companion piece would help people understand the changes. And if needed they could also create new stories to sort of retcon those changes so they make sense. One big event that changed her story was the First Crisis in the 1980's. This where Wonder Woman changed to what we pretty much know her as today.

Hey no matter what they do I'm hoping Wonder Woman gets the respect and treatment she deserves. I think there are a lot things that could be improved on but what ever DC does with her, story wise, I want them to promote her as the third part of the DC Trinity and treat her as such. If Superman and Batman can have over 600 issues why not her. And also if they can have multiple spin off series why can;t she as well. Which also leads me back to the fact she hasn't had a movie yet. We've seen Superman and Batman have multiple motion picture runs and she hasn't had one yet. Maybe with the change in her numbers and DC putting her name out more and the fans showing great interest she'll get her day on the big screen. Until then--

Joshua Rainey


Send your postcard wanting Wonder Woman comics to change to 600 to:

Dan DiDio
c/o DC Comics Inc.
1700 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

Simply state "Wonder Woman issue #45 should start renumbering at #600. Thanks".

And don't forget to sign your name. No duplicates please. They will be rejected.