With so many focused on the current events of both DC and Marvel, there’s very little attention and knowledge as to what comics were once like. With possibly many frowning upon the old school comics, it’s quite a sad fact how there are many new readers who are unaware of events and storylines that shaped comics into what it is today.

Introducing a storyline that “must” be added into anybody’s growing collection of comics, specifically for those who are a huge fan of DC comics. Straight from the early 90’s, an 8-part mini-series from DC comics known as the Time Masters.

A piece of my comic collection that shows readers an unexpected battle between good and evil and exactly why the primary villain of this story Vandal Savage is deemed one of the most dangerous and powerful villains of all time.

Starring the Golden Age time traveling hero Rip Hunter, Time Masters is a story that focuses on Rip Hunter forming a group of both skilled and ordinary people on a risky mission to travel back through time to foil the formation of the secret organization called the Illuminati after suffering an attack from one of the members in a suicide bombing. Later realizing how modern society was secretly controlled and built by this organization throughout most of human history, Rip Hunter would pursues a personal war that would find himself and members of his team in a dispute with the leader of the Illuminati, Vandal Savage. But Rip would later learn a valuable lesson by the end of this battle throughout time when finally coming face to face with Savage, becoming a lesson that would teach Rip Hunter about himself when trying to change the effects of time and its course for the greater cause.

As a collector of these old-school comics, I can’t express how happy I was to finally obtain a storyline where Vandal Savage was the primary villain, even with the fact that Time Masters would go into the history of Savage and how he alone shaped the DC Universe by his own hand with the Illuminati.

The storyline is very interesting and unexpected seeing how it’s not your basic hero saving the day story. Instantly readers would see problems began to rise when Rip and his group kept finding their attempts on stopping the Illuminati failing and forcing to travel further back through time with several limitations because of the equipment they need in order to time travel. The catch is that each member of Rips group has only a single chance to travel back through time and foil the Illuminati where they would finally collapse in modern time. But after a few members were seriously injured and have nearly died, doubt began to rise among Rips team where they began to find this battle with the Illuminati of not worth cost of their lives.

It would be by the 8^th and final issue where readers would see the tables completely turn on Rip Hunter when not only we see an extremely desperate hero fighting Vandal Savage at dawn of time itself, but realize that there are much greater consequences if Vandal Savage were to lose.

An interesting display of storytelling between the forces of good and evil, where readers would see how desperate a hero may become when trying to defeat the villain and how the outcome would change a mans heart when realizing that he’s in a fight that he will never win.

But even though I felt that Rip Hunters character was primarily the focus within the whole 8 issues, Time Masters is possibly the only story where you would actually see the entire character of Vandal Savage and how he managed to become one of DC’s greatest and most dangerous villains of all-time. A huge fan of Vandal Savage myself, I always felt that he had a lack on making decent appearances as a primary villain when being compared to the likes of Lex Luthor, Sinestro, and the Joker. As with the few storylines that I’ve seen Vandal Savage in and I can’t say that there was not enough details of exactly how powerful a man like Vandal Savage is when being compared to his appearance within Time Masters.

The storyline does have you wrapped around the concept of time travel. As to what I find to be great storytelling that properly introduces each of the characters and the surprise introduction of certain heroes throughout time who encounter Rip’s group in their battle against Vandal Savage. My complaint and only complaint pertains to Vandal Savage at the end of the story that leaves me with an unspecified question of Vandal Savages true fate.

Overall I would say Time Masters is one of many collections that has defined the DC Universe in a specific way. An interesting collection for those who have a strong love for storylines that holds a powerful sci-fi theme and isn’t your basic superhero story.

A simple question I asked myself when I started making videos for Youtube.

What is the greatest challenge for any hero to face?

Would it be the Mad Titan Thanos wanting to eradicate all life to share his love for Death?

Darkseid being a single grasp away from having all life under his ruthless control? Stopping Doomsday by an act of sacrifice or saving the Marvel Universe from the Mad robot known as Ultron?

Or would it be the challenge that the hero makes for himself?

When describing heroes like Spiderman, Superman, or Batman, we easily define them with a hero complex that they built for themselves. Fully dedicated in a lifestyle to defend the innocent from crime and much greater threats that no law enforcement can handle, we can’t help but see perfection from these mystery men who would stand with a sense of heroic pride. But, exactly how perfect are these heroes and what would happen when they remind comic readers exactly how vulnerable they are when making a mistake that would shock any dedicated comic reader?

Of course there are plenty of examples of heroes making the bad judgment call that would even have others doubt their reputation. But the one concept, a rare concept that has defined a few heroes and villains has truly captured my interest, which is the struggling battle against drugs.

I may not know what it would be like to face against something like Thanos or Doomsday (nor would it be lovely even if I did have powers like Superman), but I do know what it’s like to fight against an addiction, and indeed it is a horror to challenge an addiction seeing how it could be a painfully long fight that could be a single thought away from losing.

And when I see something like Iron Man struggling for a single glass of Whiskey to solve or drown his problems, it’s utterly remarkable how a comic book has managed to defined a character with both science fiction and perfected realism that has shown or reminded readers how human Iron Man truly is.

As a fan of old comics, I can say that I have read remarkable stories of Green Arrow facing a unique problem with his sidekick Roy Harper, or even Batman himself be reminded twice of how human he truly is because of a super-steroid.

As of today, I can’t say that comics have strongly focused on heroes or villains facing problems such as Iron Man’s alcoholism or any other known addiction, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is no independent storylines that would define a character without being related or attached to an event.

Pertaining to the title of this blog, In this video I cover and review how drugs and addiction has define comics into what it is today and the story of four heroes who face this rare challenge and how it has defined some into the heroes that we know of today when facing the ultimate challenge within their careers.

Possibly the most famous cheater within the DC Universe who just loves to gloat over his success, the Riddler is one of the many Batman villains who has held a long career of capturing the attention of many readers because of his unique style and flair as a costumed villain.

If interested in knowing the failed attempts of how the Riddler became lucky enough to be one of Gotham's colorful cast of costumed baddies, the moment where he thought he had Batman in the palm of his hands, and facing the harsh results of being a watered down costumed villain that nearly costed his life more than once.

Then I hope you enjoy this video.

The mad robot of the Marvel Universe who's not only been a continuous threat for the Avengers, but just so happens to hold a remarkable tale of how man should never cross the line of playing god when creating a machine with the mind of a man.

If your interested or curious as to why shameful Avenger Hank Pym has to spend a great portion of his life of having himself and his beloved team of Avengers deal with a major screw-up that he made, seeing one weird father-and-son relationship, a mistake who nearly beaten the Avengers while taking on the appearance of a nude version of Janet Van Dyne (which is kinda comical in a way), and also nearly taking over the universe itself....

then I do hope you enjoy the video and thank you for watching.

Maxwell Lord,.....some would define him as savior, and some would see him as a world-wide threat.

But if your curious or interested on wanting to know who this ruthless business man that once held a faith in costumed heroes somehow turned into being one of the greatest threats for the heroes of the DC Universe, and why one would see his war against the likes of Superman, Batman, and Wonderman may be understandable and for a good cause.

then I do hope you enjoy this video and please feel free to harass me with requests so I can get an idea for my next villain to introduce.

A video review where I go inside the history of the Rhino and explain exactly why I would see him as one of the Greatest Villains within Marvel Comics. Hope you enjoy and thankyou for watching.

If you don’t know anything about Amazo or Professor Ivo, then here’s a video where I give insight over two of the Justice League's most dangerous villains of all-time.

The Awesomeness of Amazo

It’s difficult to say which Amazo moment stood out the most for me seeing how each encounter the android held against the Justice League resulted with the team nearly facing it’s horrible end once and for all. But there is one “unique” moment that DC’s one man Justice league had shared within his career in JLA #27.

Story is that the Justice League is forced into stopping the android from going online. Only to find that not only are they outmatched (which seems to be natural with JLA and Amazo fights), but not even entire roster of Justice League members are capable of coming anywhere close on stopping this thing. With Amazo beating the living snot out of the primary League member and making a sad joke out of a handful of reserve members, there was only one last idea that the League had to try before calling it quits. And lets just say that this nifty Amazo moment has one of the most unexpected and controversial ways for any villain to be defeated, but for some reason I can’t help but find it to be so interesting that I just had to see it as one of the Greatest Villain Moments of All Time for Amazo.

Knowing the Professor

But it’s a different story for his creator, Professor Ivo. Who not only has a hard time on gaining some spotlight because of how he’s mostly behind-the-scenes type of villain, but also holds some valuable moments as a threat for the Justice League.

Much like his android Amazo, Ivo was also responsible for the end of an incarnation of the Justice League of America before Maxwell Lord rebuilt it internationally. Mostly consisting a cast of C-List heroes and newcomers that were led by Martian Manhunter. Ivo really hammered down on this team with an army of robots that resembled himself, which resulted with four of it’s members being seriously harmed or killed. This eventually helped led people to lose faith within their heroes and found the Justice League to be unnecessary (we can thank Glorious Godfrey for this), also something that pressured the League to publicly disband the Justice League of America at the U.N.

Of course Ivo did later turn good after being cured from the monstrous effects of his immortality, only to find himself returning back to his mad scientist routine when the Justice League series returned in the late 90’s.

Justice League #5 where we would see the debut of the League’s newest member Tomorrow Woman is where I would probably find to be one of Ivo's Greatest Villains moments. A story where we would see the beautiful, the heroic, and the one heroine who holds the greatest potential with in the League holding a dark secret that poses a great threat for the heroes. With her actions among the Justice League being watched by both Professor Ivo and Professor T.O.Morrow, the team of heroes are actually unaware of the great danger they are in and at any second they find themselves facing their ultimate end because of the new recruit Tomorrow Woman. Another nifty issue where we would see Ivo at his best as a behind-the-scenes villains who managed to attack the team of heroes in a rather unique way when the story of Tomorrow Woman ended with a sad moment for Justice League and with Ivo and Morrow just toasting away.

Another addition for my collection of blogs. If you haven't heard any of the issues or storylines within this blog, the video would spoil it for you if your curious as to what happens.

Knowing the Professor

Besides Flashpoint, Flash:Rebirth, and even sharing his role within Brightest Day,.. Professor Zoom has found himself becoming one of DC’s most dangerous and curious villains today, who I would say made one hell of a comeback by the way.

But who is Professor Zoom? and exactly why would any Flash would see this guy as somebody who’s far beyond a threat than the likes of Captain Cold and his jolly crew of Rogues would probably be best explained with my video.

One of his Greatest Moments of Villainy

Well if you’re an old-school Flash reader, you would most likely know that Professor Zoom was the villain responsible for the supposed death of Iris Allen, the Flash’s first true love. And later tried to kill another Flash lover on his wedding day, which resulted with one hell of a chapter for Barry Allen when finding himself stopping Professor Zoom by accidently killing him. But even the death of Professor Zoom wasn’t enough to keep this psychotic speedster out of the game after his and the death of Barry Allen.

Even though Wally West now took on the role of his mentor and wore a resembling scarlet costume like Barry Allen (with a few personal modifications by the way). Wally would find his Flash career coming to one hell of a dramatic surprise when Barry Allen mysteriously returned back from the dead. Having no memory as to how he returned, Wally and everybody else believed that Barry somehow managed to mysteriously return as a result from a recent battle between both Wally and Dr. Alchemy. But with the shock and joy of Barry’s glorious return, nobody really paid very much attention to the full details of Barry’s mysterious return, until Wally starting to see something different with Barry when fighting crime alongside with his mentor once again. Even after realizing how Barry was more violent and aggressive than before, also gaining the feeling that Barry was jealous of Wally’s role of being the Flash.

Exactly what happened to Barry Allen that made him change? How does an aged and a mysterious Flash Biography found at the scene where Barry mysteriously returned tie into all this? And exactly how could Barry Allen’s Return become one of Professor Zooms greatest moments in villainy.

A classic piece of storytelling that would take readers inside the mind of one of the Flash’s greatest villains and give readers a story that would promise something great within the Flash series by having Barry Allen return back from the grave and take up his Flash role once again. Only to find that this joyful event spiral itself into something much darker and painful for Wally West and his friends when being forced into doing something that’s unexpected, difficult, and painful for Wally.

They must stop Barry Allen, who’s now angry, dangerous, and who has the goal of punishing Central City for moving on without him and remind the population who the real Flash is.

In Conclusion

With a storyline that has a dark twist and having some intense moments. The Return of Barry Allen is a classic that's a must-have for anybody's collection and one of the main reasons why I'm convinced why Professor Zoom is actually one of the Flash's greatest villains of all time. With a storyline that has a dark twist and having plenty intense moments.

Indeed this a response to G-Mans article where he shares his personal opinion of the Lizards role for upcoming Spiderman film and what one would probably expect within the new Spiderman film. By the way no disrespect intended, just felt like writing something about the Lizard.

Of course my first selection of a film villain would go to Kraven, Mysterio, or even a rehash of Dr. Octopus. But after hearing that this film was introducing the Lizard as it’s primary antagonist, I knew that this film was going to get personal and that it was going to strongly revolve around Peter Parker becoming a hero and also facing the difficult challenge of fulfilling responsibilities as both a hero and a young man who must make the right choices, even when facing the most difficult decisions. Also noting how this upcoming film was adding classic Spiderman elements to the modern age, because of that I strongly believe that Lizard was an outstanding selection for this Spiderman reboot.

This is the classic Spiderman that I grew to respect when reading the first issues of the Amazing Spiderman comics during the 60’s, was when we see Peter Parker spend most of his fighting on doing the right thing as both an individual person and a superhero, an over-whelming burden that had me truly become inspired.

For example where we see Spiderman’s heroic career become extremely difficult all thanks to J.Jonah Jameson having New York City believe that the young hero was a menace, wanting to quit his heroic campaign after facing his first defeat in the hands of Dr Octopus, and even struggling on finding a job so that he could pay the bills when he could just simply rob a bank with his new spider-powers.

And then we have the Lizard, a threat who of course gave Spiderman one hell of a difficult challenge when realizing that this isn’t a costumed threat or the average menace he finds himself naturally facing, but an innocent family man that Spiderman is forced into fighting against. It even became more of a personal challenge for the hero after both Spiderman and Conners became close friends to where even the young hero grew to admire Conners,…now one should imagine how it isn’t an easy battle when going up against a threat who’s such powerful and respectful ally for Spiderman. Even knowing that the whole "power and responsibility" motto finds itself coming into play in this type of situation for Spiderman when trying to make the "right" choice is something that has helped build Spiderman into becoming one of the most loved and inspirational heroes as he is today.

I personally don’t expect the Lizard to have the same screen time as Spiderman does within this upcoming film nor would I demand this film to have any Lizard related storylines like Shed or Torment despite what type of elements are presented within the film, but to see the relation between Spiderman and Curt Conners that makes this Lizard threat become an extremely difficult challenge for Spiderman to face and show the audience that sometimes making the "right" choices can be extremely difficult. Because like the original Spiderman titles, it isn’t all about the villains that should make the story or film great, but the importance of their appearance and how it would help develop the hero’s character.

Agree or disagree, but unlike the other known villains the Lizard does hold an importance to Spidermans career and one would have to dig up the past to find that type of relation.

Also seeing how I’m writing about the Lizard, check out my Lizard video where I go through his history and explain why the Lizard is indeed a very important villain for Spiderman.

A video request from Youtube, the history and review of Superboy-Prime. Hope you enjoy and thankyou for watching. (Gonna re-post this blog later)