Tag Archive: comics


New Captain America: Super Soldier and Thor: God of Thunder Screenshots

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March 22, 2011

Originally Published: March 22, 2011, on Comicvine.com

With their theatrical release date right around the corner and new movie posters being shown off, SEGA wanted to make sure we didn’t forget that they have corresponding video games coming out to go along with these summer blockbuster comic book movies.

Both Thor: God of Thunder and Captain America: Super Soldier will officially be available three days before their respective movies with Thor coming out May 3, 2011, and Captain America coming out July 19, 2011. Both games will also be available on Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and in stereoscopic 3D for both the Xbox 360 and PS3. Speaking of the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, let’s take a look at some of the new screenshots for both games.










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Why So Many Clayfaces?

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Originally Published: March 21, 2011, on Comicvine.com

It’s definitely not unheard of in the world of comics for a villain to be written off only to have someone else take up their mantle later on. The Flash’s rogues Trickster, Mirror Master, and Captain Boomerang are usually the first ones that come to mind for me. But while researching my last article Comics to Video Games: Batman Beyond, I was shocked to find one villain, a master of mimicry himself, who has been mimicked more than any other.

I had always known that Clayface had come in several shapes, sizes, and personas over the years, but further investigation shows that there have been eight Clayfaces over the past 70 years and that is only in the main comics continuity. Nevermind the Earth-9 Clayface or the variations and additions made through other media like the Clayfaces introduced in the mid 2000s cartoon The Batman and the short lived Birds of Prey TV series. So what reason could there be that the DC Universe would need so many clones of the same shapeshifter and does it diminish the value of any Clayface story arcs?

The most confusing thing as to why DC feels the need to have all these Clayfaces and have not killed them all off is that several of them have different powers with the same underlying shapeshifting theme, but you very rarely see those differences beyond their introductory arc.

Preston Payne (Clayface III) has some of the weakest shapeshifting powers of the bunch, but has the unique ability to melt and absorb anyone he touches into his own mass of clay. Yet the last time we see him before he is supposedly killed off in Justice League: Cry for Justice , Prometheus mutated him further so he could shapeshift better and be like all the other Clayfaces and then has him act as a distraction. Is it that no artist out there is willing to cross that line and show some really gruesome deaths at Payne’s hands and really explore his “hunger” to its fullest extent? Instead, DC made him like everyone else for a time to keep his name fresh and force him into a story.

Or how about Sondra Fuller (Clayface IV), also known as Lady Clayface? Although primarily a shapeshifter, she has the unique ability to mimic super powers as well as appearances. But ever since the Mud Pack storyline where she mimicked the powers of Looker to lure Preston Payne into the group, we’ve barely seen her at all, nevermind using her unique skill set. Could you imagine the havoc she could cause the Justice League by being able to take on different power sets?

And then of course there is the currently most often used Clayface, Basil Karlo (Clayface I). Originally just a killer in a grotesque masque, Karlo used a blood transfusion from Payne and Fuller to give him both of their combined powers. And yet, all we see from him is simple disguises and some giant mallet hands at best. Karlo was the madman behind bringing the Mud Pack together and now he is mostly hired help for other villains.

Then you have supposedly the most powerful Clayface of them all. I don’t even want to think of the insemination process, but Preston Payne and Lady Clay would have a baby who they named Cassius “Clay” Payne (Clayface V). But he is never featured in most Clayface story arcs and we’ve had three more Clayfaces after him introduced in spite of the clear exploration and development that his character needs. I would love to see him break out from S.T.A.R. Labs and try to reunite with his parents and then you could develop them all very clearly in one stellar arc.

But I guess DC feels why explore these characters when you can just make more of them? The potential for Clayface is constantly being watered down and molded into lackeys and pawns in greater villains’ master plans, but why can’t they be great again and given prominence once more? Or at the very least, kill them all off because it’s becoming nearly impossible to keep track of them. I can just imagine in an upcoming issue of Batman you’ll have Dick Grayson taking on a Clayface and ask, “Which one are you again?” or “Are you someone new or have we danced this dance before?”

The real reason why I think we have so many Clayfaces is that it has become the DC Universe’s deus ex machina. You have these personality types, although only mildly explored, set in stone and so when you need to further a certain plot or bridge a gap to the next big story arc, why not throw in a Clayface one-shot where you can make them more willing stooges or write them out like they did with Clayface VI, VII, and VIII. I’m sure that most of these roles could have conformed to an already established Clayface though.

Peter Malley or “Claything” (Clayface VI) was a scientist in the Department of Extranormal Operations who experiments on Cassius and becomes bonded to a skin sample he takes from the boy and becomes the sixth Clayface. But we can’t have more than four running around at once so he was quickly killed off and his remains are in the DEO Headquarters. Just waiting to be revived by DC when they paint themselves into a corner, I’m sure.

Then came Clayface VII, Todd Russell, an army veteran who was severely wounded and it is insinuated that the Department of Extranormal Operations experimented on him, although this was never clearly stated. Russell can’t handle the mental stress caused by his new form and becomes a serial killer who preys upon prostitutes in Gotham’s East End and actually never faces Batman. Russell is another unique Clayface in that he can change not only his shape, but his size as well, and was done in by Catwoman when she protected those parts, capturing Clayface VII in a giant freezer and then handing him off to Bats. This was necessary because Basil Karlo was so busy I’m sure and couldn’t be bothered to murder prostitutes.

And then there is Clayface VIII who is also currently deceased. Johnny Williams was a firefighter who was caught in a chemical plant explosion and doused in chemicals that, you guessed it, turned him into a Clayface. His claim to fame is that he was the one that Hush and the Riddler manipulated to act like Jason Todd and also don Tommy Elliot’s guise when Hush captured Alfred in order to throw Batman off his trail. Of course, he was just doing this because Hush promised him a cure and this was not the case and after some time Williams could no longer hold his form and just broke down into nothing. You mean to tell me that if Prometheus could manipulate Preston Payne, that Hush couldn’t? Hush nearly got Batman’s entire rogues gallery to work for him in his coming out party, but he needed his own Clayface instead of using any of the others who had been established already?

There is one time though that I feel DC had it right and had some real consistency with the character. This character is what really set the standard for a Clayface. One of the most popular, likely due to his name being used for the Batman: The Animated Series Clayface, and the only Clayface who has seemingly stayed dead (although I’m sure he’ll come back too at some point) is Matt Hagan (Clayface II). He was the first true shapeshifter of the bunch and lasted for more than two decades as a nuisance for the Dark Knight.

Hagan was a treasure hunter who discovered some radioactive protoplasm and found he could change his form at will for two days straight after bathing in the goo. Although a much more tame character than many of the others (it was during Batman’s campy era that he came along) Hagan was the first true shapeshifter and the DC Universe was fine with having just one man made of mud running around.

It just seems like a shame to see a character with such great potential and a rather strong fan base being used like a common thug and not getting the respect that even characters like Killer Croc have gotten in recent years. I mean one more Clayface and we’d have a baseball team.

-Ray Carsillo

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Comics to Video Games: Batman Beyond

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March 16, 2011

Originally Published: March 15, 2011, on Comicvine.com

With there being an absolute whirlwind of activity around recent announcements for Batman: Arkham City, it made me start to think that maybe our current Dark Knight is overshadowing the future one, who is just trying to grab his little corner of the limelight after nearly a decade of flying under the radar. And so I thought that maybe Terry McGinnis needs his own video game after he just got his own monthly comic again to solidify his spot in the eyes of fans of the DC Universe. It seems there is enough of an interest in The Tomorrow Knight that I’m sure we could figure out a better representation in the digital realm for him than the awful 2000 side-scrolling beat ‘em up for the N64/PS1 game based on Return of the Joker. So how would a Batman Beyond video game work?

One of the key focuses of a Batman Beyond game would be differentiating it from the more recent Batman games. Although it should still be true to the character and be dark overall, the atmosphere of this game might need to take a page out of the book of the 2099 Spider-Man levels from Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Bright lights set against a dark background with Terry (voiced again by Will Friedle) constantly quipping at his foes or answering to Bruce (voiced again by Kevin Conroy) who is always talking about “the old days” and how he did things while he was Batman. All the while utilizing the Batsuit’s flying abilities to both get around and to complete missions. Terry’s Gotham should also be a sandbox that could allow for a lot of exploration of some of the seedier sections of town and so this doesn’t become just a button mashing brawler and allow for some mission variety.

Terry’s Batsuit has a lot of awesome features to it though beyond the flying. The camouflage feature on the suit could allow Terry to walk right up to a villain without him knowing and he could knock him out without having to worry about going all Sam Fisher in a level and sticking to the shadows. The camouflage could also be used to infiltrate certain areas to listen in on villain conversations or even hack a terminal without interference. This feature would need an overheat meter of some kind though, otherwise the game would be too easy as you could just turn invisible and walk through most of the game, similar to many people’s complaint about feeling a need to always have Detective Mode from Batman: Arkham Asylum on. You could also set up mini-games with the frequency monitors and lock picks that are featured in the gloves of Terry’s Batsuit.

To get the most out of these features you would need to put a bit more of an emphasis on information gathering and item collection though and that brings us to our plot of the game. It would need to have several layers to it that could put Terry and Bruce’s detective skills to the test. Maybe have Terry go back to the Batcave after finding new clues or defeating each villain and have it so that Terry could interact with a lot of the items in the cave, giving all Batman fans a bit of a cheap thrill as Terry explores the cave or uses the Batcomputer.

But one of the big problems that Terry has always faced is he has a rather paltry rogues gallery. So much so that he constantly has to resort to Bruce’s villains or variations thereof. The Joker and Mr. Freeze are the first two that come to mind in that category, but also Spellbinder and False-Face, although re-imagined and made much cooler than the late 1950s-60s versions Bruce fought, were originally his rogues. Even three issues into his new comic, the only villain Terry has fought was a new Matter Master, a Hawkman villain!

Well, if Terry is going to rely on some of Bruce’s villains, especially since a lot of Terry’s have been killed off it seems (Shriek, Blight, Stalker), then this new game should center around one who has never really been explored, and it would be interesting to introduce him into Terry’s universe in a video game. Clayface V or Cassius “Clay” Payne. Assuming that Basil Karlo and the other Clayfaces still age normally (although unlikely), one who would still be alive and most definitely be a threat in Terry’s time would be Cassius.

Since currently Cassius is really nothing more than a kid in current times and has never been explored very thoroughly, you could make him the diabolical mastermind that the other Clayfaces never really aspired to. With his shape-shifting ability, he could manipulate key events all around Gotham and hire other villains in various guises to throw off Bruce and Terry with it all culminating in one of the most epic boss battles ever. Hiring several of Terry’s more infamous (and still living) villains to keep him busy, Clayface could be lurking in the shadows, posing as or pulling the strings of politicians, the GCPD, and many others around Gotham as he forwards his agenda of eliminating the Batman from Gotham once and for all!

So there is your main villain and definitely a twist that a lot of Batman fans would probably appreciate. But you’d need more villains than that of course to really make a decent comic book game. Before Clayface, Terry should have to face Inque, one of his most difficult opponents ever, but really just a hired gun who will provide the final piece of the puzzle when she reveals she attacked Batman for someone who she felt was a kindred spirit, as in both Inque and Clayface are shape-shifters who are more in tune with their villainous personas than their human sides.

Before he faces Inque though, Terry would have to take down Spellbinder, who is causing trouble because Clayface threw a lot of money his way. Really he should be nothing more than a diversion for Clayface’s master scheme, but he wouldn’t be Batman if he just let Spellbinder hypnotize people and suggest them to walk off rooftops or whatnot.

It seems a lot of Terry’s villains aren’t nearly as tragic or deep as many of the original Dark Knight’s though as the villains that lead up to Spellbinder are none other than the Royal Flush Gang, again because they were promised big pay days. Having five villains at once could lend itself to a variety of tasks and levels as you could have an epic end battle against all five at once, or the more likely scenario, of separating them and taking them down one at a time culminating in a still difficult boss battle with the android Ace, who could have several “modes” to him and take new forms as the battle progresses and he takes damage.

Also, if you do face the Royal Flush Gang separately, and if the game was done in a sandbox, you could have one level where you have to chase down Jack or Ten on those hovercards they had in the cartoon and that would give a reason for something I wish you could use in more Batman games, the Batmobile. A Batman Beyond video game’s biggest difference to most other super hero video games is that Terry would have to use the Batmobile for certain levels like that one with the Royal Flush Gang, and it would be an option for him to get from point A to point B in Gotham if you didn’t want to explore on foot and with the Batsuit.

The opening of the game would be more of a tutorial mission as it’ll all start out with Terry chasing some Jokerz, who would then serve the rest of the game as your primary henchman for the other bosses due to their numbers and could even have more well known ones like Dee Dee, Woof, or J-Man serve as mini-bosses.

So there’s my take on a possible Batman Beyond video game. What would you do for a Batman Beyond video game? Would you try to add some more villains or levels? Should the game be a bit more linear and not a sandbox? Let us know by commenting below!

-Ray Carsillo

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From My Mom’s Basement – Vol. 2 Ep. 3 – Islands Breed Evil

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Originally Published: March 15, 2011, on youtube.com/Rcars4885

I come to you once again with your weekly geek fix from my mother’s basement! This week’s episode sees me review two comics since I’m still working on Dragon Age II. Ghostbusters: Infestation #1 (of 2) and Venom #1 are reviewed. My hot chick pick of the week is Francine Dee and this week’s theme is the main theme from Separation Anxiety starring Venom and Spider-Man back for the SNES and Sega Genesis.

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Why Can’t Ghostbusters Be A Monthly Comic?

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March 11, 2011

Originally Published: March 11, 2011, on Comicvine.com

If ‘bustin’ makes you feel good, why not do it once a month?

When I make my comic purchase decisions, I stick mostly to the Big 2. I used to get Spawn, but lost interest after he killed the twins and became unto a god. I used to pick up Star Wars, but the expanded universe became too expanded for me and I couldn’t keep up with all the titles. I used to buy G.I. Joe, but after they re-launched and re-imagined it after only a few dozen issues for the umpteenth time in my life, I finally decided to relinquish my greenshirt status. But there is always one title that no matter what, I pick it up, and then have my heart broken when I find out it’s just a mini-series. Ghostbusters.

So this week I got my hopes up one more time when I saw something that could never possibly destroy us, The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, on the cover of another IDW comic. But my hopes would again be dashed, as this time the comic was only the first of two Ghostbusters related parts of a massive IDW inter-brand arc called Infestation. And this made me start to think, why can’t the boys in gray who slug it out with pretty pesky poltergeists get their own regular monthly series?

Could IDW be waiting to see if Bill Murray decides to finally officially sign on board for a third Ghostbusters movie so Columbia Pictures can give it the final go ahead and then IDW in turn capitalizes on a popularity surge? Maybe, but does Ghostbusters really need that? And do you really want something like the possibility of a monthly comic hanging on the whims of Bill Murray?

With Blu-ray sales, special edition releases, a hugely successful modern video game in 2009 (it sold 1 million units in its first four weeks of availability) and another downloadable one coming out in two weeks (Sanctum of Slime), you could argue that Ghostbusters has been cultivating its fan base pretty well for a while now. The best time to strike is while the iron is hot, folks.

If anything, the success of the video game gives even more reason as to why a monthly comic would work after the seeming success of comics based off games like Gears of War. I wouldn’t mind picking up a comic that centered around the rookie from the games working with the originals a little bit more and this would help to keep the title’s storylines fresh and introduce new characters into the canon. Or if you follow the plot of the game to the letter and have the rookie open up his own branch of the franchise in another city, you could actually have multiple Ghostbusters books at once as one follows the rookie and another follows the originals.

Not to mention that this in turn could create a way to write off Peter Venkman if need be so Columbia Pictures could move forward with the movie down the line and not have the fan base revolt too much. Make the rookie a wise-ass to replace him. He never talks in the games so he’s like a clean slate and the third movie was rumored to be about training replacements anyway.

Beyond the current worth of the franchise though, something that Ghostbusters has going for it that a lot of those other comic series have (except Spawn) that helps maintain them as moneymakers even today and has these independent comic publishers keep bringing them back over and over is the nostalgia factor.

A lot of my friends and I weren’t even born when the first Ghostbusters movie came out, and yet it is easily the movie we quote the most to each other and I always stop flipping through the channels on my TV when the movie is on Comedy Central. I didn’t know Arsenio Hall because of his late night show, I knew him because he played the voice of Winston in The Real Ghostbusters cartoon. I had a box of Hi-C Ecto Cooler in my Batman lunchbox everyday. I know I’m not alone in those facts so again I ask: After two decades, why can’t we have a monthly Ghostbusters comic? Do I need to tell someone about the Twinkie?

Of course, there is that elephant in the room of figuring out who would write a monthly Ghostbusters comic. We might need to consult Tobin’s Spirit Guide for this one, but with the gritty horror/mystery genre gaining steam with titles like Locke & Key and The Walking Dead, I’m sure there are some people who would be willing to experiment and strike a balance between the humor we’ve come to know and love from the Ghostbusters franchise with maybe a darker tone. Or how about just have the guys who have been doing all these mini-series do it full-time? I’ve enjoyed the mini-series and I think that’s why it is even worse when I know the end is coming so quickly.

And if a third movie doesn’t ever get made, which is the most likely scenario as sad as it is to say, you could have the script that Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis were working on converted into a comic book arc or even have them do a guest arc once every few years. Then again, I might have better luck catching a class 5 full roaming vapor with my bare hands on that one.

Let us know what you guys think. Would you want to see a monthly Ghostbusters comic? Or are you satisfied with these occasional mini-series? As a duly designated representative of the City, County, and State of New York, I order you to cease any and all supernatural activity and return forthwith to your place of origin or to the nearest convenient parallel dimension and comment below! And yes, I am a god.

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From My Mom’s Basement – Vol. 2 Ep. 2 – Vampire Hunter

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March 9, 2011

Originally Published: March 8, 2011, on youtube.com/RCars4885

I come to you once again with your weekly geek fix from my mother’s basement! This week’s episode sees me review Batman Beyond #3 from DC Comics and MLB 11 The Show for the PS3. My hot chick pick of the week is Jayonna Fabro and this week’s theme is The Ice Titan theme from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow by the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra.

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Comics to Video Games: Green Arrow

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March 8, 2011

Originally Published: March 8, 2011, on Comicvine.com

This summer is going to see some iconic heroes make their way to the big screen for the first time and with that comes corresponding video games. Thor, Captain America, and Green Lantern will star in their own movies and video games, but unfortunately when a game is based off a movie that was based off a comic book, by the time it reaches video game form it becomes watered down in quality. So we’re going to try to beat them to the punch and give our ideas for some heroes that could have a video game made about them.

Today, I’m going to highlight the Emerald Archer and see how we can bring Green Arrow into the video game world.

My inspiration for this was the Justice League Heroes action RPG from the last generation of consoles. Although not playable from the start, Green Arrow was your first unlockable character and simply dominated my gameplay from that point onward. At first, I was thinking that we could make this a first-person shooter similar to the Turok games for the N64, but realized that would limit a lot of what we could do with Green Arrow in terms of acrobatics and melee combat and so this game would have to be done from the third-person perspective in a sandbox similar to Spider-Man 2, but take combat elements from Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Set in the urban landscape of Star City, you would have a basic compliment of abilities to start the game, but would of course unlock new arrows and learn new abilities as the game goes on. You’d start with some basic punch and kick combos and an unlimited amount of regular arrows and grappling hook arrows for offense and to get around, but could unlock electric, glue, exploding, and knockout gas arrows as the game progresses as well as combo extending maneuvers and even Ollie’s sword.

Now the interesting part of this game would be to help get across Ollie’s new anti-hero willingness to put down his enemies for good. So I would institute two bars into the game besides your standard health bar. The first bar would be a focus bar that fills up as Ollie defeats enemies and when activated would allow Ollie to do some bullet time arrow shots and pick off enemies with his archer’s precision. Being a hero still, most of the time Ollie will only be allowed to use incapacitating shots in this mode (shots to the limbs) or pin foes against walls with some extra precise shots (bonus xp awarded for those to spend on upgrades).

Green Arrow has an infamous temper though and so he’ll also have a rage bar that fills up as he defeats enemies or takes damage. When this is activated, the Emerald Archer may see red and could let a couple arrows slip…right into a thug’s throat. It wouldn’t be the first time Green Arrow has killed someone, but it could set up some really sweet effects combining the focus bar with the rage bar.

There would be your basic gameplay elements, but what about the story? The game will be broken down into five acts, with a boss battle set up at the end of each one. Green Arrow is known for trying to keep the streets of Star City clean and it looks like drugs and guns are becoming abundant again so it’ll be up to the Emerald Archer to figure out just who is making a move and to try to clean it up again.

Taking a lot of influence from more recent storylines, the final boss and mastermind of the gun and drug running will be crime lord Brick (Act 5). Along the way, you’ll have to take down Brick’s hired help in Constantine Drakon (Act 1) and Deathstroke (Act 4). In between, crazed stalker Cupid (Act 2) and classic Green Arrow nemesis Merlyn (Act 3) will cause trouble for the Emerald Archer.

And to help make the boss battles worth it, you’ll earn special attributes and weapons while each one will have special twists to them. For example, against Drakon, you can’t use your arrows because Drakon will simply catch them all and throw them back at you. Thus, you’ll have to use your fists and feet and at the end you’ll learn a new combo. Or Deathstroke’s battle can end in a swordfight that has you unlock Ollie’s sword.

On top of all this, the game will feature a local co-op mode that allows you to take over as Roy Harper, Speedy or Black Canary and lend a hand, but this will primarily be a single player oriented game.

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Never Rub Another Man’s Rhubarb (or I Just LOOOOVE Purple)

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March 4, 2011

Originally Published: March 4, 2011, on Comicvine.com

Batman: Arkham City is probably one of the most anticipated video games of 2011, but it will also mark the end of an era as Mark Hamill, the quintessential Clown Prince of Crime for the past two decades, has said that he will officially walk away from doing the voice of the Joker after this project. With this comes the difficult choice for casting directors of deciding who will take over as the vocal chords behind that infamous rictus grin.

This got me thinking that maybe I could lend Andrea Romano and other casting directors a hand. Romano, the DC Animation casting director who of course introduced us to Hamill as the Joker, will probably have the biggest hand in selecting a replacement for most projects involving the Joker. So with that, here is a comprehensive list I made of possible candidates for a new Ace of Knaves.

Kevin Michael Richardson

An extremely accomplished voice actor, Kevin Michael Richardson has been doing the voices of various comic book and video game characters now for almost 20 years. Bishop, Tombstone, Lucius Fox, Mammoth, Trigon and many others from both the Marvel and DC Universe, Richardson is a possible front-runner for the role after serving as the Joker for the entire five season run of The Batman in the mid-2000s.

Richardson’s Joker was part of a push for a more realistic Batman as a supplement building up to Batman Begins in 2005 and thus was forced to play a bit more of an urban thieving jester than the genius psychopath with a sadistic sense of humor. Preferring a straight jacket with torn sleeves, bare feet, and dreadlocks to the more traditional custom tailored suit and slicked up hair, Richardson’s Joker still got across that most basic of dynamics, that the Joker must be the yang to Batman’s yin. Throw in a sinister cackle cross bred with a hyena for his laugh and Kevin Michael Richardson did something that you want to see from whatever actor takes the role, he worked with it and tried to make it his own. Add in his experience already working with Andrea Romano on several projects to put him a little higher than a lot of the competition.

John DiMaggio

Another top of the line voice talent, John DiMaggio is best known as Bender from Futurama and Marcus Fenix from Gears of War. He also got at least one shot as the Joker when he voiced the Harlequin of Hate for the recent Batman: Under the Red Hood straight to DVD movie from DC Animation.

Strongly criticized for his portrayal of the Joker, I actually enjoyed his performance except for the fact that he didn’t make it his own. It seemed more like he was trying to blend Heath Ledger from The Dark Knight with Mark Hamill’s vision of the Joker instead of bringing something unique to the table. If he should land the role, I hope that whoever the casting director is works with him on trying to make the character more his own instead of trying to give fans what they expect from the character because he definitely has the chops to reach greatness. John also has the advantage of having worked with Andrea Romano as he also portrayed Aquaman and Gorilla Grodd in episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Jeff Bennett

Another 20-year veteran of the voiceover business, Jeff Bennett is playing the most active version of the Joker at the moment in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoon. The cartoon is a campier version of Batman and his rogues gallery that harkens back to the original run of the comic series of the same name from the 1950s, and so Bennett’s Joker is not nearly as sadistic or sinister as we’ve become more accustomed to. There are some episodes that have shown that he maintains his obsession with Batman, but the overall tone of the show prevents Bennett from ever showing that real dark side that fans have come to expect from the Joker. Not to say he couldn’t do it, but if Bennett were to become to the number one candidate, he’d have to show that he has the range to take the character where the fans want to see it go if it would be a permanent fix.

Being the Brave and the Bold Joker has afforded Bennett the chance to work with Andrea Romano, but it’s more likely that the campy scripts of Brave and the Bold have written off his chance of becoming the Joker full-time. Not to mention, he seems to be just imitating other campy voice versions of the Joker from decades earlier and hasn’t made the character his own at all.

Scott Cleverdon

Not many people may know of Scott Cleverdon, but when sitting down to make my list, he was one of the first names for me to come to mind of people who have never played the Joker. Comic book fans may know Scott best for his portrayal of Carnage in the mid-1990s Spider-Man cartoon as well as his brief stint in Batman Beyond as Jack of the Royal Flush Gang.

It is his experience as Carnage that really piqued my interest because there are few maniac villains who could come close to the seeming randomness of the Joker’s ways, but Carnage is definitely one. Carnage kills because he loves to kill and that easily could transition into the Joker. The Joker and Carnage are seen as so similar that they even teamed up in a 1995 one-shot crossover versus Spider-Man and Batman. Obviously, Cleverdon would need a bit more control with the Joker to get that calculating nature across if he were to become a candidate, but his high-pitched hyena giggle that he used with Carnage could work very well with the Joker. He has never worked with Andrea Romano and bringing the two of them together could also lead to an interesting exploration of the character.

Michael Nicolosi

Another candidate who has never played the Joker, but is familiar with sadistic clowns is Michael Nicolosi. He may not have the voiceover experience as some of the others on this list, but he did do a fantastic job as the Clown form of the Violator in the late-1990s HBO Spawn animated series. Obviously, in terms of language used, the Joker will be much more toned down than the script used on a premium channel, but Nicolosi provided that perfect calm before the storm. As Violator, he had a cool demeanor that put enough unease in you to know without seeing it that there was a monster just bubbling below the surface, which is literally the case in Violator.

Michael Nicolosi hasn’t worked with Andrea Romano either, but if he can flick that special switch on and off with the Joker like he did a decade ago with Violator, then he might be someone who should be given a look for those really dark storylines involving the Clown Prince of Crime.

Frank Welker

This candidate is probably the biggest wild card (pun intended, pun always intended), but is also easily the most experienced voice actor on this list with more than 40 years under his belt. Frank Welker played the campiest version of the Joker on this list when he played him as a part of The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians in 1985. He has also played nearly every character imaginable and if you saw the list, you’d understand why I think he has the range where, if no others rose to the challenge, Frank could steal the title for himself and provide us whatever version of the Joker we want. Whether a dark, sadistic murderer, an aloof thief and eternal foil to the Dark Knight, or a campy jester prancing around with exploding whoopee cushions, Welker could get the job done.

Andrea Romano and Frank Welker worked together on the 1980s Jonny Quest and several other cartoons so these wily two veterans are probably very well acquainted with one another, which makes you think that if Welker hasn’t been used before for some other projects involving the Joker, then maybe he doesn’t have it in him to play the more serious Ace of Knaves.

Jack Nicholson

Here’s the long shot, and I know how much of a long shot this is, but hear me out on why this could work and why DC Animation should pursue Jack. The reason why this came to mind is I just moved and was looking through my video games and I came across my copy of From Russia With Love from the last generation of consoles and thought how great it was for Sean Connery to reprise his role as James Bond more than four decades after he shot the corresponding film. It’s not like he had a lot on his plate though due to the natural ageism that comes in Hollywood. There are simply less roles out there for older actors.

So here is an opening for the Joker, a role that Jack Nicholson defined for many people back in 1989. Movie roles are starting to dry up a bit for him. I’m sure he could find time in the basketball off-season to head over to a recording studio and reprise a role that many still see him as being the best live action version of. Even if he only does it for one movie or one video game, the appeal for all of us Batman fans out there to hear Jack do the Joker again would make it one of the best selling DVDs or games of that year. Gimmicky yes, but gimmicks sell and you can’t tell me you wouldn’t be curious.

Me, Ray Carsillo

Ok, honestly, this has been a dream of mine for years and at this point it’s probably the best way to get my name out there. If somehow Andrea Romano sees this, then maybe I’ll have a chance because I love the Joker so much I even have my own set of razor blade playing cards.

My name is Ray Carsillo and yes, I have done voiceover work before. Not a lot, but I have a radio/TV background and voiced a couple PSAs and commercials. You would have to trust me on this until you heard it, but I have the most maniacal laugh of anyone you’ll meet and can change my demeanor on a dime if necessary. I think I’ve shown my passion and more than any of these others guys on the list, I come cheap (I used that same line on the folks at Comicvine). All I’m asking for is a tryout…and if you would like a sniff of my flower?

-Ray “StrongProtector” Carsillo

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X-Force Isn’t Finished with Apocalypse Yet

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March 3, 2011

Originally Published: March 3, 2011, on Comicvine.com

It looks like the members of Uncanny X-Force have been shaken to their core after completing their first mission. Many are questioning their role and the moral implications in the killing of a child who was to grow up into one of their greatest villains, Apocalypse. So what does a team of some of the most badass mutants in the world do when the going gets tough? ROAD TRIP!

With this being pushed as The Year of the X-Men, Uncanny X-Force looks to be really thrown into the limelight, as they will be sent on a mission that will take them to Earth- 295. That’s right, X-Force may be done with their universe’s Apocalypse, but they may be seeing him, or at least some of his cronies, a little sooner than they thought in the Age of Apocalypse universe. But just why is X-Force leaving Earth-616? I doubt this is some kind of therapy session to validate the killing (for now) of their universe’s Apocalypse so they can get their heads back in the game.

For those of you who need a quick history lesson, back in 1995 Marvel introduced us to an alternate universe where Charles Xavier’s illegitimate son Legion traveled back in time to kill Magneto, which he thought would allow his dad’s dream of human/mutant equality come to light. Instead, he accidentally kills his dad and creates a branching universe where Magneto, in honor of his good friend, takes up his creed and becomes the fighting de facto leader of mutantkind. Seeing all this take place, Apocalypse, who doesn’t attack for another 10 years in the 616, feels that this is the perfect time to strike and basically conquers North America and lays waste to much of the rest of the world.

In Age of Apocalypse, we saw some radically different takes on classic X-Men characters. Some heroes were villains, like Dark Beast who found his way to the 616 and continues to haunt this universe’s X-Men. Some villains were heroes, like Sabretooth who was a member of the Age of Apocalypse’s X-Men. And some characters were just turned on their heads and we saw mirror images of them, like Nightcrawler who is much more violent and prone to offense than his 616 version and also hates churches, which is in direct contrast to the 616’s Nightcrawler who was very religious.

The first major milestone of this event is that even though mutants from Age of Apocalypse have traveled to the 616 (again, see Dark Beast), this marks the first time that mutants from the 616 will be heading to the Age of Apocalypse. This continues to beg the question though: why? Something to take note of is that in this teaser image, we see Archangel is not present.

“Archangel is not there for a reason, and it’s a reason you don’t expect,” said X-Force writer Rick Remender at the press conference Marvel had to talk about the future of the X-Men family of books. An obvious answer would be that the rest of X-Force fears Archangel not being able to handle possibly seeing Apocalypse again, in any iteration, or he himself fears it and doesn’t want to put any further strain on his special relationship with Psylocke. But if it’s something we don’t expect and since X-Force are the ones doing the time hopping, maybe they’re searching for something, or someone? Maybe to get some answers from some folks more accustomed to dealing with Apocalypse on a daily basis to get some help for their psychologically troubled metal winged friend?

Aside from this little rift in the team lineup, there will be two things that draw a lot of people’s attention from this arc. The first will be how this affects the current members of X-Force who are actually going and mutantkind possibly as a whole. We know nothing phases Fantomex and that he will do whatever necessary to get the job done, which if anything, makes him a character to keep an even closer eye on to see if his cool exterior finally cracks. But the characters we know that should have a reaction is the remainder of the team and it should be interesting to see how it plays out.

How will Wolverine react to seeing these different versions of Jean Grey, the love he could never obtain, Nightcrawler, one of his best friends, and be forced to maybe work alongside his greatest nemesis, Sabretooth, again (AoA Sabretooth is officially missing after his work with the Exiles, but this could bring him back)?

How will Psylocke react to possibly seeing herself? Although not part of the original Age of Apocalypse, she made her presence felt in the 2005 limited series and we learned she was similar to her 616 counterpart, but more ninja-like. I sense an awesome catfight waiting to happen there.

And finally, how will Deadpool react to his AoA counterpart, Dead Man Wade, a special assassin for Apocalypse in the AoA, actually being killed by AoA Nightcrawler? If the other characters meet their counterparts, it would be out of Deadpool’s character to not openly make a fuss in finding out what happened to his other self. Of course, seeing Deadpool as the most shaken of the group after killing the child Apocalypse and the revelation that he never cashed any of Archangel’s checks could be the base to start seeing a bit more mature Deadpool and a little less of the joking maniac we have become accustomed to so we may not see this touched upon as deeply as we would like.

The other big aspect is that Remender also talked about naturally expanding the X- Force roster and about Dark Beast being a major character again in this arc. Could he be the catalyst that propels our heroes to Earth-295? Could Dark Beast be the reason why Archangel is not present with the rest of X-Force or that the team will land in the AoA universe 10 years after the events of the 2005 limited series? Dark Beast could also be a perfect fit for the darker, seedier missions that X-Force usually has to take on so could he actually find himself as a new member of the team?

There are also a lot of characters that weren’t even mentioned. What characters from the AoA would you like to see be prominently featured in the new AoA arc and maybe even possibly join the X-Force roster? Comment below and weigh in on all these questions and let us know what you think! We’ll start to get our answers to what is shaping up to be a huge shake-up with Uncanny X-Force #11 in June.

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Chew on this Galactus!

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February 27, 2011

Originally Published: February 27, 2011, on my StrongProtector account on GiantBomb.com

In high school and even later in college, my friends and I back in Jersey would head over to the mall arcade maybe once a week and feed a ton of quarters into our favorite machines. A couple guys would settle into the chair of a racer like Initial-D, but I would always head over to the Marvel vs Capcom 2 cabinet. This went on until I graduated college and the arcade, like many others in Jersey, closed down.

Fortunately for me, shortly after that, Capcom would give us Marvel vs Capcom junkies a downloadable version for current generation consoles. Instead of placating us though, all this ended up doing was feed the fires for myself and others like me who wanted another sequel to this beloved brawler. And now, after a decade of waiting, its finally here. But with so much hype and anticipation surrounding it, could Marvel vs Capcom 3: The Fate of Two Worlds live up to the lofty expectations of addicts like me?

The basic plot of the game is that Doctor Doom has tampered with his dark magic a bit too much and has discovered a parallel Earth populated by the characters of our favorite Capcom games (and a future Earth with Zero). Tempted with the thought of conquering multiple worlds, Doom teams up with not only the greatest threats of his Earth like Dormammu and M.O.D.O.K., but also with the greatest of the Capcom universe, Albert Wesker. Unfortunately, this wormhole into other dimensions has also stoked the hunger of the greatest nemesis anyone, hero or villain, has ever faced, the cosmic being Galactus. With a smorgasbord of planets to possibly quell his insatiable hunger, Galactus has begun his approach and now heroes and villains will have to unite to save all universes threatened by his cosmic power.

Right off the bat, this is probably the best plot of the series as it has more of traditional Marvel comics feel and you can credit veteran comic writer Frank Tieri for that. On top of the plot being heavily influenced by comics, the entire art direction of the game seems to be ripped from comics as well. Bright, stylized, cel-shaded graphics with beautifully drawn paneled cut scenes, much like a comic book page, has the game seem more like a fan service for loyal Marvelites out there. All you need is Stan Lee to yell “Excelsior!” before every match. Even the character select screen sees the chosen characters placed onto a graphic novel style tablet as you choose their assists before a battle.

The audio is also very strong as instead of each level having a set theme, now each character has their own theme and you’ll hear the theme of whomever you may be facing. From a more patriotic ballad for Captain America to the classic Bionic Commando and Street Fighter themes for when Spencer or Ryu jump on screen, the music is tremendous. It’s not the only part of the audio that shines though as the voice acting is also well done. With each character having specific taunts both in battle and after every victory depending on whom they’re facing, like Captain America yelling at Iron Man “That was for the Civil War!”, the audio is simply top notch all around for Marvel vs Capcom 3.

Marvel vs Capcom 3 isn’t perfect though. The standards of the series return such as three member tag-teams and huge hyper combos that can be done singly or with your team if you have enough power bars. But other diehards of the series might be a little put-off by the fact that the combat system has been simplified in many ways. Instead of having the standard six attack buttons like the old arcade cabinets (high punch, med punch, low punch, high kick, med kick, low kick), now there are only four comprised of a low, medium, high, and special attack that can be used to launch foes into the air. This offered me a lot of confusion when I first started playing the game and was trying to perform a low kick with Iron Man.

To help remedy this, there is a new missions mode reminiscent of some of the later Mortal Kombat games which serves as a chance for you to learn some basic combos and special moves to get the feel of the game if you wish. Each character has 10 missions and so this lets you either become well-rounded with many characters, or really specialize in two or three.

One positive to the new button layout is that it is much easier to switch characters in and out, call for assists, or perform your hyper combos as now each one of those maneuvers has been assigned their own button on the controllers. This does allow for more rookie fighters to jump right into it and level the playing field with more veterans, but there are plenty of new maneuvers that have been added to help separate the rookies from the veterans as well like the brand new team air combos and new reversal systems.

Another new aspect added is the “X-Factor” where by smashing the four attack buttons at the same time, you can increase the attack power and heal your active character. This new feature does give an interesting strategic twist, but again diehards of previous titles in the series probably won’t even remember to use it as it just feels so gimmicky and foreign to this series.

The biggest disappointment probably for the game is the lack of characters though, both old and new. There are only 36 characters total at launch, with more coming in DLC to sap you of more money. Sure new characters like Deadpool, Super-Skrull, Viewtiful Joe, and Amaterasu are great original additions to the series, but others are just rip-offs of characters who were removed or are still in the game. Haggar is just a Zangief rip-off with a steel pipe, X-23 replaces the “bone claw” version of Wolverine, and Zero is Mega Man with a sword.

I understand that Capcom wanted to streamline the 56 characters that were in Marvel vs Capcom 2, but to cut out 20 characters including a lot of fan favorites? Just to re-package them as DLC later? Of course fans will still buy it, but I think I speak for a lot of people when I say how disappointing that is. Cutting out half the roster when making a fighting game sequel is not usually the way to go because by pure definition that is not bigger nor better.

Despite all this, Marvel vs Capcom 3 is still a very good fighting game. Technically it is very sound and it is easy to pick up but hard to master with a great storyline that will make any and every Marvel fan squeal in delight. If you are a fan of the franchise, Marvel, Capcom, or just fighters in general, then this is a game you should add to your collection even if you’ll walk away feeling it is a bit more generic than you’d initially expect.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 10.0: The visuals for MvC3 are absolutely tremendous done in a stylized cel-shading that really stresses the comic book feel that is persistent throughout the game as you are bombarded by bright and vibrant colors all day long.

Audio: 10.0: Redone classic video game themes for all the Capcom characters and fitting original themes for the Marvel characters is one of the great highlights of this game. Coupled with great voice acting from all those involved and the audio is as perfect as can be.

Plot/Plot Development: 4.0: Most fighting games truly lack a compelling plot, and MvC3 may have the most piss poor of them all. Never even properly explained, all you have to go on is a stylized opening sequence and a solid boss battle with Galactus to put together that Wesker and Doom have partnered together. Solid comic book plot, but it needed to be explained a lot better than it was.

Gameplay: 7.0: Many diehards will be irritated with the button changes and new features added, but at the end of the day, they work and will appeal to a mass audience. Too bad for this review, I’m representing the diehards.

Replay Value: 6.5: Like any good fighting game nowadays, the replay value really comes in the online play, especially since you can blow through the single player offline mode in a weekend if need be. Unfortunately, it may take you 20 minutes to find an opponent to play online and therefore make the online play moot because who wants to play three matches in an hour? So if you don’t have some friends to form a lobby with, then you might think twice about the worth of MvC3.

Overall (not an average): 8.0: MvC3 is a very solid fighter on a technical level, but fans of the series will be put off by the gimmicks added and the arcade style of play that is the true staple of this series. More bells and whistles are all well and good, but it felt like Capcom sold the soul of this game. So even with it being technically perfect, this game falls just short of being put into elite status in my mind.

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