Lord Chapel

Publisher: Image Comics

Created by:  Rob Leifield

1st appearance:Youngblood ???

Nationality: Denizen of hell

Team Affiliations: Horsemen of Apocalypse

Legal Status: Unknown

Height: Variable              Weight: Variable

Eyes: Red                          Hair: none

Relatives: Chapel (Genetic template/Father)

Skills and abilities:

Powers: As a creature born in hell he had superhuman strength and durability.

After he took over the throne of Hell, he became God-like in power with a seemingly infinite supply of energy.

Biography

Born from the death of Chapel after he committed suicide in hopes of becoming a like Al Simmons, a Spawn. Reborn in hell as Lord Chapel he waged war on the ruler of hell and managed to usurp his thrown after which he was separated from Chapel who was returned to earth. As the ruler of hell he recruited Crypt and set him to defeat Supreme in hopes of joining hell and Earth.

It took all the heroes of the Image comics universe and a reborn New Son to take him down, he was presumed dead but recently returned to battle youngblood.

Michael Collins/Deathstroke

 Created by:  Dwayne McDuffie, Gregory Wright,  and Jackson Guice                                                           

1st appearance: Michael Collins version- Deathlok #1 (limited series) 1990

Nationality: American

Universe: Earth-616

Team Affiliations: Freelance Shield Agent; Secret Defenders; Wild Pack

Alias: Robot Vigilante; Doctor Donut

Origin: Deathlok #1 (1990); Deathlok #13 (1991)

Legal Status: unknown

Eyes: Brown (as Collins);  Right- Brown Left- Yellow (as Deathlok)    

Hair: Brown  (as Collins);  Light Brown (as Deathlok); 

Height: 6’1” (as Collins);   7”2”  (as Deathlok); 

Weight: 200lbs (as Collins); 825lbs (as Deathlok)

Relatives: Tracy Collins (wife) Nick Collins (son) Patricia Collins (daughter) Bill Collins (brother) Arlene (sister-in-law)  

Skills and abilities: Ph.D. in prosthetic/neuroscience, Master’s degree in computer science; educated in cybernetics

Powers: Collins’ human brain was transplanted into the Deathlok Cyborg by a group of scientist at Cybertek. The cyborg body grants him superhuman strength, speed, and resistance to injury. He possesses a broad spectrum of auditory and visual powers in his cybernetic left ear and eye. He has limited organic parts which are supported by nanotech assemblers which can repair the organics, and is responsible for adapting Collins’ facial structure to match his human structure. His skeleton is adamantium, while his muscles and cartilage are a flexible steel/adamantium alloy. He can lift up to 150 tons but is prevented from doing so by his computer to prevent injury. He maintains a strength level of 85 tons. Deathlok can also run up to 107 MPH on foot. He possesses a sophisticated A.I. which is capable of making complex strategies and evaluating their outcome. The A.I. also can take over the cyborg if requested and perform operations. The A.I. also has an extensive data base of combat techniques and strategies as well as gives Collins computer-guided combat routines, which make him an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, and gives him proficiency over any kind of weapon. The A.I. also gives him the ability to target and track multiple objects. He has the ability to infiltrate any computer system by direct interface, and project his consciousness onto the Net. He carries a plasma pistol which draws its energy for from his controlled fusion generator, which powers him. The weapon only fires when in contact with the outlets in Deathlok’s hand.  He also possesses a Plasma Grenade Launcher as well as a powerful Plasma Rifle, but due to the “no killing parameter” installed by Collins, he rarely uses these and keeps them stored in his backpack. He once possessed an adamantium/vibranium alloy helmet, but got rid of it when he discovered it could be used to wrest control of the cyborg from him.

Biography:

Michael Collins had a great life. He had a loving family and a high paying and rewarding job working for Cybertek; a division of Roxxon Oil. When he discovered that his work which he thought was going to help people who needed prosthetics, was really going to a secret project for a cybernetic killing machine called the “Deathlok Project” he went to his boss and friend Harlan Ryker. Ryker, who was also in charge of several other clandestine projects with military applications, instead betrayed Michael and killed him. He then had Michael’s brain placed in the Deathlok cyborg to be used as “wetware”- to be the works of Deathlok’s computer. Collins’ consciousness awakened inside the cyborg while on a test mission and witnessed it kill some soldiers. After a while, Michael asserted control of the cyborg and once in control, Collins set up the “no killing parameter and set out to find his old friend Ryker. He finds Ryker, who is about to broker an illegal arms deal, and before turning him in, finds out that his human body still existed and that he could be restored if he also found the doctor that made the transfer of his brain to the Deathlok cyborg. Deathlok sets out on his quest to find his body, while searching; he encounters Misty Knight, and after helping her and other heroes rescue other missing cyborgs, hires her to watch his family. He encounters other heroes as well as villains along the way, and is invited to Wakanda by the Black Panther to investigate a series of computer break-ins into the Wakandan system; King T’Challa also invites Deathlok’s family. While there, Wakanda is attacked by Moses Magnum in an attempt to overthrow the Panther’s regime and take control of the Vibranium mound. Initially Deathlok was not going to get involved, but after seeing a young boy killed, who he thought was his son, he almost single-handedly defeated Magnum’s “Terrordomes”. Ultimately Collins finds his body, and gains the ability to transfer from Human body to Cyborg body.

Note: This issue we officially welcome black power couple pairing of Green Lantern/John Stewart and Princess Yrra Cynrill/Fatality

The trailer features Brett Dalton as Agent Grant Ward as he’s granted access to Level 7, at least the same clearance level as Coulson himself (as revealed in a Marvel One-Shot short). More detail is given on the rest of the cast, including Ming Na as Agent Melinda May, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons, Iain De Casestecker as Agent Leo Fitz and Chloe Bennett as Skye. The trailer also includes the best look yet at J. August Richards’ mystery character who we speculate was Luke Cage. but we can also speculate could be Victor Alvarez/Power Man or even the new warrior Rage/Elvin Holliday.

~UPDATE!~

Upon closer inspection of the Video a few things are clear, whoever Richards is playing has super speed as well, meaning he could not be Luke Cage or Rage/Elvin Holliday.

We also have this quote from an IGN interview with executive producer Jeffrey Bell who talks quite a bit about Richards.

“[He] Killed it! He’s so good,” Bell told IGN in response to a question about Richards. “He’s so good, because we were looking for this character M– I almost said his name. It’s not the one people are talking about. … I’m going to say that’s an interesting Marvel character, but no. But he came in and killed it. Honestly, we were looking for this part, and we just said, look, all our parts are open to all diversity. So the fact that we have a black dude who is awesome and it’s J, was just because he was the best actor. It wasn’t like, ‘You know who…!’”

Now that adds a whole new layer to speculation since marvel has an open race policy with casting (which is a good thing I might add) J. August Richards could be playing a white character turned black for story purposes or as we continue to speculate a brand new character.

More as it breaks!

[Source: CBR, ScreenCrush, IGN]

Come for the banter, stay for the surprises!

Everything Valkyrie knows about her origin is wrong!

And Caroline LeFay unleashes her Doom Maidens upon the world!

The Good

Art- Considering where the story has gone the art may very well be the most impressive thing in this book despite some still and weird poses here and there.

Alternate Cover- Absolutely sexy in every sense of the word! Our much more appropriate alternate cover with Dani Moonstar in her Valkyrie garb fixing her bow while holding a glowing arrow. Good stuff!

Action- Clashing swords and fire breathing monsters destroying cities are all here.

Chemistry- The team is already showing nice dynamics and play off each other well. This bodes well for the future.

Black Hero- Misty Knight keeps rocking that fro and gives us an excuse to pick up this book.

Humor- One thing you can’t fault this book on is its sense of humor thanks to the very over the top Hippolyta.

The Bad

Cover- Sure Valkyrie is scantily clad but can’t say I’m a fan of everything else that’s present.

Retcon- There are two ways to look at the retcon in this issue. 1) Valkyrie’s new past will enhance (hopefully) her status quo in this series and if the book is successful and well met by critics it will impact the rest of the marvel universe. 2) This retcon will go the way of most marvel retcons and the dodo and lead to nothing more than what can be accomplished in this book.

Underutilized- I’m happy they decided to make Misty a co-lead in this book but I’m also curious why most writers including this one can’t find creative ways to use her Stark Tech bionic arm. This thing Liquefies all meat up-close thanks to Savage land Vibranium contained therein it can generate repulsors like the iron man armor yet all this never gets used or mentioned since Daughters of the Dragon #4 way back when!

Art- Some panels are flat and have characters have proportion problems

The Ugly

I’m not impressed really but it’s not the very worst thing on the shelves 2.5/5

WARNING: This preview contains mature content.

“The K.A.T.I. Agenda” – Driving down the highway of Destiny Agent Barrino and his comrades in arms find themselves on a head on collision with fate. Prepare yourself for the season finale of VESCELL.

Publisher:

Created by: URAEUS (Richard G. Tyler II)
1st appearance: Jaycen Wise: Field Guide #0

Nationality: Kushite

Team Affiliations: Medjai Elite Guard

Legal Status: Jaycen is originally a citizen of the ancient Empire of Kush, present day Sudan (Nile Valley, East
Africa), but has adopted countless nations as his home during his extensive lifetime. He maintains access to an unlimited
number of international passports and identifications, affording legal entry into virtually any nation.

Height: 6’                        Weight: 200lbs
Eyes: Brown                    Hair: Black
Relatives: None Known

Skills/Abilities: Jaycen is an avid student and teacher, and seeks to always better himself physically, mentally
and spiritually. He has had the luxury of sitting at the feet of innumerable masters of countless arts down
through the ages. He has had an immortal’s lifetime to perfect his cornucopia skills, and improve upon these
teachings, and is driven by an insatiable hunger for knowledge, adventure and self-mastery.

Powers: Jaycen is a true immortal, and as such cannot be killed by any means. He possesses the gift of unlimited
potential, and has within him the ability to achieve any goal, to accomplish any feat (physical or mental) if he
believes he can do it. Jaycen also possesses the gift of ancestral communion, the ability to contact the spiritual
world and interact with kindred spiritual energies (ancestors). In other words, through deep meditation Jaycen can
access the spiritual realm as a means of conversing with his forbears in attempt to acquire the knowledge and
wisdom of the ancients. He possesses fully developed occipital and parietal regions of the brain, which control
vision, bodily function and memory. Stored deep within his brain are not just his own memories, but the memories
and experiences of his ancestors. He can tap into what can only be described as an inner-net, a vast internal web
consisting of the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of African people throughout the Diaspora.

Biography: Although much of his past is shrouded in mystery, it is believed that Jaycen was elevated to the
level of demi-god and granted the “gift” of immortality in tribute to his outstanding academic achievements in
the university system of Ancient Kush, and his leadership and heroism on the battlefield in the Imperial Army of
Kush (Medjai Elite Guard). He is guided, down through the ages, by the irresistible force of destiny, and the subtle
push of the Ancestors. He is a child of fate resigned to the fact that he is an instrument of powers much higher
than himself.
Jaycen has waged a one-man war with the jinn beginning in the Golden Ages of Antiquity and carrying on down
through the ages. He is the most hated demonslayer in the annals of jinn lore. He is despised above all others and
his name is a curse amongst the jinn. Instead, he is referred to as The Dark Star, in homage to the legendary black
blade Dark Star that he calls upon to do battle with the forces of darkness.

Check out this sweet first trailer for Joss Whedon’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D set to debut on abc.

The trailer shows J. August Richards performing superhuman feats and behaving eerily reminiscent of Marvel’s Luke Cage. You may remember we last speculated that he was playing Nick Fury jr. The trailer is very brief but literally whets our appetite for what could come next. Richards is most well known for playing Charles Gunn in Joss Whedon’s Angel and recently played villain “Mr. Blank” in CW’s runaway hit “Arrow”.

What do you guys think? Is J. August Richards playing Luke Cage.?

or some new superhuman with enhanced strength?

More as it breaks!

“WAKE THE DRAGON”

As Shang-Chi battles an ancient enemy, the Avengers hang out in Hong Kong’s swankiest casino.

Captain Marvel, Black Widow and Spider-Woman find out it doesn’t pay to gamble in the spy business.

Cannonball and Sunspot play craps with a bunch of AIM Agents. AND WIN!

The Good

Cover- This one looks damn awesome! Shang Chi front and center flanked by Sunspot, Black Widow, Cannonball, Wasp and Spider woman all in Asian inspired garb. As I said before it looks pretty damn awesome! Hickman needs to get this commissioned as a poster because it would surely sell!

Art-Mike Deodato’s art is simply divine! Seamless action scenes, smooth sexy well defined/toned bodies and that close up of Captain Marvel’s eyes was just breath taking.

Humor- Hickman as usual manages to squeeze a bit of humor into the tale by using Sunspot and Cannonball’s drunken shenanigans with the AIM soldiers and Black Widow’s proposal for information gathering and the teams reaction to it.

Team- This month’s mission was an infiltration and information and gathering one. Each member of the team some in pairs decided to go about information gathering in a different way. Cannonball and Sunspot manage to buy themselves some AIM double agents. Black Widow kills everyone much to the dismay of Spider-Woman. Captain Marvel meets Mathias at the black jack table where he cheats her out of massive winnings and reveals he’s in Hong Kong to buy, not to sell. Shang Chi meanwhile meets the mysterious Chimera and his ninjas. He proceeds to kick copious amounts of ass with his new Stark made electric powered nunchaku, oh and he learns exactly the information they were meant to. 

Black Heroes- Sunspot is our lucky bloke this issue with Captain Universe and Nightmask taking a break I guess.

The Bad

 While I did enjoy this issue it did feel like filler until the next arc began.

The Ugly

Breathtaking art, great sense of humor though this issue was filler. 3.5/5

The first arc comes to a crazy climactic end!

What have Fantomex and Cluster been up to while Bishop has been killing the rest of X-Force?

The Good

Interior Art- The one good thing that elevates a mediocre book to average is the art courtesy of Ron Garney carry the heavy weight of the weak story on its shoulders and man does it rise to the occasion. I particularly like how Garney renders the astral plane/mindscape of Bishop. The bright glowing orange energy that Bishop wields is also quite nice.

Cover- The Alternate cover featuring Storm and Puck is a better visual than the standard but not by much.

Psylocke and Spiral- So a broken Spiral lost her new “reason” for living, Jinny who she assume has been killed by Bishop. While Psylocke hates Spiral for what has been done to her in the past there are parallels that can be drawn between herself and Psylocke. Sure Spiral helped to mix and switch her mind with the Asian assassin Kwonnon thus making her the woman she is now, the process itself was a combination of passing through the seige perilus, magic and technology at it’s very worst. Spiral meanwhile in the human guise of Ricochet Rita was abducted by mojo, driven mad and cybernetically and biologically modified and used by Mojo to do many unspeakable things including but not limited to what was done to Psylocke. In many ways these women are far more similar than they are different. For this reason I think Psylocke faltered in killing Spiral after Jinny was “lost/killed”. One of only two good reasons to read this opening arc is that this issue convincingly paints Spiral as a woman who is worthy of redemption thus justifying her attachment to this team.

Action- Well the story may have lacked any real substance but there was glorious action from start to finish.

Black Hero- Storm is here. Bishop is also here.

The Bad

WTH- Ok so let’s see if I get what has happened in this opening arc. Bishop serves as a “vehicle/vessel” to transport this revenant psychic entity across time so it can take possession of the psychic Jinny to enhance its own powers. Once it has her it vacates Bishop’s body and disappears. So the opening was just that……seriously!

Black Hero- Storm is here but she does nothing worthwhile besides hug Psylocke which is typical of their friendship but arriving at that hug was very forced and unnatural.

Fantomex- I’m not impressed by what’s being done with Fantomex * 3, it was amusing at the end of the last X-force run but seems inconsequential and pretty damn lame. Wherever this is going, it isn’t there yet and I’m not sure I’m sticking around to find out.

Ninja- They keep referring to Spiral as a Ninja but as far as I can remember she was always a sorceress…..why is she labeled as a ninja all of a sudden? Weird…..

Cover- The Fantomex twins are on this cover look cut and pasted on a bland background. Uncanny X-force is underwhelming me at every step.

The Ugly

Utterly disappointing in almost every area, I had high hopes for this book because it teamed Storm and BFF Psylocke but I’m still waiting for something engaging to happen, something exciting, something remotely interesting to make my heart skip a beat but Uncanny X-force has not lived up to my expectations. Storm fans abandon ship this is not the wind rider we expected or wanted. Psylcoke fans perhaps this may be worth it for you but it’s tragic how average it is 2.5/5