Only Read The Last Resort as a Last Resort

The Last Resort: A Forgotten Coast Mystery by Sal Bianchi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm going to be generous and give this 3* only because I got this for free when I saw it in a newsletter. What interested me is it takes place in a small Florida town and I had recently read a Carl Hiaasen book and the first of John D MacDonald's Travis McGee books which also take place in small Florida towns. How did this stack up? Not well.

You read Hiaasen with his great offbeat characters and MacDonald with the great neo-noir atmosphere and then you read this and it's like going from succulent lobster to a boiled store brand hot dog without even any ketchup or mustard. The characters and the town itself aren't really interesting at all. Most of them I couldn't remember because they have no personality. Mostly there's just the the chief who has probably the largest police force ever for such a small town. I mean there are like 5-6 people working there most of the time. How does some little podunk Florida fishing town manage to support the expense of that? The author mentions the chief was in the military and has a daughter in college but little to nothing is done with any of that. The only other character of note is Yamazaki (however it's spelled) who's an FBI agent who took vacation time to investigate a conspiracy theorist's death. There's some hint that there's stuff in her past, but the author does nothing with that either.

And then the worst of it is they don't even really solve the mystery! There's this key that Cole gets but it's never explained what it does. Other than catching one guy (which literally took almost 20% of the book) they accomplish almost nothing. I get you want to set up a series, but if you want me to read more books, you have to actually make the first one worth reading, which this isn't. I really have no interest in spending more time with these dull characters in their unremarkable town.

This could also have used a decent editor because there are a few phrases and bad dialog tags and such that could have been weeded out by someone competent.

That is all.

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The Good Freak Corollary

 A few months ago, I read this entry on Tony Laplume's Star Trek blog about "augments" or genetically manipulated people in Trek.  The history of this began with Khan in 1967.  Then he returned in Star Trek II, where he had some wrath.  In Deep Space Nine, it turned out Dr. Bashir had been genetically modified when he was young, which should have gotten him thrown out of Starfleet, but didn't.  There were examples in Enterprise and Picard that I don't really know about.  In Strange New Worlds, at the end Number One is arrested for being an "Augment."  In Prodigy, it turns out that Dal is a lab experiment with a slew of genetic modifications.

You read the entry for Laplume's take.  What I got thinking of is what I call the "Good Freak Corollary."  The idea is that in books, comics, movies, and TV, we have this prevailing attitude that it's OK for someone to be a freak so long as they're useful.  If they do something bad, like try to take over the world, then they're locked up, killed, or shot into space.

You could probably start analyzing this all the way back to myths about gods and goddesses.  There are some gods and goddesses who use their power to help people and there are others who use their power to do bad things or sow mayhem.

For more contemporary examples, think of the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."  Rudolph is at first seen as a freak.  Then, after his deformity is found to be useful to Santa, everyone loves him.  This was kicked up a notch in the classic TV special where there's also Hermey the Elf who's mocked for his interest in dentistry until his dental skills help them to defeat the Abominable Snowman. 

Or think of Steve Rogers, who was viewed as too useless for the Army, until he's picked to be given a "super-soldier serum."  Then he becomes Captain America, one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.  In a History Channel documentary back in 2003, I think it was future Picard showrunner Michael Chabon who mentioned how ironic it is that Steve Rogers is pretty much the Nazi ideal:  blond, blue-eyed, and physically "perfect."  He's essentially created with the Nazi science that we found abhorrent, but because he fights for America's side, he's a hero.

The X-Men is an even better comic book example.  You have the "good" mutants led by Professor X who use their powers to help people.  Then you have the "evil" mutants usually led by Magneto who use their powers to try to dominate people.  Though unlike other examples, people never fully embrace the "good" mutants.

A lot of comics are also similar.  Superman or Spider-Man use their powers to help people, so they're good and accepted by most people, Lex Luthor and J Jonah Jameson excepted.  Then you have "villains" like Solomon Grundy or the Lizard or Clayface or Killer Croc.  Sometimes the comics throw a curveball and have a character like Venom, Bizarro, or Clayface be a good guy for a while.

Anyway, getting back to Trek, Khan uses his augmentations for evil, so he's marooned in space and then on a planet.  Bashir is a good Federation officer and doctor, so he's allowed to stay in Starfleet.  Dal isn't allowed to join Starfleet, but he is allowed to go with Janeway, sort of like how in Episode I, Anakin wasn't allowed to be trained but could accompany Qui-Gon back to Naboo.  And I'm sure Number One will be allowed to rejoin Starfleet because she's a good officer.

So basically our view of physically "gifted" people--whether it's natural or not--is pretty pragmatic.  If those people are useful to society then it's great.  If they're a detriment, then we shouldn't meddle in God's domain.  

As genetic modification--or augmentation--becomes more relevant, society will probably split along political lines like stem cell research.  The Right will invoke God and the Bible and say we shouldn't do anything, while of course they also don't want to provide any support for autism, Down's Syndrome, or other conditions that might be fixed with genetic manipulation.  The Left will say people should be able to do what they want--my body, my choice.  In my opinion, as someone with a condition that could probably have been fixed in the womb if the technology were available, I think people should have the right to make their babies as healthy as possible.  But there need to be safeguards against trying to give people superpowers or change their skin, hair, or eye color for less-than-good reasons.

Since fiction is still taking mostly the pragmatic approach, maybe I should write a story that no one will read.  That'll fix things!

A to Z Challenge Reflections: Celebrity Deathmatch, The Finale!

We started with a field of 52 DC and Marvel characters.  We have cut that down now in the first two rounds to only 13.  As it's an odd number, someone had to get a bye.  And the bye goes to Bats because they'd win anyway, so whatever.

Magic users and Kryptonians were big in Round 2.  But will they win out?  Let's find out!

Round 3

DC Doctors vs. Hulk

So Hulk is an enormous, unkillable rage monster.  But like the first round against Deadpool, Dr. Manhattan and/or Dr. Fate could just magic him to another universe or something.  Magic is kind of annoying that way.

Winner:  DC Doctors

J'onn Jonnz vs. Iron Man

Iron Man has lots of cool tech and armor and stuff.  But a metal suit is no match for psychic powers.  I mean, Martian Manhunter could get into Stark's brain and erase it or something.  And rip his cool suits up with his super strength and whatnot.

Winner:  J'onn Jonnz

Palmer, Ray vs. Loki

Maybe Ray Palmer could climb up Loki's ass, but I think Loki would like that.  And he's a god with freaky magic and shit.  Again, magic is pretty annoying.

Winner:  Loki

Supers vs. Nico Minoru

The matchup no one saw coming!  Because who the hell even knows who Nico Minoru is?  The one thing we do know:  she has magic.  What is one thing Superman is vulnerable to?  Kryptonite.  But also:  magic!  So it's not a good matchup for him.  Sorry, Supes.  Magic is a bitch.

Winner:  Nico Minoru

Ultraman vs. Thors

This would be an epic comic book.  But like the previous entry it gets down to being vulnerable to magic.  At least maybe Ultraman is?  He's not exactly the same as Superman, but I'm just going to assume he has that vulnerability.  And the Thors have magic hammers.  And lightning and whatnot.  So, again, probably not a great matchup.

Winner:  Thors

Zod vs. Venom

Venom is not magic, but again, Venom can corrupt things.  Super strength is useless against black goo!  Heat vision would work better.  What really hurts Venom is sound, but with sensitive Kryptonian ears, it would also hurt Zod.  Superman could probably borrow some earplugs from Batman, but Zod wouldn't do that.

Winner:  Venom

Round 4:

For this round we again need a bye to make it even.  Bats of DC got the previous bye so this time it goes to Venom of Marvel.  Why?  I dunno.  Why not?

Bats vs. Loki

Loki is basically like the Joker if he were a Norse god.  And maybe a little nicer.  But while Loki has magic and all that, Batman is Batman and he's taken out gods like Darkseid and whoever else.  You don't think Batman has a plan to kill any and all gods?  Shit, Batman probably has a plan to kill Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy.

Winner:  Bats

DC Doctors vs. Nico Minoru

So two magic dudes against one magic girl.  If I knew more about Nico Minoru it might be a more even contest.  But two against one, the odds go to the DC Doctors.

Winner:  DC Doctors

J'onn Jonnz vs. Thors

So J'onn Jonnz has psychic powers to use against the Thors.  Would it work?  Maybe.  But what's his greatest weakness?  Fire.  What makes fire?  Lightning!  So if one of the Thors calls down some lightning to make fire, J'onn is screwed.  And can he control Thor, Lady Thor, and Beta Ray Bill all at once?  I don't think so.

Winner:  Thors

Round 5:

So now we've got it back to an even number.  No bye weeks this time!

Bats vs. Thors

This would be a pretty awesome comic book.  Batman vs. Thor!  Batwoman/Batgirl vs. Lady Thor!  Batwing/Batman Beyond/Batwoman Beyond vs. Beta Ray Bill!  Alfred vs. Darcy! (The last one would be less cool.)  Still, at the end of the day while the Thors are gods (mostly), Batman knows how to kill gods.  He'd find a way to win.  Because he's Batman.  And he's had 3 awesome film franchises while Thor is still on one.

Winner:  Bats

DC Doctors vs. Venom

Probably the DC Doctors could beam Venom to another universe, but what fun would it be if we had two DC characters in the final?  You probably just need a tiny bit of Venom to survive somehow and corrupt Dr. Fate and/or Dr. Manhattan.  A little rigged, but whatever.

Winner:  Venom

Final Round!

Bats vs. Venom

Another of those where if it hasn't been a comic book, it really should be.  Venom could corrupt the Bats, but you know Batman has sonic weapons.  It'd actually be easier than getting Kryptonite to kill Superman.  So Batman uses a sonic weapon, paralyzes Venom, and stuffs him into Arkham or the Batcave.  Problem solved.

Winner:  Bats.  I mean, who'd you expect to win: Harley Quinn? Nico Minoru?  Shelly Hack?

They should really make this a whole comic book series.  And/or a video game.  It'd be pretty freaking epic.

And now, finally, the A to Z Challenge is finished...this year.  Bwahahahahahaahaha!  I have pretty much written next year's already.  So there.

A to Z Challenge Reflections: Celebrity Deathmatch, Round 2

 Originally I just did one round of my little DC vs Marvel Celebrity Deathmatch.  Then I thought:  why not make it a whole tournament?  I mean, really, why not?  I got nothing else going on here.

So because of the odd numbers in a couple of rounds I had to institute byes and maybe a couple I rigged to keep DC and Marvel fairly even.  The ultimate winner is not a surprise.  I mean, he (and also shes) are pretty popular.  If you're wondering, yes I did sketch out brackets to do it sort of NCAA March Madness style.  But anyway, here it goes:

Round 2

Bats vs. Ant-Man

Ant-Man could try crawling up Batman's ass, but you know what a hard ass he is.  Also, don't you think Batman has already planned for that?  I'm sure he has something to kill Ray Palmer so it'd be easy for him to use it on Ant-Man.

Winner:  Bats

DC Doctors vs. Captain America

Captain America has a cool shield and super strength and he's been pretty popular.  You know what Cap don't got?  Magic!  And Dr. Manhattan and Dr. Fate have that in spades.  They could send Cap back to WWII or take all the super serum out of him or whatever.  Magic!

Winner:  DC Doctors

Etrigan, The Demon vs. Hulk

Etrigan is a demon from Hell, but the Hulk is the Hulk.  He's even been to Hell and survived in comics like Immortal Hulk.  So I think he'd smash Etrigan.

Winner:  Hulk

Flash vs. Iron Man

In round 1, Iron Man beat Impulse, aka Bart Allen.  Now he can beat his grandpa or great-grandpa or whatever, Barry Allen.  Barry is older and craftier, but I think there'd be the same result.  Like Batman I'm sure Iron Man has a plan--or suit--to deal with speedsters like the Flash.  I mean there are speedsters like Quicksilver in Marvel.  Also, Iron Man movies made billions of dollars.  The Flash?  Hasn't even had a movie out yet and it'll probably suck.  Unless Barry wants to fuck up the timeline to erase Tony Stark, I think--

Winner:  Iron Man

Green Lanterns vs. Loki

There are a lot of Green Lanterns--about 2800, including a planet--but Loki is a god.  He's probably more powerful than the Guardians who created the Lanterns.  I don't think it'd be hard for him to somehow get the power of the rings or just magic them off of their wearers.

Winner:  Loki

J'onn Jonnz vs. Miles Morales

Miles Morales has Spider-Man powers but a little extra.  J'onn Jonnz (aka Martian Manhunter) has psychic powers and super strength and flying and stuff that's pretty close to Superman.  So he would win.

Winner:  J'onn Jonnz

Katana vs. Nico Minoru

Two Asian women whom maybe you don't really know much about them.  I know some about Katana and almost nothing about Nico Minoru except she's pretty cute.  But she has magic and Katana really doesn't, so I think magic trumps non-magic.

Winner:  Nico Minoru

Palmer, Ray vs. Okoye

Unlike Batman, I don't think Okoye would have a ready defense against Ray Palmer's shrinking.  It'd be pretty hard to kill the Atom with a spear, though she might find a way.  Still, score a win for the little guy!

Winner:  Palmer, Ray

Quinn, Harley vs. Thors

An annoying crazy woman with a regular hammer vs. a god, woman, and alien with magic hammers.  And a more popular movie franchise!  So there.

Winner:  Thors

Robins vs. Venom

There are several Robins, but none have any super powers and Venom can just engulf them to turn them against each other as Venoms.

Winner:  Venom

Supers vs. Wolverine

Wolverine has those claws, but they aren't magic, so they probably wouldn't hurt Superman/girl.  Plus, Superman could just throw Wolverine into space and kick his ass into the sun.  Try healing in there!

Winner:  Supers

Ultraman & the Crime Syndicate vs. X-23

Alternate universe Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Green Lantern vs. Wolverine's clone.  So pretty much like the previous match, except Ultraman wouldn't even hesitate to throw X-23 into the sun.  And if he missed, Power Ring could finish her off.

Winner:  Ultraman & the Crime Syndicate

Zod vs. Yondu

Another Kryptonian vs. a blue alien guy with a little spear thingy.  No contest.

Winner:  Zod

So that's all for Round 2.  Next time we'll do the final 3 rounds.  

A to Z Challenge Reflections: Celebrity Deathmatch! Round 1

I did my A to Z Challenge about a year early just for the hell of it.  And I'm also doing my reflection well in advance.  A few people visited and one stayed throughout the challenge pretty much, so that's always nice.  A few others checked in once or twice.  Like most blogging activities, I mostly do this for my own entertainment, so if I entertain anyone else that's just gravy.

Anyway, in 2022 I did Marvel Legends figures and in 2023 I did DC Multiverse figures, so then I thought, who would win in a fight for each entry?  So let's do it!

A:  Azrael vs. Ant-Man

Azrael is a kick-ass assassin but Ant-Man can shrink or go giant, so he could stomp Azrael or crawl up into his butt or whatever.

Winner:  Ant-Man

B:  Bats vs. Black Panther

Black Panther and Batman/Batgirl/Batwoman/Batwing/Batman Beyond are smart and have really cool tech.  But obviously Batman wins--because he's Batman!  And there are a lot more Bats.

Winner:  Bats

C:  Cyborg vs. Captain America

Cyborg also has some really cool tech but Captain America's shield could take his head off, though Cyborg could probably create a force field.  Still, you know Cap could do this all day while Cyborg would probably need to charge his batteries

Winner:  Captain America

D:  Dr. Manhattan/Dr. Fate vs. Deadpool

Deadpool is able to heal quickly, which makes him hard to kill.  But Dr. Fate has magic and Dr. Manhattan is basically a god.  They could probably just twist reality so Deadpool would no longer exist or send him to another dimension or something.

Winner:  The DC Doctors

E:  Etrigan, The Demon vs. Eel

Etrigan is a pretty much immortal demon.  Eel is some dude with electric powers.

Winner:  Etrigan, The Demon

F:  Flash vs. Firestar

Kind of a fun matchup as Firestar can fly and uses flame powers while the Flash runs really fast.  I'm sure the Flash could eventually find a way to get to Firestar while it would be hard for her to hit him with her flames.

Winner:  Flash

G:  Green Lanterns vs the Gwens

Green Lanterns can use their will to make all kinds of things.  Gwen Stacy and Gwenpool I don't think really have any powers.  Spider-Gwen basically has Spider-Man's skillset.  And the Green Lanterns are a whole Corps so there's lots of them.

Winner:  Green Lanterns

H:  Hawks vs. Hulk

The Hawks can fly, but there's no way they can beat the Hulk.  And Hawk of Hawk & Dove would probably get broken in half in seconds because he has basically no powers.

Winner:  Hulk

I:  Impulse vs Iron Man

Impulse is a young speedster who comes from the future.  While I think he's a genius, Tony Stark really is a genius and older and more experienced.  And rich.  So I think he could find some way to contain Impulse's speed.  Also, his movie franchise was hugely popular; he's basically the patron saint of the MCU.

Winner:  Iron Man

J:  J'onn Jonnz vs. Jean-Grey

This would be a really cool matchup as they both have psychic powers.  The caveat here is which Jean-Grey we use.  Regular Jean-Grey would probably lose to Martian Manhunter.  Dark Phoenix Jean-Grey is much more powerful and so would win.

Winner:  J'onn Jonnz* (unless it's Dark Phoenix Jean)

K:  Katana vs. Kamala Khan

It's sword-wielding ninja vs. Muslim girl with stretchy powers!  While Kamala has a healing factor, Katana's cursed blade could probably steal her soul.  I mean, I think so; I haven't read a ton of Katana comics.

Winner:  Katana

L:  Lex Luthor vs. Loki

This would be a really fun matchup in comics.  Two scheming villains fighting each other!  But while Luthor is smart and has cool tech, Loki is a god with magic.  Don't put it past Luthor to find a way to beat him though.

Winner:  Loki (but if it hasn't been done, someone please write this comic)

M:  Mera & Atlanteans vs Miles Morales

On her own I don't think Mera could beat Miles Morales, who is like Spider-Man only with some additional powers.  Since I threw in other Atlanteans like Aquaman and Ocean Master, that would give them an edge.  Still, that feels kind of like cheating.

Winner:  Miles Morales

N:  Nightwing vs. Nico Minoru

So Nightwing is an acrobat and Nico is a Goth girl with some kind of magic.  I'd say magic trumps acrobatics even if I don't know what kind of magic it is.  But another of those matchups I don't feel great about.

Winner:  Nico Minoru (I guess)

O:  Ozymandias vs. Okoye

The World's Smartest Man vs the head of the Dora Milaje.  It's a weird matchup.  Okoye has better fighting skills--and a cool spear--while Ozymandias has a big brain and lots of money.

Winner:  Okoye

P:  Palmer, Ray vs Paladin

So we have DC's shrinking guy (who unlike Ant-Man does not turn huge) vs...some mercenary man.  Obviously Ray Palmer could shrink down to avoid Paladin's gold guns and stuff.

Winner:  Palmer, Ray

Q:  Quinn, Harley vs. Quill, Peter

In a real-world battle Peter Quill would easily kill Harley Quinn because he has laser blasters and a jet pack or whatever and she has...a baseball bat or mallet.  But despite being played by Chris Pratt, Peter Quill is still basically a secondary character who can't even hold down his own title while Harley Quinn went from a one-off henchwoman in Batman the Animated Series to one of DC's most popular characters.  Much to my chagrin, no one is killing her off.

Winner:  Quinn, Harley (I don't feel good about that)

R:  Robins vs. Red Guardian

Robins have been Batman's sidekick since 1940.  Red Guardian is the Soviet version of Captain America.  In terms of raw power, obviously Red Guardian wins.  But there are several Robins and they have a lot more finesse.

Winner:  Robins

S:  Supers vs. Spiders

This would be a matchup for the ages!  In the Slugfest documentary on the Roku Channel it talked about this matchup in the 70s:  Superman vs. Spider-Man!  It was all negotiated so that neither would look bad.  The thing is, in real(ish) life, Kryptonians could pretty easily just snap Spider-Man/Woman/Girl in half or roast him with heat vision.  Even Spidey's danger sense could only help him so much.  Since Spidey's webbing isn't magic or made of Kryptonite or anything, Superman/girl could break it pretty easily.  Where Spider-Man does win at this point is in popularity; I mean, check out his movie sales vs. Superman's.

Winner:  Supers (But it'd be easy to write an upset)

T:  Talon/Trevor, Steve/Thomas Wayne/Two-Face/Titans vs. Thors

Talon is an assassin basically like the Winter Soldier in that he's unthawed as need.  Then I threw in Steve Trevor, who's just some ordinary dude; Flashpoint Batman, who isn't the master strategist his son is; and Two-Face, who is maimed and evil but doesn't have any superpowers.  At nearly the last minute I included the new Titans set which would add Raven and her magic.  But still it's the God of Thunder.  And Goddess of Thunder in Jane Foster Thor.  And Beta Ray Bill.  That all makes it pretty easy.

Winner:  Thors

U:  Ultraman & the Crime Syndicate vs. Union Jack

Ultraman is an evil mirror universe Superman.  Union Jack is some guy with a gun and a British flag on his chest.  Ultraman wouldn't even need the rest of the Crime Syndicate for this one.

Winner:  Ultraman

V:  Vixen vs. Venom

Vixen can summon mystical animals and crap, but Venom has sticky black stuff that can change shape and do lots of cool stuff--whatever the writers need.  Plus Venom could engulf Vixen and make her into a Venom.  And he's way, way more popular.

Winner:  Venom

W:  Wonder Woman vs. Wolverine

Another great matchup I'd love to see in comics.  Wonder Woman is sometimes a god or sometimes a demigod.  But Wolverine has that healing factor.  So I tend to think Wonder Woman would exhaust herself trying to kill him and he could use his claws to cut her head off or something.  He is the best at what he does, after all.  And his movies have been way more popular.  His comics have probably been more popular for a while too.

Winner:  Wolverine

X:  Task Force X vs X-23

Task Force X is the Suicide Squad, who have a variety of abilities.  But X-23 is basically Wolverine's female clone with all his powers.

Winner:  X-23

Y:  Young Heroes vs. Yondu

Like X and T, I just sort threw something together for the DC one.  I used the Shazam family, Spoiler, and the Ray.  They could easily beat Yondu, who has that stick thing he controls by whistling and a gun or two.  But I wouldn't feel good making DC the winner on this when it's not even a real entry.

Winner:  Yondu (default)

Z:  Zod vs. Zemo

Zod is a Kryptonian like Superman with far fewer qualms about killing and stuff.  Zemo is basically just some rich guy with a ski mask and a gun.

Winner:  Zod (Kneel before him!)

So there you go.  Some of the matchups would be awesome to see in comics or movies or whatever.  Some are pretty crappy.  The ones where I had to fudge the entry (especially with DC) really make it kind of suck.

Tallying it, I did actually come out with 13 DC wins and 13 Marvel wins.  That has an asterisk as a couple could go another way, like Jean-Grey would beat Martian Manhunter if we're using Dark Phoenix Jean.   And DC could maybe win the Y match if I'd had a real entry to make it fair.  

Still, it wound up pretty much even as a lot of fanboys would not expect.  And I'm sure they'd fault my logic (or lack thereof) and comics knowledge.  But that's part of the fun, right?

I was just going to do one round, but why not do a whole tournament?  Because I can.  And I'm bored.  So there.

Dive Into the Deep Blue Good-By!

The Deep Blue Good-By by John D. MacDonald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is really more of a neo-noir-type crime thriller than a mystery book. Basically Travis McGee is an independent contractor who lives on a houseboat in southern Florida. As usually happens with these things, a dame comes to him with a problem that involves a man named Junior Allen stealing something valuable from the woman's family.

Trav takes the case and soon meets another of Allen's victims named Lois Atkinson and winds up becoming her caretaker because she's been so brutalized. In today's parlance we'd say she has PTSD. For the early 60s it's pretty raunchy and violent and like most noir-type books, Trav is not really a knight in shining armor or a spotless cowboy in a white hat.

My only complaint is this first book doesn't really tell us much about Trav, but I suppose some of the other books in the series might do that.  If they weren't so expensive, I'd read them.

(Fun Fact:  John Hodgman's character in Dicktown was probably at least in part based on Travis McGee as he's an independent investigator who lives on a houseboat like McGee.)

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Bonus Fact:  According to some rap song that comedian/musician Jonathan Coulton covered, outdoor fucking begins today, May 1st.  So go enjoy that if you can.

A to Z Challenge: Zod

General Zod was a villain in Superman comics since 1961, but he wasn't really well-known until he appeared as the main villain of Superman II.  The character was so popular, especially with his "Kneel before Zod!" catchphrase that he continued reappearing in the comics as well as various TV shows.  Later he was played by Michael Shannon in the Man of Steel movie.  There was probably a figure made from that movie--I'm pretty sure I saw one on clearance at my local Walmart but didn't get it--but later on McFarlane came out with a more recent comics accurate version from Rebirth comics:

While Michael Shannon's Zod returns in the Flash movie, they aren't making a figure of him.  A real Superman II version would be neat but there are probably likeness rights issues and whatever.  If you want to learn more, read the Wikipedia page.

That's my A to Z Challenge on DC Comics action figures.  Since I don't collect any other action figures numerous enough for an A to Z Challenge, I have a different topic for 2024.  I've already written the entries and this time they shouldn't need a lot of updating.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it. lol

I've written a fun little event for the "Reflections" thing next week.  It's a 3-day event, so brace yourselves for that.  It starts May 3, continues May 5, and finishes May 8th.

A to Z Challenge: Young Heroes

While they did the Batman and Superman characters from Future State a couple years ago, they didn't do maybe the most popular character to spin out of that:  Yara Flor, who became Wonder Woman but is also called Wonder Girl so I guess they don't confuse her with Diana, who is still around as well.  Maybe they'll get around to it, but for now they haven't.

So unless I can think of something or they make something else before this posts, I decided to use this for some of the young heroes who I didn't have posts for already.  

I got half the Shazam movie family (Freddie, Mary, and Pedro) from Five Below stores.  

Billy Batson I got from Amazon Vine:

Darla and Eugene I couldn't find so I had to get them from Amazon, though they weren't that expensive at the time.

Each one comes with a little rubber bad guy too.  I could have got the Billy Batson DC Multiverse Mattel one from Vine but I already had the movie one that seemed mostly the same, just a little smaller and maybe a little less poseable.  Close enough!  I do also have a talking 12-inch Shazam from Vine and a 12-inch Dr. Sivana for him to fight.

McFarlane has made a new Billy Batson Shazam for the movie but I don't think they made the others.  For shame!

I also have Spoiler, aka Stephanie Brown, who I think was Robin and Batgirl at some point.  I got her on clearance from Amazon.

I also got The Ray who is...I don't really know.  He's periodically been in comics and maybe even had his own title for a few months.  It's the kind of thing where I think, You made this guy but not Guy Gardner, Zatanna, Mr. Terrific, Plastic Man, Hawkgirl or other characters who have been around a lot longer?  But anyway, there he is:

I think I got him (and maybe Spoiler) for the Luthor armor pieces but also they were cheap.  Those are (at this point) all the random young heroes I have.  

Here's another one I don't have, Duke Thomas as "The Signal."  I don't know what exactly his deal was but I guess they had enough Robins already.

McFarlane also made this Static Shock, though I'm not sure why they chose the short-lived New 52 version instead of more recent or classic versions:

I don't think they've made a Harper Row, aka "Bluebird" (ugh) or Cassandra Cain, aka Orphan (also the late 90s/early 2000s Batgirl) who are also young Bat-allies.  Or the Wonder Twins or Lobo's daughter Crush or some other ones who have been in the comics the last decade or so.

They might make a Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle before the movie comes out later this year but I haven't seen it.

I'm still pissed they haven't officially made a line of Young Justice figures.  What's up with that?  I get the live action shows there might be rights issues with the actors, but that's an animated show, so what's the hold up?  Come on, Todd, make me a fucking Miss Martian, Connor, and Tigress already!

A to Z Challenge: Task Force X

 I'm not sure there's a real X for DC Comics heroes.  With Marvel you always have X-Men and stuff.  The closest I could think of is that the Suicide Squad is called Task Force X.

I already did Harley Quinn, Katana, and whoever, but there were some more figures I got for the first crappy Suicide Squad movie.  My favorite was El Diablo, who I always thought had the most fleshed-out backstory of anyone in the stupid movie besides Harley Quinn and Joker:

There was also Deadshot, the Will Smith version:

Rick Flag:

And Captain Boomerang:

Sadly I don't think they made Slipknot, the guy who could climb anything.  I didn't get Jared Leto's Joker so I don't think I ever got all the pieces to make the Killer Croc guy.

McFarlane made a bunch of figures for the second Suicide Squad movie:

There's also a mega-sized King Shark:

Mattel did a King Shark from the Flash TV show but that was a build-a-figure so you'd have to get 6 figures or buy it off eBay.

They didn't do a Ratcatcher II figure, which is weird given how important she was to the movie.  Maybe they couldn't get the likeness rights or whatever.  If you get all the Crime Syndicate figures from Target you can make Starro the Conqueror too.

I don't think they've made an Amanda Waller figure, which is too bad.  They should do a Build-A-Figure of the comic book version who is supposed to be a huge fat black woman nicknamed "the Wall."  Maybe that would be insensitive for these days.

A to Z Challenge: Wonder Woman

 After Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman has been DC's third big hero, the first major female superhero.  Naturally there have been a lot of figures of her over the years.

The first one I got was a New 52 one in a two-pack with Katana as I mentioned previously.  She is kind of buff with the New 52's silver accessories instead of gold and bluish hair and came with a short sword:

I got pretty much all the DC Multiverse ones from the 2017 movie because they were at Five Below stores.  I think I got mine mostly in Brighton and Saginaw.  There was the Wonder Woman with an overcoat:

The regular Diana one:

Her mother Hippolyta:

And I even got this other Amazon Menalippe that along with Steve Trevor let me complete the Ares Build-A-Figure:

Then later I got a Rebirh version only because it was part of the Lex Luthor Superman armor series.  This one is more like the movie one without the star-spangled shorts:

But my favorite is the Lynda Carter version I got from Amazon for pretty cheap.  It comes with the stand and lasso and a cape.  Other than the wonky arm joints it's pretty awesome:

Wonder Woman!

They made a bunch of McFarlane figures from WW84 like this one:

The weird Todd McFarlane original you can still get pretty cheap; a few weeks ago it was only like $11 on Walmart's site:

There are some other ones too:

I don't think there are quite as many variants of Wonder Woman as Superman or especially Batman.  Here are a couple of other ones:

The first one is an older Mattel one from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Strikes Again, where Wonder Woman has a daughter with Superman, which set up the lame third entry in the series.  Then there's the one from "Endless Winter," a completely forgettable (and forgotten) limited series that for some reason McFarlane made a whole line of figures for.  Because it's cold, she's wearing a lot more clothes.  And lastly we have one from Shazam: Fury of the Gods, which kinda spoiled her appearance in the movie for those who hadn't watched it--which is most everyone.

There are also a variety of figures from various cartoons (except I don't think they made a Superfriends one) and the Superhero Girls line.  From Amazon Vine I got the potbelly pig Wonder Woman has in the Superpets movie.  I haven't seen the movie so I don't know what its name is.

Sometimes in the comics (and in the Wonder Woman TV show) she'll have a sidekick called Wonder Girl.  Mattel made a figure of the blonde one; I don't know what exactly her name was.  The other one is Donna Troy, who I think was the first one but was also part of the Teen Titans at times.  That figure is an upcoming McFarlane one from the Titans comics.  

I wish McFarlane would make the latest Wonder Girl, Yara Flor, who first appeared in the Future State comics as the future Wonder Woman (though Diana is still alive, just doing other stuff like running Paradise Island or whatever) and was so popular that they kept the character around.  That would have solved my upcoming issue with the Y entry.

Great Hera that's plenty of stuff for today.