Character Spotlight: Shriek

Shriek was originally a part of my Batman Beyond Super-Post, in which I said this:

Shriek

Shriek first appeared in the Batman Beyond episode of the same name (1999); his first comics appearance was a mention in Batman Beyond [miniseries] #4 (November 2010).

But he has actually appeared since then, so he gets an entry all his own. 

His first actual appearance is Batman Beyond #21 (April 2013) and #22 (May 2013), in which he's an obstacle that prevents Batman from helping Max fight the Undercloud's Rebel One.

He later appears in Batman Beyond 2.0 #2-7 (August-November 2013) as part of Rewire's team, along with Spellbinder and Inque.

Costume Spotlight: Royal Flush Gang

The Royal Flush Gang is a really interesting concept. As the name implies, they're a gang of criminals with a playing card motif, but beyond that they can be pretty much anything. They're relationship to each other, how big the gang is, their costumes, and even which suit they represent are all up in the air. They first appeared in Justice League of America #43 (1966), and since then, they've been standard and realistic...

...bright and dark...

...and even a little weird.

But when the group appeared on Arrow in the first season ("Legacies", November 2012), they were taken in a direction they've never been before: low-rent.

And it is this depiction they chose to emulate for the New 52's version of the Royal Flush Gang, first appearing as a cameo in Forever Evil #1 (September 2013) and then appearing in full in Forever Evil: Rogues' Rebellion #4 (January 2014):

At least they get to keep the cool card hoverboards.

52 Shake-Up: Protector and Mas y Menos

The below picture is from the recently released The Multiversity: The Just #1 (October 2014). Multiversity is Grant Morrison's tour through the multiverse, and The Just presents Earth-16, a world that's part Kingdom Come, part Young Justice (the series), and 100% 90s DC. It's a world where our generation of superheroes did their job so well, the only left for the new generation - made up mainly of teen heroes and forgotten 90s characters - is to fight each other and party. They're celebutantes more than superheroes.

This picture is of one of those parties, and you can see some of the members in attendance are Protector (star belt in the middle) and Mas y Menos (far left and far right). Protector appeared as an ersatz Robin in some Teen Titans PSA comics before becoming an official member for one issue, while Mas y Menos are speedster brothers that first appeared in the Teen Titans cartoon before showing up as Teen Titans members during the One Year Gap...also, I think, for one issue. Whether or not these characters exist on Earth-0 is left to be seen, and they probably don't, but they definitely exist on Earth-16, and that still counts.

Edited to Add (7/6/21): Protector appeared on Prime Earth in Heroes in Crisis #3 (November 2018). He died in issue 6, though his most recent appearance was in The Flash #771 (June 2021) as a corpse.

Costume Spotlight: Mad Dog

Mad Dog is a bounty hunter that appeared in Suicide Squad #3 (November 2011). That's pretty much all we know about him so far. He looks like this:

Someone pointed out that he looked liked the Young Justice version of Sportsmaster (first appearance: "Drop Zone", January 2011). "Kinda, I guess," I said. "I mean, I suppose the mask is pretty similar." But then I looked up Sportsmaster, and...

...it's hard to argue with facts. They're not 100% the same, but they are at least 90.

Putting the "Goth" in Gotham

Everyone knows what Gotham looks like: gargoyles, overhangs, and grey grey grey. Just look at the 90s Batman movies, or Batman: The Animated Series, or any of the Arkham games. But Gotham didn't always look like that - Batman '66 is a perfect example of that. So when did the change happen? Surprisingly, not until 1992. I could recount the story for you, but Comics Alliance did a great article on it a few months back, so I'll just link to it.

http://comicsalliance.com/batman-89-anton-furst-gotham-city-destroyer-grant-breyfogle-aparo-design/

Team Spotlight: Mighty Avengers

Normally I don't include things like this, but I keep feeling like I should in this case, so I'm just getting it out of the way.

The Mighty Avengers, the team, is original to comics. Most of the characters on the team are original to comics. But this team - at least at the start - is so blatantly patterned on Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) that I feel I have to say something. Here is the team in Ultimate Spider-Man - Spider-Man, Power Man (Luke Cage), Iron Fist, White Tiger, and Nova:

And here is the original Mighty Avengers line-up in Mighty Avengers #1 (September 2013) - Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Power Man, White Tiger, and Spectrum:

Clearly, it's not exact. This Spider-Man is Doctor Octopus, for one thing, and there's no Iron Fist or Nova. On the other hand, the teen Power Man looks similar to the animated version and has powers similar to Iron Fist, and Spectrum has similar powers and a similar logo to Nova. So even though it's not 100% the same, it's still a 1-to-1 match and I think that's probably worth noting.

Spider-Verse: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

Spider-Verse is a currently running event in the Spider-Man comics that will involve every* Spider-Man we've ever met, including several Spider-Women and Spider-Girls (not to mention Scarlet Spiders and Spider-Hams and whatnot), and several brand-new versions. The premise is simple: there's a group of people trying to wipe out every Spider character across the multiverse, so all the Spider characters will team up to stop them. This is, of course, a massive event - multimedia even, since it will also feature in the Spider-Man Unlimited video game and the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man - and given the premise, it's only natural that it will add a few entries to this catalog.

*I say "every" because Marvel says "every", but there are a few that won't be showing up, such as Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

Today's entry is Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is a 1981 animated series about a team called the Spider-Friends, consisting of Spider-Man, Iceman, and cartoon original Firestar. You can read a little more about Firestar, as well as fellow immigrants Ms. Lion and Videoman, here. From what I've seen, the show was standard '80s Saturday morning cartoon fare, but people seem to love it.

The Spider-Friends were recently seen in Amazing Spider-Man #7 (October 2014) as the latest victims of the multiversal rampage. The villain noted the world as a "kinder and gentler universe". There's a bright spot, though: these Spider-Friends are from Earth-1983, while the ones in the show are from Earth-8107. So as far as we know, the real Spider-Friends are still out there somewhere.

Spider-Verse: Spider-Man Unlimited

Spider-Verse is a currently running event in the Spider-Man comics that will involve every* Spider-Man we've ever met, including several Spider-Women and Spider-Girls (not to mention Scarlet Spiders and Spider-Hams and whatnot), and several brand-new versions. The premise is simple: there's a group of people trying to wipe out every Spider character across the multiverse, so all the Spider characters will team up to stop them. This is, of course, a massive event - multimedia even, since it will also feature in the Spider-Man Unlimited video game and the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man - and given the premise, it's only natural that it will add a few entries to this catalog.

*I say "every" because Marvel says "every", but there are a few that won't be showing up, such as Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

The first such entry is Spider-Man Unlimited.

Spider-Man Unlimited was a 1999 follow-up to Spider-Man: The Animated Series that was only loosely connected at best. In the show, Spider-Man finds himself on Counter-Earth, which has been taken over by the High Evolutionary and his Beastials. Spider-Man decides to take down the High Evolutionary, and to that end joins the rebellion, which includes a heroic Green Goblin and Vulture. It wasn't a very good show and only lasted 13 episodes.

This Spider-Man, as well as High Evolutionary lackey Lord Tyger (and several unnamed Beastials) appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #7 (October 2014) as some of Morlun's latest defeats. Unfortunately, in an event such as this, you need people to die in order to raise the stakes and also clear the playing field. On the other hand, if there were any characters you could kill without raising a fuss, it'd be these.

(Note: This Spider-Man costume previously appeared in my Marvel Appearances Super Post.)

DCAU Super Post Part 2

Just like the Batman Beyond posts of the past couple days, as long as comics are still being published under the "Beyond" banner, elements from all over the DC Animated Universe will make their way into DC proper. Here are a few of them:

Justice Lords first appeared in Justice League Beyond 2.0 #19 (May 2014)
They're first mentioned - and Lord Superman first appears - in issue 18 (April 2014). They are the Batman Beyond counterpart to the Justice Lords, who first appeared (with Lord Superman) in the Justice League episode "A Better World" (November 2003).

The Phantasm first appeared in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and then first appeared in comics in Batman Beyond 2.0 #25 (July 2014).

Krypto was an alien that first appeared in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Bizarro's World" (1997) as Bizarro's pet. It later shows up in a containment chamber of sorts in Justice League Beyond #22 or #23 (April or May 2013).

Morgaine Le Fay's Brand was first seen in the New Batman Adventures episode "The Demon Within" (1998) as a means to control The Demon. It was later used in a similar capacity in Justice League Beyond #14 or #15 (November 2012) when Terry McGinnis had become the Demon.

Darkseid's New Look and his invasion of Earth took place in "Destroyer", the Justice League Unlimited series finale (2006). It appeared in flashback in Justice League Beyond #9 (July 2012)

Superman's time as a New God was shown in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Legacy" (2000), where he was brainwashed into becoming Kal-El, Son of Darkseid. This event was referenced in Justice League Beyond #2 (February 2012)

The Starro incident happened in "The Call" (2000), one of the last episodes of Batman Beyond. It was referenced in Justice League Beyond #2 (February 2012).

Kobra's mind-control device was used in the Batman Beyond episode "Unmasked" (2001) to try to find out who was underneath Batman's mask. It appeared in a different context in Justice League Beyond #3 (March 2012)

The Possible Future Justice League appeared in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Once and Future Thing, pt. 2: Time, Warped" (2005). It is an as-yet-unconfirmed line up for the team, but not impossible. The team, and the time travelling event that led to meeting them, were mentioned in Justice League Beyond #7 (May 2012).

"Batman Beyond" Post-pourri 2

Today we continue our look at the ever-growing number of Batman Beyond immigrants! Part 1 can be found here, and the original Super Post can be found here.

Splicers are a new fad in the world of Batman Beyond where teens splice animal DNA into their own to change their appearance. They first appear in the episode "Splicers" (1999). By the time of their first comics appearance in Justice League Beyond #2 (February 2012), they've become a sort of rival gang to the Jokerz. The three most prominently featured ones (the bull, the snake, and the one in the middle) appeared in the show, but I don't know about the other ones.

Dr. Nobuo Taka was a scientist who appeared in the Batman Beyond episode "Sneak Peek" (2000) as the creator of vibra-space technology, which allowed users to pass through objects by vibrating between molecules. He was killed when reporter Ian Peek stole the technology. Taka appears in flashback in Justice League Beyond #17 (January 2013)

The Brain Trust is an international society/cult that have superpowers, supposedly through achieving a greater degree of brain use than the average person. They first appeared in "Mind Games" (1999), and they also appeared in one episode of The Zeta Project. Their goal is to lure children with powers to their cause through the use of fake schools. They were also seen doing this in Justice League Beyond #22 (April 2013).

GoLeM, or Galvanic Lifter Machine, was a two-story tall construction robot that appears in the episode "Golem" (1999). In the episode, a bullied kid named Nelson Nash steals one from his father's construction site to get back at his bullies; when he learns that he has a telepathic link to the robot, he uses it to wreak havoc. A GoLeM appears in flashback in Justice League Beyond #2 (February 2012)

Bruce's bat armor was a last-ditch effort to make up for his physical limitations. It was even more advanced than the Beyond suit, but it never made it out of testing because it strained his heart too much. It's only appearance was the episode "Disappearing Inque" (1999), and then it made a cameo in Justice League Beyond #2 (February 2012)

"Batman Beyond" Post-pourri

As I've previously noted, Batman Beyond exists in a shaky area of continuity. Even so, his comics still continue to be published, and I'll treat them as "counting" until I see beyond a shadow of a doubt that they don't. Luckily, that means we have more stuff to add! (You can see the previous Batman Beyond Super Post here.)


Warren McGinnis first appeared in the first episode of Batman Beyond, "Rebirth" (1999); he's the father of Terry McGinnis, the new Batman. He didn't appear in comics until Batman Beyond #7 (June 2012), even though the rest of Terry's family had. He also has a flashback cameo in Justice League Beyond #17 (January 2013).

Mr. Fixx also first appeared in "Rebirth" (1999) as the assistant/muscle of Derek Powers. He made his comics debut in Batman Beyond #7 (June 2012), where we learn he was behind Warren McGinnis's death. He also appears in Justice League Beyond #17 (January 2013), where we learn how he got his scar. (Spoiler alert: Batman did it.)

Melanie Walker, aka Ten, first appeared in the Batman Beyond episode "Dead Man's Hand" (1999) as a member of the Royal Flush Gang. She later went straight and became friends with Terry McGinnis. She made her comics debut in Batman Beyond 2.0 #10 (October 2013) and became a pretty regular character for the series so far.

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Sam Young is a district attorney - and husband of Barbara Gordon - who first appeared in the episode "A Touch of Curare" (1999). He later showed up in Batman Beyond 2.0 #16 (March 2014) in a flashback about Barbara Gordon.

Charlie "Big Time" Bigelow first appeared in the episode "Big Time" (2000), where he was a childhood friend of Terry's that got mixed up with the wrong people. During a heist at Wayne-Powers, he also got mixed up with the wrong chemicals and became what you see below. He later had a cameo appearance in Batman Beyond 2.0 #1 (August 2013).