Gadget Spotlight: Iron Man HUD

I hate when I don't have a definitive first appearance, but I'm confident about this one, so here we go.

In the movie Iron Man (2008), we frequently cut to Tony's face inside the helmet, using a HUD that tells him power level, altitude, and lots of other information. I think it's pretty safe to say that this style of shot was created for the films as a way to get their lead actor on screen without having to take his mask off (although they do their fair share of that as well).

It doesn't really make sense visually - I'm sure he has a HUD, but I imagine it'd be localized to his eyeholes - but it's more of an "illusion of reality" type of thing. It gives you the information you need to know, but makes it more visually appealing for the audience.

Of course, being such an iconic visual, it made its way into the comics as well. I first noticed it in Invincible Iron Man #1 (October 2015), and thought it was an All-New, All-Different Marvel Now! change, like the quinjets.

But I did some digging, and I was able to find one in Iron Man #1 (October 2012).

Now, I can't be certain without looking through every appearance of Iron Man from 2008 to 2012, but I'm willing to say this is the first appearance for a few reasons:

1) This would put it after The Avengers, which means there have been three movies to cement in the minds of the general audience that this is how Tony interacts with his armor.

2) This issue features him trying out an experimental armor, which is a good place to introduce a new feature such as this.

3) This issue is part of Marvel NOW!, which is also a good place to introduce new features like this.

4) This was the last panel of the first issue, which definitely says "hey! look at this new thing!" to me.

Gadget Spotlight: Mechanical Monsters

I previously mentioned the Mechanical Monsters waaaaaay back in the Superman Super-Post Part 1, where I said this:

The Mechanical Monsters

The Mechanical Monsters are thieving robots that first appeared in the Superman animated short of the same name (November 1941).  After a whopping 70 years, they received a cameo on a variant cover of Action Comics #1 (September 2011).


Admittedly, I jumped the gun on that one. When I first saw the cover, I thought they'd appear inside (y'know, because that's what covers are supposed to do). When I found out they didn't, I had already included them and didn't want to take them out. It was a huge bummer. Thankfully, Rebirth has fixed this! (and so much more from what I here.

At the beginning of Superman #1 (June 2016), we get a montage of Superman's past. And right up top, there he is, punching out a Mechanical Monster. Good job, Superman! And good job, Peter J. Tomasi!

Appearance Spotlight: Quinjet

Quinjets did not debut in the MCU. In fact, their comics counterpart is quite different. It first appeared in The Avengers #61 (1968) as the Avengers' transport ship, which was designed by Wakandans. It was so named because it had five jets. Simple enough.

As seen in Marvel's The Avengers (2012), however, quinjets are a SHIELD fighter jet that can also be used for transport.

This version later appeared in the same capacity in October 2015 in two different issues: Captain America: Sam Wilson #1 and Howling Commandos of SHIELD #1.

Now, I can't guarantee that these are the absolute first appearance of this model. But what I can say is that I've looked at several issues of various series and miniseries between those two dates, and the quinjet always looks like the original model. And every quinjet I've seen since October 2015 has been the new model. The new model also coincides with All-New Marvel Now!, so that makes sense.

That being said, if anyone CAN find an earlier appearance of the SHIELD quinjet, let me know!

Character Spotlight: Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers

This is the type of thing DC's Rebirth should be doing. Bringing back elements from the pre-new 52 DCU is all well and good, but where possible, they should also be making their properties closer resemble their adaptations tv shows. And in this instance, they've done just that. But first some history:

When Supergirl first appeared, Kara Zor-El was an orphan that went by the name Linda Lee on Earth. After a few years, however, she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers to become Linda Danvers. That was the status quo until Supergirl died in Crisis in Infinite Earths.

Post-Crisis, Supergirl was a [long story] named Matrix. But when she got her own series in 1996, part of the premise was that she bonded with a teenage girl named Linda Danvers, and could switch back and forth between them. Linda's parents were Fred and Sylvia Danvers.

Eventually, a Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl arrived post-Crisis. She lasted into the New 52, but neither of these versions had adoptive parents (well, at first; more on this in a bit).

Last year (2015), Supergirl got her own tv series. In it, she was adopted by Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers and started going by Kara Danvers. As Supergirl, she would work for the Department of Extranormal Operations, and over the course of the first season, we would learn that Jeremiah did as well.

Supergirl Rebirth #1 (August 2016) continues the story of the New 52 Superman, but changes it to match the show as much as it can. Supergirl is now working for the DEO in National City (where she lives in the show), which is led by Cameron Chase (who also appears in the show) instead of Director Bones. She is given two DEO agents, Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, to be her handlers and "parents". Therefore, Supergirl now has Kara Danvers as a secret identity, and has the same brown hair/ponytail/glasses look she does on the show. It's not exactly adoption, but maybe it'll be made legit down the road.

And no word yet on whether they have a daughter named Alex, but I'm sure she'll show up sooner than later.

Group Spotlight: World Security Council

This is an interesting one. Before today, this entry would've looked something like this:

The World Security Council is an international group that oversees SHIELD operations. They were first mentioned in Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant (2011), to set up their appearance in Marvel's The Avengers (2012), where they were a shadowy organization that ordered a nuke on Manhattan. They later appeared in the light - both figuratively and literally - in Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014) with some different members, and one of the original members appeared as an antagonist on Agents of SHIELD season 3 (2015-2016).

The World Security Council did not appear in the comics until Sam Wilson: Captain America #2 (November 2015), and even then, it was only a mention...

...until they appeared for real in Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill Omega #1 (April 2016).

That's how it would've looked.

But then, as I was finding pictures for this post, I stumbled upon this:

it's clearly older than the movies (I'm guessing the 80s), and I found it on the site of the VFX company that designed the World Security Council's look. It was provided to them by Marvel, so this group is clearly the inspiration for the World Security Council.

Here's the thing, though: I have NO IDEA where this came from. The site doesn't say, and I can't find any evidence online of Nick Fury ever answering to a shadow council (except The Shadow Council, but that was a very different group and they are only a few years old). Whoever this group is, they're definitely not called the World Security Council, so I'm still counting it.

If anyone has any information about this image, please let me know.

EDIT: Thanks to user Idran, I know that this group (which ComicVine calls the Executive Board of Directors, but I don't know if that's their official name) first appeared in Marvel Graphic Novel #18: The Sensational She-Hulk (September 1985). They've only made two appearances since then, in Incredible Hulk #336 (August 1987) and Nick Fury vs. SHIELD #1 (April 1988). And the last of those times were actually imposters.

Character Spotlight: Kingslayer

I know it's been a while since I've updated. The back-to-back TMNT and Batman Beyond projects took a lot out of me, and then I've been busy with work. On the plus side, that means I have a backlog so you'll be getting one a week for at least the next two months.

Let's get started with a deep cut! (Brought to my attention by user austinpopdan - thanks!)

In Superman #48 (January 2016), an assassin named Kingslayer attacks a conference at Central City University, but is stopped by Steve Trevor and Superman.

But this wasn't Kingslayer's first appearance! (If it were, he wouldn't be on this site). He actually debuted in the Super Friends tie-in comic, issue 11 (March 1978). In that issue, his goal - true to his name - was to take down the heads of Atlantis, Gorilla City, Sardonia, Valdania, Kaliph, and Graustania. He believed he was working for a crime lord, but he was ultimately getting his orders from Overlord, a guy who wanted to be king of the world.

Costume Spotlight: Nightwing (Rebirth)

One of the goals of DC Rebirth is to make the characters more closely resemble their most popular versions. In some cases, that means making a character's physical appearance look more like an adaptational counterpart. last week we discussed Wonder Woman, but Nightwing is another good example.

When most people think of Nightwing, this is what they picture. It debuted in the Nightwing miniseries (1995) that led to him getting an ongoing:

Nightwing kept this costume until the New 52, and whenever Nightwing showed up in a show or video game, he wore a version of this costume. Except, for some reason, the blue part was turned into a bird. Almost every single time.

 

These are just five examples: The New Batman Adventures, Teen Titans, The Batman, Young Justice, and the Son of Batman trilogy.

In the New 52, beginning in Nightwing #1 (September 2011) to be precise, Nightwing got a new look after almost 20 years:

Then he quit being Nightwing and became a spy, but as part of the course correction - for lack of a better word - of Rebirth, Nightwing showed up in Nightwing: Rebirth #1 (July 2016) looking like this:

It's not exactly the same as any animated appearance, but it is clearly inspired by them.