Marvel actually has quite a few French characters

I read Agent X back before I knew who Batroc was and this apparently made no impression on me because I totally forgot about it. But now that I can appreciate how amazi

ng these panels are...can we speculate on the mother of Batroc's daughter?? She has an accent so the mother is probably French. I'm blanking on any French Marvel characters. Damn.

I also find it strangely sweet that Tasky has respect for Batroc.

ETA: Things I learned from the Marvel wiki: Batroc can apparently lift 500 pounds. He also sometimes leads a group called "Batroc's Brigade." That is awesome.

ETA2: This is my pick for the mother of Batroc's children: Marie-Ange Colbert. My reasons:

-She is French.

-She is described as being good at heart, which Batroc is too.

That's pretty much it. But now that I've made the decision, I will defend it.

That's actually a really good point. Couple of things:

1. I reeeeally hate that Taskmaste costume. It's like some unholy bastard child of Robin Hood, a pirate, and Jack Skellington.

2. What is Tasky doing? Checking out his manicure?

3. I thought Butterball was so interesting and I wished he could have stuck around longer (although I do concede that perhaps superhero boot camp wasn't the best place for him). He would probably have been the Initiative's best asset - he literally cannot be harmed - except his invulnerability doesn't automatically make him a good or strong fighter. Usually if someone is invulnerable they are automatically strong and good fighters but if you really think about it, the two don't necessarily go together.

And now for something completely different:

I originally saved this as "kory no pants" and I assume I was going to talk about how Kory decided to cover up for the meeting with Lobo and ended up covering NOTHING but there is so much more interesting shit happening on the left side of the panel. Lobo. In a bishop's hat. Sitting on a throne. Conversing with a gigantic grasshopper while a talking dolphin floats nearby. There is NOTHING about that scene that is not awesome. NOTHING. I halfway think Grant Morrison (I think this was the part of 52 he wrote) was tripping when he came up with the concept and maybe while he pitched it to DC as well. "No seriously, guys. Lobo has taken a vow of pacifism. He's worshipped by these giant insects and shit, and a space dolphin is his advisor! And like, Kory and Buddy and Adam Strange do some stuff too. Kory is mostly pantsless" and DC was too intimidated by his popularity to argue so they're like, "hey, whatevs. Just as long as it comes out on time." And voila. I was less than interested in the Kory/Buddy/Adam storyline until they met Lobo.

Yeah, boyeeeeeeeee

I was reading over my Dr. Strange post of yesterday, and just realized he has the "greying at the temples" hair like pretty much every Marvel male (and Mr. Lodge from Archie, if I recall). I've never seen that hair on anyone in real life, and yet in Marvel off the top of my head there's Reed Richards, Dr. Strange, Nick Fury, and J. Jonah Jameson. I don't think DC has any that I can recall right now (except maybe Perry White?) Maybe that's the hair Stan Lee wishes he had.

Anyway. So I recently started reading She-Hulk (a little bit of Sensational, but mostly v.1 and v.2). I was IMMENSELY disappointed when I saw that Juan Bobillo was pencilling it, because his work was just painful when he was on Agent X. If you'll recall, here's an example:














Ugh. Alex looks like a gorilla. Sandy doesn't look like herself. I can't recall who did inking, but even that's just bad. It looks like someone left the comic out in the sun and it faded. But I was quite pleasantly surprised when I started reading She-Hulk.















He always draws her with this kind of Daria expression of superiority and boredom on her face all the time that I kind of find charming. He draws her boobs very very large but you know, it's She-Hulk AND it's a comic book, what are you gonna do? I was even a little disappointed when they switched artists. Comparing She-Hulk to Agent X though, I can't believe it's the same penciller. Because I hated every single aspect of his art in Agent X and in She-Hulk my feelings range from "hmm, this is kind of charming" to "you know what? I don't mind it." I would have assumed that he just evolved, but She-Hulk was written (I believe) 3 years before Agent X.
















Context? You can't handle the context.

Top 10 Comics Supporting Characters

I'm going to try something I'm hoping to make a weekly installment, provided I can think of enough top 10 lists. Today's list is the best supporting characters in comics. These are characters who have not been major characters in other comics, otherwise I would have included Ted in Birds of Prey or Beast in Cable/Deadpool or Guy Gardner in Blue Beetle. Also, these are from comics I've read, which is why Alfred isn't there (while he's pretty hot in All-Star Batman, he's also not really Alfred) or Aunt May or any of the other iconic supporting characters.

10. Misfit (Birds of Prey)




























Misfit is a homeless teenager with the ability to teleport. She initially wants to be the next Batgirl, but Babs is a total bitch to her (including showing her autopsy photos of Steph, the previous Batgirl) and Misfit gives up on being Batgirl, but not on fighting crime. She tends to teleport into random situations to help the Birds, much to the chagrin of Babs. She's also fond of yelling "DARK VENNNNNNNNNNGEANCCCCCCCCCCCE" for some reason. She's naive and inexperienced, but her enthusiasm is so endearing you can't help but love her.

9. Headpool (Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth)
















Headpool is the zombiefied head of Deadpool. AIM tried to capture him (it?) for a weapon, but Deadpool and Betty stole him. He's just like Deadpool but he seems to be more lecherous, even hitting on Betty multiple times. Headpool has no body, and he still thinks he has game. He also doesn't see his lack of a body as a problem. That takes balls.

8. Skeets (Booster Gold)
















The awesomeness of Skeets was detailed here. He's some kind of security droid that Booster stole from the museum where he worked and now he's a sidekick of sorts to Booster. He's no pansy and joins in fighting whenever he can. He's also probably the one who understands Booster the best, even more than Rip and Michelle sometimes. He's kind of like Alfred crossed with Mr. Butlertron.

7. Monty (Deadpool)













Monty is a somewhat crippled clairvoyant and despite being basically a skeleton who has hardly seen the outside world, he's probably the most grounded and wise character in Deadpool's supporting cast, with the possible exception of Blind Al. He's the one who predicted that Deadpool would be the one to save the world and is involved with L, L, and L until Deadpool kidnaps him for some reason and then they have some zany adventures involving the Black Talon. Monty could have been a cliche of an all-knowing psychic, but he's snarky and he's generally one of the only people who can handle Deadpool. He's also a rare example of a happy ending in the Deadpool verse: he gains a new lease on life when he's thrown out a window and then he has his memory erased but eventually he gets the girl and leaves to start a new life. I think he needs to show up in the new Deadpool ongoing. DO YOU HEAR ME, WAY?

6. Weasel (Deadpool, Cable and Deadpool)














Weasel is Deadpool's best friend and tech support. They have a weird relationship: Deadpool is sometimes extremely abusive of him, but they prove their loyalty to each other time and time again. Weasel went to jail for Deadpool, and it was revealed that Deadpool TiVo'd every episode of Battlestar Galactica when he was in the slammer. One of their best interactions comes after Deadpool eviscerates Agent X:

Weasel: Oh. You spelled 'Hi Weasel' with his intestines.
Deadpool: I knew you'd peek!
Weasel: That was...kinda nice, Wade.

Sums up their relationship in a nutshell. Weasel is as adept at getting himself out of sticky situations as Deadpool is sometimes. Weasel was kidnapped by HYDRA and executed a plan which involved pretending to help HYDRA and instead equipping them all with teleporters that would take them straight to Guantanamo. He defeated HYDRA single-handedly. Granted, they're a bunch of morons, but still, they greatly outnumber him.

5. Paco and Brenda (Blue Beetle)













Paco and Brenda are Jaime's best friends and they occasionally help him out with his crime fighting. Proving you don't need some alien scarab to be a badass, this is after Brenda attacks an alien and Paco finishes him off by hitting him with a stick. The aliens have giant motherships, guns, and presumably extensive training. Two teens can take him out with a stick. They're both fearless in the face of anything and they don't have the advantage of superpowers.

4. Outlaw (Deadpool, Cable and Deadpool, Agent X)



























Outlaw is an expert markswoman with some degree of invulnerability. She's a mercenary who first briefly appears in Deadpool and then is a prominent character in Agent X. (We won't talk about how she was vastly underused and OOC in Cable/Deadpool). She's unique in that she's probably the only comics female who admits to plastic surgery. She's badass and fearless but also compassionate and empathetic to others.

3. Jaime's Family (Blue Beetle)













Jaime's parents knew about his superpowers from the start and their attempts to parent a superhero are one grounding aspect of the series. His whole family is also pretty badass. Here's a partial list:
Bianca: Confronted Guy Gardner and won, confronted Peacemaker and won, joined in the fight against the alien despite (presumably) having zero training.
Berto: Fought off aliens despite needing a cane, fought off zombie things with his cane.
Milagro: Utterly unimpressed by Guy Gardner, kept somewhat calm during an alien invasion, Boostle shipper.

I really like Jaime's family dynamic. His parents are supportive of him fighting crime and yet they still set boundaries and Jaime is respectful of those boundaries. They don't bat an eyelash at whatever comes at them. Milagro just kind of goes with the flow with what's going on, whether it be aliens or supervillains.

(Side note: I love how confused and indignant Guy looks. It took me awhile to figure it out, but I think it's because Ice is hugging Booster and not him. I can just imagine how that must be killing him. Keep smiling, Booster. Guy's gonna get his revenge one of these days.)

2. Blind Al (Deadpool)














Blind Al is blind old lady kept prisoner by Deadpool. Deadpool mocks her and plays mean tricks on her but she never backs down and she always gives as good as she gets. Deadpool needs someone in his life who doesn't let him get away with everything. Even after he went psycho she knew what she was doing and she got Deadpool to apologize to her...by being nice and doing everything he asked. She's the snarkiest old lady this side of Dorothy Zbornak, and I love her for it.

1. Bob (Cable and Deadpool, Deadpool v2)



























Bob is a HYDRA agent who was kidnapped by Deadpool. He joined HYDRA for the health plan and primarily learns how to hide from danger. He's loyal to and has a kind of hero worship for Deadpool, who treats him like a puppy who insists on following him around. He has a tendency to get hurt in his duty as Deadpool's sidekick of sorts, but this doesn't stop him from following Deadpool wherever he goes.

Tarzan, Cap, the future, and a dude with a large head

There's cheesecake, and then there's cheesecake...
















And then there's Johnny Weismuller here. Wow. Those are some...defined abs.















Look, I wanted to stay away from cheap shots on Rob Liefeld. According to fans who have met him at Comic Con, he's a really nice guy and he's so in love with comics, and it would feel like kicking a puppy to me.

BUT HE MAKES IT SO EASY. Look at that: all these pictures of Cap were taken from a section of an issue of Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth that he drew. I think there were about three pictures of him in which his teeth were NOT firmly clenched together. He better be careful: if he doesn't stop grinding his teeth he could end up with gum recession and no one wants that.















Meanwhile, over in Agent X, we get to see what Emma Frost will look like in about twenty years.















All these pictures come from comics I have saved on my computer, but I can't even begin to guess who this guy is or which comic he's from. I'm thinking it looks kind of like Deadpool art, but I have no memory of Deadpool fighting a dude with a huge head who appears to be wearing a green toga. I have this saved as "brainchildmaybe" because I thought he looked kind of like Brainchild, but then I looked at an actual picture of Brainchild and the only thing they have in common is the huge head. Anyway, I enjoy this a lot because anytime there is an extremely angry looking man with a huge head shooting lasers that go "BRAZZAP", I am on board. I think the fact that it is out of context and surrounded in mystery just adds to my level of enjoyment.

The (D)Evolution of Agent X

Agent X is my very favourite comic ever, and for only having fifteen issues, it went through a few writers and artists. The first seven issues were drawn by Udon. I love them. They're my favourite. I am an Udon fan. See?















It doesn't show so much here, but they're very inspired by anime. The drawings are usually flawless and they're just nice to look at. How much I love a given comic is usually multiplied by ten if they're on the title.

When Gail Simone left the title after seven issues, she took Udon with her, and they were replaced by Mitch Breitweiser.













I actually had no memory of what this artist was like until I looked at the issue again. Even coming on the heels of Udon, I quite like this. It's a more dark and gritty version of the art, and it fits with the overall feel of Agent X. I could see this art in a graphic novelization of The Maltese Falcon or something.

After Breitweiser left after two issues, he was replaced by Juan Bobillo.


















I don't really have the words for how much I hate this. Every time I saw Alex, I was reminded again how much he looked like the long lost member of the Gorillaz. He has some kind of weird pig nose. He looks like a less hairy version of the missing link, basically. Sandy up on the right there has completely changed her appearance, eschewing her long brown hair for some kind of weird orange/blonde dye job or something. She also looks more manly than I think she would like. The only character who escaped relatively unscathed was Tasky, and that was probably because a) I'm pretty sure he didn't show up that much, and b) he doesn't really have a face to screw up.

Anyway, next up we've got Kyle Hotz, who drew one issue.














Alex seems to have been afflicted with whatever the Elephant Man had, as his face is very large and somewhat bulbous. I do like the excessive shading though, and I think I might be in love with that dude on the right. He just looks so DELIGHTED to be a henchman. I love it.

And then with the next issues we come full circle, back to Udon.
















Ahhh. Hello, Udon. Good to see you again. Nice job on Deadpool! And Swan doesn't look too bad either.

Lastly we have Alvin Lee. He works with Udon so it's still very animesque, but it's very slightly different.













You can see it mostly in Sandy's eyes, which are bigger and more shiny. I think her face is thinner too. Agent X and Tasky still look largely the same as they did in the first seven issues.

Side note: there are SO MANY LEES in the comic book business. Stan Lee, Pat Lee, Alvin Lee, Jim Lee, Jae Lee... it's getting so insane that this is what Alvin Lee's Wikipedia page says:

"Alvin Lee is not related to Stan Lee, Jim Lee, Pat Lee, or Jae Lee, four other prominent people named Lee in the North American comic book industry."

It's kind of like the Brotherhood of Steves on Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged, but it's the brotherhood of Lees. I think they're probably planning to take over the world.