Super-Powered Web: Superhero goes MMA!

Anyone from the ages of about eighteen and thirty probably remember Jason David Frank. Don’t recognize the name? Does the name Tommy Oliver mean more to you? No? Okay, here’s a pic.



That would be him in his Power Rangers Zeo outfit. He wore multiple costumes:



And even joined one of the more recent incarnations, Power Rangers: Dino Thunder as the Black Ranger (that is actually him as the Black Ranger talking to his other identities in the picture above).

So, Jason David Frank has definitely had his experience as part of the superhero community. No one else can say they wore four different Ranger costumes, nor has anyone served longer as a Ranger. But those days are behind him.

Jason David Frank is now an MMA fighter. Let me repeat that: Tommy the Power Ranger is now an MMA fighter. And before you laugh, before you say anything mocking, take a look at the guy:



He takes his martial arts seriously. He’s been at it since his pre-teen years and has openly developed a style he calls Tose Kune Do. He is a Bruce Lee follower (hence the similarity to Bruce’s Jeet Kune Do) and has based the style (translated “Way of the Fighting Fists”) on traditional disarmament techniques. How it plays in an MMA ring remains to be seen.

In addition he is one of the co-owners of a new line of MMA clothes with the truly awesome name Jesus Didn’t Tap. I will be sure to run an update when more information emerges about his first fight.

Super-Powered Comics: Invincible

Happy Labor Day, folks! And to celebrate I am giving you a review of one of my favorite titles!

Invincible truly is the modern classic of comic literature. Robert Kirkman has taken what seemed like an average combination of Superman and Spider-Man and turned it in to a truly interesting universe. His cast quickly expanded to include dozens even as the twist in issue seven completely changed the complexion of what seemed like a simple concept.

Now over fifty issues later, the series hit a big bang with issue 60: “The Invincible War”. A crossover featuring just about every super-powered character published by Image in the last decade (or maybe longer), it involved long-time villain Angstrom Levy summoning dozens of evil Invincibles from other dimensions to wage war on Invicible’s earth. In the aftermath, Invincible faces an even bigger threat that costs the lives of many of his allies.

Invincible offers everything a good superhero comic should possess: great characters, an always rolling plot, amazing art, and an ever-changing universe. Not the illusion of change; not change that will be retrofitted in five or ten years. Actual change. Characters die; most will never come back. Invincible learns from his mistakes, even when they almost cost him his life.

The first twenty-five issues are now collected in to (relatively) inexpensive hardcovers. I highly recommend anyone not already on board to check these books out. I think you will be amazed by everything that you’re missing. Highest recommendation.

Super-Powered Web: Spider-Woman Motion Comic #1

The fine folks at Marvel were nice enough to offer up the first issue of the new Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D. motion comic for everyone to read free of charge. Check it out:



It seems a little late in the game for what is clearly meant to be a direct follow-up to Secret Invasion, but I think they did all right. They probably could have looked a little harder in the voice acting department; the cast is so-so at best. But the Bendis/Maleev team seems designed for this kind of story-telling.

Check it out yourself and see if you agree. Mildly Recommended.

Out For Vengeance 5 Notes

EMPIRE somehow makes its first appearance here. EMPIRE has been bouncing around in different story ideas of mine for years now, but this is the first time it has appeared in any of my super-powered fiction. They don’t have much of a role here, but they will continue to appear over various other stories (and maybe in Vengeance) in the future.

I love the term Humutants. How has no one used that before? Anyway, Phineas Moulton is my answer to the classic forties mad scientist villain. Beyond that, I do not want to give up anymore information about these flashbacks. They are all building to the reveal of Vengeance’s missing years.

More hunting rounds out the story. The hunting sub-plot will continue for a few more months, but expect a reveal before the serial finishes its last year.

Super-Powered Comics: Atomic Robo

It isn’t too easy to quantify what exactly makes Atomic Robo one of the most entertaining titles on the market today. The book comes from a comic publishing company made up of a bunch of upstart Star Wars fans/creators Red 5 (the name itself comes from Luke Skywalker’s call sign in A New Hope.

The comic definitely owes something in its style to books like Hellboy and The Goon, but Robo is definitely his own character. The product of an experiment by Nikola Tesla in the early part of the twentieth century, Robo’s adventures stretch over nearly a hundred years. With a variety of partners and allies, he fights everything from giant ants to living pyramids to Cthulhu-like monsters in his job as a “fighting scientist”.

The shtick owes something to Mignola’s BPRD, but Robo never quite enters the darker sides of the world made famous by Mr. Mignola. Instead his adventures, maintain a lighter air. Much of the reason for that can be attributed to the cartoonish pencils of artist Scott Wegener. Wegener seems perfectly made for a comic mixing robots and weird science and through his surprisingly expressive, animation-inspired style, Robo and company come to beautiful life.

Aiding Wegener on the book is webcomic pioneer Brian Clevinger. The co-creator/writer melds a mix of genres to make sure Robo’s adventures are over the top whether they fall in the thirties, World War II, or the present day.

But the most important factor that both Clevinger and Wegener bring to the book is a heaping helping of fun. So often, modern comics forget that they don’t always have to keep everything dark and brooding to tell a compelling tale. Atomic Robo equals any book in degrees of suspense, but it always manages to keep a fun spirit in the process.

The first two volumes of Atomic Robo are in trade paperback. You can order Volume 1 to your right or get Volume 2 here.Volume 3 is just about to wrap up in comic form. Both creators already plan multiple continuing volumes, so it looks like Robo isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Highly recommended.