Friends: The Comic Book - - ?!?!

 

There is the sad urban legend that "death comes in threes". Actor Richard Roundtree, who played "Shaft", died October 24th at age 81. Richard Moll, "Bull" Shannon from Night Court, and the voice of Harvey Dent, alias Two-Face on Batman: The Animated Series, died October 26th at age 81. Saturday, October 28th, Matthew Perry, best known as the snarky, wise-cracking Chandler Bing on Friends, passed away after apparently drowning in his jacuzzi. He was 54.

Sadly, Perry's career was darkened by self-esteem issues and doubt. In his memoir, he admitted that his prayer was for fame. He was willing to do anything for it. He admitted during the MAX Friends reunion that he didn't think he was funny, and angsted over every laugh. I wonder sometimes if we were created to seek out fame. There are scriptures that say we should live our lives simply and humbly, away from any limelight or attention. Yet, in the course of all human history, we have drifted to narcissism. Friends was such a popular and successful show, and yet he never seemed to find any satisfaction in that. That's such a shame. I always thought he was the funniest character on the show.

Looking back over the decade long run of the series, I think I identified with Perry's character. He was more ordinary than Ross or Joey. The producers confessed that they considered pairing Monica with Joey, however, when you look at the episodes leading up to London, you can see the chemistry between Chandler and Monica. Through the flashbacks to Ross and Chandler's college days, the thread comes that Chandler followed Monica. He pursued her and was able to find an apartment across the hall from hers! I would argue that from episodes like The One Where Ben Is Born, where Chandler proposes having kids together with Monica, that they were destined to be a couple from the start, whether that was premeditated or not.

The producers have also said that other than the MAX UN-scripted reunion, there will never be a scripted reunion of Friends. That would not be right, it would be a cash-grab. While I accept that, I disagree. Even though the show left the characters in a different place, they're still friends. A reunion could celebrate Joey winning an Oscar for Best Actor. It could be for Ben's wedding. It could celebrate a milestone for Emma. It could also be for Jack Gellar's funeral.

"Jack Gellar, buried at sea. Huh."

Friends celebrate milestones. Some of the classic Friends episodes celebrated Thanksgiving.

There was an alternate reality episode where Chandler and Monica still connected. Chandler wrote for Archie Comics.

That's what I would LOVE to see! A Friends comic. Hey! - Welcome Back, Kotter got ten issues! Bless Mark Evanier, who wrote both the live action and the comic book series! I mean no disrespect at all - I just want to point out just how unlikely a comic book Welcome Back, Kotter was.

Friends was produced by Warner Bros. Television. Warner Bros. is the parent of DC Comics.

Okay, here's my pitch: After Freud!, Estelle gets Joey a gig for as Robin for an anniversary photo shoot promoting the DC Comics / Keebler / Nancy Reagan Drug Awareness Program. Ross and Chandler make fun of his costume. However, Joey is quite successful with the models standing in as "New" Teen Titans Raven, Starfire and Wonder Girl. He is embarrassed by the guy posing as archer Speedy, who stops a crime - like John Ritter in Hero at Large. Monica could be mistaken for Donna Troy, who is Wonder Girl. Phoebe could meet a guy who could be The Flash villain The Pied Piper. Ross could dust off his Science Boy script.

Hey, if Welcome Back, Kotter could get a comic book, so can Friends! Y'never know what's going to work, until you try it.

Good night, Chandler Bing. May you finally find peace.  

Captain America and The Invaders

I know this is just a little late, but Avengers: Endgame wrapped up a storyline from some twenty or so Marvel films across eleven years. It all started with 2008's Iron Man.

Marvel just announced the next phase of films. I'm excited for the Black Widow origin film and Taiki Waititi's sequel to Ragnarok, Thor: Love and Thunder. 

My wife, my friends and co-workers and I are all having a debate over the prospects of Love and Thunder. No one is excited about Natalie Portman's Jane Foster becoming worthy to wield Mjolnir. I stand on the fact that Ragnarok was the most successful film in the first Thor trilogy. I liked the first Thor film. My wife and I saw it for our anniversary. Kind of. The second Thor film was just okay, bordering on "Meh". I usually like Christopher Eccleston. But his character was a vague cipher bent on destroying ALL life. "Hey, there, Sparky... uh, what's next after you destroy ALL life in the universe?" Can't go to Disneyland. Why?! It's gone. See... You. Destroyed. Every. Thang. Waititi may have saved the franchise with Ragnarok. It may have felt silly and campy, with Chris Hemsworth channeling Adam West; it may have been a missed opportunity for Karl Urban's Executioner... Once again, the film put bodies in seats in the theater and made money. If he can do that again, and make Natalie Portman watchable... he will be my hero.

I'm excited for the Black Panther and Doctor Strange sequels, too. I'm not as into those characters as I am Iron Man, Captain America and The Hulk. Honestly, before the films, I thought Thor was pretty lame.

Yes, that's Thor. Played by the actor that went on to play Alan Hale, Jr./The Skipper in Surviving Gilligan's Island and then the dad on Good Luke, Charlie. The Return of The Incredible Hulk could probably have been better if it had featured the Ultimate Marvel version of Thor, like the films have gone with.

I'm glad Marvel and Sony have decided to share Tom Holland.

It looks like The X-Men and Fantastic Four will be part of Phase Five... maybe. I might get to see those films in my retirement years. Heh.

What I would really like to see, other than Robert Downy, Jr. back as Iron Man, is Chris Evans back as Captain America!

Remember that Easter egg in First Avenger, the pan shot of the World's Fair that showed the android? That's Jim Hammond, The Golden-Age Human Torch. I would love to see a fourth Captain America film, set during World War II, featuring his time leading Hammond; Namor, The Sub-Mariner, along with Bucky and Toro.

I would love to see Captain America and The Invaders! Yes, First Avenger told a complete story.

Captain America and The Invaders could tell another story. The Invaders was a '70's comic book written by the legendary Roy Thomas. Thomas had Churchill bring together Captain America, The Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner to defend England. They fought other Nazis besides The Red Skull. One of them was a traitorous vampire named Baron Blood! The trio also attracted colleagues such as Spitfire, The Whizzer and Union Jack. Yeah, Whizzer's kind of a goofy name for a WWII speedster. But The Flash and Quicksilver were already taken.

The only hiccup to this movie actually seeing the light of day is that Universal has the license for Namor, just like it has for The Hulk. There may be a way to include Namor, like The Avengers and Marvel films have included The Hulk - and Tom Holland's Spider-Man. Now that Marvel and Disney have access to the Fantastic Four, they may be able to use a Human Torch.

I'm a Golden-Age fan. I like The Invaders as much as I like the Justice Society; and, Roy Thomas' '80's All-Star Squadron.

A fan can dream! 

    

Crisis on Infinite Earths: Batman

Believe it or don't, there's only been ONE live action adult Batman/Bruce Wayne. His name was West. Adam West.

I grew up on Adam West Batman reruns. I took Mr. West's Batman seriously. It wasn't until recently that I read that the '66 Batman live action series was nominated for an Emmy in the SITCOM category!

Robert Wuhl and Michael Keaton are confirmed as cameos for the CW EVENT, Crisis on Infinite Earths adaptation. The cameos are more like Easter eggs.

Burt Ward, West's co-star, as Robin, the Boy Wonder is confirmed to appear in the CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths adaptation. He appears in an as yet, undisclosed role. Should be interesting to see what character he plays...

Nightwing? The Dark Knight Returns Batman? The Kingdom Come Batman?

There's word that the DC Universe streaming series Titans will be involved in the Crisis adaptation. So, there will be a Nightwing and a Robin appearing from that series...

That got me to thinking...

Lyle Waggoner and Peter Deyell were nearly cast as The Dynamic Duo. I could see Waggoner as either Earth-3's Owlman, or a live action '66 version of Harvey Dent. The late Harlan Ellison wrote a Batman '66 Two-Face script; and, legend has it that Clint Eastwood was considered for television reporter Harvey Dent.

Kevin Conroy is making the crossover from animation to live action as the Batman Beyond Bruce Wayne...

Diedrich Bader voiced Batman in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Maybe he, and his his version of Batman could be included.

Rino Romano voiced Batman in The Batman animated series. The series was set in the third year of Bruce Wayne operating as The Dark Knight. The series lasted for five seasons, culminating in the formation of the Justice League.

I would love to see Mark Hamill as either The Joker or The Trickster!

Hey, they digitized Henry Cavill's mustache in Justice League. they could digitize Hamill's beard...

Crisis of Infinite Cameos

Oh - it just got real! Actor Robert Wuhl has been confirmed as reprising his role as Batman '89's Alexander Knox in the upcoming CW Network adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths! This is on top of Michael Keaton appearing as a photograph of Bruce Wayne. It's quite possible that Wuhl's Knox will be reading a newspaper featuring the photograph, in a "blink and you'll miss it" cameo. It is also possible that Wuhl's Knox appears on Earth-89 - designated for the year that Batman film was released.

Yes, this is a rating event. With a capital "E". Pure and simple.

Here's what I know from twenty-four years in radio: EVERY thing is designed to be an EVENT. There isn't a show on television, a film in the theaters, a book on a shelf, a comic book on a stand - nothing is out there that isn't meant to reach MASS APPEAL. You are a demographic. EVERY thing about YOU is broken down in order to reach accurate aim.

There's been a lot of rumor, speculation and fan-casting for this EVENT.

Here's mine.

Ben Affleck as George Reeves Superman.
There must be no doubt that Ben Affleck is a Geek. He's played Daredevil; Batman, and the George Reeves Superman. Hollywoodland is a pretty decent movie and I recommend it. It's like an extension of AJ Benza's E! Mysteries and Scandals.

Tim Daly as the The Dark Knight Returns Superman.
Brandon Routh is getting a "do-over" as the Kingdom Come Superman.

Based on Kevin Conroy appearing for the FIRST TIME in live action as the Batman Beyond Bruce Wayne, I would love to see Tim Daly - who voiced Superman and Clark Kent in the Timm-Diniverse Superman: The Animated Series as the The Dark Knight Returns Superman.

Daly and Conroy infamously re-created The Dark Knight Returns on Daly's YouTube page...

George Newbern as the Justice Lords Superman.

George Newbern took over from Tim Daly as Superman in the Timm-Diniverse Justice League animated series.

Honestly, "Secret Origin" is MUCH better than the live action Justice League film. But, that's another blog.

The episode "A Better World" features the (SPOILER ALERT) death of The Flash, voiced by Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum. The League become bitter and cynical and transform into the Justice Lords. This is another casting based on Kevin Conroy crossing over from animation to live action.

 
John Haymes Newton as Ultraman, from Earth-3.

John Haymes Newton was the first Superboy. The UPN series was based on the Christopher Reeve films. Newton, and co-star Stacy Haiduk, were Clark Kent and Lana Lang off to college at Shuster University. They were joined by Perry's son, T. J. White. Newton got into some trouble and was released from the series. It would be kinda cool to see him back in action.

Gerard Christopher as Superboy-Prime.
I met Gerard Christopher at Comic-Con Chicago many, many years ago. He had a booth. He was by himself. He seemed like a very polite, nice young man. He succeeded John Haymes Newton as Superboy for the remainder of the UPN series. I think from Season Two through Season Four. There were a few years between Superboy and Smallville. I would think that Smallville was trying to distance itself from Superboy - hence the "no tights, no flights" commandment.

I would think that Superboy and stars John Haymes Newton and Gerard Christopher are kind of overlooked. Neither one appeared on Smallville - like Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher did. A cameo in the CW Network Crisis adaptation might change that.

Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher as Lois and Clark.

Both have appeared on Smallville. Cain, and Helen Slater, are the CW Supergirl's adoptive parents. Lois and Clark was landmark. Clark revealed his identity to Lois Lane and the two finally married. the series prompted DC Comics to marry the two characters, too.

Jon Cryer, who played Gene Hackman's nephew in the Christopher Reeve Superman films will appear as Lex Luthor in the CW adaptation of Crisis. Michael Rosenbaum stated on social media that he was pitched a cameo, but it was more like, Hey, we need to know rightnowthissecond if you'd like to appear as Luthor. He turned the opportunity down.

I doubt that Kevin Spacey would make a cameo as a Luthor. Bit what about Clancy Brown? He voiced Luthor on the animated Superman and Justice League series. You've seen him in the original Highlander film and on Lost. John Shea played Luthor on Lois and Clark. Sherman Howard played Luthor on the Superboy series. Any one of them could play Earth-3's lone hero, Luthor.

The question still remains, who will SURVIVE the Crisis on Infinite Earths?   

Does There Have to be a Crisis on Infinite Earths?

I'm hyped about the upcoming CW Network adaptation of the 1985 comic book series Crisis on Infinite Earths! I'm excited about the cameos mostly. I've seen a few episodes of Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl - I liked what I saw; unfortunately, I just haven't had time to binge-watch an entire season or series.

Smallville was the last series that I followed closely. I followed it, because at the heart of the Superman story is a story of adoption. At the time the show was in prime time network run, my wife, Cathy, and I were adopting three children. I followed Jonathan and Martha Kent's story. I really liked John Schneider's Jonathan Kent. I followed Tom Welling's struggle as Clark, with the fitting in, and the maturing into both man and Superman. Yes, it was a more angsty take on the Man of Steel. Early episodes struck me as kinda realistic... For my mileage, the show derailed when Clark did not go to college, yet still ended up a reporter as The Daily Planet. I know Christopher Reeve pulled that same thing off years earlier - somehow that worked! The Smallville microscope... not so much. But then, Smallville was trying very hard NOT to be the previous Superboy. Hence, the "no tights, no flights" commandment, I would imagine.

Photographs of Welling and co-star Erica Durance re-uniting for the CW Crisis are on social media. Michael Rosenbaum shared his reason for NOT reprising his role as Lex Luthor on social media, too.

(One of the cool highlights, is that it is quite possible that the Smallville: Season Eleven comic book storyline will be considered canon!)

Triple threat John Wesley Shipp will be appearing - again - as the '90's The Flash; the legendary Kevin Conroy - who voiced Bruce Wayne and Batman in the '90's Bruce Timm-Paul Dini Batman: The Animated Series - will appear as the older, grizzled Bruce Wayne from Batman Beyond - in live action!!! Brandon Routh will appear as the Kingdom Come Superman. Tyler Hoechlin, from Supergirl, join in as that version of Superman. '66 Robin, the Boy Wonder, Burt Ward is confirmed, but in an unspecified role. There's been rumors of Lynda Carter making an appearance as Wonder Woman. There's fan speculation over other cameos, too.

But, does there have to be a Crisis on Infinite Earths?

The point of the original Crisis was basically housecleaning. Simply put, DC had a LOT of characters in so many different places. The point of Crisis then, was to put ALL of their characters in ONE place: one SINGLE Earth, with ONE timeline or history.

For instance: The Golden-Age Justice Society of America was formed in 1940 and disbanded in 1951. The Earth, or reality that they existed in did NOT develop a Justice League of America. There was a gap - filled with team-ups - from 1951 to 1985, when the children and proteges of the Justice Society formed the team Infinity, Inc.

Now, the Earth, or reality that the Justice League was in, never produced a Justice Society during World War II. Barry Allen, one of the founders of The Silver Age, read The Flash - Jay Garrick - comic books growing up. It was part of the inspiration for him to become the next generation The Flash. I would argue that it also inspired the formation of the League, since the team was just Barry, Arthur Curry as Aquaman, Hal Jordan's Green Lantern, J'onn J'onzz as the Martian Manhunter and Diana Prince as Wonder Woman. Batman and Superman were sort of grandfathered in.

There was later a THIRD Earth, with evil mirror images of the Justice League; kind of like that classic episode of Star Trek. 

Other Earth's or realities were developed, like Earth-S, for the SHAZAM! Family of characters that DC got from Fawcett. As DC got other characters from other companies, the Earths, or realities, multiplied... almost to infinity.

Here's the thing: the point, then, of Crisis, was to eliminate all of those infinite Earths or realities down to a single timeline - or history - on a single Earth. 

So, with Tom Welling, Brandon Routh and Tyler Hoechlin all appearing as a version of Clark Kent, will only ONE survive? There are fans calling for Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher to appear from their Lois and Clark series - but would their version end up being erased? I'd love to see Tim Daly and George Newbern appear. Both voiced the animated Superman, like Kevin Conroy voiced Batman. It would be cool to see John Haymes Newton and Gerard Christopher from the Superboy series appear. But would their versions be eliminated, too?

Is this CW adaptation streamlining DC live action - and possibly animation - continuity?

That's the big question on my mind right now. Okay, there are other, bigger, more important questions on my mind, but as a comic book geek, this is what I'm wondering.

Who will survive this live action adaptation?

My Fowl-Weather Friend

Let me share my story.

In 2004, my wife was diagnosed with cancer. She was diagnosed on a Wednesday, and her surgery was a couple days later, on Friday. I never realized until then just how close I came to losing her. She's the Iris to my Barry Allen; the Sue to my Ralph Dibney. We'd been married for 14 years. My wife wanted to have kids since the second after I proposed. I said "I do", she said, "Let's get crackin' mister!" When she came out of surgery, she told me she wanted to adopt. We held hands tight. I said, "Yes, ma'am."

By October 2010, we were no closer to being a blended family than we were in August of 2004, after her surgery. 

Hopeless, we were about to give up. We decided not to update with the agency we were working with. After Christmas that year, I posted a status on Facebook.

"I want to be a Dad in 2011." 

Remember, we were not with any adoption agency at the time.

A friend saw my post.

"There's this boy..." A family was set to adopt our son. One of their natural children had just been diagnosed. The diagnosis set them on a very expensive path. They couldn't adopt our son.

January 3rd, 2011, I met my son for the first time. I was introduced to him as "Papa Dave". He was here from Kiev, Ukraine on a hosting program. We spent the final week of his three week visit together. After that week, my wife and I knew he was our son.

We left for Kiev to bring our on home September 11, 2011. He came home for good October 23rd, 2011.

Mission accomplished!

(Our son introduced us to our second son; our second son introduced us to our daughter. I am blessed that my children chose us.)

I took a number of comforts for the trip. I took my Bible. I took Alex Ross' Justice. I took my buddy Bill Halliar's Evilman. I took Wes Molebash's You'll Have That. I took Teen Titans: Year One. I took The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #1 - "Bottle of The Planets" - which is an awesome The World's Finest team-up of Batman and Superman.

I took pictures of me reading in the "library" in our apartment in Kiev. 

I picked up a copy of Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl. 

I devoured that book on the trip. I was lucky to find an English book store in the subway mall under Independence Square in Kiev. I bought and devoured the second and third book in the series. I read the comic book adaptation of the first novel. It's okay. Disney just released the trailer for the film adaptation due next August 9th. It looks pretty good from the preview. Dame Judi Densch does the voiceover on the trailer. Kenneth Branagh is directing. He directed the first Thor film.   

As you can imagine, I hope it's a spectacular adaptation.

I consider Artemis a good friend. I hope Disney and Kenneth Branagh do Artemis right.

The Blog at the End of the Day!

This is The Blog at the End of the Day! Whenever you're actually reading this, just know that I sat down at the end of the day to share some thoughts.

I didn't read very many comic books during the '90's. Cathy and I got married, May 6th, 1990. I had just started a job in the mailroom of a railroad company. I moved up into the accounting department. That didn't work out so well. I moved on to another mailroom. That didn't work out too well either. I was struggling to find the right fit. That was when Cathy told me that I had a face voice for radio. I took a course in broadcasting. Cathy and I drove out to the class together. She'd read or do needlepoint or go to the mall, while I was in class. One of my classmates was a fellow geek. He was excited about this storyline called The Death of Superman. One night he came in with a box of trading cards he had just bought. The cards were for that storyline. He was telling us all that he was blown away that two years before, DC Comics and the creative team behind the storyline had begun planning it all.

I'm not sure if it still works out that way, but I knew what he was talking about. A comic book takes time to write, edit, pencil, ink, letter, color and print before it hits store shelves. I may have missed a step or two, there, but you understand what I'm getting at. It's a process.

The '90's had it's gimmicks. The Death of Superman. Batman faced Knightfall, where Bruce Wayne's back was broken by Bane and a character named Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley) took over, not Dick Grayson. Oliver Queen was blown up and his son took over as Green Arrow, not his ward, Roy Harper who was Speedy. Or maybe he had become Arsenal. Wally West, the former Kid Flash was still The Flash. Barry Allen had made the ultimate sacrifice in 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths. During The Death of Superman, one of the four replacements, Cyborg-Superman, Hank Henshaw destroyed Coast City, paving the way for the Emerald Twilight storyline over in Green Lantern. Hal Jordan snapped over the destruction of his hometown and pretty much turned on the Green Lantern Corps. He became the villain Parallax, Kyle Rayner took over as Earth's Green Lantern. Green Lantern back-up Guy Gardner became Warrior. Green Lantern John Stewart was off-world somewhere.

There were two comic books that I followed regularly during the '90's. One was The Batman Adventures, a tie-in comic book to Batman: The Animated Series.

The other was Starman.

There was a third book. It was only eighteen issues and an Annual. It was Impact Comics' The Comet. 

DC Comics had licensed a number of the Archie Red Circle characters. Google, Wikipedia and Comic Vine can help you get more background if you're curious.

The Comet was re-imagined by [edit] Tom Lyle with Mark Waid. It's been awhile since I've read The Comet. Tonight, I am digging all eighteen issues, the Impact! Special, the annual, the first three issues of The Crusaders and The Crucible mini-series to re-read. I remember the book being a lot of fun to read. The surprise twist near the end of the run was a real gut-punch. 

I'm going to star re-reading The Comet tonight in honor of artist Tom Lyle's birthday.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.