Mycomicshop's Comic Blog

Greetings from the Odinson,

One of the hardest things for a creator to do is designing a really cool costume for his hero or villain to wear.  Back in the Golden Age it was relatively easy.  Just wrap a cape around his neck and slap a mask on his face and you're off and running.  Then came the Marvel Age and most of their heroes’ costumes went against the norm.  Very few of them, unless, like Thor, it was part of the character’s culture, wore the super hero’s signature item of clothing, the cape.  As the years have gone on, and costumes are seemingly becoming more and more “practical” (more than likely so it can be translated to the Big Screen) and less” fantastical.”  I commend the modern artist that can actually come up with fresh and exciting ideas for new super hero costumes.  I really enjoy the modern take on costumes that are still infused with a sense of tradition that can be found in the pages of Invincible.   

So this week the Odinson presents the Best and the Worst costumes comic books have to offer.   

Top 5 Worst Costumes in Comics

05 – Original Nightwing – It is no secret that the Odinson is a huge Dick Grayson fan.  I feel like the character and I grew up together.  I love that he is now a hero in his own right and no longer in the shadow of his mentor.  But in The Judas Contract, when he reveals his new identity and his new Nightwing costume, I had to laugh.  What was George Perez thinking?  I can forgive the yellow bead things.  I can even get past the steel wristbands over gloves.  But I cannot take the disco oversized collar that juts down into a low-cut v-neck exposing Grayson’s hairless chest.  On second thought, I change my mind.  This shameless ensemble belongs on the other list.  lol

04 – Mr. Terrific – There’s really not much to say.  I mean the guy walks around with a “T” on his face.  Chemo is attacking Keystone city?  JSA, assemble!  Oh, wait a minute guys, Mr. Terrific has to paint a “T” on his face.  What?  The “T” is a mask?  Well, that explains why his mouth moves when he talks.  Wait a minute… 

03 – Yellow/Blue Wolverine – I have always absolutely hated this costume.  Only the baddest man on the planet could talk as tough as Logan does while wearing a baby blue and bright yellow costume.  I rejoiced the day I thought we were rid of this abomination of a super hero costume when Uncanny X-Men #139-140 came out.  That’s when Modern Master John Byrne redesigned the feral mutant’s duds and gave him, to this day, his best costume.  The brown earthy tones say “wolverine” way more than a flashy yellow ensemble with tiger stripes on it ever did.  And what’s with those armored shoulder pads? 

For a decade the baddest guy walking the earth finally looked the part.  Then it all came crashing down when artists Todd McFarlane and Jim Lee resurrected the original (in the Perceptions and Mutant Genesis storylines respectively).  It’s been here ever since.  I will admit that John Cassaday’s update of the costume in the pages of Astonishing X-Men made it a bit more tolerable.  But for me, Logan’s brown threads will always be my favorite.   

02 – Gambit – From day one (Uncanny X-Men #266) I just didn’t get it.  From his armored boots (you’d think armor would slow down an guy who relies on agility) to the funky New Age pattern on his (I don’t know what to call it) neck piece to his mask that’s not a mask because though it covers his head, his face is exposed and there’s a hole in the top for his spiky hair to pop out.  This costume just seems like an example of overload, too many ideas in one place.  The only thing that holds this ensemble together is his super cool trench coat that thankfully covers up this quasi mess most of the time.   

01 – The New 52 Superman – Where to begin…  First off, Superman is the Man of Steel.  He’s bulletproof.  The guy can walk on the surface of the sun.  Why in the Nine Worlds does he need a suit of armor?  Why does the Man of Tomorrow need knee pads?!  Oh, it’s ceremonial Kryptonian armor?  Well, that just explains everything.  Really take the time to look this costume over.  Look at the seams around his shoulders and hip joints.  He looks like an action figure.  The World’s Greatest Super Hero has been turned into a toy.  Maybe that will be the big reveal of the New 52, this new Superman is actually a construct by the nefarious Toyman. 

One of the biggest affronts about Superman’s new outfit is that it is now apparently a flash-suit.  Now when there’s trouble the Man of “Armor” simply wishes it and his suit appears.  Wha?!  Yes that kind of tech is cool when your name is G-Force, but now comic fans are being robbed of that time honored tradition of Clark Kent ripping open his shirt to reveal the “S” and saying, “This is a job for Superman!” 

This is just a case of trying to fix something that isn’t broke.  The new outfit is just too busy, too many bells and whistles.  There’s something to be said for simple.  Superman is the character that started it all.  And his original costume, red shorts and all, inspired everything that came after.  Just look at Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? with Curt Swan; The Man of Steel with John Byrne; Superman: The Movie with Christopher Reeve – that’s Superman.

Honorable Mentions for Worst Costume: Chronos, Armored Lex Luthor, Spider-Man 2099, Bronze Age Wonder Man, Halo, and the New Mexico Minions of Dominus.

Top 5 Best Costumes in Comics

05 – Post-Avengers Disassemble Thor – One would be hard pressed to find a bigger Thor fan than the Odinson here.  When I heard in 2007 Marvel was finally bringing him back after a three year hiatus, I was overjoyed.  When I heard that his costume was going to be redesigned, I shuddered.  How could anything possibly improve on the design of Jack “The King” Kirby, the man that designed the Marvel Universe?  But once I saw Olivier Coipel’s sketches for the new look, I cheered.  Thor’s new look is amazing and it’s amazing that it’s taken this long to get to it.  He looks like a Viking god of thunder, a warrior prince from a fabled realm of myth and legend.  This is a fantastic example of an outstanding redesign of a modern classic.        

04 – Original Luke Cage – I’m talking about the original street tough, jive-talking, steel tiara-wearing Power Man from the 70s and 80s.  This man’s man sported a yellow silk shirt, open in the front so the ladies could get a look at the goods.  He had to wear steel wrist bands because any other kind wasn’t tough enough to endure the rigors of his diamond hard skin and super human strength.  He had a great head of hair.  And to top off the ensemble, the man wore a steel chain as a belt.  He just exuded toughness.  The only guy that could keep up with him was Iron Fist, one of the world’s greatest martial artists. This was one Hero for Hire that nobody messed with, just ask Doctor Doom.        

03 – Dr. Fate – As much as the colors baby blue and yellow look bad on the X-Men’s feral hero, this master of the mystic arts simply owns it.  It’s his flowing cape, always billowing behind and around him, his flaring leather gloves, the Amulet of Anubis, his armored shorts, and the item that brings the whole ensemble together, the Helmet of Nabu.  When drawn right (see Todd McFarlane) there are few heroes in the realm of comics that look as cool as Dr. Fate.  

02 – G-Force – Battle of the Planets was a really cool cartoon from my youth and it starred the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, a.k.a. G-Force.  This was a team of teenaged super heroes that defended planet Earth from alien attacks.  Each member of the team represented a different species of bird – eagle, condor, swan, swallow and owl.  They have these really neat feathery capes that flash around them as they perform super human feats of agility and kung fu.  The glass visors on their helmets were each in the shape of the beak of the bird each member of the team represented.  Each member had different skills and unique weapons.  The styles of their costumes were uniform yet unique, in color as well as design, so they looked like a team but kept their individuality.  And who could forget those thigh-high boots?  I say we don’t have enough thigh-high boots in the modern super hero costume design.     

01 – Batman – Other than maybe Iron Man, Batman’s costume has had more redesigns than any other super hero in the history of comics, and every single one of them works.  It’s all about the cape and the cowl.  I was watching the movie The Dark Knight the other day and there is a scene that comes on the screen where Batman is standing on a building and the skyline of Gotham is all around him.  He is almost completely in shadow, his cowl silhouetted against the backdrop of the city and his long cape draped around him.  It’s a spectacular shot, right out of the comic book.  Everything about the guy’s outfit is cool and everything has a practical use.  The brass knuckles in his gloves, the spikes on his forearms, the strategically placed body armor, even the cape, it all serves a purpose.  His utility belt has become a part of pop culture, so much so that many, many modern costume designs include this piece of attire whether the character wearing it actually uses it or not (90s Cyclops, Cable).  Bruce Wayne dresses like a six-foot bat to strike fear in the hearts of evildoers, but his super cool costume sets a high standard for others to follow. 

Honorable Mentions for Best Costume:  Goggles Catwoman, Red and Blue Spider-Man, Black and White Spider-Man, Vampire Hunter D, Robotic Pre-Crisis Brainiac, and Original Havok.

This is Odinson bidding thee farewell     

Greetings from the Odinson,

Lots of topics are running through the Odinson’s mind this week, so many that it’s hard to nail one down and make it the sole subject of this week’s column.  So I’ve decided to talk about all of them with a round of Quick Thoughts.

*** This last week, thanks to Diamond, I was made aware of a short film entitled Dirty Laundry.  It’s a little over ten minutes long and it stars Thomas Jane (Deep Blue Sea, Mutant Chronicles) and Ron Pearlman (Hellboy, Blade 2).  The short is really well done and the makers of it do a great job of fitting a lot into a very short window.  And though it’s not blatant and in your face about it, the best thing about this short film is that the main protagonist is none other than Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher.  That’s right, Thomas Jane reprises his role from the 2004 movie The Punisher.  Now, the Odinson has never been a huge fan of the Punisher’s style of justice.  That being said, this is easily my favorite Punisher movie to date, though War Zone starring Ray Stevenson was pretty good (for a Punisher film).

What really got me jazzed about this short film, other than the quality of it, is that it got me thinking that maybe they are onto something here.  This is how Marvel should introduce characters like the Iron Fist, Black Panther, Silver Surfer, Shang Chi, and many, many others in solo adventures to the movie-going audiences, as short films that play before their full length features.  Back in the day, movies used to always have animated shorts and/or short films that preceded the main picture.  A lot of Pixar films still do.  Marvel should seize this opportunity and re-visit this gimmick.  Sure Heroes for Hire has fans, but trying to talk a Hollywood investor into shilling out hundreds of millions of dollars to bank a movie about B and C-List characters is a Herculean feat to be sure.  And even if you do, by the time Hollywood know-it-alls get done tweaking it, the product is so far removed from the original source material as to be made almost unrecognizable (i.e. Doctor Doom has electrical powers, Wha?!).  I for one am a huge Rom fan, but I won’t hold my breath till the day I see a major motion picture based on my cyborg hero.  However, Marvel Studios could finance these shorts themselves and introduce many of their lesser known characters to the world at large with little or no financial risk.  And if the buzz is good enough, then the next time you see Power Man and Iron Fist it’ll be in a full length feature film.  So go to YouTube and check out the short film Dirty Laundry.  This could be the beginning of something really cool.                    

***  Speaking of YouTube, somebody sent me a video which showed all three actors to have played the Man of Steel on the Big Screen, Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh, and Henry Cavill, standing side-by-side in uniform and by far and away Christopher Reeve looked the best.  I know he’s the Superman I grew up with and I will always say that other Supermen, be they movie, TV, cartoon or comic book versions, will all be judged by how he defined the role, but just objectively looking at the costumes, Reeve’s, without a doubt, says SUPERMAN.  That’s Superman in all his glory, unapologetic about the bright colors and the source material that inspired it.  I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, but there’s a reason this character has been around for 75 years; he works.  There’s an old saying, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”  The new costume for Man of Steel aside, can someone please explain to me why the New 52 Superman needs knee pads and armor plating?  


*** I saw an interview with Joss Whedon from Comic Con and in it the man said that if someone (meaning a major movie studio) were to put up the money for him to do another Firefly movie that he would put it right to the top of his to do list.  What a thrill this was to hear.  All right, Browncoats unite!  The Odinson definitely has his fingers crossed for this one to happen.

*** Recently I was going through my comic collection and culling it down a bit for the sake of room, selling some books on webuycomics.com, and came across some old gems I haven’t visited in a while.  I came across Avengers #262.  It’s an issue that features a classic super hero vs. super hero brawl, Sub-Mariner vs. Hercules to be exact, and I remembered how much I really liked this issue when it first came out back in 1985.  At that time, I remembered I liked the character Sub-Mariner from when I read The Invaders and saw him pop up from time-to-time in the pages of Fantastic Four, but this is the issue when I became a fan of the character. 

As the story goes, Namor is distraught and saddened because he has recently lost his kingdom (see Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner #1-4), lost his love interest (see Alpha Flight #15-16) and the world at large still hasn’t really forgiven his attempted invasion of the surface world (see Fantastic Four Annual #1).  The Avengers, keeping tabs on this possible threat via satellite, notice his melancholy demeanor.  This is where the tale takes off.  The bombastic Hercules is taken aback by the pitiful sight of such a great man.  The Son of Zeus only knows of Namor through legendary tales and has always heard of the great strength of the Savage Sub-Mariner.  So Hercules, being Hercules, decides to cheer up Namor the only way he knows how, through the glorious rigors of battle!  

What follows is a Mighty Marvel Classic, two of the pantheon’s mightiest heroes clashing in a jungle-shaking brawl for the ages.  I remember at first knowing Hercules would win hands down, but found myself starting to respect the awesome might of and actually cheering for the Savage Sub-Mariner.  To this day, I can’t be sure who would actually win between these two titans.  But needless to say, by story’s end Captain America informs the good Prince about his important role in Marvel History (see Avengers #4) and Namor accepts Captain America’s invitation to join the ranks of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.  And to this day the Avengers #262-285 run on the book has one of my all time favorite rosters – Captain America, Black Knight, Captain Marvel II (Photon), Wasp, Hercules, and the Sub-Mariner, with Dr. Druid, Thor and She-Hulk showing up as well.  During this run we saw the Return of Jean Grey; learned the final fate of the Beyonder; saw the ultimate Avengers vs. Hulk throw down; witnessed a Kang the Conqueror tale for the ages and an epic undersea crossover with Alpha Flight; gasped as the Masters of Evil stormed Avengers Mansion in Under Siege; and thrilled as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes went to war with the Olympian Gods!  I was a fan before this run, but this is when the Avengers became my all time favorite team book

NOTE: New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Perez is still a close second.

*** The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final installment in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy hit theatres this last week and I wish I was here to talk about the film, but misfortune and tragedy have happened.  First, on a prominent movie review website known as Rotten Tomatoes, after somebody wrote a negative review about the movie, he started receiving over-the-top hostile responses.  I even read in one report, borderline death threats.  The internet community is full of Trolls but this is taking it too far.  Agree with him or not, the man is entitled to his opinion and someone taking their jeering to the level of threatening is inexcusable.  And what makes this an even stranger tale is that the movie on this site is getting an 87% positive rating.  So what are these people so bent out of shape about? 

Then ICV2 reported on this little gem (see Limbaugh Sees Conspiracy in 'The Dark Knight Rises').  Well known radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has decided that because the main villain in the movie is Bane and that Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney who founded a company named Bain Capital that voting in the fall will be affected by this.  Really?  I am by no means a political expert, but Mr. Limbaugh has clearly shown that he has very little faith in the American citizen to be able to differentiate between real life and entertainment.  I haven’t heard the audio, but I sincerely hope the man was saying this tongue-firmly-in-cheek.       

And finally, on to an even sadder subject, at a midnight showing of the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in Colorado, a demented madman entered a movie theatre and with a gun opened fired on the crowd, murdering several attendees and injuring even more.  Why do we live in a world where things like this happen?  My condolences go out to the family members and friends of the victims. 

This is Odinson bidding thee farewell 

Greetings from the Odinson,

Last weekend I went and saw the movie - The Amazing Spider-Man.  As many of you that read my columns on a regular basis know, the Odinson is not a fan of the origin story, especially in this case where barely ten years ago we saw a Spider-Man movie showcasing his origin.  With that being said, I went into this flick with expectations well in check.  And to my pleasant surprise, I really, really enjoyed the film.

I took a lot of the tweaks to the origin with a grain of salt, because, for all its faults, the first Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie (other than the organic webs) did about as good a job on Spidey’s origin as can be done.  And it would have been redundant for the new film to retread the same ground that had already been covered.  So I let some of the liberties the filmmaker took with Spidey’s origin this time around slide. 

Now once it gets past the origin part of the story (roughly the first 20 minutes or so of the film) this movie starts to pop.  I really got into the movie.  The filmmakers, actor and stuntmen did an outstanding job of bringing Spider-Man to life.  He moved, talked, and acted exactly how Spider-Man does in my head when I’m reading the comic books.  He had the speed, the strength, the courage to face impossible odds, and most importantly the brains.  One the major aspects of the Peter Parker character that this film did much, much better than the others is showing just how smart Peter Parker really is.  I loved that the film showed him creating his web-shooters.  Parker being super smart is every bit as important a trait to the character as his spider-powers.  Spider-Man doesn’t defeat guys like Venom, Electro, Sandman, and Shocker because he’s more powerful than they are.  No, he wins because he can outthink them.      

Another part of Spider-Man lore this film really nailed was the Peter Parker/Flash Thompson relationship.  This is exactly how I remember their friendship developing in the comics.  They started out as antagonists, Flash the big bully picking on the nerdy Parker.  But as the series went along, Flash actually becomes one of Peter’s closest friends.  He’s in his wedding for crying out loud.  And I can see that happening as this movie franchise moves along.  

I love Mary Jane, but it was absolutely the right call to go with Gwen Stacy on this one.  Gwen is such an extremely important part of the Spider-Man mythos it would have been a crime to leave her out, again.  The MJ/Peter relationship has romance, but the Gwen/Peter relationship has pathos.  It’s a tragic affair because all longtime Spidey fans know where this road inevitably leads. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the villain of this piece.  For three films, director Sam Raimi teased us with cameos by Dr. Curt Connors, the man who would become Spidey’s reptilian foe, the Lizard.  As I’ve spoken at length about in previous columns (see Rogue War: Part 1), Spider-Man has an amazing cast of foes.  Foes that aren’t just villain-of-week types, but foes that really resonate and hit close to home, because Spider-Man or Peter Parker usually has some sort of personal connection to them (the great ones anyway).  When Spider-Man takes on guys like Doctor Octopus, Morbius, the Green Goblin, and the Man-Wolf there’s good drama to be had because of the personal dimension these conflicts bring to the table.  And the Lizard falls into this category.  Peter Parker and Curt Connors are friends.  Spider-Man knows that behind the Lizard’s murderous facade is a good man. 

Visually, the onscreen throw downs between Spider-Man and the Lizard in this movie are absolutely amazing.  The speed and strength these two metas display is an awesome sight to behold.  Like the Man of Steel’s struggle against the Kryptonian super villains in Superman 2 and the Iron Man/Thor and Hulk/Thor scuffles in The Avengers, when Spider-Man and the Lizard go at in this movie, the audience is really treated to the spectacle of what it would be like when two super humans went at it. 

I loved the way the Lizard looked and acted.  I loved that he could talk.  And the dichotomy and mental struggle between Curt Connors and his Lizard persona was fantastic.  There’s a great scene when Spidey and the Lizard are fighting in the high school science lab and what the Lizard does in this scene just made me cheer.  It’s a little throw away moment but for a comic fan I appreciated the character inspired move. 

About a week before this film came out I re-watched the first Spider-Man movie from 2002.  For all its flaws, it’s really not that bad of a flick.  But, other than the obvious things like CGI improvements and the organic web-shooting fiasco, the new film also improves on its take on the super villain.  The biggest flaw from that first film is the Green Goblin.  Not the character, because Norman Osborn is boss and an arch villain through and through, but the look of the character.  Every time the Green Goblin shows up on screen wearing that ridiculous outfit it just pulls me right out of the film.  It in no way, shape or form resembles anything remotely like the character from the comic.  That has to be the worst costume design for a comic book movie villain ever.  I get that Hollywood feels the need to tweak this stuff, but that was terrible, and if I can’t take the villain seriously then I can’t take the movie that seriously either.  Plus, the film version of the Green Goblin seemed petty and his villainous plots seemed limited for such a smart guy, whereas the Lizard’s ultimate scheme is on a grand scale.  It’s an arch design worthy of something right out of a Spider-Man comic book.      

Another observation about The Amazing Spider-Man is the top notch casting.  With all due respect to the cast of the 2002 film, the acting in this new film is head and shoulders above anything that came before.  The leads Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and the beautiful Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy carried the weight of the story and delivered outstanding performances.  I absolutely love that at the end of this film our characters are still young and in high school.  Another one of the flaws from the 2002 film is that in a span of five minutes Peter jumps from age 17 to age 25.  It’s quite jarring and a shame that they felt a need to gloss over so much of Spider-Man’s history. 

I’ve already talked about the Lizard but Rhys Ifans’ take on Curt Connors is superb, especially for an actor mostly known for comedic roles (The Replacements, Little Nicky).  Martin Sheen was great as Uncle Ben and I really enjoyed Sally Field as Aunt May.  But easily the stand out role has to be Denis Leary as Captain Stacy, NYC Police Chief and Gwen’s father.  Every single scene he is in is marvelous.  Oh, and this film has, without a doubt, the best Stan Lee cameo to date.  His cameo in Thor was my favorite, but this one tops it.     

Any movie can be nitpicked and scrutinized until every little flaw is brought to the surface.  For me, my favorite Spider-Man movie so far is still Spider-Man 2, partly because Doctor Octopus is one of my all time favorite super villains and Alfred Molina was simply wonderful in the role.  But The Amazing Spider-Man is right there. It’s a film that really resonates and sticks with you long after it’s over.  I actually can’t wait to see it again and that’s something that, other than the second one, I couldn’t say about previous Spidey films.  

My final observation on this must-see Spidey film is I really appreciated the director’s eye for telling a story, especially a Spider-Man story that a comic book fan can be glad about.  There’s a scene in this film where Spider-Man, perched high up on the side of a tall building, is looking down from a bird’s eye view as far below a car chase is transpiring.  That moment gives me goose bumps because it’s literally as if they pulled a panel right out of a comic book and stuck it up on the Big Screen for the whole world to see. 

Odinson Rating: 4 out of 5 Hammers    

Quick Correction: Last week I mentioned that Eddie was Dr. Everett Scott’s son.  He is actually his nephew.  

This is Odinson bidding thee farewell     

Greetings from the Odinson,

The legendary Chimera is a mythical beast comprised of bits and parts from other creatures in the animal kingdom.  It is said to have the head of a lion, the body of a goat and its tail is a venomous serpent.  It’s a hodgepodge of fantasy and a combination of ideas.  The Chimera gave the Odinson the brilliant idea of coming up with a mixing of modern ideas and I call this little pill Pop Culture Chimera. 

The premise for Pop Culture Chimera is that I will take a subject of pop culture (movies, television shows, comics, books, cartoons) and I will recast it with other characters from other areas of pop culture that have points that are either very comparable or extremely opposite to the cast of the subject.  For instance: What if in the movie Jaws, Quint, Brody, and Hooper, the reluctant albeit brave crew of the doomed vessel the Orca, were recast with the Three Stooges?  Now just imagine the chaos and fun of such a ridiculous situation featuring Larry, Curly and Moe trying to match wits with a diabolical shark.  Good times.

Now that we know how this works, on to the first subject.

Pop Culture Chimera Presents: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Dr. Frank-n-Furter – He’s the androgynous mad scientist and self described “Sweet Transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania.”  He’s an alien madman that will stop at nothing to get what he wants and all he wants in the world is to have a good time by any means necessary, and show off his latest creation in the lab.  Others are drawn to his charismatic nature and despite themselves find they have come under his thrall.  Frank-n-Furter is all at once entertaining, funny, charming and, on a dime, extremely scary.  Replaced by: Zoltar

Brad Majors – He’s the everyman, the quintessential Boy Scott.  He calls his mom on Mother’s Day and helps old ladies across the street.  He’s the type of guy that would lay down his jacket so his girl could walk over a puddle.  He’s brave, stern, and quite sure of himself.  He’s All-American.  He’s the hero.  Replaced by: Clark Kent

Janet Weiss – Brad’s beautiful fiancé is a bit unsure of herself, at first.  But there’s a tigress just lying in wait beneath her mousy exterior.  She’s smart and adventurous and sometimes finds herself in remarkable situations that are almost too big for her to handle, but as the story progresses she soon learns to adapt and, in fact, embrace her dark side and soon realizes she likes it.  Replaced by:  pre-witch Willow

Riff Raff – He’s the hunchbacked handyman.  With a banshee-like singing voice, Riff Raff can enchant and captivate those around him.  Though he is seen and treated by others as simply a manservant, this “handyman” keeps his own devious plans hidden.  That is until the moment is right to strike.  And when that moment comes, the servant becomes the master and the true reign of power will begin.  Replaced by:  Loki

Magneta – This haunting beauty is Riff Raff’s partner in crime.  She too assumes the role of servitude and lies in wait, like a snake in the grass, for the right moment to strike.  Sure she’s your friend and quite charming and seductive, right up to the moment when she bites.  Replaced by:  Amora the Enchantress

Columbia – This gothic little pixie is Frank-n-Furter’s number one groupie, his most loyal supporter.  With a high-pitched voice that can crack glass and her sweet dance moves, this party girl knows how to have a good time.  She wears her heart on her sleeve and whether it’s mad scientist Frank-n-Furter or the undead Eddie, Columbia sure does love her bad boys. She herself is the bad girl that the audience can’t help but love.  Replaced by:  Harley Quinn

Dr. Everett Scott – This wheelchair-bound professor is a mentor to our heroes and a man that knows much more than he ever lets on.  His nephew, Eddie (like Xavier's son, Legion), is a monster and his two star pupils, Brad and Janet (i.e. Scott Summers and Jean Grey), are in the fight of their lives, struggling between what is right and wrong.  They are teetering on the edge and may be lost to the dark side forever.  Replaced by:  Professor X

Rocky – He’s the monster.  Rocky was created by the macabre science of Frank-n-Furter.  Rocky is a new age spin on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Monster.  Unlike the patchwork creature of old, Rocky is an Adonis. And like the Greek myth, Rocky instills desire in those around him.  He’s definitely not the world’s greatest thinker, but he has a desire to learn and a desire to devour life and all its experiences.  However, because he is also a new born (in a full grown man’s body) things that he doesn’t understand can anger and even frighten him.  His great physical power and influence on others makes some of those around him nervous and ultimately plot his downfall.  Replaced by:  The Beyonder

Eddie – He’s the other monster.  Eddie is the nephew of Dr. Everett Scott and a delivery boy that went missing when Dr. Frank-n-Furter kidnapped him and used him to perfect his creature-making abilities.  Eddie’s a Frankenstein monster that loves nothing more than to have a good time.  He’s uncontrollable and unpredictable.  Though his visage is frightening, his childlike enthusiasm can’t help but make those around him like him.  Everyone that is except Frank-n-Furter, who sees Eddie as nothing more than a failed experiment.  Replaced by:  Bizarro

The Time Warp Dancers – This decadent mentally off-beat group of seemingly mindless automatons craves nothing more in life than to sing, dance, party and have a good time.  Replaced by:  The Looney Tunes

So there you have it, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a piece of American Pop Culture recast with other characters from pop culture.  Now imagine the Looney Tunes doing the Time Warp or Bizarro belting out Hot Patootie Bless My Soul in Bizarro speech and just try to get that image out of your head.     

This is Odinson bidding thee farewell