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Chaos Agent replied to the topic The rise and fall RPGThe world was going crazy over the reports of the aftermath of the fight between Andferne and Gambler. In some ways it was almost poetic. The ultimate hero against the ultimate villain, making once more the dance they had done for years until the moment that both of them were no more. Angelique, the daughter of Gambler had murdered her father along with one of his greatest enemies and ...1 week, 1 day ago -
Chaos Agent replied to the topic The rise and fall OOCWas going to post my first two posts together like Precise but since I think it would help the people to know the location and atmosphere of the funeral. So I'll post the first one right now and the next one will be at most in one hour. _________________ is supposed to be the first one to speak in the funeral though, he paid for it lol1 week, 1 day ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic Use one word to describe the RPer above you@Chaos Agent said: " legend "that was for SS btw1 week, 2 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic The rise and fall OOC@Sovereign Son said: " Does it matter he's dead XD. " O_o1 week, 2 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic Use one word to describe the RPer above youlegend1 week, 2 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic Use one word to describe the RPer above youwandering-spirit1 week, 2 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic Rate the Avatar above you91 week, 2 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic teen titans vs jla@vuviper said: " @Chaos Agent: The JLA in issue 38 is plas vixen light tornado and maybe zatanna, none of them could handle a speed blitz. "firestorm is also in the team but not with them, they even say that they are going to save him. John is also in the roster, only thing interfering what that he right now is at the other side of space due to Blackes ...1 week, 2 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic teen titans vs jlaeven so, going by the current roster the JLA have a team of power houses with Vixen, Plastic Man, Red Tornado, Zatanna, Firestorm and John Steward. The titans are going down1 week, 2 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic The rise and fall OOC@Sovereign Son said: " @Chaos Agent said: " you can bet that I'll come back from limbo to pay my respects "And SS will be glad to see you. "a meeting for the ages, and you don't even know half the story :)1 week, 2 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic The rise and fall OOCyeah I noticed lol, wouldn't it have made more sense to put the one of Fallen son though? lol1 week, 2 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic teen titans vs jlaJLA1 week, 2 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic The Brave and the Bold: The Atom and Mentothanks man (I also say that a lot lol)1 week, 2 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic The rise and fall OOCyou can bet that I'll come back from limbo to pay my respects1 week, 2 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic The Official RPG Ideas ThreadI have a solid idea. I know when it's gonna happen, how it's gonna happen and the first repercusions. I just can't talk about it right now, instead I hint with a picture because one image says more than 1000 words1 week, 6 days ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic The Official RPG Ideas Threadthen wait for the damn rpg :P2 weeks ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic Citizen SteelI kinda agree with this.2 weeks ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic The Official RPG Ideas Threadread the words in the image :D2 weeks ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic The Official RPG Ideas Thread2 weeks ago
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Chaos Agent replied to the topic Andferne Vs Gambler: What happens in Vegas: OoCOne day the shield will return to the person it belongs to, I'll make sure of that2 weeks, 2 days ago
Characteristics:
Name: Jason Hamilton
Alias: Nighthunter, Chaos Agent
Identity: Secret for the public
Age: 45
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Green
Birthplace: New York
Nationality: White American
Species: Human
Marital Status: Single
Group Affiliations: Nighthunter's organization
Origins
The dark figure who was known only as the "Dark Master" by his followers had been searching for an heir to his empire for the last couple of years, he had founded that empire with the knowledge that the mutant kind kept getting stronger and bigger every year and that it would be a matter of time before they took the world from the humans and become the dominant race. It was because of this that his organization had quietly tracked mutants and started killing them trying to slow the progress, however he knew that he wasn't on his prme anymore and that a new heir would be needed to be trained from birth in order to keep his legacy.
Using an old artifact given to him by a wizard in the top of the mountains of Tarbagai in Kazajstan that would shine in an emerald tone once he was near his succesor a search had begun, it would be until 2 years when he was searching in New York that he would notice that the artifact displayed a slight shinning and so he went to every single hospital in New York in search for the boy who would be his heir.
He had killed most of the babies until one started to cry, trying to shut him down he realized that the artifact shined brightier than ever before and so he knew that his search was over and that he couldn't lose any more time, after taking the baby with him the "Dark Master" ordered his men to burn the building down in order to take care of any possible evidence that they had been there that night, it was because of this massacre along with the ones in most of the hospitals of New York that this day would be labeled as "Bloody Halloween" by the history books.
Childhood
Without knowledge of his true heritage the baby that was taken from the hospital would be known simply as Jason. During all of his childhood Jason was trained by several of the most skilled and intelligent people in the world. By the day he had turned 10 he had already mastered 10 different martial arts and also learned to speak and read fluily english, spanish, german, italian and latin.
Though he learnt a lot of them, Jason usually got angered at them for being "inferiors in any possible way to him and blocking his way to become something more" it were those moments that made most of his teachers quit their position, no one of them would last more than 3 months except for the man who he would know only as "Mr. Hamilton". Mr. Hamilton used to be a general and field leader of the american army and also the one who broke any bad behavior between the ranks of the soldiers, making him the perfect teacher for Jason.
Over the years both of them started to develop not only a mutual respect for the other but also a bonding like the one of a father and son. It would be Mr. Hamilton the first man to ever notice that Jason not only was a prodigy in every sence of the word and a natural athlete and warrior, but that his ability in the use of strategy hadn't been seen in a man ever since the world had fallen apart by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Knowing how much this ability could help not only for fights but in every day things, Hamilton would make Jason get fascinated in strategy games such as chess, stratego, chinese checkers and mastermind between others. Ever since he was introduced to the rules of these games, Jason has never lost a single match on any of those even when going to war generals and international professionals of said games, by the time he turned 13th, Jason would already be considered the best tactician in the world, metahuman or not.
Raise of power
It's surprising that from all of the countries he visited it was his trip to Mexico the one that would change his life the most, one night while he was on a bar he listened to a drunk man telling about the legend of the Nighthunter and how he had protected the world for years. Jason became fascinated with the story and even if he didn't know it then that name and legend would change his life forever in the close future.
His travels would help him to make his first real contact with the mutants he was supposed to one day destroy, he however knew thanks to his tactical mind that in order to do more than just kill weak mutants by atacking them one at a time he would need to infiltrate their circles and kill them when they were gathered, it were these believes that would make him and the "Dark Master" get into conflict, soon leaving to a confrontation in which Jason would kill the guy who had kidnapped him as a child and assume leadership of his organization.
With his new position a new era for the organization started, with Hamilton as his personal advisor and with the complete resources at his hand, Jason started a war campaign against mutants, first using his men to attack mutant bars and small places full of them to help them prepare by starting on the small leagues, however as the mutants kept comming on greater numbers and stronger thanks to the inspiration of Mighty Magneto leader of the Vine Villains it became obvious that in order to stop the mutantkind they had to kill their icon.
It was because of this that Jason decided to get a codename for himself and infiltrate the ranks of the Vine Villains. Knowing that he would need an identity he took the last name of Mr. Hamilton as he considered him his father.
Best of the best tournament
With nothing more but a costume full of some of the most modern equipment in the world and with the skills he had developed ever since he was child, Jason would use his influences to be invited in the tournament with some of the most powerful and skilled heroes and villains in the world, he knew that it would be difficult but that if he was able to just survive the event he would gain a place in any team.
The only problem with that plan was that Nighthunter would find indeed one of the best and fight him, the warrior known as Akira is considered by many as skilled as mysterious, many different tales have been said to try to count his origin, yet no one really knows who he is or where he came from. The two of them fought bravely but it was the superior skill of Akira which made him win this fight, once the fight was over Nighthunter had a few different bones broken and passed out because of a big loss of blood yet he survived.
During the next couple of weeks Nighthunter would enter severe threatment therapy and it would take months for him to be able to go back into action, the day he was fully recovered he was visited by Akira Overdrive not as a foe but as friend with one unique proposition he couldn't pass.
The ultimates
Though some of the members became like family the team soon was torn apart by many different factors that were beyond their control, making the team soon disband, it was at this time that Jason was approached by Mighty Magneto in search for new recruits of the Vine Villains, it had taken Nighthunter 2 years but he had finally been able to join the ranks of the Vine Villains and was now a few steps closer to fullfilling his plan to eliminate the symbol of everything that a mutant could be if they were to raise against society.
Vine Villains
For years Nighthunter played the gimmick of the fateful servant knowing that there would be one day in which Mighty Magneto and the rest of the Vine Villains would lower their guard and so Nighthunter would be able to fullfill his mission, however it some became evident that such moment would never come, as a result of this he started to develop another plan to murder the leader of the Vine Villains.
Les Assassins Silencieux
During his brief time as the teacher of Estherd Cotillard Lebeau Nighthunter was able to taught her in several different martial arts, he also helped her to become confident while not getting cocky, he taught her that her brain was the most powerful weapon if used by a genius, knowing that Esther was a child that had the potential to become even brightier than him and that she would most
When the day came for him to return to the Vine Villains he would leave her a katanna forged by himself in order to remind her of the time they spent together as master and student, unknown to Esther the real reason Nighthunter agreed to train her was to have some eyes and ears in the organization as well as a safe spot if he ever wanted to join their ranks.
Zero Squad
Many blame him teaching Esther Cottlard, others blame Mr. Hamilton's teaching, the point is that by the time that Nighthunter returned to the Vine Villains he was a changed man, he had now gained a new appresion for life of any kind and realized that the barrier between humans and mutants was a false one. Because of this he left Mr. Hamilton as the new leader of his organization and left the Vine Villains to search his place in the world.
It would be months after that that he would meet for the first time the hero known as Andferne, the two of them fought valiently and with a great display of skills, yet in the end Andferne emerged victorious and in the process he taught Nighthunter what it was to win with dignity but more important than that he taught in just one battle to Nighthunter what it was to be a real hero. 3 weeks later Nighthunter would be approached by Renegade Lantern with an offer of membership to the Zero Squad with the recommendation of Andferne, an offer that he would gladly accept.
Along with heroes like Renegade Lantern, Andferne, Ronin, Lstpaladin, Hawk and others; Nighthunter would finally find his place as one of the world's greatest heroes, however his happyness wouldn't last long as the Vine Villains wouldn't stand for betrayal and neither for competition, that twisted and sick way of thinking would make the Vine Villains lead by both Final Arrow and Mighty Magneto to start events that would be known as the darkest days of the Zero Squad.
Zero Crisis
A few weeks after that the Vine Villains would do another attempt against the Zero Squad by capturing and torturing their leader Renegade Lantern. With their hero unable to lead the team it would be in Andferne and Nighthunter's hands to command the rest of the team in search of their leader, making an almost suicide mission by bringing the fight to the Vine Villains castle, thanks to his knowledge of the castle Nighthunter would be chosen to be the one that infiltrates the castle and takes their leader out of there safely.
Along with Rayne Nighthunter had been able to find and rescue Renegade Lantern, that however led to a confrontation with a general of the Vine Villains, Aztek the lost. Having ordered Rayne to take their leader back to safety Nighthunter would fight and defeat the proud villain, however as Nighthunter seemingly took the life out of Aztek an ilussion was broken and revealed that the body that Nighthunter had attacked wasn't from Aztek but from Mr. Hamilton.
It soon became obvious that the Vine Villains had never killed their family members but captured them, mind controlled and made them get the powers and shape of the real members of
The fact taht the Vine Villains hadn't only beaten them but that they had also been able to play them like pieces of chess made the various members be affected in several different ways, every single one of them dealed with it in a different way but the one man that was the most affected by this event was the man who had convinced Nighthunter to become a hero and that recommended him for the Zero Squad, Andferne.
King of the Vine tournament
Though Nighthunter fought with all of his skill the ferious villain proved to be too much for him, using a combination of different attacks, Eternal Chaos greed a new power that he had never used before, after receiving the attack the corpsey body of Nighthunter would stand revealed after he was seemingly killed, however without any logical explanation Nighthunter not only survived the attack but ended on another place, or to be more specific..time.
The future is now
The humans in response to this event declared war against the mutants to reclaim their world, that war would end with the eventual victory of the mutants and the complete annihilation of the homo sapiens, now the world is ruled completely by mutants and the humans are remembered as they remembered the monkeys when they were the superior race in the world. After several days of exploring the abandoned city Nighthunter would be attacked by many
The fighters that had attacked Nighthunter were apparently members of the human resistance, a strike force that counted with every single remaining human on Earth. As Nighthunter was brought to the headquarters of the resistance he was introduced to their leader and trainer, a man that had a face covered with a mask and that would never reveal his true face or name, a man that after noticing Nighthunter's fighting skills would offer to train him.
The mysterious master of Nighthunter was the single best fighter that Nighthunter had ever met, his display and knowledge of every single martial art that had been invented to this day was astonishing and not only that but he had also proved his fighting skills as all of that knowledge was granted to Nighthunter in just 20 years, by the end of his training Nighthunter wasn't only the most dangerous human alive, he was also the most dangerous human to ever live.
With his training complete Nighthunter would use the tecnology of the future to create a power suit for himself knowing that even with all of his skills he would need more than that in order to survive the good fight, formed by nanobots that were injected on his skin the power suit would become as legendary as the man himself as well as his signature weapon and one of the many invents that made him famous outside of how strong he was able to punch.
Months after that Nighthunter would be able to return to his time using a machine created by his masked master, even though Nighthunter was more experienced and 20 years older than what he was when he left, Jason would be returned only 2 days after his departure, having returned Nighthunter would rejoin the ranks of the Zero Squad and start working on a way to keep a legacy of his own.
Creating a legacy
The first of these projects consisted in creating a program that would contain every single knowledge humanity has had over the many centuries that they have lived on the Earth and install in directly into the brain of a human, first Nighthunter desired to prove the program on himself but soon remembered that his brain was too old to get so much information that way, the stress could lead to insanity or even death, that's when Nighthunter decided to start developing a new project.
This project was to create the perfect human and the perfect clone as one and the same, by alterating his DNA in order to make it as good as a human body could be both physically and mentally the clone of Jason would become the ultimate human, his intellect and body physique beating from the beginning to the ones of what was believed to be the peak human condition that a human could have.
Last but not least another program was designed by Nighthunter to have the complete information of any hero, villain or anti-hero on Earth, that program would be named "The source" and would contain everything Nighthunter would need to know, from their secret identities to their powers and weaknesses to even a psychological analisis, this program would soon prove to be a good weapon for investigating crime scenes and a great help to come up with strategies in battle.
Death of a hero
Taking Nighthunter into a trap in the mountains of South America the two of them fought, showing a display of ability and skill that most would feel jealous of, a fight that could only have one survivor and that would made Nighthunter use all of his skill, yet it wasn't enough to take down Andferne. Having lost a lot of blood and without any energy left, Nighthunter was attacked by surprise by Andferne throwing 10 bullets directly to him and although Nighthunter was able to avoid most of them, he was too tired to evade the last two that went through his body; one directly into the heart and the other one put just between the two eyes, that was the day that Nighthunter died.
The Nighthunters society
Months before the great fight between the two former heroes, Nighthunter had been kidnapped and contacted by a group of highly trained persons that all carried the name Nighthunter, between them the man that he originally heard the name from when he was drunk in a bar many years ago. It was then revealed to Jason that the name Nighthunter was way more than an old urban legend and that he wasn't even close to being the original Nighthunter.
Started during the time of the ancient Egypt, the Nighthunter society has always been conformed by the individuals of every country that represent the best combination of fighting skills and intelligence, it's purpose to help humanity by organizing from the shadows the downfalls of any and all civilizations that are in decadence, being responsible of every single important change in history without the knowledge of the world, this organization has had hundreds of different members the only thing that they all shared being the codename they use: Nighthunter.
The organization not only offered Jason a spot in the team, it also offered him the position of the leader thanks to the fact that both his intelligence and fighting skills were way above most humans and any member of the organization, an offer that Jason would accept, however for him to assume leadership he would need to give up any connection to the world and due to his status as one of the world's greatest hero such thing wouldn't be possible if people thought that he was still alive, this lead to Jason manipulating a few factors to make Andferne attack him and supposedly kill him.
Jason would later decide to order his men to kidnap the new Nighthunter in order to tell him about the secrets of the name he carried and offer a position in that place. After the new Nighthunter whose name was James Hamilton was brouht to the headquearters he would start a fighting contest in which like all of the new members of the organization had to fight each one of the members until he was able to find his ranking.
James quickly was able to climb the ranks with no problem, leading to a final confrontation between him and Jason, a fight that Jason would win with little to no trouble, however after that James was able to escape the building, this made Jason decide to toake a more direct aproach to handle problems with his son, taking a new costume and codename in order to return tot he superhero and supervillain world.
Chaos Agent
After beating the proud hero, Chaos Agent would take him to an abandoned school where he would trap him, there he tortured Nighthunter both mentally and physically to prove if Nighthunter was as much of a hero as everyone believed, after that he took his mask off and showed that he was in fact Jason Hamilton who was a few years older than the last time a picture was taken from him.
There he revealed to Nighthunter how the Nighthunters society had contacted him months before his fight with Andferne and how in order for him to become the leader had manipulated his friend and teamate to betray him, he talked about how his very death had been a charade and how Nighthunter was in fact a way he designed to keep his eyes in the superhero and supervillain comunities and how using a device he had been able to influate him during the last couple of years in things like going to be trained by Last Arrow and the short time of madness he suffered.
After that he left Nighthunter to free himself and said that they would cross paths again. The realization that he had been just a weapon of his predecessor and manipulated in thinking he had a free will had devastated Nighthunter, to the point that he almost retired of crimefighting, however knowing how much the world needed him he revealed his findings to Mr. Hamilton who after using surgery was able to remove the device installed on Nighthunter's brain that had been making him vulnerable to manipulation, for the first time in his entire life, Nighthunter was completely free. He however lost one of his mentors as Mr. Hamilton dissapeared without leaving any trace, Nighthunter is sure that he went to be at the side of the man he had raised ever since he was a child.
The death of Nighthunter
Months after an event known as the Clone Wars finished, a war of various lantern corps that used different colors of the emotional spectrum started to rise, each one of them having a general and leader who was chosen by Renegade Lantern in order to let the entire universe be consumed and leave place for the event that the prophesies knew simply as "The Blackest night".
During this conflict Nighthunter would become one of the Green Lanterns of space sector 2814 and later die after sacrificing his life in a fight against Chaos Agent in order to save the Earth from an explosion that he was going to cause. After Nighthunter died, his power ring initiated a program that Nighthunter designed named "Last will & testament" in it, the ring split in 6 different ones and they went all around the universe to give their respective message to each one of them, Chaos Agent was one of those persons.
Nighthunter's power ring to Chaos Agent said:
"The world will always have bad guys that’s why we need the good ones to take actionDays later a funeral was held for Renegade Lantern who had also lost his life during the event and Nighthunter, both of their coffins
In it Chaos Agent gave his final respects and then met with Andferne, the man who supposedly killed him almost a decade ago in order to discuss the death of their former leader and the predecessor of Jason.
Chaos Agent said:
"They are gone Andy, there's nothing that any of us can do about that, nothing but do what they always did, what we've always done. We become the living example of all that we are supposed to protect and show it to both our allies and enemies alike. We are supposed to be heroes...."
Chaos Agent said:
"I don't expect nor want you to forget them, but that's what funerals and statues are for. I may have never had the chance to know Nighthunter like you did but there's one thing I'm certain....he wouldn't want you to stay mourning for his death. He would tell you if he could that every second wasted in thinking of the guys that are no longer here is a second that could be used to protect the ones that are, you lost a good friend today Andy but don't let that keep you from doing what you've always done and that is lead. With Renegade Lantern and Nighthunter dead and Nova incredibly damaged the world's heroes need a leader more than ever before, and that leader is you old friend, in some ways it has always been you. So go and do what you were born to do as even the blackest night in the end sees the beginning of dawn. I on the other side....I think that I'll have to earn the right to have been called Nighthunter because Jake just raised the standard way above than I ever could.
A hero once more
After reaching the abandoned tower of the Zero Squad, Chaos Agent started to rebuild everything that had been damaged through the years and updating all of the former equipment in order to make it safe enough to it wouldn't be destroyed another time like so many in the past, after finishing that he travelled around the globe in search for some of the best heroes and neutrals the world had to offer to bring back the same feeling that the original team had but make it way better and bigger than the first one ever was.
Besides that, Chaos Agent created a new version of the power suit he created many years ago with a new design that was a
Time will tell if Jason will be able to return to his heroic roots completely or if he once again will betray what he stands for like he did in the past, whatever the future is, nothing will ever be the same.
Skills & Abilities
Although Chaos Agent doesn't count with any power of any kind he is aknowledged to be one of the most dangerous fighters in the world with the use of his fighting skills, agility and most importantly his intellect. Just like the man that once carried his legacy, Chaos Agent is a living weapon that has had one of the greatest careers in the superhero and supervillain fight.Fighting skills
Chaos Agent was trained ever since he was a child in order to master almost every single fighting style on the planet, trained by some of the best fighters in the world and then with the experience he has gained through his various years he has become one of the if not the best fighter in hand to hand combat on the planet, his abilities in the way of training are compared to the ones of legends.
Mastered fighting tecniques:
- Capoeira
- Karate
- Esgrima
- Tahtib
- Fanchento
- Maculele
- Defendo
- Ninjutsu
- Kickboxing
- Red Warrior style
- Small Circle Jujutsu
- Pradal Serey
- Kung Fu
- Five Animals
- Jujutsu
Technique in which he is an expert:
- Hung Fut
- Shaolin Quan
- Southern Praying Mantis
- Sun Style
- Wushu
- Gatka
- Silat
- Aikido
- Judo
- Boxing
Weapon Master:
Chaos Agent was also trained from the beginning to be a master of almost any weapon, being a war veteran during the Iraq war he was also able to perfectionate the already extensive knowledge he had about them. Chaos Agent is capable of using almost any weapon in the world as well as turn anything in the environment as a weapon to use against his opponents.
He prefers to use guns.
Agility
Chaos Agent is a world class athlete capable of evade bullets and climb almost any building. Being a master of the parkour he has proven that no place is beyond his reach, using his agility combined with his fighting skills he has been able to create a unique fighting style that works both as an attack and a defense.
Intellect
The thing for which Chaos Agent is most famous for is probably his intellect. With an IQ of 217 and an intelligence that expands to various different areas that go from engineering to programming, to medicine to criminology to strategy, etc. Chaos Agent is one of the smartest persons to ever live on Earth, using his inteligence he has been able to survive longer than most people have had and prevent him from dying even if on paper he is the less dangerous man on the team.
Regular Equipment
Weapons:
Chaos Agent has always with himself a small catalog of basic weapons that he brings with himself for every single mission, however as he seems fit for the mission he often either uses a weapon he already created or create a new one in order to make a mission a complete success. Some of the weapons that he has created are a sniper that not only has more precision than any other created before, but that also is easily reloaded and is loaded with bullets that when they hit their targets they free a strong electrical charge which is quite effective against robots.
Powersuit:
Based on a combination of design of his classic Nighthunter costume when he was in the Zero Squad and the one of Jake Hamilton, Chaos Agent has been able to incorporate various different functions such as heat sensor vision, enhanced vision, night vision, improvement of protection, ability to guard a great number of weapons without making it heavier or harder to use, etc.
The power suit is conformed by millions of nanobots that are injected on Chaos Agent's skin and that he controls by sending telepathic orders. His power suit also enables him the ability to hack into any computer on the planet without any problem, even from a great distance.
Other inventions:
Designed the defenses of the original and current headquarters of the Zero Squad.
Teleporting device (Note: It won't work properly if there's any electric signature nearby)
Most advanced computer in the world
Perfected the cloning process.
Learnt the ability to modificate DNA
Program named "The Source" which contains all the vital information of every single hero, villain or anti-hero in the planet and is connected to his brain.
The other day I was thinking how much I loved titles like Blackest Night and what's going on with both the Superman and Batman books, I also thought that I missed quite a few of the comic I used to read which featured some of the lesser known characters and that even though they were really great, quality hadn't been enough to support the series when facing series that featured (no matter how bad) popular characters and teams. So I decided to rank the top 10 comics of DC and Marvel in recent years that in my opinion deserved a better audience that they had been given. At first I was also gonna throw titles from Indy comics, but comming with a list would have been absolutely impossible, as most indy books are often ignored.
In
advance I apologize because there are barely Marvel comics on this
list, reason behind is that I am more of a DC guy so I've read more DC
stuff, the other one being that since Marvel has better sales (as far
as individual comics are concerned) there are way lesser titles that I
think didn't have the audience they deserved. Now again this is a
personal opinion and I'm sure I didn't put more than 10 titles who were
equally or more deserving of being here, bare with me I can't read all
comics, especially in this economy.
#10 The All new Atom
Writers: Gail Simone (Secret Six, Wonder Woman), Roger Stern (Avengers, Action Comics), Keith Champagne and Rick Remender (Fear Agent, Punisher)
Pencillers: John Byrne (Uncanny X-en, Fantastic Four), Ariel Olivetti (Cable, Space Ghost), Eddy Barrows (Teen Titans, Terror Titans), Mike Norton (Green Arrow & Black Canary, Gravity), Jerry Ordway (Adventures of Superman, Power of Shazam) and Pat Olliffe (Spider-girl, Untold tales of Spider-man).
Total issues: 25
So when I had just finished reading Identity Crisis by Brad Meltzer and Rag Morales I was interested in knowing where Ray Palmer had gone next, maybe that’s why I remained reading countdown so long, because of the search for Ray Palmer.
Interested in Ray Palmer (before the announcement of Countdown) I rushed to catch up with a new Atom ongoing series that had been launched, funny as it is, I didn’t realize that it wasn’t Ray on the cover until the moment I opened the comics for the first time, let me tell you that the All New Atom wasn’t the item I had thought I would get without the character I was interested in, and yet it’s one of my favorite ongoing series published by DC Comics up to date and one of the ones I really miss even though I know it helps my wallet.
Ryan Choi is a new character just as interesting as Ray Palmer, and worthy of the name of the Atom even if he doesn’t believe it himself. Ivy Town feels like a real city with the need of a great hero to protect them, the supporting cast is diverse and entertaining and the stories are great both for the fans of the Atom to the many that have never pick a book featuring him.
The writing by Gail Simone is superb and has no imaginative limits as always and Rick Remender does a great job in putting the two atoms together to give a final farewell to a character that because of sales couldn’t support his ongoing series for a little bit more than two years.
With appearances by the likes of Wonder Woman and Ray Palmer between others, this book strongly supports both the self-contained story status and still interacts with the rest of the DCU. Check why Entertainment weekly called this “A mind-blower. Best new ongoing series of the year”
#9 Next Wave: Agents of Hate
Writer: Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, Planetary)
Penciller: Stuart Immonen (Ultimate Spider-man, Ultimate X-men)
Total issues: 12
There are two things that one can’t deny about Warren Ellis: First one is that he is not afraid to be controversial with any of the characters he works with or that he creates, the second one is that he is one of the absolute best writers in comic books. Those two things are brought into this comic and with the help of the fluid and great art by Stuart Immonen we get one of the funniest (in some parts in a dark way of speaking, but that doesn’t come to surprise) and most original comics in a long time. This comic doesn’t have the big stars like Captain America, Iron man and Thor, but what it offers is an alternative door in which earth-shaping comic events and editorial interference isn’t welcome.
I strongly believe that the best works that some writers put in their entire life is when editorial takes a step back and lets them leave their imaginative mind in free control of the story and characters in it. No “Character A has to go to point B because writer C wants to use him in event D” just writers with complete control over the characters that either they single handily picked or the ones that they created.
Next wave is the living example of such theory and makes one of the best Marvel comics I’ve read up to date. Forget Civil War, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign and all the dozens of tie-ins that come with it, Next Wave from beginning to end is more interesting and fun to read than any comic I’m currently reading of Marvel, with the only exceptions being Ed Brubaker’s Captain America and J. Michael Straczynski’s Thor.
#8 Catwoman
Writers: Ed Brubaker (Captain America, Gotham Central), Scott Morse (Case Files: Sam & Twitch, Elektra: Glimpse and Echo), Andersen Gabrych (Batgirl, Detective Comics), Will Pfeifer (Aquaman, Captain Atom: Armageddon)
Pencillers: Darwin Crooke (Justice League: The new Frontier, The Spirit),Michael Allred (Madman, X-Statix), Paul Pope (100%, Batman: Year 100), Cameron Stewart (The Vinyl Underground, The other side), Javier Pulido (Human Target, Robin: Year one), Paul Gulacy (Action Force, Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu), Diego Olmos (Action Comics, Majestic), Pete Woods (Action Comics, Superman: World of New Krypton), David Lopez (New Avengers: The reunion, Fallen Angel)
Total issues: 82
Everyone knows that I’m a big Batman fan, more than that I’m also a big fan of almost all batman characters related. I love the sidekicks and partners like Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, Alfred (too awesome for words), Damian, Bat-mite (yeah I said it), Ace, etc. and the great villains that gives Batman (in my humble opinion) the best rogues gallery in comics. I love the Joker, Ra’s al Ghul, Two-face, Penguin, Riddler, Hush, etc. and there’s always been one character that was always my least favorite and funny enough belonged to both the Batman allies and enemies.
That character is Catwoman, who for some reason has had quite the success in having her own ongoings when relatively speaking. The first one being one ongoing series launched in 1993 that has 95 issues before being cancelled and the second one being the one I’m talking about.
I started catching up with Catwoman just one month before the title was cancelled, the reason being two: First I was curious as of why she was so relatively speaking successful, trying to find the obvious thing that I had missed when reading about her in other batman related stories, the second one was when I saw that the series had been launched and maintained as a writer for almost 40 issues by the master of street level characters, Ed Brubaker himself. Now blame me but when I see my favorite writers attached to a project I always check it out knowing that it’s almost impossible to be disappointed. And indeed I wasn’t, Catwoman through it's 82 issues had a diverse cast of writers (with Ed Brubaker and Will Pfeifer the ones that had an actual long run) and a great rotating group of artists in which some of them are without a doubt some of the best in the business. Pete Woods and Darwin Crooke being my favorite two out of those.
I came to the world skeptical of if I could come to like Catwoman like so many had in the past, the comic not only transcends my expectations with great ease but shows exactly why he was worthy of being called for a long time “The best comic DC is publishing right now”.
#7 The Mighty
Writers: Peter J. Tomasi (Nightwing, Green Lantern Corps) and Keith Champagne (JSA, Firestorm)
Artist: Peter Snejbjerg (The books of magic, Starman)
Total issues: 12 (Not finished)
I posted in Comic Vine a few months ago a report made by Newsarama about the newest ongoing series of DC which would be completely self-contained. I remember that most people (including me) thought that Alpha one (the guy with the big A on his chest) would be a lot like Captain America because of the way that it was described, when I read the first issue I thought that it was basically a combination of Superman and Captain America with a great creative team behind it so I had big hopes for it.
However as later issues were published I soon realized that Alpha One was more than just a combination of Superman and Captain America but that he also had enough changes to stand as his own character, I also realized to contrary to what could be expected, Alpha One isn’t the main character of the story but the director of the organization for which Alpha One works for. Every issue we learn more about Alpha one and Gabriel Cole (the person I just mentioned), how their relationship keeps changing as dark secrets start to become known and as Gabriel Cole embarks on a quest to learn what every director of Section Omega has come to learn and why not many of them are still alive.
Each issue is full of entertaining moments and shocking twists that help build and solve the mystery that Gabriel Cole is trying to pitch. The writing is incredible and really helps build a brand new universe without it looking forced or slow, the art of Peter Snejbjerg fits perfectly for a comic book with a cartoonish style but still is quite detailed, not only on the environments and characters but also the small details that most readers don’t notice when reading.
The Mighty is one of the only three titles that I put in my list that haven’t finished/been cancelled because of sales and it’s simply because it’s a great read that unfortunately not many people seem to give it a try yet it’s a comic that from the beginning I wait for all month to read and that every issue becomes even more interesting and entertaining.
#6 Richard Dragon
Writer: Chuck Dixon (Nightwing, Robin)
Penciller: Scott Mcdaniel (Nightwing, Green Arrow)
Total issues: 12
Chuck Dixon is better known for his incredibly vast work on the bat-family, having worked in Detective Comics, Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Catwoman (not the one I mentioned above) and Batman and the outsiders. However for me his best work up to date (or at least the best I’ve read so far) is the Richard Dragon 12 issue maxiseries. Sales may have not be there for the best fighter of DC but the quality was surely present in every single page.
The dynamic duo of Dixon and Mcdaniel (famous for their long run on the Nightwing series) is at his best here, this has all the action and badass fights that one would expect from a martial arts comic but at the same time carries a strong story of redemption and a search for honor and vengeance. With appearances of Lady Shiva, Bronze Tiger, Nightwing and Connor Hawke the good fights never stop in this series.
The fact that Dixon and Mcdaniel are the creative team behind this series should be enough to tell you of how great and diverse the action scenes take place, worth the mention even though it is an action comic the action doesn’t become the story, it’s just a compelling way of making the story go forwards in a great way.
The way in which Dixon uses narration and the jump between various flashbacks to the present time and vice versa not only is a great way to explain the origins and motivation of Richard Dragon without making the current events lose steam, but it also helps make the story all the more compelling. Richard Dragon is (at least before Karate Kid is born) the ultimate fighter of the DCU and this comic brilliantly shows why not only by beating some of the best hand to hand fighters DC has to offer but also with showing briefly all of the various students that the Dragon has had over the years.
#5 The Incredible Hercules
Writers: Greg Pak (Planet Hulk, War Machine) and Fred Van Lente (Marvel Presents: Iron man, Power Pack)
Pencillers: Arthur Adam (Longshot, Tom Strong: Terrific Tales), Khoi Pham (The Mighty Avengers, X-factor), Rafa Sandoval (Young X-men, World War Hulk: Warbound), Clayton Henry (Exiles, Alpha Flight), Salva Espin (Wolverine: First Class, WWH Aftersmash: Damage Control), Takeshi Miyazawa (Spider-man loves Mary Jane, Secret Invasion: Young Avengers/Runaways), Greg Adams (Thunderbolts, Excalibur), Dietrich Smith (Tincan Man, Outsiders) and Ryan Stegman (Magician: Aprentice, Riftwar)
Total issues: So far 19, no cancellation announced yet.
Count me among the many that were confused and surprised because Hulk lost the “incredible” title star status, count me also as the ones that were even more surprised that it was Hercules of all characters that did such feat. I always wondered why not just continue the Jeph Loeb/Ed McGuinness over the Incredible Hulk series and launch a new Hercules series with the same creative team attached instead of giving the Incredible comic to Hercules and launch a new Hulk series, confusing decisions aside, this book has never been (forget the bad puns) incredible.
Hercules shows exactly why he is one of the most popular characters in pop culture and why he should have gotten an ongoing a long time ago. Hercules among his sidekick Amadeus Cho have adventures that touch basically any realm of the Marvel Universe making it a hidden gem that has an incredible reach of genres and shows exactly why the Marvel’s take on the classical demi-god is considered by many the definite reimagining take on the character as far as comic books are concerned.
From the beginning this book has been put in the sidelines of every single event and the results couldn’t be better. The aftermath of World War Hulk, Secret Invasion and Dark Reign are only part of it, the adventures of Hercules both in the present time and the stuff of legends told to us as we were children take all part in a series that combines the best out of epic storylines, great battles, a great take on basic mythology and senseless humor.
#4 Manhunter
Writer: Marc Andreyko (Case Files: Sam & Twitch, Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy)
Artists: Jesus Saiz (Checkmate, The OMAC Project) , Javier Pina (Suicide Squad: From the ashes, Vampirella), Brad Walker (Secret Six miniseries, Guardians of the Galaxy) and Michael Gaydos (Alias, Raven Chronicles)
Number of issues: 38
I’ve always been a big fan of street levels stories and truth be told also been a great fan of legacy characters. The Manhunter ongoing features Kate Spencer, the eight (I have to admit I had never heard of the name before hearing of this title) Manhunter. Usually superheroes are presented to us as conflicted people that still are good role models, Manhunter easily breaks that rule while still maintaining a strong feeling that the criminals must be taken care of.
Like I said, Kate Spencer isn’t a role model in any way, she is a divorced, rude, single mother who smokes a lot and has anger problems, especially when facing the legal structure that she is supposed to defend as District Attorney, the fact that she is so different from the regular hero is probably what makes her the most interesting.
She isn’t like Superman or Batman that always do the right thing and have a line they won’t dare to cross, she also isn’t like the Punisher who just goes on a rampage to kill any criminal super powered or not. Manhunter as her alter ego gives the chance to any villain to be judged just like their rights say and leaves them alone if she wins the case, however if they are freed because of any kind of corruption or she thinks that they are a real danger for her city she takes immediate and final action against them.
Highly loved by all kinds of critics and with a really loyal fanbase that can be found in readers, writers, artists and even Editor in Chief of DC Comics Dan Didio, Manhunter is a highly recommended comic by any of the very few that have decided to try this comic. One of the things I love most about this comic is the fact that just like the Incredible Hercules, Manhunter is a book that puts herself in the sidelines of any comic event so that it is important to what’s happening in the overall picture while still remaining far enough to give space for Marc Andreyko’s awesome self-contained stories.
The book has a great supporting cast full of interesting personalities while at the same time, it’s full of guest-stars like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman
“Manhunter is a monthly dose of crafty, nasty, thrilling, fun, subversive super-heroics. A new hero for a new age, Kate Spences takes it right to the villains-and we're lucky enough to be watching over her shoulder. Go read it."-Brad Meltzer (Identity Crisis, Justice League of America)
“There is no reason in the world that you should not be buying, reading, cherishing, and celebrating this book! Manhunter is the best of what modern super-hero comics should be-virtuoso storytelling, fantastic art, a bad-ass hot chick in the lead, and a hefty dose of just plain smarts thrown into the action”-Greg Rucka (Gotham Central, Checkmate)
“Andreyko's Manhunter continues to be one of the most engaging and innovative superhero books on the market, quietly pushing the boundaries of the genre in all the right ways.”-Ed Brubaker (Gotham Central, Captain America)
You can follow the adventures of Kate Spencer in the new ongoing series “Batman: Streets of Gotham” as a co-feature in which Marc Andreyko takes his biggest creation as the new DA of Gotham City.
#3 Blue Beetle
Writers: Keith Giffen (Justice League International, Legion of Superheroes), John Rogers (Flash, Zombie Tales), J. Torres (Teen Titans: Go, Legion of Superheroes in the 31 century), Jai Nitz (El Diablo, Season of the Witch) Will Pfeifer (Aquaman, Catwoman) and Matthew Sturges (Jack of Fables, Shadowpact)
Pencillers: Cully Hamner (Black Lightning: Year one, The secret history of the Authority: Jack Hawksmoor), Cynthia Martin (Star Wars, Wonder Woman), Duncan Rouleau (Action Comics, Metal Men), Kevin West (original Guardians of the Galaxy series, The Comet), Casey Jones (Excalibur, Jubilee), Rafael Albuquerque (Cover Girl, Two guns), Freddie E. Williams (Robin, Flash), Andy Kuhn (Brit, Easy Way), Mike Norton (Green Arrow & Black Canary, Micronauts), Andre Coelho (Ms. Marvel, Bloodrayne: Automaton), David Baldeon (Robin, Doctor Doom and the Masters of Evil) and Carlo Barberi (Impulse, Gen 13)
Total issues: 38
The latest Blue Beetle ongoing was launched as an aftermath of Infinite Crisis when we were introduced to Jaime Reyes; the third Blue Beetle after Ted Kord was murdered by Maxwell Lord in the pages of project OMAC. Jaime Reyes is from El Paso, Texas and is the first Blue Beetle that is completely fused with the blue scarab. There’s something really appealing about Jaime as a character and I think that it is a fact that even if I’ll sound as an hypocrite considering how well known I’ve made my hate for Spider-man known. Jaime Reyes is the man Peter Parker always wanted to be. He has a great and supporting family, he is loved by the city he has sworn to protect, he is a teenage hero but isn’t anyone’s sidekick (just like Spider-man started), his best friends know his secret and accept him just like that. If you take all the unnecessary drama from the equation you get a fun character who has one of the best supporting characters in comics. This is a great, epic and fun comic that takes you the way as Blue Beetle quickly evolves from rookie to one really experienced hero.
With special appearances by the Justice League International members (what is left anyway) and recurring supporting characters like Danny Garret (Granddaughter of Dan Garret, the original Blue Beetle) and Traci Thirteen who was raised by the Dibneys and a diverse and the simply awesome Peace Keeper among others this comic should make both fans of Dan Garret and Ted Kord alike be willing to try this comic and let me say not be disappointed, the art is great and although it could give the impression that it is a childish comic that impression couldn’t be more wrong, this is a comic fun for all ages that shows exactly why teen superheroes are so popular. You’ll end loving every single member of the supporting cast, especially Jaime’s father and his best friend Paco, which I guaranty.
Even though his series has been cancelled, Blue Beetle is a strong and recurring member of the Teen Titans comic (the only character that McKeever seemed to get right) and as a co-feature of the Booster Gold comic which is written by the exact same team that wrote the series before it’s cancellation and that follows just after the series was finished.
#2 Checkmate
Writters: Greg Rucka (Gotham Central, Action Comics), Nunzio DeFilippis (New X-men, New Mutants), Christina Weir (New X-men, New Mutants), Judd Winnick (Exiles, Outsiders), Eric Trautmann (JSA vs Kobra, Crime Bible: The five lessons of blood) and Bruce Jones (The incredible Hulk, The war that time forgot)
Pencillers: Jesus Saiz (Manhunter, The OMAC Project), Cliff Richards (Buffy: The vampire slayer, Huntress: Year one), Steve Scott (Indiana Jones and the tomb of the gods, New Warriors), Eddie Barrows (Teen Titans, Terror Titans), Joe Bennett (Hawkman, X-51), Chris Samnee (Dead of Night: Featuring Devil Slayer, Queen & Country) and Manuel Garcia (Mystique, Strange Adventures)
Number of issues: 31
I’ve always been a big Greg Rucka fan, I consider him one of the single best writers in the business and one of DC’s current top writers. Now before someone gets scared as how many writers are attached, except for Bruce Jones, in every issue that you find another time than Rucka’s he wasn’t abscent but worked as a co-writer. I don’t know if it’s because of Rucka or not as I wasn’t working with them behind the scenes, but no matter what writer worked with him, the book remained month after month the best thing I read from DC and every single character was unique and potrayed extremely well. I have to say that the best moments were when the Greg Rucka & Eric Trutmann came together as the combination of the two excellent writers couldn’t be better.
Checkmate is set on the political and espionage corner of the DCU where we can find organizations like Checkmate (duh), the United Nations, the Department of Metahuman affairs, Kobra, etc. This often forgotten corner of the DCU is also home to characters like Amanda Waller, Sasha Bordeaux, between others and is perfect to spotlight characters and tell stories you wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else.
In some ways this is quite similar to Dan Scott &Christos Cage’s “Avengers: The Initiative” title, a place where the characters that
Unfortunetly I can’t comment on the last arc of the book before it’s cancellation because I dropped the comic when Greg Rucka and Eric Trutmann left and Bruce Jones was announced the new writer. Being a hater of his brief run on Nightwing, I didn’t want to try Bruce Jones’ run on Checkmate and apparently after reading critics’ opinions I was right in following my gut.
Even so I have to say that this series was almost completely perfect from beginning to end (atleast until Rucka’s run end)
#1 Secret Six
Writer: Gail Simone (Wonder Woman, The all new Atom)
Penciller: Nicola Scott
Number of issues: So far 11, no cancellation announced yet.
What if I told you that one of the best writers in the industry had one of the best comics currently published? Sounds really likely right? What if I told you that it also had one of the best pencillers right now? Makes even more sense doesn’t it? What if I told you that comic featured only villains? Everyone loves villains having the spotlight. So what if I told you that the stars of that comic were Catman, Deadshot, Bane, Ragdoll, Scandal Savage and a new character named Janette? Come on, admit that you are saying bullsh!t to my comment right now.
Believe me I’m as surprised as you, fact is, that Secret Six is one of the darkest, most comical (in the way that you laugh then you feel like you are crazy for laughing at that), amazing, craziest, bizarre and entertaining reads in the comic market right now or any past years for that matter. The cast is diverse and entertaining and proves why there isn’t honor between thieves, introduced as the sole villains willing to stand against Lex Luthor’s Secret Society’s recruitment drive and after a vast change of line-up (a Parademon, Harley Queen, Cheshire, Knockout and Mad Hatter are all former members)
The reason why Secret Six employing a cast full of (with the exceptions of Deadshot and Bane) villains that no one cared about is that Gail Simone has free reigns to give personalities and count stories with these characters without having the fans claiming how bad written they are. This move is similar and can be compared with Alan Moore’s take on Swamp Thing, Grant Morrison’s take on Animal Man or James Robinson’s take on Starman.
Gail Simone is full aware that the characters she employs are for the most part nothing more than a group of nobodies that can’t really strike and win against the big guns, no matter if they are heroes or villains. Having stood against Lex Luthor and because of their fights with the superhero community creates the perfect opportunity for any fight. They can go against Superman or they can go against Darkseid, for all they care it’s everything about the money. They are put together because they trust each other and know that together they can get a lot of mercernary cash but at the same time they can (and have done it quite a few times) betray their best friends and comrades in order to get what they want. This book is full of twists and surprises that make the reader want to keep coming month after month and keeping him thrilled with the story.
By far the best ongoing series by either DC or Marvel in years, I’ll love it while it lasts.
The other day I was thinking how much I loved titles like Blackest Night and what's going on with both the Superman and Batman books, I also thought that I missed quite a few of the comic I used to read which featured some of the lesser known characters and that even though they were really great, quality hadn't been enough to support the series when facing series that featured (no matter how bad) popular characters and teams. So I decided to rank the top 10 comics of DC and Marvel in recent years that in my opinion deserved a better audience that they had been given. At first I was also gonna throw titles from Indy comics, but comming with a list would have been absolutely impossible, as most indy books are often ignored.
In advance I apologize because there are barely Marvel comics on this list, reason behind is that I am more of a DC guy so I've read more DC stuff, the other one being that since Marvel has better sales (as far as individual comics are concerned) there are way lesser titles that I think didn't have the audience they deserved. Now again this is a personal opinion and I'm sure I didn't put more than 10 titles who were equally or more deserving of being here, bare with me I can't read all comics, especially in this economy.
#10 The All new Atom
Writers: Gail Simone (Secret Six, Wonder Woman), Roger Stern (Avengers, Action Comics), Keith Champagne and Rick Remender (Fear Agent, Punisher)
Pencillers: John Byrne (Uncanny X-en, Fantastic Four), Ariel Olivetti (Cable, Space Ghost), Eddy Barrows (Teen Titans, Terror Titans), Mike Norton (Green Arrow & Black Canary, Gravity), Jerry Ordway (Adventures of Superman, Power of Shazam) and Pat Olliffe (Spider-girl, Untold tales of Spider-man).
Total issues: 25
So when I had just finished reading Identity Crisis by Brad Meltzer and Rag Morales I was interested in knowing where Ray Palmer had gone next, maybe that’s why I remained reading countdown so long, because of the search for Ray Palmer.
Interested in Ray Palmer (before the announcement of Countdown) I rushed to catch up with a new Atom ongoing series that had been launched, funny as it is, I didn’t realize that it wasn’t Ray on the cover until the moment I opened the comics for the first time, let me tell you that the All New Atom wasn’t the item I had thought I would get without the character I was interested in, and yet it’s one of my favorite ongoing series published by DC Comics up to date and one of the ones I really miss even though I know it helps my wallet.
Ryan Choi is a new character just as interesting as Ray Palmer, and worthy of the name of the Atom even if he doesn’t believe it himself. Ivy Town feels like a real city with the need of a great hero to protect them, the supporting cast is diverse and entertaining and the stories are great both for the fans of the Atom to the many that have never pick a book featuring him.
The writing by Gail Simone is superb and has no imaginative limits as always and Rick Remender does a great job in putting the two atoms together to give a final farewell to a character that because of sales couldn’t support his ongoing series for a little bit more than two years.
With appearances by the likes of Wonder Woman and Ray Palmer between others, this book strongly supports both the self-contained story status and still interacts with the rest of the DCU. Check why Entertainment weekly called this “A mind-blower. Best new ongoing series of the year”
#9 Next Wave: Agents of Hate
Writer: Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, Planetary)
Penciller: Stuart Immonen (Ultimate Spider-man, Ultimate X-men)
Total issues: 12
There are two things that one can’t deny about Warren Ellis: First one is that he is not afraid to be controversial with any of the characters he works with or that he creates, the second one is that he is one of the absolute best writers in comic books. Those two things are brought into this comic and with the help of the fluid and great art by Stuart Immonen we get one of the funniest (in some parts in a dark way of speaking, but that doesn’t come to surprise) and most original comics in a long time. This comic doesn’t have the big stars like Captain America, Iron man and Thor, but what it offers is an alternative door in which earth-shaping comic events and editorial interference isn’t welcome.
I strongly believe that the best works that some writers put in their entire life is when editorial takes a step back and lets them leave their imaginative mind in free control of the story and characters in it. No “Character A has to go to point B because writer C wants to use him in event D” just writers with complete control over the characters that either they single handily picked or the ones that they created.
Next wave is the living example of such theory and makes one of the best Marvel comics I’ve read up to date. Forget Civil War, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign and all the dozens of tie-ins that come with it, Next Wave from beginning to end is more interesting and fun to read than any comic I’m currently reading of Marvel, with the only exceptions being Ed Brubaker’s Captain America and J. Michael Straczynski’s Thor.
#8 Catwoman
Writers: Ed Brubaker (Captain America, Gotham Central), Scott Morse (Case Files: Sam & Twitch, Elektra: Glimpse and Echo), Andersen Gabrych (Batgirl, Detective Comics), Will Pfeifer (Aquaman, Captain Atom: Armageddon)
Pencillers: Darwin Crooke (Justice League: The new Frontier, The Spirit),Michael Allred (Madman, X-Statix), Paul Pope (100%, Batman: Year 100), Cameron Stewart (The Vinyl Underground, The other side), Javier Pulido (Human Target, Robin: Year one), Paul Gulacy (Action Force, Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu), Diego Olmos (Action Comics, Majestic), Pete Woods (Action Comics, Superman: World of New Krypton), David Lopez (New Avengers: The reunion, Fallen Angel)
Total issues: 82
Everyone knows that I’m a big Batman fan, more than that I’m also a big fan of almost all batman characters related. I love the sidekicks and partners like Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, Alfred (too awesome for words), Damian, Bat-mite (yeah I said it), Ace, etc. and the great villains that gives Batman (in my humble opinion) the best rogues gallery in comics. I love the Joker, Ra’s al Ghul, Two-face, Penguin, Riddler, Hush, etc. and there’s always been one character that was always my least favorite and funny enough belonged to both the Batman allies and enemies.
That character is Catwoman, who for some reason has had quite the success in having her own ongoings when relatively speaking. The first one being one ongoing series launched in 1993 that has 95 issues before being cancelled and the second one being the one I’m talking about.
I started catching up with Catwoman just one month before the title was cancelled, the reason being two: First I was curious as of why she was so relatively speaking successful, trying to find the obvious thing that I had missed when reading about her in other batman related stories, the second one was when I saw that the series had been launched and maintained as a writer for almost 40 issues by the master of street level characters, Ed Brubaker himself. Now blame me but when I see my favorite writers attached to a project I always check it out knowing that it’s almost impossible to be disappointed. And indeed I wasn’t, Catwoman through it's 82 issues had a diverse cast of writers (with Ed Brubaker and Will Pfeifer the ones that had an actual long run) and a great rotating group of artists in which some of them are without a doubt some of the best in the business. Pete Woods and Darwin Crooke being my favorite two out of those.
I came to the world skeptical of if I could come to like Catwoman like so many had in the past, the comic not only transcends my expectations with great ease but shows exactly why he was worthy of being called for a long time “The best comic DC is publishing right now”.
#7 The Mighty
Writers: Peter J. Tomasi (Nightwing, Green Lantern Corps) and Keith Champagne (JSA, Firestorm)
Artist: Peter Snejbjerg (The books of magic, Starman)
Total issues: 12 (Not finished)
I posted in Comic Vine a few months ago a report made by Newsarama about the newest ongoing series of DC which would be completely self-contained. I remember that most people (including me) thought that Alpha one (the guy with the big A on his chest) would be a lot like Captain America because of the way that it was described, when I read the first issue I thought that it was basically a combination of Superman and Captain America with a great creative team behind it so I had big hopes for it.
However as later issues were published I soon realized that Alpha One was more than just a combination of Superman and Captain America but that he also had enough changes to stand as his own character, I also realized to contrary to what could be expected, Alpha One isn’t the main character of the story but the director of the organization for which Alpha One works for. Every issue we learn more about Alpha one and Gabriel Cole (the person I just mentioned), how their relationship keeps changing as dark secrets start to become known and as Gabriel Cole embarks on a quest to learn what every director of Section Omega has come to learn and why not many of them are still alive.
Each issue is full of entertaining moments and shocking twists that help build and solve the mystery that Gabriel Cole is trying to pitch. The writing is incredible and really helps build a brand new universe without it looking forced or slow, the art of Peter Snejbjerg fits perfectly for a comic book with a cartoonish style but still is quite detailed, not only on the environments and characters but also the small details that most readers don’t notice when reading.
The Mighty is one of the only three titles that I put in my list that haven’t finished/been cancelled because of sales and it’s simply because it’s a great read that unfortunately not many people seem to give it a try yet it’s a comic that from the beginning I wait for all month to read and that every issue becomes even more interesting and entertaining.
#6 Richard Dragon
Writer: Chuck Dixon (Nightwing, Robin)
Penciller: Scott Mcdaniel (Nightwing, Green Arrow)
Total issues: 12
Chuck Dixon is better known for his incredibly vast work on the bat-family, having worked in Detective Comics, Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Catwoman (not the one I mentioned above) and Batman and the outsiders. However for me his best work up to date (or at least the best I’ve read so far) is the Richard Dragon 12 issue maxiseries. Sales may have not be there for the best fighter of DC but the quality was surely present in every single page.
The dynamic duo of Dixon and Mcdaniel (famous for their long run on the Nightwing series) is at his best here, this has all the action and badass fights that one would expect from a martial arts comic but at the same time carries a strong story of redemption and a search for honor and vengeance. With appearances of Lady Shiva, Bronze Tiger, Nightwing and Connor Hawke the good fights never stop in this series.
The fact that Dixon and Mcdaniel are the creative team behind this series should be enough to tell you of how great and diverse the action scenes take place, worth the mention even though it is an action comic the action doesn’t become the story, it’s just a compelling way of making the story go forwards in a great way.
The way in which Dixon uses narration and the jump between various flashbacks to the present time and vice versa not only is a great way to explain the origins and motivation of Richard Dragon without making the current events lose steam, but it also helps make the story all the more compelling. Richard Dragon is (at least before Karate Kid is born) the ultimate fighter of the DCU and this comic brilliantly shows why not only by beating some of the best hand to hand fighters DC has to offer but also with showing briefly all of the various students that the Dragon has had over the years.
#5 The Incredible Hercules
Writers: Greg Pak (Planet Hulk, War Machine) and Fred Van Lente (Marvel Presents: Iron man, Power Pack)
Pencillers: Arthur Adam (Longshot, Tom Strong: Terrific Tales), Khoi Pham (The Mighty Avengers, X-factor), Rafa Sandoval (Young X-men, World War Hulk: Warbound), Clayton Henry (Exiles, Alpha Flight), Salva Espin (Wolverine: First Class, WWH Aftersmash: Damage Control), Takeshi Miyazawa (Spider-man loves Mary Jane, Secret Invasion: Young Avengers/Runaways), Greg Adams (Thunderbolts, Excalibur), Dietrich Smith (Tincan Man, Outsiders) and Ryan Stegman (Magician: Aprentice, Riftwar)
Total issues: So far 19, no cancellation announced yet.
Count me among the many that were confused and surprised because Hulk lost the “incredible” title star status, count me also as the ones that were even more surprised that it was Hercules of all characters that did such feat. I always wondered why not just continue the Jeph Loeb/Ed McGuinness over the Incredible Hulk series and launch a new Hercules series with the same creative team attached instead of giving the Incredible comic to Hercules and launch a new Hulk series, confusing decisions aside, this book has never been (forget the bad puns) incredible.
Hercules shows exactly why he is one of the most popular characters in pop culture and why he should have gotten an ongoing a long time ago. Hercules among his sidekick Amadeus Cho have adventures that touch basically any realm of the Marvel Universe making it a hidden gem that has an incredible reach of genres and shows exactly why the Marvel’s take on the classical demi-god is considered by many the definite reimagining take on the character as far as comic books are concerned.
From the beginning this book has been put in the sidelines of every single event and the results couldn’t be better. The aftermath of World War Hulk, Secret Invasion and Dark Reign are only part of it, the adventures of Hercules both in the present time and the stuff of legends told to us as we were children take all part in a series that combines the best out of epic storylines, great battles, a great take on basic mythology and senseless humor.
#4 Manhunter
Writer: Marc Andreyko (Case Files: Sam & Twitch, Castlevania: The Belmont Legacy)
Artists: Jesus Saiz (Checkmate, The OMAC Project) , Javier Pina (Suicide Squad: From the ashes, Vampirella), Brad Walker (Secret Six miniseries, Guardians of the Galaxy) and Michael Gaydos (Alias, Raven Chronicles)
Number of issues: 38
I’ve always been a big fan of street levels stories and truth be told also been a great fan of legacy characters. The Manhunter ongoing features Kate Spencer, the eight (I have to admit I had never heard of the name before hearing of this title) Manhunter. Usually superheroes are presented to us as conflicted people that still are good role models, Manhunter easily breaks that rule while still maintaining a strong feeling that the criminals must be taken care of.
Like I said, Kate Spencer isn’t a role model in any way, she is a divorced, rude, single mother who smokes a lot and has anger problems, especially when facing the legal structure that she is supposed to defend as District Attorney, the fact that she is so different from the regular hero is probably what makes her the most interesting.
She isn’t like Superman or Batman that always do the right thing and have a line they won’t dare to cross, she also isn’t like the Punisher who just goes on a rampage to kill any criminal super powered or not. Manhunter as her alter ego gives the chance to any villain to be judged just like their rights say and leaves them alone if she wins the case, however if they are freed because of any kind of corruption or she thinks that they are a real danger for her city she takes immediate and final action against them.
Highly loved by all kinds of critics and with a really loyal fanbase that can be found in readers, writers, artists and even Editor in Chief of DC Comics Dan Didio, Manhunter is a highly recommended comic by any of the very few that have decided to try this comic. One of the things I love most about this comic is the fact that just like the Incredible Hercules, Manhunter is a book that puts herself in the sidelines of any comic event so that it is important to what’s happening in the overall picture while still remaining far enough to give space for Marc Andreyko’s awesome self-contained stories.
The book has a great supporting cast full of interesting personalities while at the same time, it’s full of guest-stars like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman
“Manhunter is a monthly dose of crafty, nasty, thrilling, fun, subversive super-heroics. A new hero for a new age, Kate Spences takes it right to the villains-and we're lucky enough to be watching over her shoulder. Go read it."-Brad Meltzer (Identity Crisis, Justice League of America)
“There is no reason in the world that you should not be buying, reading, cherishing, and celebrating this book! Manhunter is the best of what modern super-hero comics should be-virtuoso storytelling, fantastic art, a bad-ass hot chick in the lead, and a hefty dose of just plain smarts thrown into the action”-Greg Rucka (Gotham Central, Checkmate)
“Andreyko's Manhunter continues to be one of the most engaging and innovative superhero books on the market, quietly pushing the boundaries of the genre in all the right ways.”-Ed Brubaker (Gotham Central, Captain America)
You can follow the adventures of Kate Spencer in the new ongoing series “Batman: Streets of Gotham” as a co-feature in which Marc Andreyko takes his biggest creation as the new DA of Gotham City.
#3 Blue Beetle
Writers: Keith Giffen (Justice League International, Legion of Superheroes), John Rogers (Flash, Zombie Tales), J. Torres (Teen Titans: Go, Legion of Superheroes in the 31 century), Jai Nitz (El Diablo, Season of the Witch) Will Pfeifer (Aquaman, Catwoman) and Matthew Sturges (Jack of Fables, Shadowpact)
Pencillers: Cully Hamner (Black Lightning: Year one, The secret history of the Authority: Jack Hawksmoor), Cynthia Martin (Star Wars, Wonder Woman), Duncan Rouleau (Action Comics, Metal Men), Kevin West (original Guardians of the Galaxy series, The Comet), Casey Jones (Excalibur, Jubilee), Rafael Albuquerque (Cover Girl, Two guns), Freddie E. Williams (Robin, Flash), Andy Kuhn (Brit, Easy Way), Mike Norton (Green Arrow & Black Canary, Micronauts), Andre Coelho (Ms. Marvel, Bloodrayne: Automaton), David Baldeon (Robin, Doctor Doom and the Masters of Evil) and Carlo Barberi (Impulse, Gen 13)
Total issues: 38
The latest Blue Beetle ongoing was launched as an aftermath of Infinite Crisis when we were introduced to Jaime Reyes; the third Blue Beetle after Ted Kord was murdered by Maxwell Lord in the pages of project OMAC. Jaime Reyes is from El Paso, Texas and is the first Blue Beetle that is completely fused with the blue scarab. There’s something really appealing about Jaime as a character and I think that it is a fact that even if I’ll sound as an hypocrite considering how well known I’ve made my hate for Spider-man known. Jaime Reyes is the man Peter Parker always wanted to be. He has a great and supporting family, he is loved by the city he has sworn to protect, he is a teenage hero but isn’t anyone’s sidekick (just like Spider-man started), his best friends know his secret and accept him just like that. If you take all the unnecessary drama from the equation you get a fun character who has one of the best supporting characters in comics. This is a great, epic and fun comic that takes you the way as Blue Beetle quickly evolves from rookie to one really experienced hero.
With special appearances by the Justice League International members (what is left anyway) and recurring supporting characters like Danny Garret (Granddaughter of Dan Garret, the original Blue Beetle) and Traci Thirteen who was raised by the Dibneys and a diverse and the simply awesome Peace Keeper among others this comic should make both fans of Dan Garret and Ted Kord alike be willing to try this comic and let me say not be disappointed, the art is great and although it could give the impression that it is a childish comic that impression couldn’t be more wrong, this is a comic fun for all ages that shows exactly why teen superheroes are so popular. You’ll end loving every single member of the supporting cast, especially Jaime’s father and his best friend Paco, which I guaranty.
Even though his series has been cancelled, Blue Beetle is a strong and recurring member of the Teen Titans comic (the only character that McKeever seemed to get right) and as a co-feature of the Booster Gold comic which is written by the exact same team that wrote the series before it’s cancellation and that follows just after the series was finished.
#2 Checkmate
Writters: Greg Rucka (Gotham Central, Action Comics), Nunzio DeFilippis (New X-men, New Mutants), Christina Weir (New X-men, New Mutants), Judd Winnick (Exiles, Outsiders), Eric Trautmann (JSA vs Kobra, Crime Bible: The five lessons of blood) and Bruce Jones (The incredible Hulk, The war that time forgot)
Pencillers: Jesus Saiz (Manhunter, The OMAC Project), Cliff Richards (Buffy: The vampire slayer, Huntress: Year one), Steve Scott (Indiana Jones and the tomb of the gods, New Warriors), Eddie Barrows (Teen Titans, Terror Titans), Joe Bennett (Hawkman, X-51), Chris Samnee (Dead of Night: Featuring Devil Slayer, Queen & Country) and Manuel Garcia (Mystique, Strange Adventures)
Number of issues: 31
I’ve always been a big Greg Rucka fan, I consider him one of the single best writers in the business and one of DC’s current top writers. Now before someone gets scared as how many writers are attached, except for Bruce Jones, in every issue that you find another time than Rucka’s he wasn’t abscent but worked as a co-writer. I don’t know if it’s because of Rucka or not as I wasn’t working with them behind the scenes, but no matter what writer worked with him, the book remained month after month the best thing I read from DC and every single character was unique and potrayed extremely well. I have to say that the best moments were when the Greg Rucka & Eric Trutmann came together as the combination of the two excellent writers couldn’t be better.
Checkmate is set on the political and espionage corner of the DCU where we can find organizations like Checkmate (duh), the United Nations, the Department of Metahuman affairs, Kobra, etc. This often forgotten corner of the DCU is also home to characters like Amanda Waller, Sasha Bordeaux, between others and is perfect to spotlight characters and tell stories you wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else.
In some ways this is quite similar to Dan Scott &Christos Cage’s “Avengers: The Initiative” title, a place where the characters that
Unfortunetly I can’t comment on the last arc of the book before it’s cancellation because I dropped the comic when Greg Rucka and Eric Trutmann left and Bruce Jones was announced the new writer. Being a hater of his brief run on Nightwing, I didn’t want to try Bruce Jones’ run on Checkmate and apparently after reading critics’ opinions I was right in following my gut.
Even so I have to say that this series was almost completely perfect from beginning to end (atleast until Rucka’s run end)
#1 Secret Six
Writer: Gail Simone (Wonder Woman, The all new Atom)
Penciller: Nicola Scott
Number of issues: So far 11, no cancellation announced yet.
What if I told you that one of the best writers in the industry had one of the best comics currently published? Sounds really likely right? What if I told you that it also had one of the best pencillers right now? Makes even more sense doesn’t it? What if I told you that comic featured only villains? Everyone loves villains having the spotlight. So what if I told you that the stars of that comic were Catman, Deadshot, Bane, Ragdoll, Scandal Savage and a new character named Janette? Come on, admit that you are saying bullsh!t to my comment right now.
Believe me I’m as surprised as you, fact is, that Secret Six is one of the darkest, most comical (in the way that you laugh then you feel like you are crazy for laughing at that), amazing, craziest, bizarre and entertaining reads in the comic market right now or any past years for that matter. The cast is diverse and entertaining and proves why there isn’t honor between thieves, introduced as the sole villains willing to stand against Lex Luthor’s Secret Society’s recruitment drive and after a vast change of line-up (a Parademon, Harley Queen, Cheshire, Knockout and Mad Hatter are all former members)
The reason why Secret Six employing a cast full of (with the exceptions of Deadshot and Bane) villains that no one cared about is that Gail Simone has free reigns to give personalities and count stories with these characters without having the fans claiming how bad written they are. This move is similar and can be compared with Alan Moore’s take on Swamp Thing, Grant Morrison’s take on Animal Man or James Robinson’s take on Starman.
Gail Simone is full aware that the characters she employs are for the most part nothing more than a group of nobodies that can’t really strike and win against the big guns, no matter if they are heroes or villains. Having stood against Lex Luthor and because of their fights with the superhero community creates the perfect opportunity for any fight. They can go against Superman or they can go against Darkseid, for all they care it’s everything about the money. They are put together because they trust each other and know that together they can get a lot of mercernary cash but at the same time they can (and have done it quite a few times) betray their best friends and comrades in order to get what they want. This book is full of twists and surprises that make the reader want to keep coming month after month and keeping him thrilled with the story.
By far the best ongoing series by either DC or Marvel in years, I’ll love it while it lasts.
so most of the bio is up and thought that I would like to hear people's opinion
for anyone interested this is the bio of the original Nighthunter
http://www.comicvine.com/myvine/_nighthunter_/
ok so comments/opinion/reviews?
| Date Joined: | Sept. 28, 2008 |
| City: | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Alignment: | Good |
| Points: | 14 Points |
| Ranked: | Ranked #3176 of 51,993 |
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Superboy character - 4 points |
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Will Magnus character - 2 points |
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Metamorpho character - 2 points |
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Heat Wave character - 2 points |
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Black Lightning character - 2 points |
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Nemesis character - 2 points |
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reaper2923
23 minutes ago Is reading the Deodato and Ellis Thunderbolts, good stuff |
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War Killer
1 hour, 4 minutes ago is rocking the Red, White, and Blue! |
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Talon/X23
1 day, 13 hours ago I think it's time too lose some composure and gain some insanity. Once more I'm about too cross the line, and like always it'll chage me forever! |
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Dane
1 day, 13 hours ago Everybody knows that a dog dressed in clothes is still a dog. |
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TheDrifter
2 days, 17 hours ago This just in from the National Institute of Pancakes, F#ck Waffles. |
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Gambler
2 weeks ago "You Could Never Duplicate My Swag™" |
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Ferro Vida
2 weeks, 3 days ago Ferro Vida ran alongside the Olympic torch |
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LstPaladin
2 weeks, 5 days ago A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones |
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