Sharkbite

I'm pretty sure it'll be John Stewart. After that trainwreck of a Green Lantern movie, Hal Jordan is probably not going to be the go-to Lantern for Justice League anyways.

Ever since Utopia, it's been Cyclops. He went from being the namby-pamby pretty boy kiss-up to Xavier, to being the hardcase real leader stepping up and making the hard decisions. Scott Summers has done more for the mutant race than either Xavier or Magneto did with their extremist views. Cyke is the man.

Of characters that previously held their own solid book, definitely Booster Gold. Booster is a book that can carry a solo story independent of the mainstream DCUO, because of the time hopping, and can constantly cameo other characters without having to worry about continuity, because of the anomalies. Basically, it's the solid story of Booster, but it doubles as essentially a "What If" or "Elseworlds" setting where we regularly explore alternative worlds based on minor temporal changes.

Of characters that haven't really been given their own chance to shine, my first pick Catman. He was rocking awesome by the end of Secret Six, and losing him was my most lamented part of the New 52 change (narrowly edging out Amandorexic Waller). Catman as a solo hero would be significantly more enjoyable than Batwing or Talon, both of which I read for a solid year trying to like before I realized they were just not going to improve.

But if I were to pick a single under-utilized character and give them an ongoing that did not necessarily have to be their own self-titled series, I would focus in on Lex Luthor and run an ongoing of a LexCorp corporate superhero team created and managed by Luthor. I would be the DC equivalent to Thunderbolts (back before the Marvel Now reboot decided that they would scrap the concept in favor of an all-hero team). It could accomplished what Justice League of America was originally billed as before that became just another generic League book, creating a team of mixed-motive characters all being employed, used, or manipulated by a "bad guy" but publicly doing something good, concerning themselves with marketability and overshadowing over heroes. The team could even carry a moderate body count, akin to Suicide Squad, with Luthor killing off members as they rock the boat (like he did with Infinity Inc in 52).

And double points if Jimmy Olsen infiltrates the team as a reporter and ends up repowered and as a regular cast member doing the Turtle Boy, Morbidly Obsese Lad, etc. gimmicks from the Golden Age.

If we were going to get a Suicide Squad game, I would want it to be a turn-based strategy rpg. I'm thinking more in line with X-Com Enemy Unknown.

That way, you build your own Squad roster for each mission you're sending them on. I love the idea of different characters with different dynamics when they work in conjunction with others, and having them be strong or weak in different situations. Like an away team of 4 Squad members from a potential roster of 20+, but with the twist that if somebody dies, they are dead for good, so beating the level must be balanced with the survival of your Belle Reeve comrades.

It would be about halfway through the run of Boom! Comic's "Deathmatch". When Melody Toon won over Mink. At that point, my entire bracket fell apart, predictability went out the window, and that series became the most exciting one I was reading.

I don't think it's so much the Superhero genre that I was getting burned out on as it was Marvel and DC in general. Independent Comics are now around half my purchases, but several of them still sport capes, just done better.

Avatar's Absolution is a great supers comic. Boom's Deathmatch has also been stellar. Image's Sidekick is another that I've loved as of late. The Cape, Death Sentence, The Red Ten, it's fully possible to do a superhero comic book and have it be something new and different. I just struggle with finding that boyish excitement to spend $3.99 on a story from Marvel or DC that's just "more of the same".

Outside of superhero comics though, there are many brilliant titles that Marvel and DC just don't deliver. IDW's GIJoe, Avatar's Crossed, Dynamite's Red Team, I run around 50 comics a month and half of them are indy titles. And even of the Marvel/DC stuff I read, much of that is not what would be considered the core of Marvel/DC. A book like Runaways or Secret Warriors will grab my attention in a way that Superman and his limitless power cannot.

Round Two

Meridian advances over Mutate (killed without match)

Anti-Meridian advances over GI Truman (killed without match)

Benny Boatwright defeats Cube

The Rat defeats Sol Invictus

Sable defeats Mr Chuckles

Omni-Engine advances over Glyph (killed without match)

Melody Toon defeats Nephilim

Manchurian defeats Shadow Runner

Round Three

Anti-Meridian defeats Meridian

Benny Boatwright advances over The Rat (killed without match)

Sable defeats Omni-Engine

Manchurian defeats Meloday Toon

Semi-Finals

Anti-Meridian vs Benny Boatwright

Sable vs Manchurian

The quarterfinals threw me another swerve, just as this series has been apt to do. With the final four no longer the "obvious picks", things get opened up a bit more.

I now endorse Manchurian over Sable, with the reveal that Manchurian was the masterminding villain all along. Killing him off for our hero v hero finals no longer works because he's supposedly the one behind the Intelligencia's actions.

I'm going to go with Meridian's prediction that Benny will kill Anti-Meridian. That one seems to be written as destiny, even though it seems unlikely given the characters.

Benny will then die in the finals to thwart the Manchurian's overall plan. Probably both of them dying in the last battle.

I've been fairly certain Powell was dead for a while. It will be a plot device where the discovery of his death incriminates somebody other than Apex. The idea that some of the "good kids" are killing too needs to be injected if Hopeless plans on pushing this free-for-all attitude he's claiming by the end. For example, Chase, X-23, or HazMat being revealed as Powell's killer makes his off-screen death not only justified, but vital to the collapse of the fragile alliances.

If somebody HAD to die, I would like for it to be Hulk.

Hulk has proven the least marketable in the way of solo film. I'll bet a Fury, Widow, or Hawkeye film would still do okay, but Hulk films just tank. Killing him would not damage the overall franchise nearly as badly as the death of Iron Man, Cap, or Thor.

As of yet, while the covers have nothing to do with the actual series plot, the covers have been a reliable way to predict deaths. For example, the video game cover showed a living Nico while she died a few issues before that one, and she was then resurrected (poorly) in time for that issue.

Not once has a dead character been showcased on the cover, which suggests by issue 17, we will still have Anachronism, Nico, X-23, Hazmat, and A Darkhawk (presumeably Chase, but there is no guarantee that the amulet has not again changed hands).

Tracking based upon covers and solicits
14 is X-23
15 is Nara, Anachronism, and Cullen Bloodstone
16 is Cammi on cover and "2 other contestants in Arcade's lair" presumeably Apex and Deathlocket
17 is Anachronism, Nico, X-23, Hazmat, and a Darkhawk on the cover. No names in the solicits, though it repeats "2 other contestants in Arcade's lair"
18 has not had a cover reveal and gives no hints in the solicits.

If I had to hazard a guess, we will see the following meat grinder to prepare us for cancellation and as Hopeless making his final attempt to give us all the finger for not supporting his crap.

Issue 14 = based on the blood on the claws of X-23 and the lack of future mention, plus the about face we've seen from Hazmat, I'm wagering Reptil is killed by X-23. It will likely not be X-23's choice in the matter, but that will be used to spark some friction between Hazmat and X-23 that will lead to this "all out battle royale" they keep on mentioning in the solicits.

Issue 15 - based upon the solicits "who gets their heart broken.. or stopped" I am betting that Nara gets killed as a part of a love triangle with Bloodstone and Anachronism. This will then put Cull and Anachronism head to head and further foster this hero vs hero brujah that Hopeless has been hyping.

Issue 16 - based upon the feuds I predict Cullen vs Anachronism, Hazmat vs X-23, and the fact that Cammi, Chasehawk, and Nico have been a sort of team, in order to get the Runaways involved in the fighting (and accepting that Darkhawk and Nico are safe til 17 based upon the cover), Cammi will die. Cammi is the cover character for 16, so her death will be big and important, and drag the Runaways into the fighting. Similarly the "surface characters" are set to exclude Cullen as of Issue 17, and based upon the 8-bit cover eliminating Powell and bringing back Nico before either of those things were public knowledge, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Bloodstone dies here too.

Issue 17 - Much more emphasis will likely be put on Apex and Deathlocket underground in this one, because largely they are getting skimmed over. I believe Apex will die here, and Deathlocket will become involved in the core finale twist where the corpses are being saved and preserved for the purpose of being brought back to life for some sort of horrible, poorly explained Hopeless plot device.

Issue 18 - Will solidify that all competitors will be returned to life at the end of the story, but probably contingent in some way upon there actually being a winner (for example, Arcade's island is set for Round Two at the deadline, but will vaporize everybody if there is not a final victor). Everybody will die but one, probably X-23, and then everybody will be raised from the dead with Arcade's godlike powers being handled by Deathlocket down in the lair, the one who already has experience in recovering from lethal injury.

Those are my predictions five months in advance. Watch me be wrong.