In the states, we celebrated Halloween last weekend.  There were a few costume ideas that I had in mind but nothing that was close in comparison to the live comic book character inspired by Roy Lichtenstein’s trademark benday dots process of painting.  The look was created by a MAC Cosmetics makeup artist, Karin Stone. Senior makeup artists from the company provided 21 face charts for the holiday season that were posted to their Facebook page. The Lichtenstein face chart is my favorite look!

This will be my inspiration for next Halloween. Check out the video below:

It’s amazing what brushes and makeup can do!

Source: MAC Cosmetics

The author/illustrator behind the chain of letters below, David Thorne, deserves recognition for being so witty with followup responses to a recently apartment inspection.  And if you enjoyed reading the below chain of letters, more of David’s dialogue can be viewed here.

Image Source: Geekologie via David Thorne

When it comes to cupcakes, my palate is quite simple.  A moist spongy cake with some sort of whipped cream will reel me in.  That is unless someone knew how to make a creme de cassis mousse cupcake.  Please contact me if you know how to make this.  But by way of garnishing, fondant (or fondit) has always fascinated me.  The above Totoro inspired cupcake created by Dagmar of A cat in the kitchen is simply a delight to look at.  The actual cake base sounds quite delectable with apples and maple syrup.  Should these Totoro cupcakes be accessible in DC Metroland, I would buy them in a heartbeat.  Simply because I’m such a sucker for anything Studio Ghibli.  On a relevant note, A cat in the kitchen included a recipe, but baking isn’t my forte.

Image Source: alafista.com via Shibuya Japan via A cat in the kitchen

Hulk SMASH!

When Dr. Bruce Banner exposed himself to Gamma radiation not a lot of people predicted it would change the face of comics forever. But it did. This week’s edition of Get To Know Your Superhero focuses on the big green monster known as The Incredible Hulk. I won’t go into every single detail of Hulk’s existence, but this edition will give you a quick glance into some of Hulk’s origins, his motivations and some interesting facts.

Hulk was created for Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1962.

Dr. Bruce Banner was a scientist researching Gamma radiation and after a botched experiment he was exposed changing his life forever.

After the experiment Banner gained the ability to turn into Hulk when he became angry.

Hulk’s powers are limitless strength depending on his emotional state, invulnerability to almost anything imaginable and the ability to leap into orbit.

Banner’s love interest is Betty Ross, the daughter of General Ross.

General Ross originally devoted his life to capturing the Hulk.

Betty and Bruce were a couple until the Gamma incident; she remained a good friend.

In 1998 Marvel made the decision to have Betty Ross die.

Hulk has appeared in 2 well known forms: Grey Hulk and Green Hulk

Grey Hulk is also know as Mr Fixit, a seedy Vegas tough guy

Green Hulk is also known as Savage Hulk, the unstable, emotionally driven angry version of Hulk.

Bruce Banner joined the superhero team The Avengers with Ironman, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp and eventually Captain America.

Although his strength is a major asset to the Avengers, Hulk eventually proves to be too unstable.

Sparking two of the most popular story lines in Marvel history, Hulk is shot deep into space after almost destroying Las Vegas.

A group of powerful mutants including Professor Xavier and Mr. Fantastic arrange to trick the Hulk into a entering a space shuttle and launch him into space forever.

This eventually sparked the World War Hulk story line which fed directly into the Marvel Civil War series.

If you would like to read more on World War Hulk, click here.

Lou Ferrigno portrayed The Hulk in a TV series from 1978 to 1982.

Eric Bana portrayed Bruce Banner in the Ang Lee fail Hulk feature film in 2003.

Edward Norton played Bruce Banner in the 2008 Louis Leterrier feature film version of Hulk.

It is rumored that Norton could reprise his role as Banner in the upcoming Avengers feature currently being planned by Marvel.

So there you have it, the bare bones of what you should be aware of concerning The Hulk. It is also interesting to note that Stan Lee created Hulk as a modern version of Frankenstein. Whether or not this Avengers flick actually happens I still think it’s good to know some of the important facts about the Hulk. Sure I only glazed over aspects like the his different personalities and the entire World War Hulk story line, but I figure if you know the beginnings, then you can source the rest of the info on your own. Until next kids…

Known as one of the three pillars of the DC universe, Wonder Woman (along with Superman and Batman) is one of the most classic characters ever to grace the page of a funny book. As we get closer and closer to Wonder Woman’s 60th Anniversary, I think we could all use a little bit of a refresher on who she is and what she has meant to the development of comics, sci-fi and culture. This week’s edition of Get To Know Your Superhero focuses on Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman was created by Willian Moulton Marston in 1941 for DC’s All Star Comics.

Wonder Woman’s origins are with a fictional society called the Amazon Women loosely based on Greek mythology.

The Amazon Women live on an isolated island without any men.

Wonder Woman’s powers include super speed, super strength and the ability to fly.

She also flies an invisible jet.

She carries with her the Lasso of Truth that when touched, forces one to speak only the truth.

She also wears a pair of indestructible bracelets she often uses to deflect enemy fire.

Wonder Woman came to our society after US pilot Steve Trevor crash landed on the Amazon’s island.

Princess Diana opposes her mother’s request and wins the right to return Trevor to the land of men.

Upon leaving the Amazon Women for the first time, Diana dawns the name Wonder Woman.

According to Athena, Wonder Woman is, “as beautiful as Aphrodite, as wise as Athena, swifter than Mercury and stronger than Hercules.”

When Wonder Woman first arrived in our world she had trouble adjusting to the male dominated society.

After meeting other super heroes and learning more about the compassion of individuals and not just the gender, she slowly began to accept men.

After a successful run of comics, Wonder Woman is now seen as a symbol of female empowerment.

She is also one of the original members of the Super Friends and Justice League.

Wonder Woman was voiced by Kerri Russel in a 2009 animated feature.

She has been featured in video games, television shows and producers have made numerous attempts to bring a live action Wonder Woman to the big screen.

From 1975-79, Lynda Carter played Wonder Woman for the TV series.

The ongoing saga to try and bring a live action Wonder Woman to the big screen will probably never end. Unlike Batman and Superman, the Wonder Woman franchise has had a ridiculous time finding the right people to create such a project. Big name directors like Joel Silver and Joss Whedon have tried to get the project off the ground, but to no avail. Even with names like Sandra Bullock and Catherine Zeta Jones expressing interest in a Wonder Woman project, studios have yet to take any substantial action. Wonder Woman as an icon might be too important to try and bring to the big screen, but with movie execs looking everywhere for the next big blockbuster moneymaker, I wouldn’t be surprised if a Wonder Woman feature film went into production within the next few years. Until then, enjoy these fast facts about Wonder Woman and I’ll be back next week.

When speaking of the Justice League there are usually the normal mainstays: Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Flash. But if you’ve ever seen a few episodes of the TV series or picked an issue of the JLA, then you might have noticed another character that always seems to be around. This character of course is the Martian Manhunter. As the Justice League and all of its characters begin to pry their way into pop culture, don’t forget to mention J’onn J’onzz as one of the pillars to the superhero team. This week’s edition of Get To Know Your Superhero will focus on The Martian Manhunter.

Martian Manhunter first appeared in 1955 and was created by Jack Miller and Joe Certa.

In an issue of Detective Comics a scientist manages to teleport Martian Manhunter from Mars to Earth.

Upon his arrival, Martian Manhunter finds the scientist dead and all of the knowledge of his teleportation technology is gone.

Martian Manhunter is then forced to remain on Earth until alien technology can develop something to bring him back to Mars.

During his tenure on Earth, Martian Manhunter creates the identity of detective John Jones.

The name Jon Jones comes from his actual name back on Mars J’onn J’onzz.

Martian Manhunter possesses the following powers: Shape-shifting, Super Strength, Super Speed, Martian Vision and Flight

He is vulnerable to fire.

J’onzz eventually revealed to Earth that he was in fact the Martian Manhunter and joins the Justice League of America.

After many missions filling in for Superman and becoming a staple in the JLA community, DC writers decided J’onn J’onzz’s time was over.

In the Infinite Crisis story line, Martian Manhunter is killed in front of an audience by Libra sparking one of the largest DC story lines in history.

J’onn J’onzz is portrayed by Phil Morris in the TV series Smallville.

Who know what the state of a rumored Justice League movie is right now, but if someone out there decides to bring the JLA to the big screen, they better not leave out one of its most important members. J’onn J’onzz is usually the “straight” character in a lot of the JLA story lines in that he is quite emotionless and tends to look at everything from a logical perspective. Where other, more human characters like Superman and Batman can let their emotions get in the way of their missions, Martian Manhunter is a stone wall. So there you have, Martian Manhunter, see ya’ll next week.

Last week’s Get To Know Your Superhero: Kick-Ass has prompted me to look a little further into the production of the film and since then there has been quite a bit of news to come out of the rumor mill. First up, director and story adapter Matthew Vaughn really had nothing more than an idea and Mark Millar’s permission to go ahead and start planning a film. Vaughn was without financing, without a script and without a cast. Fast forward a few months to Comic-Con and Vaughn’s Kick-Ass scenes played to a packed house resulting in a resounding standing ovation. Apparently Vaughn had been pumping in his own money because the original pitch to bring the comic book to screen didn’t attract as much attention as he would have liked. Now that fans have spoken and studio execs have seen some of the footage, Kick-Ass is becoming one of this year’s biggest movie properties prompting studios like Lionsgate, Paramount and Universal to take more than a second look.

Vaughn and the Kick-Ass crew still haven’t officially decided on what studio will represent them in theaters, but judging from the buzz this is generating around the comic book world, you can bet that one of the big boys is going to jump on board.

Kick-Ass will be an origin story of sorts that tells the tale of an average NYC teen looking to become a superhero. Although the concept sounds a bit Disney at first, the way Vaughn has already shot some of the film and the panels in the original comic book will show that Kick-Ass is not for the faint of heart. Blood-lust and smack-talking aside, Kick-Ass will still be entertaining for most audiences, and Vaughn promises that the flick will stay as true to the original book as possible. The film stars Aaron Johnson as the lead character Dave Lizewski, Nick Cage as Big Daddy and Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Red Mist (just to name a few). Be sure to keep tabs on this as filming concludes as we’re sure to get tons of images, viral videos and kick-ass web material to pass around.

Here’s the first as someone has posted some hand-cam footage of the Comic-Con trailer.

GI Joe day is here finally and New Era blesses us with several designs from the beloved 80’s cartoon turned live action movie.  Some of us are anticipating this movie and I’m sure there’s a large ratio of folks with a chip on their shoulders that have zero faith in the live action adaptation.  Regardless, its good to see New Era produced a bangin’ Cobra insignia 59Fifty cap.  I’m also feeling the two mural ones.  All four caps are available at the New Era flagship store in New York and online.

Image Source: STRICTLY FITTEDS

Marketing for Ironman 2 is now in full effect as Tony Stark’s company Stark Industries has launched a website calling for applications to join the team. As stated in his last big screen adventure, Tony Stark no longer makes weapons and according to the website, he wants everyone to understand this. So if you’re not doing anything for, well, the rest of your life and you want to help Stark Industries take the leap to the next level of scientific and technological design, go ahead and apply!

This is a screen shot of Tony’s official press release from www.starkindustriesnow.com

Marvel is a giant in the comic book industry. They are so powerful and so influential over the industry that one wrong move would be magnified to, well, comic book  proportions. Because of this, Marvel can come off as some what reluctant to take chances and produce something completely “different.” Thus, the creation of Icon and with it, the creation of a recent cult hit. This week’s edition of Get To Know Your Superhero dips into a modern character. This week’s edition is about Kick-Ass. Sit back and enjoy.

Kick-Ass was created independently by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr was first published under Marvel’s Icon in April 2008.

Before the comic was launched an anonymous Youtube video was uploaded showing footage of Kick-Ass.

Soon after a Myspace page for Kick-Ass appeared stating that Millar and Romita will be making a comic about his life.

The Myspace page also ran a global contest to see if anyone would name Kick-Ass – the winner was Dave Lizewski.

Dave Lizewski is a normal NYC high school student with a love of comics.

He loves comics so much that he become inspired to create a suit and fight crime.

After training himself for a while, Lizewski attempts to stop a mugging – the result was him getting his ass kicked.

After the beating he wanders into the streets only to be hit by a car.

Lizewski spent the next few months in rehab but returned to the streets.

Lizewski is then caught on cell-phone camera while saving a man from a mugging – the video landed on Youtube and was tagged with the named Kick-Ass.

Like many high school boys, Lizewski has a big crush on one of his friends Katie Deauxma.

After his massive beating, other students in his school started a rumor that Lizewski was a gay prostitute – but Lizewski went along with it because he was getting sympathy from his crush.

Kick-Ass now has an active Myspace page where people can call upon him for help.

On one of his first missions, Kick-Ass finds himself in trouble with a violent gang of thugs. All looks lost until he is saved by Hit-Girl.

Hit-Girl is an 11-year old sword swinging girl who fights crime with her father Big Daddy.

After being saved by Hit-Girl, Kick-Ass begins to notice that his Myspace page and Youtube video have inspired an entire subculture of superheros.

Kick-Ass is later approached by Red Mist, another costumed hero looking to team up.

It turns out that Red Mist is actually working for a drug dealer who later captures Kick-Ass.

Each issue of Kick-Ass features a different, real local comic book shop.

The Kick-Ass phenomenon will be coming to screen with the following cast – Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Lindsay Fonseca and Aaron Johnson.

Kick-Ass is probably one of the biggest comic characters to come out of 2008. A lot comic book fans focus on the originals or the classics, but there’s always room for something new and exciting and Kick-Ass is both of these things. So now when the film hits theaters some time next year you’ll be able to know exactly who is who and what is going on. Just don’t be that douchebag in the back of the theater who explains everything to his friends while the movie is playing. Until next time…..

With the live action GI Joe movie coming out this weekend, this t-shirt appears to come in great timing.  The age old question of what is the other “Half of the Battle” is finally answered in the form of a pie chart.  The only bummer is it starts shipping out August 14th, if you pre-order by the 7th.  But if you’re in it for nostalgic value and the quote from the public service announcements has been hardcoded in your head all these years, then this shirt is right for you.  Available here.

Image Source: The Awesomer via Nerduo

Growing up in North America we’ve all been treated with some amazing things in our childhoods. We live in a place where Disney has both a land and a world, where carnival food could be considered its own food group and where television basically raised an entire generation from the time we could open our eyes to, well, now. But for all of the privileges we seemingly take advantage of, we’ve definitely been missing out on one of the greatest international characters ever created. Good thing this week’s Get To Know Your Superhero focuses on Astro Boy – The world phenomenon (at least the world outside of North America).

Astro Boy was created in 1951 by Osamu Tezuka.

Astro Boy was originally created as Captain Atom in his very first Japanese manga.

After a freak accident resulting in the death of his son Tobio, Doctor Tenma creates a robotic version to replace the original.

Astro Boy embodies seven distinct robotic powers:

He speaks 60 languages

Hhe has the strength of 100,000 horses

His legs are flying jets

He has magnified hearing

Weapons can project from his mid-section when called upon

His electronic heart can glow and sway criminals away from being bad

His eyes can turn into lamps for night-vision

His fingertips are laser guns

According to the Astro Boy comics, he was born in 2003

In 2003 the city of Niiza registered him as a resident and promptly retired him into the Robot Hall of Fame.

The story of Astro Boy follows Astro’s adventures on Earth after Dr. Tenma rejects him for not being able to age and being void of all emotion.

Tenma sells Astro Boy to the circus, specifically the owner Hamegg.

After watching Astro perform in the robot circus one night, Doctor Ochanomizu adopts him and raises him as his own son.

Astro is constantly striving to prove that, even he as a robot, should be treated as an equal in a world of humans.

Astro is constantly called upon to save the world from impending danger and criminals at large.

The original Astro Boy manga ran from 1951 – 1968

Since then numerous companies have tried to profit from Astro Boy’s celebrity, but not until this year will Astro Boy grace the big screen in North America.

The Astro Boy feature film will hit theaters October 23, 2009. The film is already creating huge buzz around the world with just its star-studded cast. Voicing Astro is Freddie Highmore who will be joined by Kristen Bell, Bill Nighy, Nicolas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Charlize Theron and Samuel L. Jackson. So now when October hits and you see all of the hipsters in your neighborhood lining up at the theater, you’ll know exactly why. Who knows how Astro Boy will be received as a North American feature film, but really, who cares?

This past weekend marked one of the year’s biggest events in terms of pop culture and entertainment. Comic-Con 2009 closed the books yesterday evening and like so many years previous, people will be talking about it for a while. I posted a few interesting things to come out of the convention a few days ago, but now that the event is over I can point out some of the biggest news that people will be following.

First up, James Cameron’s Avatar. This was probably one of the most anticipated panels / talks of the year where Cameron would screen some footage of his upcoming IMAX release Avatar. Movie fans have been buzzing about this project for over a year and Cameron didn’t disappoint. It’s impossible to show footage of his presentation because the web could never do justice due to the sheer size of the project. Just know that Cameron’s Avatar will be making huge news throughout the next calendar year.

Next was the public screening of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. After a lot of talk, rumors, leaked photos and random forum news, Disney finally released the trailer for the upcoming Wonderland adventure. You can check the trailer below:

Fans camped out the night before to get a good seat and a glimpse of the next big thing to come out of the Twilight Saga. New Moon premiered the latest public footage. Check the clips below and please disregard the screaming camera woman.

John Favreau brought up the entire cast of Iron Man 2 and showed 5 minutes of footage. Unfortunately Marvel hasn’t released the footage to the web, but you can check out a clip of the panel here:

There was TONS of news that dropped throughout the 4 day event and trying to wrap all of it up in one post would be criminal. If you’re interested in something specific, leave a comment and I’ll post more.

Heres something to get excited over in the upcoming year.  Madhouse Studios in conjunction with Marvel Animation will take on a project of redefining Iron Man and Wolverine as anime.  Not a whole lot of information was divulged.  So I’m curious to see if there will be differences in story, character history and background from the American counterparts.  After viewing the teaser trailers, I’m definitely looking forward to a final product.  Check the trailers below.

Image Source: Sankaku Complex

Yesterday I posted some of the projected highlights for Thursday’s opening day events at Comic-Con and from the sounds of it, nobody disappointed.

I’ll start this wrap-up of the first day with the biggest news for a lot of James Cameron fans. As many of you already know, Cameron is taking over the 3D and IMAX world with his feature film Avatar. Comic-Con attendees were treated to 25 minutes of the film and an intimate chat with Cameron himself. A few highlights were when stars Sigourney Weaver and Zoe Saldana graced the stage and spoke about the movement work they’ve done as well as the mythology that will surround the flick. From what fans can gather so far, Avatar follows the story of a paralyzed soldier in a distant world who volunteers himself and his body to become a hybrid of two species. The result is apparently astounding. Avatar is being pegged as an “experience,” more than a movie and after Cameron announced that August 21st will be “Avatar Day,” everyone is looking to check it out. Avatar Day will mark Cameron’s first big marketing push with his new film as he will be taking over IMAX screens all over the world and show 15 minutes of the move for free.

Onto the next big panel, New Moon. I won’t go into too much detail over what was said cause the nice folks over at ropeofsilicon.com have posted some video. Have a look if you can bare the noise of thousands of screaming fans.

The final bit of huge news that I’ll mention I actually posted yesterday, that being the trailer for Alice In Wonderland. Head on over to yesterday’s post to see it.

Today brings the following:

Warner Bros Presents: Where The Wild Things Are, The Book of Eli, Nightmare on Elm Street, Sherlock Holmes and Jonah Hex – Not sure who will be attending the panel, but with a lineup of flicks like that, I’m sure there will be a few big names.

24 – Kiefer Sutherland and newcomer Katee Sackhoff as well as other cast members will be previewing season 8 of the FOX hit

Focus Features Presents: 9 – Another highly anticipated animated feature will screen never-before-seen footage as well as a panel.

Sony Pictures Presents: Legion and District 9 – More footage from Sony’s upcoming projects as well as a panel including Paul Bettany and Peter Jackson

There are a ton of panels going on today so I’m sure we’ll be getting lots of new footage as the hours pass. I’ll be back tomorrow to wrap up today’s ongoings as well as preview what’s to come for Saturday.

As some followers might have already guessed, The Bloated Penguin is kind of the resident nerd here in the Killahbee-hive. I blog about most things geek from comics and movies to video games and TV shows so this weekend marks one of the biggest global events for someone like me. That event of course is the 2009 San Diego Comic-con. Although I am not physically attending this year’s event, I’ll do my best to update everyone on what’s coming out of San Diego this weekend.

First up, some highlights in the schedule of panel speakers and presentations for Thursday. If you’ve never been to a panel presentation then you’re surely missing out as you get to see producers, actors, creators and artists in their natural form without a camera in their face all of the time.

Summit Entertainment Presents: Astroboy – A sneak peak at the fully animated CG adventure feature film based on the popular cartoon from the early 80’s. Panel will include Kristen Bell, Freddie Highmore and David Bowers.

Disney: 3D Panel – Disney will be showing unseen footage from their upcoming flicks A Christmas Carol, Alice In Wonderland and Tron and live guests include Robert Zemeckis and Tim Burton and moderator Patton Oswalt.

Spotlight on Kevin Eastman – Comic-con brings legendary comic creator Kevin Eastman to fans in a talk about his early works, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and some of his future projects.

Summit Entertainment Presents: New Moon – A sneak peak at the latest footage from the Twilight saga featuring some surprise cast members.

20th Century FOX and James Cameron Present: Avatar – Probably one of the most anticapted panels of the entire convention, James Cameron will reveal information and a few scenes from his upcoming project Avatar

Kick-Ass – Mark Millar’s popular comic Kick-Ass comes to screen with a sneak peak at early footage. Panel includes Matt Vaughn and Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Green Lantern: First Flight Premier – Fans get a fist look at the full screening of the Green Lantern animated feature from DC

That’s it for today, but check back tomorrow for a wrap-up and preview of the weekend’s ongoing.

If someone tells you that there’s this comic book character who carries around a hammer and wears a helmet with little wings you might want to reconsider before you burst out with laughter. Although the Mighty Thor may look strange in comparison to some of the spandex-clad heroes you’re used to, he’s by no means any less awesome. With an Avengers flick in the planning stages Marvel Studios has added a Thor feature film to their repetoire, but before you flock to the theaters, you might want to check out this latest edition of Get To Know Your Superhero: Thor.

Thor was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1962.

Lee wanted to create a character that was stronger than Hulk, so he used Norse mythology to introduce Thor as a god.

Thor is the son of Odin.

Odin felt that his son needed a lesson in humility so he placed Thor on Earth with no memory of being a god.

On Earth, Thor was given the persona of Donald Blake.

Donald Blake was a successful surgeon who fell in love with his nurse, Jane Foster.

After living almost an entire lifetime as Donald Blake, his true identity was revealed.

Donald Blake learned of his ability to turn into Thor and was able to balance both personas.

Eventually Odin felt Thor had learned his lesson and separated the two.

Thor now garnered an affinity for protecting Earth and its inhabitants.

Thor possess many powers such as the ability to control the weather, un-matchable strength and stamina and the ability to fight.

He also possesses two very important and mystical pieces of equipment, his belt and hammer.

His belt enables him to control the elements while his hammer contains the power of Odin.

Thor absorbed the “Odinforce,” when Odin died, but used almost all of its power in a battle with Bor, one of his foes.

After this occurrence, Doctor Strange transferred the Odinforce from Thor to his hammer linking his power to his weapon.

Thor’s most epic battles have come against his adopted brother Loki.

Loki is more of a magician than anything and at one point actually uses his spells to call upon Hulk. The result was Thor having to defeat Hulk and the subsequent creation of The Avengers.

Really, this is jus the tip of the iceberg of the history of Thor, but if you’re really interested in the Norse god you’ll be happy to hear about the feature film being put together for Marvel. So now, when you hit the theaters in a couple of years to check out the Thor feature, you’ll know at least the basics.

Alright, so usually this spot is reserved for a super “hero,” or at the very least someone who possesses some good qualities, but this week is much different. In fact, this week’s post will focus on one of the most ultimate evils that has ever graced the inside of a funny book. This week’s Get To Know Your Superhero will focus on Doomsday. Sit back and enjoy the ride as some of you will be enlightened by facts about the “thing,” that killed Superman.

Doomsday was created by DC Comic writer and artist Dan Jurgens in 1992.

According to DC mythology, Doomsday was actually created on Superman’s home planet of Krypton long before the Kryptonian race existed.

During this era, Krypton was overrun by violent creatures and only the strongest would be able to survive.

The surface of Krypton served as a scientific breeding ground for Bertron who sent an infant being there to be slaughtered.

The remains of the slaughtered infant were then harvested on the planet in hopes that through generations of natural selection, this being would prove to be the strongest alive.

Although Bertron’s plan worked and Doomsday was eventually created, the memories of thousands of deaths were burned into the genes of this being creating an unstoppable angry force.

Originally characterized simply as “The Ultimate,” this being destroyed everything on the planet including Bertron.

Doomsday first left Krypton when he stowed away on a supply ship and went on a killing spree throughout the universe.

During his killing spree, Doomsday was confronted by a team of Green Lanterns all of whom he disposed of.

Eventually Doomsday landed on a planet and was stopped, but because of his ability to become reborn with the memories of death, he was able to return.

Knowing this, the inhabitants of a planet called Calaton sacrificed their own planet to encase Doomsday in shackles and a mask for all of eternity, then shot him back into space.

Eventually the ship containing Doomsday crash landed on Earth but the force of the crash drove Doomsday and the ship deep into the Earth’s surface.

When Doomsday awoke and broke free from his grave, he destroyed many members of the Justice League until Superman was called upon.

Doomsday also contains the ability to sense Kryptonians so he goes on a global hunt for Superman that concludes in a climactic battle in the middle of Metropolis.

In a last ditched effort to save humanity, Superman sacrificed himself and struck a final blow with his remaining energy that destroyed Doomsday.

The aftermath of Superman’s death revealed that 2 people that claimed they were the real Superman. One of these men was a cyborg who strapped Doomsday’s body to an asteroid and launched him back into space.

But Doomsday was not gone, in fact he wakes up on a familiar planet.

At this time the real Superman has returned and become obsessed with defeating Doomsday once and for all.

Superman travels to meet Doomsday for a final battle, only to discover that Doomsday grows stronger with defeat.

Eventually Superman realizes that Doomsday will never “die,” so he traps Doomsday at The End of Time.

Later, Brainiac devised a plan to combine his own genius with the strength of Doomsday so he went to The End of Time to combine with him.

Brainiac’s plan failed as he was unable to combine with Doomsday, but he did learn how to create similar monster to stop Superman.

Brainiac then traveled to Earth and tried to possess the infant child of Pete Ross and Lana Lang only to be stopped once again by Superman.

Superman trapped Brainiac’s Doomsday clone on the moon where he will never again fully exist in one universe.

The real Doomsday was eventually visited by some of Lex Luthor’s men in an attempt to control him to defeat another ultimate enemy, Imperiex.

Imperiex proved to be too much for even Doomsday as he was blasted until only a skeleton remained.

Doomsday was then brought back to full strength on Earth for the anniversary of his original battle with Superman only to be defeated once and for all by Superman who imprisoned him on another planet.

Doomsday is the closest thing to a perfect evil DC has ever gotten to with regards to enemies of Superman. He proved his strength by destroying Superman once, then his drive by constantly coming back to life and even his psychological power as Superman became obsessed with defeating him. He’s literally an unstoppable force created for the sheer purpose of death and destruction. Doomsday may not ever “die,” but DC has made numerous attempts to send him away only to bring him back when there is a good reason to do so. You can check out a watered down version of Doomsday’s battle with Superman with the DVD version of Superman/Doomsday, but I would suggest picking up a trade paper back version of the original story. It’s quite gruesome and shows a lot of Superman’ own vulnerability.

Heard a little rumour this morning that Justin Timberlake is going in for a screen test to play the Green Lantern. Although completely unconfirmed (and please take with a rock of salt), Warner Brothers is currently running screen tests with a few select people to play Hal Jordan in the upcoming Green Lantern flick. Another name that has been floating around has been Chris Pine from Star Trek, but we can now throw the N’Sync alum into the big pool of possibilities. Even though the musician-to-movie-star road is never taken well, Timberlake has some chops. His regular appearances on SNL are always blog worthy and a little flick called Alpha Dog from a few years ago wasn’t half bad either. Don’t get me wrong, it’s probably a bad idea, but if you had to choose a musician to make the transition to the screen in a feature role, I think JT is one of the safer bets.

**UPDATE**

It is now being reported that the three finalists to play Hal Jordan are Timberlake, Bradley Cooper from The Hangover and Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool).

**UPDATED AGAIN**

It is now officially confirmed that Green Lantern will be played by Ryan Reynolds.

Not sure how much everyone out there knows about Ironman 2, but it has been confirmed that Tony Stark’s nemesis in the sequel will be none other than Whiplash. Whiplash is one of Ironman’s original foes and keeping with the theme of this weekly post, here is some info you might find interesting concerning Mickey Rourke’s latest character. So here’s Whiplash in the latest edition of Get To Know Your Superhero:

Whiplash first appeared in Marvel comics in 1968 and was created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan.

His real name is Mark Scarlotti.

Scarlotti, like Tony Stark, is a genius level weapon developer.

Scarlotti worked for the crime organization named Maggia.

While working for Maggia, Scarlotti took an assignment to go undercover and work for Stark Industries to steal intelligence and eventually take down Tony Stark.

During his time as a weapons developer, Scarlotti developed duo cybernetically controlled titanium whips that he uses to deflect bullets, smash his opponents and vault his body over obstacles.

Once the whips were developed, Scarlotti became Whiplash and attacked Tony Stark.

Whiplash is defeated at the hands of Ironman and his body is returned to Maggia.

Whiplash, embarrassed, is kicked out of Maggia and changes his name to Backlash.

Backlash blames Tony Stark and Ironman for his demise and vowed revenge.

After a short time of trying to live a normal life, Scarlotti is contacted by Maggia again with a job to assassinate another scientist.

Backlash agrees, but is stopped by Rhodey and Spiderman and thrown in prison.

When he is released, Scarlotti is contacted by crime lord Justin Hammer to become a freelance thug.

Backlash is also contacted by The Architect to compete against other villains for a large cash prize. Craving a normal life, Scarlotti agrees to go to NYC.

Backlash is then defeated by Bullet and brought to the hospital where he calls his wife to come clean.

Scarlotti’s wife agrees to go to NYC and bring his costume – but she is brutally murdered by an assassin named Shatter-Head.

Backlash eventually find Shatter-Head and snaps his neck.

Around this time Ironman (Tony Stark) returned from another dimension and Backlash changed his name back to Whiplash.

Whiplash goes on a hunt for Tony Stark when he is met by the Ironman costume (at this point the costume can control itself letting Stark and Ironman coexist).

The Ironman costume beats Whiplash to death and drops his body into a river.

So there you have it. Whiplash is a very torn character who basically represents the opposite of Tony Stark. He is resentful, not heroic and can be bought. Now that you have some back story on Whiplash, you can go into the theater next Summer and impress your friends with your knowledge of Tony Stark’s latest villain.