assault

Real-world or new characters? I'll assume the latter and give a similar breakdown to the villains above: 19 Americans (or at least spent most of their time in the US if they came from elsewhere), 6 Brits, 3 Canadians, 2 Russians, and one each from France, China and Gabon.

Alt-Right trolls argue for hours with Twitter botSo many uses...

I used to have a Schwinn stingray "bmx" bike. Banana seat, one of those big,clunky, pot-metal double goosenecks, and dirt-bike m/c handlebars.
 

 
This is almost exactly it.
 
I used to jump everything. After many crazy stunts over a couple of years, I attempted to jump 14 aluminum trashcans lying on their sides crosswise - like this I I I I I I I I I I I
 
I cleared them, but when I landed the handlebars, gooseneck, column, forks, and front wheel snapped off the the rest of the frame. The back half of the frame fell away from under me. I ran about a half-dozen steps carrying the front half before I lost my balance and went down.
 
It was totally awesome!

More fun = more good, and Greatest American Hero was a lot of fun.

New York monument honors victims of giant octopus attack that never occurred
 

THIS - I would like those who consider the current crop on TV unwatchable dreck to provide their current comic reads for comparison.
 

 
AND THIS FOR SURE! - What superhero shows? The Incredible Hulk? Thing Ring Do Your Thing? Oh, for those thrilling days of yesteryear...NOT.
 
In that vein, finally made time to see Suicide Squad yesterday. Thanks to the cooler heads on the Boards for the points in the right direction. Hamlet it's not, nor should it be, and it takes some liberties with some of the characters, but had I walked in not knowing the movie's title or premise, that was definitely Amanda Waller and Harley Quinn. Katana, Croc and El Diablo were pretty good work at bringing those characters to life as well. Deadshot deviates the most from the comics, but there's his costume, his core premise is unchanged and he worked well in the movie. And Capt Boomerang? Well, he was in the whole series, before recent reboots, and that's probably as close as we'll get in a live action medium, so OK.
 
And I loved the name on the building - definitely good when the movies shout out the real creators.

I'm OK with villains dying in the Marvel movies, as long as the heroes lose all their Karma.

Yeath.

And here I thought he was big because he got bit by a radioactive giant.

Glenn Frey Bronze Statue Is Taking It Easy, Standing on the Corner in Winslow, Arizona
 

In happier news...
 
Archaeologists discover 18th century pub full of untouched bottles of brandy

MCU Cap makes a great Superman IMO. Heck, his power level isn't much lower than the original.

If I could, I would like to divert the discussion of idealism and ethics in comic-book characters for a moment to Marvel's recent Civil War movie. In this movie we see Captain America portrayed as a man of strong convictions and principles, an inspiration to people around him; but also a man who's imperfect, who makes mistakes (as he admits himself). Those mistakes weigh on him, but he doesn't give up the fight because of them, because he knows the consequences of his not acting would be worse.
 
But this movie places him in a situation where the issues of right and wrong aren't clear-cut, where it isn't initially obvious what the "right thing" to do is. Cap struggles with whether or not to compromise his principles for what he keeps being told is the "greater good." But once circumstances lead him to make up his mind, he has no more doubt or hesitation. That was true during the famous airport fight scene, and I was struck by the contrast between Cap and Tony Stark when they confronted each other. Stark is nearly breaking from the stress of what he's trying to do; Cap is calm and resolute, sure of what he needs to do. The kind of man you can believe other people would follow.
 
That's how you make these larger-than-life idealistic characters interesting and realistic, yet still inspirational. You present them with issues that test their beliefs, but see them overcome the challenge and stand firm in the end.

Well, we are using the word fix in the same sense as when we say that we took the family dog to the vet to be be fixed.

Go see if you can break someone's neck by twisting their head. We'll wait right here!

I just want to say that I approve of this Freudian slip or pun, whichever it is.

Are you calling us layabouts?

No one drinks Fosters, only foreigners & expats in dire need of beer.

No thanks.

I hope Scott Bennie won't mind me reprinting this, but for this topic I just couldn't resist.   Scott often plays Champions Online, usually as his longtime superhero PC alter-ego, Thundrax. From time to time he also posts bits of CU-based fiction featuring that character to the CO website discussion forums. Not long ago Scott put up this bit of Thundrax fiction relating to Batman vs Superman, which I hope you'll find as satisfying as I did. Following are Scott's words:
 
 
(Warning: Spoilers for Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Note, this is an IC fiction piece only and not a review of the movie, which many have enjoyed, and which many have also criticized.)






“Isn’t this great?” Sean exclaimed, munching on his popcorn. “This fight is gonna be awesome!”

Craig squirmed in his seat, sighing. It was bad enough when Sean dragged him to this movie the first time, but he wanted to watch it again? Teenagers. He muttered something about Christopher Reeve under his breath.

“Come on Batman,” Sean grinned. “Kick his ass again!”

Craig snorted in disgust, and finally rose to his feet. People immediately snarled at him to sit down. Sean winced. “Uncle Craig, you’re wrecking the movie!”

“Incubus,” Thundrax said with a growl, referring to an omnipotent, malevolent cosmic imp with whom he'd clashed repeatedly over the years. “You remember that favor you once promised me, as long as it’s totally selfish? I’m calling it in.”

With that, Craig walked into the screen.

“Who are you?” Batman and Superman exclaimed together. Craig shook his head.

“The “S” stands for hope?” Craig said. “How about for “stupid”. You’ve got an hour to find your mom, and you waste it on a fight scene? Duh. Superspeed, moron. Use it. Not to mention access to a crack investigative team who might move the damn planet to find a popular co-worker’s kidnapped mom.” He turned on Batman. “And you! Lex Luthor’s bitch!” He placed a Lexcorp logo over the bat symbol on his chest.

“I can take you down too.” the Bat growled.

“Shut up, Luthor's bitch. Oh, by the way, when you said that a 1% chance of him being hostile made you perform an action that has a much higher chance of turning a potentially deadly alien into an enemy... so damn stupid. I so wanted to hit you in the face."

"Try it."

"Give me a break. Even if I wasn't playing Rod Sterling for a day..."

"That's Serling," Superman corrected.

"Fine. Even if I wasn't playing Rod Serling for a day, you don't know my abilities and you haven't made preparations to handle me, so you're hosed." Craig answered. “But for now you’re going to stop being an emotionally stunted three year old and listen to me as I explain everything Luthor’s done to set up this fight. Also, to cut to he chase and quote the Brady Bunch, Martha, Martha, Martha.”

“Wasn’t that Marcia?” Superman wondered.

“Details, Details,” Thundrax chided dismissively. “And as long as I’m here…” Craig concentrated and the sky cleared. Batman shielded his eyes. “Man, no wonder you’re all angry and depressed. This palette makes Caprice look cheery and wholesome.”

“What’s Caprice?” Superman again wondered.

“Shut up. I’m talking.” Craig snapped, and he explained to Batman everything Luthor had done to set up the climactic showdown. He could see Batman's face drop by the end of the very long explanation. “Some detective you are. You still want to fight, Luthor’s bitch?”

Batman said nothing.

“Good. Now, bad CGI Doomsday is on his way, so don’t throw out the Kryptonite spear, give it to Wonder Woman instead, she’s tough enough to handle it, not to mention Amazon training. Okay, I think I’ve done enough for you two morons. This thing is almost as dumb as Thundrax the movie, and that’s saying a lot. But remember you two. Adult yourself. Testosterone can be controlled.”

With that, Craig stepped back out of the picture and returned to his seat, smiling in deep satisfaction. Sean Doerksen dumped his popcorn on the Canadian hero and, hands on his hips, shouted angrily at the Canadian.

“That was the best fight scene ever and you ruined it!” He paused to hyperventilate. “Never take a superhero to see a superhero movie! You’re worse than dad!”

Craig settled back in his seat and chuckled, drinking in the dirty looks of the rest of the audience.

I could've lived with a Superman movie where Superman is eventually placed in a situation where he is forced to kill someone. That alone wouldn't have "ruined" MoS for me if the movie up to that point had been any damn good. But they lost me at Letting Pa Kent Die By Tornado Because I'm An Emo Chickenshit.

Not the presidential race, but political to a degree.
 
My state, NC, has passed a law called HB2 which had three announced parts when it was signed in. The first part is that transgendered people have to go to the bathroom of their sex on their birth certificate. The second was discrimination cases would have to go to federal court instead of state court (which was repealed), and no city could write an ordinance that might be considered infringing on the state's power. The first part of the law was struck down for public schools by the 4th District. Charlotte Meckleburg went back to allowing trans to go to their appropriate bathroom and told the governor to suck it.
 
Delivering the Journal today, I noticed that McCrory stated that another part of the law not commented on was a minimum wage freeze for the state, and he blamed the law on the chamber of commerce for helping to write it.
 
Seriously a wage freeze in the middle of a discrimination law. I am glad my son talked me into voting. I can't wait to vote against this goon.
CES 

If only...
 
Footage claims to show Tasmanian Ttiger roaming Adelaide hills.
 
Yowie sighting in bushland near Toowoomba.

Evidence of 9,000-year-old stone houses found on Australian island.
 

Evidence of 9,000-year-old stone houses found on Australian island.