This idea was inspired by Astro City and its real time aging component. The premise is what if Marvel Heroes aged in real time. The focus is on the third generation of the Fantastic Four, the teenage descendants of various heroes.
MEET THE TEAM:
Reed Richard‘s successor is Bianca Von Doom. She is the daughter of Valeria Richards and Bentley-23 (son/clone of the Wizard). She inherited her mother’s fondness of the Latvarian Monarch and legally changed her last name to Von Doom. Bianca is a brilliant inventor like her parents and her grandparents. Her hubris unfortunately led to the disfigurement of her twin brother, Bentley. Her most notable Invention is R.E.I.D (Remote Exploration Intelligence Droid). It is a swarm of microscopic H.E.R.B.I.E’s composed of Unstable Molecules that functions as a utility fog. It can transform any device Bianca needs.
Visual reference for R.E.I.D swarm component (H.E.R.B.I.E by by Jamal Igle)
Ben Grimm‘s successor is Bentley Richards. He is the twin brother of Bianca Von Doom. He inherited his father’s and uncle’s love for adventure/daredevil attitude. Bentley is frequently the test subject for his sister’s experiments. His natural body was consumed during the testing of an Exploratory Thing Suit. Fortunately, his parents, with assistance from Alyssa Moy, restored a semblance of his natural form through the integration of a life model decoy. On the surface, his current form is a life model decoy replica of his original body. Internally, it is a next generation Thing Suit with the offensive capabilities of Mindless One and quantum-enhancements of Cosmic Man’s molecular structure. Its structure is enhanced by cosmic earth, water, and wind. The force beam is augmented by cosmic fire.
Visual Reference for Bentley’s mechanical nature (Livewires by Adam Warren)
Sue Richard‘s successor is Walter Bruce Hayes. He is the son of Molly Hayes and Skaar. He is the baby of the group, he is idealistic just like his mother was at his age. His mother’s mutant gene and his father’s hybrid irradiated genes resulted in his Gamma-enhanced personal telekinetic field. Walter manipulates it into simulating superhuman strength, accelerated speed, invulnerability, and instantaneous healing. His field strength is linked to his emotional state like others of Banner ancestry. Like his mother, his eyes glow and his body is surrounded by an aura when his powers are activated.
Visual Reference for Walter’s powers (Molly Hayes by Jo Chen)
Johnny Storm‘s successor is Henrietta Pym. She is the granddaughter of Peter Parker and Henry Pym. Her posthuman biology led to a severe birth defect that led to her heart being replaced with a synthezoid prosthesis. She has a normal childhood until she hit puberty. Some time after her thirteenth birthday, the heart triggered her dormant posthuman genes. Henrietta transformed her into an ionic being similar to Wonder Man. This ionic form grants her evolved extrasensory perceptiom that enables her to control bugs and use their senses to extend her perception. She also gained superhuman strength, enhanced agility, hyper flexibility, bioelectric sting generation, wall crawling, and density manipulation.
Visual reference for Henrietta’s powers (Astra Furst by Alex Ross)
I don’t know about you but I would never expect to see body modification, body horror, or genetic experimentation in a ninja themed manga. It’s all in Masahi Kishimoto’s Naruto.
Disclaimer: THE CONTENT BELOW IS FILLED WITH SPOILERS! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN PERIL!
Madara Uchiha implanted his rival, Hashirama Senju’s DNA into his body and gained his botanical manipulation ninjutsu. A strange growth that resembled Hashirama appeared on his chest as a result.
Obito, descendant of the legendary Uchiha clan, was grievously injured in combat and would have perished without Madara’s intervention. Madara replaced damaged limbs with White Zetsu parts (a White Zetsu is essentially an artificial plant being derived from Hashirama Senju and possessing botanical manipulation and shape shifting abilities). Obito could sprout thorns and grow trees from his Zetsu parts.
Nagato, a descendant of the Uzumaki clan and recipient of Madara’s Rinnegans (a Rinnegan is an ocular mutation possessed by the creator of ninjutsu, the Sage of the Six Path). He was able to manifest black rods on his back which enabled him to animate cadavers, replicate the Rinnegan within them, and utilize the Sage ninjutsu through them. He is able to “operate” 6 proxies remotely, see through their eyes, and coordinate attacks.
Nagato:
Nagato’s Proxies:
Kabuto, the medical ninja and faithful apprentice of Orochimaru, build upon the genetic research of his master & experimented on himself. He integrated his master’s true form (Orochimaru’s true form is serpentine and composed of a mass of white snakes as a result of his experimentation) into himself and the genetic material of Orochimaru’s elite minions. Kabuto’s skin became scaly and white, his eyes became serpentine and he gained a body similar to a naga (with a chimera tail). When he entered Sage Mode, he regained humanoid legs, grew horns, and the “chimera tail” moved to his belly button. His “tail” could replicate the forms of the genetic donors & manifest their unique abilities.
Default Mode:
Sage Mode:
Shin Uchiha is a former test subject and experiment of Orochimaru. His unique body accepted all transplanted organs and genetic material. He was cloned in order to discover the secret of his unique physiology. He possesses a transplanted Sharingan eye in his right eye socket (a Sharingan is an ocular mutation unique to the Uchiha clan and consumes a massive amount of energy when transplanted in and used by non-Uchiha). He has numerous Sharingans all over his body. He can teleport with his fully evolved eye and control objects he marked telekinetically. He can see through a proxy Sharingan creature and utilize the teleportation ability.
Spy Creature:
Art Acknowledgements:
Original Art by Masashi Kishimoto and the animation cells are by Studio Pierrot
The previous post inspired me to refine the idea and give it more thought. Recalled the original Inferno storyline and the motivation of the major players.
Inferno Cable Revisited:
Darkchilde & N’astirh are warring with Goblin Queen for control of the Battle World’s the Inferno region. So it would be high possibility that Chibi Nate would be a target of Darkchilde & N’astirh’s forces. Illyana used the corrupted & transformed Nightcrawler to breach Madelyn’s defenses & kidnap Nate.
While captive, Illyana tried to corrupt him and created bloodstones from his soul. This process triggered a strange reaction with his TO infection, his dark soul persona, Stryfe, was born. Stryfe has goblin-like features similar to Darkchilde & exhibits symptoms of the transmode virus. N’astirh took him on as an apprentice and shared part of Belasco’s grimoire. With his processor-like mind, he instantly mastered the eldritch algorithms.
His parents managed to rescue him from Darkchilde’s clutches. His mother placed him under the tutelage of Doctor Strange where he mastered his Stryfe form.
Nate is able to switch between his human & Stryfe forms. His Stryfe form possesses enhanced strength, speed, rapid regeneration & limited metamorphic capabilities. He instinctively wields offensive, defensive, & curative eldritch algorithms. This form can injury or kill supernatural entities.
Visual Reference of Stryfe:
By Javier Garron
By Tom Raney
Stryfe would have a body similar to Darkchilde & have a furry torso like Brute.
Yesterday’s nerdery inspired me to expand upon the seed planted yesterday.
My idea takes place in a reality where the military–industrial complex reigns supreme and controls over every innovation made by super scientists like Reed Richards, Hank Pym, Tony Stark etc.
A Doop Ring is a portable storage device that contains items within a simulated Doop Land (pocket dimension used by Doop to store things).
(Art by Mike Allred, belongs to Marvel Comics)
A Gamma Blaster is a M79 grenade launcher re-purposed to discharge concentrated Gamma bursts.
An Inferno Revolver is an improvised flamethrower created from a Colt Army Model 1860 integrated with Pyronanos (a hive race of giant burning nanomachine-based robots derived from the android Human Torch’s cells). The flames are hotter than the flames created by Jim Hammond.
A Kirby Battery is a portable derivative of the engine of the Marvel, an extradimensional Kree vessel. It converts the user’s belief into energy. All of the firearms are equipped with a battery.
A Pym Particle Pistol is a custom Heckler & Koch USP with a built-in molecular assembler. It manufactures and fires smart bullets derived from Unstable Molecules saturated with Pym Particles.
The bullets possess the following traits:
A target lock feature with Z-axis manipulation to phase through any obstacle (civilian or barrier) to reach the target or increase its density to diamond hardness to penetrate armor.
Y-axis manipulation will propel the projectile towards the target.
X-axis manipulation will cause the bullet to expand to the size of a rocket and gain an ionic payload similar to Simon William’s energy discharge.
A Repulsor Carbine is a firearm developed from an application of Stark’s Repulsor Ray technology. It discharges concussive energy bolts.
(This image is the property of LucasArts)
An ultimative Aufhebung is a prototype Ultimate Nullifier created from a WWII Mauser C96. It completely eliminates any target the wielder chooses.
Reverbium Grenade is an oscillation-based explosive device derived from Horizon Lab’s artificial Vibranium experiments. Reverbium doesn’t absorb vibrations, it does the opposite and blows everything away.
SGH (Strontian Growth Hormones) is a variant of Mutant Growth Hormones created from cellular samples retrieved from Kubark. It temporarily grants the user genetic traits of a Strontian: superhuman strength, superhuman speed, superhuman stamina, invulnerability, superhuman agility, superhuman reflexes, flight, heat beams, super breath, microscopic vision, and psi resistance.
The Howlett Strain is a fleet of nano-Sentinels that simulate the function of James Howlett’s healing factor
Continuing my series on the best of 2012, I now present my 10 favorite novels of the previous year. For a lot of reasons, I didn’t get to read quite as much as I wanted to over the past year. My New Year’s resolution — well, one of them — is to do better in 2013.
Without further ado, here’s my list. All 10 of the novels provided an entertaining, thought-provoking read over the past year and you should read them all.
1) The Great Escape by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
2) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
3) Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel
4) Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
5) This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
6) The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall
7) The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
8) Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz
9) Blue Moon Bay by Lisa Wingate
10) On Demon Wings by Karina Halle
Coming up tomorrow, it’s the list that we’ve all been waiting for — my favorite 26 films of 2012!
Had an idea for one of the most overlooked X-Men, Japheth aka Maggott. For those who never encountered the character, he was created by Scott Lobdell & Joe Madureira. He appeared around the same time as the Magneto clone, Joseph. He had a history with the real Magneto, “Erik” freed the slugs from Japheth’s body and revealed that he was a mutant. He served as an X-Man after the Zero Tolerance event and he was demoted to Generation X after Hank McCoy suggested that he needs more training. He was eventually captured by a reformed Weapon X program and murdered in the Neverland death camp, resurrected as magical techno-organic zombie during the Necrosha event, and apparently teaches at the Jean Grey School
He was billed for having the strangest mutant powers ever! His digestive system manifested as twin biomechanical slugs that exited his abdomen to consume and returned when their meal was over. They transferred energy to him, changing his skin blue & granting him superhuman strength. He also possessed psychometry and it allows him to draw psychic residue from his environment. The slugs were sensitive to magic and mystical energy. His main weakness was, he couldn’t be separated from the slugs too long or he would starve.
My idea involves Mojo and particularly Spiral and her Body Shoppé. Mojo sees great rating potential in Japheth but he believes that he first needs a makeover. Spiral abducts him, modifies him based on Mojo’s orders, and dumps him in the Savage Land. His slugs (the slug experimented on by Nathaniel Essex and the remaining one) were integrated on a molecular level and dispersed throughout his body. His mutant digestive system had evolved into a tactile consumption aura. Japheth can now feed through touch. His stomach cavity contains a biomechanical battery that stores the energy gained from eating and augments his enhanced state. He can expel the excess energy as a corrosive energy burst. His psychometry and the slugs’ sensitivity to magic grew to the point of Parker’s ESP.
I have been toying around with Pusher Man reintroduction ideas.
**Those who haven’t read Brian K. Vaughan’s Runaways should skip this, it contains spoilers**
The Pusher Man was a drug dealer that sold MGH, mutant growth hormones. Mutant Growth Hormones is a drug that granted normal human superhuman abilities (usually based on the donor’s ability) or amplifies a posthuman’s super power. He also possesses a pair of gloves derived from the Fistigons. Fistigons are a pair of mechanical gauntlets created by the Steins; they allowed the user to project and manipulate flames. The Steins were a part of the Pride, a powerful criminal organization that had dominated the West Coast. The LAPD were in their pocket & no super villain or evil entity dared enter California. PM was fooled into believing the Pride was recruiting him by Chase Stein. His mistake resulted in his death at Kingpin’s order.
The first idea involves Pusher Man using Mr. Immortal-derived MGH before Kingpin’s goons arrived. It allowed him to survive the savage encounter. His damaged Fistigons were repaired and upgraded by former Atlas Corporation engineers. The gauntlets are bionic systems powered by designer MGH. The vials are integrated into the gloves and function as nanofactories. Raijin is a tetrawatt electrical projection. Brute is gravity field manipulation utilized to simulate superhuman strength. Sprite is molecular intangibility. Jotunn is gamma radiation enhanced size magnification. They also possess chameleon circuitry that allow them to replicate Stark’s repulsor beam technology, Von Doom’s shield system, and Death Head II’s bladed weapon.
The second idea involves the Pusher Man’s next of kin, Pusher Man II. PM II is the 17 year old cousin of the first who plans on avenging PM’s death and revolutionizing the MGH business. He developed a more potent form of MGH which he sells to criminal organizations like HYDRA and AIM for a greater profit. Pusher Man II installed a nanomachine failsafe in his MGH batch to prevent HYDRA and AIM from recreating his formula. He used his wealth to hire former Atlas Corporation engineers to construct an advanced version of the Fistigons. This version has the same functions as the one defined in the previous idea. The only differences are the dimensional storage device used to transport MGH shipments and the ability to transform into ring-like devices when inactive.
I have been toying with the idea of a reality traveler story. A cataclysm wiped out the super hero population: every mutant, artificial posthuman, radiation empowered being, alien, synthetic life form, cyborg, magic user, supernatural entity, and deity died on that day. An extremist group composed of AIM, HYDRA, and followers of Chthon created a Nihil Cube, a variant of the cosmic cube, designed to eliminate every superhuman hero. The bomb was prematurely detonated and eliminated both heroes and villains. The wide scale death attracted the attention of Thanos, who acquired the cube and enhanced its ability. The Mad Titan used to extinguish all life including the cosmic entities like the elders of the universe and the Celestials. Despite his accomplishment, Death still rejected him. An enraged Thanos then travels to parallel realities to repeat his rampage. His actions attract the attention of a higher reality, which sends a champion to defeat him.
The Hero:
He hails from a utopian reality where all of the science heroes used their intellects to usher in a golden age. His signature weapon is a Richardtech recreation of Noh-Varr’s Kree Weapons Band. It is composed of unstable molecule alloy and is the amalgamation of his reality’s Heroic Age weaponry. It assumes the form of repulsor revolver based on Starktech, Parkertech impact webbing pistol, and a beam axe derived from Weapon X. It possesses a mobile force field generator constructed from Nathan Summers’ Cone of Silence, the Ghost’s intangibility circuitry, and modified Ultimate Nullifier built to destroy the Nihil Cube. He also possesses technology from the World: a nanite-based Greylock and bacterial variant of James Howlett’s healing factor. A dimensional transportation spell from the Book of Vishanti is implanted in his mind.
Technology:
The Greylock is a variant of the Doomlock based on Nate Grey’s former dimension crossing ability. It protects the user reality friction.
The impact webbing is a web pellets that releases tendrils which ensnare the target upon impact.
The beam axe is based on the energy claws used by Strike Force X.
I will share with you all what I consider the most profound statements and gestures of love I have seen so far on film or television (in no particular order).
Why does a man do what he mustn’t? For her. To be hers. To be the kind of man who would ne… To be a kind of man. And she shall look on him with forgiveness… and everybody will forgive and love. He will be loved.
– Spike
Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it’s necessary to yak about bullsh*t in order to be comfortable?
That’s when you know you’ve found somebody really special: you can just shut the f*ck up for a minute and comfortably share silence.
– Mia Wallace
So, yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and… What I’m trying to say, Tristan, is… I think I love you. My heart… It feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it doesn’t belong to me any more. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I’d wish for nothing in exchange — no gifts, no goods, no demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you loved me, too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine.
– Yvaine
My dream is of eternity with you… I offer you this rose… my heart… my soul… my love
– The Lord of Darkness
The vampires of The Strain appear to be the next step of the Reapers, Del Toro introduced in Blade II. These creatures far removed from the handsome angst filled vampires of True Blood, Twilight, etc and more in the line with the apex predators that caused nightmares.
Below is the breakdown of the hemophagic corpses (via the wiki page) Vampire Biology
The vector for vampirism is a capillary worm, which, once introduced into the human host’s bloodstream (either through a vampire’s feeding or direct invasion by the worm through a wound or orifice), introduces an incurable and fast-acting virus. By manipulating the host’s genes, the virus causes a human to undergo numerous radical physical changes.
Vampire Physicality
The first and most distinct vampire adaptation is the development of a long, retractile proboscis beneath the host’s tongue, which is able to extend up to six feet from the mouth. This “stinger” is both the vampire’s feeding and reproductive mechanism, shooting forth to latch onto human prey’s throat or thigh, both draining the victim’s blood for nutrition and infecting the human with capillary worms. The vampire’s jaw is set at a lower hinge than a human, the mouth gaping like a snake’s when the stinger is deployed. As the structure of the stinger is actually modified tissue from the human lungs and throat, vampires are incapable of physical speech.
A vampire’s physical appearance is governed mainly by the host body shedding those human traits that are obsolete to its new life cycle. Hair and fingernails are gradually lost, while the external nose and ears atrophy, leaving a fully matured vampire’s skin as smooth and featureless as marble. The vampire’s complexion is extremely pale between feedings, but appears a flushed red after a recent blood-meal. Eye coloration is a black pupil surrounded by a red sclera, with a white nictitating membrane sliding across for protection. The middle fingers of both hands grow and strengthen, and a thick talon develops in place of the lost fingernail. As vampire reproduction is achieved through viral infection of hosts and not through any sexual mechanism, the human genitalia also atrophy, leaving a mature vampire with no discernible gender.
The digestive and circulatory systems of a vampire are simplified and fused, the vampire’s interior organs most resembling a series of connected sacs. Nutrition from a blood feeding is transported throughout this system via a thick, viscous white fluid that forms the vampire equivalent of blood. The capillary worms are present in this fluid, swimming throughout the circulatory system and often visible beneath the vampire’s thin skin. Like rodents, a vampire is unable to vomit, its suction-based digestive process functioning only one way. All bodily waste is excreted from a single rectal orifice in the form of a pungent ammonia-based spray; a vampire will excrete for the entire duration of a feeding, purging old food as it consumes new blood.
The vampire’s body temperature runs extremely high, at 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and a human is able to feel their ambient heat from several feet away.
Many of the physical changes from human to vampire occur gradually following the initial worm infection, and are accompanied by great pain. A newly “turned” human will lie in a state of suspended animation for an entire day, rising the next night as a nascent vampire. The stinger is present for the vampire’s first foray, in order to facilitate feeding, but other traits (hairlessness, talons on the mid-digit, lack of distinct internal organs) will develop within the first seven nights following infection. The vampire’s mental state will also be confused at first, and its movements will be clumsy and awkward. As it matures, however, the vampire will become supremely agile, able to leap great distances and climb sheer surfaces with the aid of its talons. Full maturity, physically and mentally, occurs within the first thirty nights.
In spite of the vampire’s morbid biology stripping legend of most of its romance, the most famously admired trait of the undead remains intact: immortality. Unless slain by violence or sunlight, a vampire’s parasitic body structure will neither fade nor weaken with the passage of time, giving them an effectively endless “life”-span. Even in those cases where the host body is damaged beyond repair, a vampire of sufficient power can transfer their consciousness (via a torrential capillary worm transfer) from one human form to another.
Vampire Senses
The sensory apparatus of the vampire is highly adapted for their nocturnal life cycle. Color vision is replaced with the ability to sense heat signatures, and the world is perceived in a monochrome brightened by sources of warmth (such as human prey). Hearing is greatly enhanced, in spite of the loss of external ears.
The vampires’ greatest sensory asset, however, is the “hive mind” that all new vampires share with the Ancient that propagated them. Each vampire, through some undefined telepathic link, is able to send and receive thought and sensory information to and from their Ancient progenitor. In this manner, the Ancient vampires direct the actions of their individual spawn through mental communication, regardless of distance. Perhaps akin to its radiation shielding properties, the element lead has the effect of blocking this mental connection.
In spite of their biological inability to speak, vampires can communicate with humans through telepathy, transmitting thoughts directly into a person’s internal monologue. Those vampires seeking to pose as human can train themselves to move their lips in a pantomime of speech, but the actual communication is still via thought-transference.
An Ancient vampire is also able to use this telepathic ability as a weapon; known as the “murmur”, this mental shock-wave has the ability to completely overwhelm the minds of surrounding human beings, rendering them unconscious.
Vampires also experience an overwhelming compulsion to infect family members and those they cared about as humans (their “dear ones”). They possess a unique ability to locate such targets, this sense being likened to a pigeon’s homing instinct.
Vampire Weaknesses
Many of the traditional vampire “weaknesses” of common folklore remain effective, although their potency is explained in terms of specific effects on vampire biology.
Sunlight is the vampire’s ultimate destroyer, specifically ultraviolet light in the UVC range. This is due to the germicidal properties of the wavelength, as it breaks down the virus-laden tissues of the vampire’s body. A localized source of UVC light, such as a fluorescent lamp, can be used to repel a vampire, much as a burning torch can repel an animal. Complete exposure, either to direct sunlight or a powerful UVC source, will result in complete desiccation of the vampire’s body, leaving behind nothing but ashes.
Silver, whether in the form of a metal weapon or even a fine chemical mist, can also wound or kill a vampire. Much like sunlight, this is due to the disinfecting properties of the element damaging the vampire’s viral biology. While conventional weapons (lead bullets, steel blades) can cause physical damage, they will not repel a vampire. Silver causes vampires both debilitating pain and a certain amount of fear, and binding a vampire in silver will completely incapacitate them.
Severing the spinal column through any method is another effective way to destroy a vampire. While the vampire’s simplified internal organ structure makes them difficult to harm with attacks to the body, decapitation will result in the vampire’s death.
Although there appears to be no biological imperative behind it, vampires cannot cross running water. This is alluded to as having something to do with the origin of the Ancients, but no further explanation is given. This aversion to water can be overcome, however, if the vampire is assisted (or “invited”) by a human.
Traditional religious protections against vampires, such as a crucifix or holy water, display no practical effect. The prevalence of this lore is explained as having been the product of Bram Stoker’s “fevered Irish imagination”.
Garlic, another common folk defense, has no noticeable use in repelling vampires.
Silver-backed mirrors, while they will not harm a vampire, will reveal their presence. While vampires do indeed cast a reflection, it is blurred and distorted, akin to an image vibrating at an impossible speed. Modern chrome-backed mirrors, however, will not have this effect, and the vampire will appear normally in such a looking-glass.
Through the Shattered Lens 