Tigra - Marvel Comics

Tigra.

She's furry, she's hot and she's funny.
Along with She-Hulk, she's one of the few Marvel females that have managed to keep something of a sense of humor about them despite all they go through.
She's been in no less than four different Avengers groups, plus the Lady Liberators and the New Warriors.
And EVERY fight she is in is a catfight.....

The Tigra is the defender of the "Cat People", not people that like cats but people that are actually descendants of a race of cats created by sorcery during the Dark Ages. They have lived in the shadows ans always had a Tigra to protect them. Sort of combine that horrible Halle Berry "Catwoman" movie and the movie "The Cat People" and you are close.

Anyway HYDRA (Hail HYDRA!) goes after the Cat People for some weapon tech they have, Greer as the Cat is mortally injured trying to help them and to save her life the Cat People use science, magic and psychic powers to turn her into The Tigra.

Tigra looks like a humanoid tiger. She has sharp retractable claws and enlarged canine teeth that can puncture steel and your standard superhero skill-set, superhuman strength, speed, senses and agility. Because of her transformation, she is said to have limited mystical abilities, but these have never been explored extensively. She also has some degree of resistance to psychic attacks.

And she is the patron saint of Furry/Comic fans everywhere.

So far Tigra has only appeared in one Marvel cartoon, the absolutely horrible "The Avengers: United They Stand" (1999) where she was voiced by Lenore Zann (Rogue).

 

   Tigra and Ms. Marvel have a real catfight

Scarlet Witch - Marvel Comics

One of my all time favorite Marvel superheroines, the Scarlet Witch.
She didn't look like this in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but I got used to the "new" look.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet Witch.
One, she had a "stand and point" power.
Two, her brother Quicksilver was a world class jerk.
Three, her daddy Magneto was one of the biggest, baddest super villains in the world. Normally not so bad, but when you are trying to be a hero, it can be a drawback.
But Marvel rectified all that years later and had Wanda, originally a pretty weak character, almost destroy the world.
Things change right?

Scarlet Witch was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared not in the Avengers, but in X-Men #4 back in 1964.
You see, Wanda and her brother Quicksilver are both mutants and were part of her father's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
Interestingly, Wanda's outfit was green on the cover of X-Men #4.

Anyway, after a brief run she and Pietro (Quicksilver) went to the Avengers because the Avengers had a habit of allowing ex-criminals to join...and because Iron Man asked them to.
At that time the Avengers were Cap and three ex-supervillains, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
So the Avengers had the first supervillain work release program ever.

Wanda became a mainstay in the Avengers.
She married the android Avenger the Vision, was trained in the mystic arts by both Agatha Harkness and Doctor Strange, and was the leader of the Avengers West Coast team.

As far as powers go, generally her abilities are the power to alter probability (Hex Spheres) and work magic.
Her probability alteration has gone up to God-like points now and then as when she resurrected Wonder Man or when she wiped 90% of the mutants off the Earth by saying, "No More Mutants."
Besides all that, she's a pretty good hand to hand fighter, being trained by both Captain America and Hawkeye (who has had a crush on her since the 60s).

Upcoming Comic Book Movies, Part 1

Since the hype over Wolverine has died down, I wonder how the mediocre performance of it and Watchmen will affect upcoming comic book movies?
Here is the current list of upcoming movies that are coming out.

First up, Marvel.....

Iron Man II (2010)
Expect more of the same as far as ticket sales go. I can't really see the second film flopping with all the hype the first one got.

Spider-Man 4 (2011)
Scares me.
After Spiderman 3, I'm afraid this film will have an uphill battle.

The First Avenger: Captain America (2011)
Can Marvel sustain two comic book movies in one year?
Hey, it IS Cap.

Thor (2011)
Okay, how about 3 movies in one year?
Will the public be "comic booked out"?

The Avengers (2012)
Okay, Marvel waits a year. Depending on how 2011 goes, this could be THE movie, or a big loss.

Deadpool (????)
It looks like the "Merc with a Mouth" is headed for the big screen.
As it stands right now, Ryan Reynolds is attached to the project.

Of course this isnt taking into account the alledged reboots of Daredevil, Fantastic Four and Blade.

Spiderman/Spiderman 3 ,part 3

A few months after Spider-Man's introduction in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962), publisher Martin Goodman saw the sales figures for that issue and found it had been one of the nascent Marvel's highest-selling comics. A solo series followed, beginning with The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963). The title eventually became Marvel's top-selling series and the character a cultural icon; a 1965 Esquire poll of college campuses found that college students ranked Spider-Man and fellow Marvel hero The Hulk alongside Bob Dylan and Che Guevara as their favorite revolutionary icons. One interviewee selected Spider-Man because he was "beset by woes, money problems, and the question of existence. In short, he is one of us". Following Ditko's departure after issue #39, John Romita, Sr. became the character's next-most-associated signature artist, penciling the character over the several following years.

An early 1970s Spider-Man story led to the revision of the Comics Code. Previously, it was taboo to depict illegal drugs, even negatively. However, in 1970 the Nixon administration's Department of Health, Education, and Welfare asked Stan Lee to run an anti-drug message in one of Marvel's top-selling titles. Lee chose the top-selling The Amazing Spider-Man; issues #96–98 (May–July 1971) feature a story arc that shows the negative effects of drug abuse. In the story, Peter Parker's friend Harry Osborn starts taking pills and becomes so ill that when Spider-Man fights the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn), Spider-Man defeats Norman by simply showing him his sick son. While the story had a clear anti-drug message, the Comics Code Authority refused to issue its seal of approval. Marvel nevertheless sold the three issues without the Comics Code Authority's approval or seal and sold so well that the industry's self-censorship was undercut.

In 1972, a second monthly ongoing series starring Spider-Man began: Marvel Team-Up, in which Spider-Man is paired with other superheroes. In 1976, his second solo series, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man began, running parallel to the main series; a third solo series, Web of Spider-Man, launched in 1985, replacing Marvel Team-Up. The launch of a fourth monthly title in 1990, written and drawn by popular artist Todd McFarlane, debuted with multiple variant covers and sold in excess of three million copies , an industry record at the time. There have generally been at least two ongoing Spider-Man series at any time. Several limited series, one-shots and loosely related comics have also been published, and Spider-Man makes frequent cameos and guest appearances in other comic series.

The original Amazing Spider-Man ran through issue #441 (Nov. 1998). Writer-artist John Byrne then revamped the origin of Spider-Man in the 13-issue miniseries Spider-Man: Chapter One (Dec. 1998 - Oct. 1999, with an issue #0 midway through and some months containing two issue), similar to his having details and some revisions to Superman's origin in DC Comics' The Man of Steel. Running concurrently, The Amazing Spider-Man was restarted with vol. 2, #1 (Jan. 1999). With what would have been vol. 2, #59, Marvel reintroduced the original numbering, starting with #500 (Dec. 2003). This flagship series has reached issue #540 as of early 2007.

As of 2007, Spider-Man regularly appears in The Amazing Spider-Man, New Avengers, The Sensational Spider-Man, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Spider-Man Family and various limited series in mainstream Marvel Comics continuity, as well as in the alternate-universe series The Amazing Spider-Girl, and Ultimate Spider-Man, the alternate-universe tween series Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, and the alternate-universe children's series Marvel Adventures Spider-Man and Marvel Adventures: The Avengers.

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