superman video & tattoo pics

Superman's Been Working on the Railroad 
Billion Dollar Limited (1942)
Run time: 0:08:29

Superman tattoo pics and Star Brand Classic Vol. 1 Review

By Joey Huggs found at ugo.com 

"The New Universe ultimately faded away, and was mostly forgotten, but it wasn't The Star Brand's fault." Did you ever go to a comic convention during the late 80s? If you did, you might have seen one or two guys walking around with a funny tattoo, and you might have found yourself wondering where the heck it was from. Well, if it wasn't the Superman symbol, a random picture of Wolverine, or a panel from Watchmen, there's a really good chance it was the Star Brand. Let me explain.

In 1986 (the best year in comic book history, by the way), then Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter decided that, in celebration of Marvel's 25th anniversary, they would launch what would come to be known as "The New Universe." I've always imagined that the process of naming this new line of comics was very similar to the one the writers of Itchy and Scratchy went through when coming up with the name for Poochie. Yeah, no one was really trying. But I digress.

So the whole point of this new Poochie-like line of comics was to create a world that was completely separate from regular Marvel continuity (i.e., Spider-Man, Captain America and The Hulk don't exist here). This gave writers and artists a chance to come up with a whole new crop of continuing characters, and place them in what was intended to be a more realistic setting than your typical comic imprint offered. This was back when "realistic" comics weren't a dime a dozen, so this was obviously a really interesting idea.

The flagship character, and obligatory Superman rip-off, of this new imprint was The Star Brand. Star Brand was once just Ken Connell, a Pittsburgh mechanic with a good heart and a love for riding his motorcycle through the mountains. Until one day, when he comes across an aging old man in the middle of what resembles a battle scene. This old man, who turns out to be an alien, is the bearer of the Star Brand, the most powerful weapon in the universe. It is a tattoo-like symbol that, when branded onto a host, gives them the powers of flight, super-strength, and invulnerability, amongst other things. All of this power aside, the old man is nonetheless dying, and decides that Connell is the perfect new host for the Star Brand power. Connell suddenly wakes up in the mountains, the mark now on his palm and the strange old man from another galaxy lying dead. Before he can even attempt to process what has just taken place, he discovers that he suddenly has God-like powers. In the blink of an eye, he's become the most powerful creature on the planet, and maybe even 

"The New Universe ultimately faded away, and was mostly forgotten, but it wasn't The Star Brand's fault." in the universe.

The title was written by Shooter himself (who also wrote Secret Wars, which means he's indirectly responsible for Carnage, but I forgive him) and penciled by John Romita, Jr. Star Brand's origin is slightly less than original, but the strength of the title lies exactly in what Shooter was attempting to achieve: its realistic feel. There are several times in which Connell will do something, and while you're reading the series you'll find yourself thinking "Wow. If I just became a god, I think that's one of the first things I'd do." The series does, however, have its flaws, the main one being that it often feels kind of rushed. You find yourself wanting Connell to be a bit more taken aback by the fact that he can suddenly survive a nuclear explosion. If there's a 12-step program for adjusting to near-omnipotence, Connell goes through it in about 4 pages. That does seem to go against the grain of realism a bit, but it in no way ruins the all around fun of the comic. This book is well conceived, well drawn, and well written.

Much like Poochie, The New Universe ultimately faded away, and was mostly forgotten, but it wasn't The Star Brand's fault. This was a quality read every month, one that many diehard fans were sad to lose. The first seven issues were recently released in a trade, and I recommend picking it up. And if you feel inclined to do so, get the Star Brand symbol tattooed on the palm of your hand. It would have made you the toast of every convention back in the 80's. 

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