One thing I´ll say is that the TV series made a HUGE mistake with Flash. That is that they called him with his official superhero name yet he hasn´t named himself or has gotten that name from anyone. Not like Aquaman where Bruce tells him that´s how he´s been called in Justice League and goes along with it. Ezra Miller´s Barry Allen, is going to name himself Flash because he met the Flash from the TV show and told him his superhero name. It will be in his solo movie where he´s going be called Flash officially.
Ad was actually funny lol I like when you tubers make little microcontent out of the sponsor spots instead of just doing it podcast style where they read off a script and add nothing to what they were obligated to do for the company. With the exception of when they try and trick the audience into thinking "Oh here is this thing I use all the time! No really!" I vote that next ad you should do the classic "HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED... TO YOU?" bit haha
After hearing over and over how much Peacemaker isn't like the comics I'm impressed by how much Gunn did manage to adapt. There are elements from all of the runs mentioned here. There is a lot that's different but its cool that there's a lot there that is true to the character. It proves that Gunn really cares about this stuff.
i would agree that James Gunn does a pretty good job adapting comics to the screen, but i dont think it really has anything to do with him caring about the source material... its really not that hard to include references to past works, especially with a budget big enough to hire people to inverview all surviving artists, and when DC provides all relavant materials needed. none of that is to say that he isnt good at telling stories in the medium, just that he gets paid so god damn much money it would be weird if he didnt put in that extra effort. i cant say that he doesnt care... i just dont think his body of work inherently "proves" anything other than professionalism. a professional can hate the source material and still do a good job adapting it.. thats just my take anyway.
Or when presented with the opportunity, he did his homework on the character. Which exemplifies his work ethic, which could present itself in the same way. (As caring for 'this stuff'. Maybe Gunn, just cares about being good at what he does? ) Nonetheless I do agree, great season. Look forward to season 2.
@@_insomniac_423 starlord is a cool character, be is funny but he isn't a total clown, mcu starlord IS a clown, a joke, he sure is likeable i'll give him that but even his design is worse
For me, Vigilante stole every scene he was in. He's like the geeky guy you play D&D with mixed with Jeffery Dahmer. I also like Judo Master. When he did the leprechaun dance after beating up some kids had me rolling.
@@alexh4319 James Gunn gets better with every movie. Guardians of The Galaxy 2 was better than Guardians of The Galaxy 1. Suicide Squad 2 is better than Guardians of The Galaxy 2 and Peacemaker is even better. I’m sure Guardians of The Galaxy 3 will be even better. Unless you prefer the spy thriller/special ops genre to sci-fi, which I do.
This is one of my favorite videos of yours, Chris! I love these direct comparisons and the show pulled a lot more from the books than I thought. I didn't know White Dragon's armor was so 1-1 with the comic counterpart so that was really interesting.
I'd like to think that "Peacemaker...what a *joke*" wasn't a coincidence and that the Dove Of Peace becoming stained with blood so often was also a deliberate choice. #thecomedian
Yeah , the new characters of Watchmen were only created because of the DC editor who didn't want Alan Moore basically tear down their new acquisitions.
The dove being stained with blood was definitely intentional, but I doubt it's a reference to Watchmen. It just does a really good job driving home the irony of his character. I'll give you the "what a joke" line though.
I honestly figured that James Gunn changed most of the comic origins, but this is actually a really good modernized adaptation. Bringing Peacemaker into the 21st century
Outside media giving extra stuff to the mythos happens a lot. Harley Quinn came from Batman: The Animated Series, and Superman's S was just that until the 78 movie made it the sigil of the House Of El.
Yeah, Moore wanted a lot of Charlton characters in Watchmen. Nite Owl should have been Blue Beetle, Rorschach was supposed to be The Question and so on. But DC said no, so some of the characters weren´t Baby murdering Psychopaths XD
yeah. honestly it was a better choice in my opinion, coz a lot of characters would be ended up getting killed, make them unusable for later use. not to mention he couldn't do much with these characters anyway, since they were pre-established characters, DC would definitely put his hands tide from taking the story too far with violence and stuff. with original characters, he had the full freedom to do whatever he wanted
@@v-trigger6137 They didn't bind his hands, they just told him no. Because they'd just bought all of those characters and they didn't want to ruin them for later use. But the story itself, they never gave him crap over. Just no to those characters.
@@LupineShadowOmega I meant even if he got permission to use those characters, content wise he couldn't do much with them anyway. since DC had just bought them, and they wouldn't wanna just kill off the characters or make them attached to a violent story, potentially ruining merchandise and stuff plan.. but with original characters he had all the freedom he wanted
I was honestly really surprised that the butterflies were an original concept. They really gave off the *feel* of some old-school comics concept that would have been a little goofier back in the day, but got 'grounded' for the live action adaptation.
@@Q-TheBiasedGamer I was wondering if it was a nod to Mr. Mind, who we all got teased was gonna show up in Shazam 2 until they just gave us some unbelievably bland "angry gods" wanting to repo Billy's powers or something.
I like to imagine it was an early scrapped version of the Starro story from The Suicide Squad. The Body Snatchers aspect of Starro is a more subtle terror they didn't have time to explore in the movie. The Butterflies give this concept a second chance.
Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely did an issue of Multiversity with the Charlton characters. It opens with Peacemaker assassinating the president while freefalling from the sky, all told in reverse. It is really something
It’s cool that you should mention that as I was just about to type out that the comedian was basically a stand in for peacemaker because dc wouldn’t allow Alan Moore to use the charlton characters. Pax Americana is brilliant in that it’s Morrison basically “Alan Mooring” Charlton characters.
35 year old spoiler, but I find it interesting that Adrian Chase committed suicide in the final issue of his comic, due to the overwhelming guilt her felt about those he murdered.
Honestly I was surprised by how Nonchalant this version of Adrian chase was too. He's more in line with the second copycat vigilante who Adrian fought. I still liked Freddie stroma's performance though.
Harley Quinn, one of the best characters in recent Suicide Squad efforts, debuted in the Animated Series and didn't show up in comics until years later. TAS also made Mr Freeze a tragic, interesting character too. Sometimes TV improves comics.
Never in my life would I have imagined there was going to be a live-action Peacemaker show. Much less that it would be really good and critically acclaimed! Crazy. I had a few of the old Charltons, Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, but I only knew Peacemaker from the ad pushing the Action Hero line. His image always stuck with me, and I always wanted to read his comics, but never did til I found them as an adult. Like you said, they’re pretty meh, but I still enjoyed having them in the collection. A weird little oddity, a part of the kind of weird attempt by Charlton to join the superhero renaissance, which I think they gave up on too soon. Great show, man, take it easy and have fun!
I remember reading the old Suicide Squad books back in the late 80s and thinking at that time that if they ever did a live action version I would've cast Nell Carter as Waller. I think anyone who remembers her and the sitcom Gimme A Break would agree
A note about exclamation points: many sentences end in one for older comics. This was done not to inflate the urgency of a sentence, but because they were easier to print. Periods are small dots that don’t print consistently clear
I kind of like that style! It makes everything just a little punchier! We should start using them regularly in Internet contexts again! And in work emails!
100% agree about John Cena's performance - I knew he could do action, and certainly comedy, but this show proved his dramatic chops, as well. There were several points that were incredibly moving, especially in the later episodes, all riding on Cena selling that pain and inner conflict. Gunn is a master director, and I'm so glad he's getting more work as he refines his talents.
I see the term "meta-human" used often. I've always seen that to mean a super-human or someone with superpowers. Peacemaker doesn't have any, as far as I can see
Comics Vigilante (some version of him) apparently has a Wolverine/Deadpool-like rapid healing ability? We see hints of that in the show--he gets really badly injured, to the point that would probably kill a normal person without immediate medical attention, and seems to shake it off.
@@zaboknowsbest13 In real-world terms sure, but we don't really see any feats of strength that would surpass what we've seen from other "non-superpowered" DC characters like Batman.
Great episode and I loved the show, too. I liked the kind of "also ran - lo-fi" hero feel that you also got with Watchmen (particularly the HBO series); I feel like it widens the scope for human stories versus the Olympian stakes of upper-tier meta-human tales. Plus, it's just plain weirder.
I was really hoping that Mr. Mind would somehow fit into a storyline with space butterflies and giant worm cows. Peacemaker and Shazam would be a good teamup with the potential for a lot of laughs.
Neat detail about the costume: James Gun was super faithful EXCEPT he changed the shield to a pentagon. Gotta be a jab at the Department of Defense. The character exemplifies the hypocrisy of 'peace through superior firepower.'
I am so glad that Kupperberg and Ostrander are finally getting the love they deserve as writers in the late 80s/early 90s. They had such great storylines and creations that kinda got overlooked in DC comics..
Post-New 52 Amanda Waller does have a daughter who is involved in Task Force X, although its likely just that fans did not like the young thin New 52 Waller so they split them into two characters
Great comparison contrast!! Comics like Peacemaker are great for adaptations because there usually is very little source material to go on and the little there is is often not very good. A creative team with vision can take lemons and make lemon bars. Gaurdians of the Galaxy, Ant-man, even Iron man were lukewarm comics until their big screen versions.
There are rumors that season two they are bringing Bane as a main villain. I don't know if there's any credence to these rumors but James Gunn old friend Dave Bautista has been very very open about how much she would love to play Bane , if that could happen it could be seriously cool. It would also be a good foil to have crime and low tech storyline to kind of differentiate the past two stories about eventually doing kaiju as the big bad. Also it would be very interesting to have a more comic-accurate version that the one seen on the Nolan trilogy.
The funny thing is that John and Dave were/are WWE wrestlers, and there was a storyline where they were rivals ( John was the good guy and Dave was the bad guy)
The Vigilante in the show: his mentality and characteristics are duped from Deadpool Marvel. DC was trying to capitalize on the Deadpool characteristics!
Fun note! According to the Peacemaker podcast, Cena asked if he should read the comics for researching his character. He was told no, because the interpretation of PM they wanted didn't want to be blurred by the different takes PM had by various writers/artists.
You’re right about the mythos of fictional characters being expanded, often for the better, by other mediums. Werewolves having a weakness for silver originated in a radio series. And most interestingly the Saracen character in Robin Hood first appeared in the 80’s ITV series ‘Robin of Sherwood’. Every subsequent Robin Hood has featured a version of the Saracen character as one of the Merry Men.
Cena has said he tried to do peacemaker super serious type like in the comics and Gunn told him not to even read the comics, he wanted to do something incredibly different with peacemaker so Gunn knew exactly what he was doing and he absolutely nailed it. I loved the series.
But peacemaker isn’t necessarily a meta-human per say is he? Aren’t Metahumans super-powered humans that have a meta-gene like beast-boy, firestorm, Killer Croc, static, killer Frost, terra, poison ivy, and black canary. Although some argue that Superman & Wonder-Woman are metahumans because they have powers. peacemakers is on the level of Rick flag, green arrow, Batman, cat-woman, deadshot, Bloodsport, bronze Tiger, black spider, black manta, judo master, Richard dragon, lady shiva & Harley Quinn in which they are characters that are trained to peak human condition and perform near-superhuman feats, Are exceptional martial artists, & have gadgets and weaponry that turn the tides when they fight super-powered beings.
Holy crap! Peacemaker isnt available in the UK atm. I had no idea Vigilante was in the show. Kind of wish I didnt know that. Great show Chris, glad to see you looking so slim and in focus!
It's an amazing show, the best screen thing DC has done in years. It starts off coming across as over-the-top bad-taste humor and eventually reveals a lot of heart and serious character drama that just lands 100%.
Garth Ennis one shot is my favorite version of the character I wish he had a whole series to toy with the character. He clearly took it seriously like his Punisher run.
The comic John Economos honestly looks a little bit like you. Not a dead ringer, but if you introduced a pic of him as fanart a viewer created, I'd momentarily believe you.
Great episode. I remember as a kid, while I read mostly DC and Marvel, I gave Charlton my best efforts especially with the Phantom, which in my opinion led to an entertaining film with Billy Zane. I have to give a lot of credit to DC live action across the board for recognizing it's past. From seeing the original Doom Patrol in the Doom Patrol show to the mention of Kite Man in Peacemaker, I'm still waiting for Sgt. Rock to make an appearance.
I appreciated this post. I only have OTA broadcast TV so haven't been able to see an episode of the show (but I'll check for clips online). It sounds like the TV show did a superior job of doing justice and even improving on a character, which is too rare! TY for the coverage.
In the 2000s Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes original run there is an arc about Peacemaker and The Reach-the source of the Blue Beetle armor that have a scarab that is supposed to bond to its host body’s spine and take control of them. It seems like Gunn is adapting that concept into a new spin, together with Peacemaker in Multiversity Pax Americana comic where he is contracted by the US government secret op to kill a political figure. Gunn’s iteration feels like a hybrid of difference sources under the hood, I do think he was pulling from some stuff outside of the things you highlighted in your video to guide the beats of his run while telling his own story. Great work btw! Love your stuff.
I didn't realize the butterflies were original but I'm not surprised -- I read them somewhat as a reference to Slither, Gunn's directorial feature debut about alien slugs that take over human bodies. The show's climax in an isolated barn is also reminiscent of an iconic scene from Slither, except instead of the "cow" being a giant alien caterpillar, you have a woman whose grown to fill up the entire interior (as a breeding place for the slugs). Many elements also reminded me of his film Super, which I strongly recommend. Of course many of these themes persist throughout his career, so that's hardly surprising, but I feel the grit and brutality of Peacemaker in particular came off as a return to his roots in Super. Even the costuming feels similar, not as grandiose as in Guardians of the Galaxy but more like "I can't believe someone would wear that."
*cold open on Chris sitting in front of a plate of spaghetti, openmouthed about to bite into a forkful* Oh hi, you caught me just as I was about to taste this food. Do YOU really want to taste it? Let's talk about Peacemaker!
A CHALLENGE FOR YOU!!!: i have fond memories of a '70s British comic called Action. It was banned because of the ultraviolence. For example, one story called Hookjaw (obviously inspired by Jaws) was based on a giant shark that used a harpoon protruding from its body, as a weapon. Another story was called Spinball, inspired by Rollerball. Love your channel, I hope it continues to grow. Best wishes from Scarborough, England 🙂
A very KOOL episode Chris. . HEY. .do you remember a DC comics title called "THE BLACK HOOD"?? I loved that title and I would like you to do a SHOW about that character. . .I don't know why DC COMICS forgot about him. . .so. . what you think??😸
Great show...I liked those simplistic stories by Gill for Peacemaker in the Charlton books (part of a collection I started with Judomaster back in the early 1970s) but appreciate the update by DC on Peacemaker. Excellent show!
This is the thing , when doing certain roles it u to the director & writer or both to make sure that the actor sales the character successfully. I haven’t seen it yet, probably going to being watch this week.
Great analysis! As always! I also enjoyed Cena's performance!! Im glad im not the only one! And this Vigilante version sure added up a lot of fun to the equation! Don't know why, but the series reminded me of the last The Tick iteration!!
Peacemaker HBO seems like it should have been based on a Grant Morrison comic miniseries. I liked the Doom Patrol that also pulled heavily from Grant Morrison's whacky vibes and visual ideas.
The Charlton run of Peacemaker went to 5 issues as you said, but Pat Boyettte had completed the art for issue 6, and you can find the unpublished pages easily on line.
@@uncannydcmarvelous5732 It absolutely was actually. It was the character being used featuring a redesign after years of not being used. That version would even feature and arc where he flashed back to his Nazi father.
Someone else prob said this too but Peacemaker was also the inspiration for Watchmen's Comedian. And there was a fourth Judomaster named Sonia Sato who had the superpower of never being able to be hit by anything directly aimed at her. She would join the JSA
I really enjoyed the Peacemaker show, and I'm actually kinda excited to see what they do with the character next. I'm usually cautious of changes from film and television seeping into comic books, but I would welcome it here. This version of the character is really fun and interesting and I want more of him. Kinda nuts how he went from a z-lister to a pretty top priority character.
Well said, I love your channel it is awesome, detailed and prolific!!!! I HAVE SUSCRIBED AND THANKYOU FOR TAKING THE TIME OUT OF YOUR SCHEDULE TO DO THIS FOR THE MANY COMIC BOOK AND HERO LOVERS OUT THERE ITS NOT EASY! YOUR MY HERO FOR CREATING THIS CHANNEL
5:07 I am now reading the very first few issues of Daredevil, and now that you have pointed this out, I can't unsee that this is the case for probably most old comics! The only sentences that do not end in an exclamation point are the ones ending with a question mark or an ellipsis.
Very impressed with your research. Peacemaker was never a favorite of mine but he was always kind of there in the background. If i wanted to give the show a harsh critique i could rip it apart but its been so much fun, so satisfying that I can overlook gaffes. I want more Judomaster. I would love to see another Charlton character or two somehow worked into the mix. If they do make it so the next door neighbor is Bat mite I would want to limit it to one off the wall self contained episode, like a "special episode' over making him recur. Also I find it ironic that even though White Dragon isn't his dad in the comics he still dies in the pages of Suicide Squad.
Cena really won me in terms of his acting here. I've seen a bit of his wrestling, many of his movies, but this show broadened how I perceive him as a performer.
¿¡What's wrong with exclamation marks!? ¡I love exclamation marks! ¡At least White Dragon is not a grammar Nazi! ¡Great Video, can't wait for the next one! BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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One thing I´ll say is that the TV series made a HUGE mistake with Flash. That is that they called him with his official superhero name yet he hasn´t named himself or has gotten that name from anyone. Not like Aquaman where Bruce tells him that´s how he´s been called in Justice League and goes along with it.
Ezra Miller´s Barry Allen, is going to name himself Flash because he met the Flash from the TV show and told him his superhero name. It will be in his solo movie where he´s going be called Flash officially.
Ad was actually funny lol I like when you tubers make little microcontent out of the sponsor spots instead of just doing it podcast style where they read off a script and add nothing to what they were obligated to do for the company. With the exception of when they try and trick the audience into thinking "Oh here is this thing I use all the time! No really!" I vote that next ad you should do the classic "HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED... TO YOU?" bit haha
I love that you have sponsors now, and this is one I really want to try! Excellent work, as always!
Hey comic tropes peacemaker is actually in the public domain
Can you Do one for Kypto the Super dog and Red kyptonite?
After hearing over and over how much Peacemaker isn't like the comics I'm impressed by how much Gunn did manage to adapt. There are elements from all of the runs mentioned here. There is a lot that's different but its cool that there's a lot there that is true to the character. It proves that Gunn really cares about this stuff.
i would agree that James Gunn does a pretty good job adapting comics to the screen, but i dont think it really has anything to do with him caring about the source material... its really not that hard to include references to past works, especially with a budget big enough to hire people to inverview all surviving artists, and when DC provides all relavant materials needed. none of that is to say that he isnt good at telling stories in the medium, just that he gets paid so god damn much money it would be weird if he didnt put in that extra effort. i cant say that he doesnt care... i just dont think his body of work inherently "proves" anything other than professionalism. a professional can hate the source material and still do a good job adapting it.. thats just my take anyway.
Or when presented with the opportunity, he did his homework on the character. Which exemplifies his work ethic, which could present itself in the same way. (As caring for 'this stuff'. Maybe Gunn, just cares about being good at what he does? ) Nonetheless I do agree, great season. Look forward to season 2.
Except starlord, he ruined starlord
@@gabriels9919 How so? I really like the Star-Lord we have in the MCU, so I’m curious as to why you say the character was ruined.
@@_insomniac_423 starlord is a cool character, be is funny but he isn't a total clown, mcu starlord IS a clown, a joke, he sure is likeable i'll give him that but even his design is worse
For me, Vigilante stole every scene he was in. He's like the geeky guy you play D&D with mixed with Jeffery Dahmer. I also like Judo Master. When he did the leprechaun dance after beating up some kids had me rolling.
I... I love your description of Vigilante!
I thought it was funny that Judo Master was ALWAYS eating chips for some reason. Maybe they weren't chips but you know what im saying.
@@mysteryneophyte Flamin Hot Cheetos! JM is keyed into the zeitgeist.
@@ShadowEl JM is a Cheetos salesman.
Way funnier than Deadpool
The DCEU needs more creators like Gunn. People that are unafraid to lean into the weirdness and fun of comics to make great stuff.
Agreed. I argue Gunn is a better fit for the DCEU than Marvel.
@@alexh4319 nah
Yes!
@@alexh4319 James Gunn gets better with every movie. Guardians of The Galaxy 2 was better than Guardians of The Galaxy 1. Suicide Squad 2 is better than Guardians of The Galaxy 2 and Peacemaker is even better. I’m sure Guardians of The Galaxy 3 will be even better. Unless you prefer the spy thriller/special ops genre to sci-fi, which I do.
It was the best work Gunn has done. Guardians of the galaxy was never good to me. It ruined so many characters, Peacemaker improved every character.
This is one of my favorite videos of yours, Chris! I love these direct comparisons and the show pulled a lot more from the books than I thought. I didn't know White Dragon's armor was so 1-1 with the comic counterpart so that was really interesting.
Nice to see your comment here, you and Chris are my favourite comic book youtubers ever.
I am not surprised those “grifters” were silent about White Dragon.
I'd like to think that "Peacemaker...what a *joke*" wasn't a coincidence and that the Dove Of Peace becoming stained with blood so often was also a deliberate choice. #thecomedian
The Comedian from Watchmen was originally written as Peacemaker so I’m sure that was intentional.
Yeah , the new characters of Watchmen were only created because of the DC editor who didn't want Alan Moore basically tear down their new acquisitions.
I think some of the teaser art also featured some blood splatters.
The dove being stained with blood was definitely intentional, but I doubt it's a reference to Watchmen. It just does a really good job driving home the irony of his character.
I'll give you the "what a joke" line though.
@@nathanl8622 I mean I'm not really a Watchmen person either but I 100% thought that's what it was referencing too
I honestly figured that James Gunn changed most of the comic origins, but this is actually a really good modernized adaptation. Bringing Peacemaker into the 21st century
Outside media giving extra stuff to the mythos happens a lot. Harley Quinn came from Batman: The Animated Series, and Superman's S was just that until the 78 movie made it the sigil of the House Of El.
Remember Superman did not fly until the flecisher animated series
It's also important to mention that Peacemaker was going to used in Watchman, which he eventually would be used as the Comedian
Yeah, Moore wanted a lot of Charlton characters in Watchmen. Nite Owl should have been Blue Beetle, Rorschach was supposed to be The Question and so on.
But DC said no, so some of the characters weren´t Baby murdering Psychopaths XD
yeah. honestly it was a better choice in my opinion, coz a lot of characters would be ended up getting killed, make them unusable for later use. not to mention he couldn't do much with these characters anyway, since they were pre-established characters, DC would definitely put his hands tide from taking the story too far with violence and stuff. with original characters, he had the full freedom to do whatever he wanted
@@v-trigger6137 They didn't bind his hands, they just told him no. Because they'd just bought all of those characters and they didn't want to ruin them for later use. But the story itself, they never gave him crap over. Just no to those characters.
yeah Chris talked about it in his Doomsday Clock episode it's couple of years ago
@@LupineShadowOmega I meant even if he got permission to use those characters, content wise he couldn't do much with them anyway. since DC had just bought them, and they wouldn't wanna just kill off the characters or make them attached to a violent story, potentially ruining merchandise and stuff plan.. but with original characters he had all the freedom he wanted
I was honestly really surprised that the butterflies were an original concept. They really gave off the *feel* of some old-school comics concept that would have been a little goofier back in the day, but got 'grounded' for the live action adaptation.
James gunn said that he had a script named butterfly for a while and wanted to make it
@@Q-TheBiasedGamer I was wondering if it was a nod to Mr. Mind, who we all got teased was gonna show up in Shazam 2 until they just gave us some unbelievably bland "angry gods" wanting to repo Billy's powers or something.
I like to imagine it was an early scrapped version of the Starro story from The Suicide Squad.
The Body Snatchers aspect of Starro is a more subtle terror they didn't have time to explore in the movie. The Butterflies give this concept a second chance.
Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely did an issue of Multiversity with the Charlton characters. It opens with Peacemaker assassinating the president while freefalling from the sky, all told in reverse. It is really something
That sounds like Pax Americana. That was a right noodle-scratcher.
"LiL'JpD."
It’s cool that you should mention that as I was just about to type out that the comedian was basically a stand in for peacemaker because dc wouldn’t allow Alan Moore to use the charlton characters. Pax Americana is brilliant in that it’s Morrison basically “Alan Mooring” Charlton characters.
35 year old spoiler, but I find it interesting that Adrian Chase committed suicide in the final issue of his comic, due to the overwhelming guilt her felt about those he murdered.
Honestly I was surprised by how Nonchalant this version of Adrian chase was too. He's more in line with the second copycat vigilante who Adrian fought. I still liked Freddie stroma's performance though.
Harley Quinn, one of the best characters in recent Suicide Squad efforts, debuted in the Animated Series and didn't show up in comics until years later. TAS also made Mr Freeze a tragic, interesting character too. Sometimes TV improves comics.
also the Mr Freeze was redesigned by Mike Mignola, that's cool too
😂😂😂😂😂
I'd also add X-23/Wolverine, one of the best newer members of the X-Men roster.
Wait!! What?? This is the first I'm hearing of this!!!
Batgirl came from outside the comics as well, I want to say TV but she may have been created by a radio play.
Why does everyone gloss over the fact that this series confirmed the existence of green arrow in the dceu, thats a pretty big revelation imo.
It also confirmed Bat-Mite so I wouldn't get your hopes up.
Economos calling Judo Master "Cobra Kai" and doing the Daniel-san crane stance, that made me pause and laugh for for few minutes.
Never in my life would I have imagined there was going to be a live-action Peacemaker show. Much less that it would be really good and critically acclaimed! Crazy. I had a few of the old Charltons, Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, but I only knew Peacemaker from the ad pushing the Action Hero line. His image always stuck with me, and I always wanted to read his comics, but never did til I found them as an adult. Like you said, they’re pretty meh, but I still enjoyed having them in the collection. A weird little oddity, a part of the kind of weird attempt by Charlton to join the superhero renaissance, which I think they gave up on too soon. Great show, man, take it easy and have fun!
I remember reading the old Suicide Squad books back in the late 80s and thinking at that time that if they ever did a live action version I would've cast Nell Carter as Waller. I think anyone who remembers her and the sitcom Gimme A Break would agree
Yes!! Nell Carter as Amanda Waller would be perfect for 80's verzh of Suicide Squad!
A note about exclamation points: many sentences end in one for older comics. This was done not to inflate the urgency of a sentence, but because they were easier to print. Periods are small dots that don’t print consistently clear
Agree. They're definitely the standard end to sentences in Stan Lee's work.
@@Rob_Gibson EXCELSIOR!
Face Front, Fearless Front-Facers!
so much for comictropes not knowing something so basic....
I kind of like that style! It makes everything just a little punchier! We should start using them regularly in Internet contexts again! And in work emails!
100% agree about John Cena's performance - I knew he could do action, and certainly comedy, but this show proved his dramatic chops, as well. There were several points that were incredibly moving, especially in the later episodes, all riding on Cena selling that pain and inner conflict. Gunn is a master director, and I'm so glad he's getting more work as he refines his talents.
I see the term "meta-human" used often. I've always seen that to mean a super-human or someone with superpowers. Peacemaker doesn't have any, as far as I can see
Comics Vigilante (some version of him) apparently has a Wolverine/Deadpool-like rapid healing ability? We see hints of that in the show--he gets really badly injured, to the point that would probably kill a normal person without immediate medical attention, and seems to shake it off.
Peacemaker definitely has low level super strength at the very least
@@zaboknowsbest13 In real-world terms sure, but we don't really see any feats of strength that would surpass what we've seen from other "non-superpowered" DC characters like Batman.
Great episode and I loved the show, too. I liked the kind of "also ran - lo-fi" hero feel that you also got with Watchmen (particularly the HBO series); I feel like it widens the scope for human stories versus the Olympian stakes of upper-tier meta-human tales. Plus, it's just plain weirder.
I was really hoping that Mr. Mind would somehow fit into a storyline with space butterflies and giant worm cows. Peacemaker and Shazam would be a good teamup with the potential for a lot of laughs.
That would be awesome.
Neat detail about the costume: James Gun was super faithful EXCEPT he changed the shield to a pentagon. Gotta be a jab at the Department of Defense. The character exemplifies the hypocrisy of 'peace through superior firepower.'
Faithful? I don't remember the character being known for making fart noises.
Hes talking aout the costume, not the character.
It also might be a reference to the Fightin' 5 comic he debuted in.
I like to think it's a happy accident. Looks too subtle to be purposeful, regardless James Gunn would totally agree with the interpretation.
I am so glad that Kupperberg and Ostrander are finally getting the love they deserve as writers in the late 80s/early 90s. They had such great storylines and creations that kinda got overlooked in DC comics..
I enjoyed Garth Ennis' one shot last month. Nothing too spectacular but a fun read. And Gunn did wonderful work too.
Oh, bloopers, win!
Loving the blooper/outtakes you've been adding at the end! Channeling your inner Dom DeLuise, I guess?
Post-New 52 Amanda Waller does have a daughter who is involved in Task Force X, although its likely just that fans did not like the young thin New 52 Waller so they split them into two characters
Great comparison contrast!! Comics like Peacemaker are great for adaptations because there usually is very little source material to go on and the little there is is often not very good.
A creative team with vision can take lemons and make lemon bars. Gaurdians of the Galaxy, Ant-man, even Iron man were lukewarm comics until their big screen versions.
There are rumors that season two they are bringing Bane as a main villain. I don't know if there's any credence to these rumors but James Gunn old friend Dave Bautista has been very very open about how much she would love to play Bane , if that could happen it could be seriously cool. It would also be a good foil to have crime and low tech storyline to kind of differentiate the past two stories about eventually doing kaiju as the big bad. Also it would be very interesting to have a more comic-accurate version that the one seen on the Nolan trilogy.
The funny thing is that John and Dave were/are WWE wrestlers, and there was a storyline where they were rivals ( John was the good guy and Dave was the bad guy)
When I saw the trailer for The Suicide Squad, my first thought was "How the f@*! did Waller get Orion onto the squad?"
I love that Bork here isn't even the only Bork in the general and greater DCU. There's another one that ended up on The Power Company
It's been a while since I've checked out your channel, and I am really impressed with your new intro! Super cool!
I used to have a reprint of the original Peacemaker comic book; it wasn't bad, just Silver Age schlock.
That didn't feel like a shorter or rushed episode, great work as always.
The Vigilante in the show: his mentality and characteristics are duped from Deadpool Marvel. DC was trying to capitalize on the Deadpool characteristics!
Fun note! According to the Peacemaker podcast, Cena asked if he should read the comics for researching his character. He was told no, because the interpretation of PM they wanted didn't want to be blurred by the different takes PM had by various writers/artists.
Same way as Singer telling the X-Men cast to not read comics for the first movie.
You make the sponsor ads fun to watch, you're awesome as always Comic Tropes
I'm really impressed you were able to get out a video at all during jury duty, let alone one so fun and informative. Keep up the good work!
You’re right about the mythos of fictional characters being expanded, often for the better, by other mediums. Werewolves having a weakness for silver originated in a radio series. And most interestingly the Saracen character in Robin Hood first appeared in the 80’s ITV series ‘Robin of Sherwood’. Every subsequent Robin Hood has featured a version of the Saracen character as one of the Merry Men.
Cena has said he tried to do peacemaker super serious type like in the comics and Gunn told him not to even read the comics, he wanted to do something incredibly different with peacemaker so Gunn knew exactly what he was doing and he absolutely nailed it. I loved the series.
Interesting
ive been into comics for a long time and ive never heard of peacemaker until this recent content.
But peacemaker isn’t necessarily a meta-human per say is he? Aren’t Metahumans super-powered humans that have a meta-gene like beast-boy, firestorm, Killer Croc, static, killer Frost, terra, poison ivy, and black canary. Although some argue that Superman & Wonder-Woman are metahumans because they have powers. peacemakers is on the level of Rick flag, green arrow, Batman, cat-woman, deadshot, Bloodsport, bronze Tiger, black spider, black manta, judo master, Richard dragon, lady shiva & Harley Quinn in which they are characters that are trained to peak human condition and perform near-superhuman feats, Are exceptional martial artists, & have gadgets and weaponry that turn the tides when they fight super-powered beings.
The beauty of comics in general. It doesn't matter if you change them. If there is thousands of versions for each character.
Holy crap! Peacemaker isnt available in the UK atm. I had no idea Vigilante was in the show. Kind of wish I didnt know that. Great show Chris, glad to see you looking so slim and in focus!
It's an amazing show, the best screen thing DC has done in years. It starts off coming across as over-the-top bad-taste humor and eventually reveals a lot of heart and serious character drama that just lands 100%.
Garth Ennis one shot is my favorite version of the character I wish he had a whole series to toy with the character. He clearly took it seriously like his Punisher run.
Really enjoyed the episode! You always keep the quality of commentary high even for your quick vids. Love this channel!
Vigilante being a Bus Boy is like The Flash working at a pet store.
Let's also appreciate how good Vigilante looks after seeing him look so silly in Arrow...
I thought Peacemaker was a Jack Kirby character given his helmet.
The comic John Economos honestly looks a little bit like you. Not a dead ringer, but if you introduced a pic of him as fanart a viewer created, I'd momentarily believe you.
Great episode. I remember as a kid, while I read mostly DC and Marvel, I gave Charlton my best efforts especially with the Phantom, which in my opinion led to an entertaining film with Billy Zane. I have to give a lot of credit to DC live action across the board for recognizing it's past. From seeing the original Doom Patrol in the Doom Patrol show to the mention of Kite Man in Peacemaker, I'm still waiting for Sgt. Rock to make an appearance.
I appreciated this post. I only have OTA broadcast TV so haven't been able to see an episode of the show (but I'll check for clips online). It sounds like the TV show did a superior job of doing justice and even improving on a character, which is too rare! TY for the coverage.
Peacemaker is now more than the inspiration for The Comedian from Watchmen
“Is it for cats? NO!” Lol. I love Comic Tropes. Lol
That batman & richard dragon movie was so good
Just finished the show yesterday, great timing to watch my favorite comic channel.
Your videos are always so concise and humorous. Good work.
Great episode Chris. I still haven’t seen peacemaker yet but I will.
It's great, I actually liked it more than TSS
In the 2000s Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes original run there is an arc about Peacemaker and The Reach-the source of the Blue Beetle armor that have a scarab that is supposed to bond to its host body’s spine and take control of them. It seems like Gunn is adapting that concept into a new spin, together with Peacemaker in Multiversity Pax Americana comic where he is contracted by the US government secret op to kill a political figure.
Gunn’s iteration feels like a hybrid of difference sources under the hood, I do think he was pulling from some stuff outside of the things you highlighted in your video to guide the beats of his run while telling his own story.
Great work btw! Love your stuff.
Loved the Magic Spoon commercial!
I didn't realize the butterflies were original but I'm not surprised -- I read them somewhat as a reference to Slither, Gunn's directorial feature debut about alien slugs that take over human bodies. The show's climax in an isolated barn is also reminiscent of an iconic scene from Slither, except instead of the "cow" being a giant alien caterpillar, you have a woman whose grown to fill up the entire interior (as a breeding place for the slugs).
Many elements also reminded me of his film Super, which I strongly recommend. Of course many of these themes persist throughout his career, so that's hardly surprising, but I feel the grit and brutality of Peacemaker in particular came off as a return to his roots in Super. Even the costuming feels similar, not as grandiose as in Guardians of the Galaxy but more like "I can't believe someone would wear that."
John Ostrander and Kim Yale's(RIP) Suicide Squad book was one of my favourite books as a teen. Thanks for giving them a shout out in this video Chris.
James Gunn said that John Cena is the best improvisational actor he's ever worked with, and that is saying something.
I think James Gunn is a genius for using lesser known heroes to adapt and make them more loved than they have ever been.
*cold open on Chris sitting in front of a plate of spaghetti, openmouthed about to bite into a forkful*
Oh hi, you caught me just as I was about to taste this food. Do YOU really want to taste it? Let's talk about Peacemaker!
A CHALLENGE FOR YOU!!!: i have fond memories of a '70s British comic called Action. It was banned because of the ultraviolence. For example, one story called Hookjaw (obviously inspired by Jaws) was based on a giant shark that used a harpoon protruding from its body, as a weapon. Another story was called Spinball, inspired by Rollerball. Love your channel, I hope it continues to grow. Best wishes from Scarborough, England 🙂
Thanks for the vid and providing relevant and as it turns out less relevant (but informative) background info on Peacemaker. Loved that show.
Honestly this was a rare case of adoption is better than original. And Gunn clearly knows his shit he even made a reference to peacemaker jet pack
A very KOOL episode Chris. . HEY. .do you remember a DC comics title called "THE BLACK HOOD"?? I loved that title and I would like you to do a SHOW about that character. . .I don't know why DC COMICS forgot about him. . .so. . what you think??😸
Great show...I liked those simplistic stories by Gill for Peacemaker in the Charlton books (part of a collection I started with Judomaster back in the early 1970s) but appreciate the update by DC on Peacemaker. Excellent show!
This is the thing , when doing certain roles it u to the director & writer or both to make sure that the actor sales the character successfully. I haven’t seen it yet, probably going to being watch this week.
Wow! What timing. I just started reading the Vigilante Tpb a few days ago ✨
“My son is also named ‘Bork’.”
Just give James Gunn some D list characters and he'll turn them into gold.
I can't wait for a Triathlon series.
Excellent video!!!
I must comment, just to comment, on your commentary, because comments are like ; likes , and I like that!!!
The previous highlight of Peacemakers career was inspiring The Comedian.
Which is about the only reason anyone cares about the character.
Adding to your superman example the batcave came from the Batman and Robin serial
Great analysis! As always! I also enjoyed Cena's performance!! Im glad im not the only one! And this Vigilante version sure added up a lot of fun to the equation!
Don't know why, but the series reminded me of the last The Tick iteration!!
Thanks Chris!
Peacemaker HBO seems like it should have been based on a Grant Morrison comic miniseries. I liked the Doom Patrol that also pulled heavily from Grant Morrison's whacky vibes and visual ideas.
The Charlton run of Peacemaker went to 5 issues as you said, but Pat Boyettte had completed the art for issue 6, and you can find the unpublished pages easily on line.
No one ever talks about how Peacemaker was a supporting character in Jamie Reyes Blue Beetle series. That's how I was introduced to the character.
Albeit that wasn't the Christopher Smith iteration though.
@@uncannydcmarvelous5732 It absolutely was actually. It was the character being used featuring a redesign after years of not being used. That version would even feature and arc where he flashed back to his Nazi father.
Great to see Infotron again. More of him please! xD
Someone else prob said this too but Peacemaker was also the inspiration for Watchmen's Comedian. And there was a fourth Judomaster named Sonia Sato who had the superpower of never being able to be hit by anything directly aimed at her. She would join the JSA
I really enjoyed the Peacemaker show, and I'm actually kinda excited to see what they do with the character next. I'm usually cautious of changes from film and television seeping into comic books, but I would welcome it here. This version of the character is really fun and interesting and I want more of him. Kinda nuts how he went from a z-lister to a pretty top priority character.
I'm ok with these smaller episodes. Especially the compare and contrast ones. Maybe one for Moon Knight when that appears. Keep up the good work
Are you not going to mention that Peacemaker was the inspiration for Watchmen's Comedian? Wow.
Oh hi you caught me eating cereal outside
Well said, I love your channel it is awesome, detailed and prolific!!!! I HAVE SUSCRIBED AND THANKYOU FOR TAKING THE TIME OUT OF YOUR SCHEDULE TO DO THIS FOR THE MANY COMIC BOOK AND HERO LOVERS OUT THERE ITS NOT EASY! YOUR MY HERO FOR CREATING THIS CHANNEL
Those are some nice koi in that pond man 👌
5:07 I am now reading the very first few issues of Daredevil, and now that you have pointed this out, I can't unsee that this is the case for probably most old comics! The only sentences that do not end in an exclamation point are the ones ending with a question mark or an ellipsis.
Very impressed with your research. Peacemaker was never a favorite of mine but he was always kind of there in the background. If i wanted to give the show a harsh critique i could rip it apart but its been so much fun, so satisfying that I can overlook gaffes. I want more Judomaster. I would love to see another Charlton character or two somehow worked into the mix. If they do make it so the next door neighbor is Bat mite I would want to limit it to one off the wall self contained episode, like a "special episode' over making him recur.
Also I find it ironic that even though White Dragon isn't his dad in the comics he still dies in the pages of Suicide Squad.
This is the 1st I've ever seen your channel but happy anniversary.
I gave it a thumbs up just for the magic spoon ad alone!
FYI, there was a US Supreme Court nominee named Robert Bork
Yay! Just finished it with my boyfriend yesterday and wanted more content, awesome Chris ♥️!
Cena really won me in terms of his acting here. I've seen a bit of his wrestling, many of his movies, but this show broadened how I perceive him as a performer.
¿¡What's wrong with exclamation marks!? ¡I love exclamation marks! ¡At least White Dragon is not a grammar Nazi! ¡Great Video, can't wait for the next one! BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The show made me love vigilante so much I wish there was actual good comic stories about him
For a "smaller" episode this was still fantastic, look forward to next week.