Last year was one of transition, where people at home started to get settled into yet another complex stretch of time where it was still advisable to seek out entertainment in the comfort of home. Studios experimented with paired theater and streaming releases of new, substantial films, and for the most part it got the business through 2021, while television-style content mostly maintained the status quo. This year, however, has seen the resurgence of movie theater showings – led by the success of Top Gun: Maverick – as well the souring of the somewhat perfect relationships between streaming services and their audiences and the threat of digitally-purchased content just … disappearing. One wouldn’t call this a turning of the tide for the legacy ways in which we enjoy content, but it has resulted in a reevaluation of the speed in which it’s happening.

In 2022, things have started to normalize, from the genuine success of movies on the big screen again – not just “Good for a pandemic!” – to the release of big new shows on streaming services and the maybe-or-maybe-not nature of them seeing a physical release. Other factors may have infringed on the success of physical media, such as frustration with the increasing prices of goods in general and the reduction of media shelves in big box stores, but the merit of “little shiny discs” and the cases they come in has made a statement over the past year in its continued reliability and desirability. Ben’s Bargains has cobbled together a list of some of the more intriguing and desirable items from among this year’s 4K and Blu-ray media to point

Gifts For Those Who May Have Missed 2022’s Best At Theater

Doubt seemed to follow Top Gun: Maverick (4K Steelbook) for a while, of a caliber that continued to shift the longer it stayed at the box office.  Some were unsure of where a sequel could even go, let alone successfully; then, others were unsure whether this now record-breaking box office juggernaut could deliver the same awe-inspiring experience that so many seemed to be having with it.  Turns out, Top Gun: Maverick ends up being just about good enough to meet even the loftiest expectations. It delivers credible nostalgia with Cruise and the returning characters, tells a meaningful and timely story about young ace pilots that cleverly mirrors the original film, and wraps it all up in thrilling aviation action sequences and high-stakes, smartly-written drama. Coupled with amazing photography and a killer score, Maverick’s the kind of film that’ll make one want to watch it again immediately after, which makes it a no-brainer gift.

Otherwise, it’s been a tremendous year for truly unique blockbusters that push the envelope on their concepts. In the midst of the Marvel and DC movie attempting multiple universes, Everything Everywhere All At Once (4K) steals their thunder by delivering a Matrix-esque thrill ride of entrancing action, a sense of a humor, and a perfect emotional backbone. Jordan Peele unleashes his most overt horror masterwork with Nope (4K), in which he ties together stunt horses and flying saucers in a meaningful, enormously immersive gallop through terror. Ti West unravels a pair of excellent horror movies with Pearl and X that tie together into a new horror universe with a fascinating lead presence in Mia Goth, while Nicolas Cage brings an entrancing lead presence to his latest film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (4K)by playing … himself, or a spoof of himself. And one can’t get through 2022 movie recommendations without celebrating how Robert Pattinson absolutely rocks as the gritty new Batman.

Gifts For Those Who Like Their Media Pretty Both Inside and Out

Steelbooks were once predominately the domain of retail exclusives, producing high-demand collectible physical copies of everybody’s favorite movies. That’s still the case, but something’s shifted over the past year or so: studios are more onboard with making the premium metal cases widely available, which could be due to any number of factors. Regardless of why, it’s just nice to be able to find these editions without having to scramble to stores or place orders so far out. The folks at Shout Factory and Arrow Video both have had a grasp on this for a bit longer than the mainstream studios, and this year they’ve released some exquisite, coveted new 4K editions that also came with appealing Steelbook variants. Arrow’s True Romance (4K Limited Edition) delivers an impeccable presentation at what seems like the perfect time, and Shout Factory’s treatment of cult horror classic The Fog (4K) scares up a superior presentation with divine illustrated cover art.

That said, some of the other major studios have also jumped on that bandwagon by delivering attractive, fitting re-releases of some of their more popular films and/or those celebrating an anniversary. Notably, the re-releases of all the Indiana Jones films from Paramount operate on a simple premise: include the 4K disc, slap the beautiful poster artwork on the front, and call it a day …. And it works, because you don’t have to buy ‘em all. Paramount also threw together a pair of inexpensive Blu-ray Steelbooks that’ll tickle the fancy of certain fans, putting the “Burn Book” design from Mean Girls onto a new edition and sliding a VHS-themed slipcover over a TV-noise-covered shot of the Black Haired Girl for The Ring’s 20^th Anniversary Re-Release. Sony has also hopped on the Steelbook re-release bandwagon with an insanely satisfying design for Starship Troopers in 4K, but they’ve also done this unconventionally by first producing an exclusive for Best Buy with Spider-Man: No Way Home (4K) … and then re-released the same design on an unexclusive, albeit still limited scale.

Gifts For Those Who Need More Spine Numbers In Their Life

Every year, it seems as if The Criterion Collection has hit yet another stage of evolution in terms of the titles they’re able to offer in the landscapes of Blu-rays and 4K discs. While they once produced a widespread selection of mainstream titles for the laserdisc and early DVD eras, their attention seemed to shift away from that spotlight and far more toward classic, foreign, and otherwise more obscure films, resulting in a beautiful catalogue that hinged on the likes of Kurosawa, Tarkovsky, Bergman, Fellini, Wong Kar Wai, and such. The pivot wasn’t immediate, but starting in the mid-2010s, Criterion refocused their efforts on bringing more widely recognizable pictures – from 12 Angry Men and Dr. Strangelove to The Breakfast Club and Princess Bride – into their collection with often much-needed audiovisual or supplemental upgrades. Now, Criterion’s in a great spot to release significant movies from across the spectrum of cinematic desires, and they’ve delivered some surprises this year.

Perhaps it’s not a huge surprise given the label’s recent amorous partnership with David Lynch, but Lost Highway (4K) remained one of the director’s elusive films without a fine home-video presentation before Criterion finally answered the call of many a cinephile … and they did so at 4K to boot. While arthouse enjoyers are entranced with that one, fans of old-Hollywood classics will revel in the recent edition of the dark slapstick comedy Arsenic and Old Lace, while those with an eye for classic blaxploitation cinema will relish their new edition of the OG badass Shaft (4K). Devotees of the Brothers Coen finally get a robust presentation of their straight-faced noir thriller Miller’s Crossing, and foreign aficionados will be delighted to have the Japanese ‘90s horror drama Cure at their access. Yet, even though all of those films have been requested for a while, they don’t match the immense surprise of Criterion’s latest 4K announcement: a partnership with Disney and Pixar starting with WALL-E (4K), which’ll make a perfect gift.

Gifts For Those Who Relish Seeing New Details In Old Classics

During the process of DVD transitioning over to Blu-ray, many people wondered whether the audiovisual uptick would be worth it on classic movies or smaller-scale films such as comedies, and whether it’d be worth the cash to buy another presentation. It became clear – no pun intended – that especially with classic black-and-white films and those with age, the increase in resolution and contrast was beyond worth it, especially if the particular film also received a much-needed restoration alongside it. Back 15 years ago, this was a much easier conversation; in 2022, after years of restorations and technique refinements, most films that absolutely needed such improvements have seen them now. When it comes to jumping from Blu-ray to 4K, however, the answer remains the same: those jumps in resolution and improvements in contrast and black levels make yet another shiny disc worth the dollar figure, and thus worth gifting the film lover in your life.

It all boils down to the studios responsible for the classic being represented in 4K, and boy, there are some doozies this year that nobody would ever want to mess up. Oftentimes in the debate for greatest film ever made, Casablanca enjoys a beautiful new 4k presentation this year that shines a light on the one-revered Blu-ray edition from a decade prior.  Criterion finally jumped into the 4K ring last year, and they’ve made short order of getting impressive new presentations in the hand of cinephiles, from the ‘50s noir stalwart Double Indemnity to Martin Scorsese’s immersive, hard-hitting Oscar winner Raging Bull. While these were previously released by Criterion but aren’t this time around, a trio of wonderful Stanley Kubrick films came out of Kino Lorber in tremendous 4K presentations this year: Paths of Glory, The Killing, and Killer’s Kiss. And, of course, let’s not overlook yet another technically immaculate presentation of the Godfather Trilogy, though this time it includes the reworked Godfather Coda Edition for the third film.

Gifts For Those Who Have Just Enough Shelf Space

With production channels the way they’ve been over the past year or two, it’s not surprising that there’s a lack of big-investment boxsets to have come out recently. Instead, as with the steelbook presentation, companies are mostly keeping their anniversary and limited editions to a smaller scale … and honestly, with the shift to more minimalistic spaces and conservation of packaging waste and what not, it’s not a bad thing at this point. As mentioned last year, however, it seems as if every time physical media has reached the point where it’s lost the ability to produce another hilariously unnecessary set that’ll grab the masses, they pull out at least a few more.

Perhaps the most obvious and appealing one this year goes back to the Top Gun franchise, in which Paramount has thrown together a lavish 2-movie steelbook boxset for both Tony Scott’s original and the sequel, Maverick. Both cases have coordinating artwork that kinda-sorta reminds one of the metal plating alongside jet bodies, and it comes in a fancy box with a bunch of goodies: dogtags, keyrings, replica photos, decals, and other goodies. Similarly, the Bourne franchise of movies will be seeing its own tactical Bourne: Complete Collection 20th Anniversary 4K gift set, encased in a backpack with BOURNE emblazoned on the front and including a keychain, a compass, even a monocular. And if we’re celebrating Maverick and Bourne, we might as well also celebrate James Bond and Daniel Craig’s final foray as the character with a lovely numbered diecast Aston Martin edition of No Time To Die (and a fancy box and character cards).

On a more practical level, but still impressive as a holiday gift, Sony will also be releasing a 30^th Anniversary of Sony Picture Classics 4K limited edition set, which includes an impressive range of indie titles that may or may not have actually received a 4K treatment otherwise. Tons are worth celebrating, but movies like Run Lola Run, City of Lost Children, and Volver should get their respective cult followings very excited.  

2022 Gift Guide: Top 4K & Blu-rays for Movie and TV Fans

The summer movie season is upon us, providing a great excuse to sit in an air conditioned room and avoid that brutal summer sun. However, even the best summer movie only lasts a couple of hours, three tops.

When you’re looking for another excuse to stay indoors for a few hours, why not consider our list of the best LEGO sets for summer movies? You can stay inside the air conditioned comfort of your home while completing these LEGO sets, all while reliving the fun of the summer movie blockbuster you just saw. For instance, the Silent Mary (as seen above) from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

These LEGO sets work as collectibles that’ll appeal to fans of different super heroes and different movie subjects several years into the future. You also can have fun now putting them together, following the directions inside the box … or ignore the directions and follow your own creative and artistic aim. Sure, the box says ages 7-14, but you don’t have to have kids to enjoy these fun LEGO sets.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opened in April in Japan and opened May 5 in the United States to a blockbuster start, having grossed more than $650 million by mid-May. If you’ve seen the movie, we have a couple of LEGO sets that you’re going to enjoy. (And if you haven’t seen the movie, what are you waiting for? Groot isn’t going to get any cuter, after all.)

The LEGO Guardians of the Galaxy Ayesha’s Revenge has been one of the top selling LEGO toys on Amazon in May. It has some fun options, including Yondu, Star-Lord, Ayesha, and Groot figures, along with a laser drill spaceship.

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The 460-piece LEGO Guardians of the Galaxy The Milano vs. The Abilisk kit is an impressive one. The Milano cockpit has room for four minifigures along with a Groot figure. The kit includes figures for Groot, Star-Lord, Gamora, Nebula, and Drax.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

The fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales, will appear in U.S. theaters May 26, once again featuring Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow. Captain Sparrow battles a Spanish Navy ghost crew while attempting to find the Trident of Poseidon.

A cool new set of LEGO toys for the Dead Men Tell No Tales movie are the BrickHeadz toys for Captain Sparrow and Captain Armando Salazar. You can follow the directions to create individual characters or combine the two sets for a crazy character mashup.

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Another option for a more traditional LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean set is The Mill, which features 365 pieces, along with a Jack Sparrow figure and a Dead Man’s Chest.

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Wonder Woman

The Wonder Woman movie, set for a June 2 release in the United States, will explore the origins of Wonder Woman, as she leaves Themyscira to try to bring an early end to World War I.

The LEGO Super Heroes DC Wonder Woman Warrior Battle set generated quite a bit of buzz in late March, as its release gave fans a look at the villain Ares for the Wonder Woman movie. No information had been released about Ares up to that point. Beyond Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor, and Ares figures, this LEGO set features a biplane too.

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Another option at a lower price point for a Wonder Woman LEGO set is the Girls Wonder Woman Dorm, which features a mini Wonder Woman figure, a Golden Lasso, and an invisible bike.

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Disney’s Cars 3

The Disney Cars animated franchise will release its third movie on June 16 in the United States. It’s especially popular with young boys … and maybe a few adult boys too. All of the favorite characters are back for Cars 3, including Mater, Sally Carrera, and Lightning McQueen, who must recover from a serious crash in this movie to try to regain his racing abilities.

We’re waiting for specific Cars 3 LEGO sets to appear, but the most comprehensive LEGO set available for the Cars franchise currently is the Ultimate Race Set. It has a big price tag, but it includes two car launchers as well as Lightning McQueen, Max Schnell, and Raoul CaRoule cars.

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Plenty of the Cars LEGO sets are LEGO Juniors, aimed at ages 4-7. One of the best is the Thunder Hollow Crazy 8 Race kit, which includes Lightning McQueen and Cruz Ramirez cars, along with a Miss Fritter road sign and movable barriers and floodlights.

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Transformers: The Last Knight

The latest film in the Transformers franchise — Transformers: The Last Knight — opens June 21 in the United States. It will feature the beginning of a war between the human race and the Transformers. Although LEGO toys aren’t offered for the Transformers franchise, you can purchase Kre-O toys, which are plastic brick toys similar to LEGOs. Kre-Os are manufactured in South Korea, and Hasbro markets these toys.

If you’re looking for a good introductory Transformers Kre-O toy, the Kre-O Transformers Galvatron Factory Battle playset is a nice option. It offers 388 pieces and allows for creation of a few different robots, including Bumblebee and Optimus Prime.

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The 560-piece Kre-O Transformers Destruction Site Devastator Set provides you with plenty of flexibility, as you can create one large robot, any of four vehicles, or any of four average sized robots.

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Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man: Homecoming, which will have a July 7 release in the United States, introduces us to Peter Parker’s attempts to balance his life as a high school student, while also fighting crime as Spider-Man. We haven’t seen any new LEGO sets for Homecoming yet, but there are still plenty of cool sets featuring the webslinger.

The LEGO Spider-Man Web Warriors Ultimate Bridge Building Kit is a detailed LEGO set featuring Spider-Man’s web prison inside a bridge with a movable roadway and a trap door. This set has more than 1,000 pieces.

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If you’re looking for a LEGO set for a younger child, the LEGO Juniors Spider-Man Hideout includes Spider-Man’s helicopter and Green Goblin’s air glider.

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12 Awesome LEGO Sets for 2017 Summer Movies

A long, long time ago… 2006… a small print shop known simply as “Marvel” released a seven-issue, limited series crossover special in which teams of virtuous heroes took time away from fighting the evils of the world so they could fight each other. Marvel Civil War became a momentous entry into the printer’s catalog of work, but only to readers. In those times, legendary comics came and went without the mainstream even batting an eye.

Then, many, many years later… the 2010s… a boom time of comic book movies revived all the old, forgotten characters and story lines of Marvel. These moving pictures brought joy to new fans, old fans, and stockholders.

Consequently, the young Marvel fans don’t know the classic stories. So how can the studio cram decades of character history into a series of 2-hour films over years?

The answer, as always, is nerds on the Internet.

Here’s everything you need to know about the story before you see Captain America Civil War:

Original Plotline

The original series started when a D-team group of superheroes, think the Avengers of Stamford, CT, screw the pooch and let a supervillain blow up a chunk of the city, including an elementary school, and on live TV, because they were filming a superhero-themed reality show.

Not wanting to condone the murder of children, the general populace turned against superheroes, urging the U.S. government to implement the Superhero Registration Act. Basically, superheroes had to register their secret identities to the government, which got a lot of them butt-hurt because they hide their personal lives for a reason.

So, the cool superheroes starting resisting the registration, while the nerdy ones stuck by the government they loved so much. S.H.I.E.L.D., under Agent Maria Hill, began enforcing the law and asked Captain America to hunt down all his friends, but he obviously refused and they obviously ordered him to be taken down.

Iron Man really spear-headed the pro-registration league, since the mother of one of the killed children told him Iron Man was his favorite. Captain America, meanwhile, lead the rebels, in their cool underground lairs with all the badasses. I mean, come on: who cheers for the establishment?

While things were getting heated, Iron Man pulled a nice publicity stunt where Spider-Man admitted his secret identity on live TV to show support for registration. This was a big deal, since Spider-Man was the most popular superhero with a secret identity. It was also useless, since Spider-Man later switched sides.

The supervillains also started joining sides, since they were required to register, too. Some fought for the rebels to keep their privacy, while others fought for the pro-registration for the chance to hunt down their superhero nemeses.

Anyway, Iron Man and Cap strategically try to one-up the other, until Iron Man sets a trap by exploiting the rebel heroes’ weakness of wanting to help people. Faking a chemical fire, Iron Man lured out the underground superheroes and an epic fight ensued. Then Thor appeared, but not the real Thor, a clone Thor (this is a comic, after all: they love their clones). The Thor clone brutally killed a low-level hero named Goliath, and everyone was like “WTF!?”

Goliath’s death shook things up, and a bunch of heroes changed sides. All told, though, the pro-registration side became less popular, and the rebel team mounted a counter-attack against the pro-registration jail.

The climax was another epic battle, which led outside right into Time Square. Cap was about to finish off Iron Man, when he had a corny “Martha” moment and looked around at all the damage their battle was doing to innocent people. Cap surrendered and everyone was like “WTF!?”

But in the epilogue — and this part might come in the movie — as Captain America was walking up the steps to his trial, a sniper presumed to be Crossbones killed the Cap, acting under the orders of the Red Skull. It turned out to actually be a brain-washed Sharon Carter. This is the last Captain America movie scheduled…

What We Know So Far About Captain America Civil War

We know the film starts with Captain America leading the Avengers on a mission, where a catastrophe happens much like in the comics. The loose plot seems to follow along the comics, with a much, much smaller cast.

A few of the team-members changed sides, like Black Panther, partly because the Marvel Cinematic Universe only has the rights to so few of their characters. We also find characters that weren’t that involved in the comic taking mainstream roles in the movie. Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye weren’t in the comic at all.

What to Expect

One of the main reasons we’re excited about Captain America Civil War is because it brings together a wide range of characters from the MCU, including new ones and some introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron. These are all characters with deep backstories in the comics, so here are some things you might want to look out for.

1. Love Story Between Vision and the Scarlet Witch

She’s a quirky girl who doesn’t quite fit in. He’s an experimental robot with a space gem for a brain. Yep, that old rom-com cliche.

The two are long-time members of the Avengers in the comics, so it makes sense that they’d fall in love (well, as much sense as a human loving a robot can make). Their affair was tarnished by their teammates’ opposition: Quicksilver because he didn’t want his sister dating a robot, and Hawkeye because he was in love with the Scarlet Witch herself. But, since in the MCU one is dead and the other married, things are looking up for the couple of the future.

2. Black Panther

One of the lesser known Marvel heroes is also one of the most interesting. This prince of a fictional African country Wakanda has more wealth than even Tony Stark, thanks to the highly valuable source of Vibranium. Martin Freeman, who recently played the lead in the Hobbit trilogy, will play the prince’s diplomatic aid in his voyage to the U.S.

3. Iron Man Pissed at Winter Soldier

There’s some speculation that part of the main rivalry results from the Winter Solider having played a part in the death of Iron Man’s father. In the previous Captain America movie, Hydra took credit for the death of Howard Stark.

4. Baron Zemo and Crossbones

It’s already been revealed that two central Captain America villains, Baron Zemo and Crossbones, will be present.

Crossbones was set-up in the previous film, when the Hydra agent Brock Rumlow was maimed in the final battle with Falcon. Baron Zemo is brand new — all we know is that he’s played by Inglorious Bastards actor Daniel Bruhl.

Captain America Civil War: Why Are Good Guys Fighting Each Other?

Developed by digital artist Midu1995, this collection of art builds popular superheroes and villains from the DC and Marvel universes out of the words that truly define them. Designed out of stunning typography, characters depicted within the series include the Dark Knight, the Joker, Bane, Spider-Man, Venom, Carnage, Iron Man and Deadpool.

For instance, a sampling of words that make up Joker’s illustration includes crazy, tricks, violent, blade, law, smile, pain, darkness, revenge and obsessed. The Joker illustration also seems to be derived from Heath Ledger’s take on the character in The Dark Knight. Alternatively, Bane’s depiction is more representative of the comic book version of the villain rather than the version in The Dark Knight Rises. Beyond superhero-related artwork, the rest of Midu1995’s work is related to automobiles and other random items.

You can check out the full collection below. Just a heads up, Venom, Iron Man, Joker and Bats are all sized at 1080p if you wanted to use them for a new computer wallpaper. (Just click to expand, then save the picture.)

Which one is your favorite?

Eight Superheroes and Villains Created with Gorgeous Typography

Launched at the comic book nirvana known as Comic-Con, the “Tingling Electronic Spidey Sense Shirt” is a new product from ThinkGeek. On the back of the shirt located at the neckline, a large proximity sensor kicks in with a vibrating pulse any time someone attempts to sneak up behind you. The sensor clips onto the shirt, thus allowing the user to wear a variety of different shirts with the sensor attached. However, ThinkGeek does include a black T-shirt with a sweet illustration of Spider-Man’s Spidey Sense kicking into overdrive due to impending danger.

Interestingly, the pulse increases in vibration intensity as someone approaches. At five feet away, the pulse is slow while someone just one foot away triggers a fast pulse. The sensor operates on two AAA batteries and has been officially licensed by Marvel. That probably accounts for the steep price of $39.99 for both the sensor and shirt.

Presumably, anyone with long hair wouldn’t be able to wear the sensor as it would be going off constantly. It would also be somewhat annoying to wear this in busy, crowded areas of major cities like NYC or Los Angeles. The tingling would simply go on forever until the batteries wore out or you smashed the device in anger. It’s also ridiculously massive and easy to spot if you were sneaking up on someone.

However, it could be fun to wear during Halloween with a solid Spidey costume. Thinkgeek is likely betting on that with the October 2013 release date. If you are interested in the  Spidey Sense Shirt, you can pre-order it on ThinkGeek here. Check out a shot of the actual shirt below:

This is a Thing: Spidey Sense T-Shirt with Proximity Sensor

Created by illustrator Belhoula Amir of France, this series of illustrations depicts the loneliness of being a superhero in the native environments of heroes within the Marvel and DC universes. For instance, Amir’s depiction of Superman has the Man of Steel hovering in space looking down on Earth, specifically North America. Other heroes depicted within the collection include Batman, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Wolverine.

Amir’s other work includes designing a collection of Harry Potter inspired bookmarks, a series of minimalist Star Wars posters, full profile illustrations of villains within the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, a group of drawings of the villains of Gotham City and other interesting illustrations related to pop culture figures. You can check out his full Behance profile here.

Check out the entire Lonely Gods collection below:

The Dark Knight

The Web-Slinger

The Man of Steel

The Ol’ Canucklehead

The Armored Avenger

Lonely Gods: The Solitude of Being a Superhero