Going back to the early days of comics, heroes have been created to stand for something. Peace, justice and the American way has been a strong theme since this trend began and never seemed to falter.

As time as passed, the simple blind patriotism has faded and led to more complex characters that have evolved with the times. Today, on the anniversary of America’s independence, we take a look back at some heroes and even some villains who have proudly worn the red, white and blue.

While there are many we don’t have the chance to look at below such as the Flag, Liberty Bell, the Shield or even the Spirit of 76, we look at all those heroes and what they stood for, the men and women who helped give us the freedom to be able to live in a land where these characters actually exist.

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With E3 over, the next big summer event in the geek world is Comic-Con in San Diego. Every year, more than a hundred thousand people descend upon San Diego, taking over the city and enveloping it in geekdom.

There isn’t a corner you can turn without seeing a Green Lantern T-shirt or a bar you can walk into that doesn’t have a revised comic book inspired martini list. It is nerd paradise.

But, Comic-Con isn’t all Batmobiles and conversations with Jim Lee. There is a darker side to the Con that becomes increasingly apparent (and annoying) once you get there.

As much as we love the Con, there are a few things we wouldn’t mind living without for our week in San Diego.

Twilight

The past few years, Comic-Con has been invaded by screaming teenage girls and even louder overeager cougars in search of their first glimpse of the latest trailers of the Twilight saga. Twilight is not comics. It’s not even geek.

Ask any person on the street to tell you what they imagine a vampire looks like before Twilight came out and not a single one would mention “sparkles.” The vampires that most people love revolve around sex and violence, not good Christian values and celibacy. Real vampires don’t shimmer, they kill people.

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Ever since The Walking Dead went off famously on AMC, it seems like other networks are ready to jump on the “indie comic” bandwagon. Showtime has recently picked up a script based on the comic book series Chew about a detective who gets a psychic impression of things he eats. From Deadline.

Showtime has bought a script for Chew, a quirky half-hour cop show based on John Layman and Rob Guillory’s bestselling comic book of the same name. Stephen Hopkins is attached to direct and executive produce the project, which hails from Circle of Confusion, the company behind AMC’s hit series adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead.

Chew tells the darkly comic story of federal agent Tony Chu, a “cibopath” able to get psychic impression from the things he eats who is assigned to the most usual and bizarre crimes.

Not only is Circle of Confusion the studio behind the brilliance of bringing The Walking Dead to screen, but they’re also the company that is working on bringing Brian Michal Bendis’ Powers to FX. Expect the next few years to be quite huge for the lesser-known comic book world. Which is not a bad thing at all.

With news of Chew hitting, who would you like to see as the titular character Tony Chu? John Cho? Stephen Chow? Are these all too easy?

You tell us.

To check out yesterday’s reviews of “things that should stay dead”, make sure to click here for yesterday’s The Pull List.

Fall Out Toy Works #1 – Image – $3.99

Score: 7.0

When Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance had a hit on his hands with two successful runs of The Umbrella Academy miniseries with more on the way, it was inevitible that other musicians would give it a go in the comic world. Like Claudio Sanchez from Coheed & Cambria who will be debuting Kill Audio soon (whom we will be posted an interview with soon), Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz has thrown his hat in the ring as the co-creator of a work “inspired by the ideas & lyrics of Fall Out Boy” called Fall Out Toy Works. A struggling toy maker who only makes one of a kind robotic toys is approached by a man referred to as the Baron.

The Baron, who has made his money through somewhat questionable means as well as mass production wants the Toy Maker to create a robotic woman for him as his team’s previous attempts have ended less than favorably, like the most recent robotic wife letting herself fall out the window of a high rise building. Inspired by the Fall Out Boy song “Tiffany Blews”, the book also features one of the Toy Maker’s other creations a depressed robotic boy in a bear suit as well as a sentient cell phone who looks like a bee in a bowler hat and acts as the consciousness of the Toy Maker at times.

While well written by Brett Lewis, the concept doesn’t feel new. For the most part, the story feels like a traditional Japanese anime or manga story. Not being a huge fan of manga, it takes a little while to get in to the story as even the futuristic landscape shares that style at times. At the same time, there are a lot of deep layers examined throughout the course of the issue especially focused on creating “a woman” and basically playing God.

These questions are looked at subtley and are often repeatedly hit over the head of the reader as the Toy Maker faces this moral dilemma to work for the Baron or let his factory go under. Through the issue, the Toy Maker is explored thoroughly as he questions not only his ability to make what the Baron is looking for, but also the effects doing so might have on him as he succeeds. This is accomplished really well as he sits with a Japanese server at the Baron’s Doll House establishment.

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Who would win in a fight to the death between the Incredible Hulk or Superman? What would happen if Darkseid, Galactus and Apocalypse teamed up? What happens if Voltron met the Power Rangers? What is the most important comic book birthday? All these questions are amazingly answered along with tons more that even some of the most hardcore fanboys wouldn’t have even thought to ask in The Greatest Fan Film of All Time.

Over a full forty minutes in length, The Greatest Fan Film of All Time features cameos from all over geekdom and comics that would rival South Park’s Imaginationland episodes. Written by Larry Longstreth and directed by Jacob Drake, it features much better voice acting than one would expect from flash animated internet video, including TNA wrestler Dr. Stevie (or Stevie Richards of ECW and WWE fame) voicing Daredevil as he gives advice to various sidekicks on the setbacks caused by wearing yellow. That says a lot coming from a man who is not only colorblind, but completely blind. Check out the video after the jump.

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