Between the Panels

Tony Stark is one heck of a genius. This is the only time you'll hear that from me. It's not for his different suits that he has built (93 in total...) or for his IQ (270 btw, which makes him a super genius). No what makes him a genius was the development of Jarvis : an A.I. that he has synced up to no just his suit, but in his very home. Jarvis is a wonderful font of knowledge and information that is ready/available to help Iron Man at a moments notice. Jarvis also watches over Iron Man and gives him the capacity to see things that we would not be able to through those tiny window slits on his face mask. Jarvis is the big resource that Iron Man really leans on and needs him be Iron Man. Let's not discount the importance of the helmet on its own. For obvious reasons, the helmet keeps your head safe from potential lethal attacks.  It also gives you protected vision for the road ahead (often through slits or visors) and would be secured on to you with a strap so that it wo...

Ok, you have to admit that you saw this one coming when your following along the Armour of God ( Ephesians 6:14-17 ) in connection to a shield. It's right there! Captain America is super iconic for his use of the star spangled shield and fighting to defend the world.  His shield over the years is made of various indestructible metals that allow him to go toe-to-toe with big hitting villains.  It can ricochet off of surfaces to be a weapon, not just a defense. And finally one of my favorite features of the shield is when something hits it, it absorbs the impact of the object hitting it without trauma for the one holding it. Literally no vibration shock! Looking back into Paul's time, this is not what the shield would be like.  He would have seen large shields that were rectangular and covered a majority of a soldiers body.  This curved wood panel was also covered in leather and would have been submerged in water for the leather to soak in (talk about heavy).  By...

If you have seen the latest Thor: Love and Thunder (sorry btw), you will have likely noted that one character definitely got an awesome upgrade.  Jane Foster: The Worthy Thor was, to me, worth the watch for her character development as well as being able to face adversity amazingly. Seeing Jane wield the broken pieces of Mjolnir and merging them together in battle: breath taking!  Did you know though that in the comics she uses another Asgardian weapon before she becomes the new Thor? This weapon is called Undrjarn: The All Weapon and Jane used this golden item when she was a hero by the name of Valkyrie. Undrjarn is a really unique weapon as it can change into any weapon that the wielder chooses.  Kind of a useful tool for any situation that you find yourself in, almost like the Swiss pocket knife of heroes. Like, I really dig how Mjolnir was used in the movie, but part of me wishes that they would have used Undrjarn as her weapon and show off how versatile it is. Hop...

Imagine you get called to war and you have to react immediately.  You have all the gear: Kevlar vest, combat weapon, belt with tools/supplies, helmet, and you are wearing flip-flops.... I hate to brake it to you, but you are not ready at that point to face anything that comes your way.  With 30 seconds of intense fighting, those flip-flops would be flip-flopping off and you are stuck with just your barefeet. Not looking too good eh? Looking at the Romans foot wear, not only was it adjustable for each soldiers comfort, but they even had small metal spikes under them for gripping into the terrain! These warriors need to be prepared for any kind of climate that they would face and they knew our Old Navy flip-flops were not going to cut it. When it comes to footwear, you gotta look at the heroes that are always on their feet and go everywhere with them. This is why the Scarlet Speedster ( The Flash ) is the best rep for the kind of footwear you would want.  Think about it; th...

I think we can all understand why it is so important in battle to have a breastplate on. Simply put, it stops things from severely damaging your vital organs (heart, lungs, intestines, etc.). To go into battle without one is asking for that random arrow or lucky slash to take you out in one fell swoop.  Oooooo that's gonna hurt! In the Roman army, these breastplates often had smaller plates and several ties to make it a perfect fit for the soldier to have free range of motion while having maximum protection. Superman is the most iconic piece for this armour.  What makes Sup's breastplate different than others is that it is from another planet (krypton) and was able to endure a lot of wear and tare in battle.  You would think this is the key to Superman's durability, but that's not the case; Superman is just naturally tough.  It's the iconic "S" that makes this stand out. One of my favourite lines in Superman: Man of Steel was when Lois Lane is asking wh...

The Armour of God (found in Ephesians 6:14-17 ) is a well known passage of scripture that most Christians could quote off the top of their heads.  However, it can lose meaning if we don't dive deeper on why Paul likely gave certain attributes of the armour pieces (truth, peace, faith, etc.) that he did. So to help in drawing that deeper connection and importance of these principles to their armour pieces, we are going to take the armour and make it NERDY STYLE!!!! Buckle up! First is the belt of truth ( Ephesians 6:14 ).  This might seem like a boring piece, but it is really the foundation of it all.  Without the belt there would be no way for a soldier (in the Roman army) to be able to carry their sword.  The belt would often hold the breast plate intact as well.  A belt was not just something to hold up your pants, but would give you peace of mind as you were moving forward in the fight: that you were equipped and ready. Batman's belt is the best example of t...