Luck Be A Lady: Domino Appreciation...

[Punisher007]

I think that you're giving people too little credit on that one. Oh and I nominate Rooney Mara to play Domino.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Then again there were people that didn't know that the Titanic was an actual ship that actually sank and thought that Harry and Hermione were together because he was the main male character and she the main female...that it was just how it went, of course though if they added a romantic interest for DP as well that might work...

[sprior93]

Then again there were people that didn't know that the Titanic was an actual ship that actually sank and thought that Harry and Hermione were together because he was the main male character and she the main female...that it was just how it went, of course though if they added a romantic interest for DP as well that might work...

WAIT.....what do you mean it was an actual ship!?!?

[cc008]

My fear for Domino would be that people who don't know the character or her history and judging it by most Marvel movies the main female lead and the main male lead are usually romantically linked in the movie that when Domino would be sarcastic to DP about say DP hitting on a woman or something of that nature people would then think that it was because she was jealous or something of that nature.

Domino would be in the x-films what Black Widow has generally been in the MCU. At least that's how I see her. Deadpool hitting on her would be just like Iron Man hitting on BW.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Yes sprior93...it was an actual ship...heh...

Anyway though I don't remember Tony hitting on her, I don't have a problem with Domino being in the movies or playing a big part, only being mistaken for being one of DP's girlfriends or hopeful girlfriends or anything like that, that's why I'd have her show up in the 2nd movie rather than the 1st.

[CraigTheCylon]

5 days without posts? THIS WILL NOT STAND! Here's some stuff I found on DeviantArt.

domino_by_zebes.jpg
By ZEBES (source)

Domino_by_DancingDoorGuy.jpg
By Aaron Kuder (source)

Domino_by_ReillyBrown.jpg
By (former Cable & Deadpool artist!) Reilly Brown (source)


Also, I need everyone's opinion on something - well, everyone who notices this thread anyway. When I started scanning pages for this thread, with the two Domino mini-series, I did so because they were fairly old, out-of-print and not collected since, and thusly obscure; and while I can't say that's been true of all the other stories featured here, I've so far been deliberately looking at Dom's fringe appearances rather than her core role, which will likely always be X-Force in some shape or form. The thing is, there's only so many of those stories to be found, and as it stands I've got one more TPB incoming (it's taking its time since I had to order the thing off a supplier in a different country) which should have some decent Dom scans, and that's me exhausted my planned backlog.

Even so, I still want to support this thread; it doesn't generate much discussion, but if it makes even one CBR poster rethink their opinion on Domino as a character it's all been worthwhile. That said, more scans means delving into better-known stuff, and for whatever reason I'm very iffy about scanning the Hopeless Cable & X-Force run since it's still fairly new. I do have trade collections of the full Kyle/Yost run and, uh, I now own Sex + Violence in 4 different formats (full KYost collection, solo trade, polybagged individual issues AND I bought it digitally to start with...obsessed moi?), so that's one possibility. I've also got the trades of Nicieza's Cable & Deadpool run, which has some pretty neat Domino moments scattered throughout and is basically the 'conclusion' of her and Cable as a couple. Beyond that...y'know, I've been putting it off, but at some point it's only fair we give the early X-Force stuff its day in the sun, so, yes, I may have to scan some Liefeld. And I pray my poor young scanner doesn't explode from the sheer XTREMITY of it all.

Any preferences from you guys?

[Bl00dwerK]

Any Domino posting is good with me. I was out of comics from around '93 until IDW's Cobra Civil War and Marvel Now, so I missed alot...

[CraigTheCylon]

Moar scanz!

In what might be the last notch of the 'kinda obscure' haul (judging by how much of an arse it was getting hold of the relevant TPB), we'll be looking at Weapon X volume 2, written by Frank Tieri, and pencilled by Georges Jeanty with a rotating staff of inkers. Funnily enough, there's basically zero Wolverine here, with the focus more placed on the W-X program itself and what it stands for, i.e. kidnapping random mutants and turning them into assassins for use against their own kind. Can't say I've read the whole series, but based on what we've got here, fair warning - I don't think it was worth the money I paid. It's stronger in concept than in execution.

Anyway, onto more relevant things. Domino first appears in #7 (after an in-shadows panel in #6) attending a press conference covertly presented by the hypnotic W-X agent, Mesmero, from where she calls quick guess who:


Yeah, I think Cable looks helluva weird with a buzz-cut too. Also apparently this isn't actually an X-Force team, even though it's Nate, Neena, Tabby and Blaquesmith, which...well, that's totally X-Force. But for the purposes of this story they are The Underground, as Cable forms a secret nation-wide resistance group to covertly oppose and expose the horrors of Weapon X. A resistance group he then does nothing with in favour of just relying on his core allies. Look, I said this one was stronger in concept...so the team's next course of action is to bug Mesmero and trace his movements until he leads them to one of his bosses.

Time for Operation Clown Juggle!


wait what

(also, Tabby doesn't know the difference between 'clown' and 'mime') (why is this unsurprising?)


So...that worked? I think? They're able to keep track of Mesmero, identify his bodyguards (some watery guy called Washout and Cable's old Six Pack comrade Garrison Kane) and watch as he visits his sick mom, which...I guess is helpful? Maybe? Or maybe Tieri just had the thought, "hey Domino kinda already looks like a clown, MAKE HER DRESS LIKE A CLOWN IT'LL BE FUNNY" and wrote a subplot to justify it. Who knows. She does look kinda cute that way.

TBC in next post.

[CraigTheCylon]

Anyway, in #8 the Weapon X guys move onto siccing their agents on random civic targets to stir up anti-mutant sentiment - just what they need to get public support for their new 'Neverland' facility, which is basically Mutant Guantanamo. In this case, Reaper (has a weird scythe hand, isn't Wonder Man's brother) and Wildside (has weird hands, no idea who he is at all) invade a sports arena in Utah during a basketball game and start butchering the crowd, leaving a goofy 'Mutant and Proud'-esque message carved on the court floor as they go - before they get interrupted.


'Maverick is a git' is the theme for these next few scans, you will find.

The baddies do a runner into the stadium's maintenance areas, and Dom pursues:



Nice token use of luck powers with the falling light. Also note that Domino's outfit is the same as in her 2002 miniseries; Weapon X was running at the same time, and it's nice to see their was some intra-office cooperation going on there. Not sure who first drew it, though.

Also also, see how Maverick's got his laser sight dead-center on Reapers forehead? Keep that in mind when you check out the next page.

TBC in next post.

[CraigTheCylon]

Maverick to the rescue!


What the actual **** was THAT?

Not only does he not hit anywhere near Reaper's head (which, granted, he shouldn't have been aiming for in the first place), judging by the sound FX he shoots like 15 times and only hits with 3 shots! And one of them hit Domino! Lesson learned, never let Maverick have a gun. He only pretends to know how to use one.

Hhhhh. Anyway, Wildside and Reaper are captured (not left to rot near some sports team's locker room, contrary to that last panel) and left to Maverick's tender mercies, which accomplishes nothing. Meanwhile Domino wears a funny shirt.


We never get a clear shot of it but it's safe to assume the writing reads 'Kinda Lucky'. Also, cue badass team pose:


You know it's serious business when Cable's eye is flashing in one panel that's inset into another which also has flashing eye. Eyeception (BWWAAAAAAMMMM).

Oh, I'm skipping ahead; Cable uses his telepathy (which requires incense sticks and prayer?) to figure out what the W-X goons were doing, though he accidentally melts their brains before figuring out where the Neverland facility is. As luck would have it, though, barely ten minutes pass before some rebellious W-X agents burst into the Underground's hideout, announce their betrayal and offer to take the good guys right to the facility. Why that sounds almost too good to be true!

TBC in next post.

[CraigTheCylon]

Up to #11 and #12 now, with the Underground using a (fatal) distraction by Washout to enter the facility:


...and then getting into a massive fight, because it's not like Tabby or that oaf Maverick were ever going to be capable of sticking to stealth, is it?


I do like how they remembered to keep Dom's arm in a sling yet still have her kick a prerequisite volume of ass. Even with one arm she's more dangerous than any no-mark stormtrooper wannabe!

Unfortunately, that smarmy guy with the orange shades goes and stabs Cable and co. in the back, using some sort of psychic grenade to make Cable's telepathy overload, knocking him and everyone else out cold. In the meantime, the facility director escapes with his pal Madison Jeffries (?), Garrison Kane steals Jeffries' powers and turns himself into a dead Warlock (??) and the good guys get mindwiped but are rescued from a science-related death by Marrow (???).

That, as far as I know, marks the end of Domino's participation in this series, though it continues on for another 12+ issues after this. It's hardly a great appearance for her, but it's far from her worst...or maybe it's just the costume giving me warm flashback to the Pruett/Stelfreeze series. Who knows.

Oh yes, and Dom got the cover of #8 all to herself. Here's a textless version of the piece, also by Jeanty:

[CraigTheCylon]

Today's update concerns one of Dom's more fringe appearances - it's 1999's Contest of Champions II, written by Chris Claremont with art from Oscar Jimenez and Michael Ryan. It's another of those pesky hero vs. hero things, although unlike dumb 'events' of the Civil War/AvX variety, CoCII goes for simplicity, with a wide selection of Earth's heroes being captured by aliens and essentially forced (through mind-control nanites) into a single-elimination battle tournament, because really, if your entire reason for existence is 'what if Mr. Fantastic fought the Hulk' and whatnot, you may as well just write it like it's a beat-em-up videogame. It's also got the best cathartic Rogue/Carol Danvers showdown ever written, if that's your thing.

Domino sadly does not benefit from neat character work, but at least she gets shockingly good panel time for a character not fronting her own book. She first turns up in #1 where Iron Man (broadly the story's protagonist), in his second battle, is pit against the full X-Force squad...





Had you worried for a second, didn't I? I mean, if this happened nowadays, Filmstar Tony would just repulsor them all into next week within half a page. As it stands, he gets to look impressive but loses in a logical manner (just assume Domino's armoured boots give her enhanced kicking power against metal things).

TBC in next post.

[CraigTheCylon]

Domino sits out #2, and when we catch up to her in #3 it seems she's been separated from the rest of X-Force (who get their asses kicked collectively by a lone Black Widow...oof), but even so she's apparently more than a match for Luke Cage:



I'm assuming that's Cage, anyway, he's got that goofy chain belt he used to love. And yeah, a fair few of the fights in #3 are just single panels, so how Domino won there is unclear. My guess, she shot Cage in the eye (which would briefly blind him impervious skin or no), then he slipped on a patch of oil and the car he's holding fell on his head.

Alas, our girl's famous luck runs dry in the next round, as #4 pits her against one of those stubbornly unbeatable A-list types...



Blah. I guess there's some good reason why she didn't just shoot Web-Head in the web-head. I just can't for the life of me think of one.

Things turn into a proper cluster toward the end, as Rogue (whose consciousness has been subverted by the Brood Queen - the secret mastermind behind the whole deal) steals the powers of all the finalists to make herself nigh-invincible, and Dom's only appearances are in crowd shots fighting back against UberBroodRogue.



Before you ask, yes, Deadpool nearly made the finals. Actually, so did Dom, Spidey would've been her last opponent. Oh, and she's fine: a disguised Psylocke gets close enough to brain-stab Rogue which somehow shunts the stolen powers back to their original hosts, and when Brood Queen tries to escape still in Rogue's body, Warbird (I mean Ms. Marvel...by which I mean Captain Marvel) catches her and gets the Queen to leave Rogue's body. We don't see Dom or her pals leave the fancy alien mothership the whole tourney was set on, but it's safe to assume they left through the same captured teleport system everyone else does.

[CraigTheCylon]

No scans today - instead, let's talk about one of my favourite other subjects for a second, by which I mean toys.

Domino sadly hasn't had a lot of (ha) luck in the toy stakes; she was part of the old Toy Biz X-Men series back in the '90s, though she only had one figure then (which I'll hopefully go into more detail with in future), probably because she wasn't in the cartoon much. More recently, she was added to Hasbro's ongoing Marvel Legends line in a classic X-Force flavoured 2-pack with Cannonball - you can read a pretty good write-up of that release here. Long story short, I agree with most of the points made in that review - a few quality-assurance issues aside it's a very good base figure that makes sense for Dom, and the paintwork is smooth and convincingly hides the fact that the sculpt wasn't really made for her. That said, it's a hard toy to get excited about because it just isn't a 'definitive' Domino. The design seems to have been based on her costume from her Cable & Deadpool guest appearances, drawn variously by Patrick Zircher, Reilly Brown and Ron Lim, and while I do quite like that costume it's both fairly old hat now and wasn't used anywhere else. By comparison, I might not be the biggest fan of the old Liefeld purple-head-framer gear but at least that would fit more cozily with other figures, including the one she's actually packaged with...

And of course, what's really maddening is that Hasbro has by now built up enough fresh tooling for tactical gear and weapons to make a properly amazing Domino, if they had the incentive to try. For proof, take a look at this gallery of fan-made customs, the majority of which are built from Hasbro parts (which thus wouldn't put a dent in the tooling budget) and look amazing. I'm gonna attach some shots of my favourites, but really, just browse them yourself, every entry there is great. Except for the red robot thing. I don't know what that is.

domtoy1.jpg
domtoy3.jpg
domtoy4.jpg

[juan678]