Now we can say who the first three recruits to the Avengers would be…
Hawkeye
Ant-Man / Yellowjacket
Captain Mar-Vell
This iteration would later result in Yellowjacket becoming close to the Captain, a law and order-type soldier who would often be antagonized by the newly politicized Hawkeye…
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Little men with big brains
Ray Palmer - Henry Pym
A no brainer, to be sure.
For a while, I paired Pym with Barry Allen. But the parallels are too numerous: these characters are mirror images of one another.
Commonalities:
Two unparalleled but occasionally troubled scientists who get small.
Differences:
Palmer cannot communicate with insects, never used his methods to become super-sized and never had a wife who was his partner in crime fighting. However, his wife did kill one of their friends and become a demon!
Alternate histories:
RP: Physicist Ray Palmer develops a method in which he can shrink himself, as well as animate and inanimate matter, to microscopic size. He loses his first wife, Jean Loring, and meets Lana Lang; the two use his discoveries as the Atom and the Insect Queen. The two co-found the Justice League of America with Superman, Green Lantern and an individual to be named later. Palmer then uses his methods to make himself grow to giant size and thus takes the identity of Atom-Smasher. He serves with distinction in the JLA for many years, but his invention of the Construct, a robot bent on destroying humanity, puts significant strain on his psyche. He eventually suffers a nervous breakdown, culminating in his striking his wife and his expulsion from the JLA. Palmer redeems himself and resumes his research and serves with the JLA. Most recently, he has joined Green Lantern’s drive to register all of America’s extra-normal operatives.
HP: Biochemist/ roboticist Henry Pym devises a method in which he can shrink himself and communicate with ants. He takes the guise of Ant-Man (later Yellowjacket) and becomes the second recruit to the Avengers. He later marries Maria Trovaya, and serves for years as the Avengers’ key scientific resource. Pym divorces Trovaya and then spends some time in a insect-proportioned society in South America, but returns to a teaching post at an prestigious East Coast university and sporadic missions with the Avengers. A reconciliation with Trovaya ends in murderous disaster, and Pym drops out of sight.
A no brainer, to be sure.
For a while, I paired Pym with Barry Allen. But the parallels are too numerous: these characters are mirror images of one another.
Commonalities:
Two unparalleled but occasionally troubled scientists who get small.
Differences:
Palmer cannot communicate with insects, never used his methods to become super-sized and never had a wife who was his partner in crime fighting. However, his wife did kill one of their friends and become a demon!
Alternate histories:
RP: Physicist Ray Palmer develops a method in which he can shrink himself, as well as animate and inanimate matter, to microscopic size. He loses his first wife, Jean Loring, and meets Lana Lang; the two use his discoveries as the Atom and the Insect Queen. The two co-found the Justice League of America with Superman, Green Lantern and an individual to be named later. Palmer then uses his methods to make himself grow to giant size and thus takes the identity of Atom-Smasher. He serves with distinction in the JLA for many years, but his invention of the Construct, a robot bent on destroying humanity, puts significant strain on his psyche. He eventually suffers a nervous breakdown, culminating in his striking his wife and his expulsion from the JLA. Palmer redeems himself and resumes his research and serves with the JLA. Most recently, he has joined Green Lantern’s drive to register all of America’s extra-normal operatives.
HP: Biochemist/ roboticist Henry Pym devises a method in which he can shrink himself and communicate with ants. He takes the guise of Ant-Man (later Yellowjacket) and becomes the second recruit to the Avengers. He later marries Maria Trovaya, and serves for years as the Avengers’ key scientific resource. Pym divorces Trovaya and then spends some time in a insect-proportioned society in South America, but returns to a teaching post at an prestigious East Coast university and sporadic missions with the Avengers. A reconciliation with Trovaya ends in murderous disaster, and Pym drops out of sight.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Two sidekicks and a mutant…all dutiful dudes
Nightwing - Cyclops
Robin- Bucky
Yet another entry in KomikKounterparts’ Big Cheating Cavalcade!
I justify one DC character being paired with two Marvel one by positing that the Dick Grayson character is hugely important, and in two ways: A.) He is known by non- comic book readers as Batman’s little friend; B.) He is known by nerds as Batman’s ex-sidekick, the leader of the Teen Titans and DC's key “legacy” character.
So here we split him into two…
The Titans leader/solo guy prevailing iteration is paired with the key player in the X-Men mythos, the straight-shooter/responsible guy who has been de-emphasized for decades in favor of Wolverine (Summer’s character was killed off for no particular reason in the third X-film).
So the sidekick version is paired with Captain America’s accomplice. For forty-five years, the death of Bucky was virtually the only death that stuck in Marvel continuity: he’s now said to have been a —ahem— Russian spy since the end of the war and now has taken on the identity of Captain America. This second pairing also allows me to reference Earth II continuity from the ‘70s…see below…
Commonalities:
Bucky, a creation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, was obviously modeled after Jerry Robinson and -ahem- Bob Kane's Robin, so them two line right up. As for Cyclops, Grayson was written as a similarly driven, principled leader guy once Titans writer Marv Wolfman, likely mindful of interpersonal dynamics that had worked in X-Men, got his hands on him.
Differences:
Only that Cyclops shoots them optic rays, and Nightwing doesn’t. Otherwise, both are supremely resourceful and tremendously skilled combatants.
Alternate histories:
NW: Orphan Richard Grayson is taken in by scientist Niles Caulder as the first student in a school for young crimefighters and meta-humans. Once fellow students Donna Troy, Roy Harper and two others to be named later join, Grayson begins to lead the Teen Titans against a number of menaces. Shortly after Grayson and Troy become lovers, the original lineup of the Titans leave the school; Grayson then leads a new team. Some time later, it appears that Troy, in her guise as the Dark Angel, dies, and a dejected Grayson leaves the Titans. But the true Troy reappears, and she and Grayson are reunited. Nightwing has remained with the Titans ever since.
CY: Orphaned young mutant Scott Summers becomes the apprentice of Captain America, and gravitates towards four other mutant sidekicks, including Jean Grey and Warren Worthington. The five name themselves the X-Men and then combat various menaces for a few years, disband and then reform with four younger mutants. Cyclops becomes distant from Captain America and eventually presides over the X-men during a number of tragedies. He works on his own and with the Avengers and the Defenders for a short time before finally reforming the X-Men.
RO: During World War II, Bruce “Batman” Wayne takes on an young apprentice, Dick Grayson, who is assigned the code name Robin. He serves alongside Batman, Aquaman and other operatives until the waning days of the war, when he is assumed to have been killed in action. It has recently been revealed that he has been an operative for a foreign government since WWII: he has recently assumed the “Batman” identity after Wayne’s assassination.
BU: In a parallel universe containing “Counter-Earth,” a Captain America native to said diaspora began his career shortly before wartime and adopted James Buchanan Barnes as his partner. As this Captain America retires and transitions to a military career in his identity as Steve Rogers, “Bucky” continues as a costumed operative and eventually joins the Liberty Legion, Counter-Earth’s premiere super-hero organization.
Robin- Bucky
Yet another entry in KomikKounterparts’ Big Cheating Cavalcade!
I justify one DC character being paired with two Marvel one by positing that the Dick Grayson character is hugely important, and in two ways: A.) He is known by non- comic book readers as Batman’s little friend; B.) He is known by nerds as Batman’s ex-sidekick, the leader of the Teen Titans and DC's key “legacy” character.
So here we split him into two…
The Titans leader/solo guy prevailing iteration is paired with the key player in the X-Men mythos, the straight-shooter/responsible guy who has been de-emphasized for decades in favor of Wolverine (Summer’s character was killed off for no particular reason in the third X-film).
So the sidekick version is paired with Captain America’s accomplice. For forty-five years, the death of Bucky was virtually the only death that stuck in Marvel continuity: he’s now said to have been a —ahem— Russian spy since the end of the war and now has taken on the identity of Captain America. This second pairing also allows me to reference Earth II continuity from the ‘70s…see below…
Commonalities:
Bucky, a creation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, was obviously modeled after Jerry Robinson and -ahem- Bob Kane's Robin, so them two line right up. As for Cyclops, Grayson was written as a similarly driven, principled leader guy once Titans writer Marv Wolfman, likely mindful of interpersonal dynamics that had worked in X-Men, got his hands on him.
Differences:
Only that Cyclops shoots them optic rays, and Nightwing doesn’t. Otherwise, both are supremely resourceful and tremendously skilled combatants.
Alternate histories:
NW: Orphan Richard Grayson is taken in by scientist Niles Caulder as the first student in a school for young crimefighters and meta-humans. Once fellow students Donna Troy, Roy Harper and two others to be named later join, Grayson begins to lead the Teen Titans against a number of menaces. Shortly after Grayson and Troy become lovers, the original lineup of the Titans leave the school; Grayson then leads a new team. Some time later, it appears that Troy, in her guise as the Dark Angel, dies, and a dejected Grayson leaves the Titans. But the true Troy reappears, and she and Grayson are reunited. Nightwing has remained with the Titans ever since.
CY: Orphaned young mutant Scott Summers becomes the apprentice of Captain America, and gravitates towards four other mutant sidekicks, including Jean Grey and Warren Worthington. The five name themselves the X-Men and then combat various menaces for a few years, disband and then reform with four younger mutants. Cyclops becomes distant from Captain America and eventually presides over the X-men during a number of tragedies. He works on his own and with the Avengers and the Defenders for a short time before finally reforming the X-Men.
RO: During World War II, Bruce “Batman” Wayne takes on an young apprentice, Dick Grayson, who is assigned the code name Robin. He serves alongside Batman, Aquaman and other operatives until the waning days of the war, when he is assumed to have been killed in action. It has recently been revealed that he has been an operative for a foreign government since WWII: he has recently assumed the “Batman” identity after Wayne’s assassination.
BU: In a parallel universe containing “Counter-Earth,” a Captain America native to said diaspora began his career shortly before wartime and adopted James Buchanan Barnes as his partner. As this Captain America retires and transitions to a military career in his identity as Steve Rogers, “Bucky” continues as a costumed operative and eventually joins the Liberty Legion, Counter-Earth’s premiere super-hero organization.
Friday, March 14, 2008
The “Big Seven” of the Avengers
Now that I’ve established enough pairings, I can say what the first lineup of the alternate Avengers would be.
The Avengers: Founding Lineup
Thor
Captain America
Thundra
Iron Man
Mr. Fantastic
Sub-Mariner
Silver Surfer
It’s been written somewhere (hell if I can remember which message board it was) that the Avengers are like a championship team —composed of players with varying abilities who work together in order to triumph— and the JLA is like an All-Star team — top of the line players.
In the prevailing Marvel iteration, we have three characters forever linked to the Avengers, two loners who nonetheless were involved in the Defenders, one marginal character, and the leader of the Fantastic Four…but this is what it looks like with the shoe on the other foot.
The Avengers: Founding Lineup
Thor
Captain America
Thundra
Iron Man
Mr. Fantastic
Sub-Mariner
Silver Surfer
It’s been written somewhere (hell if I can remember which message board it was) that the Avengers are like a championship team —composed of players with varying abilities who work together in order to triumph— and the JLA is like an All-Star team — top of the line players.
In the prevailing Marvel iteration, we have three characters forever linked to the Avengers, two loners who nonetheless were involved in the Defenders, one marginal character, and the leader of the Fantastic Four…but this is what it looks like with the shoe on the other foot.
Speedster + Stretcho = Super Cheat
Flash (Barry Allen) - Mr. Fantastic
And yet…hasn’t Reed Richards already been assigned to Steve “the Freshmaker” Dayton? He has indeed. But this will one of the very few times that a character from one diaspora does double duty with characters from the other.
Barry Allen is the character that ushered in the Silver Age at DC. He also is the premiere speedster in all comic-dom. So in the latter regard, shouldn’t he be paired with Pietro Maximoff, i.e. Quicksilver?
Well, no. Allen and Maximoff are the fastest ones that be in their respective universes, but they share nothing else. Maximoff is an arrogant mutant from Central Europe, whereas Allen was written as a textbook decent, reliable midwesterner.
I tried pairing Spider-Man and Henry Pym with ol’ Barry. But finally, I decided that the key Silver Age DC character should be assigned to one of the four that did the same for Marvel. That Allen has been the one of very few characters to stay dead in either universe, and that Dayton is relatively marginal, makes this rather egregious cheat easier to manage. So below, the 50s-60s Flash mythos is translated into Richards-ese…
Commonalities:
Both Allen and Richards are supremely intelligent, if absent-minded, and highly moral fellows, and are thus respected by their colleagues.
Differences:
Allen runs faster than anyone else; Richard stretches his body in numerous and versatile ways.
Alternate history:
MF: Scientist Reed Richards is struck by cosmic rays: his body then becomes incredibly elastic. He becomes a crime-fighter, culls a "rogues gallery" of super-villains and helps found the Avengers. He later marries Susan Storm and takes on her brother Johnny, also altered by cosmic rays, as a partner. After Susan’s seeming murder, he becomes more and more unhinged and finally sacrifices his life to save the universe.
And yet…hasn’t Reed Richards already been assigned to Steve “the Freshmaker” Dayton? He has indeed. But this will one of the very few times that a character from one diaspora does double duty with characters from the other.
Barry Allen is the character that ushered in the Silver Age at DC. He also is the premiere speedster in all comic-dom. So in the latter regard, shouldn’t he be paired with Pietro Maximoff, i.e. Quicksilver?
Well, no. Allen and Maximoff are the fastest ones that be in their respective universes, but they share nothing else. Maximoff is an arrogant mutant from Central Europe, whereas Allen was written as a textbook decent, reliable midwesterner.
I tried pairing Spider-Man and Henry Pym with ol’ Barry. But finally, I decided that the key Silver Age DC character should be assigned to one of the four that did the same for Marvel. That Allen has been the one of very few characters to stay dead in either universe, and that Dayton is relatively marginal, makes this rather egregious cheat easier to manage. So below, the 50s-60s Flash mythos is translated into Richards-ese…
Commonalities:
Both Allen and Richards are supremely intelligent, if absent-minded, and highly moral fellows, and are thus respected by their colleagues.
Differences:
Allen runs faster than anyone else; Richard stretches his body in numerous and versatile ways.
Alternate history:
MF: Scientist Reed Richards is struck by cosmic rays: his body then becomes incredibly elastic. He becomes a crime-fighter, culls a "rogues gallery" of super-villains and helps found the Avengers. He later marries Susan Storm and takes on her brother Johnny, also altered by cosmic rays, as a partner. After Susan’s seeming murder, he becomes more and more unhinged and finally sacrifices his life to save the universe.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Capitalist and the Space-Cop
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)- Iron Man
Big time cheating here…but to me Hal Jordan and Tony Stark are both products of the late ‘50 and early 60s Cold War/New Frontier/ Kennedy diaspora.
Stark has been occasionally written as an arrogant smoothie and a drunk, but always as Marvel’s premiere capitalist: often his early exploits (and certainly his origin) found him combating dirty commies. He’s now the key character in the MU; obviously, this is to set up the summer blockbuster that bears his code-name.
As for Jordan, he was written in the same rationalistic, personality-free manner of all DC characters in the 1960s. Denny O’Neil wrote him as the representation of “law and order” in his celebrated GL/GA run; I’m not entirely sure, but I believe Mark Waid introduced the characterization of Jordan as a cocky Californian.
So, while their specific heroic functions differ, it seems that their earthly preoccupations are hardly dissonant.
Commonalities:
As I said above, Jordan and Stark are confident Alpha dudes. Stark’s armor and gizmos aren’t as versatile as Jordan’s power ring, but both shoot laser beams and have sensory capabilities. And both have "died" and otherwise have seen their status(es) thrown hither and yon in ways tough for me to fathom.
Differences:
Stark is super-rich on a Bruce Wayne level and runs a multinational, whereas Jordan works for an aerospace corporation. Jordan is, essentially, a flyboy and one of millions of space cop answering to an Interstellar authority. Stark has no such “cosmic” orientation, so as you can see below, here be a BIG cheat…
Alternate histories:
GL: Ferris Aircraft chief executive/test pilot Hal Jordan is overseeing his company’s contracts in a war zone overseas, when he is wounded and captured by hostile forces. He’s only able to recover by collaborating with another captive on a hybrid mystical/technologically-derived “power ring” that creates solid light constructions and rays. He returns to the United States and continues his duties running Ferris while posing as Green Lantern, the company’s in-house extranormal operative. After founding the Justice League of America, Jordan struggles with alcoholism (at which time colleague John Stewart assumes his duties as GL), an apparent death and the collapse and then revival of Ferris before ascending to the post of U.S. Secretary of Defense. He recently has led the drive for superhuman registration against opposition from many former allies, and now leads a version of the JLA and has been appointed director of government agency Checkmate.
IM: Tony Stark is an inventor for a massive technology/munitions manufacturer/multinational corporation. He is spirited away to encounter an ailing member of the Nova Corps, an interstellar, inter-species police force supervised by the Watchers, an ancient, nearly omnipotent race. The being dies after appointing Stark to the Corps, upon which he is given a uniform he then modifies into an armor equipped with various weapons and devices. As Iron Man, he patrols Earth’s solar system and the Earth itself, founds the Avengers and works with other earthlings like Iron Men/Nova Corps representatives James Rhodes and Michael O’Brien. For a time, he travels around America with fellow Avenger Hawkeye, takes on a number of jobs and briefly renounces his Iron Man identity. The Nova Corps is eventually disbanded, and Stark loses his mind and goes rogue for a time: he is replaced by one Richard Rider. His spiritual essence becomes wedded to an omnipotent force before he returns to the earthly plane as Iron Man once more.
Big time cheating here…but to me Hal Jordan and Tony Stark are both products of the late ‘50 and early 60s Cold War/New Frontier/ Kennedy diaspora.
Stark has been occasionally written as an arrogant smoothie and a drunk, but always as Marvel’s premiere capitalist: often his early exploits (and certainly his origin) found him combating dirty commies. He’s now the key character in the MU; obviously, this is to set up the summer blockbuster that bears his code-name.
As for Jordan, he was written in the same rationalistic, personality-free manner of all DC characters in the 1960s. Denny O’Neil wrote him as the representation of “law and order” in his celebrated GL/GA run; I’m not entirely sure, but I believe Mark Waid introduced the characterization of Jordan as a cocky Californian.
So, while their specific heroic functions differ, it seems that their earthly preoccupations are hardly dissonant.
Commonalities:
As I said above, Jordan and Stark are confident Alpha dudes. Stark’s armor and gizmos aren’t as versatile as Jordan’s power ring, but both shoot laser beams and have sensory capabilities. And both have "died" and otherwise have seen their status(es) thrown hither and yon in ways tough for me to fathom.
Differences:
Stark is super-rich on a Bruce Wayne level and runs a multinational, whereas Jordan works for an aerospace corporation. Jordan is, essentially, a flyboy and one of millions of space cop answering to an Interstellar authority. Stark has no such “cosmic” orientation, so as you can see below, here be a BIG cheat…
Alternate histories:
GL: Ferris Aircraft chief executive/test pilot Hal Jordan is overseeing his company’s contracts in a war zone overseas, when he is wounded and captured by hostile forces. He’s only able to recover by collaborating with another captive on a hybrid mystical/technologically-derived “power ring” that creates solid light constructions and rays. He returns to the United States and continues his duties running Ferris while posing as Green Lantern, the company’s in-house extranormal operative. After founding the Justice League of America, Jordan struggles with alcoholism (at which time colleague John Stewart assumes his duties as GL), an apparent death and the collapse and then revival of Ferris before ascending to the post of U.S. Secretary of Defense. He recently has led the drive for superhuman registration against opposition from many former allies, and now leads a version of the JLA and has been appointed director of government agency Checkmate.
IM: Tony Stark is an inventor for a massive technology/munitions manufacturer/multinational corporation. He is spirited away to encounter an ailing member of the Nova Corps, an interstellar, inter-species police force supervised by the Watchers, an ancient, nearly omnipotent race. The being dies after appointing Stark to the Corps, upon which he is given a uniform he then modifies into an armor equipped with various weapons and devices. As Iron Man, he patrols Earth’s solar system and the Earth itself, founds the Avengers and works with other earthlings like Iron Men/Nova Corps representatives James Rhodes and Michael O’Brien. For a time, he travels around America with fellow Avenger Hawkeye, takes on a number of jobs and briefly renounces his Iron Man identity. The Nova Corps is eventually disbanded, and Stark loses his mind and goes rogue for a time: he is replaced by one Richard Rider. His spiritual essence becomes wedded to an omnipotent force before he returns to the earthly plane as Iron Man once more.
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