komikkounterparts

Bettah run through duh juhn-gull

2008-12-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

Warlord- Ka Zar

Evidently, Mike Grell’s Warlord series was DC’s best seller in the mid- to late 70s, sword and sorcery books being fecund funnee book source material —i.e. the Conan series, which was key to Marvel’s survival in the 1970s. I only recall the series dimly, and apparently the Morgan character and the Skartaris disapora has occasionally been dropped into mainstream DC continuity, which Grell did not intend.

But Ka-Zar? The character was a boilerplate Tarzan from his introduction in the X-Men in 1965 throughout the 1970s, until the early 1980s. In 1981, however, writer Bruce Jones rethought Ka-Zar as indeed a “noble savage,” but one who had recently decided that he doesn’t need to talk in the third person and is educated and articulate.

The 1980s Ka-Zar series, which was initially sold only in the direct market, was exceptionally well-written and introduced your Kounterpart Kurator to a lot of ideas and adult characterizations that he found quite stimulating. It’s too bad Jones’ series has been forgotten —not by me though!

Commonalities:
Both are based on (i.e. good old fashioned rip-offs) concepts created by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Warlord’s Skartaris was reminiscent of the author’s Pellucidar, and Ka-Zar = Tarzan, obviously. Otherwise, the “sword and sorcery” and “jungle adventure” milieus are nearly indistinguishable —lots of dinosaurs, monsters, magicians, voluptuous wimmen and blades. And both run around wearing very little clothing.

Differences:
Plunder grew up in his particular hidden, primeval land, whereas Morgan found his as an adult veteran of the Vietnamese conflict.

Alternate histories:

WA: As a child, Travis Morgan and his parents discover the hidden realm Skartaris: his mother and father and are killed, leaving the young Morgan to fend for himself. Upon young adulthood, he is recognized as the Warlord, the general protector of Skartaris. While he initially behaves in a “barbaric” manner when he encounters the visiting likes of the Titans, Blue Beetle and the Black Canary, Morgan eventually embraces his civilized heritage.

KZ: Kevin Plunder is a soldier who discovers the hidden realm the Savage Land and its larger adjoining territory Panagea. He combats various tyrants, sorcerers and tyrannical sorcerers, works with sympathetic natives and eventually is recognized as Ka-Zar, the Lord of the Savage Land.

A bloodsucker and a bat-shit berserker

2008-12-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

Creeper- Morbius, the Living Vampire

I have never read Steve Ditko’s very brief 1968 DC series Beware the Creeper, which alongside Hawk and Dove, followed his work for Charlton Comics. But I’ve read stories featuring the Creeper, whose character design is as striking as every Ditko creation. No one can ever decide whether Jack Ryder can control his Creeper persona, or whether his transformation drives him bat-shit insane. I think the latter option would be infinitely preferable: wouldn’t the idea of a Joker who goes after crooks seem to present endless story possibilities?

I only recently remembered Morbius, a character created indirectly in 1971 to challenge the Comic Code's then-two decade long ban on referencing the supernatural. Morbius arrived at his vampiric qualities through scientific means, and so the Code could not fuck with Marvel. Soon, horror characters could be pushed on kids again by Marvel and other publishers. Which, happily, is the way it should be.

Commonalities:
Scary, keep-‘em-guessing, struggling-with-bloodlust-and insanity fellows both: are they evil? Are they nuts? Are they murderous?

Differences:
I reckon these two line the fuck up!

Alternate histories:

CR: Jack Ryder is stricken with a rare blood disease, and attempts to cure himself via an experimental treatment. Instead, the procedure turns Ryder into a yellow-skinned, green haired super strong acrobat with maniacal and nearly homicidal tendencies. Assuming the identity “the Creeper,” he initially opposes the Blue Beetle, although he more recently has exhibited more self-control.

MO: Michael Morbius is wounded by thugs, and is injected with a serum that turns him into a seeming “living vampire,” complete with chalk-white skin and fangs. He then vacillates between his normal form and that of his occasionally deadly vampiric persona: although he has often worked with other superhuman operatives, few can count on whether Morbius is relatively stable or insane with bloodlust.

AHH…big heads

2008-12-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

The Guardians of the Universe- The Watchers

The 1960s was, among other things, a boom time for ancient alien races comprised by omniscient fellows with very big heads in popular culture. One of my earliest TV memories involves the Talosians, the dispassionate humanoids from the Star Trek pilot The Cage, which was shot in 1964, turned down by NBC but reused in the 1968 episode The Menagerie. I remember calling these creatures simply “buttheads” years before the term became widespread.

And so we turn to the two preeminent omniscient, bulbous-headed races in the DCU and MU. The Guardians have been part of the Green Lantern line since 1960: one traveled around the U.S. with Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen in the 1970s, learning a lot of “relevant” things about earthlings. And Uatu the Watcher has observed and advised the Fantastic Four and damn near everyone else since 1963.

Commonalities:
Both races are among the eldest in either diaspora. And they have big heads, which is paramount.

Differences:
They are opposed by their very natures: the Guardians attempt to impose order on the universe via various peacekeeping organizations, whereas the Watchers operate under a strict non-inteference directive.

Alternate histories:

GU: The Guardians of the Universe have existed since very near the birth of the universe: they have stood watch over the development of various civilizations across the cosmos. One guardian, Ganthet, has taken a keen interest in the affairs of the planet Earth and has encountered the Doom Patrol, Superman and virtually every superhuman operative on and off Earth.

WA: The Watchers have existed since very near the birth of the universe: they have stood watch over the development of various civilizations across the cosmos, although one of their number becomes the agent of universal entropy Galactus. The Watchers formed the Nova Corps, an interstellar peacekeeping force: both the Watchers and the Corps were destroyed but have recently been reconstituted.

"Luke, I Am your Father" syndrome, part I

2008-12-01T05:36:00.000-08:00

Madame Rouge- Mystique

Why, your kounterpart kurator asks someone— anyone who may ever read these words— are comic book creators so susceptible to the “Luke, I am your father” syndrome?

The second character cited was introduced in 1980 in the perhaps too-often-referenced “Days of Future Past” storyline: Mystique was a blue-skinned shapeshifter leading a new iteration of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Evidently she was intended by co-creator Chris Claremont as not only the “life partner” of fellow evil mutant Destiny, but, due to the biological quirks of shapeshifting, the “father” of Nightcrawler.

But the time at Marvel, LGBT characters were verboten. Only in the last decade or so (I think?) was this connection revealed.

It’s enough that Magneto was eventually shown to be the father of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. It was also enough that Nightcrawler was a German gypsy of unexceptional parentage, and to limn him to a blue -skinned mutant femme fatale is, frankly, cheap and unimaginative.

As for Madame Rouge, I seem to remember that she was wreeten to ‘ave a conspeecuous french accent.

Commonalities:
Both are shapeshifters who’ve made it into the film/tv arms of their representative franchises.

Differences:
Only that Madame Rouge (who can also stretch!) is an obscure french super-villainess who has not been revived in the DCU.

Alternate histories:

MR: Laura Demille was apparently born in the early 20th century; her preternatural shape-shifting abilities have retarded her aging. She assumes a number of identities and associations, and using the codename Madame Rouge, comes to light as an antagonist of Hawkgirl and the Titans, and as a mentor to a troubled young Terra. She has since worked with and against the Titans, and apparently (and stupidly) has been revealed to be the mother of the Titan Changeling.

MY: Raven Darkholme is modified into a shape-shifter by a criminal mastermind; using the codename Mystique, Darkholme opposes the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. Initially, Mystique struggles with a split personality, vacillating from affection for Charles Xavier and hostility towards the Doom Patrol, which she is incorrectly believed to have murdered. She finally dies in battle with the X-Men.

Two tough guys with hearts of gold…

2008-11-25T17:26:00.000-08:00

Robotman- Thing

These two were initially discussed in January, but merit further alternate history-style exposition.

Alternate histories:

RM: Cliff Steele grows up poor in a major metropolitan city: he enters college, where he befriends Steve Dayton and becomes a football star. Steele then embarks on a career driving experimental automobiles: it is around this time that he, Dayton, Rita Farr and Larry Trainor are struck by certain cosmic energy, and resolve to operate as the Doom Patrol. Steele is transformed into a super-strong robotic creature, and consents to be referred to as Robotman, although he frequently despairs that he is less than human. Robotman is a mainstay of the Doom Patrol, although he is one of the best liked operatives in the superhuman community and works with others very often.

TH: Ben Grimm is a test pilot whose body is all but destroyed after his plane crashes. His body is then mutated into a monstrous, super-strong rock-like form by Charles Xavier in order to save his life. While Grimm accepts the codename the Thing, and becomes a charter member of the Fantastic Four, he frequently despairs that he is less than human. When the Fantastic Four are allegedly killed after volunteering to sacrifice their lives to save innocents, the Thing enters suspended animation; upon revival, he leads newer iterations of the Fantastic Four.

the Avengers International, 1987

2008-11-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

This is what the initial lineup of the post-Detroit, "bwah-hah-hah" version of the Avengers would be…

Captain America
Silver Surfer
Mockingbird
Dr. Strange
Spider-man
Guardsman
Quasar
Starfox
Pulsar/Captain Marvel
joined later by:
Longshot
Wonder Man
Firebird

One character gave the english speaking world an exclamation; the other gave nerds continuity porn

2008-11-18T18:06:00.000-08:00

Captain Marvel- Quasar/Marvel Man

The other day, while looking around for info on the second character named above, I happened upon a message board posting where some nerd was talking about how much he liked Quasar, a “cosmic” hero that kicked around without much notice until he starred in what I gather was a highly wonky series penned by Mark Gruenwald and which ran from the late ‘80s to the mid ‘90s (this was the time I was not reading funnee books) .

In the Image era to which the series yielded, said the poster, every character grimaces while he blows villains heads off. Whereas Quasar is a noble young man who tries to do the right thing. To which another poster, evincing the cheap scorn some nerds on the internet indulge in so as to create a geek pecking order, sneered “every character, no matter how lame, is someone’s favorite.”

Apparently, Gruenwald saw Quasar as an “everyman” character who would explore the cosmic byways of the MU in a different, more wide-eyed manner than, say, the Silver Surfer. I liked Gruenwald’s Captain America and enjoy superhero wonkiness, so I’d like to check the series out one day.

So of course, a character known only to earnest goofballs will be paired with a hero who frequently outsold the Superman books in the 1940s and early ‘50s; provoked a lawsuit from DC Comics against the character’s publisher Fawcett Publications over a reasonable similarity to Superman; ceased publication and saw its copyright languish so that other publishers could use the name; gave Gomer Pyle his favorite exclamation; and was finally purchased by DC and fully integrated into its fictional diaspora. Most importantly, Captain Marvel is probably better known than any DC character save Superman, Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman.

The fanciful mythos common to the Big Red Cheeses probably doesn’t work past the 1940s: talking tigers and worms are best left in the past. But Captain Marvel worked well for about 25 years as a wish-fulfillment of many kids who read comic books before (and to a lesser extent after) the Stan and Jack revolution. Now he’s taken the wizard Shazam’s place as a mystical vizier, or somesuch other dumb shit.

Commonalities:
It’s the sense that both are essentially decent young fellows charged with great powers by ancient beings.

Differences:
Ostensibly, Quasar’s abilities to create energy constructs with his quantum bands, not to mention his relative youth and his cosmic bailiwick, would line up with Kyle Rayner. And Roy Thomas linked Rick Jones to Mar-Vell as an explicit nod to his namesake.

Alternate histories:

CM: Billy Batson is a rookie operative at a government agency who acquires an artifact once used by a that grants him immense strength, stamina and control of mystical thunderbolts. After a few years as the novice hero Captain Marvel, he travels into space and discovers that the artifact is a remnant of a offshoot civilization of “New Gods,” and that he has been chosen by the alien wizard Shazam to succeed the deceased Hawkman as a guardian of the “rock of eternity.” While he joins the Justice League for a short time, Captain Marvel spends most of his time opposing menaces throughout the cosmos; he apparently has been revived in a quasi-spectral state after he was thought to have been killed by an extraterrestrial antagonist.

QU: Teenager Wendell Vaughn encounters Eon, an omniscient creature who grants him various “quantum” abilities, which he henceforth accesses by transforming into adult form. Using the name Marvel Man and then Quasar, Vaughn is one of the few superhumans who can credibly challenge the Mighty Thor. During stints with the Avengers and the Liberty Legion, many colleagues, unaware that he’s truly an adolescent, note his naive demeanor. After a cosmic conflagration, Quasar has taken the place of the slain Eon as a universal guardian granted with “cosmic awareness.”

One's an absolute creep… the other? Dunno

2008-11-15T14:05:00.000-08:00

Green Lantern/Warrior (Guy Gardner)- Guardsman (Michael O’Brien)

I cannot tell how Guy Gardner was initially characterized when he first appeared in the Green Lantern books in the late ‘60s and 1970s. But Keith Giffen and J.M DeMatteis decided that he would come forth as the DCU’s biggest, non-villainous asshole when they took over the Justice League franchise in 1987. And that has been the way Gardner’s been played since, often humorously, which suits me fine.

The Guardsman? Don’t remember a goddamn thing other than he worked closely with Tony Stark after antagonizing him, wore an armor similar to Iron Man's and had red hair. All of which will do the trick for me.

Commonalities:
Both are alternates and antagonists for the main character in their respective franchises, with identical M.O.s.

Differences:
I don’t remember anything about whether the Guardsman was a jerk or not.

Alternate histories:

GG/GL: Policeman Guy Gardner is distressed when his insane brother perishes in battle with Green Lantern (Hal Jordan); he incorrectly believes that Jordan killed the elder Gardner. He appropriates the same power ring his brother used and attacks Jordan. But Gardner reconciles with Jordan, and the latter hires the former to provide security at Ferris Aircraft. Gardner masters the alternate power ring, and eventually becomes head of security at S.T.A.R. Labs.

GU/MO: Michael O’Brien is an aggressive young man who, while practicing social work, is nearly picked by the Watchers to become their representative on Earth. Instead, the Watchers select Tony Stark, and O’Brien becomes their alternate representative, despite his resentment towards Stark and virtually everyone he encounters. When Stark is displaced, O’Brien becomes the Guardsman, the only individual on Earth to wear the Nova Corps armor, and joins the Avengers. His sociopathic behavior increases, and he is disliked by most of his teammates intensely. The Guardsman has continued his association with the Nova Corps since Stark’s return.

Women in Refrigerators, Part II

2008-11-14T07:01:00.000-08:00

Batgirl/Oracle - Hellcat

Imagine if Betty Cooper, Archie Andrew’s heartthrob, was re-imagined as a full-fledged super heroine. That’s what befell Patsy Walker, a character published continuously in various teen romance titles by Timely/Marvel from 1944 to 1967, which is more than we can say for Captain America, the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch.

Walker was said to have becomes disenchanted with her marriage to longtime boyfriend Robert Buzz Baxter: she became Hellcat, and of course Baxter goes nuts and is eventually transformed into the super villain Mad Dog. It’s as if Jughead turned into the Punisher. Hellcat was an appealing character in the Defenders in the 1970s and ‘80s, but unsurprisingly was shown to have lost her mind after marrying the Son of Satan and then to have been consigned to eternal damnation. Which of course didn’t last —she’s running around the land of the living again.

Barbara Gordon is a much more substantial character. She was created in the DCU to line up the with the Yvonne Craig character Batgirl in the 1960s Batman tv program: she is therefore known to a greater amount of non-fanboys than, say, Black Canary. Gordon was a fixture of the DCU in the 1970s and early ‘80s.

But in the 1980s, perhaps Batgirl was increasingly viewed as a relic. So Alan Moore’s Killing Joke story depicted Gordon being shot in the stomach by the Joker, so as to break the spirit of her father, Commissioner Gordon. The story was not intended as canon, but her brutal incapacitation stuck, and it remains the most vivid example of the Women in Refrigerators syndrome: the debate regarding this turn of events rages on to this day.

But writers Kim Yale and John Ostrander resolved to have Gordon turn lemons into lemonade; she has since become Oracle, the DCU’s premiere information broker. I suppose that’s a good outcome, but the tendency among comic book writers to mutilate female characters remains troubling.

Commonalities:
Redhead teenage characters turned crimefighters turned survivors of horrific calamities.

Differences:
Walker is not a super-genius, and has bounced back from a dreadful setback. Gordon has not, but is shown to have risen above ghastly circumstances to a preeminent position in her respective diaspora.

Alternate histories:

BG/OR: Barbara Gordon becomes dissatisfied with her conventional marriage; she encounters the Elongated Man, and dons a quasi-mystically uniform that enhances her already impressive athleticism. Taking the codename Batgirl, Gordon assists the Justice League on a number of missions before joining the Outsiders for a extended term. She marries noted demonspawn John Constantine, Hellblazer, and is eventually driven insane and is subsequently trapped in “Hell.” Gordon has recently returned to the realm of the living and has taken up the guise of Batgirl again.

HC: Patsy Walker is inspired by Captain America to hone her mental and physical abilities to peak conditions: she assumes the codename Hellcat, and assists the Captain and many other superhuman operatives. But Walker was crippled via an encounter with the Green Goblin, and has since become the preeminent information broker in the superhuman community. She also coordinates the Daughters of the Dragon network.

They are the Gods of Hellfire! And they bring you FI-YAH!!!

2008-11-11T17:02:00.000-08:00

Demon - Ghost Rider

I always thought the second character cited could have been named “the Phantom Rider,” or something else, since he’s not a ghost. But the Ghost Rider was one of Marvel’s bigger successes in the 1970s: the Comics Code allowed horror and occult imagery around that time again after 20 or so years of post Wertham pressure. Haven’t see the movie yet.

And apparently, there’s some debate as to whether the Demon, one of of Jack Kirby’s enduring creations for DC in the '70s, should always speak in rhyme. Of course he should!

Commonalities:
Vengeful, horrifying creatures from hell bent on dispatching the souls of bad folks to eternal damnation, bonded to human personas! And both often erupt hellfire! Fuck yeah!

Differences:
Blood did not preexist as a man prior to his creation as a corrective to the Demon’s excesses. Whereas Blaze was a real dude. And while the Demon no ridey motorbike, Ghost Rider no speak in rhyme.

Alternate histories:

DE: The Demon Etrigan falls afoul of Neron, the most powerful demonic figure in the netherworld. Neron punishes Etrigan by bonding the Demon to the body of Jason Blood, a man who “sells his soul” to save a colleague’s life. Thereafter, Blood wanders the United States and transforms into the Demon whenever confronted with evildoers. But Blood can only sporadically control the Demon.

GR: Zarathos is a demon who is summoned by the wizard Merlin to defend ancient England from evildoers: afterwards, the creature is neutralized when the wizard creates a human aspect, John Blaze, who acts as its conscience. Blaze survives for centuries, and in the current day can only sporadically control the creature, known colloquially as the Ghost Rider, during its never-ending mission to send the wicked to their fates.

Gaudy dudes, went out with a bang

2008-11-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

Firestorm - Jack of Hearts

While I think I bought the 1984 mini-series devoted to the character, I recollect virtually nothing regarding how Jack of Hearts was characterized in the 1980s. But I can say that the character’s costume is so complicated and intricate that it’s notorious as the one many comic book artists least enjoy drawing.

But I collected the second volume of Firestorm in the 1980s: I remember that Pat Broderick’s art was pretty, and that the series focused on Ronnie Raymond’s Spider-man-esque teenage exploits, and very little else. Now I see that in the late 80s the character was used to make heavy-handed comments on the arms race, and then was made to be a fire elemental, followed by somesuch other cosmic claptrap.

Commonalities:
Young dudes with very striking costumes who have recently died via spectacular explosions.

Differences:
Firestorm’s matter transmuting powers are much, much more substantial, and is a composite of two humans. Whereas Jack of Hearts was shown to be half-alien somewhere along the line.

Alternate histories:

FS: A young Ronnie Raymond is exposed to a nuclear substance created by his father that imbues him with matter-transmuting powers and alters his appearance: his eyes become opaque and his hair takes a form similar to fire. Taking the codename Firestorm, he apprentices with the likes of Green Lantern, and later discovers that he is half-alien. After spending some time spacefaring, Firestorm returns to Earth and joins the Justice League, only to commit suicide via explosion shortly afterwards.

JH: A teenage Jack Hart and a scientist are exposed to a “zero-fluid” that fuses them into one being that can expel concussive force beams; the left half of the body takes on a purplish hue. Taking the codename Jack of Hearts, the being works as a novice superhuman operative before joining the Justice League. After an extended period as a quasi-mystical figure and as a space-farer, the Jack of Hearts persona becomes wholly composed and controlled by Hart. He is killed in combat, but the mantle of Jack of Hearts has been passed to another individual.

The Avengers Unlimited

2008-11-08T07:32:00.000-08:00

Here's how the lineup from 2001-2004 season of the Bruce Timm's Justice League program —in my view the best superhero tv program ever made— would look with the shoe on the other foot.

Thor
Captain America
Thundra
Iron Man (James Rhodes)
Iceman
Silver Surfer
Ms. Marvel (Una, a Kree warrior on Earth)

assisted in some episodes by Sub-Mariner, Ghost Rider, Sandman, the Eternals, Dr. Strange

The Justice League: United They Stand

2008-11-08T07:17:00.000-08:00

I saw the Avengers: United They Stand animated program only a few times, and about five years after its exceedingly brief run on the Fox Network in 1999-2000. The show is not very good: not only does it suffer tremendously in comparison to Bruce Timm's nearly contemporaneous Justice League/ Justice League Unlimited program, but will likely be further erased from existence by the time Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon hits the air in 2011, not to mention the big time Hollywood iteration due around that time.

Anyway, this is how the Kounterparted lineup from the 1999-2000 show would look: kinda puny, huh?

Atom
Insect Queen
Green Arrow
Captain Atom
Zatanna
Vixen
Black Lightning
Red Tornado

-assisted on a few episodes by Batman, Green Lantern and Aquaman.

Time wounds these heels only temporarily

2008-11-08T05:54:00.000-08:00

Vandal Savage - Kang/Immortus/Pharaoh Rama-Tut /Scarlet Centurion

The second bad guy cited shows the lengths to which Marvel writers in the 70s loved to link characters that had been conceived separately. Kang, Pharaoh Rama-Tut, Immortus and the Scarlet Centurion were initially separate characters, but the likes of Steve Engelhart resolved to make each one entity. This resulted in a thicket of impenetrable ret-cons.

Vandal Savage’s history is relatively streamlined: a caveman becomes immortal and is an implacable antagonist throughout human history. Easy, peasy!

Commonalities

Immortal warlords!

Differences:
Kang originates in the distant future, and a couple of his incarnations have been shown to be benevolent. Whereas Savage is pretty much a nasty son of a bitch.

Alternate histories:

VS: A man from a distant future timeline discovers time travel technology and travels back into the planet Earth’s antiquity. Assuming various identities —Vandal Savage, Epoch, the Lord of Time— he attempts to subjugate not only humanity but all life in the universe. while some of his personas from diverging timelines have been benevolent. Savage has been opposed by the Justice League on numerous occasions.

KA: A early man living in the Paleolithic Age is bathed in the radiation of a meteorite, and is thus rendered immortal. Throughout the ages, the man assumes a number of identities —Pharoah Rama-Tut, Kang, the Scarlet Centurion, Immortus— and rules a number of civilizations in antiquity, as well as assisting various tyrants. In the modern age, Kang has opposed by the Liberty Legion and the Avengers.

And I think it's gonna be a long long time, til touch down brings me round again to find, I'm not the man they think I am at home

2008-11-04T06:16:00.000-08:00

Adam Strange- Peter Quill, Star Lord

Peter Quill? A Marvel sci-fi character created in the 1970s by Steve Englehart, a writer I like a lot, and one I only dimly remember from my collecting days. Quill has been revived in the Annihilation series , a huge space opera running concurrent to Secret Invasion and Civil War and so on.

But Adam Strange is emblematic of the science fiction books that DC focused on immediately prior to the super-hero revival in the late ‘50s: the character was clearly modeled on Edgar Rice Burrough’s John Carter of Mars and was introduced in the wake of the “new look” Flash. Strange has since been used in the 1960s onwards as an occasional ally of the Justice League and was reimagined by Alan Moore as an, ahem, stud to the sterile race native to the planet Rann —can’t tell if that bit is in continuity these days.

Commonalities:
Both are essentially earthlings who find their destiny offworld.

Differences:
As far as I can tell, Quill begins as an antisocial asshole and becomes noble once he embraces his destiny, whereas Strange is your typical upstanding citizen common to Silver Age DC.

Alternate histories:

AS: A troubled young man, Adam Strange trains to be an astronaut, but is passed over for a mission. After stowing away on a spaceship, he learns that he is half-alien; his earthling mother had an encounter with a humanoid from the planet Rann. He then accepts his heritage and then travels through the cosmos combatting various antagonists. In the aftermath of a massive interstellar conflagration, Strange has recently formed a modern day iteration of the Legion of Super Heroes.

PQ: Peter Quill is an earthling explorer who is transferred via teleportation to the planet Spartax, where he meets and falls in love with a native female humanoid. He is spirited from one planet to the other for a number of years, but Quill eventually remains on Spartax as its champion, often defending its populace against longtime antagonists the Kree and working with the Avengers from time to time.

The disco mutant and the supermodel telepath

2008-11-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

Looker- Dazzler

Why am I not surprised that, when Marvel was to collaborate on a character with Casablanca Records in 1979, the result involved a musical genre that was already then (and unjustly) considered a national joke? Marvel should have positioned Dazzler as a new wave singer, huh?

As for Looker, she was the creation of Mike W. Barr, a writer most fanboys underrate. Looker was a mousy young librarian with a husband who loved her: as soon as she transformed into a hawt piece of ass, the husband was outta there. This led to Barr making lots of obvious but still useful points regarding how “beauty is only skin deep.”

Commonalities:
Good looking broads, involved in glamourous day jobs: i.e. the kind of woman comic creators and fanboys generally will never get within 100 miles of.

Differences:
Looker has the full complement of psionic abilities: telepathy, telekinesis, etc etc. Dazzler can turn sound into light, which apparently comic creators were able to turn into a useful offense.

Alternate histories:

LO: Emily “Lia” Briggs is an aspiring model who discovers latent psionic abilities in her late teens; taking the alias Looker, she at first assists the Teen Titans, but declines membership in favor of her career. She nonetheless finds herself dragged into superhuman affairs at the expense of her modeling career; Looker eventually joins the Titans, where she meets and marries Booster Gold, with whom she travels to his native future timeline. She recently has returned to the Titans.

DA: Alison Blaire discovers a latent ability to transfer sound into light, and additionally transforms from a “mousy” appearance into an conventionally attractive aspect. As Dazzler, she joins Captain America’s Defenders, but later becomes a vampire. Her current exploits suggest that she is foregoing the traditionally nefarious tendencies common to vampires and continues to act as a force for good.

Just in time for All Hallow's Eve

2008-10-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

Phantom Stranger- Modred the Mystic

One of the premiere mystical characters of the DCU is hereby paired with a relatively obscure sorcerous anti-hero.

Commonalities:
Powerful, immortal sorcerers, given to many mysterious, ponderous pronouncements. Both are haunted—cursed, even— by tragic events long long ago.

Differences:
Modred has a clearly defined origin and vacillates between heroism and villainy, whereas the Stranger is unambiguously a force for good, but has ambiguous origins.

Alternate histories:

PS: The being known as the Phantom Stranger was born in 6th Century England and became an accomplished sorcerer before surrendering his soul to a demon. He entered into suspended animation at that time and was revived in the current day, where he struggles to reclaim his soul. Thus he alternates between aiding the superhuman community and falling under the nefarious influence of the above-mentioned demon.

MM: The being known as Modred the Mystic is believed to have been born on Earth many centuries ago, but no definitive origin has ever been confirmed. What is clear is that Modred possesses vast mystical abilities and that he acts as a consultant to the superhuman community.

Super heroes with mullets! It was the '80s, of course

2008-10-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

Booster Gold- Longshot

Are both these characters “high concept” creations specific to the 1980s? I know that Booster Gold is a probably heavy handed comment on, ahem, yuppies. But Longshot had something to do with “the medium is the message,” right? Anyone? Did both represent comic book creators trying a bit too hard?

Commonalities:
See above. And did both not have mullets at one point?

Differences:
Longshot’s abilities have something to altering probabilities: i.e. he has very very good luck. Booster Gold just used a lot of gimmicks culled from future technology.

Alternate histories:

BG: A humanoid from a future dystopia travels to 20th Century Earth, where he is dubbed Booster Gold and works in the film industry. He returns to his time and liberates his fellow humanoids from the yoke of their oppressors, and then returns to the current time and joins the Teen Titans. Booster Gold meets and eventually marries the human heroine Looker and travels back and forth between his time and the present often.

LS: A humanoid from another dimension observes the heroic community on Earth, and travels there to make his name as the hero Longshot. He openly courts publicity and attempts to make money off of his exploits, which troubles other heroes. Longshot joins the Avengers, where he befriends Spider-Man in particular, and the two embark on a number of extra-heroic schemes that inevitably backfire, as well as joining a number of Avenger expansion teams. Longshot fails to prevent Spider-Man’s murder, and has since traveled from one dimension and timeline to the next, exploring alternate histories.

The mercenary and the private club president

2008-10-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

Deathstroke the Terminator-Sebastian Shaw

If the first character cited above, one who’s occasionally been played as an anti-hero, had been characterized more as a “good guy” in recent years, he would have been paired with Wolverine, no questions asked. He was portrayed as more or less beneficent in a solo series in the anti-hero happy early ‘90s.

But Deathstroke the Terminator (the second component of the DC character’s name hasn’t been referenced in funnee books, despite having debuted in 1980, a full four years before the Ah-note film) has been placed firmly in the “bad guy” column for awhile, and as such has been established as a major villain in the entire DCU.

So he’ll be paired with the unambiguously evil mutant leader of a New York private club bent on world domination: y’know, where you can play squash, watch CNBC, and then try to subvert the free world.

Commonalities:
Both are cultured, upper class but very ruthless antagonists.

Differences:
Apart from their differing but similar abilities, Wilson is a man of honor completely unlike the morally destitute Shaw.

Alternate histories:

DT: Aristocrat Slade Wilson is born with the ability to use 90% of his brain, and as such becomes an incredibly formidable combatant and strategist. Wilson becomes the leader of an elite club with the goal of world domination, and is opposed consistently by the Teen Titans.

SS: Soldier Sebastian Shaw is experimented on by military scientists, granting him the ability to absorb kinetic energy and transform it into raw strength. Shaw becomes a mercenary, and becomes estranged from his family. Shaw eventually opposes the X-Men, and enlists the young superhuman Rogue in his efforts to defeat the team. For a number of years, Shaw works alongside the X-Men, but has more recently turned against that organization and has since antagonized other superhuman operatives.

Pretty teenagers? Or abstract cosmic entities?

2008-10-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

Halo - Cloud

Many weirdos on the innuhnet will admit to being turned on by comic book characters. While I am pleased to report that this has never been true of me, I will admit that, as a 15 year-old, the prospect of a female character having a crush on another female character (in this case, noted bald bitch Moondragon) was…intriguing. The second character cited above was represented as a teenager with storm clouds covering her naughty bits.

Then it was revealed that Cloud was a sentient nebula that could also take a male form …ahh, ‘80s comics!

Cloud is far, far more obscure these days than Halo, an appealing and similarly conceived character who makes the rounds of the DCU very occasionally. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cloud was brought back one of these days.

Commonalities:
Both are extraterrestrial beings take the form of teenage girls.

Differences:
Cloud shoots lightning and otherwise turn into a…cloud! Halo emanates various energy effects, based on colors of the spectrum.

Alternate histories:

HA: An energy being known as an “aurakle” takes the form of teenager Violet Harper; now known as Halo, the being learns about humanity while joining a shortlived incarnation of the superhuman organization the Outsiders, alongside Elongated Man, Kid Flash and a few others. She eventually returns to space.

CL: A sentient nebula inhabits the recently deceased body of teenager Carol Faber. The being does not remember its former state, and encounters Captain America, Colleen Wing and other superhumans; assuming the name Cloud, she joins the above-referenced in forming the Defenders and learns about humanity under the tutelage of Wing.

A failed, if fondly remembered toy, and an also ran character remembered only by Grant Morrison

2008-10-21T17:31:00.000-07:00

Jemm, Son of Saturn- Rom, Spaceknight

One of the above named was a rather silly looking toy doll marketed by Parker Brothers —in a rare foray outside of the board game category— in 1979. The toy did not survive for very long (maybe it would have if it was more line with dimensions common to "action figures") but inspired a tie-in comic that outlived it by several years. The character can no longer appear in that particular line, as the license to use it expired and was never renewed.

The other is not, notably, the doll by the same name that was spun off into a 1980s cartoon show popular with preteen girls; but it was initially conceived and pitched as new direction for J’onn J’onzz. When J’onzz was said to have been planned for a revival in the Justice League, this character was re-jiggered slightly. His comic didn't make much of dent, and the character was revived by Grant Morrison in his 1990s JLA series.

Commonalities:
Both visit Earth from their native planet, and combat nasty aliens. And both, frankly, are utterly obscure to all but the most dedicated ‘80s fanboy.

Differences:
Rom is a cyborg, and Jemm is an also-ran J’onn J’onzz: both share several attributes nonetheless.

Alternate histories:

JE: Jemm is the first of a race living on the moons of Saturn to volunteer to defend his people from invading Koolars, a subset of the “white martian” race. He and other recruits successfully repel their foes, and Jemm comes to the planet Earth to combat the Martians further. He encounters other superhuman champions and eventually returns to the moons of Saturn to repopulate his now exterminated civilization.

RO: Rom is the heir to throne of Galador, a planet populated by an expatriate race from the planet Zenn-La. When the Dire Wraiths, a subset of the Skrull race, begin to war against Galadorians, Rom goes into hiding and develops his hereditary abilities, and later departs for the planet Earth. After a number of exploits combatting the Wraiths, he returns to Galador, where he is disowned for not taking a side in a civil war therein. Rom has since intervened in galactic affairs from time to time, often alongside distant kinsman the Silver Surfer.

These latinas are, please excuse the dreadful cliche, "hot"

2008-10-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

Fire - Firebird

In which prominent Latina super heroines with fire-based powers are paired with one another. And apparently brazilians can, despite not being recognized as such by the U.S. Census, be classified informally as “latino.”

Commonalities:
Both characters bear Latin American roots and have fire-based abilities…

Differences:
…but Fire physically becomes flame, whereas Firebird manipulates said element. And Fire is a tempestuous Brazilian hedonist (a stereotype, natch), whereas Firebird is a very religious Mexican American.

Alternate histories:

FI: Beatriz da Costa is a young Brazilian-American woman who encounters and is altered by a radioactive meteor in a desert in the Southwest: she is thus imbued with the ability to transform herself into a being of pure flame. She assumes the codename Green Flame and then simply Fire and soon joins a West Coast expansion of the Justice League. Fire has served therein occasionally while working as a social worker.

FB: Bonita Juarez is a young Mexican model who finds herself as an agent of that country’s secret service; she encounters and is altered by a pyroplasmic explosion that grants her pyrokinetic abilities. Taking the codename Firebird, Juarez joins an international organization of super-heroes and later an global iteration of the Avengers. Firebird has since worked as an agent of the international intelligence agency SHIELD and with the Daughters of the Dragon.

How they woulda done super heroes in the days of the old testament

2008-10-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

Spectre - Vision (Aarkus)

In which the spirit of vengeance and the right hand of the Abrahamic God in the DCU is paired with…an obscure Kirby/ Simon creation from 1940 that has only seen print a handful of times in the past 60 years. Some believe that two creators modeled the first Vision on the Spectre anyway.

Or should the Spectre be paired with the Living Tribunal, or some other omnipotent cosmic spirit?

Commonalities:
Both are otherworldly, ethereal creatures that deal swift justice to evildoers.

Differences:
Well, the Spectre has been more or less the DCU’s Yahweh for almost seventy years, whereas the Vision is utterly obscure (and from another dimension).

Alternate histories:

SP: A being from another dimension is transported to Earth in the 1940s, and briefly combats to Nazis and criminals. The Spectre encounters the likes of Batman and Aquaman during wartime before returning to his former plane of existence.

AAR: An immensely powerful, nigh-omnipotent spirit known as Aarkus inhabits the body of a mortal during World War II, and works alongside the Liberty Legion. Afterwards Aarkus acts as the most powerful being to associate with the super-heroes of Earth.

The Avengers Detroit

2008-10-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

The Avengers, 1984-1985

Sub-Mariner
Silver Surfer
Scarlet Witch
Beast
Torpedo
Tigra
Living Lightning
Shadowcat
—Sub-Mariner left and was replaced by Captain America

As if the Justice League Detroit wasn’t poorly conceived in the first place, an Avengers iteration feels more like the Defenders, don’t it?

Two third-stringers and one major mutie

2008-10-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

Here, three quick and dirty pairings, banged out so that I can detail the Kounterpart-ed version of the infamously ill-conceived Justice League Detroit.

Only the first Marvel character cited could be described as a major player: I may expound upon Kitty Pryde at another time.

Gypsy- Kitty Pryde

GY: Cindy Reynolds joins the Teen Titans shortly after she discovers her illusion-casting abilities; as Gypsy, she has been affiliated with the team since.

KP: Kitty Pryde runs away from home shortly after discovering her ability to “phase” through solid objects. She encounters and quickly joins a short lived version of the Avengers as “Sprite.” She has since worked with the Silver Surfer, Thundra and the Daughters of the Dragon.

Steel - Torpedo

ST: Hank Heywood discovers a quasi-cybernetic battle suit and, using the codename Steel, becomes a part-time crimefighter. He dies in action.

TO: Brock Jones’ body is imbued with a supercharged mechanisms by his quite insane industrialist grandfather. Reluctantly, he takes the codename Torpedo and joins a short-lived lineup of the Avengers; he dies in action.

Vibe - Living Lightning

VI: Paco Ramone joins the West Coast expansion Justice League shortly after an accident creates the ability to emanate powerful vibratory shockwaves, taking the codename Vibe. He has worked with other superhuman operatives off and on since.

LL: Miguel Santos discovers his ability to to transform his body into electrical plasma, i.e. Living Lightning, shortly before he joins a short-lived version of the Avengers. He dies in the line of duty.

Ladies and germs, the jewish batmen!!!

2008-10-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

Ragman- Moon Knight

The title of this post says everything I wish to say about either character.

Commonalities:
Did you hear me? I said jewish Batmen!!!! Yet both have a mystical orientation distinct from Batman.

Differences:
The Moon Knight’s strength waxes and wanes with the moon, while the Ragman’s uniform is imbued with the essence of various corrupted souls, or somesuch other weird shit that I can’t quite determine using my computer.

Alternate histories:

RM: Mercenary Rory Regan is nearly beaten to death by a vengeful and corrupt former client; he is about to die when a Golem, the mystical protector of the jews of Prague, appears to him in a vision and offers to revive him if he acts as his agent on Earth. Regan accepts, and takes the guise of the Ragman (as well as two other aliases). While he was briefly affiliated with the Justice League, the Ragman is seen as mentally unstable by the metahuman community, due to his multiple personality disorder.

MK: Marc Spector witnesses the death of his father at the hands of thugs; he soon discovers a suit made by his father which is mystically imbued with the essence of the Egyptian deity Khonshu. As the Moon Knight, Spector defends his community, and eventually joins an organization composed of other mystically-oriented operatives.

"Ha ha" said the clown…"Hee Hee" says Gobby

2008-10-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

Joker- Green Goblin

Legend has it that Steve Ditko, Spider-Man’s co-creator, intended that the true identity of the Green Goblin would have been a completely anonymous individual —this apparently is not true, as Ditko has said that he would have preferred that it be a Daily Bugle employee.

If the former scenario became status quo, the character would have even more resembled that of the Joker, a character whose origins are best left completely to the reader’s imagination. A compelling back-story appeared in Alan Moore’s Killing Joke, although presented with the caveat that the Joker couldn’t himself tell whether it was true.

As it is, the Goblin was shown to be Norman Osborn, the father of Peter Parker’s pal Harry: this reveal was Stan Lee’s preference and thus apparently the reason Ditko left the series and Marvel in 1966. Osborn most notoriously killed Gwen Stacy and thus ended the Silver Age of Comics. The character was killed off shortly thereafter, only to be revived in the 1990s. Recently, he’s been said to have fathered twins with the girl he would later kill and then to have been a government operative, two remarkably ridiculous plot devices that I can’t believe any truly professional editor would countenance.

Commonalities:
Both are murderous jackanapes, and each are central to their opponent’s mythos.

Differences:
The Goblin is super strong and bears a personal connection to Spider-Man, whereas the Joker is a pure psychopath and the id gone berserk; his personal history is irrelevant w/r/t a desire to inculcate chaos.

Alternate histories:

JO: Jack Napier, a driven and unscrupulous engineer and businessman, discovers an experimental formula developed by an employee. He recreates the serum, which explodes and quickly enhances his strength and exacerbates his antisocial tendencies. He takes on the identity of the Joker and develops a number of practical joke-themed devices to further his schemes. When he attempts to take over organized crime in his town, he is opposed by the Blue Beetle. But the Joker is defeated by the Beetle numerous times, which culminates in the murder of the Beetle’s girlfriend and his own seeming death. It has been revealed recently —and stupidly!— that the Joker survived and has been tormenting the Beetle from afar and now —also stupidly!— works for the U.S. government.

GG: The criminal lunatic known as the Green Goblin has alluded to conflicting identities and origins, but none have ever been confirmed. What is known is that the individual was deformed in an accident, leaving his skin green and his mind utterly unhinged. The Goblin has in particular bedeviled Captain America, with whom he is obsessed, for years, has murdered hundreds, and is feared by others in the criminal fraternity. He is not motivated by illicit gain and power as much as he is to create total and enduring mayhem.

Big brother, little brother

2008-09-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

Mon-El- Balder

Here the resident nurd delves into Legion of Super-Heroes lore, which has undergone at least four, count ‘em, four reboots in the past twenty years. As far as I can tell, Mon-El’s history has reverted back to the way it was from 1961 to the late ‘80s.

As for Balder, an ancient mythological figure refigured for the MU? I recently bought a TPB comprised of the first few issues of Walter Simonson’s Mighty Thor run in the 1980s. I was pleased to again encounter Simonson’s characterization of Thor’s sensitive, doomed brother as a fat depressive.

Should I ever get around to further Legion-Guardians pairings, I’ll probably have to assign a lot of cosmic Marvel characters that were never associated to the Guardians of the Galaxy with the much more numerous Legionnaires. I always thought Marvel could do more with the Guardians franchise: which is to say, exploring a future MU, and not making a modern version tied to this Annihilation event I have not read, which is what has transpired as of late.

Commonalities:
Mon-El was introduced as “Superboy’s Big Brother” in 1961, with what was very likely no intention to ever use the character again. But he was transferred to the new Legion of Super-Heroes franchise as a Superboy surrogate, which would seem to make a pairing with Thor’s younger brother. Also, both have odd weaknesses: Mon-El’s is lead, Balder’s is… mistletoe!

Differences:
Only that Balder was never in the Guardians of the Galaxy, but he’s, like, immortal!

Alternate histories:

ME: Mon-El is the half-brother of Kal-El; while Superman defends Earth, Mon-El remains on Krypton and aids his father Jor-El against the likes of General Zod and other native antagonists. Mon-El is nearly as powerful as Kal-El, but his death was long believed to be the impetus of the destruction of Krypton. While this came to pass, the essences of Mon-El and his fellow Kryptonians have been resurrected on Earth.

BA: Balder is native to the Vanir, a race of powerful beings that exist near Asgard and have equivalent abilities to Asgardians. He learns of Thor, the last survivor of Ragnarok, and travels to modern-day Earth where he befriends the young demi-deity. Balder is struck by a weapon bearing a sprig of mistletoe, which is foretold as the only substance that can damage him. In order to survive, he retires to a netherworld, where he remains until thirty centuries later. Balder emerges and joins the Guardians of the Galaxy, the 30th century’s premiere intergalactic peacekeeping organization.

Slice and dice

2008-09-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

Katana- Colleen Wing

So obvious that ain’t no comment necessary.

Commonalities:
Ladies! Swords! From the same country!

Differences:
Only that Tatsu is full blooded Japanese, and Wing’s pop was an American white fella.

Alternate histories:

KA: Tatsu Yamauchi is raised in Japan and grows up learning the ways of the samurai. She emigrates to America and partners with policewoman Karen Beecher; the two establish a private investigation firm and often ally with the superhuman operatives Steel and Thunderbolt.

CW: Colleen Wing is raised in Japan; she avenges her husband‘s murder by his brother and then trains in the ways of the samurai. She leaves Japan, encounters Captain America and joins his newly constituted Defenders with the Falcon, Sandman and two other operatives, with whom Wing has served sporadically.

The Greatest (Worst?) Nazi in Funny Books, and Naja-Naja

2008-09-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

Kobra- Red Skull

This pairing demonstrates considerable dissonance, in that there is no key, defining Nazi supervillain in the DC universe.

In the period immediately preceding World War II, DC— then known as National Comics— did not much use the Third Reich as an antagonist for their heroes. Superman, Batman et al opposed gangsters and mad scientists, but the menace that threatened America and its allies was mostly ignored. When war was declared, there were pro forma efforts at propaganda, where Superman fucked with Hitler and Tojo (“dirty japs/nips were, interestingly, very popular in comic books as easily caricatured bucktoothed fiends) briefly, members of the Justice Society enlisted, and so forth.

Marvel, then known as Timely, was much, much more aggressive. The cover of Captain America #1, portrayed the titular hero punching “Herr Wolf” square in the jaw: Cap spent the rest of the war combating the Third Reich at home and abroad. Most of the company’s characters did the same.

And the Red Skull was Captain America’s opposite number, emblemizing everything Joe Simon and Jack Kirby could fathom of the Third Reich’s perfidy in the early ‘40s. And when the Marvel Age dawned in the 1960s, the Skull was brought back as a proxy for the worst supervillain ever —one didn’t need to be cooked up by comic book creators— and has since been the bad guy that most of Marvel’s other bad guys hate.

But DC never had a Nazi antagonist that really truly stuck. Captain Nazi, who was created to mess with Captain Marvel in the '40s. never did the trick, and neither did Baron Blitzkrieg, who was created in the 1970s. So I’m going to put the Skull with Kobra, a co-creation of Jack Kirby from the 1970s.

Kobra is not a Nazi, but he has been a very prominent and very, very evil terrorist mastermind whose exploits seemed much more Satanic than the Joker or Lex Luthor. "Naja-Naja" is the leader of a Eastern anarcho-religious cult bent on subjugating the world: doesn't line up precisely with the boogey-men that bedevil the West these days, but it's close enuff.

Commonalities:
Both are pretty much the worst of the worst, as far as mortals born on Earth are concerned.

Differences:
Kobra is not a Nazi. The Red Skull is, barring the obvious example via real world, the Nazi.

Alternate histories:

KO: A sociopath is picked and then personally trained by Adolf Hitler to be the personification of Nazi terror worldwide in World War II: the man is then dubbed Kobra and supervises espionage and sabotage for the Third Reich in Europe and America. His success inspires the United States to introduce Batman as Kobra’s opposite number. Kobra survives the end of the war, and then resurfaces in recent years: he is bent on ushering in an “age of chaos” and subsequent world domination. Despite various seeming demises, Kobra remains Batman’s most implacable foe: He has been opposed by most of the superhuman community and is actively despised by most in the criminal fraternity.

RS: As a child, Johann Schmidt is kidnapped by a organization that has been agitating for the Third Reich’s return to power since 1945. Known as the Red Skull, he is trained to be an implacable combatant, criminal mastermind and sadistic Nazi Ideologue. As the organization rises to be the most feared international terrorist organization worldwide, the Skull is opposed by the majority of superhuman community—notably, he is one of the few to ever defeat Captain America in hand-to-hand combat. After a particularly and wide-ranging deadly act of violence, he is killed by Magneto, although his organization remains dedicated to his aims.

Eventually, sisters will do it for themselves

2008-08-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

Huntress- Spider-Woman

Sometimes, DC and Marvel introduce female characters that are wholly and somewhat cynically based on marquee male heroes. And sometimes, female characters of that sort can gain a measure of self-defined dignity…

The Huntress character was initially conceived to as Batman’s daughter —namely, the Batman from Earth 2, who had debuted in 1939, married Catwoman and sired Helena Wayne.

But along came the Crisis, and the Huntress was reconceived as a Italian-American Mafia Princess evidently possessed by rather a lot of Catholic guilt. Helena Bertinelli would now exculpate the sins of her family by combatting the criminal element a la certain Dark Knight. I’m only slightly familiar with this version, but I like the way she was portrayed in Grant Morrison’s JLA.

As for Spider-Woman: the Jessica Drew character was created to secure a copyright for Marvel and to launch an animated program in the late 1970s. She has been depowered a number of times to see the Spider-Woman name go to other characters, which suggests that she was not beloved of the Marvel PTB of the ‘80s and ‘90s.

But Brian Bendis, a writer who dominates the Marvel line and who writes sub-Mamet style dialogue that I don’t much like, has restored the Drew character (as well as Ms Marvel) to prominence. Strong women in the MU: how novel!

Commonalities:
Both characters’ histories have been ret-conned significantly, but the status quo for both currently is that both grew among and then rebelled against criminal organizations.

Differences:
Huntress is a female iteration of Batman and thus has no powers, whereas Spider-Woman is a female iteration of Spider-Man and has almost identical abilities.

Alternate histories:

HU: Helena Bertinelli is born in Europe but is orphaned at a very young age, is adopted by members of the terrorist organization KOBRA and is trained in various deadly martial arts disciplines. She becomes disaffected with the organization in her early ‘20s, moves to the United States and assumes the heroic guise of the Huntress. She is periodically debilitated, but has recently joined the Justice League— said membership, however, is said to have been assumed by an impostor.

SW: Jessica Drew is born into a family that’s deeply immersed in the criminal underground. After her parents are killed by rival gangsters, Drew resolves to destroy organized crime and trains herself to her physical pinnacle. Taking the codename Spider-Woman, Drew enters the orbit of an often disapproving Captain America and eventually joins the Avengers. But while Spider-Woman resigns from that organization in disgrace, she has has since worked with the Defenders and with a group of female operatives.

The escapist and the pussyhound

2008-08-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

Mr. Miracle-Starfox

The first character cited is key to Jack Kirby’s Fourth World. The second was conceived by writer/artist Jim Starlin as a part of his supporting cast for his mucho cosmic run on Captain Marvel: it was only later that the folks of Titan were judiciously decided to be a subset of the Eternals. I don’t know what Starlin has made of his Titanians being folded into Kirby’s rejiggered-for-Marvel New God/Eternals mythos, but since he’s fooled with Fourth World concepts for DC, I suspect he wouldn’t mind.

I’m much more familiar with the Starfox character, via ‘80s Avengers stories that showed him to be a super-hedonist, than I am with Mr. Miracle. But I don’t see big problems here…

Commonalities:
Both oppose nigh-unto-omnipotent opponents, and have a more keen interest in the affairs of humans than their most of their kin.

Differences:
Again, Starfox, Thanos and other Titianians were ret-conned into being Eternals. And Mr. Miracle is an escape artist nonpareil, as opposed to a guy that can subtly suggest that women open their legs for him. I know which ability I would prefer…

Alternate histories:

MM: Scott Free is raised by his father Himon alongside his brother, Uxas, in an outpost in Earth’s solar system populated by their fellow “New Gods.” While his brother becomes obsessed with an "anti-life equation" and becomes Darkseid, Free is a —wait for it— free spirit: he’s moved to take existence with greater purpose when his brother threatens the universe. He allies with Hawkman and the Justice League to oppose Darkseid, and eventually joins that organization, using the codename Mr. Miracle. He has since traveled the universe and sporadically returns to active heroic service.

SF: Eros is the son of Zuras, the leader of the Eternals, a godlike race that resides in the extradimensional realm of Olympia. As an infant, Eros is traded to Thanos, the leader of the Deviants of Lemuria, in order to broker a truce between the two races that has been waged for centuries. Growing up amongst Deviants, he and fellow Eternal Thena are influenced by Alars to rebel against Thanos: the two escape to Earth, where their efforts to defeat Thanos nullify the truce mentioned above. Using the codemname Starfox, he marries Thena, joins the Avengers and commutes between Olympia and Earth. Both have apparently been killed in a massacre of all Eternals.

The few… the proud… the unpairable!

2008-08-18T18:13:00.000-07:00

The following are two characters, both from the MU, that currently elude equivalents in the DCU.

Quicksilver

One of the Flashes, right? Uh-uh! Based on my tendency here to base pairing on who characters are rather than what they do, Pietro Maximoff does not line up with nice midwestern guy archetype. While he's an Avenger of some note, he’s arrogant eurotrash who, rather like Magneto, who was revealed to be his father, doesn’t think much homo sapiens. His sister, Scarlet Witch, is an exotic “witch” character that can more easily be paired with an American sorceress like Zatanna, who in any case doesn’t have a prick brother.

Occasionally, I think Geo-Force, a headstrong European from “Markovia” might do. But Brion Markov is a noble guy, as well as a nobleman. So as yet, Quicksilver is unpairable.

Black Panther

T’challa is a historic character: the first black —and african— super-hero, the ruler of a technologically advanced and yet stereotypically “tribal” nation of Wakanda and an Avenger.

But there is no “African king” character in the DCU. The closest would be Solivar, the king of Gorilla City, a super-advanced hidden kingdom in Africa, populated by super-intelligent apes. Am I gonna put a black character with an ape, no matter how smart? Hells no!

Then there is the Bronze Tiger, a super-athlete like T’Challa. But he’s not African royalty. Then there’s Impala, a South African speedster…who is marginal. Then there’s Freedom Beast, an African rendition of Animal Man…who is also marginal.

Sigh…

A good guy paired with a bad guy? Huh?

2008-08-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

Metamorpho- Sandman

At first glance, this pairing appears to be based on what the characters do and not who they are. But Metamorpho and Sandman not only have similar abilities, but are rough around the edges dudes who have played both “good guy” and “bad guy” side of the street.

Commonalities:
Both are shapeshifters, due to their bodies being composed of sand/various elements found in the human body, are superhumanly strong, have dissipated and been reassembled into separate, seemingly unique personas several times and, like I said above, are rough and tumble fellas.

Differences:
Chiefly, the Sandman was conceived as a thug, but was reformed in the 1980s and ‘90s. Metamorpho has been shown to be easily hypnotized and thus has often been a pawn of various super-villains.

Alternate histories:

ME: Low level hood Rex Mason is exposed to radiation and is thus transformed into a being that can shapeshift into the various elements found in the human body. Using the codename Metamorpho, he opposes the Blue Beetle and other superhuman operatives. But after tiring of criminal activity, he is befriended by Robotman and eventually reforms, joining the Justice League. Metamorpho’s body has dissipated and reassembled in both benign and villainous orientations.

SM: Adventurer William Baker is exposed to the energies of a mystical artifact and is thus transformed into a being composed of sand like particles. Taking the codename Sandman, he works largely alone and declines an offer to join the Avengers. He eventually joins Captain America’s Defenders and the Avengers, but is easily controlled by super villains. Sandman’s body was thought to be destroyed, although he has recently reassembled himself and has since worked with the Defenders again.

Zeus' demi-god son, and a character inspired by Sean Connery's most obscure role

2008-08-04T17:47:00.000-07:00

Vartox- Hercules

In the Marvel diaspora, Hercules has been a perpetual presence; he’s been written consistently as a likable blowhard. The character has taken over the Incredible Hulk’s book; It’s now the Incredible Hercules!

Even though the DCU has an Olympian pantheon with Hercules, Zeus et al, I’ve chosen to pair the MU’s Hercules with a character from the Superman stable, a guy who parallels Kal-El the way Herc does Thor and one so obscure I can’t believe that I remember him …

VARTOX!!!!!!!

Apparently, writer Cary Bates and artist Curt Swan created Vartox after they saw Zardoz, an LSD-etched, pre-Logan’s Run film from 1974 which found Sean Connery running around a post apocalyptic dystopia… in trunks! Dig this fucked up trailer, in which Connery seem to be completely bemused (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbGVIdA3dx0).

ZARDOZ!!!!!

So this b-list Superman character seems to be the most enduring exponent of this way fucked up film that I can’t wait to see. I reckon DC shoulda got the King to do something with Vartox.

Commonalities:
More or less, both serve as equivalents to marquee characters, namely Superman and Thor…

Differences:
But Herc has been a major player in the MU for forty years; Vartox is a marginal ‘70s character that has been revived to little effect in recent years.

Alternate histories:

VA: Vartox is a half-human but most physically powerful member of the royal family that rules the planet Valeron; like the Kryptonians they resemble and have consorted with over the ages, Valerions are tremendously powerful. He comes to Earth in recent years and meets and battles Kal-El, whom he knows from years ago. Something of a braggart and drunkard but lion-hearted and convivial, Vartox eventually joins the Justice League, allies often with Superman and commutes from Valeron to Earth.

HE: Hercules, native of the extradimensional realm Olympus, comes to Earth after his wife on another planet dies, and befriends the Mighty Thor. He meets and then romances Janet Van Dyne, and departs and returns to Earth from time to time.

Someday, a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets…

2008-07-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

Vigilante- Punisher

At the time that the latter character cited above became one of Marvel Comic’s signature characters, I quit collecting comic books. From a distance, I could see that the Punisher (alongside Wolverine) addressed for Marvel the vogue for “grim and gritty” anti-heroes hastened by Frank Miller’s Dark Knight and probably the Rambo films: the character killed bad guys with absolutely no compunctions, and bloodthirsty fanboys dug it. The former character was clearly modeled on the latter.

The Punisher’s influence extended to the Image line, wherein characters committed wanton violence, and the industrywide drift towards the “kick ass” in the 1990s. It may be foolish to decry such an influence, given that vigilantism in the real world would reflect the exploits of the Punisher and the Vigilante, but—I dunno— I like a suggestion of virtue in my funny books.

Commonalities:
The Vigilante is indisputably inspired by the Punisher. Nuff said…

Differences:
…except that Chase was shown to feel remorse and often tried to avoid killing.

Alternate histories:

VI: Ex-Marine Adrian Chase is the only survivor when his family is murdered after witnessing a gangland execution. He then resolves to wage a one-man, by-all-means-necessary, war on all manner of criminals as the Vigilante. While many rank and file law enforcement officials are reluctant to pursue and apprehend him, Chase’s extreme methods render him as dangerous as any of the criminals he hunts: he has been opposed by Blue Beetle, Batman, the Question and Wildcat.

PU: Jurist Frank Castle is the only survivor when his family is murdered by mobsters. He then resolves to wage a one-man, by-all-means-necessary, war on all manner of criminals as the Punisher. Although he at first strives to avoid killing criminals, Castle becomes unhinged and vacillates between murderous rage and penitence. He finally commits suicide.

The term "broad" is not always pejorative

2008-06-18T17:57:00.000-07:00

Grace- She Hulk

I only know of first character from innuhnet perusal and not through any purchased comic books, and thus have no comment other than that she seems to be similar to character I’ve paired her with.

But She-Hulk? Here was a character created to secure a copyright, and as such was initially played as a distaff version of the Hulk: she’s beset by berserker rages, which she bemoans in human form etc etc. But then Roger Stern, who wrote the Avengers through most of the 1980’s, got ahold of her. He had the bright idea that maybe She-Hulk likes being green, super-strong and voluptuous, and can easily reconcile all that with a career in law. And that’s what has made her easily one of Marvel’s most important and beloved female characters since.

I would put have her with Power Girl if PG had not been reestablished as a Kryptonian. So this one’ll do…

Commonalities:
Two very tall, super strong women with prodigious sexual appetites that neither see any need to apologize for.

Differences:
Only that Choi was born with her abilities, and Shulkie got hers from a blood transfusion from her cousin, Bruce Banner. And Choi is nowhere near as prominent a character…

Alternate histories:

GR: Grace Choi receives a blood transfusion from her cousin, the Blockbuster: she is consequently granted with tremendous strength. She joins the Justice League for a short time before briefly replacing Robotman in the Doom Patrol. Choi has since worked the Justice League a number of times and now serves with the Outsiders.

SH: Jennifer Walters is a young woman whose tremendous strength manifested itself in adolescence; she recently learned that she is related to the Femizons of the 23rd century. Known as She-Hulk, she has spent her heroic carreer with the Defenders.

Two strangers in strange lands

2008-06-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

Martian Manhunter- Silver Surfer

It occurred to me the other day that, since the very first pairing I unveiled here came in my first introductory post, I didn’t much ruminate on the characters themselves. So I’m gonna do so now…

J’onn J’onzz, Manhunter from Mars, was introduced in 1955 as a sci-fi character typical of DC’s post-Wertham line. Apparently, JJ’s own features during the 1960s were kinda confused, what with something about the “Idol-head of Diabolu,” and then with something about him as a secret agent. While he was a charter member of the Justice League, he was soon found to be redundant in light of Superman. So around 1969 or so, he was shunted off to live on his native Mars.

15 years later, J’onn was brought back to the Justice League fold. From the mid ‘80s onward, creators seemed to have found a noble, restrained and contemplative “stranger in strange land” role for him—not unlike the Marvel character I’ve paired him with. He seemed to have engendered a lot of affection in creators and fans, which only increased due the character’s prominence on Bruce Timm’s Justice League Unlimited program.

And so…J’onn J’onzz has recently been killed without much fanfare and without any gravitas as part of DC’s Final Crisis crossover. Wouldn’t put much on him taking very long dirt nap, frankly…

And the Silver Surfer? The Christ-like and earthbound spacefarer is simply one of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s great achievements, one that has been recognized as such pretty much consistently since the character's introduction. The Surfer has been rightfully prominent in Marvel Comics' line ever since.

(See the first post for commonalities and differences)

MM: J’onn J'onzz is native to Ma’lecaandra, i.e. Mars. He is disturbed by the fact that his race has become complacent, but when the vastly powerful being Krona comes to eviscerate the planet, J’onzz offers himself up as a herald so that Ma’lecaandra will be spared. Krona accepts the offer and imbues him with tremendous abilities, and for hundreds of years J’onzz travels the universe warning the populations of planets to evacuate. He comes to Earth to do so, and is opposed by the Doom Patrol, who inspire him to take an interest in humanity and turn against Krona who in turn confines J’onzz to the Earth. For several years, he wanders the planet and is known as the Martian Manhunter; he strives to understand humanity and often allies with other superhuman operatives, chiefly the Outsiders. After awhile, J’onzz is able to travel through space again, where he finds that his fellow Ma’lecaandrans have long been extinct.

SS: A plague overtakes the planet Zenn-La: one Norrin Radd sees the entire population, including his family, die. He wanders his planet for hundreds of years before he is teleported to Earth by a scientist, who promptly dies from shock. Radd lives on Earth inconspicuously for years, but the emergence of the Mighty Thor prompts him to use his native abilities to oppose various menaces as the Silver Surfer. He co-founds the Avengers and remains therein for many years; the Surfer also is the Southern Hemisphere's most prominent champion. He has recently been killed —that is, until editorial fiat revives him.

HIIIII-YAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

2008-06-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

Thunderbolt (Peter Cannon)- Iron Fist

Only comments here are that the Peter Cannon character was originally a Charlton creation, and was only used by DC for a decade or so once rights reverted to its creator, Peter Morisi, and that Iron Fist was Marvel’s second most noteworthy martial arts after Shang Chi.

Commonalities:
I am only vaguely familiar with the Peter Cannon character, and have boned up via innuhnet research. But these two—both American guys trained in exotic mystical locations— seem to line up right up.

Differences:
Only that Iron Fist was conceived to capitalize on the kung-fu craze of the early ‘70s, whereas Thunderbolt’s provenance is based on prevailing “American guy learns ancient martial arts discipline— template common in funny books for many years by the 1960s.

Alternate histories:

TH: As a child, Peter Cannon loses his parents while on an expedition to a Tibetan monastery. He is raised therein, and eventually masters the martial arts disciplines unique to the location. Cannon returns to America and combats criminal antagonists as under the name Thunderbolt. He joins forces with the operative Steel, and the two have recently joined the non-sanctioned version of the Justice League.

IF: An American missionary couple lose their lives; their son, Daniel Rand, is raised in the hidden realm of K’un-L’un. After he masters the martial arts disciplines unique to the location, he returns to America in adulthood and combats criminal antagonists under the name Iron Fist.

COME TO ME, SON OF OUR JAILER!!!!

2008-06-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

General Zod- Loki

According to his entry on Wikipedia, there have been several versions of General Zod since the Superman mythos were pruned of other survivors of Krypton in 1986: Kal-El would now truly be the “last son of Krypton.” But as other Kryptonians have seeped back into the DCU, I’m delighted to learn that the contemporary iteration of Zod is based on Terence Stamp’s performance as Zod in 1981’s Superman II.

So! All together now!

COME TO ME, SUPERMAN, SON OF JOR-EL, IF YOU DARE!! I DEFY YOU!! COME AND KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!!!

It’s tough for me to see how anyone would not consider Stamp’s ripe carrying on in the film as the single best quality of any of the Superman movies.

As for Loki: Stan and Jack or perhaps Stan’s brother Larry Leiber introduced Loki into the Thor books in 1962, they characterized him as the bad seed adopted brother to the titular thunder god. But in Norse mythology, he was most often described as Odin’s contemporary and as his “blood brother.” Does this count as discounting creator intent?

Commonalities:
They are both the chief antagonists originating from their opponent’s place of origin. And both are assholes.

Differences:
The recent Iteration of Zod resembles that of the second Superman film, so he’s apparently just as formidable as Superman. Whereas Loki is Asgard’s premiere necromancer.

Alternate histories:

GZ: A orphaned child of Kryptonian terrorists is adopted by Jor-El, the leader of Krypton’s dominant society. Zod grows up beside —and comes to resent— his adopted brother Kal-El, who was favored by Jor-El: as he reaches maturity, his abilities rival Kal-El’s and he becomes a persistent thorn in the side of Jor-El, who imprisons him in the Phantom Zone for consistent wrongdoing. When Kal-El is sent to Earth to learn from humanity, General Zod escapes the Phantom Zone and antagonizes his adoptive brother, now known as Superman. For years afterward, Zod attempts to conquer Krypton and vanquish Kal-El. Eventually, Zod leads an assortment of antagonists and succeeds in destroying Krypton. But while Krypton civilization is revived in the American West by Superman, Zod has reemerged in the form of a woman.

LO: Loki is an Asgardian “god” with unparalleled mystical abilities and is a rival of Odin, the leader of Asgard’s ruling council. While Odin warns that Asgardians are facing Ragnarok, Loki takes advantage of the chaos and tries to take over Asgard; he is defeated by Odin and imprisoned alongside his accomplices Amora the Enchantress and Skurge the Executioner in an extra-dimensional prison. When Ragnarok destroys Asgard, the three survive and have recently come to Earth to oppose Thor, the son of their jailer.

Good gals, or bad gals?

2008-06-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

Terra- Rogue

Anyone who was reading Teen Titans in 1982-1983 must have had one look at Terra, a sarcastic antagonist-turned-object of-Gar-Logan’s-affection, and thought, “ahhh, this the Titans response to the X-Men’s Kitty Pryde.” She was clearly conceived as an American teenager, but the PTB at the time noticed that a similarly enabled character, Geo-Force, had been established as a prince of a small European nation. So —presto!— she’s also the illegitimate daughter of Geo-Force’s dad.

But when the Judas Contract storyline rolled around in 1984, it was revealed that Terra was bad news; the character was intended by creators Marv Wolfman and George Perez to betray the Titans on behalf of Deathstroke, for whom she functioned as jailbait (a plot point that would never go down in today’s climate). She dies unredeemed during the final confrontation of that storyline: no last minute change of heart saw Terra coming back to the good guy’s side. Another iteration of Terra saw that a nice girl had been turned into the original’s doppelganger…or some shit. Apparently, yet another has recently emerged.

As for Rogue: the character was initially portrayed as a middle-aged antagonist who absorbs Ms Marvel’s abilities. But creator Chris Claremont cottoned to Rogue, possibly because he enjoyed writing dialogue phonetically (“AH CAIN’T BUUUH-LEEV HOW MUHHCH POWAH AH’M UHHHBBBBSORBIN’”) and then reformed her into a teenage X-Man. She’s been a fan favorite and mainstay of the X-franchise since.

Commonalities:
Both were introduced in a manner where you could not be sure what side of the fence they were on. Subsequent iterations of Terra may have been characterized similar to Rogue, for all I know.

Differences:
Their abilities differ: one is a geokinetic, the other siphons superhuman powers, energy and assorted attributes. And after Rogue was introduced as a middle aged redneck, she quickly became a key X-Man, whereas Terra has come and gone as a clone or something.

Alternate histories:

TE: A troubled teenage girl with vast geokinetic abilities named Tara falls in with a criminal mastermind and attacks the Teen Titans and their ally Hawkgirl. After seriously injuring Hawkgirl, Terra reforms and joins the Titans, with whom she has remained since.

RO: A troubled teenage girl with vast mutant siphoning abilities named Anne-Marie falls in with a criminal mastermind; taking the codename Rogue, she infiltrates the X-Men, betrays them and is killed in combat. Another, benevolently inclined young woman with Rogue’s appearance and abilities has since emerged and worked with the X-Men sporadically.

The Avengers, 2006-2008

2008-06-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

Thor
Captain America
Thundra
Iron Man
Mockingbird
Vision
Tigra
Warbird
Angel
Falcon
—joined later by Iceman and War Machine

When black characters replace white ones, look out!

2008-06-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

Green Lantern (John Stewart)- War Machine (Jim Rhodes)

At any particular time, you can count on that visitors to the DC comics message boards are complaining about which Green Lantern should be emphasized. In fact, seeing as comic book nerds are pioneers in the field of computer-enabled crying and bitching, the replacement of Kyle Rayner for Hal Jordan as Green Lantern set the nascent ‘Net aflame in the early ‘90s.

These days, there’s a fierce debate re: John Stewart taking Jordan’s spot in Justice League book on the boards. does African-American writer Dwayne McDuffie have a anti-white agenda, these absurd people wonder (http://dcboards.warnerbros.com/web/forum.jspa?forumID=29209048&start=15)? Their outrage is further fueled by the fact that Stewart took Jordan’s place in the animated Justice League Unlimited program, and that the rapper Common was mooted to play Stewart in the now aborted JLA film.

As for Rhodes, the character took Tony Stark’s place as Iron Man when the former succumbed to alcoholism in the early-mid ‘80s, has kicked around since and has been immortalized by Terence Howard in “the best reviewed super hero film ever.

Commonalities:
Both took over for the respective franchise’s primary characters in the 1980s, probably for the sake of diversity. And both have military backgrounds.

Differences:
Only that Stewart is an architect and a space cop, Rhodes isn't; so again, we cheat…

Alternate histories:

GL: John Stewart is a marine who brings Ferris Aircraft chairman Hal Jordan back to America shortly after Jordan escapes from hostile forces via his prototype “power ring.” Stewart is then employed as an architect at Ferris Aircraft and is one of Jordan’s most trusted aides. When Jordan becomes debilitated by alcoholism, Stewart assumes the role of Green Lantern alongside the west coast Justice League expansion team. Stewart then works alongside a recovered Jordan; becomes paranoid when the ring affects his thought processes; recovers and then takes over again when it appears that Jordan has died; and has since worked sporadically with Jordan and other operatives.

WM: Jim Rhodes is chosen by the Watchers as an alternate for Tony Stark, the main representative of the Nova Corps for Earth’s solar system. When Stark leaves the Corps for a time, Rhodes takes over; when Stark loses his mind and then becomes an ethereal spirit of vengeance, Rhodes and Richard Ryder divide his duties. Finally, Rhodes serves with a resurrected Stark as the dual representatives of the Nova Corps and as a member of the current lineup of the Avengers.

These two bow to no men

2008-06-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

Catwoman- Black Widow

Lemme say that I’m delighted that someone I assume to be a real live woman has read and commented upon some my posts. I look forward to hearing from you again, Darci!

Here we have one character that most likely was intended at first to be a Soviet spy-style femme fatale common to the James Bond film franchise in the 1960s. The Black Widow was quickly written with more texture, which has persisted since.

I reckon that Catwoman is not only, due to representations on film and television, the funny book anti-heroine best known to non-nerds. She’s also the woman that Batman ultimately cannot forget. Being that he’s essentially a well-adjusted midwesterner, Superman can settle down with Lois Lane. But Batman is not well-adjusted, and he cannot help but have his heart forever captured by an occasionally “villainous” woman that’s just as tough and complicated as he.

Commonalities:
Both are key femme fatales to their diasporas: you fuck with these women at your peril.

Differences:
Only that the Black Widow was introduced with a distinctly “commie” bent.

Alternate histories:

CW: Selina Kyle is an agent of a european power known as Catwoman who at first is opposed by Green Lantern and comes to America and enlists Green Arrow to her cause. She reforms and joins the Justice League, works as an agent of the government agency Checkmate and then partners with the Question. Catwoman is currently a member of the government sanctioned Justice League.

BW: Natasha Romanov is a russian-american criminal known as the Black Widow, often crossing paths with Captain America. For years, she has vacillated between antagonizing and amorously pursuing Cap; similarly, she has allied with both superhuman champions and criminals when doing so suits her purposes.

Mongoose blood? Heavy water, sure, but mongoose blood?

2008-06-05T06:52:00.000-07:00

Flash (Jay Garrick) - Whizzer (Bob Frank)

Here be the second post that finds Golden Age characters with similar abilities paired with one another, which hopefully compensates for a lack of same in pairings of silver-, bronze- and beyond- characters…

So here we have the very first speedster, the template for every character conceived similarly since. Including the second cited here, whose origin is universally mocked as the most poorly-aged provenance of the Golden Age: he gained his super-speed due to a transfusion of mongoose blood.

Commonalities:
The original speedsters of their respective diasporas.

Differences:
None to speak of, other than one is a key character in the history of superhero fiction, and the other is regarded fondly for the reason cited above.

Alternate histories:

FL: A young man named Jay Garrick is gravely injured in 1940; he receives a blood transfusion that activates a meta-human gene which grants him the ability to move and react at superhuman speeds. Taking the codename the Flash, Frank combats crime and the Third Reich throughout the 1940s and joins the Justice Society. He marries another extra-normal operative, but their union is doomed when the two are exposed to radiation. Years after the woman dies, the Flash reappears and briefly works with the Justice League before he dies himself.

WH: A young college student named Bob Frank inhales experimental “heavy water” fumes, which activate a mutant gene granting him the ability to move and react at superhuman speeds. He takes the codename the Whizzer and combats criminals and the Third Reich and co-founds the Liberty Legion. The Whizzer retires for several decades, but in recent years has returned alongside other Legionnaires: due to his retarded aging, he is active mentoring novice superhuman operatives.

Now they become death, destroyer of worlds

2008-06-03T07:07:00.000-07:00

Krona- Galactus

Sure, there were cosmic, universe-threatening demi-gods in comic book fiction before 1966’s Fantastic Four no. 66. But the story that spread out into the next three issues, now known as “the Galactus Trilogy,” raised the bar. The very idea of Galactus, a being that consumes the essence of planets, knocked readers on their ear: when you take into account that the tale introduced the Silver Surfer, it’s probably the single greatest achievement of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s ‘60s partnership.

I’m not entirely sure, but I believe that Krona, a mad scientist from the race that would evolve into the Guardians of the Universe who obsessively seeks the secret of the creation of the universe (or multiverse), was ignored as a fecund antagonist after the character was introduced in 1965’s Green Lantern no. 40. But he was established with Galactus-level significance at the very least in the early ‘80s and afterwards.

Commonalities:
Both are shown to be present near the creation of the universe and are enmeshed in a process of destruction on a vast, cosmic scale.

Differences:
Krona is typically presented as malevolent, whereas Galactus is essentially a morally neutral force of nature.

Alternate histories:

KR: Krona is the sole survivor of the universe that preceded our own: he emerges after the “big bang” and exists afterwards as a force of nature introducing entropy to one planet at a time. Krona uses heralds, such as J’onn J’onzz, to evacuate these planets; he arrives on Earth to some years ago and is opposed by the Doom Patrol and eventually most superhuman operatives on Earth and throughout the cosmos.

GA: Galan is a renegade scientist native to the planet that would later yield the race of “Watchers”: he becomes obsessed with witnessing the “big bang” that creates the universe. But doing so has been foretold to create a process by which the universe will gradually be eviscerated. Known as Galactus in the untold billions of centuries afterwards, he is opposed first by Iron Man and the Nova Corps and eventually by most superhuman operatives on Earth and throughout the cosmos.

They run their teams from their wheelchairs

2008-06-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

Niles Caulder- Charles Xavier

A rumor has persisted for some time that either the Doom Patrol and the X-Men books were unduly influenced by the other . Both books debuted in 1963; both books featured antagonists that belonged to an organization including the words “Brotherhood” and “Evil”; and both were premised on outsiders defending a mistrustful general populace.

But the contention seems to rest on the characterizations of their leaders: both ae super-geniuses confined to wheelchairs. Bob Haney and Arnold Drake, the Doom Patrol creators, and X-Men co-creator Stan Lee denied that any such mischief took place, and in any case, the Doom Patrol seems all around more Fantastic Four-esque to me.

But their similarities work well enough for my purposes, despite that a pairing here necessitates that both must be transferred into franchises that are not paired with one another.

Commonalities:
Both are, like I said above, super-geniuses confined to wheelchairs, and are thus lead their organizations from their respective home bases.

Differences:
Xavier is an omega level mutant telepath. Caulder ain’t. Caulder, though, has a luxuriantly full head of hair and beard.

Alternate histories:

NC: As a youth, Niles Caulder’s metahuman intellect allows him to master multiple scientific disciplines, but an encounter with an alien antagonist leaves him a quadriplegic. Taking the code name “the Chief,” Caulder founds a school for young metahumans: his first class—Robin, Kid Flash, Speedy, “Elongated Kid” and Wonder Girl— takes the name the Teen Titans, who often oppose his former friend Black Adam. In the ensuing years, he has intermittently resided in the Vegan star system with his lover, Koriand’r, and running his school and advocating for metahuman rights.

CX: As a youth, Charles Xavier masters multiple scientific disciplines, but an encounter with an antagonist leaves him a quadriplegic. Using the code name, Professor X, he assembles three individuals —Susan and Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm— recently granted with extraordinary abilities; the quartet is collectively known as the Fantastic Four. It is later learned that Xavier was behind said transformations; his reputation as a manipulator sullies his profile in the superhuman community.

Two '70s cosmologies conceived in a Kingly manner

2008-05-31T13:58:00.000-07:00

New Gods - Eternals and Deviants (part 1)

So “the King” left the employ of Marvel, and proceeded to craft his own cosmology at DC in 1971: the “Fourth World.” Intended to have a beginning and end, the three series New Gods, Mr. Miracle and the Forever People were unfinished insofar as Jack Kirby's conception. As great as the FW is, he really needed someone to smooth his rough edges (clunky dialogue, often less-than-coherent concepts). Some believe, however, that the Fourth World had a great influence on the conception of Star Wars.

Kirby returned to Marvel in the mid ‘70s, and rejiggered the concept into the Eternals. So clearly the players in these grand, cosmic epics are best paired up.

Commonalities:
Mainly, it’s the sense that it might have been best for both diasporas to remain separate from each company’s main continuity, but that both enrich the DCU and MU, respectively. Otherwise, both revolve around concepts of a “true history of the universe,” and races waging war with the highest stakes imaginable.

Differences:
The New Gods reside on two planets in an extradimensional realm, whereas the Eternals and the Deviants live in hidden realms on Earth. And Kirby never came up with a Deviant that represented ultimate evil; a retcon that saw Jim Starlin’s characters becoming Eternals saw to it that Thanos filled the Darkseid slot.

Alternate histories:

NG: A series of “Old Gods” engineer two variant offshoots of the early human race: the first is a long-lived and (by human standards) aesthetically pleasing subset, who depart to the hidden realm New Genesis; whereas the second, a genetically unstable and grotesque (by human standards) sect, departs to the similarly situated Apokolips. The two races war against one another for hundreds of thousands of years (a delegation of former inhabitants of New Genesis departs to another planet) until the modern age, when the “old gods” return to judge the worthiness of their creations. Many New Genesis-ians leave this plane of existence, but some have recently awoken in human hosts.

Izaya: The ruler of New Genesis, now deceased.

Big Barda: his warrior daughter and presumptive heir to throne of New Genesis.

Orion: A warrior who assumes the throne of New Genesis.

Lightray/Sollis- A warrior who has taken a keen interest in human affairs.

Himon- Izaya’s brother, who leads an off-world sect of former residents of New Genesis.

Scott Free- Son of Himon, who takes the name Mr. Miracle and joins the Avengers.

Uxas/Darkseid- Son of Himon, who becomes a harbinger of death.

ET: A “godwave” unleashes energy that produces two perpetually warring “godlike” races: one, the peaceful and conventionally beautiful Eternals, resides on extradimensional realm Olympia; the other, the warlike and grotesque Deviants, resides in the similarly situated Lemuria. The two war against one another for hundreds of thousands of years until a truce is brokered by the trading of the firstborn children of the rulers of Eternals and the Deviants to the other. But when both children choose sides against the Deviants, their ruler Thanos strikes out against the Eternals, the inhabitants of Earth, and the rest of the universe in an effort to extinguish all life forever. The Eternals oppose him: recently Thanos has been exterminated by Ikaris, but at the cost of most the lives of most Eternals and Deviants. Some, however, have “awoken” in human hosts.

Zuras- The ruler of the Eternals of Olympia, now deceased

Thanos- The ruler of the Deviants of Lemuria

Ikaris- Son of Thanos who is traded to Zuras in childhood, but opposes Deviant aggression upon adulthood

Eros- Zuras’ son traded to Thanos who returns to Olympia and later Earth to oppose Deviant aggression, known later as Starfox

Thena- A Deviant with Eternal attributes, wife of Eros

Makkari- A high-spirited Eternal

Alars- An Eternal living in Lemuria who mentors Eros

The starting lineup of the West Coast Justice League, 1984

2008-05-30T05:51:00.001-07:00

Green Arrow
Black Canary
Green Lantern
Captain Atom
Vixen

Chicks with claws = perpetual appeal

2008-05-30T05:25:00.000-07:00

Vixen- Tigra

I should say that if DC introduced a male african character with a similar backstory to Vixen, then said character would be a natural pairing for the perpetually elusive Black Panther.

As it is, gender distinctions are inviolable. So this one does the trick, methinks.

Commonalities:
Both have been shown to be pleasure-seekers who occasionally have regressed into savage, feral states.

Differences:
Tigra is a cat lady —not, notably, in the sense of a elderly woman who lives in a stinking house with 50 tabbies, but in the manner of an anthropomorphosized feline/human hybrid. Whereas Vixen draws on the earth’s morphogenetic field to mimic any animal’s traits.

Alternate histories:

TI: Greer Nelson is a descendent of the Cat People, and as such inherits an amulet that grants her the ability to mimic attributes of various felines; as Tigra, she becomes an adventurer and eventually joins the Avengers and briefly the government agency Freedom Force. She struggles with latent feral tendencies surface from time to time.

VI: A gravely injured Mari McCabe is chosen by a mystical cult to assume the abilities incumbent on the Tantu Totem; as Vixen, she adopts extranormal attributes of a fox. She eventually joins the Justice League and later the organization’s west coast expansion team, although her latent feral tendencies surface from time to time.

How African-American heroes are made, circa 1983

2008-05-22T17:21:00.000-07:00

Dr. Light (Kimiyo Hoshi)- Captain Marvel/Pulsar (Monica Rambeau)

So we have two heroines who assumed the names of existing characters—one is of a good guy, the other bad.

Initially, Kimiyo Hoshi was an arrogant astronomer who was used as a pawn of the Anti-Monitor in the first Crisis, but who eventually came around to the good guy’s side. In the the most recent book featuring the character I’ve read (of which more below), she spoke like an American.

As for Rambeau: apparently Marvel felt like they needed a character by the name “Captain Marvel” for copyright purposes, since the Mar-Vell character had been killed off. So Roger Stern came up with an African-American woman to take the name: she was not a stereotype, but simply a black woman with courage and super-powers. She was made chairperson of the Avengers, but apparently editor Mark Gruenwald felt like Captain America needed to be emphasized again, so out went Rambeau, and so did Avengers writer Stern. She’s appeared occasionally since the ‘80s, under the name Photon and Pulsar.

Commonalities:
Both characters have more or less the same abilities. And, in the first issue of of Giffen and DeMatteis’ Justice League in 1987, Hoshi behaves and speaks rather like Rambeau, with whom I’m much more familiar.

Differences:
Hoshi is from Japan; Rambeau’s from N’awlins.

Alternate histories:

DL: Japanese-American policewoman Kimiyo Hoshi is bombarded by the energies of an extra-dimensional channeling device: she gains the ability to transmute and manipulate light. Taking the name Dr. Light, Hoshi becomes a member and soon leader of the Justice League. She’s worked with the League sporadically after her chairmanship concluded.

PU: Astronomer Monica Rambeau is imbued with the ability to transform into any energy included in the electromagnetic spectrum during a universe-wide conflagration. Taking the name Pulsar, Rambeau has served as a member of the Avengers and briefly the Fantastic Four and the Defenders.

How African American heroes are made, circa 1972 and 1993

2008-05-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

Steel (John Henry Irons) - Power Man (Luke Cage)

When Marvel resolved to introduce an african-american super hero in 1972, the result was completely and clumsily premised on the “blaxploitation” trend in cinema at the time. So Luke Cage, later to be known as Power Man, was written by Archie Goodwin and subsequent scribes spouting jive talk along the lines of “Sweet Christmas!!!” an exclamation I‘ve never encountered outside of comic books. Ahh, the unceasing wonders that result when white nerds in the ‘70s presume to craft realistic dialogue for black characters!

Nonetheless, Cage became less stereotyped as the 1970s progressed, and he has since been Marvel’s premiere african-american character: he’s been mucho prominent in recent years.

In my very limited understanding, DC’s Steel reflects a more nuanced treatment of how to present an african american character. Introduced in the 1993 Fall of Superman arc, John Henry Irons is an inventor who isn’t known to complain about “the man.” Why can’t a black guy be a middle class smart guy, like other super-heroes? Why indeed.

Commonalities:
Both strong doods! In the 52 series, Irons’ skin becomes briefly metallic, which is most Cage-esque.

Differences:
Irons is an inventor who dons an armor to do his stuff, whereas Cage is an ex-con and has been played as a Sam Jackson-style tough guy recently.

Alternate histories:

ST: John Henry Irons is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and is sentenced to a term in prison. He volunteers for a experiment where he is to don a prototype armor; Irons escapes and makes his way back to his hometown, where adopts the code name Steel and works as a extranormal operative for hire. He briefly replaces Robotman in the Doom Patrol and takes on a partner (to be named later); the two work together for many years. Steel now leads the dissident Justice League.

PM: Scientist Carl Lucas takes a job as a construction worker and is saved from plunging to his death by Thor, who inspires him to take up adventuring. Taking the names Luke Cage and Power Man, he devises a method in which he gains superhuman strength and durability. During the time that Thor appears to have died, Power Man takes up his slack, and eventually joins the Avengers.

The worst of the worst…but in the best way

2008-05-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

Darkseid- Thanos

I reckon that no one would disagree that Jack Kirby’s most enduring creation, after he left Marvel for DC in 1970, is Darkseid. Finally, after an interchangeable series of intergalactic despots menacing Superman and the Justice League in the 1960s and 1970s, this one stuck (although you could say that various Green Lantern antagonists fit the bill). Darkseid might even be known to non-nerds via Superman: the Animated Series and the Justice League Unlimited program.

As for Thanos, anyone can see that his character owed rather a lot to Darkseid. I wonder if the character's creator, Jim Starlin, minded that Thanos and his fellow residents of the moon of Titans were later said to be an offshoot of the Eternals. But as it is, Kirby Eternals series never had a really truly awe-inspiring antagonist anyhow: the Deviants leader Brother Tode didn't fit the bill, in my view.

Commonalities:
Big scary guys with ambitions to dominate or destroy on a universal level: not too much difference between Darkseid’s “anti-life equation” and Thanos’ love for the personification of death.

Differences:
Only that Starlin did not intend Thanos and the residents of Titan to have any connection to Kirby’s Eternals mythos. But, as of the late 70s, they do.

Alternate histories:

DA: Uxas is born the son of Himon and brother to Scott Free on a colony populated by “New Gods” ostensibly native to the hidden realm New Genesis. He possesses genes that mark him as part of the race of “New Gods” native to Apokolips, and is thus alienated from his family; taking the name Darkseid, he becomes obsessed with the “anti-life equation,” a means by which he could control all life in the universe. Darkseid is opposed by Hawkman, the Justice League and virtually every superhuman champion on Earth and beyond.

TH: Thanos is the ruler of the Deviants, an genetically unstable offshoot of humanity based in Lemuria, an underground kingdom that spans the Earth. A war between Deviants and their ancient enemies the Eternals reaches a truce when Thano’s son Ikaris is sent to live with the Eternal’s leader Zuras, who sends his own son Eros to Thanos in exchange. The ceasefire ends when Thanos begins to seek a means to court the personification of Death; his war with the Eternals becomes enmeshed with his desire to destroy all life in the universe, which finds Thanos opposed to nearly every superhuman champion on Earth and beyond.

Young hepcats/Space Cops

2008-05-15T16:44:00.000-07:00

Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) - Nova

In 1994, while I was barely paying attention, DC brass decided to introduce a new, young hepcat version of Green Lantern: in doing so, they turned Hal Jordan into a crazed bad guy…

And fandom screamed… my understanding is in the 14 years since, Rayner has gained some measure of fan acceptance as one of four Green Lantern corpsmen form Earth.

As for Nova: apparently Marv Wolfman thought that late ‘70s Marvel needed a series with the sense of wonder of early Spider-Man, with perhaps a soupcon of GL. Nova was the result: methinks the character has endured long past any expectations.

Here we see how I get around the fact that Tony Stark was never a space cop: when the shoe’s on the other foot, he’s a member of the Nova Corps who went nutso and was replaced by a younger guy. AKA cheat cheat cheat cheat…

Commonalities:
Both characters were conceived for the identification of the intended audience —young dudes. And both are representatives of an interstellar police force.

Differences:
Nova makes no hard light constructions via a “power ring.”

Alternate histories:

GL: High schooler Kyle Rayner is selected at random by a dying alien representative of the Green Lantern Corps to take his place. Rayner assumes the abilities incumbent to the interstellar police force’s power ring, and encounters many in the metahuman community before serving off world alongside the Corps for a year. Rayner abandons his duties and lives as a normal human for a time before he is pressed back into service with a team of superhumans. He has recently left Earth to take part in a galactic conflagration, in which he become the most powerful Green Lantern.

NO: When Iron Man, Earth’s representative of the Nova Corps, loses his mind and destroys the Corps, Richard Ryder is picked at random to be the last representative of the interstellar peacekeeping force. While Ryder learns on the job, he joins the Avengers. Eventually, Iron Man and the rest of the Nova Corps are revived, and Ryder journeys into space to serve in various galactic conflagrations.

The starting lineup of the Justice League of America, 1963

2008-05-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

Superman
Green Lantern
Atom
Insect Queen
Blockbuster

first recruit/replacement for the founding dangerous berserker— Batman

I must be kidding on this one…

2008-05-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

Insect Queen (Lana Lang)- Wasp

Should anyone other than a friend of mine ever leave a comment somewhere on this blawg, I would expect this post in particular to get a WTF? or two.

You have Superman’s paramour from his Smallville days, one that as an adult was used as a rival to Lois Lane, but was shown a time or two in the ‘50-’60s/Weisinger era taking a fairly super-heroic guise which has since been ignored. Then you have a character initially conceived as a flighty, spoiled rich spouse to Henry Pym but later as “her own woman” and a capable leader of the Avengers.

It’s just that the Wondrous Wasp is an important heroine in the MU, and I couldn’t justify pairing her with Jean Loring, the estranged lawyer wife of Ray Palmer who took leave of her sanity a few years ago and killed one of their friends in order to get his attention. That she did so using his shrinking methods may be suggested as a way to line her up with Jan, but…no.

So I’m going with this most imperfect pairing.

Commonalities:
Well…um…Lang useta get small and adopt characteristics of insects! Which is sorta what Jan does! I’m not sure how Lana has been played in recent years, but she’s not unlike Jan, is she? Anyone? And Jan’s been separated from the troubled Hank off and on for long enough that I can justify pairing her with someone with no connection to the Atom.

Differences:
Well, one has always been a superheroine…and the other hasn’t!

Alternate histories:

IQ: Socialite Lana Lang meets Ray Palmer, who has adopted the identity of the Atom and who mourns the loss of his first wife. Palmer grants Lana abilities similar to his own, and she takes the name the Insect Queen. She and Palmer become founding members of the Justice League, and the two are married are shortly thereafter. Some years later, Palmer becomes unhinged and strikes Lang; he is expelled from the League and the two divorce. While Palmer is rehabilitated, Lang becomes chairperson of the League. The two are sporadically reunited, and Lang currently serves in the League.

JVD: Janet Van Dyne dates Donald Blake, who soon discovers his Asgardian heritage, while both are teenagers; in one continuum, she is granted the ability to shrink and shoot force-blasts and dubs herself the Wasp. In the current continuum, Van Dyne remains close to Thor, although she eventually marries and currently is the CEO of the corporation once controlled by Victor Von Doom.

Charter members of the Outsiders, 1971

2008-05-12T17:20:00.000-07:00

Dr. Fate
Aquaman
Martian Manhunter
Blockbuster
—joined later by Power Girl

Bit of a cheat here, as only one of the above DC characters were ever in the Outsiders, which was conceived as a team for Batman to lead, whereas the Defenders were a “throw these dudes with not much common purpose together and call it a ‘non-team’" thang. But both teams have often been highly mutable, so this’ll do.

Rhaaarrrggghhh!

2008-05-12T17:00:00.001-07:00

Blockbuster- Hulk

In terms of character significance, this pairing is even more lopsided than the Wonder Woman- Thundra match-up. Like that one, we see a character lined up with it’s direct inspiration.

Clearly, the Blockbuster was created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino to evoke the Hulk. I would imagine that the powers that were at DC took one look at the second creation of the burgeoning Lee-Kirby explosion and said “they’re gonna try to make a monster sympathetic?” Indeed, the Hulk is a link to the kind of comics Timely/Atlas/Marvel proffered in the late ‘50s/very early ‘60s: typically, ones in which grotesque beasts were either created or were awoken by nuclear testing. Apparently, when Marvel’s line began to make waves, DC brass couldn’t quite understand how these crudely drawn stories featuring squabbling, sometimes threatening (anti-)heroes could be appealing.

And the Hulk was a sinister creature initially, a real nasty Mr. Hyde-esque piece of work to Bruce Banner’s Dr. Jekyll —the infantile “Hulk smash/Hulk is the strongest one there is/Hulk wants to be left alone” characterization emerged in the late ‘60s (I think). It’s no surprise that the always rationalistic DC’s rendition of the character would be an unambiguous bad guy.

So this pairing is imperfect. For a long time, I put the Hulk with Metamorpho, which was not a good idea. Many have noted similarities between Solomon Grundy and the Hulk, but the former is a zombie, and has no correlative to the Bruce Banner persona. But despite the fact that the Blockbuster is a minor character (and one that’s seen at least two iterations since its debut version, created in 1965, was killed off in the late ‘80s), he’s the best parallel for Mean Green.

Commonalities:
Scientists turn into super strong, not-so-bright brutes.

Differences:
Only that one is a character known by everyone, one that represents its parent company to the wider world via merchandising, a ‘70s TV program and two major films, and one that essentially is misunderstood and known by other characters to be goodhearted . These are distinctions that elude the other entirely: only the nerds know of Blockbuster.

Alternate histories:

BB: Chemist Mark Desmond is inadvertently exposed to radiation, and when under duress is transformed into a childlike brute possessed of immense strength. Referred to as the Blockbuster, the creature becomes world-renowned for its destructive rages, but occasionally is allied with other super-human operatives, who often understand that Blockbuster is misunderstood and essentially goodhearted. Meanwhile, Desmond is most often haunted by the creature’s exploits, and thus travels the world as an outcast. A lot of stuff involving repressed childhood trauma, multiple personalities and exile to other planets has happened too!

HU: Physicist Bruce Banner bombards himself with radiation, and sporadically is transformed into a nearly mindless brute possessed of immense strength called the Hulk. His unscrupulous brother manipulates Banner to perpetrate destruction and to be enraged by the sight of Captain America when in the Hulk form . Eventually, the Hulk falls in with various super-human criminals, and finally dies in battle.

Winged Warriors of WWII

2008-05-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

Hawkman (Golden age) - Red Raven

With some upcoming golden age-oriented pairings, we will see characters that have similar M.O.’s assigned to one another —unlike, notably, previous posts where the fast guys or winged guys are paired with characters with dissimilar abilities…

Such as this one, which finds the original conception of Hawkman, one of DC’s key wartime characters and the perpetual chairman of the Justice Society, paired with an obscure character that was published once in 1940 when Marvel was called Timely, and was revived in the 1960s and 1970s by Roy Thomas.

Commonalities:
Both are the winged warriors of World War II!

Differences:
The golden age Hawkman has been a mainstay of the DU for decades as the premiere member of the Justice Society. Whereas Red Raven was ret-conned to have been a member of the Liberty Legion, and was used as an antagonist in the 1960s and ‘70s for the Angel and Sub-Mariner. I read somewhere that RR had not died and became leader of the “bird-people” —which were also ret-conned to be a separatist sect of Inhumans— but references differ as to whether his survival has stuck.

Alternate histories:

HM: An european child is the only survivor of a catastrophe that claims his parents, and is raised by a reclusive cult in Northern Africa that preserves the customs of ancient Egyptian culture. Upon adulthood, he chooses to return to the wider world in order to combat the Axis Powers; using mystical and archaic equipment, he takes the name Hawkman. He eventually joins the Justice Society and opposes threats to America’s home front. Hawkman returns to the cult, whose population enters suspended animation; the cult has been revived, and Hawkman sporadically interacts with other superhumans.

RR: A young man discovers that he is both the descendent and a reincarnated king of a tribe of “bird-people.” He excavates equipment that enables him to operate as Red Raven; he initially opposes criminals and the Third Reich, and soon joins the Liberty Legion as its chairman. The Legion disbands in the 1950s, but reforms in recent years, often working with the Avengers. Red Raven’s aging has been retarded, and he currently serves as a mentor to younger superhumans in the Liberty Legion.

Hocus! And, Indeed, Pocus!

2008-05-08T18:33:00.000-07:00

Dr. Fate- Dr. Strange

But of course!

I’ll limit my comments here just to note that the powers that were/be at DC found it necessary to replace the original Fate, Kent Nelson, with a variety of successors. This is part of a tendency at the company to have older characters cede their names and roles to younger, hipper iterations that, y’know, the kids can relate to. Never mind that magicians can easily avoid such things as aging…

Commonalities:
The two are the sorcerers supreme of their respective diaspora — magic being a discipline that has more or less been shown to do anything that creators need to do at a particular time. And Nelson was shown to have, likes Strange, medical training at least once, which is the only time that I'm aware of him having much going on besides practicing magic…

Differences:
Only that the “Fate” persona was often synonymous with his master Nabu and thus was separate from that of Nelson, whereas Strange comes by his portentous bearing on his own.

Alternate histories:

DF: An arrogant physician named Kent Nelson sees his medical abilities deteriorate, and resolves to seek out the ancient wizard Nabu in his abode in the Mesopotamian region Ur. Nelson intends to have the sorcerer cure his ills, but eventually recognizes his arrogance and consents to become Nabu’s disciple. He emerges fully trained as Dr. Fate, the most powerful mage on Earth, and returns to the west, where he opposes supernatural menaces and soon encounters a woman named Inza, who becomes his disciple and lover. Fate is the premiere mystical consultant to the superhuman community; he works closely with the Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and another individual to be named later.

DS: A young Stephen Strange accompanies his father into a tomb in the Himalayas, where the two encounter the legendary wizard the Ancient One; Strange’s father dies, and Stephen is raised and trained in the mystic arts by his new mentor. By the dawning of World War II, Dr. Strange’s training as the most powerful sorcerer on Earth is complete, and he returns to the West, where he combats supernatural menaces and opposes the Axis Powers alongside the Liberty Legion. He marries his longtime companion Clea and retreats from view until recent years when he serves with a re-formed Liberty Legion and with the Avengers. Strange dies, but the spirit of the Ancient One chooses others to take his place.

One feminist with a sword, another with a cleavage window

2008-05-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

Power Girl- Valkyrie

When I started to pay attention to super hero culture again a few years ago, I was very amused to see that, in the past decade, Power Girl has been established to be…ahem…the super heroine with the biggest rack in the DC universe.

Look around message boards frequented by the kind of miscreant who could possibly understand what I’m talking about here long enough, and you will find drooling references to the character.

This perplexes me, as I’ve never been turned on by, or have crushed on, distaff fictional creations of this sort. But adherents of “creator’s intent” should approve of DC’s prevailing policy on Power Girl’s pontoons, since legendary artist/co-creator Wally Wood apparently resolved to draw her breasts bigger and bigger until his editor noticed and told him to stop.

Otherwise, PG was created to be an Earth II answer to Supergirl. But Crisis Numero Uno did away with parallel Earth conceit, and then Power Girl was said to have been an ancestor of the obscure Atlantean wizard Arion…or some shit! Under this origin, she could have been paired with She Hulk or Warbird. But, come Crisis II, PG was again said to have come from Krypton of Earth II’s universe and as such is the only survivor of that universe…or some shit!

So she’ll go with an Asgardian character…one who was initially cooked up by Roy Thomas to clumsily acknowledge second wave feminism in the pages of the Avengers, and afterwards was convolutedly shown to be a female iteration of the Mighty Thor. My gawd, you try and untangle all the history of the Valkyrie!

Commonalities:
Respectively, these two are female versions of Superman and Thor, and both often spouted feminist boilerplate at the time of their creation.

Differences:
I’m not sure, but I think Power Girl has been shown to be essentially a modern woman; hardly a mythological maiden charged with escorting fallen warriors to their eternal reward in Valhalla.

Alternate histories:

PG: A kryptonian warrior named Kara Zor-L is put into suspended animation: her consciousness comes to reside in the body of an earth-woman named Karen Starr. The two aspects are fused, and under the code name Power Girl, she serves in a organization with the Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and others. Although the “Kara Zor-L” aspect eventually perishes, the earthling Starr has survived and retains some kryptonian abilities.

VA: A parallel universe iteration of Asgard is destroyed by Ragnarok: like her cousin, the Mighty Thor native to this universe, Brunhilde is transported to Earth, where she emerges as an adult with all the abilities of an Asgardian: she takes the human identity of Barbara Norris. As the Valkyrie, she serves with the Liberty Legion until all universes are melded in to one. While under the impression that her heritage is entirely different, Valkyrie joins the Avengers and a new Liberty Legion; she has recently realized her true nature.

The classic early ‘80s X-Men lineup

2008-05-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

Now this can be told as well…

Cyclops
Marvel Girl
Iceman
Storm
Nightcrawler
Colossus
Lilandra

The classic late ‘70s Titans lineup

2008-05-02T08:10:00.000-07:00

Now it can be told…

Nightwing
Wonder Girl (her transmutation into an all-powerful, vengeful being results in her apparent death)
Wildcat
Raven
Changeling
Cyborg

Two metallic gentle giants

2008-05-02T08:04:00.000-07:00

Cyborg- Colossus

Here, we cheat on one Kounterparts guideline: “Kounterparts must come from a similar place of origin”; and observe another: “notions of ethnicity and of class are fluid.”

Colossus was, I think, the first Russian character in the MU to not be played as a dirty commie or a dirty commie who overcomes the brainwashing of his oppressors in the Kremlin. Peter is just a sweet farmboy who’s often bemused at life away from the USSR.

In this way, he would resemble a Russian sometime Titan named Red Star (formerly Starfire, initially an unthinking commie stooge) more than he does an african-american whose part-man, part-machine bearing gave Marv Wolfman and George Perez an excuse to indulge in the “angry black guy” cliché so popular in super hero comics books in the ‘70s. In the Teen Titans animated program, Cyborg is shown to be an amiable dude who rather likes all the cool shit he can do.

So I think that the guys’ personalities (sweet, noble and principled) are close enough.

Commonalities:
The “bricks” of their respective teams, vis-a-vis their massive strength. Both are essentially conscientious, gentle fellows who regretfully resort to violence only when absolutely necessary.

Differences:
Colossus is russian and can switch from metallic form to flesh at will. Whereas Cyborg is an african-american who was shown to be unhappy that he must walk around in public with most of his body implanted with metal prostheses and various devices. Colossus has also never been shown to be terribly bitter.

Alternate histories:

CY: Victor Stone, an American raised in Africa, discovers during adolescence that parts of his body can convert into metallic prostheses. He is recruited into the Titans, where he serves under the code name Cyborg for many years. He falls under the influence of Black Adam for a time, and apparently dies; Cyborg has recently been revived and has rejoined the Titans.

CO: A Russian-American named Piotr Rasputin’s mutant genes are jump-started by his scientist parents after he is injured during an experiment; his entire body becomes composed of a metallic alloy. His bitterness regarding his conspicuously bizarre appearance is alleviated somewhat when he joins the X-Men, where he assumes the codename Colossus and befriends Nightcrawler in particular. For a short time, his outlook becomes less and less human, and he retires to another planet populated by mechanoids. Eventually, Colossus returns to Earth and mentors younger mutants; he has recently joined a reunited X-Men.

On other planets, ladies can be descended from cats and birds

2008-05-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

Starfire- Lilandra

Ahh, Starfire! The third DC character to go by that name, and an alien princess with a voluptuous figure that’d make nerds forget Red Sonja! She’s best known as the wide-eyed, decidedly un-pulchritudinous adolescent unfamiliar with terran customs from the Teen Titans cartoon: a few years ago, I met a ten year old girl who claimed that Starfire was her favorite character ever.

As an Titan, a case could be made that Koriand'r should be paired with Storm, but offworlders must be paired with offworlders here. So she’ll be paired with another alien princess, one that was conceived as the intended of Charles Xavier— my personal preference, which is worth less than nothing, is that a elder statesman like Xavier shouldn’t be running around with good lookin’ space frails.

Commonalities:
Both are princesses of alien races, both of which are descended from non-simian creatures (Tamaraneans from felines, the Shi’ar from avian) and both are formidable warriors.

Differences:
Chiefly, Lilandra altogether severe, regal and not at all exuberant, like Kory. And Lil doesn’t fly around and shoot laser bolts via absorbed sunlight.

Alternate histories:

SF: Koriand'r is a warrior princess of Tamaran, the throneworld of the Vegan interstellar empire. When her older siblings (one of whom is known as Blackfire) becomes mad with power, she flees for Earth. She recognizes the mentor of the Titans as her true love, and recruits said team to assist her in deposing her brother. Koriand'r and aforesaid mentor sporadically pursue their relationship on and off Earth, as she assumes leadership of her empire.

LI: A princess of the Shi’ar race named Lilandra flees her homeworld after she’s sold into slavery by her sister, known as Deathbird. Lilandra makes it to Earth and encounters the X-Men, which she promptly joins and serves with for several years. She is tutored in terran ways by Marvel Girl and enters into a relationship with and later plans to marry team leader Cyclops; their wedding is disrupted and she is subsequently betrothed to two Shi’ar men. Lilandra returned to Earth, mentored younger mutants and has most recently joined a revived X-Men.

The Avengers, 1961-1978

2008-05-01T04:51:00.000-07:00

Founding members

Thor
Captain America
Thundra
Mr. Fantastic
Iron Man
Sub-Mariner
Silver Surfer

Recruits

Hawkeye
Ant-Man/Yellowjacket
Captain Mar-Vell
Mockingbird
Beast
Vision
Ms. Marvel (Una, Mar-Vell’s wife and partner)
Scarlet Witch

Hornhead and No Face

2008-04-30T18:24:00.000-07:00

The Question- Daredevil

“Hornhead,” as he was often referred to by the “head”-happy Marvel writers of the ‘60s and ‘70s (cf: “shellhead,” “webhead” etc), would seem to be natural fit with Batman, right? Frank Miller’s Daredevil run presaged his subsequent Dark Knight, after all, and his emphasis of Batman as a driven paranoiac has stuck with subsequent creators. But as I’ve said before, I’m wedded to the Batman = Cap pairing.

And so we come the Question. I’ve mentioned before that Steve Ditko’s post-Marvel material for Charlton has been collected in the DC Archive Action Heroes vol II: his Captain Atom and Blue Beetle yarns therein suffered for the lack of a equal collaborator, in my view. But the Question is, unlike the above two, is not a conventional super-hero. Rather, Vic Sage is a pulp hero, like the Shadow, transferred into a mid-to-late 60’s urban environment.

That environment was one that reflected an America that Ditko seemed to not much like. He saw a ravenous, quick-to-judge media; an unthinking, irrational general public; unscrupulous businessmen; squishy relativists and whiny liberals; and above all, dirty hippies!

By this time, Ditko had become a diehard devotee of Ayn Rand’s objectivism, which is premised, among other things, upon ironclad notions of “right” and “wrong” as objective facts. So the Question —while modeled on Will Eisner’s Spirit, the Dick Tracy villain the Blank and other pulp characters— was created as Ditko’s instrument of righting wrongs, which include the types of behavior described above. The Question’s visual design is one of my favorites: a featureless, “blank” face, tailored suit, trench coat and fedora.

These stories are completely singular, in that I don’t believe that Rand’s ideas had a greater representation in the popular culture of the time than in these stories, which would have been more or less regarded by the general public as a part of a genre that was nothing more than a diversion for children. I would be very surprised if anyone could cite any super hero comic book story that crosses the line into pure dogma to a greater extent than Ditko’s Question material does —Ditko’s self-published Mr. A books don’t count, as those stories continue his Question leitmotifs into, as Neil Gaiman pointed out in a BBC documentary last year, the realm of outsider art.

In any case, the Question character wasn’t published from 1967 until 1985 (barring a few stories in the ‘70s), when DC appropriated Charlton’s “action hero” characters. The pairing with Daredevil rests upon Denny O’Neil’s take on the Question in a 1980s series, which (in my understanding) saw to it that the character's philosophies were adjusted; it was probably intended to be DC’s answer to Miller’s groundbreaking DD run (the first eight or so issues have been collected in a trade recently, which I ain’t bought yet). I attended a panel at the New York ComicCon two weekends ago that included O’Neil: he described the mission of Ditko’s Question therein as one of pure “vengeance.”

But two iterations of the Question have clearly become vastly better known than either Ditko or O’Neil’s. Alan Moore’s Watchmen saw the character reimagined as the even more morally inflexible and extreme Rorschach, and Bruce Timm’s Justice League Unlimited animated program used him as a Fox Mulder-styled conspiracy theorist.

Commonalities:
Both are solitary creatures of the night stalking urban areas and rarely interact with other heroes, and are melee fighters of great distinction. Both have endured tremendous personal trials.

Differences:
The Question is not blind and has not had his remaining senses enhanced. He has however been shown to possess something resembling a radar sense, if I can possibly interpret as such the little acknowledged addition of an ability to “talk to cities” that was introduced in a series by Roarin’ Rick Veitch.

Alternate histories:

QU: Charles Victor Szasz is an orphan who, through great struggle, becomes a crusading journalist in his troubled home city. He takes on the guise of the Question in order to challenge widespread crime and corruption in his hometown. He endures many massive setbacks, including the public revelation of his secret identity.

DD: Matthew Murdock is a sightless orphan who, through great struggle, becomes a crusading lawyer in an unforgiving city. He resolves to adopt the identity of Daredevil to combat corruption and crime. He works alone, and is eventually beaten to near-death, after which he reevaluates many of his views. until he contracts cancer; before he dies, Murdock passes the Daredevil mantle over to a friend.

Vicious terrorists? Or principled anti-heroes?

2008-04-28T17:41:00.000-07:00

Black Adam- Magneto

Magneto? One of the main antagonists of the Marvel Universe, and the X-Men’s chief antagonist. Beginning in the early ‘80s, X-scribe Chris Claremont wrote Magneto as a relatively noble defender of mutant rights (a mutant Malcolm X) and a Holocaust survivor, although I think he’s been shown more recently to be a murderous terrorist again.

Once I started to pay attention to comic books again, I noticed that Black Adam was no longer purely the antithesis of Captain Marvel. It seems that DC —via Geoff Johns and David Goyer— played the character as not only an anti-hero, but as a surrogate with which to address real world tensions between the Middle East and the West. He also looks really, really cool.

Commonalities:
While both were initially portrayed as conventional villains desirous of world domination, they have each been shown to be principled —if often favoring scorched earth methods in dealing with their adversaries— antiheroes. Both are world figures, not to be trifled with.

Differences:
Black Adam is more or less the Middle East’s own Superman, and as such is a mystical reincarnate, whereas Magneto is the master of magnetism.

Alternate histories:

BA: Theodore Adam is borne into a middle eastern community that is oppressed by the Third Reich; his vast metahuman abilities emerge as he defends his people against Nazi depredation. He marries a woman named Sindella: after she flees her vengeful husband, she gives birth to the sorceress-to-be Zatanna and another child. Meanwhile, Adam assumes the identity of Black Adam in his campaign to avenge metahuman oppression. He assembles an organization (which includes his children; neither he nor they know of their true relationship) to oppose the Teen Titans and other superhuman operatives. For many years, he vacillates between more peaceable methods and utter hostility towards conventional humanity. Black Adam takes over the nation of Kahndaq, which he fashions as a refuge for metahumans.

MA: An unscrupulous man named Erik Lensherr is possessed by the spirit of an ancestor, which results in gaining mystically originated control of magnetic fields. Dubbing himself Magneto, Lensherr opposes many in the heroic community: his methods evolve from indiscriminate terrorism towards an old world “eye for eye” brand of justice. He enters an uneasy alliance with the Liberty Legion, but he becomes estranged from the heroic community in time. Magneto becomes the head of state of the nation of Genosha, but runs amok worldwide and is briefly depowered.

Pretty birds

2008-04-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

Black Canary- Mockingbird

Like these broads quite a bit, and was disappointed that the second named was done away with: I wager this’d have something to do with the “women in refrigerators” perplex mentioned a few posts ago.

Commonalities:
Super tough blonde bombshells with smart mouths both, betrothed to premiere archers.

Differences:
Mockingbird has no eardrum-shattering “canary cry,” and ain’t the daughter of a wartime heroine known by the same name.

Alternate histories:

BC: Dinah Lance is a vastly resourceful and formidable government agent who takes on the guise of Black Canary; she meets and quickly marries Green Arrow. The two lead a West Coast expansion version of the Justice League. When she lets an antagonist fall to his death, Black Canary becomes estranged from Green Arrow, but the two are eventually reconciled. She perishes while defending her husband.

MB: Barbara “Bobbi” Morse is the daughter of a extranormal operative active during WWII. She follows her mother’s footsteps as Mockingbird, and soon joins the Avengers, where she meets Hawkeye. She begins a relationship with the archer, which is interrupted by his seeming death. While Mockingbird later joins the Liberty Legion and Heroes for Hire, she has recently become the chairwoman of the reconstituted Avengers. Mockingbird has recently married the resurrected Hawkeye.

Can't go wrong with feral mammals

2008-04-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

Wildcat- Wolverine

The second character cited above is Marvel Comics’ most significant breakout character since the 1960s, and emblemizes the prominence of the X-Men. A quasi-antihero who’d just as soon kill his opponents appeared to be what comic book fans wanted in the 1980s (the Punisher was soon to follow), and Wolverine has since been a cornerstone of Marvel’s line.

Consequently, the character has been overexposed since the early ‘80s, and the endless convolutions that have swamped his backstory and his doings in the past 25 years have neatly paralleled the problematic continuity of the X-Men franchise.

For a while, I thought that Arsenal or Cyborg (both actual Titans, after all) would be good matches for Wolverine. But a while ago, it occurred to me that Wildcat, DC’s own Joe Louis, is pretty much what the doc ordered. Obviously, he’s never been a Titan, but cheating on team lineups as such is what we do here! In any case, ol’ Ted has been a big player in the DC diaspora for the past decade or so, which suits me fine.

Commonalities:
Both have been shown to be virtually immortal (Logan’s healing factor prevents him from aging; Grant was imbued mystically with “nine lives”) and both are as implacable a combatant as anyone knows of in either universe. Both also have been shown to have heightened senses commensurate to certain animals.

Differences:
Logan is prone to beserker rages, and only occasionally exhibits the avuncular qualities that define Grant, who does not possess a skeleton and retractable claws laced with a fictional metal. Wolverine is also one of Marvel’s best-known properties, whereas only devotees of super hero fiction are aware of Wildcat.

Alternate histories:

WC: A mysterious, violence-prone man named Ted Grant is born in the late 19th century. His preternatural ability to recover from deadly adversity (his “nine lives”) ensures that he remains vital long past a normal human lifespan; he travels the world for many years as a soldier and mercenary. He becomes amnesiac and feral after World War II: Grant eventually is dragooned into the service of a government agency, for which he adopts the codename Wildcat. He rebels against the agency and is recruited into the Titans, where he befriends Changeling, is attracted to Donna Troy and bristles under Nightwing’s leadership. While Wildcat remains with the Titans to this day, he has lately joined the non-government sanctioned Justice League. Wildcat is recognized as one of the most deadly combatants on Earth.

WO: During WWII, a champion boxer known only as Logan is inspired to take the codename Wolverine in order to combat the Axis powers and various superhuman menaces. He joins the Liberty Legion during the war. His mutant "healing factor" sees that his aging is arrested, and for years afterwards, he’s recognized as one of the most formidable hand to hand combatants on Earth, and thus trains many newcomers to the super-hero community. While most of his wartime comrades grow enfeebled and perish, Wolverine currently mentors younger operatives in the revived Liberty Legion. He has also encountered various children who he has sired in absentia.

Goddess! Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!

2008-04-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

Raven- Storm

We speak here of the one of the premiere superheroines ever conceived, and indubitably the best-known comic book character of African descent.

We also speak of a character who best known by non-nerds as the sullen, sarcastic goth girl from the Cartoon Networks version of the Teen Titans. Her relative popularity on the program has inspired a similar characterization in the current DC diaspora, which I think is quite dumb.

Commonalities:
Both are otherworldly, exotic, mystically oriented and occasionally tormented characters, and each is key to their respective franchises.

Differences:
Raven is an empath, can fly, teleport and project her “soul-self” into combat. Whereas Storm is the weather-witch nonpareil.

Alternate histories:

RA: Orphan Rachel Roth discovers her quasi-mystical abilities and upon reaching her teens is worshipped by a pacifist cult. Taking the code name Raven, she’s enlisted into the Teen Titans, and after several years as a valued member leads the team upon the departure of Nightwing. Raven remains with every iteration of the Titans until she marries another superhuman operative and world leader; the two briefly joined the Doom Patrol.

ST: A woman named N’Dare Munroe is enthralled and then raped by Belasco, a extradimensional demonic tyrant. Their daughter, Ororo, is raised by her mother in a pacifist cult; when she realizes that Belasco intends to enlist her in his campaign to dominate the Earth, she brings together Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Nightcrawler, one other mutant and an alien (both to be named later) as the new version of the X-Men; the team successfully opposes her father. Adopting the code name Storm, she stays with the X-Men until she‘s compelled to join her revived father’s campaign to conquer the Earth. She apparently dissipates, only to be resurrected a number of times in both benevolent and malevolent iterations. Storm spent time with a group of younger X-Men, but has lately rejoined her original compatriots.

Owt lacitsym senioreh

2008-04-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

Zatanna - Scarlet Witch

A no-brainer, despite differences cited below…

Both are also key to big, controversial storylines that shook up the status quo of their respective teams and the fictional diasporas in which they reside.

Commonalities:
Both are mystically inclined: the Scarlet Witch was shown to have had training in sorcery…BUT…

Differences:
Wanda’s innate ability lies in her mutant-borne hexes, which wreak havoc on probabilities; she is the archetypal “strike a pose and point” superheroine described in the post below. And Zatanna is not the daughter of a super-villain, nor the sister of a fellow hero, nor the wife of an android. And Wanda doesn't speak her spells "drawkcab."

Alternate histories:

ZA: A girl and her brother (to be named later) are raised by John Zatara; she’s named Zatanna. After she discovers an innate ability to control elements, the siblings are drafted into the employ of an international terrorist, but are soon reformed and join Green Arrow in a Batman-led second iteration of the Justice League of America. She serves with the organization for years, and enters into a controversial romance and then marriage with android Red Tornado. After learning that the aforesaid terrorist is Zatanna’s father, the two evidently have children (which turn out to be magical constructs); soon, she becomes estranged from Red Tornado, who is reassembled as an emotionless mechanism. After a short romance with Captain Atom, Zatanna reconciles with the Tornado. She loses her mind in recent years and enacts both the destruction of the League and, briefly, a wholesale reordering of reality. She is now apparently living a quiet life, unaware of the events of her life.

SW: Wanda Maximoff is born to two sorcerors, Django Maximoff and Magda; As a young woman, she learns of and cultivates her congenital mystical abilities. After her command of magic matures, she takes the codename the Scarlet Witch and joins the Avengers. During her time with the organization, she enacts a controversial “mind-wipe” of an opponent.

Support tough gals in comic books! Don't tolerate the "women in refrigerators" syndrome!

2008-04-24T16:27:00.000-07:00

Hawkgirl - Ms. Marvel/Warbird

Don’t have much to say about the current iteration of Hawkgirl, other than her prominence in current DC comics seems to originate from the popularity of the Thanagarian iteration of the character on Bruce Timm’s Justice League cartoon, of which I cannot say enough good things…

But Ms. Marvel? Here was a female character that didn’t just strike a pose and point in order to engage foes. She decks bad guys, just like red-blooded Marvel dudes did! As I’ve said before, Marvel never had a female bruiser front and center, like Wonder Woman, up to that point. And so, despite the fact that she was written with rather a lot of Chris Claremont’s sympathetic feminist boilerplate, Carol Danvers had an important function.

But it may not be putting too fine a point on it to speculate that many comic book writers have problems with strong women. Before she became a key comic book writer, Gail Simone identified a syndrome in super hero fiction, which she dubbed “women in refrigerators.”

Taking its name from a plot point in a ‘90s Green Lantern story, in which Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend is murdered and stuffed into a refrigerator, Simone cataloged the indignities suffered by female characters in super hero fiction. Many many characters before Sue Dibny’s brutal killing by an insane Jean Loring were disposed with or forever compromised via editorial diktats that, most likely, were concocted and approved by men who probably were ignored or laughed at by chicks in high school. Oh, the horrors the fairer sex visits upon adolescent males who can tell you the issue in which the Vulture picked his nose!

Ms. Marvel got the “women in refrigerators” treatment but good. She was immaculately impregnated by a Kang-style dude, and then was hypnotized into living with him in some mystical dimension. She escapes and, after losing her powers to X-Man-to-be Rogue, gives the Avengers holy hell for abandoning her (well done, Mr Claremont). After a period that found her with cosmic powers as Binary, Kurt Busiek made her into a drunk in his Avengers run, but saw to it that she joined AA and becomes a lucid heroine again.

To Marvel’s credit, Carol Danvers is one of the key characters in their line, one with a mean roundhouse left. But she again bears the name “Ms. Marvel,” which is nowhere near as cool as Warbird (well done, Mr Busiek).

Commonalities:
Two broads known to throw a helluva punch, and known to have connections to expatriate extraterrestrial heroes on Earth.

Differences:
Hawkgirl has them wings and archaic weaponry; Warbird is super-strong, flies and shoots force blasts out of her fingertips.

Alternate histories:

HG: Kendra Saunders is a young pilot in the U.S. Air Force when she encounters and then enters a romantic relationship with Katar Hol, the Thanagarian dissident known as Hawkman. She appropriates some of his abilities, which she uses under the codename of Hawkgirl. Saunders then joins the Justice League, although she is spirited away to mate with a extra-dimensional being. She escapes and then angrily rebukes the JLA for abandoning her; she then spends some time with the Teen Titans before spending time in outer space. She returns to Earth and rejoins the JLA. Hawkgirl currently leads the sanctioned iteration of the JLA, which includes her current swain Captain Atom.

WB: As a young woman, Carol Danvers attempts suicide, but is revived when the spirit of an ancestor enters her body. Via Kree technology, she is imbued with abilities native to that race, and takes the codename Warbird. She joins a later iteration of the wartime organization the Liberty Legion, and is courted by a charter member of that organization to be named later, who she resists. After encountering Kree antagonists on their homeworld, Warbird has joined the Avengers, which includes her current swain, the Angel.

The charter members of the Teen Titans

2008-04-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

So now, we can say what the first lineup of the Teen Titans would be when put through the Kounterparts mow-sheen…

Robin
Kid Flash
Speedy
Elongated Kid
Wonder Girl

Mucho fast guy and super cold guy

2008-04-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

Flash/Kid Flash - Iceman

After years of being written as an interchangeably gee whizzish-sidekick common to DC, Wally West was written by Marv Wolfman as a very frustrated fellow. Once the identity of the qualifier-free Flash was bequeathed to him, it seems he was written as a devil-may-care dude, which squares with both his characterization in Bruce Timm’s Justice League shows and Grant Morrison’s JLA. Other than those two, I’m not sure how he’s been portrayed in the past twenty years.

And Iceman? Always dug Bobby, the everyman of the X-Franchise.

Commonalities:
Both are every-guys, essentially. And the abilities described below can sometimes be put to similar ends: West’s wind vortices = Drake’s ice blasts.

Differences:
Wally’s the inheritor of the “Speed-Force,” and runs real fast: as such, he worships the memory of his deceased uncle Barry Allen. Whereas Bobby is the numero uno cold guy.

Alternate histories:

FL: Wally West discovers his ability to function at superhuman speeds during adolescence; as Kid Flash, he becomes a charter member of the Teen Titans shortly afterwards, and becomes close to the Elongated Kid. When the original team disbands, West goes to college and intends to lead a conventional life, but he eventually joins a version of the Outsiders with former Titans Arsenal and Elongated Man. As the Flash, he has since rejoined the Titans, and is coming to terms with his vastly increasing speed.

IM: As a preadolescent, Bobby Drake’s abilities to manipulate ice are activated by a freak accident; as Iceman, he is mentored by Mr. Fantastic and joins other young mutants combating injustice in the X-Men. When his abilities wane, he attempts to lead a more conventional life, but his resurgent powers see to a return to adventuring. Drake becomes the first X-man to join the Avengers and in addition becomes a husband and father.

Pinocchio, Mr. Spock, and these two wanted to be "real boys"

2008-04-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

Red Tornado - Vision

Well, of course!

Commonalities:
Two androids, forever bemoaning the distance separating both from humanity. Both have connections to preexisting beings—the Tornado Champion and the original Human Torch—and have endured multiple destructions and reconstructions.

Differences:
Reddy mainipulates wind and air for offensive purposes; Vizh manipulates his density to become intangible or diamond-level invulnerability and can emit solar beams from his eyes. And Reddy was never married to another hero.

Alternate histories:

VI: A criminal scientist manufactures an artificial lifeform specifically to infitrate the Avengers. Called the Vision, the android rebels against his directive and becomes a trusted, if often easy to temporarily destroy, member. He becomes a companion to a woman and child, and briefly becomes a nearly ominipotent “elemental.” After the Vision’s original nature returns, he becomes an adviser to the Young Avenegers before returning to the original team; he briefly gains a truly human body before returning to an android form. Which is of course destroyed: his consciousness now resides in the Avengers headquarters mainframe.

RT: The Construct, an evil robot, manufactures an artificial lifeform specifically to infitrate the Justice League. Called Red Tornado, the android rebels against his directive and becomes a trusted Leaguer. Therein, he meets and enters into a controversial marriage with a female operative to named later. He is nearly destroyed, after which his consciousness resides in the League headquarters mainframe: he then attempts to take over world governments, after which he is dismantled and then reassembled in an emotionless state. Red Tornado regains his original nature and eventually rejoins the League, only to be destroyed in a conflagration that destroys the organization. Another iteration now advises Young Justice.

The Strechable Sleuth and the Fun-Loving Furball

2008-04-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

Elongated Man- Beast

Geez, the wringer they put ol’ Ralph through in the last couple of years…the “Nick and Nora of the super-hero set” were turned into the crucible for “the women in refrigerators” syndrome and further darkening of comic books. But he’ll always be the wisecracking normal guy of the JLA to me.

As for the Beast: For the first issue of the X-Men, Hank McCoy was initially written as a tough guy with the physical attributes of a gorilla. By the second or third issue, it was probably noticed that this characterization was very close to that of the Thing, so he was written henceforth as an excessively erudite, scientifically gifted intellectual with ape-like attributes. By the 1970s, he became furrily atavistic and, while still an intellectual powerhouse, quite the slang-slinging hipster. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was used by various Avengers writers as a surrogate for the then-off limits Spider-Man. He’s lost his fur and gained it back, lost his intelligence and gained that back, and now has a feline bearing. But I don’t know whether he’s being written as a fun-loving furball or an academic these days.

Commonalities:
Like I’ve written elsewhere with slightly different verbiage, my methodology here rests more on who somebody is more than what somebody does. Dibny and McCoy are both brilliant but easygoing, funny fellows who would try to defuse tension in their respective organizations with humor and bonhomie.

Differences:
One is the “stretchable sleuth”; the other is a super-scientist with the bearing of a simian or, more recently, a big cat. And Elongated Man was never in the Teen Titans. In any case, the abortive early ‘80s JLA vs. Avengers crossover posited that the two would be each other’s best opponent therein.

Alternate histories:

EM: Teenage sleuth Ralph Dibny discovers his ability to elongate every part of his body, and becomes the fourth charter member of the Teen Titans: his keen analytical skills are just as key to the team as his elasticity. He leaves the team to work on his own as the Elongated Man and soon joins the Justice League, where he befriends the time-tossed Captain Atom, as a valued and often anarchically-inclined mainstay. He leads an iteration of the Outsiders with some of his fellow ex-Titans before rejoining the main team. Dibny’s talents as a deductive analyst and chemist have proven key in various crises facing the Titans recently, and his elasticity has revealed secondary traits.

BE: Teenage biochemistry wiz and gifted acrobat Henry McCoy self-activates his latent mutant gene, which results in emerging simian qualities. Taking the code name the Beast, McCoy combats criminals on his own and tackles various scientific quandaries with his girlfriend Vera Cantor before befriending many other superhuman operatives such as Mr. Fantastic. McCoy eventually joins the Avengers and serves for many years as a valued and particularly good natured mainstay. As a semiretired adventurer, he is devastated when Cantor is murdered: he has recently joined her on another plane of existence.

A cultural icon! And Ditko's obscure follow-up to that icon!

2008-04-07T15:07:00.000-07:00

Blue Beetle- Spider-Man

Or, “one of the most recognizable fictional characters of the 20th century” and “a similarly-inclined but fairly obscure character developed by the eccentric and disaffected half of the creative axis behind the former”…

Particularly in light of recent and unprecedented ret-conning, I don’t think the netweb needs excessive Spidey commentary from me. So let’s talk BB!

One of the few facts we know regarding Steve Ditko’s exit from the Amazing Spider-Man in 1966 was that he disagreed with a plot point devised by Stan Lee. Ditko wanted the Green Goblin to be revealed as an anonymous criminal, and not, as per Lee’s diktat, the father of Spidey’s best buddy. Seeing as Lee was not only Ditko’s collaborator but also his editor and thus his boss, he got his way.

So Ditko took his ball to Charlton Comics, a third rate comic book publisher, and did things his way, without any appreciable editorial interference. One assumes that Charlton was happy to let the co-creator of the decade’s breakout comic book character do as he wished.

Ditko revamped Blue Beetle and Captain Atom and then created the Question. These characters were each square-jawed and completely convinced of the correctness of their actions. One can infer from this that Ditko, who by this time had become besotted with Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, tired of the morally conflicted Marvel status quo, of which Spidey is the prime exponent, and made his good guys at Charlton REAL GOOD and bad guys REAL BAD.

The Action Heroes vol II Archive Edition I referred to in the previous post contains all (I think) of Ditko’s post-Marvel Charlton work. Although each story is striking for the art and the fact that Objectivist Dogma was finding its most high-profile outlet in children’s comic books (this topic will be revisited in a post devoted to the Question), the resulting stories are mostly one- and two- dimensional and lack depth. Ditko’s Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, is a scientist and inventor of unimpeachable morals and indomitable integrity who, like all of Ditko’s protagonists, must still persist against the unthinking herd: this is almost certainly what Peter Parker would have been like without Lee’s influence.

Here again, we see that Lee’s collaborators needed him: Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, for all its greatness, is often ponderous space opera without Lee’s human touch, and Ditko tips over into one-dimensional agit-prop without Lee’s attention to every character’s often troubled interior. He may have grabbed too much credit from Kirby and Ditko, but those who say that Lee is rip-off artist and that K & D did everything are full of shit.

But Charlton’s Action Heroes line folded in 1967, and the Blue Beetle lay fallow until DC bought the characters in the mid ‘80s. I didn’t read any of Blue Beetle’s DC comics at that time, but I seem to remember writer Len Wein saying something along the lines that he intended the series to evoke the kind of Spidey stories Marvel was not publishing any longer. Ted Kord did however become a fan favorite via Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis’ Justice League—he was written here as a bit of an underachieving (but still brilliant) goofball…hence the pairing. I quit collecting around this time, but I remember liking the Kord character, who infamously met his demise in 2005 via a bullet through the brain.

Commonalities
Apart from taking their arthropod-ic guises, both are very bright bulbs: very handy with inventions and all manner of scientific know-how. Both are nonetheless supposed to be the likable regular guys of the super-hero set (or at least BB has been written that way since 1986) and are beset by regular guy problems. And both are acrobatic, “hurtle around willy-nilly and make short work of several thugs” kinda combatants.

Differences
Spidey has the extra-normal abilities that BB lacks. And Kord was written as a wealthy scion of “Kord Industries,” as opposed to the decidedly middle class Parker.

Alternate history:

BB: Scientific prodigy Ted Kord takes on the identity of Blue Beetle on a lark, but the death of a family member makes him apply his heroic duties with more gravity. Over the years, his visibility as a crime-fighter increases —he’s beloved by some, hated by others—but he resists associations with other superhuman organizations, and joins the Justice League of America only briefly. In his personal life, he takes on a number of jobs and dates a number of women—please forget that he was married, that was a terrible dream…

SM: Scientific prodigy Peter Parker takes note of a boom in meta-human activity and gives himself extra-normal abilities based on that of a spider. He works alone for some years, but eventually joins various iterations of the Avengers; his reputation in those organizations as a wiseacre masks his insecurities. Immediately after discovering a plot to decimate the meta-human community, he is assassinated.

2 Tuff dudes made of cool "energies" unique to comic books

2008-04-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

Captain Atom- Wonder Man

The state of my finances for the past couple of years are such that, when I saw that Action Heroes II, a DC Archives volume comprised of Steve Ditko’s Charlton work, had come out last spring, I could not purchase it on sight. But I got it for Xmas this year: the book includes the mid-sixties Captain Atom stories Ditko created, as well as his Blue Beetle yarns and his celebrated but few Question tales.

I’ll talk about Ditko’s BB and Question stories when I get around to posts pertaining to those characters. But I will say that the Captain Atom comics have not aged well in my view. To me, the character became more interesting —as a man out of time— when DC revived him in 1986, after the company acquired Charlton’s properties.

As for Wonder Man, I’ve always had a soft spot for old Simon. He’s one of the strongest earthlings in the MU, but is most often written as a chronically insecure fellow (not sure what his status quo is these days).

Commonalities:
Both are troubled guys at their inception who go into hibernation and emerge as one of the toughest customers in either diaspora: both are entirely composed of comic book varieties of “energy”: Cap’s is “quantum,” WM’s is “ionic.” Both occasionally play both sides of street, sometimes in opposition to their super hero comrades.

Differences:
Cap is a military man, having served in the air force; WM is an industrialist who embezzles his company’s funds, and later becomes an actor.

Alternate history:

CA: Air Force Captain Nathaniel Adam is tried for treason, but falls in with a criminal genius before he is convicted. His body is suffused with quantum energy by the criminal, and his massive strength and abilities of energy manipulation render him a challenge to Superman. As Captain Atom, he infiltrates the Justice League with the intent to betray the team, but has a change of heart before he is seemingly killed. In fact, he is in suspended animation and upon revival joins the JLA and serves with the main team and then with a West Coast expansion team led by Green Arrow. When Green Lantern starts a pro-active organization, Captain Atom joins, only to be apparently disintegrated in battle. He is once again revived and currently serves with Green Lantern in the “legitimate” JLA.

WM: Simon Williams is a industrialist convicted of embezzlement: he volunteers for a experimental procedure that, should he survive it, would earn him a pardon. While his body is suffused with ionic energy, he is thrown into suspended animation. He emerges some time later with strength commensurate to Thor and is compelled to be a reluctant operative of the U.S. Government. Wonder Man leaves the service and participates in several iterations of the Avengers. He then is thrown hither and yon into different universes, and has apparently become evil and is now menacing the multiverse.

The Avenger's Second String

2008-03-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

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…

Little men with big brains

2008-03-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

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.

Two sidekicks and a mutant…all dutiful dudes

2008-03-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

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.

The “Big Seven” of the Avengers

2008-03-14T13:23:00.001-07:00

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.

Speedster + Stretcho = Super Cheat

2008-03-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

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.

The Capitalist and the Space-Cop

2008-03-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

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.

Another bird dude and another bowman

2008-02-29T06:43:00.000-08:00

Arsenal (Roy Harper)- Angel

This pairing revolve around the X-Men- Titans rule cited below.

Harper is fairly notorious as the character writer Denny O’Neil rendered as a junkie during the celebrated “relevant” Green Lantern/Green Arrow series. He’s been written as something of a pussyhound in the past ten years. Note that I don’t refer to him by his current moniker, “Red Arrow.” Why? Because I think it’s dumb.

Don’t have much to say about Angel…

Commonalities:
Just that their temperaments line up, and are both key to their respective teams/franchises.

Differences:
One has enormous wings and is thus a mutant; the other is a bowman and weapons specialist with abilities commensurate to his mentor.

Alternate histories:

AR: Wealthy and preternaturally gifted archer Roy Harper attends a small school that trains aspiring meta-human operatives. He drifts in and out of the Titans, once serving with the Outsiders. He is transformed for a time into a quasi-demon before reverting to his prevailing form.

AN: Mutant orphan Warren Worthington is adopted by Hawkeye, and the two combat crime before Worthington meets up with other similar young mutants; they form the X-Men. He becomes addicted to drugs, but has since been in recovery. He fathers a child with an assassin, becomes a government operative and then takes part in various iterations of the X-Men and the Defenders. He has recently joined the Avengers.

The blue and the green

2008-02-15T14:22:00.000-08:00

Changeling- Nightcrawler

Upcoming posts will indicate that, for the most part, members of the X-Men from 1964 to the late ‘80s will be paired with Teen Titans from the same period. Therein, one rule will be observed (sidekicks are too numerous in the DCU) and another will be broken (Kounterparts must come from a similar place of origin). This is because the X-Men and Teen Titans books in the 1980s are dear to me and many many other nerds (TT writer Marv Wolfman has said that his book took no inspiration from the X-Men, which is very hard to believe) and thus I’m wedded to pairing them up —there will, however, be some exceptions…

But here we speak of Gar Logan, of whom I insist on referring to as Changeling as opposed to Beast Boy, and Kurt Wagner. Logan was introduced as a kid sidekick in the 1960s Doom Patrol, and is now known to lots of real, live kids via the early aughts cartoon the Teen Titans. Wagner, on the other hand, was glimpsed briefly in the 1990s X-Men cartoon and in the second X-Men film only. He also has been foolishly established by Marvel PTB as the son of Mystique and a demon of some sort—why they can’t leave it with him as a mutant that resembles a demon is beyond me…

Commonalities:
Both are immediately distinguishable without exhibiting extraordinary abilities: Logan is green, Wagner is blue. Both provide levity to their teams, but these goofball exteriors mask tortured interiors.

Differences:
Logan shape-shifts into animals; Wagner teleports, has a prehensile tail and blends into shadows. Wagner is German, whereas Logan was born in Africa to his scientist parents.

Alternate histories:

CH: Teenage circus performer Garfield Logan is ostracized in his community, first for his green hair and skin and then for his shape-shifting abilities. He joins the Teen Titans and serves therein on and off for many years.

NC: Young mutant Kurt Wagner loses his parents and is adopted by Reed and Susan Richards of the Fantastic Four. After the apparent demise of the FF, Wagner joins the X-Men for a number of years.

The best and the brightest—or darkest

2008-02-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

Batman- Captain America

This one is very problematic…but I can’t quite let go of it…

Here we have the two characters that represent the upper limit of human capability —meaning capabilities unenhanced by extraordinary means. Of course Steve Rogers was enhanced by “vita rays,” but he was always played as having achieved the pinnacle of what one man can do unassisted by means common in comic books.

As has Bruce Wayne. Since 1986’s Dark Knight, however, Batman has been characterized as a dark, obsessive and, frankly, not a very pleasant individual. Whereas Rogers has always been written as a sunny, ineffably decent man specific to an idealized “greatest generation” (the “Ultimate” iteration differs, in that Rogers is a hard-bitten, quite violent soldier).

In the last couple of years, writer Grant Morrison has evidently reverted the Batman character to the somewhat dark but not at all psychopathic iteration known from Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams run in the early 1970s. So it is this version paired best with Cap—certainly not Frank Miller’s “Goddamn” version. In any case, in both 1995's DC vs Marvel event and 2003's JLA/Avengers series, both were seen as each other's equivalent.

Commonalities:
The above said “upper limit of human capabilities.” Both are respected in their respective diasporas for that quality and for their unparalleled tactical cunning.

Differences:
Wayne is one of the richest men in the DCU with deep roots in Gotham society, and is motivated to avenge his parents murder. Rogers is motivated purely to fight for right and the American Way. He has also often been depicted without much of a personal life, a perpetual “fish out of water” coming to terms with living in a world so different from the World War II era. In pure rich guy terms, “Bruce Wayne” = “Tony Stark” would be much more apt. In pure "dark avenger of the night" terms, Daredevil might be better…but whatever…

Alternate histories:

BM: Bruce Wayne is born in the 1920s and receives special training as a young adult to work as the U.S.’s most feared operative overseas against the Axis Powers. He is joined in these efforts by orphan Dick Grayson and allies like Aquaman, until he is thrown into suspended animation. He is revived by the Justice League of America, which he joins as its longest-running leader and is universally respected as the most inspiring in the super-hero community. Wayne partners with Black Lightning for a time and struggles to forge a personal life in a time much different from the one in which he was born. After he leads opposition to an effort to register superhuman and costumed operatives, he is assassinated.

CA: Child of privilege Steve Rogers trains himself to be the defender of both the metropolis of his birth and the nation at large and the ultimate opponent of terrorists and superhuman criminals extant. He mentors a number of younger operatives, works closely with police and the military and helps found the Avengers.

Two Belligerent Bowmen

2008-02-08T13:43:00.000-08:00

Green Arrow - Hawkeye

Fairly obvious…

“Batman with a bow” was clearly what Mort Weisinger was after with Green Arrow. Like Weisinger’s other creation Aquaman but unlike most of DC’s super hero characters, GA stories were published throughout the ‘50s. Come the late ‘60s, Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams gave Oliver Queen a personality: he was now to be a man renouncing his riches in order to be fully invested in the plight of the “working man” and the downtrodden (more or less serving as O’Neil’s finger-pointing mouthpiece). Although his new persona is best displayed in the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series, he often antagonized his fellow JLAers along these lines from the ‘70s onward.

Thing is, this characterization seems inspired by a character across the pond that was directly inspired by Green Arrow—Hawkeye. Initially a crook bedeviling Iron Man, Clint Barton joined the Avengers as a member of “Cap’s Kooky Quartet,” and thereupon was played as a rough around the edges everyman given to challenge Iron Man and Cap. For four decades, he was a key Avenger.

Commonalities:
Both are often belligerent w/r/t to authority but are down to earth dudes with hearts of gold. Both the best bowmen in their respective disaporas, and both have “died.”

Differences:
Oliver Queen is an off and on again rich guy, whereas Clint Barton is a carny-turned-crook-turned-Avenger (here we must observe the “rich guy” rule stated below) . Unlike Queen, Barton has never been shown to have much in the way of a social conscience, but, also unlike Queen, he adopted another identity and accompanying abilities.

Alternate histories:

HE: Clint Barton is washed ashore on an unpopulated island and trains himself to become an unparalleled archer in order to survive. He returns to society and becomes a premiere crime fighter, joining the Avengers shortly after its founding, often serving as the group’s sociopolitical conscience. He travels America with another super-powered operative in order to address social ills and also fathers —but does not take part in raising— a child. While serving with the Avengers, Barton takes on a number of professions in his civilian guise —he “dies” for awhile but is revived. He is eventually betrothed to another crime-fighter and also joins another team, the Defenders.

GA: After antagonizing another crime-fighter, supremely gifted bowman Oliver Queen joins the Justice League of America with two others as a replacement for some of the more powerful founding members. He serves as a key member for many years, adopting size-changing abilities briefly and eventually heads up a West Coast satellite group w/r/t to the largely East Coast-centric team. Queen “died” a few years ago, has since been revived and is now working with a group opposing government registration of superhumans.

Everyone loves robots!

2008-02-04T16:54:00.000-08:00

Metal Men- Six Marvel Robots

Another pairing in which I cheat…

The Metal Men were created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru in 1962. They were initailly intended for one and only one story, but fans dug ‘em enuff for a long run in Showcase Comics: the MM is much beloved by Silver Age aficionados.

So…what if a bunch of prominent MU robots banded together?

Gold- Machine Man
Platinum- Jocasta
Iron- Awesome Android
Lead- Rover
Mercury- Warlock
Tin- H.E.R.B.I.E.

In MU Continuity:
Machine Man: created by Jack Kirby and scientist Abel Stack in the late ‘70s, longs to be human, an Avenger briefly…
Jocasta: created by Jim Shooter and Ultron, longs to be human, an Avenger briefly…
Awesome Android/Awesome Andy: created by Lee/Kirby and the Mad Thinker, fought against FF before becoming largely benevolent…
Rover: A robot/ship created by Hank Pym: it is enabled with the temperament of a dog, so as not to go berserk like Ultron…
Warlock: creatd by Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz, a transmuting alien robot from the X-men franchise, likely a bitch to draw…
H.E.R.B.I.E.: a “cute” R2D2 clone that replaced Johnny Storm in the lousy late ‘70s FF cartoon, brought into MU continuity as a companion for Franklin Richards…

Alternate histories:

Marvel’s Metal Men: Created by Abel Stack, assorted robots possess artificial intelligence and are trusted allies of the superhuman community.

In the alternate DCU…
Gold: created by scientist Will Magnus , longs to be human, a Justice Leaguer briefly…
Platinum: created by evil robot the Construct, longs to be human, a Justice Leaguer briefly…
Iron: created by a mad scientist, fought against the Doom Patrol before becoming largely benevolent…
Lead: A robot created by a super hero scientist to be named later……
Mercury: a transmuting alien robot from the Teen Titans franchise…
Tin: a robot companion serving the Doom Patrol…

DC's Dick Cheney and Marvel's Milosevic

2008-01-31T18:44:00.000-08:00

Lex Luthor- Dr. Doom

This pairing breaks some of the rules stated below…but I think that it’s undeniable…

Victor Von Doom’s background has been consistent since the mid ‘60s: as it should be, since it’s perfect. But Luthor’s characterization has over almost 70 years pinballed from generic mad scientist, to a guy holding a major grudge against Superboy (holding the Boy of Steel responsible for his hair loss), to ruthless corporate baron, to POTUS, to renegade scientist again.

I think the prevailing history of Luthor works fine, with one caveat. He’s a self-made zillionaire who has conquered every scientific and economic discipline; cannot co-opt Superman and thus despises him with every fibre of his being; avoids the consequences of his perfidy for quite a while until he is disgraced; and finally becomes an outlaw (would that Richard Cheney meet a similar fate). Too bad that DC’s PTB have brought back the “Lex knew Clark as a teenager” bit, which I think is unnecessary.

Ultimately, these are two supremely intelligent and powerfully arrogant men who never, ever doubt their convictions that they alone know what’s best for humanity. Both also suffered mischaracterization in film adaptations: much respekk to Gene Hackman and Julian McMahon, tho’ (Clancy Brown, of course, got LL right).

Commonalities:
Both are the dominant ruthless super-geniuses of their respective diasporas, and both are obsessed with destroying their rivals. After years sporting prison greys, Luthor has been shown to wear combat gear —first the purple and green uniform in the 1970s, then the battle armor in the 1980s. And it wouldn’t strain credulity to posit that Luthor is of recent European descent.

Differences:
Doom is a central European despot, while the iteration that has endured for the last twenty years for Luthor has been that of a billionaire technocrat who becomes the President of the United States (I don’t think DC should have gone with this conceit). Doom is also more of a man or honor than Luthor.

Alternate histories:

LL: A child with incredible intellectual gifts from Central Europe sees his parents persecuted and killed. He comes to the United States to attend university, where he encounters fellow students Steve Dayton and Cliff Steele. An experiment on campus gone terribly awry results in his hair loss, and he returns to his country, which he eventually takes over and rules with an iron fist. In light of frequent attempts at global conquest, he is opposed by nearly every significant super hero on Earth—not least his former classmate and intellectual peer Steve Dayton, whom he despises with a white-hot intensity. As a head of state, he retains diplomatic immunity.

DD: An indomitably brilliant and incredibly wealthy aristocrat is outraged when the Mighty Thor appears in public— this “god” threatens his mostly unchallenged eminence. He resolves to marginalize and then to destroy his foe, marshaling his fortune and his vast command of dozens of scientific disciplines to this task. Although his machinations often involve attempted global domination and associating with various criminals, terrorists and despots, he retains a respectable facade and thus eludes arrest. He is finally disgraced and becomes an acknowledged and notorious leader of the outlaw fraternity.

The Strongest Ones There Are (apologies to the Hulk)

2008-01-30T14:44:00.000-08:00

Superman — Thor

Obvious, ain’t it?

DC evidently was dismissive of Marvel in the early 1960s:, in 1995, I interviewed then Marvel executive editor Mark Gruenwald (RIP) and DC executive editor Mike Carlin regarding the Marvel vs DC crossover. Gruenwald said then that DC editorial considered Marvel’s (i.e. Jack Kirby’s) art “crude and unsophisticated.”

As much as I love Kirby and Ditko, I don’t think the quality of the art was the point. DC’s rationalistic, plot-driven editorial style couldn’t help but seem bloodless and one-dimensional when Stan Lee introduced a truly human element to super hero comics. That was Marvel’s primary innovation—and in light of the often ponderous operatics of Fourth World series, which made a point of being enacted as 100% Kirby’s vision, no one can seriously dispute that Lee’s romance comic-honed talent for dialogue and pathos wasn’t key to early Marvel’s singularity.

Which is to say that I wonder what ‘60s Superman stories would have been like if they cribbed a little from Stan and Jack’s the Mighty Thor. Mort Weisinger had by that time been the caretaker of the Superman franchise since 1948. His books could contain raw emotion: the frequent “Imaginary Stories” and “time travel back to Krypton” often contained the kind of pathos that the intended readership— kids!—would understand. But in the '60s, Superman was still above it all, trudging through stories that were heedless of any developments past Weisinger's bailiwick.

But Stan and Jack changed the game. If DC (or perhaps Weisinger) wasn’t so defensive, maybe the Superman books could have really taken off into mind-bending, high stakes space opera. They wouldn’t have to neglect the human interest of Clark, Lois, Jimmy, etc etc, either. In any case, Julius Schwartz took over the Superman franchise in 1970, and since then Superman has been modernized a number of times. He’ll always be with us.

As for Thor—Lee wrote in his Origins of Marvel Comics that he felt he could only follow up the Fantastic Four, the Hulk and Spider-Man with a “god”; the norse variety, of course. I wouldn’t be surprised if he also thought that his emerging mythos needed a Superman-type.

Commonalities:
Both are the strongest, noblest dudes that be. Heat vision = thunderbolts, super-breath= wind. Both have “died” and been resurrected.

Differences:
Mainly, there’s the sense that “Clark” is his truest aspect and that he feels that, irrespective of his origins, Earth is his home and he’s a “man.” Whereas Thor is fond of humans, but he’s an Asgardian through and through, the bloodson of Odin: the “Don Blake” aspect hasn’t been emphasized much for a long time. Plus, Clark’s a reporter and Don’s a doctor. And Thor has no ultimate weakness a la kryptonite.

Alternate histories:

SM: Jor-El, the philosopher king from the planet Krypton, wishes to instill “human” qualities found in abundance on Earth in his son Kal-El. He creates an earthling identity, that of journalist Clark Kent, for Kal-El. After a few years, Kent discovers his true nature and quickly becomes the Earth’s preeminent champion. While he travels back to Krypton often, he also founds the Justice League of America and battles menaces from across the universe. In recent years, he abandons the Kent identity, adopts others, and then comes to reside on Krypton, succeeding his father as its leader. He’s presumed dead when Krypton is destroyed, although he has recently returned to Earth, where he resumes his identity as Kent and alongside other surviving Kryptonians attempts to revive their culture in the middle of the American West.

TH: Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods, destroys the extradimensional realm Asgard. Odin, a preeminent “god,” sends his infant son to reside among mortals on Earth, where the nascent “god” is raised as Donald Blake by a childless couple. As a young adult, the crippled Blake discovers his heritage by transforming back and forth into the “God of Thunder.” He resolves to defend his adopted home across the universe as its most indomitable champion, founding the Avengers with other superhumans, while leading a dual life as a physician. He eventually marries his mortal coworker, Jane Foster.

Bird dude and bolt-thrower

2008-01-29T17:56:00.000-08:00

The Falcon - Black Lightning

Landmark characters, these two…

Created by Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan, the Falcon is the first African-American super hero character (Black Panther is of course purely African). In Marvel’s favor, it was not determined that his name needed the prefix “black.” In Marvel’s disfavor, Sam Wilson was initially characterized as an angry street thug, “Snap” who was turned into a good guy by the Red Skull, planning to trigger Wilson’s true inclinations once he gained the trust of his new partner, Captain America.

In any case, Wilson’s better nature prevailed (although his thuggish side has emerged from time to time). He has often been characterized as the defender of Harlem, often serving as a mouthpiece for various writers’ musings on urban decay etc etc.

Clearly, DC felt their first marquee African-American super hero (notwithstanding Teen Titan Mal Duncan) needed a qualifier indicating his ethnicity, whereas there is no White Lantern. Black Lighting co-creator Tony Isabella has revealed that the first draft of the character, courtesy of an unnamed creator, was to be the “Black Bomber,” a —wait for it— disguised white racist! WHOA!

But Isabella and African-American artist Trevor von Eeden instead produced Jefferson Pierce, a street-level crusader who used jive-talk when in uniform, so as to not sound like the school teacher he is. Like the Falcon, initially BL was often used to make equally heavy-handed points regarding the hardships of ghetto life.

Commonalities:
Both are benevolent, thoughtful family men with a social conscience: Wilson is a social worker, Pierce a high school teacher. Both are superb athletes and combatants.

Differences:
Obviously, the Falcon uses mechanical wings and communicates with birds (a la Aquaman), while Black Lighting throws bolts of bio-electrical energy. Not a problem, in my view.

Alternate histories:

FA: Social worker Sam Wilson returns to Harlem and resolves to fight the criminal organizations preying on the neighborhood using a flying harness. The Avengers attempt to recruit him, but he demurs, only to join the Defenders shortly afterwards. After accepting a cabinet position in a corrupt presidential administration, he finally joins the Avengers.

BL: Petty criminal Jefferson Pierce encounters a super villain, who compels a benevolent personality to emerge. Equipped with devices that channel electromagnetic energy, he takes on a heroic guise and partners with a hero to be named later. Pierce’s better nature prevails, and he becomes a veteran hero and schoolteacher, defending his community while also working closely with the individual referred to above, often alongside the Justice League of America.

The most important superheroine = a character with whom fanboys are only dimly aware

2008-01-28T13:22:00.000-08:00

Wonder Woman- Thundra

Here we come to a rather imperfect kounterpart match-up —although it may seem spot-on.

Wonder Woman is not only one of DC’s big three franchises, but is without question an icon of American culture. Everyone —your mom, my mailman, your six year old cousin— knows Wonder Woman, the princess of a race of immortal warrior women.

But Marvel has no iconic female character: the closest would be Susan Richards, but she’s hardly a princess of an legendary gyno-cracy, is she? I have struggled to find the ideal kounterpart for Wonder Woman in a MU that tends to proffer female characters that “strike a pose and point,” resulting in laser blasts or somesuch, instead of gals that throw a mean punch.

What about Warbird/Ms Marvel/Carol Danvers, a tough broad character I like very much (and one often subjected to the “women in refrigerators” treatment)? She’d do, were she not an all-american woman. Same goes for She-Hulk. Valkyrie, a representative of the Norse mythology iteration of the Amazon paradigm, would suffice, if that selfsame Asgardian pedigree were not already reserved for another DC classification (it’s fairly obvious that Val’s introduction in the early 70s was to address Marvel’s shortcomings vis-a-vis strong. liberated WW-style characters). Storm, Sue Richard’s only competition as Marvel’s best-known female character and one that comes from an exotic background, would do, were she not to have an even more suitable kounterpart (Storm and WW battled one another in 1995’s DC vs. Marvel crossover). And if Thor was a chick, it’d be a no-brainer. But WW’s provenance as a member of a race populated exclusively by women is her key trait.

Ultimately, I’ll go with Thundra, who comes from an alternate future that finds puny men dominated by “Femizons.” She’s a minor character, evidently created to spar with the Thing in the early ‘70s and, like Valkyrie, to spout feminist boilerplate written by Roy Thomas and his nerdy peers who, I imagine, were struggling with how to address second wave feminism (and defensively at that). I’m not hugely familiar with how she’s been written over the years, but at any rate bet that she was often portrayed as a WW surrogate.

So this pairing is imperfect, in that I’d prefer to assign match-ups based on unintended similarities— or at least similarities that aren’t based on transparent tributes to an iconic character. But this works for the nonce.

Commonalities:
Both are prime exponents of a race of warrior women (that the Amazons have mythological underpinnings and existed on Earth since time immemorial and the Femizons in an alternate timestream isn’t a problem: both locales are separate from the general populace). Both are noble, headstrong and do not need a man to protect them: Wonder Woman’s strength is second only to Superman’s, while Thundra has been said to be the toughest female character in the MU.

Differences:
Wonder Woman is one of the three most respected superhumans in the DC diaspora; being that she’s relatively obscure and only appears every once in a while,Thundra occupies no such position. Thundra also collaborated with villains from time to time, of which WW wouldn’t dream. WW also occasionally adopts a secret identity and avails herself of various mystical totems, both of which do not apply to Thundra.

Alternate histories:

TH: Thundra is the greatest warrior of a matriarchal society in a future timeline, and travels to the modern continuum. While she intends to act as a messenger of peace, she realizes that she must use her unparalleled mettle as a champion of Earth. She helps found the Avengers, and becomes a world figure.

WW: Princess Diana comes to “Man’s World” from the matriarchal society of the Amazons in order to combat the Doom Patrol’s Robotman and thus prove man’s inferiority to woman’s (gawd, that must have been a shitty FF story). She allies with various villains before joining forces with the Doom Patrol and the Justice League. She eventually retires to another plane of existence, occasionally returning to assist superhuman operatives in the present continuum.

Rules of this very trainspotter-y game

2008-01-26T08:37:00.000-08:00

I’m going to explain aspects of my methodology here— which is to say, what guidelines are employed to assign kounterparts…

Kounterparts must come from a similar place of origin
Mainly, this comes into play when two characters both come from elsewhere, shall we say: extraterrestrials will be paired with extraterrestrials, visitors from mystic realms are paired with same, characters from a particular country are assigned together (two very similar countries will suffice). This guideline, like all guidelines, will only occasionally be ignored.

Notions of ethnicity and of class are fluid; age less so; but gender is inviolable
An African-American can be paired with a non African-American. A character with roots in the WWII era, for instance, can paired with a character originating in later decades. But a female cannot be paired with a male.

There are too many mutants in the MU for that particular distinction to be obstructive
In the 1980s, Marvel went bananas with the mutants. So many characters are now assigned as such that it’d be counterproductive to be observed across the board (in any case, DC PTB established that tons of their characters are “meta-humans,” i.e. humans born with a extra-normal gene that could result in extraordinary abilities, i.e. “mutants").

There are too many sidekicks/”legacy” characters in the DCU for that particular distinction to be obstructive
Dick Grayson, Wally West, Roy Harper and Donna Troy were all conceived as junior versions of their mentors. But they’ve each existed long enough as distinct characters that to observe “creator intent” in this case would be again counterproductive across the board.

There are too many rich guys and scientists taking on super-heroic guises in the DCU for that particular distinction to be obstructive
Although there is one particular rich scientist in the MU who is not paired with an equivalent along those lines in the DCU: that one is imperfect, and may be subject to change eventually.

Family ties are much too prevalent in both diasporas to be obstructive
Sometimes family relations will be observed, but most often will not.

Characters are paired based on similarity and significance “in universe”
Spider-Man and Superman are the premiere brands, if you will, of Marvel and DC. But (beside the fact that both work for major metropolitan newspapers), they have almost nothing else in common.

Similarly, superhuman abilities are not the be all and end all of how characters are paired together
I find myself more interested in equivalent characterizations than, for instance, whether a shape-shifter is paired another shape-shifter, or a "brick" is paired with another "brick," etc etc…

The parallel universes conceit will not be obstructive
Nuff said, pilgrim…

More to come…

A pair of hardbitten alien soldiers enamored of Earth

2008-01-25T13:58:00.000-08:00

Hawkman - Captain Mar-Vell

Quite fond of this one here— I always liked the way both of these characters looked…

I refer here to the Hawkman rejigged by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert in 1961: a police officer from the planet Thanagar operating on Earth. Like the Silver Age re-introductions of the Flash, Green Lantern and the Atom, the Katar Hol iteration was introduced to the DC diaspora with a science fiction bent (as opposed to the Golden Age version, who has his own equivalent —to be named later).

Post-Crisis, Hawkman possibly suffered the most convolutions of any significant DC character. Pre-Crisis, Thanagar was said to have been one of many peaceful, technocratic societies so beloved of Silver Age DC, but it turned warlike in the late ‘70s, prompting Katar to turn against his race. In 1989, a mini-series called Hawkworld posited that Thanagar had been run by militaristic society for centuries, but the PTB at DC decided that this would take place in the present, thereby making Hol’s first “canonical” appearance contemporaneous and thus mooting all prior continuity. The Hawkman that had served in the JLA was now the Golden Age iteration.

Seems easy enough to say that, after Superboy’s multiverse-shuffling tantrum, that Katar Hol came to Earth from Thanagar, saw the error of his race’s ways, got the “Hawkman” mantle handed over to him by Carter Hall, and away we go: no harm no foul. Instead, the Hawkman franchise is incredibly convoluted. So you’ll forgive me if I go with my eminently sensible solution.

As for Mar-Vell…perhaps understandably, in 1967 Stan Lee wanted to lay claim to the copyright “Captain Marvel,” one that hadn’t been used by DC for the Big Red Cheese since the company won ownership of the character from its lawsuit against Fawcett (don’t ask about the short-lived 1966 version published by MF Enterprises). So Marvel’s version was a dissident Kree soldier on Earth.

No one seemed to know what to do with him at first: Roy Thomas rendered him akin to the "Big Red Cheese" by having him trade places with perennial hanger-on Rick Jones (one would languish in a nether-dimension while the other was on Earth). Finally, Jim Starlin made him a “Cosmic Protector,” with accompanying “cosmic awareness”—this is the version beloved by fandom. In 1982, Starlin had Mar-Vell die of cancer…25 years later, he’s plucked out of the timestream, just before cancer advances so that he can assist in the “Civil War” to no meaningful effect. He also was ret-conned into fathering Genis Vell and Kree/Skrull hybrid the Hulking—ahh, editorial mandates!

Note that the "Big Red Cheese" is the essentially the same person as Billy Batson and is otherwise not an extraterrestrial, so any match-up with Mar-Vell doesn’t work.

Commonalities:
Both are soldiers hailing from militaristic societies who come to Earth, renounce their race’s domineering ways, and champion their adopted world. Both take terran secret identities— HM: Carter Hall, CM: Walter Lawson.

Differences:
Well, Hol has them wings, is fond of archaic weaponry and otherwise boasts enhanced strength common to Thanagarians. He also had a partner/wife Shayera. Whereas Vell’s abilities shifted over time: he began as a Kree soldier and gained the powers mentioned above. His fellow Kree soldier, Una, never had a superhero guise, but as you will see below, I’m going to cheat.

Alternate histories:

CM: Mar Vell, a soldier from the expansionist interstellar society the Kree is stationed on Earth with his wife/colleague Una. The two renounce their homeworld and battle evil doers as Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel (see who Carol Danvers is paired with at a later date) and join the Avengers.

HM: Katar Hol, a soldier from the expansionist interstellar society from Thanagar is stationed on Earth with his colleague/lover Shayera. The two renounce their homeworld, although Shayera is killed by another Thanagarian captain, leaving Hol to battle evil doers as Hawkman on Earth and in the cosmos (he finds time to co-exist with Snapper Carr and father some children as well). He often works with the Justice League, but eventually succumbs to cancer—that is, until an editorial mandate concocts a cheap ploy to resurrect him.

Imperius Rex! And…whatever Aquaman exclaims

2008-01-24T18:28:00.000-08:00

Aquaman — Sub-Mariner

This one’s pretty obvious, huh? I’m not aware if it has been definitively documented that writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris overtly plagiarized Bill Everett’s character Prince Namor, for Aquaman. Seems eminently possible, tho.

What is beyond dispute is that Namor is the first Marvel super-hero character —although his “anti-hero” posture was pronounced from his debut in 1939. Arthur Curry, debuting in 1941, was a much more discreet presence in DC comics— some historians believe that Weisinger, the Superman editor in the ‘50s and ‘60s, kept his creation in print long after most super hero titles ceased publication.

In any case, both are key to both diasporas: Namor for the reason cited above, Aquaman simply due to his inclusion in the 1970s Saturday morning cartoon Super Friends (which of course leads to non-comic readers knowing his name, and thus thinking he’s goofy, and thus Entourage, etc. etc.…). And both deserve respekk…

Commonalities:
Both are —despite frequent sabbaticals and exiles— the mighty Kings of Atlantis, and thus function best in the ocean. Beginning in the late 1980s, DC began to characterize Aquaman as a regal, almost arrogant presence —which sounds familiar. Occasionally, Namor has been shown to be weakened when out of water for a long time, which echoes a long-standing but abandoned (I think!) conceit where Aquaman couldn’t be out of water for more than hour.

Differences:
Subby couldn’t command aquatic life; Aquaman does! Subby can fly via ankle-wings; Aquaman cannot. For many years, both were the spawn of a surface-dwelling father and Atlantean mother: post-crisis, Aquaman’s identity was shown to be Orin, son of an Atlantean wizard and a princess of same.

Alternate histories:

AM: A half-breed “avenging son” emerges immediately before World War II, defends his home of Atlantis against surface dwellers until joining with other operatives against the Axis powers. He becomes an amnesiac vagabond for many years until his memory returns after an encounter with the Doom Patrol. Since then, he ascends to the throne of Atlantis, marries noblewoman Mera, briefly joins the Justice League and alternately antagonizes or works with other superhumans.

SM: An Atlantean refugee emerges in the surface world as the King of the Seven Seas and co-founds the Avengers. He claims his throne in Atlantis, marries a woman named Dorma and fathers a child who is killed in infancy. After many years as a world leader, he is turned into a “Dweller of the Deep,” is replaced by a younger iteration and then dies— until such time as a editorial mandate revives him.

A first family and some "freaks"

2008-01-18T13:23:00.000-08:00

Fantastic Four- Doom Patrol

Give or take Spider-Man, the FF pretty much is Marvel, for reasons anyone likely to read these words understand. Whereas the Doom Patrol was DC’s response to Marvel: here were “freakish” characters who squabbled and were misunderstood by the general populace.

Should anyone be moved to comment here (or, ahem, ever), I would imagine that the FF's similarities to the Jack Kirby-created Challengers of the Unknown would be brought up. I would also imagine that Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol would be mentioned as well, but I have never read any of the trades. But essentially, I think the two teams have more in common than not.

Mr. Fantastic- Mento

Commonalities:
Both are real smart guys, and Steve Dayton’s telekinesis and Reed Richard’s elasticity achieve similar ends. Both are married respectively to the two women cited below.

Differences:
“World’s Fifth Richest Man” Dayton was only an occasional member of the DP, and was often portrayed as an arrogant dilettante, whereas Richards is merely absent-minded and pedantic. Dayton also went nuts and became the Crimelord apparently, and has only recently been redeemed in Geoff Johns’ Teen Titans. Richards has only recently been written as misguided vis-a-vis Civil War.

Invisible Woman- Elasti Girl

Commonalities:
Both are the mother figures of their teams; you could say that Rita Farr becoming very small achieves the same purpose as Susan Richards becoming invisible, and Farr’s becoming a giant achieves the same purpose as Richards’ forcefields (you could say that the better matchup, ability-wise, would be Reed = Rita, Sue = Steve, but gender distinctions will remain enforced here).

Differences:

Being that Farr was the only death that stuck from DP’s 1968’s series finale (for four decades), I don’t believe she developed much past the one-dimension characterization common to female characters in both Marvel and DC universes (I could be wrong about this). After a good 20 years as a fourth wheel, in 1981 Susan was rendered more or less the strongest female character Marvel’s got—for which we can thank the ever-controversial John Byrne.

Thing- Robotman

Commonalities:
One of the most perfect matchups: Ben Grimm and Cliff Steele are tough guys with hearts ‘a gold who are trapped in monstrous forms they no likey…

Differences:
Only that Grimm can change to human form back from time: Steele cannot.

Human Torch- Negative Man

Commonalities:
The similarity of a flaming dude and a dude who can send a radioactive shadow hurtling around seems pretty on point to me.

Differences:
I’m not sure how Larry Trainor was characterized in the 1960s, other than the fact that he was unhappy at the prospect of spending his life swaddled in bandages. Seems a far cry from the happy go lucky Johnny Storm. Trainor is not related to Farr, but, as we will see going forward, family ties are so numerous in both universes that it would be counterproductive to let them dictate every equivalent.

You’ll notice I did not include Niles Caulder: he’ll be included another time in a post regarding another team matchup…

Alternate histories:

FF: Three individuals are separately altered by cosmic rays, and are brought together by a gentleman to be named later to combat evil. They are joined by Reed Richards and another younger person (also to be named later), but are soon slaughtered—although, by the providence of ret-con, they eventually are resurrected.

DP: Four good friends are mutually beset by trauma, and band together to combat evil. The group are regarded as the beacons of a new heroic age (a few members are occasionally substituted for by individuals—again, to be named later).

Two Sweethearts of the superhero set, forever dicked around

2008-01-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

Wonder Girl/Donna Troy—Marvel Girl/Jean Grey

Apparently, at some convention or other recently, DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio, when asked under what alias Troy should be referred these days, remarked that she’s best known by her given name: “she’s DC’s Jean Grey.”

That’s about right, methinks. Both are the sweethearts of the teams for which they are mainstays. Both have been killed, resurrected and jerked around via ret-cons so many times that I simply can’t keep track of their respective comings and goings.

It is clear that Troy appeared in Teen Titans (1965) after writer Bob Haney failed to notice that the “Wonder Girl” running around in Wonder Woman for some years by that time was merely a magical duplicate (alongside Wonder Tot!) of Princess Diana. In an early instance of ret-conning, Marv Wolfman established that she was an American orphan brought to Paradise Island in a 1969 TT story; he went on explore her origins in a 1983 New Teen Titans story that remains her clearest, most sensible back story.

But the Crisis saw to it that, since Princess Diana was new to Man’s World in “the present” and Donna was not, she needed a new backstory. Since then, her history has been thrown hither and yon, most often incomprehensibly. So I’m going with Wolfman’s story: he’s her definitive scribe, anyway (although it should be noted Wolfman also transparently inserted a surrogate for himself into NTT in the form of Terry Long, Donna’’s husband).

As for Grey: Initially, in Stan Lee and Roy Thomas’ telling, she simply was the X-chick. But her transformation into the Phoenix (1976) and subsequent rampage as the Dark Phoenix and death (1980) basically kicked off the X-mania that set the tone for superhero comics in the 1980s. By 1985, a ret-con established that the “Real Jean Grey” had actually lain dormant in Jamaica Bay while a “Phoenix-Force” assumed her persona for the events of the Dark Phoenix Saga, thus freeing the revived Jean up to rejoin the original X-Men in the X-Factor book.

This occurred at the beginning of endless convolutions in the X-books that continues to this day (apparently Jean and Scott Summers went off into the future for some reason for a time). She’s now dead again…right? It’s too goddamn much for me to fathom.

Commonalities:
Chiefly, this would be that they’re both key to their respective franchises and are both noble, capable gals: homecoming queens in the best sense. Both were subsumed into cosmic entities for a time.

Differences:
Initially, Donna is Wonder Woman the Second: strength, flight and sundry empathic abilities, whereas Jean is telepathic and telekinetic.

Alternate histories:

JG: An orphan's innate telepathic and telekinetic abilities are nurtured in a future society populated by "femizons." She finds her most enduring family with the X-Men, and then goes through the fucking wringer over and over again, discovering her “true” origins numerous times, dying and then being resurrected.

DT: A young girl becomes a mainstay of the Teen Titans, using her immense strength and ability to fly. Her persona is adopted by the Dark Angel entity, while she hibernates. She returns to the Titans and serves with distinction for many years before dying—that is, until editorial PTB sees fit to bring her back.

And there came a day like no other…

2008-01-11T12:46:00.000-08:00

…a day that found a guy starting a blog devoted to perhaps the most wonky and yet possibly purposeless pursuit ever devised by a lapsed fanboy…

Roundabout the age of 10, as I started collecting comic books, I began to devise a system (and methodology) wherein I’d try to assign equivalents across the DC and Marvel universes. Now, as a chap who put aside funny-books so as to improve his chances towards getting better acquainted with female genitalia but has lately revisted superhero fiction, I started the project up again and have resolved to devote this blog to it.

I should say that I don’t buy many comics these days: I like to buy trades composed of vintage comics when finances allow. Using the computah, I can keep up with the events of this Crisis and that Civil War, to say nothing of researching characters and so on. I should also say that my preferences are those of a guy who grew up on 70s-80s comics and thus decompression and current art trends do not appeal to me. This is not to say that I have an axe to grind with current comics creators.

Typically, what powers or skills characters might have in common are not necessarily emphasized. My interest tends to lie with a character’s temperament, motivations, where they come from…y’know, what they’re like! That said, family ties are sometimes relevant, sometimes not. Same goes for ret-cons. I will go into further details regarding my methodology—as well as including links and possibly images— as it develops.

So! Assuming someone will ever drop by here, please let me know what you think! I eagerly await the thoughtful, restrained comments known to emanate from visitors to comic book blogs ‘n’ message boards!

Martian Manhunter- Silver Surfer

Commonalities: Both are strangers in a strange land: SS has always been played as such, whereas JJ/MM has been defined thusly at least since the ‘80s. Both vacillate between alienation and affection for earthlings: this is what defines both characters, in my view.

Differences: SS wields the power cosmic, which has been shown to do pretty much anything creators want at a particular time; whereas JJ/MM reads minds, shapeshifts, can become intanglble, shoots rays out of his eyes, and is real strong: he’s often referred to as the “Swiss Army Knife of Superheroes.” So while their abilities do not line up precisely, both are so ill-defined (or versatile!) as to not matter much to me. Neither’s powers are what is key to each character, anyway.

Alternate histories:

MM: Was stranded on Earth for some time, struggles to understand humanity, longs for his lost love and associates with other operatives occasionally.

SS: Was inadvertantly spirited to Earth by a scientist, worked alone until joining the Avengers, struggles to understand humanity, longs for his deceased family.