And there came a day like no other…

…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.