Bettah run through duh juhn-gull

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

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

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

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…

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

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

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

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

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!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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.