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.
Showing posts with label Asgard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asgard. Show all posts
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
COME TO ME, SON OF OUR JAILER!!!!
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.
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.
Monday, May 5, 2008
One feminist with a sword, another with a cleavage window
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The Strongest Ones There Are (apologies to the Hulk)
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.
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.
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