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?
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Two third-stringers and one major mutie
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Ladies and germs, the jewish batmen!!!
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.
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.
Monday, October 6, 2008
"Ha ha" said the clown…"Hee Hee" says Gobby
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.
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.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Big brother, little brother
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.
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.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Slice and dice
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The Greatest (Worst?) Nazi in Funny Books, and Naja-Naja
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.
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.
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