If DC had given me the job to re-imagine The Mighty Crusaders...

My obsession with proposing four-hero teams that aren’t the Fantastic Four is well documented within this blog. In a previous post, I reported on the revival of The Mighty Crusaders as a four-strong force for justice consisting of The Shield, Hangman, Inferno, and The Web.

Sadly, they are no longer with us, but that just gives me an excuse to re-imagine another team...

Anyhow, if I had gotten the gig, the first order of business would be to read every origin story of every incarnation of the original 15 heroes. There were versions from the Pep Comics, Zip Comics, Radio Comics and Impact Comics imprints. The reason for going back to the well is inspiration and sometimes for a laugh and sometimes both as is illustrated by...

The origin story of Captain Flag

Like The Shield, Captain Flag was another flag-draped, patriotic hero. When a nazi kills Tom Townsend’s father and attempts to do the same to junior, Tom is saved by a huge eagle carrying off to the safety of a mountain where he sees the American flag. That’s when he’s inspired to become Captain Flag! Seriously, I’m not joking here.

The misleading nature of Firefly

When I first heard mention of this hero, I thought I had him all figured out. Not so. Firefly was really scientist Harley Hudson who was obsessed with insects and in particular how they managed to lift several times their bodyweight. In time, Harley figured it out how he could do the same. Of course, he could also fly, right? No. What would make you think that? Of course, he had fire or illumination powers, right? Well, no. So, lacking those powers, Hudson logically chose the name Firefly. Btw, Firefly is now in the public domain if anybody’s interested in writing a few Firefly stories.

Okay, enough with the laughs at the expense of those two upstanding heroes. Let’s get back to how I would’ve revamped The Mighty Crusaders as a four-hero team (including an old proposal of mine for one of the characters).

My team would be:

Hangman (Yes, keep him)

I would dump the immortality bit and go back to the avenging the death of his superhero brother, The Comet (who was Cyclops before there was a Cyclops). Hangman was also the original ‘the only good criminal is a dead criminal’ vigilante (long before Marvel’s The Punisher and 2000AD’s Judge Dredd). Also, Hangman often got the bad guys to off themselves by scaring the heck out of them – Batman’s got nothing on Hangman when it comes to scare tactics and psychological warfare.

The Web (Yes, keep him too)

I love the new redesigned costume, but I’ll dump the new billionaire playboy persona. A return to the Criminology Professor (and consulting authority) by day / Vigilante by night dichotomy is needed in my pinion. A hero needs a reason to fight crime/evil and The Web (a.k.a Professor John Raymond) had a pretty good one that also explained his career choice: It was all inspired by his brother’s lifelong criminal behaviour. How come I turned out so awesome while my bro is a career criminal? From a motivational perspective, The Web was good enough to substantiate my Great Spider-Hawk Paradox. During the 1990’s Impact Comics, The Web referred to a group of spies connected by an information network. My version would make use of a back-up network of peeps who would occasionally stand-in for The Web – even wearing the costume when required.

The current Web has a website called ‘Summon the Web’ that peeps can use to call him for help. I would slightly tweak that, so that The Web uses some sort of web crawler and pattern recognizer for internet sourced cases.

Now here’s where my proposal gets a little weird as I infuse it with an idea for The Web I came up with in the 90s. I’ve noticed a trend in my proposals for new characters: I like to create ‘slightly powered heroes’ (heroes who are essentially non-powered in having to have fighting skills like Bats but have one power that won’t directly help them in any fight). In that tradition, my addition to The Web is such a power. Basically, my version of The Web is able to mentally access something a hybrid of what Jung called the ‘Collective Unconscious’ (that repository of shared memory traces of humanity’s ancestral past) and ‘Gaia Theory’ (you know, every living thing on earth is part of one giant organism). The problem is that this access to what John Raymond pictures as a web comes and goes.

The Fox

No, I'm not Terry "Batman Beyond" McGinnis!












Okay, in a previous post I mentioned that both of the Shield’s earliest incarnation predated the highly similar Cap America and Iron Man. However, I’m going to replace The Shield with the original newspaper photographer moonlighting as a non-powered superhero, The Fox! The Fox’s...er...fox-head insignia hid a small automatic camera with which he snapped some pics to sell. Wow, who else did something similar later on in the 60s? Starts with ‘Sp’ and ends with ‘idey.’ In terms of his look, I wouldn’t change a thing about his costume. It’s black and thus cool. I include the Fox, because Fox is the most socially conscious hero created by MLJ (although, a little less outspoken than say the early Green Arrow) and he would make a great foil for the absolutist Hangman.


Fireball

the preferred Impact Comics costume











 


the 'not-so-preferred' older costume...with skirt or really short shorts or tunic or ? Please don't bend over to pick up something, Mister. Please.

    

I would replace Inferno with Fireball, who can start fire via touch, melt bullets, absorb flames, all without going “flame on!” Aesthetically, his Impact Comics costume has potential to be slightly updated. He’s a bit more interesting than the angry cueball-looking, flame-surrounded Inferno. Of course, I’d have to think about his origin, one of which involves a swamp, magic and strange balls of fire. That particular origin story screams “ball lightning” (a natural phenomenon used to explain sightings of UFOs around swamps and other bodies of water) without actually mentioning “ball lightning.” With some tweaks here and there, all the elements are there for an interesting origin story and a “story engine”

Anyway, that’s my four-hero version of the team. However, DC could compromise and test the waters by creating two teams: Ten heroes calling themselves The Crusaders and a smaller 4-hero team calling themselves C.R.U. (Covert Reaction Unit or whatever), divided along worldview (e.g. follow Hangman or follow The Shield or follow The Web).

Honestly, I can come up with three or four versions of this four-hero Crusaders team. I mean, I haven't even touched on the 3 versions of The Comet or Black Hood or The Jaguar or my favourte version of The Shield. That's the major draw for me: There are multiple versions of each hero. So, as a writer you can cherry-pick elements you like (granted you have editorial approval, of course).

Speaking of The Comet, check last year's re-design of The Comet over here.

DC, you know where to reach me...Are these characters even still licensed to you? If not, forward this link to the lucky parties.

Call for Superhero Romance submissions - no, the word "submissions" doesn't mean this is Bondage-related...well, actually, it could be...I think...Not that I'm writing a bondage story...

I am totally submitting to this. I'll have to combine several stories and germs of story ideas rattling around my head though.

But hey, this is superhero stuff and I don't have a shortage of ideas for stories or heroes.

Okay, it's romance and it's  novellas...So, that's new for me, but I think I'll give it a shot. I think Samhain is flexible with regard to amount of romance and other elements such as action.

Anyway, check it out.

If DC ever created their own FF - The Mash-up with a Singular Purpose Edition

To see my three previous proposals for DC’s own Fantastic Four, click here, here and here.

This post was inspired by this post over at MGK. The crux of MGK’s post was that Firestorm is too powerful and too stupid (when Ronnie Raymond is in charge) and has too any lame villains to be great.

Of course, because of this post the fact that I like Firestorm is well known. Also, let me make it crystal clear to everyone that I like Firestorm the way he is (except for the puffy sleeves), but this is just a proposal…

Anyhoo, I didn’t agree with the Firestorm is “too powerful and too stupid” bit and as creative person, I thought to myself: “Self, Firestorm is not too powerful and is not too dumb, but what if…”

So, here’s the team. The first pick is…you guessed it…

1] Firestorm

However, this isn’t the normal Firestorm familiar to fans. This is one is slightly different – a third at most. After teaming up with the JSA to fight Dr. Alchemy and a JSA big evil, ol’ flamehead is accidently (?) merged with Michael Holt a.k.a. Mr. Terrific. This new Firestorm now also possesses Terrific’s power of being invisible to technology as well as having Terrific’s intelligence (when he’s in the driver’s seat which is pretty often). Unbeknownst to the new Firestorm, the merger (and combined power set) has some dangerous consequences by putting him in the crosshairs of a new enemy that may be unstoppable): A Superior Artificial Intelligence (SAI) from a far-future possible post-technological-singularity timeline.

Okay, what’s a SAI? Well, nobody knows for sure, there are a gazillion different interpretations/definitions and the truth is I haven’t kept up with these debates in some years. Anyway, this is comic book writing and not Hard Science Fiction writing. In other words we can make a lot of crap up as we go along.

Theoretically:
· SAI will be more intelligent than any human being (think of it as an unfathomable mass of computing power or intelligence);
· SAI will be extremely unpredictable (to us, because we’re only human);
· SAI might be able to upload every human consciousness and if “friendly” it might invite us to this big upload – like being friended or poked on Facebook;
· SAI might be able to improve our intelligence after uploaded (if it so chose);
· SAI will be able to self-replicate (specifically build a better version of itself to replace itself);
· SAI might be able manipulate physical space on a large (e.g. terraform the earth on a molecular level)
· SAI will be uncontainable once it is “born.”

There is one big requirement (at least in my funny book story), the technological singularity must first occur. This is the point where our technological development reaches the point where a SAI can be created or simply develops from the critical mass of technological advancement.

So what is it about the NEW Firestorm that has this uber-powerful intelligence / techno-god so spooked? Is the SAI more scared of Firestorm with Terrific’s IQ or of Firestorm with Terrific’s power or all of the above? There may be some solid theoretical clues earlier in this post…Anyway, the SAI sends a probe (or portion of itself) to the present to go after Firestorm and 3 other heroes.

Funny thing about probes sent by SAIs, if they re-unite in future they might be speaking totally different languages, because they would develop exponentially in different ways…

The other members of the team:

2] Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)

I solidly believe that the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle would be best served on a four member team. I’m still a Ted Kord fan, but Jaime really fits this story since The Reach’s objective will prevent the post-singularity SAI from occurring (being born / created). Yeah, this story is kind of a reverse Terminator story in a way…

3] Hawk

Maybe it’s the fact that Hawk represents Chaos or it maybe it’s the Extant time-travelling stuff, but for some reason the SAI really hates Hawk. Maybe it just finds Hawk obnoxious...

4] Green Lantern Raker Qarrigat

Ha! You thought I was going to say Dove, right? Where Hawk goes, Dove cannot be far behind or vice versa. Well, Dove is part of this story but NOT part of the team, because Dove represents Order and the SAI has identified Dove as a potential collaborator (say what?!).

Anyhoo...Raker Qarrigat – Green Lantern of Apokalips – is also another target of the SAI. Remember, the SAI can cut through many foggy logic swamps to come to the most elegant of conclusions.

The biggest threat to any earth-based SAI developing is the prior development of an alien SAI. The assumption is that another SAI would be hostile toward other SAIs or On-the-verge-of-SAI civilizations. Surveying the universe (and other dimensions), Apokalips is a prime candidate for the development of a rival SAI but for one little impediment: Darkseid and the gang. While Darkseid is in power an Apokaliptian SAI will not be allowed to develop for the simple reason that heads cannot bow when part of a SAI and there can be no Great Darkseid when SAI of Apokalips encompasses everything and everyone. There will be no hunger dogs.

The SAI has identified Raker Qarrigat as the biggest threat to Darkseid’s rule. So, it follows remove Raker, remove the possibility of a rival (probably more advanced) SAI that could come along to destroy Earth’s SAI.

The name game:

So, what do I call this team? Any Ideas?

Write what you know: A short primer for comic book writers writing long-existing characters or screen writers developing works based on comic books featuring long-existing characters

Write what you know. This is advice that’s almost as old as writing itself. By writing, I’m referring to writing for yourself AND others, but we’ll get back to this point later.

There are generally two main interpretations of Write What You Know (or WWYK, an initialism that should not be confused with World Wide Year One Thousand, DC Comics’ upcoming 1000-issue mega event crossover event where the first 499 issues will be written by Geoff Johns minus any editorial oversight and the last 499 issues by Grant Morrisson minus any editorial oversight with the middle 2 issues co-written by Geoff and Grant after they learn what happens in each other’s 499 issues). SPOILER ALERT: Maxwell Lord gets into the Barber Shop business. Solomon Grundy and Bizarro are the narrators for all 1000 issues. Batman reveals his final contingency plan (you know, the one he would use if and when all of contingency plans were needed at the same time).

Sorry, I was rambling…Back to the two interpretations of Write What You Know…

1] Superficial Interpretation

Write What You Know means write from your own perspective and/or life and/or frame of reference. There is nothing wrong with this and it is in some respects easier. The problem comes in when Write What You Know means ONLY write from your own perspective and/or life and/or frame of reference. The result: A boatload of stories with settings similar or identical to your home town or place of employment, characters similar or identical to yourself or friends, opinions and life philosophies limited to your own…You get the picture.

2] Deeper Interpretation

Write What You Know means doing research before you write anything outside your field of knowledge / frame of reference while applying creativity to avoid thesis-like stories. The deeper interpretation is crucial in writing existing superheroes.

Steps for comic book writers writing long-existing characters or screen writers developing works based on comic books featuring long-existing characters:

1] Read the character bibles (these typically contain character bios, what a character is about [his/her motivation] and the most important events in his life). Of course, some comics companies sometimes misplace these… Black Adam J'onn the whole 52 someone out there have a lozenge or something?

2] Read the different writer’s runs with special emphasis of character portrayal. Let’s say, you’re planning on writing Green Arrow. Green Arrow has been written as the “Liberal Socially Conscious hero”, but during another period he was written a “Night Hunter” type vigilante. Another reason for reading these runs is the smaller story threads that were forgotten about or cut short due to a Mega Crossover Event.

3] Decide which portrayal to use. This could be one specific portrayal or a hybrid (Can you marry the “hyper-prepared Batman” with “the one who is regularly flummoxed by the on-again-off-again residents of Arkham"? Okay, bad example. The big rule here is to figure out which version can help you write the best story you can while not alienating all of that character's fandom. You are going to alienate some - there's no avoiding that. Back to Bats: "Batman: The brave and the bold" version of Bats is great, because it mixes many versions of Bats (e.g. “hyper-prepared Batman” meets "fat-headed, self-satisfied looking silver age Bats" meets "Bats who just loves punching people" meets "Grumpy Bats" meets...)

4] Be CONSISTENT in characterization. We can't blame evil Maxwell Lord or red kryptonite for every out-of-character moment. Inconsistent characterization is jarring to readers. Being consistent also helps you with plot in a "What would Batman do?" kind of way. So, charaterization is sort of mildly uber-important...I think.

So ends the sermon.

Mary Pickford - the hero remix...

I while back I came across this weirdly listenable song called Mary Pickford. It's about United Artists...You guys do watch movies, right?



Anyway, here are some of the lyrics:

Mary Pickford used to eat roses
Thought that they'd make her beautiful and they did,
One supposes.

Douglas Fairbanks, he was so handsome,
He wore a moustache,
Must-a had much cash, too,
Worth a king's ransom,

Charlie Chaplin, he was invited,
When these artists became united.
When these artists became united.

David Griffith worked as an extra,
Then as a stagehand,
Until they let him be
A director

Dave was brave, a mover and shaker,
A true pioneer,
He seemed to show no fear,
A real film maker

Just like Chaplin, he was invited,
When these artists became united.
When these artists became united.

They tied the knot together,
Groom and bride couldn't hide their pleasure.
They tried to pick fair weather,
But love died, didn't last forever.

I don't know about you out there, but I immediately thought about doing a JLI remix. Enjoy (and try singing it). Better yet, try to compose something better.

Martian Manhunter used to eat Oreos
Thought that they contained no lard but they did,
One supposes.

Michael Jon Carter, came from the Future
He wore a gold suit,
Must-a won much loot, too,
Worth a jackpot,

Ice Maiden, she was invited,
When these heroes became united.
When these heroes became united.
Theodore Kord worked as an sidekick,
Then as a hero,
Until they let him be
A martyr

Ted was brave,  inventor and acrobat,
A true pioneer,
He seemed to show no fear,
Swordless musketeer

Just like Tora, he was invited,
When these heroes became united.
When these heroes became united.

They banded together,
Heroes and teammates couldn't hide their pleasure.
They tried to pick fair weather,
But they were disbanded, didn't last forever.

Yes, please compose better lyrics...sigh

Deadline for submissions: 31 January 2011...

Hi to everybody in 1truegl-space!

Ive come across the Beta City anthology, which is looking for superhero short stories set within their own continuity but still allowing your own superheroes to feature. In fact, original heroes are encouraged.

By the way, it's the follow-up to POW!ERFUL TALES (An anthology that was featured way back when 1truegl was all spritely and not so jaded...over here).

I've got an idea for a submission already. Its funny that playing in an existing universe such as the Beta City one is NOT as restrictive to the writer in me as one would assume. No More Heroes  and its existing universe had the same effect. Strange.

The Missing Link: Why there's so much superhero prose stuff on this blog...

So, why is there so much superhero prose stuff on my blog?

Well, I could go into a lengthy essay-type answer, but this missing link (from my speculative fiction blogosphere reading days) covers a big chunk of the answer and, well, I haven't done a  "missing link" post in a LOOOOOOONG while.

Remember, the missing link posts also serve to prompt you to go out and rediscover some forgotten little joys of your life. I'm all sunshine and rainbows today.

Who’s in the market for Superhero Prose?

As you’ve learned from previous posts, 1truegl’s alter ego’s alter ego’s short story is soon to be published in the No More Heroes anthology. This is a thrill, I admit, and has led me to the following question: Are there any publications both online and in print looking to publish your superhero prose?

To answer that question, let’s limit ourselves to short fiction and start with anthologies, because that’s 1truegl’s bag.

Powers: A superhero anthology
I picked up on this antho pretty late, but there’s still time to whip up a story and submit it before 31 October 2010 or when filled. Btw, it is non-paying anthology.

Matters Most Extraordinary
This is an anthology that spotlights historical fiction with a super-powered twist. The hero aspect of superhero fiction is a little tangential here. This too is a for-the-love anthology.

Now we can focus on the Zines:

This Mutant Life
A zine from Oz focusing on the fiction related to the daily lives of the super-powered. Also a non-paying gig.

Metahuman Press
This online venue is quite unique in that it deals almost exclusively in serialized superhero fiction, ranging from 2-to-12-part limited series to ongoing series.

iHero Entertainment
This online magazine was previously incarnated as Cyber Age Adventures (from 1999 to 2006) and is about to make its return. Based in a shared universe, rights granted by the author can get a little complicated. It pays 5 cents per word and has a 3000 word limit.

A Thousand Faces
Of course, we shouldn’t forget A Thousand Faces: The Quarterly Journal of Superhuman Fiction, an online zine and print publication that is regularly promoted here.

My...power...is...draining...power...gone.

As previously interrogated out of me by the Purple Menace...

I confess...I've joined the other side.

A story I've spun has made it into the soon-to-be-published No More Heroes anthology, edited by Wayne Goodchild & Bill Tucker. I'm still not revealing my story's title, because self-hype is my kryptonite (although I try to encourage others to promote their talents).

Anyway, the good editors have given us an advanced look at the front and back covers. Just use your heigtened internet vision and take a gander at the late bronze agey coolness below...

You'll never take me alive, O Purple One!

Latest issue of A Thousand Faces is online!

Hello loyal reader,

Long time no post...I know...forgive me?

Issue # 12 of A Thousand Faces: The Quarterly Journal of Superhuman Fiction, a magazine that is available to read online for free. Story-wise, this issue is double-sized. So, there lots to read or skip (if some stories don’t match your sensibilities).

I have only read one story so far, Brand X: Double Play. It’s part of a series, but it features a story so far section to catch up / remind readers of what has happened. [Hint to comics companies]

Instructions to read A Thousand Faces webzine for free:
1. Click on the cover of A Thousand Faces (They should really have “Click Here to enter” on that cover – See, it’s not our fault.) This will take you to the Editor Frank Byrns’ column called “Thinking outside the longbox” (clever name) which gives little blurbs about each story contained in the current issue.
2. Click on "New Fiction" on your left.
3. Click on the Story you want to read and enjoy!

Short Fiction about Superheroes: An anthology by another name...

A while back I wrote this post about “With Great Power”, a superhero short fiction anthology edited by Lou Anders. It features stories from the keyboards of Gail Simone, Peter David, Mike Carey and other comic book writers.

Well, while I was being a bad blogger (and had my back turned on the superhero comics / prose worlds), Spider-man’s owners did what they do best and said: “Hey, that’s what Uncle Ben told Peter...Well, half of it at least...Anyway, where were we? Oh yes, Mister Anders, you can’t name your anthology that...Everybody knows that Marvel owns those three words in that order. Bottom-line: You are hereby instructed to rename your anthology something else and preferably nothing starting with the uppercase letter “X” as Marvel owns that as well. Have a nice day.”

Peter and his Uncle Ben uttering copyrighted...um...utterances

Anyway, the anthology is now entitled “Masked”. Here’s a short article about it, which doubles as a great teaser (stories like “Cleansed and set in Gold” and “A to Z in the Ultimate Big Superhero Universe (Villains Too)” sound even more intriguing to me having read this write-up). I also found the comments to the article spot on with regard to the benefits / risks to superhero prose (especially those proffered by commenters 214w, Tina Sena, Lou Anders himself, and Powerful Lamp).

Random Research Question: Cool runnings from a bad blogger...

Yes. I've been a woeful blogger of late, but I have an excuse...I've been saving the world. Kind of.

Anyhoo, I thought I'd pop a trademarked 1truegl comic-related Random Research Question to the one or two UBER-PATIENT readers of this blog.

Question:
Was freerunning (which is a form of urban acrobatics in which participants, known as free runners, use the city and rural landscape to perform movements through its structures, according to Wikipedia) inspired by what is sometimes known as roof-running (as practiced by Batman and the Bat family as well as several non-powered heroes across many comic book universes)?

JLA: The Movie - Notes on the soundtrack

Wow, it has been quite some time since I’ve done a JLA: The Movie post. Check out all the links here. The other musical post related the movie can be read here.

Many of the tracks you’ll see here will be rearranged (and in some cases made more symphonic) by the original artists in collaboration Hans Zimmer. I’m going to avoid making a movie where the music is playing ALL THE TIME. Basically, we’ll hear music only during montages and portions of selected super-fight scenes or when we introduce one of the characters (Booster).

Mercy by One Republic

I thought this one would be good “showing the heroes saving folks” montage that should kick off the entire trilogy.

All fall down by One Republic

As mentioned in this movie trilogy, the heroes aren’t going to have it their own way all of the time. I thought that All fall down would be appropriate during or after some of the more powerful members are defeated, leaving the less powerful leaguers (e.g. Blue Beetle, Booster, Green Arrow, etc) as the last line of defence. There will be moments of doubt intermingled with damn the torpedoes during this montage.

Welcome to the black parade by My Chemical Romance

Similarly to All fall down, this track will play when “the rest” realize that “the best” (Superman and the league) can’t just punch the bad guys really hard and actually need the rest’s help. Here, I plan to use only the first minute-long monologue-like intro, which has always reminded of a cool superhero origin story...

When I was a young boy
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band
He said, "Son, when you grow up
Would you be the savior of the broken
The beaten and the damned??

He said, "Will you defeat them
Your demons and all the non-believers
The plans that they have made?
Because one day, I'll leave you
A phantom to lead you in the summer
To join the Black Parade"

Clocks by Coldplay

I’ve chosen this track as Booster’s introductory theme, because being a time-traveller from a future where he basically had to steal the details of the league’s demise to try and help them, there’s going to be a lot of doubts for him.

Yes, he wants to help the JLA, but has he gone about it the right way? Then there’s the fact that he doesn’t have all the details of the fall of the league. In addition, there the secret time travel aspect that he thinks he has to keep from the JLA. Booster also feels the sense of home in our era, even though he’s “accepted” only because there’s a crisis before he can get rejected...Then, there the destiny / phantom stranger aspect (mentioned in one the links above). All in all, an apt song for one of our three central POV characters (Flash and Martian Manhunter are the other two if you were wondering).

Princes of the Universe by Queen

I can think of few better songs that embody the collective feeling of superiority the Apokalips Champions feel toward our little mudball.

Carry on wayward son by Kansas

This one I swiped from Supernatural, but I thought it would be great for our Superman-Batman (World’s Finest) scenes. Both Bruce and Clark are doing things (be it a never-ending battle or an obsessive crusade) their parents would not have wished for them, but on some level they’d be proud.

Fix you by Coldplay

A plot point I haven’t mentioned is that Barda dies (or is believed to have died, again I’m not telling which is true) somewhere in the middle or near the end of the second movie.

Now, to put this into perspective you should realise that when the league realises that it’s Darkseid they’re facing, they send J’onn to recruit Scott and Barda’s help. Initially they refuse, citing how content they are in their semi-retired life in suburbia. Throughout the first movie the audience see their happy existence increasingly being intruding upon by media reports from people like Billy Batson questioning the dangerous happenings. Soon, it becomes clear to them and the audience that they’ll have to get involved.

So, flash-forward to right after Barda’s death in the second movie where we find Bats remarking that “someone as gifted as Scott, who reluctantly joined the mission in the first place and has suffered such a great loss because of joining, may be dangerous to team.”

Cue the excerpt from Fix You. We cut to Scott feverously working on a device. There is some speculation that it’s a bomb. It isn’t, but Scott is silent about its exact nature.

I saved the world today by Eurythmics

This is one of the anthems for a temporary victory where the team is pretty banged up but successful in what they’ve tried to achieve. Nobody has the energy to high five anyone else.

Grace Kelly by Mika

Can you picture Booster and Beetle singing along to anything else while flying around in the bug. Of Course, J'onn sneaks up on them in the middle of their performance...

The world's most controversial Avengers dream roster - DC fan, don't look away...

I know, I know, some of you are DC exclusive, but there are some easter eggs even for you in this post as well. In celebration of Marvel's relaunch of Avengers, I decided to reveal my current dream line-up of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

It's controversial for a number of reason. Chief among these is the fact that I have omitted these guys:
Captain America
Iron Man
Thor
Hawkeye

Some might call me a hypocrite for picking a non-classic Avengers line-up, since I’ve said that you can’t have a JLA without Supes, Bats, WW, Flash, Martian Manhunter, and a GL.

Here's my current Avengers dream roster:

Vision

My love for the synthezoid Avenger is well-known. On this roster, Vision will be the team's co-leader.

Black Panther

My pick as the other co-leader of the team: Master strategist and someone who thrives when he has to pull his team out of the fire. Where Captain America is the inspirational leader (as "we'll follow this guy to hell and back.") and Iron Man is the Charismatic leader (as in "what shellhead said really appealed to me...let's do what he says..."), the pair of Black Panther and Vision are pragmatic leaders.

Black Knight

Dane Whitman is probably the most popular under-appreciated superhero in the Marvel U. Yes, he's been an Avenger before, but the writers haven't capitalized on his awesomeness. I mean he's a scientist whose origins are locked up in Arthurian lore. That, and Black Knight genetically engineered himself a flying horse - more than once!

Spider-woman (Jessica Drew)

She's a current fan fave and pretty useful in a tight spot. Spider-woman I is actually my second favourite person to assume the identity, which brings us to my next pick...

Spider-woman (Julia Carpenter)

I knew of her before I knew of Jessica Drew, even though Jeesica is the original Spider-woman. Okay, now you realise that I've got two spider-women on my roster. Look, the characters hit different notes for me. Hey, psionic webbing is much better than Spidey's real webbing, which looks gross while it dissolves and poses a slip hazard. Spidey is going to get sued one of these days. Back to Julia: Every team needs a government operative and Spider-woman II is one of the cooler ones around (think more and less Captain Atom).

Darkhawk

Darkhawk is another underappreciated hero who fought his way onto this roster. I've always liked the character and he's always looked so menacing. Here's an extremely summarized version of his life story.

Nova

Why isn't Nova running the Marvel U? Here's a hero career summary for your conveniance. Like GL, but not. And that's a good thing. In addition, check out some snazzy Nova covers brought to us by the biggest Nova fan in the entire comics Blogosphere. By the way, Marel has just made this dude a Secret Avenger. About time, I say.

Paladin

If your name is Lissbirds, you should propose to this guy. Now. What? You mostly go for non-powered guys? Well, Paladin has superstrength and superspeed, but only slightly more than Captain America. Oh, did I mention he's detective/mercenary (weird combo, but you like weird). Paladin will flirt with any woman who moves. Any woman who moves. All comic blogger gals are mad for that type, aren't you? It gets better. He wears purple. Nuff said. Another satisfied customer of the internet's premier superhero matchmaker. No thanks needed.

Argent (of Clan Destine)

This team needs a long-lived member, but not an arrogant one like Thor. Samantha Destine is a loner and every team needs one of those as well. Then every team needs a character with family baggage. Check. And then some. Argent's also a real artisit. I dig artistic women. I think GL Kyle Rayner would dig her too. Wow. That's two in one day. The matchmaker is on fire!!!!

Intra-team relationships:

Black Knight dislikes Paladin (ever so slightly), because while team mates Paladin has been a Master cock-blocker (what with getting in the way of Black Knight hooking up with Wasp and others).

I can’t wait to see Paladin and the ladies of the team interact. Some will of course find his charm endearing while others are likely react negatively to his attentions.

Darkhawk and Nova are former teammates from The New Warriors (which was a teen superhero team that was different to the Titans in that none of its members were sidekicks. These guys built their reps on solid heroing and didn't have sidekick passports

Darkhawk and Spider-woman (Julia Carpenter) are close friends and former founding teammates of the Secret Defenders. Darkhawk has also been a reserve member of the West Coast Avengers of which Spider-woman had full membership.

Argent is a bit of an outsider here, but every team needs an outsider or at least a detached observer. In addition, her longevity gives her a unique perspective. To those of you who are anti-superteam-member-hook-up, I don’t think Argent would join the Avengers with a hook-up in mind. However, there is a built-in “hook-up that will/can never be” that I have in mind between her and Black Knight, because Dane has been burned by the magical type before in the past. Maybe I’m being a little too Elektra in my thinking with Argent’s dad being a knight and Black Knight being…well…a knight.

I’m curious to see if Argent makes any friends – she’s artistic. Is there someone she’ll be drawn to as a friend or confidant? Which Spider-woman will she like best or tolerate? My money’s on Julia Carpenter, but I could be wrong.

I'd be interested to see how Panther and Vision deal with such an unpredictable line-up. Knowing them, they could make it work.

Controversial post to follow...

Controversial...post...to...follow...in...the...next...few...days...Stay...tuned!

Young troublemakers can become explosive older troublemakers, sometimes in a good way...

Inspired by this post from The Cool Kids Table about Damage, which reminded me about Arsenal’s (Roy Harper’s) “You’re not good enough to be a hero/titan!” mentoring treatment of Damage.

Given what has happened to Roy in recent time (specifically his arm), wouldn’t it have been interesting if Damage were alive, suddenly popped up in front of Roy, pointed at his robo-arm and said, “ Haha!” (ala Nelson from the Simpsons).

[Of course, this scene could be extended to include the following: “Or that’s what I could’ve said, but I’m better than that. Remember that, old mentor. I could’ve kicked while you were down, but I chose not to…”]

Okay, I said interesting not nice or mildly appropriate.

Heck, I only mention this weird scenario, because that what I saw Damage as back in the Titans days: A young adult, ever so slightly more mature version of Nelson with the power to explode.

Compare…

This is Damage's original look:

This is Nelson:

There a few similarities. Both have explosive personalities. There’s the brown hair thing and bit about their dads not being around.

That’s seals it: DC owes Matt Groening some dough!

More DeviantArt stuff: Six different takes on the World’s Greatest Heroes...

It’s time to show the artists of DeviantArt some love. Click and enjoy!

A good line-up is featured in the artwork presented by Adamwhithers.

This piece by genesischant makes me want to say, “Those cats are cool.”

Those readers with Unlimited love, I’ll direct to this, courtesy of Apollorising. No, the ‘Unlimited love’ remark doesn’t mean that it’s slash fiction-inspired.

Laurie B give us a slightly stunned (or just a little wide-eyed) interpretation of the Justice League. Only Batman seems to be unphased by developments...as usual.

Some might say that Douglas Shuler gives the JLA more depth in this special work.

This work by DeaviantArt user JPRart is just plain beautiful, in my opinion.

The Firestorm Revelation...

Okay, here goes...I’m a Firestorm fan. In fact, Firestorm may actually have been the first in-comic-book-discovered DC hero that I found awesome.

For some inexplicable reason, I’ve only mentioned Firestorm once in passing on this blog and equally as worrisome is the fact that one of my few comics-loving offline friends had no idea I was a Firestorm fan. We’re talking about friends since the early 90s here...Strange.

Firestorm and Human Torch, dynamically drawn by Adam Kubert.

This little disclosure session was brought on by Firestorm’s...er...Ronnie’s return to the ranks of living heroes. Basically, I’ve always seen Firestorm as a hero with a lot of promise and someone who should always be on the shortlist for Justice League membership.

Speaking of which, if we ever get a JLA (the big guns) and JLI (Booster and co) co-existing on a permanent basis, Firestorm should have membership on both teams (in an “inter-team liaison” capacity).

Just bear with me out for a minute while I attempt to explain my thinking.

Some of you might rightly point out that if such a situation came about, J’onn would be the natural choice for inter-team liaison since he has history with both incarnations.

Such a point has merit, but Captain Atom will likely lead the JLI and he has never seen eye to eye with J’onn on League matters. That won’t be a smooth relationship and will likely be seen by Cap as some elitist interference from on high.

Okay, so why Firestorm? Well, it has to do with Firestorm’s new status (both Jason and Ronnie being Firestorm) and the way both are being written (so far). Since Ronnie is a frat boy-ish, brash dude now and Jason is more mature, Ronnie should take control while at JLI and Jason should take the wheel at JLA. Sure, Batman didn’t exactly make Jason feel at home when he was on the team, but at least he didn’t get one-punched. Ronnie might not be so lucky. Also, Ronnie didn’t cover himself in glory when he last followed Captain Atom’s orders. Maybe Ronnie has something to prove to Cap? Of course, I’m assuming Ronnie and Jason will be able to do the “You like it there, so you drive” thing. Big assumption.

Another thing, I liked Martin Stein as the floating head, but the Jason-Ronnie combination presents a lot of possibilities in terms of commentary. Firestorm is one of the characters that can get away with saying one thing while thinking another on a continual basis and not be thought of being disingenuous, because it’s two people in there. Add to that both Ronnie and Jason are opinionated (although in different ways) and a comic writer has got Firestorm-other-interaction gold. I mean, I get the feeling that Ronnie and Jason admire or dislike or are indifferent to different leaguers.

Of course, they have a lot of fall-out to work through before any of this could happen...

I’d like to dedicate this song to Seafire...

As mentioned before, Keane is my all-time favourite band. So, I was taken aback when my local radio station featured ‘Somewhere only we know’ (incidentally Keane’s most covered song) in their Old School, New School segment (where they compare songs by the original artists with covers done by other artists and open the phone lines to listeners).

Anyway, my first reaction (before even listening to the New School version by Laura Michelle Kelly) was “Sacrilege!” (I’d never heard the two versions played back to back before)

By the way, Miss Kelly has gotten rave reviews for her role in the production of Mary Poppins on London’s West End and that’s no mean feat. So, she's not talentless...

Anyway, judge for yourselves.

First listen to the Old School version (by Keane):



Then, listen to the New School version (by Laura Michelle Kelly):



My thoughts afterwards: I still prefer the original, but I’m biased.* I liked parts of Miss Kelly’s performance, but it sounds more like the opening number of a musical than anything else. In addition, she may have had really good musicians and arrangers working with her, but Keane consists of a lead vocalist with a very distinctive voice who’s also a great songwriter (Tom Chaplin), a genius composer/songwriter on keyboard/piano (Tim Rice-Oxley), and a talented drummer who knows how to elevate a song with his contribution (Richard Hughes).

Okay, so what does this have to do with comics or Seafire for that matter?

I just realised that considering Kelly’s musical theatre background plus my opinion of the three members of Keane, it was tantamount (at least in my eyes) to taking DC’s Trinity (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman) as a collective and comparing the group with Marvel's Dazzler.

VS

Seafire, as you may or may not recall, was a commenter who really came out to defend Dazzler when I got down on her a while back nad I'd like to read seafire's blog. So, this is an attempt to say, "Seafire, dude or dudette, you defended Dazzler with such passion that I'd like to read your comics blog."

Trading Card Regrets and random thought linkages

I have a few trading card sets lying around the house and one of my big regrets is that I didn’t buy more of the DC vs. Marvel collection, because (a) they were awesome, (b) they were drawn by a variety of top-notch artists, and (c) some of those two-character images might never be seen again due to respective continuities (characters dying or being replaced).

Case in point:

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) and Spider-woman (Julia Carpenter), as drawn by Jim Calafiori.

Speaking of Spider-woman, in a post in which I referred to the Jessica Drew version of Spider-woman, I misquoted the Great Spider-man Paradox. By the way, both Spider-women exist at the same time on the same Earth with no trouble at all and there is/was even a third Spider-woman in the Marvel U – hint, hint, DC? Cough...Blue Beetle...cough...

Anyway, I went through an old file (really a big collection of pieces of paper) and discovered the Hypothesis’ original formulation. For one thing, it’s not called the Great Spider-man Paradox, but rather The Great Spider-Hawk Exception. There are extra hawk bits that I omitted.

Here is The Great Spider-Hawk Exception:

Spider-man is a great (some say iconic) spider-themed character. Hawkman is a great (some say iconic) hawk-themed character. Once a great themed character exists, it is nearly impossible to create a similarly themed character (whether related or unrelated to the original great themed character) that works at even a minimum level. However, the vast majority of spider-themed and hawk-themed superheroes (of just about every comic book universe) work exceedingly well.

Until next time, make mine multiple heroes with the same name!