How about a little old school Usenet-style time-killing geekery on a lazy Friday afternoon?
Here are the rules: Don't read all of the instructions all the way through before following them. There's no trick to this or twist at the end, you'll just spoil what fun there is to be had with this (if any). Get a piece of paper and a writing implement ready.
First, I want you to think of five or six superhero characters you like and write 'em down -- the first five or six you think of (doesn't have to be your favorites). Just write 'em down right now.
Second, think of five or six superhero characters you don't particularly care about or mildly dislike (not your least favorites or characters you hate, just sort of blah characters to you) and write 'em down. Again, don't sit back and analyze this, just write down the first five or six that pop into your head.
So what's the point of all this?
Suppose that these were the characters who were going to compromise the lineups for two new team books. Who ended up on each team? Were they all male characters? All Marvel characters? All DC characters? Are there any non-Marvel/DC characters on your teams?
Which team has the more interesting mix of characters for a team book? Do any interesting story possibilities jump out at you? And what, if anything, do you think your two lineups reveal about your psyche and your relationship with your parents? (Note: Last question optional.)
That's it. Tell us what you came up with.
Posted by Chris M. at May 25, 2007 2:12 PM
My likes:
Green Lantern (specifically Hal), Superman, Phoenix, Nexus, Element Lad, and Shadowcat.
My dislikes:
Spawn, Wolverine, Daredevil, Vibe, and Wildcat.
Both thought of in that order.
One thing I note is that I like characters with a lot of power. The "likes" would have to handle cosmic-level threats. (Most of them handle cosmic-level threats solo.) The "dislikes" are much more street-level. The "likes" have two women (although I think that by the time I got to the end of that list, I was deliberately leaning towards putting on another woman), where the dislikes are all men.
One cosmic-level threat I can think of would be conflict between the Merk and the Guardians of the universe. (Anyone else here ever notice the numerous similarities between Nexus and Green Lantern, btw? Right down to the costume.)
The "yes" team:
The Question
The Flash
The Atom
Mon-El
Iron Fist
The "no" team:
Lobo
Iron Man
Cable
Punisher
Bat-Girl (mute ninja version)
Team Like: Firestorm, Braniac 5, Superman, The Incredible Hulk, and Oracle. (It's the all-genius squad, if you count Banner, Stein, and the Silver-age Superman, which wasn't at the forefront of my mind when I picked them.). Probably far too effective and powerful for any drama other than intra-team clashes of ego, though.
Team Dislike: Iron Man (pre-CW, even, he's just boring), Batman, Wonder Woman, Saturn Girl, and Raven. Less effective, so more easily challengable as a team, but all of these are somewhat or totally lacking in powers that can be used in a visible, dramatic manner, so probably not a good book either...
Likes: Spider-man, Krypto, Green Lantern, Captain Marvel (Fawcett), Wildfire, Red Tornado (Ma Hunkle)
Blah: Hawkeye, Ant Man, Cosmic Boy, Cyclops, Ice Man, Angel
(I actually thought of Captain AMerica, but I don't Blah him. I hate him.)
Team Like (in order of waltzing into my headspace): Superman, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Shadowcat, Anole, Peregryn, Dr Strange [and if Peregryn isn't allowed in: Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau - she'll always be Captain Marvel as far as I'm concerned)]
Team Blah (ditto): Spiderman, Batman, Daredevil, Hitman, Punisher.
As with david, Team Like looks at first glance to be all heavy hitters - but then there's Anole (and to a lesser) extent Shadowcat.
"My dislikes:
Spawn, Wolverine, Daredevil, Vibe, and Wildcat"
Scipio and Dorian will not be happy.
Like: Wolverine, Daredevil, Swamp Thing, Thing, Beast, Batman
Dislike: Wasp, Kitty Pryde, Iron Man, Lobo, Human Torch
I guess the dislikes are a more diverse group of characters for team purposes. With the exception of Swamp Thing, the like team is pretty much filled with brawlers.
One thing the likes have in common is a certain fallability (again, Swampy's an exception). I'm pretty sure my first encounter with most of them showed them getting pounded pretty badly in a fight (esp. Wolvie, Beast and Thing) but they always bounced back (and kept a sense of humor).
The dislikes have all been really cocky at some point (okay, Wasp was more stuck-up, and Kitty was whiney, but they all showed some sense of arrogance or entitilement). Not a big fan of that.
Interestingly, Spider-Man has been in both camps at various points. Overall I really like him, but sometimes he's written less humble, more cocky.
Yes, it takes this sort of gimmic to get me to post...
The Awesome Team: Captain Marvel (DC/Fawcett), The Hulk (silver age), The Thing, The Flash (Wally West), Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), No-man (Tower).
The Lukewarm Team: Gargoyle, Moondragon, Metal Men, Dynamo (Tower), Aquaman.
In the Awesome Allies, No-man is the base commander and Cap is the field commander. Wally plays the rookie, while Johnny is the hot-shot lone wolf who reluctantly becomes a team player. Ben Grimm is the rock, spiritually and physically. The Hulk shows up every now and again, feuding with Ben, sometimes aiding the team and sometimes being the very menace they must stop. An interesting issue would have No-man going on a one-man commando raid to rescue the team from a deathtrap-laden compound of a major villain.
In issue one of the Lame-o's, Gargoyle and Moondragon die in a training exercise. But seriously, folks, the only common denominator among these characters is that I never read a particular story that convinced me they were cool. Metal Men are kind of cool in a limited way. Maybe Will Magnus has created a more powerful dyna-belt for Dynamo and they are all being bankrolled by Aquaman's vast resources. Meanwhile, Gargoyle and Moondragon get the super-science characters involved in some sort of mystical adventure where they are all fish out of water, including Aquaman. Ha! Sometimes I don't even amuse myself...
Likes: Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Superman, Mr Fantastic, Silver Surfer, Wonder Woman (pre-let's recruit random authors to write 3 issues so that more people will bye our crap), Invincible
Dislikes: Moon Knight, Wolverine, Supergirl, Captain America, Wildcat, Daredevil
"My dislikes: Spawn, Wolverine, Daredevil, Vibe, and Wildcat"Who? What?Scipio and Dorian will not be happy.
Those are some fun lineups, actually. I think my favorite of the Likes, as far as if it were an actual comic, would be either puxley's (The Question, The Flash, The Atom, Mon-El, Iron Fist -- a fun, eclectic lineup, although Mon-El unbalances the group) or Mike's (Spider-man, Krypto, Green Lantern, Captain Marvel (Fawcett), Wildfire, Red Tornado (Ma Hunkle)). Actually, if you trade Ma Hunkle/Tornado for Bronze Age robot Red Tornado, I'd buy that comic. :-) (Krypto is an inspired choice.)
Of the Dislike lineups, I think Erin's would make for a fun read (Moon Knight, Wolverine, Supergirl, Captain America, Wildcat, Daredevil -- Supergirl unbalances the group, but the idea of the only female being the heavy hitter is pretty fun, especially with that lineup of characters). I'd probably also enjoy reading a comic featuring Mike's lineup too(Hawkeye, Ant Man, Cosmic Boy, Cyclops, Ice Man, Angel), although I like Erin's slightly better.
Well, I didn't so much choose them, as name the first six that came to mind. I like Reddy as well. One of my faves. But Ma Hunkle has the name first. (I'm always reminded of an argument I had with young Katie Schwarz back in the 1990's whenever Ma Hunkle comes up.)