Here Comes the "Limited Commercial Interruption" - Discussion Topic #2

This will be my last post until next Saturday. I'm enrolled in a Field Ecology class, and the entirety of the class is spending my Spring Break in caves, collecting data. Oh well, it's better than not having enough credit hours to receive an assistantship, and having to pay my own tuition. It is lousy for two reasons though: One, I miss the season finale of The Shield. Two, after consecutive lackluster weeks of comics, I've got at least five titles coming in this week, including X-Factor and Exiles, which are pretty much guaranteed good stuff. So expect my impressions of those on the 25th.

Still, I wanted to leave you with a "project" for the week, so you'll keep visiting until I return. What I'd like is the seven member - or less - roster you would design of any team. It can be a currently operating team, like the Avengers (I know, they're the Not Avengers, just humor me) or JSA. You could be reviving the Defenders or Suicide Squad. You could make an entirely new team (in that case, let us know what kind of a "niche" the team will fill). You can use any member of the team, EVER, from any point in their history, just let us know which version of, for example, Cyclops from the original X-Men, or Grant Morrison "cheats on Jean" Cyclops. Or JLA: Year One Hal Jordan or current Hal Jordan. If you want to designate a creative team as well, go for it. Do this for as many teams as you want, go crazy, organize the entire DC or Marvel Universe.

I'll start, with an X-Men team. This is designed to deal with most problems X-problems. I think they have enough power to deal with the Hellfire Club in battle, or to go espionage-style and gather incriminating evidence on them. After I finished, I realized I had enough people that I wanted on the team, but had no room for, to create two teams of 6 members, each with a more specific purpose. So first, the single team idea:

Wolverine (around Uncanny #220; brown outfit, sometimes leader, protective of teammates)
Rouge (from X-Men in the '90s, before she could use any power she'd ever absorbed)
Nightcrawler (swashbuckling '70s and '80s Kurt Wagner)
Iceman (the Guy Gardner-esque one from Joe Casey and Chuck Austen's stints on Uncanny)
Psylocke (the '90s telepathic ninja one)
Dazzler (I think the '90s version, that was fighting Mojo with Longshot)
Colossus (definitely '70s or '80s Piotr Rasputin. Not "depressed his little snowflake died" Piotr)

Also under consideration: Shadowcat (from Excalibur: smart, self-confident, respected), Longshot (more naive '80s version), Stacy X (hey, it's MY team, I can put her on there if I want), Storm (during her time as sole leader, with or without powers, preferably with), Chamber (from Casey's Uncanny).

As for the "dual teams" rosters, we've got: Storm, Rouge, Iceman, Dazzler, Colossus, Chamber (handles more obvious, public threats, like Sentinels, Brotherhood of Evil), and Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Psylocke, Longshot, Stacy X (for getting at the people that are pulling the strings on the big obvious threats the other team is smashing).

Well, I've exhausted my creativity for the day. I'm off to sit in front of the couch until the Full Metal Alchemist finale comes on. I relinquish the keys to the blog to you kind readers. No wild parties, or at least keep the Hal Jordan-look alike strippers out of my fully stocked bar!

In either scenario, there is one -count it, ONE! - X-book. With two teams especially, you can have enough going on to do at least some six-story arcs, without the need for decompression. Oh yeah, in case you hadn't guessed, House of M never happened, which is how Stacy and Chamber still have their powers (damn Quesada).

Dynastic Centerpiece Revisted - The Other Side

After all, what's a hero without a villain? And Spider-Man has one of the best collections of enemies around (I'd say only the Flash and Batman can compare, especially when it comes to variety). I'm thinking this is a sort of what I'd like to see, and this wouldn't be all the enemies he'd be dealing with, just his most frequent combatants. Oh well, at least it's a distraction from the Broncos being destroyed.

Arch Enemy - Norman Osborn, aka Green Goblin. Blame the writers, who've decided Osborn is responsible for practically everything that's gone wrong in Peter's life since he put on the mask. Norman killed Gwen, his intensity drove his son, Harry, to drugs and later to trying to kill Peter as the new Green Goblin. He was behind the whole clone saga, and Aunt May's apparent death (twice!). Knows Peter better than any other villain, and because he dons the weird outfits as well, may understand Peter even better than Aunt May or Mary Jane. As such, has the ability to get under Peter's skin, emotionally wound him in ways that could drive Peter to the brink, and it's kind of fun watching Norman try. Plus with his resources, can strike at as Norman Osborn, leaving Peter without much recourse. In essence, osborn could be Arch-Enemy, Civilian Foe,and Untouchable Crime Lord, were the writers inclined to go that way. Plus, he's batshit crazy (whatever that means), so he could probably fit in the next category.

Lunatic - But it's not all about Norman Osborn, no matter how hard thw writers may try to convince us. So, Vermin. Crazy, lives in the sewers, can control rats, seems to be able to bring out fear and paranoia in others, oh yeah, he eats people! And somewhere inside is an innocent man who got mutated by Baron Zemo. Actually, Edward was back to normal for awhile, but that never lasts. Or, the Lizard, bonus points for Curt Connors being Peter's friend.

Heroworshipping Villain - Cardiac. Ok he straddles the line between hero and villain, but he has no problem with killing people he feels harm others for their own benefit. I can't remember too much backstory, but his brother was sick, and a company decided it wasn't yet cost-effective to provide the cure, so his brother died. So Elias focuses on things such as that.
And this is a guy willing to replace his heart with a beta-particle reactor, so that he channel energy through his staff, and you know, blast people. He kills, but like the Punisher can be fairly precise. It's the suits he takes out; security guards may get stunned, but they live. He admitted to looking up to Spider-Man, that Spidey was the example who convinced him to go this path.

Civilian Enemy - J. Jonah Jameson. He's not actually evil, just a man with questions, doubts, and fears about a man who swings on a web, fighting freaks with four metal tentacles. How unreasonable. Still, I actually thought about putting him in the next category as Spider-Man once joked Jonah's spent millions funding the creation of villains to destroy Spider-Man. Spencer Smythe's Spider-Slayers, the Scorpion, the Human Fly. Throw in that he's Peter's fairly stingy employer, and his ability to make Peter's entire life difficult increases. But he's most effective with his headlines, making people question Spidey's motives. And as JJJ once pointed out, it'd be a lot easier to trust Peter if he stopped hiding behind a mask. Of course it would open a whole host of new problems for the webslinger, but that's not Jameson's problem. .

Untouchable Crime Lord - See how Jameson would have fit? Peter can't just punch him out, although he does enjoy webbing Jonah's mouth shut. So the best option would obviously be Kingpin, and even though he started in Amazing Spider-Man, he's a Daredevil foe now, kind of like how Wendigo was in Incredible Hulk, but now he only seems to fight Wolverine. Anyway, I'm going to diverge and suggest two possibilities: Alistar Smythe and Arcade. Each one has vast technical know-how. This would give them an edge over standard gangs, enabling them to beat those guys, and then incorporate them. Smythe could try passing himself off as a scientist (which would be a switch from the standard crime lord, that is always a businessman). As for Arcade, well his family was loaded, so I'm sure there are some old connections from before Arcade killed his father that he could exploit to protect himself. Plus I always just though Arcade was kind of cool, and a guy that smart wouldn't have to keep luring people to his place. He could figure out how to send his traps out after the targets, while staying safely hidden away. I thought about Chameleon, but it's been done before, and I think his brain is pretty fried. I think the last time I saw him, he was professing love for Spidey. I mean love love. Whoa.

Magician - Mysterio, well he's an illusionist at least, as well as a damn poor dresser. At least he doesn't have a bare midriff. OK, moving on, well he's kind of nuts, and he's just something a little different, for when the writer wants to take a lot of drugs, and then write the issue. Call up the colorist: "More colors man! More vivid! Bring me Hostess Fruit Pies! I need to stop that alien! (if you remember the ads from comics in the 80s or earlier, you know what I mean)" Awesome. Down side, he might be dead. But wait! It was all an illusion! Hooray! Anyway, we need more villains in giant fishbowls. it's just so goofy, and yet Mysterio is so determined to be taken seriously, he could be quite dangerous.

Evil Opposite - Venom. sigh. Well, it was either him, the Spider-Doppelganger (stupid Infinity War), or Carnage (one go-round with him was enough), unless I shift Kaine back to being a villain instead of a Black Sheep. Hmm. Anyway, Venom would be used VERY sparingly. We're talking once every 50 issues, tops. We are not going back to the days when he showed up for 3 issues out of every 15 in Amazing Spider-Man. I think he could be somewhat like the Lizard in that Eddie Brock is going to try to go back to a normal life, but he can't get rid of the symbiote (obviously we're not doing the "Eddie dies of cancer and sells the symbiote" story Jenkins started and Millar finished). Sometimes he might help Peter, sometimes not. Most of the time I think he would falter, and Peter might have to help him back on the path. It'd be more talking, less punching, which is something Paul jenkins does pretty well.

Femme Fatale - This is hard. I'm kind of defining this as "villain the hero has trouble fighting, because he wants to get with her." So I guess, if I change Romantic Interest to Mary Jane, I could move Felicia Hardy back into a sort of grey area. There was one story with Typhoid Mary, nah, let's leave her to Daredevil. Other than that, the female Doc Ock? No. Shriek? Hell no! Titania? Uhh, a bit large. Silver Sable, as a less friendly mercenary? Maybe. Sable always used to take the contracts to support the economy of her home country. That's got to be expensive, so it would figure she couldn't always be choosy and might have to go after Spider-Man. Or maybe she's after Felicia, and Peter gets in the middle.

Mental Challenger - Doctor Octopus. Had to fit him in somewhere. Smart, has tentacles that are fast and strong, and can be upgraded. Seems to have a personality disorder, where sometimes he wants to make big money through theft or development of something destructive. Other times he just wants to kill lots of people. Still other times he just wants to kill Spidey. Maybe he should have a personality disorder, then each time Peter has to figure which side he's dealing with. Each one could approach fighting Spider-Man differently, if they even cared to. Plus, the dude tried to marry Aunt May, resulting in the hilarious moment of her trying to shoot her nephew, only she doesn'y know it because he's dressed in his spider-costume. Well, hilarious for the reader maybe. Kind of sad for Aunt May. Her romances never work out. I guess Jarvis will turn out to be a Skrull, or Lord of the Zombies or something.

Physical Challenger - Morlun. Damn, he was perfect the first time. It makes sense from a biological standpoint in that he's designed to hunt a specific kind of prey, and Spider-Man's it. He's strong, surprisingly fast, and can take everything Peter throws at him. However, I think he's best if used sparingly, like maybe Peter has to enlist the aid of other totems to truly finish him off (remember, I'm doing this as if it's well before 'The Other', so that isn't going to occur). So on a more regular basis, the Scorpion. Faster and stronger than Spider-Man, but much, much dumber, so clearly a physical challenge. The Lizard and the Rhino could probably land here too.

Taking a Page From Marvel, I Will Now Steal a DC Blogs Idea!

First off, posting may become more erratic starting tomorrow. The semester is kicking off, and I'm not sure yet whether it'll affect my posting. Hopefully, I'll keep up a 1 post per day pace, at least.

Anyway, if you go to Absorbascon, and go to Scipio's earliest posts (March 27, 2004) he has some posts on what he calls Dynastic Centerpieces. He gives a few examples of DC rebuilding them (Green Lantern), and makes some of his own (Black Canary, Martian Manhunter). I figured I'd give it a try with at least some Marvel characters, starting with the one I know best, Spider-Man! Let's say this is the set up for Straczynski as he comes onto Amazing Spider-Man and Paul Jenkins is still writing Peter Parker Spider-Man. JMS can still go mystical, but this gives me plenty of time to prevent "The Other" and hopefully the organic web-shooters Peter got in "Disassembled". Mary Jane is not in town. She can be dead, divorced, whatever.

Dynastic Centerpiece - Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker, mild-mannered high school science teacher, plus occasional photo journalist work (maybe only during summers, or on weekends).

Junior Counterpart - Johnny Gallo, aka Ricochet. Was given the identity from some old-time hero named the Black Marvel. While I don't know where the costume came from, as Peter still has the one he used in the "Identity Crisis" storyline, the fact remains Johnny has one. He's a mutant possessing superhuman speed, agility and balance, as well as a sort of danger sense. All of which means that in a fight, he would be very similar to Spider-Man in fighting style, with lots of jumping around, hit and run style attacks, using his various throwing disks (his teammate the Hornet made some with boomerang capability, as well as some explosive ones. Hornet is dead, killed by Wolverine, but since Spidey appears to be buddies Stark, he can probably get him to make more. It's better than the new costume Tony made for Spidey. What an eyesore). Personality wise, Johnny is a lot like Peter, very jokey, and full of nervous energy. Peter would probably be good for calming him down.

Female Version - Anya Corazon, aka Arana. I'm not too knowledgable on her. Has some similar powers to Spidey, though she seems to also grow an armored carapace. Powers are mystical in nature. Works for some group called the Webcorps, which could have some relation to Ezekial and his company, or just be a similar group. Is in conflict with the Sisterhood of the Wasp, leading to speculation they are related to Shathra, the wasp creature that came after Peter with plans to use him as food for her babies. She seems to go a bit berserk at times, so she's probably too out of control to work with Peter frequently, not to mention her handlers might now encourage his presence. Still, given they both have problems with mystical things, a sometime partnership might be good. Plus she's a high school student, maybe at Peter's school? Too much coincidence?

Kid Sidekick - Mattie Franklin, aka Spider-Woman 3. Gained power by taking part in Norman Osborn's 'Gathering of the Five'. Has super-strength, agility, can fly. Can form weird psionic spider-legs. From what I've seen, not as violent as Arana, actually tried to take over for Spider-Man when Peter had given up the webs for awhile. Has worked with him successfully before.

Black Sheep - Kaine, aka the first Spider-Man clone. Stronger than Spidey, with an adhesive ability strong enough to scar people, as well as a spider-sense heightened to the level of giving him flashes of the future. He's also mildly psychotic, but if Spider-Girl is any indication, capable of being a good guy, albeit a bit of a violent one. Probably not someone Peter would work with often, but he'd at least be aware of him.

Civilian Companion - Randy Robertson. Son of Joe "Robbie" Robertson, he was Peter's rommate during the Howard Mackie written "Mary Jane is dead" time before Straczynski came onto Amazing. Provides a tie-in to Peter's work at the Bugle. If you want someone new, there was a teacher in Peter Parker Spider-Man that Peter talked in a couple of storylines.

Elder Statesman - Option 1: Madame Web, powerful psychic, rejuvenated to a younger age by Norman Osborn's 'Gathering of the Five'. Assisted and was assisted by Spider-Man in the past. Has been a mentor to Mattie Franklin. Option 2: Arthur Stacy, brother of George Stacy, uncle of Gwen Stacy, Peter's love prior to Mary Jane. Just like George Stacy was a good enough cop to figure out who was under the Spidey mask, Arthur was in SHIELD. I'm sure he has access to all sorts of intel on Webs. Would keep Spider-Man more grounded in the Peter side of things than Madame Web.

Animal Companion - This smelly cat. Peter found it right before JMS came on board, defended it from some men who were after it for unknown reasons, and the cat bonded with Peter, or at least decided to use Peter as protection (cats are evil like that). I'd have at least liked to have found out what the deal with it was. Oh, yeah it's smelly. Or we could go with Kevin, the piece of cheese Peter was keeping in his fridge, that apparently developed low-level sentience.

Authority Figure - At the Bugle, let's say Robbie Robertson, give Peter a more friendly boss than ol' JJ. Could function as the civilian who knows his identity, if we go with Madame Web instead of Arthur. Robbie's smart; with all the thousands of Spider-Man photos Peter's shot, plus the odd bruises, there is NO WAY Robbie hasn't put two and two together. At school, the principal, I can't remember if they were ever named. In his personal life, I suppose Aunt May, who should definitely still know Peter is Spider-Man. It's much better than her not knowing and hating Spidey (Bendis whiffed on that in Ultimate I feel)

Romantic Interest - Well, I guess it almost has to be Mary Jane. But if we've gone back to Peter being roomies with Randy, that would mean MJ isn't there, so let's bring in Felicia Hardy. She's still interested in Peter, I believe he still likes her, but is too faithful to MJ to consider anything. But if MJ is out of the way (which is what some people believe Quesada is pushing for from House of M and The Other), why not Ms. Hardy? She could watch his back out in the field.

Contextualizing City - Look, it's New York alright? I thought about moving him to Chicago, another city with enough skyscrapers for web-swinging, but I think it's probably too windy for effective web-slinging. Seattle is too rainy, Peter isn't an angry enough person for Philly (I base that strictly off their sports fans). He doesn't strike me as a SoCal kind of guy.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you have people you think would fit better? If you have a good city for him, by all means. Scipio, if you read this, have I got the right idea here?