4-20-06
It's my birthday today, wahoooooooo! Really have no idea what I'll be up too today-- mainly because I'm piss-poor. That's what I get for slacking off... agggh, gotta work gotta work!
(Just not today ^_^ )
X-MEN
While reading articles about Carey and Brubaker's upcoming X-Men runs, I thought, "what if I was to create my own X-team?"
I'd use the following roster: Bishop, Nate Gray, Angel, Beast, Emma Frost, Shatterstar, and X-23. No team leader. I always like it when there are shades of gray inserted into a story, and in this case, it would all be about agendas. Each of the characters would have their own agenda.
I'd set Angel up as a frustrated millionaire who wants to lead mutantkind. Nate would be doing everything he could to prevent his alternate reality from coming true. Bishop would be trying to prevent his future from coming to pass. Emma of course, is a former villain. Beast would be all about the evolution of mutantkind. Shatterstar would always be about ratings. X-23 would serve as the naive kid, while at the same time having her own agendas as well. Each of them would be trying to subtly manipulate the resources that Xavier's school has to their own ends.
Yeah, it's pretty rough, but that's why they pay me to draw, not write!
GAMBIT
Speaking of X-Men, here's a quick Gambit pin-up...
Pushing to the moon
I have to say, I'm really impressed with the way Marvel's been pushing the newer characters.
Marvel and DC have been around for decades, and each as established a core library of heroes and villains. And although both publishes have tried many times to add to their library, neither has been particularly successful.
Think about it. How many characters has Marvel successfully (by successful I mean characters who have become part of the universe's lore, and have crossed over into the mainstream audience's awareness) after the 60's? I can really only think of a handful: Wolverine, Gambit, and She-Hulk. You can argue for Cable, Beta Ray Bill, Cloak and Dagger, Power Pack, and the Thunderbolts as well, but I wouldn't call and of them "mainstream." There's also Venom and Sabretooth, but they're just evil versions of Wolvie and Spidey.
But for every character that sticks, there are a dozen that fall by the wayside. Think Darkhawk, Sleepwalker, the New Warriors, the Champions, the Defenders, Carnage, Fitzroy, X-Man, Generation X, Maverick, Thunderstrike, Demogoblin, Vengeance, the entire New Universe, Marvel 2099... It goes on and on. They're all still around (well, most of 'em), but they'e all been reduced to being bit players in various titles. None of them were able to break through and become part of the lexicon.
Same goes for DC. Have they added any noteworthy character since the 80's? Maybe Doomsday, Huntress, Lobo, Deathstroke, and Bane. They updated some of their characters, introducing newer versions of Flash, Green Lantern, and Batman. But does anyone still remember the Team Titans? Artemis? Chain Gang?
But recently, Marvel's been doing a heckuva job on some of the the character's its been introducing for the past few years. To wit:
The Sentry was introduced in his own mini, and was added to the flagship New Avengers book.
X-23 was inserted into the X-Men, got her own Captain Universe one shot, and is now part of the New X-Men.
Vulcan, the third Summers brother, was introduced last year in X-Men: Deadly Genesis, and will figure prominently in Brubaker's upcoming Uncanny X-Men run.
The Winter Soldier ("Bucky" for you old-timers) was reintroduced in Captain America, and will be seen in an upcoming arc of Wolverine.
The New Warriors have fallen from grace, but there are two formidable contenders to taking up the teen team mantle: The Runaways and The Young Avengers.
Let me say that none of these characters have broken through just yet. But Marvel seems to be pushing all the right buttons, moving the characters past the titles where they originated, and giving other creators opportunities to expand on these character's personalities, experiences, and so on. If the above heroes (and villains?) fade away into obscurity, it certainly won't be due to any shortsightedness on Marvel's part.
(PS - I must confess, I know very little about DC right now, but I think they're doing the same thing, successfully introducing Hush, and re-introducing Jason Todd as the Red Hood. )
Uploaded on a Monday
I've been drawing Solomon Grundy a lot...
About Solomon Bunny... don't ask.
