23 January 2010

Perfect Outsiders, Legion, and DCU


So in my dream teams of the DCU, I did not list the Outsiders or Legion of Superheroes. I did not because they are not so much generational teams. I guess the Legion could be called one, but definitely not the Outsiders. But, here are my dream team lineups for those teams, anyway:

The Outsiders have 4 originals and 3 newer short-term additions from various runs of the title, and 2 more I think just works well:
  1. Geo-Force - Always leading the team.
  2. Black Lightning - One of the first great black superheroes.
  3. Aura - The compassionate force the team needs.
  4. Metamorpho - Was dead and is back again somehow.
  5. Azrael - Just makes sense as a Batman replacement.
  6. Aquaman - Truly an outsider on land.
  7. Eradicator - Was once a great addition to this team.
  8. Creeper - Again, just makes sense, the original "outsider" hero.
  9. Connor Hawke - The outsider Green Arrow (I love Arsenal as an Outsider, but he is on my Team Titans.)
The Legion must be many, but this would be my core, again another team with half females. My preferred take would be a combination of the SW6 Legionnaires and the Threeboot Legion, but taking things from all versions of the Legion of Super-Heroes over the years:
  1. Cosmic Boy - The leader.
  2. Saturn Girl - The soul.
  3. Live Wire - The loose canon.
  4. Umbra - The dark one.
  5. Triad - The administrator.
  6. Superboy - The history of the DCU, the inspiration for the Legion, & the clone.
  7. Shrinking Violet - The quiet power who I loved as with the powers of LeViAthon.
  8. Catspaw - The crazy, fun one.
  9. Brainiac 5 - The brains.
  10. Apparition - The secret spy.
  11. Chameleon - The changing innocent.
  12. Gossamer - The spark, then the light.
  13. Ferro - The iron man from the past.
  14. Polar Boy - The redeemed substitute ice man.
But really, if I had this much editorial power, I would just start the DCU over. Maybe keep the original numbering on Adventure, Action, Detective, etc. comics, but otherwise start everything over with a new universe. Have the previous runs end however  the writers wanted it, explaining that all the crises were just one big Crisis that was being experienced differently in different times.

Then on the launch, launch every title with an 80-Page Giant Special (Maybe a #0 issue?) where the writer tells the origin of the superhero, super-heroine, or team. (Because if you cannot tell the origin and powers of a hero in 80-pages, you have a much too convoluted hero!)

So my JSA would be operating in 1940 as a team of mostly 20-somethings. The JSA as novices is a new spin on what becomes the greatest team of mystery men and women.

But the current era teams would have their 80-Page Giant Special and then jump ahead 10 years for the #1 of the ongoing series. This way, favorite stories that have been told in the past could be accepted in to continuity canon, and possibly even retold. The heroes would be established, and this would allow the Titans to be 20-somethings with their new names and costumes, with YJA to be teens (and for characters like Steel, the Eradicator, and Superboy to exist!).

My 25 comic publication line-up would be like this, with many comics that are 1 character on one side of the book, and if you flip the book over, it is another comic book. 21 pages for each character, making a 42 page comic.
  1. Spectre/Dr. Fate
  2. Hawkman/Atom
  3. Action Comics
  4. Adventure Comics (Starring Superboy and a backup character such as Red Tornado)
  5. Whiz Comics (Starring Captain Marvel and Bulletman & Bulletgirl in backups)
  6. Sensational Comics (Starring BoP and a backup character such as Supergirl)
  7. Detective Comics
  8. Batman
  9. Superman
  10. JSA (With the traditional storytelling of the 1940's where they break up into sub-teams to meet the various crises and reunite at the end)
  11. JLA
  12. Flash Comics (The 80-Page Giant Special would tell the origin of Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, & Bart Allen)
  13. Green Lantern (The 80-Page Giant Special would tell Alan Scott's origin on one side, and Hal Jordan's and the Corps' on the other side)
  14. Outsiders
  15. Legion of Super-Heroes
  16. Titans
  17. YJA
  18. Wonder Woman
  19. Robin/Batgirl
  20. Captain Atom/Firestorm
  21. Green Arrow/Black Canary
  22. Booster Gold/Blue Beetle
  23. All-Star Comics (Starring Amazing Man, Power Girl, Tarantula, and other 1940's heroes in solo adventures)
  24. World's Finest Comics (Not just Superman/Batman team-ups, but Superboy/Robin, Supergirl/Batgirl, Nightwing/Eradicator, Azrael/Steel, Huntress/Power Girl, etc.)
  25. Green Lantern Corps


2 comments:

  1. not another crisis.... aaargh!!! Infinite infinite crises???

    ReplyDelete
  2. Father, I never knew you were a comic geek! I will call you later today.

    ReplyDelete