Sorry for the crap title, but: I've been perusing the ILC archives, and thought about starting a thread for the Scarlet Witch (for giggles), & then thought about what Marvel's done to her (in the "legit" Marvel universe):
- she's Magneto's daughter! and evil! - no! she's good! - no! she's been raised by gypsys! - no! she's Magneto's daughter! - she's a mutant! - no! she's a magician! - no! she's a mutant! - she had babies with a robot! - no! she didn't have babies! - no! she's batshit insane and kicked mutantkind in the balls!
... and this is a tried-and-true hallmark of serial fiction, isn't it? The usage of a minor character to spearhead Big Events in that universe? I was going to have this thread concern the fate of characters that writers / companies can't seem to write about (either because they're too powerful, or no one knows how to make that character work), but it got me thinking about this "epidemic" as a whole, especially since Marvel and DC (chronic offenders in the past) have been flogging this dead horse severely of late.
This might be a bullshit topic, and I really can't think of an actual question (other than "WHY MUST IT BE SO," which is total BS), but if the ILC Unimind wants to take this topic & run with it wherever y'all see fit, here ye go.
― David R., Monday, 16 July 2007 16:14 (eighteen years ago)
I was actually pondering a similar thing re: Jimmy Olsen but bailed on Countdown before I could be arsed to get the Warlock Summer Intern to write something cogent. Cliff (Steele) notes: -supporting characters should be awesome, sometimes more awesome than the lead (see Fonz, Dwight Schrute, etc) -Jimmy Olsen is not really that awesome -Superman is awesome -the Weis (as in Weisinger) thing to do is make Jimmy the lead, and Supes the supporting player
― Dr. Superman, Monday, 16 July 2007 16:25 (eighteen years ago)
Captain Atom:
--He got blowed up! --He got a perm. --He's Monarch --Oh wait, he isn't. --He got blowed up again! --He's Monarch -- really this time. --EVIL
― Chuck_Tatum, Monday, 16 July 2007 16:55 (eighteen years ago)
ERGO, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen is the father to Gotham Central.
xpost
― Dr. Superman, Monday, 16 July 2007 16:55 (eighteen years ago)
supporting characters should be awesome, sometimes more awesome than the lead
SO TRUE, & I think this is also true of the character's rogue gallery. Batman has been blessed with two quality supporting folx (Gordon & Alfred), & a smattering of quality 2nd/3rd bananas as well (cf. Leslie Tompkins, Lucius Fox), and a great batch of villians (sp?).
Same goes for Spidey, especially high-school / Ultimate Spidey, though (thinking about it), there's something disappointing about Spidey's coterie essentially staying the same over these past 40+ years (10+ years in Spidey time).
Has there been much done to flesh out Superman's holy trinity (Perry / Jimmy / Lois)? I really can't think of anything (tho my Supes knowledge probably starts & ends w/ the Byrne revamp and the diamond-era soap operatics).
Anyway, yeah - a strong supporting cast gives the star an opportunity to shine & allow different facets of his / her personality to come through.
― David R., Monday, 16 July 2007 18:10 (eighteen years ago)
Rick Jones
- side kick to the Hulk - side kick to the Avengers - side kick to Captain America - alter/ego (kind of) to Captain Marvel
― earlnash, Monday, 30 July 2007 22:37 (eighteen years ago)
At some point he was crippled! But then not! And then he merged with the son of Captain Marvel!.
― Amadeo, Tuesday, 31 July 2007 03:35 (eighteen years ago)
Didn't he also at some point also possess supermegapowers, which ended the Kree/Skrull war?
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 31 July 2007 10:40 (eighteen years ago)
Oh man, I don't even know if I want to sit here and type out all the stuff with Charles Xavier...
― Mr. Perpetua, Tuesday, 31 July 2007 15:12 (eighteen years ago)
Q: Why did Perry White never get his own "Superman's Boss" comic? A: It was enough, I guess, to expect 8-yr-olds to identify with Superman, who was played/drawn as early-to-mid 40s in the 50s/60s.
Post-Byrne Supes had some attempts at building a large Batman-style supporting cast. It should have been easier to do/harder to well for Supes since Clark Kent actually has a work place.
― Dr. Superman, Wednesday, 1 August 2007 07:13 (eighteen years ago)
Cap America = ALL SUPPORTING CHARACTORS, ALL THE TIME! (and is awesome for it)
― Dr. Superman, Thursday, 16 August 2007 07:17 (eighteen years ago)
Yeah, this is pretty radical stuff (for Marvel). Cap is all through the book, but as an invisible gravity source all the planets revolve around. High fives, etc.
― Rock Hardy, Thursday, 16 August 2007 13:49 (eighteen years ago)