#when i said that she should have killed the skrull hank. I MEANT IT.

[izzysarchivedblogs]

i think greer should be unhinged.

[bringbackwendellvaughn]

Legacy characters

Got so many asks about legacy characters...

so here you go.

My favourite Captain America is Steve Rogers. He will always be the only Captain America. John Walker is one of my favourite characters and his tenure as Captain America was a fantastic story but it’s a completely different story. John was never meant to be Captain America or the best Captain America or the real Captain America or even the “hero” of the comic. He remained a great character afterwards. When Geoff Johns made him Captain America again it was terrible writing and completely butchered the character. The whole direction of him being a ersatz evil Cap was a colossally bad idea which ignored all his character growth and his relationship with Steve. With that said, Allan Jacobsen did a pretty great job at half-fixing that bad idea and making it a bit worth-while. I really like Jeff Mace (read Captain America: Patriot, everyone) and I think 50s Cap has his place as an antagonist but none of these are Steve Rogers. Two i want to mention though; Punisher - i am one of the few people who think Punisher as Captain America makes sense and could get some good mileage out of it. But it’s a story not worth doing at the expense of Steve, it was good when it was done briefly when Steve was gone and I tihnk they could’ve ran with it for another trade or two. And secondly, Hawkeye! I think this was unintentionally the best idea Jeph Loeb hit on in Fallen Son. I think when it comes down to it, if Cap was ever to pick his successor (and not have Bucky or Falcon forced down his throat as the obvious candidate) then Hawkeye is perfect. Hawkeye is someone who has completely grown into the perfect person to continue Steve’s legacy. Again, i don’t want to see this happen, i just want to say.

Although most my opinions on legacy characters are “the real one is best”, one of my big contradictions is I much much prefer James Rhodes as Iron Man. I find he is a far more compelling and relateable character than Tony Stark, he’s someone you can root for and he truly improves on all the problems I have with Tony. Tony is a selfish, vain, elitist bully who is rich, a genius and one of the most successful people in the world who can just solve stories with new armor. James Rhodes is more of an everyman, he has doubts, he’s not doing it to show off or because he can and he has a lot to live up to. Not only that - and I don’t really want to wear this as a point - but he is a “black” character and, i really don’t think characters should be replaced with others for diversity’s sake, but having a black man as Iron Man does give a fantastic marquee black character.

Captain Marvel i’ve covered before. Basically, I’d settle for anyone who isn’t a mischaracterized terrible looking Carol Danvers who makes me ashamed. Honestly, Genis, Phyla, Monica, Noh-Varr, the Skrull, Rick Jones, Hulkling, Quasar, Mar-Vell... just anything other than what we’ve got.

Quasar i don’t think requires any mention. i never liked Phyla assuming the mantle but i won’t fault her for it. Rich was appropriately almost as short as it could be (though it bothered me that he was depicted using the powers far more impressively than we’d seen Wendell ever use them). Avril kincaid ahahahah. I don’t see the point in making Quasar a mantle. If Wendell retires, there doesn’t need to be a Quasar. There needs to be a Protector of the Universe, yes, but that is not equal to being Quasar.

Nova is again Rich Rider. Well, I’ve no issue with the Nova Corps, but Richard Rider is the featured Nova. Frankie Raye is cool but her name is unfortunate - she’s someone who i think should’ve gotten a new moniker rather than shuffle off into the grave for Rich (I’m sure I’ve posted before that I’d have dubbed her “Herald”). I’ve also considered the idea of having Robbie become the New Warriors’ “Kid Nova” but that’s entirely fanon thinking. I would never suggest he replace Rich. No one should really replace Rich, especially after the DnA stuff made it completely the case that no-one could ever achieve what Rich has.

Swordsman - i almost forgot this one as it’s not a big character at all. But Swordsman is a case where I like the legacy more than the others. Andreas von Strucker is a fantastic character and he’s run as Swordsman, while not particularly honouring the name, is the highlight of the character’s existence and name. Although the original Swordsman himself is quite a decent character, if it came down to picking between the two, I’d go with Andreas as Jacques is best defined as dead. He achieved his whole “hero” thing with his death. The Gatherers one is a character they never kept around long enough but he had potential and wasn’t bad, but again just Andreas is much more interesting and useful i think.

Penance isn’t much of a legacy as it is just a name that gets thrown about between unrelated characters. I think the Generation X one (who is hurt by James Robinson’s garbage retcon with M) being called Hollow now makes the case for not calling her Penance anymore. Robbie as Penance... I’m conflicted with. I completely see why people hate it and agree that it doesn’t make much sense with Speedball’s character - and it’s genesis as Joe Quesada just hating Speedball (and the horrible notion that he, Jenkins and Ellis were knowingly mocking self-harm) - but as a character concept I love it. If Robbie had kept being Penance I would have no problem but i wouldn’t want to inflict everyone else with something they hate. I do think Penance is a solid idea and everything done with Robbie as Penance was good but i find it really hard to reconcile between Speedball and Penance. I like them both and i feel picking either/or is doing a disservice to the other. I’ve thought up a few ideas for how to keep Penance AND Speedball (Penance was a Robbie Baldwin look-a-like hired after Season 1 of the reality show, Penance is former Speedball wannabe Darrion Grobe who i know next to nothing about, even just doing a Namorita style time-travel resurrection to have both) but i don’t feel any of those ideas are things that i would consciously want to do. I hate when other writers do shit like that. With Speedball and Penance I really want to have my cake and eat it too.

Marvel Boy... is a name I do not really have any consideration for at all. And that’s not due to the characters - Vance, Noh-Varr, Uranian, even Wendell - they’re all great. But every single one has another more identifiable name (except may Noh-Varr). So, Noh-Varr can be Marvel Boy if there must be one and if he’s not Captain Marvel. But he’s one of those guys who can get away without having a codename and just being Noh-Varr.

Ms. Marvel someone asked about and they definitely wanted to know what I think of that one and i refuse to offer an opinion so people can’t just say i’m being racist or sexist or whatever they want. Carol Danvers is/was/will always be Ms. Marvel. She was the first, she was the best, she was the longest enduring, she had the longest lasting ongoing of a Marvel female character in years. She was so close to the precipice of becoming huge on her own accord but Marvel decided it was better to force that and fail. And it was all just so Wacker could have his daughter dress up as her (hey, idiot, why not have her dress up as Sue Storm or Phoenix or any of the many less leg showing heroines?). Marvel were content to ruin one of their best female characters for selfish and idiotic reasons and that great character can never exist again. I also will mention Sharon Ventura. I feel bad for her. She was as much as a Gruenwald character and could’ve been something special but Steve Englehart butchered her early on in her existence and lumbered her with off-panel rape backstory, a man-loathing personality and quickly a rubbish “She-Thing” dynamic. And she became known as “She-Thing” by readers and unattentive writers who missed she was still being called Ms. Marvel even when she was in that form. Then when she got restored to being normal, subsequent writers just didn’t bother remembering that. I remember when Triathlon killed “She-Thing” in Secret Invasion and it turned out she was a Skrull, I was hoping it’d turn out she had been a Skrull between Gruenwald writing her in Cap #331 and Englehart writing her in FF but that was an entirely selfish desire on my part which would have been just as bad as Stephen Wacker for what he did to Carol.

Ant-Man is an identity i’ve never cared for. I think it’s a lame identity. To that end, i like Eric o’Grady. i think he was the most entertaining/interesting/unique.

Giant Man is a dud of a name. I’d just get rid of it altogether.

Goliath is okay and in many ways I’d say it should be Pym’s. If you want Pym as the giant growing character. But I think that should be Bill Foster... but he’s dead and i preferred the moniker Black Goliath. Then you’ve got people like Erik Josten and Hawkeye cluttering up the Goliath name.

Yellowjacket is a rough name. It’s probably Pym’s coolest sounding but I sort of feel it’s a name he shouldn’t want to ever use. Which is a problem since I prefer Hank’s science elements of which this name is the best fit for. Then we have Rita deMara who is another character who i think deserves another shot but then you’ve got the problem of her being Yellowjacket or having to give her her own name which then robs the character of pretty much 95% of the reason people might be interested in her.

Wasp is Janet van Dyne. It’s sad that should ever be an area for contention. I think Hank taking up the name was... well-intentioned. But it was mainly just a source of ridicule. Which is a shame because that costume and attitude was probably his best. And I’m not gonna bother acknowledging the other Wasp.

Nearly forgot Green Goblin (in fact now i realize i ain’t been thinking villains). I actually don’t know what to say about Green Goblin. I think Harry might be my main choice... but that is down to J.M. DeMatteis’ being a great writer and Harry not being rubbish in Amazing Spider-Man 2. Phil is a great character pre-Slott but i think could benefit more from a different name (while maintaining the same Green Goblin look)... maybe Jackal? Norman i think should’ve stayed dead after Gwen’s death and it’s hardly that alternative a thought. At the end of the Clone Saga, i think it would’ve been a lot wiser to have resurrected Harry as the architect as his death was both more recent, less iconic and far easier to reverse. We would’ve lost Ellis’ Thunderbolts and Dark Reign but I think that’s a decent trade-off. Even those could have been retrofitted to include Harry instead... if they were ever worth doing...

hobgoblin is a tricky one. i have the utmost respect and unwavering loyalty towards roger stern. his original hobgoblin stories are among spidey’s absolute best.  but when it comes to his identity... i must confess i much prefer Tom DeFalco’s idea that Richard Fisk was the Hobgoblin. This makes more sense to me than in terms of believability and motivation. Of course, neither of these got to  play out and instead we got Christopher Priest’s dreadful revelations to spite DeFalco (he wanted the Foreigner, but Peter David talked him down to Ned Leeds which is still rubbish). If it’s Ned Leeds or Roderick Kingsley, I’m going with Kingsley. I’m glad Roger got the chance to fix it but it would never have needed to be “fixed” if Christopher Priest hadn’t turned the entire thing into a farce. So ultimately, Kingsley is for the best... BUT THERE COULD’VE BEEN A ONE I PREFERRED EVEN MORE. But then we have Jason Macendale - who was a great character and a really wise choice for substitute. Even when we got the Demogoblin stuff, it seemed all as a means to make Macendale as interesting and challenging as his predecessor. I think Rog killing Macendale off was a bit of a bum note (why not have him revert to Lantern or even in some way Demogoblin?). Clearly the hobgoblin is always going to be a problem and it’s just a shame that so many good aspects or elements have been gotten rid of.

Which brings us to the Rose. Defalco intended him to be Roderick Kingsley. Which makes a lot of sense to me again when it comes to motivation and believability. But as some have noted, there is a slight wisp of homophobia in making the pampered homosexual into a flower villain. BUT i will counter that by saying, the Rose is actually fucking badass! he’s a really legitimate and was a well received villain at the time. there was nothing “gay” or “insulting” about the Rose, past the flower idea. But Priest decided to make it Richard Fisk - again motivated out of spite for DeFalco. This was fortunate for Roger being able to fix the Hobgoblin. And i think the motivation for Fisk was always there - but the same motivation led to him being a good Hobgoblin - and Priest tried his hardest to even butcher that decent motivation. And then any Rose that followed was dreadful, confusing and became utter editorial farces. We don’t need a Rose that badly.

Venom - Eddie Brock. Simple. But i will say i understand mac gargan. I think the problem was people like Bendis. The problem is Venom is one of Spidey’s most iconic and beloved villains but it’s a role that’s increasingly hard to force Eddie Brock into. So the solution to make Mac Gargan Venom and have a Venom without the anti-hero baggage of Eddie is incredibly sensible. We got to have a Venom who was evil and one of Spidey’s greatest foes. Except Bendis and others made mac gargan an utter joke. Flash thompson had an ok set-up... that works for Eddie Brock... but making it Flash was just rubbish-y. Most of Venom’s appeal is as either a Spider-Man villain or as Eddie Brock. Like i don’t need to say anything else.

iron man’s rogues gallery is pathetic. every single one, barring ghost, is a fucking legacy. there’s 20+ crimson dynamos. even ones like firebrand, whiplash, justin hammer... are replaced by legacy ones. it fucking sucks. and you know what, ghost is one of iron man’s best villains... madame masque too and her “legacies” are shit kurt busiek retcons.

human torch... simple fix: jim hammond is the torch. johnny storm is human torch.

whizzer isn’t really worth the consideration. one is dead, one is from another reality and one is called speed demon now.

ghost rider is an awkward one. johnny blaze has the better name and origin but danny ketch is a better written character i feel. and you can’t pick one without alienating a large fanbase of the other. i think there’s a fix for this... there’s the firestorm route of having them merge to be ghost rider or... how about they both can become ghost rider but only individually? like there has to be a ghost rider and say when johnny is ghost rider, dan is dan and when dan is ghost rider, johnny gets to be johnny. so the dynamic is that one is always having to suffer for the others freedom. but this is all fanon. alejandra is a non-entity and ghost driver isn’t someone i feel the need to consider.

scourge - retire this name and idea fast as possible.

nomad - likewise

deathlok - probably best retire this one too. michael collins was your best go and unfortunately his creator got to wrap that up and give the character a happy ending and to go back on it (oh, they did) would be incredibly insulting to the late dwayne mcduffie.

can’t think of any others worth mentioning... i mean i can think of other legacy heroes but none i really consider. captain britain, thor, hulk, nick fury... not really an area of contention with anyone i’d hope.