Yesterday’s review of Captain Marvel #3 started me thinking: For some time now, Marvel has been trying to get Carol Danvers over as one of their top guys (recall that she almost took over the Captain Marvel name back in the days of ‘House Of M’, only to get sniped by Noh-Varr, the once-and-future-Marvel Boy) but they’ve finally gotten all the switches flipped for me. It’s tough for me to think about the assumption that Captain Marvel is now a “top-tier” character, because I hate it when people snottily dismiss the likes of Aquaman or Gambit as ‘third-stringers.’ There’s a contempt for the stories and the media in which they exist that I find very much unpalatable, especially when paired with the attitude that “only popular characters really matter.” Still and all, I have to admit that Marvel creative has put a lot of work into making Captain Marvel into a compelling, bankable character who truly belongs in the forefront of their stories and merchandising, which leads into today’s query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced “bye-nair-ee”) still wishes She-Hulk and Plastic Man weren’t considered secondary “comedy” characters, as both have massive untapped potential, asking: What character is closest to being the next big thing in your eyes?
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As the huge fan of Palmiotti/Conner Power Girl, I hope it would be her. Now that All-Star Western is unfortunately ending and Jimmy is free to write another book I hope DC will use the opportunity to team him up with Conner again (I know it wont happen ‘ cus of Harley book already being made).
On the Marvel side, Nightcrawler should get a chance to break in my eyes. I’ve always liked the character, since he seems so sympathetic and genuinely positive personality. A rare thing in modern “dark & gritty” dominated market.
that batman guy does not get much love nor that guy with the claws…
Army Shanks!!!!!
There was a while where I thought Power Girl was really going to make it big. I’m kind of glad Aquaman now has two ongoing titles, one of which I like and the other is written by Dan Jurgens. *ba-dump* (Yeah I’ll be that guy.)
I always thought that Kitty Pryde deserved to be more than “Colossus’s girl friend” or the “X-man who only appears when the writer needs somebody to walk through walls”. I always thought they didn’t do as much with Power Girl (or earlier incarnations of Supergirl) as they could have.
That said, Matthew, I hate to bring it to your attentions, but Gambit and Aquaman ARE third stringers. I mean, you’re dealing with beings who can split the planet in half if he sneezes too hard, an Amazon who can hand him his Krytonian arse in a basket if she wanted to, A redheaded lady who keeps returning from the dead and going whacko and trying to incinerate the world, a bald guy who is capable of lobotomizing the world inspite of being confined to a wheel chair – and you are trying to rank in the same tier a guy who flings playing cards about and another guy whose power is to talk to fish? That’s a bit like trying to claim that Caspar Milquetoast was as powerful a character as the Incredible Hulk. :P
I do believe Kitty Pride was just used prominently in the big arc that concluded with Marvel’s Ultimate Universe, so you might want to check that out.
By that logic, Batman can’t be top-tier hero.
You’re exactly right. Until the current Superman/Batman graphic novel series came about, I never liked any of the Worlds Finest stuff because Batman and Superman didn’t belong in the same world, and shouldn’t have functioned on the same level. All Superman would need to do was to accidentally sneeze and Bats would have been turned inside out and blown four blocks down the street…
I will admit that my opinion was soured by reading the comics back in the Bill Finger/Kurt Swan days where Batman was having silly space adventures and wearing rainbow costumes, etc. and inexplicably being best pals with Superman. Those old stories still make my teeth hurt, fifty years later. The modern “Worlds Finest” stuff – those Superman/Batman graphic novels I mentioned – prove that with good art and excellent story telling, a Batman-Superman combo CAN work, but there is greater potential for disaster in the mix than for excellence. Because at the root of thing, Batman belongs down in the dark alleys of Gotham, while Superman belongs among the stars.
Batman CAN be a top tier hero – in the context of the Batman universe, but as soon as you throw him in the same room with Superman, Green Lantern, or pretty much the rest of the JLA, the writers really have to stretch to find a reason for him to be there. After all, you CAN mix oil and water and get a pretty good salad dressing out of the attempt, but you WON’T get a refreshing drink nor a functional lubricant out of the deal. Usually, in the hands of hack writers, the excuses for putting Batman and Superman together devolves into something along the line of Wayne Industries funding the JLA satellite or dumbing down Superman to the point where he can’t even seal his own codpiece without help from the Dark Knight. And that’s a mental image that’s going to keep me awake for a few nights. Ewwww. Pardon me while I go and Clorox my eyeballs and take steel wool to my brain…