DC Comics General

Would Magog also count considering his energy blast comes from his staff weapon? Or is he too much of a 90s Antihero to make the list?

Lobo is a strong brick who can't fly or shoot blasts on his own without the bike or guns.

But he's an anti hero.

Isn't Bunny from the Inferior Five like that as well? With super strenght and endurance but that's it?

Edited by TomWithoutJerry on May 6th 2024 at 5:49:18 AM

Speaking of Demon Knights, Etrigan more or less functions as a big grounded guy, for all that he has a lot else going on.

Awkward Man is the same—he's stronger than Bunny and basically invulnerable but very very clumsy.

There is also Donner from the Milestone universe.

The Outsiders had Freight Train who was basically the DC equivalent of Marvel's Strong Guy.

About this Flash run, I'm gonna say the same thing I've said on reddit, this is currently the run I've been enjoying the most.

Like, sure, it's a very sharp shift from Adams's run, and I enjoyed that a lot, but I do enjoy this new take. Adams's run was like comfort food, this is something I haven't tasted before and that I want more of.

I don't care if things in it have been done before, I don't care if we've seen it, this is the nature of comic books. Since they don't ever really end it's not uncommon to aee storylines being repeated, and honestly, I care more about how it's being done, and for me, it's being done amazingly well.

The way I see it, the sci-fi and cosmic horror elements are there to enhance the very real, very familiar family drama. People crumbling under the weight of responsability, children not being sure of their future and discovering who they are in relation to their parents, the feeling the world is moving on without you, it's all so very real, and sometimes it can feel world-ending. And to see the world literally crumbling and reality falling apart because of those things, it's an excellent visual representation of how all that feels.

Linda's problems not being addressed feel like they're building up to something. Spurrier clearly has an endgoal and him building up to the conclusion will, I think, make it more earned. I enjoy Jai's conflicts because he has come to terms with his powers, but he's also coming to terms with his own identity, him not wanting to be a hero feels like him carving his own identity outside of his family, and even though we know it's not going to last, it feels real in the sense that when we're growing up we want to set ourselves apart to figure out who we are.

Everything in this run feels deeply relatable to me, and that's why I enjoy it so much.

it just feels more like a barry story. even saying how wally is the explorer fits barry more. it just overall feels like spurrier is saying how dumb superheroes are and how this weird stuff is better.

If I ever worked for DC I'd like writing a story where Earth 3 is reimagined in that, as the heroes are villains there and viceversa, and the regular DC universe has a rogues gallery for every hero, there the heroes greatly outnumber the villains. The Justice League goes there expecting it to be a hellhole and they find out that the Crime Syndicate are an exception, and Earth is much safer there than in the regular universe.

And Gotham City is like the safest and happiest place on Earth.

Another gag I'd like to see Catwoman going along, looking for her counterpart... and she sees they are just the same. She doesn't know what to think about it.

I don't see it that way, I think it's just another way of telling a superhero story, especially when this run is explicitely fighting back to Waller saying exactly that superheroes are dangerous

I'm also really loving the current Flash run. It's definitely a strong new direction for a series that has felt very directionless ever since DiDio's campaign against Wally began. I might be biased because I'm a sucker for Superhero Horror and this run is going hard on that angle, but it really does feel like a return to the golden days of stuff like the Waid and first Johns run.

As far as DC brutes go, you all forgot the original Atom of DC, Al Pratt, although he did not start out as one. You also forgot Teen Titans villains Mammoth and Cinder Block...Cinder Block may have just been from the cartoon, but Mammoth was definitely from the comics. Also Frankenstein's Monster, Sebastian Ballesteros as Cheetah, Fury!Barbara Minverva, Golden Age Clea, Eeras, Giganta, Marya, Smashing Sportsman, How Chu, White Whale, King Shark, Hercuels, Kalibak, that orange skinned Superman chick and last but not least Golden Age Superman himself.

They've had just as many as Marvel, but from all the qualifiers and names you don't recognize, it's clear DC doesn't appreciate this character type as much as Marvel.(Hulk, Thing, She-Hulk, She-Thing, Red Hulk, Ulik, Mangog, First Thunderbird, Warpath, Rockslide, Colossus, Blob, Rhino, Kingpin, Walrus, Thundra, Man-Killer, Demolition Man, Wendigo, Sasquatch, Just A Guy named Joe, Molten Man, Ox, Riot, Doomsday Man, Rage, Strong-Guy, Hercules, Champion, Luke Cage, Goliath, Big Bertha, Blockbuster, Mr. Hyde, Juggernaut, Titania, Ultima, Man-Thing, Man-Elephant, Abomination, Abominatrix, Korg, Grey, Living Brain, Reaper, Death's Head, etc.)

The question was about heroes and most of those DC bricks are villains.

While Marvel favors that kind of character in heroes a lot more than DC.

All the more reason to bring back Eeras and Marya then.

I considered mentioning Al Pratt, but I feel like he gives off a very different vibe by being 4'10" or such, even if it's the same power set.

Marvel has more of those too, like Molly Hayes...Princess Powerful, Bonebreaker, Vil and Wu.

Power Princess being a Wonder Woman expy is funny to me cause the one thing she doesn't have is a lasso (instead she has a shield).

Most Wonder Woman Wannabes don't have the lasso. Some aren't even in Diana's weight class.

Its funny how the Squadron have very distinct looks, but Power Princess is literally just Diana but dressed in black

The fact her design and gimmick is so shit is probably why Power Princess is by far the Squadron Supreme member who gets the least use and love. Which is depressingly yet fittingly evocative of how Wonder Woman has been toiling in Mainstream Obscurity for decades, even after getting movies.

I think an issue is that Nighthawk, Doctor Spectrum and Hyperion are actually distinct in character and design from Batman and Superman. Well Princess really isnt.

Who are they?

Edited by windleopard on May 9th 2024 at 9:37:02 AM

Sadly, Zarda is the only survivor of the original Squadron Supreme universe. (And she's had more appearances than most of them save Hyperion.) https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Zarda_Shelton_(Earth-712)#All-New,_All-Different_Marvel

Edited by lalalei2001 on May 8th 2024 at 4:12:53 AM

Eeras is the seven/eight foot tall queen turned general of Ventura, or Aurania. Marston/Peter couldn't keep it straight, but she was basically Clea's Good Counterpart and Arch-Enemy. Marya is a seven/eight foot tall woman from the mountains of Mexico. She's basically Giganta's good counterpart, though the two never directly interacted with one another. I get why Marya disappeared from the book, since Kanigher hated The Holiday Girls and Marya was closely tied to them via beach episodes, and well nobody really uses Clea at all since Harry G. Peter died, so Eeras usually doesn't even have time to be established, though if she was it's completely possible to involve her in stories Clea isn't in. I could go on about unused Wonder Woman characters, but I won't.

What would be really interesting would be to see how Molly Hayes interacts with Zarda, and since I have no memories of it I'm assuming they never have...this is the DC thread though so, uh, I guess Molly Hayes and Diana would really get along well. Molly would love that Diana is a real princess, albeit one who isn't a blood relative of the current queen, and Diana is an All-Loving Hero anyway.

Orion, Big Barda, Yara Flor and Artemis of the Bana-Migdhall are also examples of strongmen/women who don't fly.

Also, Golden Age Wonder Woman.