Tuesday, July 1, 2008

A super hero draft

It's been a long time, readers, I know. I've meant to post here for a while by now but I've been too distracted and lazy. That ends today. Now, without further ado, here's the post I've had in the back of my head for a few months:

In my daily daydreaming, an interesting thought hit me once. Now, I've never been a very hardcore comic book enthusiast, but this idea intrigued me. It seems like the big two of comic books, DC Comics and Marvel, carry distinct roles within the world of comic book geekery. While DC predominantly carries super heroes with traditional "knight-in-shining-armor" identities such as Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, etc., a great deal of the Marvel roster consists of confused, misunderstood protagonists; "anti-heroes" if you will. These include the X-Men, the Incredible Hulk, The Punisher, and to a lesser extent, characters like Spider-Man. However, A distinct anomaly exists within the headlining super heroes of each brand. On the DC side, we have Batman. Unlike his more traditional counterparts such as Wonder Woman and Superman, Batman is a vigilante of the night, shaken by the death of his parents and determined to take revenge on criminals everywhere. He's a good freak battling legions of bad freaks, much like a great deal of Marvel's heroes. Conversely, we have Captain America. A Marvel character, he's a U.S. Army officer who fights for truth, justice, and the American way. Yes, I know, that's Superman's line, but this helps prove my point. Batman and Captain America are a lot alike: they both have no super powers persay, but make up for it with their intellect, physical ability, and access to technology. However, they each posess the core image traits of the rival comic book label. The Wikipedia article on the "Marvel vs. DC" series made me think of this, but another idea in the same vein recently came to my mind.

With the "Iron Man" movie recently released and "The Dark Knight" on its way out, another hero comparison hit me. Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark are both wealthy industrialists and genius inventors whose lives are changed forever and who dedicate themselves to using their wealth and genius for good. Batman and Iron Man: now there would be one hell of a team-up. It would be possible, too, if only they weren't on rival labels. Furthermore, the comic book anomalies don't end with Batman and Captain America. While DC has Martian Manhunter, a sort of alternative-style superhero a la Marvel, the Fantastic Four are more DC-esque in terms of their valiant image. This led me to the idea of a "super hero draft" between DC and Marvel to shake up the rosters of each one. If this were actually applied then it would destroy nearly a century of continuity in addition to making superheroism look like a team sport, but its an interesting thought, right?

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