Tuesday, 24 June 2025

Speak Your Brain! Part 104.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon
***

The Steve Does Comics Megaphone
Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

Who am I?

Where am I?

What's happening?

I'm at a lacuna.

A lacuna of non-commitalness created by the wait for the return of the greatest feature the internet has ever seen.

The one in which the first person to post in the comments section below gets to decide the topic du jour.

But what shall that topic be?

I cannot say.

Only you can.

Therefore, feel free to post it and get this site swinging into a level of action never before surpassed in human history.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Charlie's topic, a few weeks ago, gave me an idea.

Create a 2nd string superheroes team!

( A strong character, a female character, a flier - & a hot-head - characterize many teams.)

Then, create a villains team, too.

Here's mine:

1.) Thundra ( that covers strong - and female - and I've only just started! )
2.) The Stingray - a fantastically costumed character, never fully utilized.
3.) Drax the Destroyer ( potential to be difficult to control, if not a hot-
head, per-se) - Drax back in his original form again, to erase all the
1990s silliness about him being a Hulk-like numb skull.
4.) The original Captain Britain - see above (apart from the Hulk-like
phrase.)
5.) The Wraith - I want at least one of Bill Mantlo's 2nd string characters (e.g.
Jack of Hearts, White Tiger, Wraith, etc) in my team. If I have Jack of
Hearts, as well as Stingray, it looks like I'm collecting Len Wein & Sal
Hulk opponents, so I'll have the Wraith! Besides, a mind-reading
character's extra info adds interest, for the reader ( kind of Phoenix-type
"You didn't feel that girl's pure terror, Scott - I did! ) Destiny's functions
similarly, in the Brother/Sisterhood of Evil Mutants.

Villain 2nd string team:

1.) Slaymaster 2.) Constrictor 3.) Warhawk 4.) The Griffin (strength & flight) 5.) Madam Masque? 6.) Megaman

This is still at a speculative stage...Villains teams are led by women more often than hero teams ( the Champs being an exception ) - e.g. the Viper, Mystique, etc - so maybe Whitney Frost could lead the gang!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Destiny - not "Destiny's" ( proof-reading errors! )

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Oh - and because Jean DeWolff appears in Captain Britain & Spidey Team-up ( # 65 ) - this could create a link between Captain Britain & the Wraith, through his sister. Being almost halfway between the Wraith's two appearances ( # 58 & # 72? ), what exactly Jean was doing, I can't remember. Maybe, as a female character, she had - shock, horror - an independent storyline of her own, on the boil!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Who would comprise your 2nd string superhero & villain teams?

Phillip

Anonymous said...

If this topic doesn't work, please somebody suggest another - I don't mind!

Phillip

Steve W. said...

Thanks for the topic, Phillip.

Time constraints mean I won't be able to come up with a list tonight but I shall come up with one as soon as I can, tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

So far, I’ve got:

Strong Guy: Doc Samson
Femme: Clea
Hothead: Namor (guess he could be my flying guy too)

I realized afterwards that they’re VERY “New Defenders” ish — I don’t know know if that’s a bad thing or not. I could lean into that idea by adding Galactus herald Frankie Ray as my Silver Surfer surrogate.

Or use Clea, She-Hulk and Namorita if I want to make em an all-girl spin-off group. People liked that Lady Ghostbusters movie, right?

b.t.

Anonymous said...

Phillip- I have no clue besides Sunfire: he flies, is a hothead (?), and shoots rays out of his hands.

Oddly I can see him alongside the Silver Surfer.
CH

Anonymous said...

b.t. - Doc Samson's an excellent choice; I should have thought of him. Namor would be well managed by Samson, his experience with the Hulk standing him in good stead! Also, as well as strength, Doc Samson fills the intellectual/ boffin ( Reed Richards/Prof X ) role!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Charlie - Sunfire's a great choice, too. If you had the She-Hulk (strength, female) too, you'd have an entire team, with just two heroes!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Phil-
Yeah, what happened to the Wraith? I remember that arc in MTU.
It was great!
I guess he got killed by the Punisher.
Like Stiltman.
Lazy-ass writers, trying to demonstrate how bad-ass the Punisher is by having him go around wasting third and fourth-rate villains.
Those are my favorite villains!
M.P.
(shaking his head sadly)

Anonymous said...

M.P. - Yes, exactly. Plus, with the Wraith, those great MTUs are linked to Iron Man # 106 (my first, and favourite Iron Man! ) The Wraith's prone, unconscious, on a fine Cockrum & Austin cover:

https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/9335/jserrors/aggregate

Regarding the Punisher, to me, Marvel post-1981's non-canon. I like to pretend it's a bad dream, that never happened!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Phillip, I've already mentioned my preferred team here, when Steve reviewed an issue of the Champions and I suggested a decent editor approached with the idea would have changed the line up.
Black Widow and Ghost Rider were cool, but they should have replaced Hercules with Thundra - the ideal choice for strong person in any team, right? - and not bothered with the two most boring X-Men when Brother Voodoo and Iron Fist were available instead.

Thats a team that nearly has it all - spies, bikers, wimmins lib, kung-fu...
In fact, thinking about it now, let's bump that up to seven members, and add the Red Guardian - the second one, obviously - and Dazzler, for a bit of communism and disco, and you'd have the most 70s super-hero comic ever.

-sean

Anonymous said...

No-one likes major changes to the continuity after they became regular readers, Phillip. While accepting anything that happened before, no matter how stupid.

-sean

Anonymous said...

Sean - Since Steve (and Mark Antony Wilson) have been reviewing Marvel UK from the beginning, the major revelation for me, is how many times ideas I'd thought happened for the first time/were original, when I read them in '77 had been done before, at least twice. Nothing's new under the sun, I know - but...oh brother!

Your team sounds spot-on. Regarding Iron Fist, Marvel didn't have martial artists in teams, yet DC did didn't it, with the Karate Kid? There'd certainly be scope for friction a-plenty, between Thundra & the Black Widow. And Red Guardian & 'Tash both having similar backgrounds opens interesting story possibilities!

I like(d) the Champions a lot, but I preferred Ghost Rider's later more dangerous incarnation than Johnny Blaze assuming his fake spook voice to supposedly frighten people!

Phillip

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Genius! Wish there was a “Less Generic / More 70s” name for the group than The Champions, but otherwise brilliant.

Oh! And instead of a land-locked headquarters, they could just drive around in an RV for some thrilling CB action.

Oh! Oh! And Lockjaw could be their Scooby Doo - like mascot.

OH! OH! OH! After a confrontation with The Gargoyle he could get turned to stone — then he’d be the group’s pet rock.

b.t.