Why aren't you writing this?

[brawl2099]

Marvel Anthology has come a long way in the past year. The site mostly was at ground zero at the beginning of 2009, and look at us now. Regardless of that growth, we're a little greedy (it doesn't help that Fromme bears a striking resemblance to Larfleeze...)- we always want MORE! That, of course, is the purpose of this column. In this super-sized first installment, we're going to talk a bit about our next "initiative." When we started our X-Men line, we plotted, planned and gave it a launch worthy of a full line of new series, and gave us a pattern to follow- a source book followed by several ongoing series. We've done it with the X-Men, we've done with the Avengers, and our supernatural and street lines. Now, we want a bit of an international flavor.

THUNDERBOLTS

Now, it's a bit of a cheat to start the international line with a US-based title, but hear me out. The US government has no official super-team. The Avengers are UN-sponsored. The Fantastic Four and X-Men are both privately run. Any other team is just plain too small in scope or membership. However, the Thunderbolts... Why not? First of all, you can have a public face to the team- a mixture of reformed villains and big-time heroes, a great public face of super-heroics, guys like Atlas, MACH-V, and/or Night Thrasher for example. But beneath that shiny exterior layer is a darker layer, a black ops team of scum that are being kept off death row only by their willingness to help the government, guys like Bullseye, Crossfire, and Scream (yeah, I know the second two are c-list at best, but come on, they're cool!). The uniting force between the two groups is the one man who could keep them all under control- General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. Think Avengers: Suicide Squad. There we go... Now you get it.

MI-13

There's no denying it, the operatives of Military Intelligence-13 are just cool as hell. Look at them- Pete Wisdom, Captain Britain, Skrull John Lennon, Union Jack... They're just freaking awesome. Add to it the wealth of British Marvel characters, especially those published by Marvel UK (such as Dark Angel, the Knights of the Pendragon or Motormouth), and you've got an awesome cast. Then, throw in a dash of awesome British sci-fi and a little Warren Ellis or Paul Cornell style crazy and... Well... Honestly, I don't need to say another word. This book writes itself.

SILVER SABLE

The only solo series in this batch, Silver Sable is just great. On one side, she's one of the world's top guns for hire. On the other, she's the leader of a country. How do you balance that contradiction? Sable is just one of a handful of total Marvel badass-ettes, but she's never gotten a fair shake in fanfic. She has so many possibilities too. You could go the Lara Croft route and make her a globe-hopping adventurer. You can balance the action with politics, with rivals trying to unseat her at every turn. All the elements are there for a great action-political thriller.

EUROPA

Yes, Europe's a big place. The countries within Europe, not so much. With the existence of the European Union, it would make sense that the superheroes of Europe would unite to form a single team. The team's already been built, twice, but for the most part, they're a blank slate, plus there are superheroes established all over Europe (such as France's Peregrine). So what to do with them? It's all about history and culture. There's so much history to explore in Europe, from the ancient empires of Greece and Rome, to the Inquisition, to World War 2, and each and every point in history could have some threat tied to them. Just like all the other entries here, all this series needs is a uniquely European flavor, and not just "superheroes in Europe."

CHINA FORCE

What can I say about China Force that I haven't already said several different ways? How about this- The team's leader is considered a supervillain every where else in the world- Chen Lu, the Radioactive Man. How cool is that?

Beyond those, look at the whole wide Marvel world. How cool would teams from various parts of the globe be. A couple ideas follow. Now let's see some action!

Australia/ New Zealand
India
Brazil
Argentina
Phillippines

[brawl2099]

Normally when I write one of these, I'll take on a single title, but today, I have three inter-connected (yes three) titles that I'd love to see at Marvel Anthology.

"Three?" you, the doubters, say to me. "Isn't that overkill Tony?" To which I respond-

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU NAKED IN MY KITCHEN?!" Heh. That'll shut up the doubters.

SCARLET SPIDER

Most of you know that Ben Reilly holds a special place in my heart. The man is one of my four or five favorite characters to write. Everything I could say about him as been said before, but I'll boil it down to one sentence. Ben Reilly is a completely free Spider-Man. The story potential in that... He has no ties to New York. He has no ties to a particular woman. The series we've seen him star in have settled him down in a particular city (Seattle, Baltimore, Los Angeles). Why? Why not make him some sort of mobile hero? Rather than going with the overplayed nomad route, give him a job that takes him all over the country, with opportunities to play hero on every corner. The Spider-World is your oyster. (Okay, yeah, that was bad.)

TANGLED WEB

Now here's an interesting concept. This is a Spider-Man book not focused on just Spider-Man. Although Peter Parker would be involved, this would be a series about the supporting cast, superheroic and otherwise- the tangled web of Spider-Man (hey, now you get it!). It's a simple premise, and honestly wouldn't be easy to pull off, but it would be a great read all over.

SLINGERS

I look at Slingers as a wasted opportunity. First of all, the series had very little to do with Spider-Man. Peter originated all four of these identities. Secondly, the series had four great protagonists that have been barely seen since. Third, the series limited itself by only using Prodigy, Hornet, Ricochet and Dusk as members. I think you see where I'm going here. Peter should be mentoring this team, and it should be open to all sorts of heroes from Spider-Man's corner of the Marvel U.

So I've just got to ask- why aren't you writing these?

[mitchcrane]

Gotta love me some Spider-Man. I like your Scarlet Spider concept, though isn't he dead? Or did that take place after the year 2000 cut-off? Scarlett Spider was very prominant in comics when I was at my peak of reading them, so hopefully someone takes this idea up.

And comeone people, Thunderbolts! Your opportunity to put whatever villains you want, provided they're free, on a team!

[brawl2099]

Why Aren’t You Writing This Yet?: The Champions

It’s been a long time since I sat down to write one of these features. That has been, in part, because Erik has written them himself with his write-ups on the various branches of the Marvel Anthology world. This concept however came to us in a moment of inspiration and was so damn cool we couldn’t help but open it up to everyone, throw it out into the ether and see what we get back.

Champions was an interesting book when it premiered. It was, to the best of my understanding, Marvel’s first attempt at a series set in the western United States, and it was an eclectic hodge-podge of characters and concepts. Set in Los Angeles, the series featured a pair of mutants, a spy and a demi-god who were both (former and future) Avengers, and the supernatural spirit of vengeance. There’s only ever been one other Marvel series to feature such an eclectic mix, and frankly, Defenders never carried the stable roster that Champions did.

Now however, Marvel Anthology’s premiere team of Western heroes is the Avengers West Coast, and the Dark Avengers will be based in Colorado, with stories in both books taking place all across the western US. What would make the Champions a viable concept again? It’s not the setting. Let’s take a look at that character mix again. Two former X-Men. A spy who was also once a villain AND an Avenger. A demi-god and Avenger. And the SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE. With one exception (the F4), the Champions was a mixture of Marvel’s top concepts- the X-Men, the Avengers, and supernatural/horror- and a representation of the best Marvel had to offer.

Now, we have decades more history to add to that. The Fantastic Four have had substitute members. The core membership of the X-Men AND the Avengers has ballooned. There are dozens more street and supernatural characters. Hell, even Spider-Man has dozens of associated characters spun out of his adventures.

Why not take that mixture from the past and update it? And to draw it all together how about we use Marvel’s ultimate renaissance man- King T’Challa of Wakanda AKA the Black Panther? He’s a former Avenger, long-time ally of the Fantastic Four (having served in at least one or two substitute F4 rosters), is powered by a diety, and (in the 616 universe) married one of the X-Men’s long-time members and second-longest serving leader. The best part about T’Challa organizing this team- he would have a purpose for every member. This may seem like a random assembly to the average onlooker, but T’Challa picked them for a reason.

As for the roster itself, the only important element is to draw on every aspect of the Marvel Universe. You don’t want an Avenger-heavy roster. You don’t want three X-Men, and so on. For example, T’Challa could recruit the Black Knight (Avenger, connected to Marvel UK, mystical and a scientific genius), Nightcrawler (X-Man), Ares (Olympian god), Blazing Skull (Invader, mystical), Elektra (street and international), She-Thing (Fantastic Four), Satana (daughter of the devil and long-time associate of almost every supernatural character) and Persuasion (former Department H and daughter of a villain). Or he could recruit Crystal (Avenger, F4, Inhuman, daughter-in-law of Magneto), Siryn (X-Man), Nighthawk (Defender, mystical), Abraham Brown (martial artist, brother of Prowler), Prodigy (Spider-Man associate) and Athena (Olympian). Or yet another potential roster is Sasquatch (Alpha Flight, mystical, scientist), Triathalon (Avenger), Namora (Atlantean, Golden age heroine, sister of Namor), Turbo (New Warrior, alien technology), Atlas (former villain), Hellcat (mystic, Avenger, Defender) and Warlock (X-Man, alien).

The variations are endless, and dependent only on character dibs (but hey, if a character is dibbed, don’t be afraid to ask- you might be surprised). The only requirement is that you pull them from as many sources as possible. Hell, if you wanted to, you could use a Secret Defenders-style rotating cast each arc, with T’Challa and maybe one or two other characters (say, Black Knight and She-Thing) being the only constants. And considering who is organizing and leading the team, you know there is a purpose to EVERY SINGLE ACTION this team takes.

The great part about doing this at MA? A lot of these characters are free (including T’Challa), and in many cases, the ones who aren’t free are dibbed by writers who are very flexible and accommodating. And if they can’t be for any reason, there are other options within the group, which may even be better than your original idea!

So, it’s a lot to digest. This is the longest version of this column I’ve done yet, and it’s focused on only one title! So now, I’ve got to ask. CHAMPIONS- why aren’t you writing this yet?!

[crutey]

Cool idea.

One thing that I think the Champions have difficulty shaping is the idea that they're like the island of misfit toys. They have no overaching theme or idea which holds them together so I would rather than shying away from it use it.

This is the team made up of members who don't fit in anywhere else. They tried other teams and they tried it on their own but they just didn't fit properly or they weren't given their needed shot/the other teams wont have them!

They've banded together to show they're just as good if not better than the others!

[Erik]

Aug 30, 2010 17:16:14 GMT -5 crutey said:

Cool idea.

One thing that I think the Champions have difficulty shaping is the idea that they're like the island of misfit toys. They have no overaching theme or idea which holds them together so I would rather than shying away from it use it.

This is the team made up of members who don't fit in anywhere else. They tried other teams and they tried it on their own but they just didn't fit properly or they weren't given their needed shot/the other teams wont have them!

They've banded together to show they're just as good if not better than the others!

There's some truth to that. Which is where the Panther comes in. I know in concept the idea touches close to Derricks own series at AV but when we looked at the characters the one person that made the most sense to try and tie these people together was Black Panther.

[veras]

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