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Topic: Q For Mr Byrne: De-Uniquing’s Legacy Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Robbie Parry
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Posted: 12 June 2018 at 8:40am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Mr Byrne, if DC had never set the ball rolling with the whole de-unique "thing" many decades ago, would de-uniquing still have been inevitable at the likes of Marvel, you think? Would the bandwagon still have been created at some point?

I know this is extremely hypothetical, but thanks!
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John Byrne
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Posted: 12 June 2018 at 9:04am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Altho DC certainly knocked over the first domino, they did so in an effort to give the fans what they wanted -- more and more of the same characters. It is not surprising, then, that when de-uniquing began to creep into Marvel, it was part of the increasing presence of fans-turned-pro.

Which is a long winded way of saying de-uniquing was inevitable.

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Robbie Parry
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Posted: 12 June 2018 at 9:06am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

Thank you.

It seems a shame. A Marvel UK reprint currently published a tale called SPIDER-MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS. Possibly apocryphal, it's a future timeline where Peter Parker, Mary Jane and their daughter are all wearing costumes, spinning webs and fighting evil.

If everyone is special, then no-one is special, I feel.

Some things had a certain logic about them, in my humble opinion, e.g. Kid Flash taking after his mentor or Jim Rhodes, who is a close friend of Tony Stark, borrowing some armour.

But the proliferation of web-slingers, Hulks and so many others in recent years has made the founding heroes seem less special. I may be over-thinking it.
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Daniel Gillotte
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Posted: 12 June 2018 at 9:32am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Jay, Barry and Kid Flash seemed tolerable. 100 Flashes or speedsters or whatever? Nope.

Superman, Supergirl, maybe Powergirl seem manageable.

Hulk and She-Hulk, OK, I guess especially with the more radical take on She-Hulk that emerged after the initial She-hulk run. The Hulk Lantern Corps? No thanks.

I think you can have lineage, legacy, family and make it work, OK but it's definitely slippery slope and creators should be careful in who they make one of many instead of a singular specimen.
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Wallace Sellars
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Posted: 12 June 2018 at 9:41am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

There should not be multiple Spider-MEN!
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Robbie Parry
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Posted: 12 June 2018 at 9:46am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Daniel, you articulated it better than I could have done.

It is a slippery slope. Kid Flash did seem logical and "organic". I suppose She-Hulk did, too. I never really had an issue with Spider-Woman, either.

But like you said, lineage, legacy, family, etc. 

I'm trying to work out how crowded it may have been if, during the Lee/Ditko era, we'd had Morales, Cindy Moon, etc, etc. 

I don't mind evil doppelgangers. Whole new ball game. A trope I love seeing in any long-running fiction. Preferably, I'd rather see ONE evil doppelganger per hero, though. 
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 12 June 2018 at 9:49am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

What boggles my mind is that not only is there a Red Hulk, but there was a Red She-Hulk!

Marvel, you can have this one for free: Blue Hulk.
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Ronald Joseph
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Posted: 12 June 2018 at 9:54am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Anyone remember the THOR CORPS? Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Dargo, and Eric Masterson? Four enchanted hammer-wielding heroes in one book!

The multiple Hulks (Agents of S.M.A.S.H. - really?) bothers me the most. Only because The Hulk is my favorite character.  
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Ronald Joseph
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Posted: 12 June 2018 at 9:59am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

Marvel, you can have this one for free: Blue Hulk.

Heh. You kid, but they kinda came close to that when Rick Jones became a blue Abomination - called A-Bomb! Remember him?
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John Popa
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Posted: 12 June 2018 at 10:17am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

It is a slippery slope. Kid Flash did seem logical and "organic". I suppose She-Hulk did, too. I never really had an issue with Spider-Woman, either

-----

To be fair, I think we tend to be ok with things that were already there when we got into comics, but much less so when it happens once we're 'in.'

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Robert Shepherd
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Posted: 12 June 2018 at 10:24am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

I almost never like derivatives. I get the whole sidekick craze, and I'm not opposed to having sidekicks for the heroes, but that still is not my preference. Given the choice between a Batman comic and a Batman & Robin comic, I'll choose the Batman comic first every time. Even as a kid, thats the way I preferred my books. And I never, ever bought a "family" book.

I do think derivatives are inevitable. Especially once writers go down the multi-verse path.

So yeah that means I can't stand all the Spider-Folk, or Hulk-Folk.

There are always exceptions:
Loved JBs She-Hulk
Really liked Beta-Ray Bill
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Daniel Gillotte
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Posted: 12 June 2018 at 10:46am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

I think "replacements" like Beta Ray Bill or even USAgent in Captain America give us a chance to see how somebody ELSE would be in that role and when done well shows JUST how special our hero really is. BUT, we don't, in comics, ditch characters much and so Beta Ray Bill and USAgent and Rhodey and and and live on and on.
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