Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login
Commissioned Artwork
Byrne Robotics > Commissioned Artwork << Prev Page of 12 Next >>
Topic: Insert Appropriate Freddie Mercury Reference - 05.05.07 Post ReplyPost New Topic
Author
Message
Kevin Hagerman
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 15 April 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 18041
Posted: 05 May 2007 at 11:33pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

C'mon, guys!  Sentinels crush everything they pick up!  It's as if you think Gabe is trying to make trouble!
Back to Top profile | search
 
Kevin Hagerman
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 15 April 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 18041
Posted: 05 May 2007 at 11:42pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Here's Marvel Girl being crushed by a Sentinel:

Oh, and let's not forget that time Cyclops was crushed by a Sentinel.

At least they use that anesthetic gas so the pain isn't too bad.  Mean ol' We-Only-Know-How-To-Crush Sentinels.

Back to Top profile | search
 
Brian Hague
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 14 November 2006
Posts: 8515
Posted: 06 May 2007 at 12:34am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

Chad, while I appreciate the work you're going to in order to sell the idea of the Champions as a potentially cohesive unit, the idea has always been "random character stew" and not a particularly appetizing serving of it.

The JSA shared the commonality of being the only ones who did what they did at the time they did it.  Roy Thomas took this to ridiculous extremes in All-Star Squadron, including every possible hero of that era in the team, but the basis of the JSA from the start was essentially a club for men (with the occassional exception) who underwent extraordinary adventures.  That was the unifying principle.

Other teams that have been cobbled together with existing characters retain a far greater sense of unity than the Champions.  Titans West is made up of characters who have all interacted with the main team in some capacity or another and have therefore seen the benefits in forming an association.  Avengers West Coast (for which the Champions was a sort of rough template) are all former Avengers, or people who certainly could have been.  Giving the team the Avengers franchise made them instantly credible, with all of the same reasons for staying together the main team had.

An itinerant Olympian god, a professional super-hero love interest currently between men, two random X-Men, a do-gooder hellspawn, the tried-and-true brother/sister combo (now with Russian accents), and assorted second-stringers do not a team nor a team concept make.  I much preferred Mantlo's original concept of two X-Men on a road trip.  It was a bit derivative, but it would have been fun, watching them tool about, Route 66 style, picking up various hitchhiking heroes-at-loose-ends, teaming up, maybe leaving them behind.  You could even wind up with exactly the same line-up and have had a much better time getting there...

A related question: Why do heoroes and teams that headquarter themselves in New York and the East Coast seem so much more "authentic" than those that hang out in sunny California?



Edited by Brian Hague on 06 May 2007 at 12:41am
Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Brian Hague
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 14 November 2006
Posts: 8515
Posted: 06 May 2007 at 12:36am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

But the Whizzer is cool.  There should be no question of that. Pure, undiluted super-hero, served up straight, without apology.  Fun stuff.
Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Michael Connell
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 13 January 2006
Posts: 4026
Posted: 06 May 2007 at 1:59am | IP Logged | 5 post reply


 QUOTE:

A related question: Why do heoroes and teams that headquarter themselves in New York and the East Coast seem so much more "authentic" than those that hang out in sunny California?

I've often wondered a similar question myself Brian,  why do all of the west coast super-teams seem to fail?  Of course it could be worse, here in Florida all we had was the Man-Thing.

 

Back to Top profile | search
 
Wayde Murray
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 14 October 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 3115
Posted: 06 May 2007 at 4:03am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

The series was conceived by Tony Isabella, not Bill Mantlo. Scott Tipton over at comics101 just did a retrospective on the Champions a while back. Read it here for a fun bit of nostalgia, or to find out more about the team if you're considering going after the back issues (in whatever format).

Nice commission. You're a lucky guy, Wayne.

JB, that bit about the "handsome" Ghost Rider was definitely a back-handed compliment. I always thought you made him look suitably creepy.


Back to Top profile | search
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133349
Posted: 06 May 2007 at 4:51am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

The series was conceived by Tony Isabella, not Bill
Mantlo.

***

I've looked for a post where someone says
otherwise, and can't find one. Where is it?
Back to Top profile | search
 
Brian Hague
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 14 November 2006
Posts: 8515
Posted: 06 May 2007 at 4:58am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

MIchael, you got to have nice weather, Disneyworld and the Universal Studios Theme Park.  And Yancy Butler in the short-lived TV series South Beach.  Having super-heroes on top of all that would've been too, too much. Besides, didn't Rex the Wonder Dog wind up in Florida?

And Wayde, my apologies for misremembering Mantlo's involvement with the team's creation.

Sorry, JB.  That would've been me, making a sideway's comment about "Mantlo's original concept" in the midst of all my yammering.



Edited by Brian Hague on 06 May 2007 at 5:07am
Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133349
Posted: 06 May 2007 at 5:15am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

Thanks.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Chad Carter
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 16 June 2005
Posts: 9584
Posted: 06 May 2007 at 10:10am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

A related question: Why do heoroes and teams that headquarter themselves in New York and the East Coast seem so much more "authentic" than those that hang out in sunny California?


I'm curious myself. I keep thinking most of the East Coast heroes are in cold weather cities. They stand out against the relative "conservative" lifestyle there.

On the West Coast, from Vegas on to LA, it's a carnival. You almost need a "straight man" hero to stand out in an ocean of beautiful failures and pop culture graveyards. It's probably next to impossible to avoid Vegas or LA on the West Coast. Daredevil spent some time in San Francisco in the 70s, but that wasn't really a fit. DD didn't even have many tall buildings to swing on.

 

As far as it goes about the Champions, I'm just saying that there's nothing that cannot work. My view is that, even in a team book, everybody gets a "favorite". You're on the lookout for that character and you're willing to endure characters you may not like as much. Regardless, every character has a story, a fictional life. You tap into that, and the world doesn't seem quite so huge nor the disparity between an Olympian and a Russian so wide.

I don't think the Champions dogpile is any worse than what's going on now, with "teams" constructed for the "cool factor" that isn't so cool. Omega Flight anyone?

Back to Top profile | search
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133349
Posted: 06 May 2007 at 10:15am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Let's see how long Omega Flight lasts, shall we?
Back to Top profile | search
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133349
Posted: 06 May 2007 at 10:16am | IP Logged | 12 post reply



Ah, the flopped-plates issue!
Back to Top profile | search
 

<< Prev Page of 12 Next >>
  Post ReplyPost New Topic
Printable version Printable version

Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login