I've been thinking about Batman, Green Arrow, and the Question. They've teamed up numerous times, beginning in a string of annuals published in 1988. They feel like the Super Friends Batman hangs out with when he's not with his own Bat family, or with Superman and Wonder Woman.
So I'm wondering: What second-best super friends teams can we build for Superman or Wonder Woman? Who would it be fun for these characters to have recurring teamups with?
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For Superman, my impulse was to start the team off with the Atom. Probably Ray Palmer, but maybe Ryan Choi -- it depends on the age of the other teammate. (If the third is younger, like Blue Beetle, I'd go with Ray in the Atom role. If the third is older, I'd bring in the younger Atom for some variety.)
I like that the Atom has a super-power Superman doesn't have, but with his microscopic vision, they can work as partners. And while the Bat/GA/Question trio are down-to-earth action heroes, I think that Superman's team could lean science-based. That said, we'll have scientific expertise with either Palmer or Choi, so I wouldn't want the next member of the team also to be a scientist, per se. So Mr. Terrific is out.
Or at least, that was my initial thinking. But maybe he should be in? Honestly, DC could do a lot worse than making an informal teamup of Mr. Terrific, Metamorpho, and Superman a regular thing. I think that's my (not very original) team! Different temperaments, different experitise, but a shared grounding in science and science-fiction! (Even though Metamorpho was transformed by magic, his element powers are explicitly science.)
And with that in mind -- continuing a team-up that already exisits -- here's the team I'd go with for Wonder Woman. This issue was wonderful, and I'd love to see more adventures of Wonder Woman, Zatanna, and Batgirl together!
Just as Batman's team is detective-based, and your Superman team is science-based, I like the WW trio here because it leans so heavy into magic. And Batgirl is necessary as the smart one who figures out who the heavy hitters should hit. Like with your Atom example, she has a power neither Zatanna nor Wonder Woman possess, as Oracle.
I can't think of better trios than the ones you mention. But in the spirit of World's Finest, what duos would we like to see?
If I can wax nostalgic to the '60s, I really am sorry we never got to see an ongoing Dr. Fate/Hourman. Starman/\Black Canary was interesting, but I don't feel quite as sad it didn't pan out. It seemed to li'l me that Wildcat's brief appearance in The Spectre suggested he was supposed to be Spectre's "Batman," but I've read since that the original idea was a Spectre/Dr. Mid-Nite ongoing team-up. (Which seems weird to me.) Of course, they quickly figured out that the Ghostly Guardian didn't need a partner, and making a punchy type useful to the Right Hand of God every issue would be an ongoing headache for the writer.
As we've discussed on this board before, there were plans for an ongoing Martian Manhunter/Green Arrow team-up. I don't think that would be all that different from the real World's Finest team, and MM was kind of a hodge-podge in those days, so I don't feel like I missed much.
Captain Atom/Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) would have been fun, and a nod to their Charlton origins. I wouldn't mind more Flash/Green Lantern team-ups, although I'd want the teams to be age-equal. If they used Wally, I'd want the GL to be Kyle. One of those a year would be cool. Three generations of Flash/GL in one adventure would be the bee's knees, but only for special occasions.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Stargirl/Red Arrow in Lost Children. I have to put my frontal lobe in neutral to accept that Oliver Queen's sister is a high schooler, but when I do she and Courtney seem to bounce off each other well.
This kind of breaks your theme, Mr. Staeger, but I've always had an idea floating around in the back of my mind for a team of outcasts, as it were. Please, bear with me here:
Lady Blackhawk (Zinda Blake).
Why an "outcast": Always the "odd 'man' out" with the Blackhawks, an honorary member but never really part of the team.
What she brings to the table: Aviation skill, proficient in hand-to-hand combat and with a side arm. Tactical leadership learnt from Blackhawk.
I see Miss Blake as the leader of this team. Not because, as other writers have done, just because she's a female and wanted that ticket punched, but because of the characters on my list, she has the most leadership skill and knowledge. And her toughness and grit are what holds the rest of these characters together.
Jonny Double.
Why an "outcast": He's an ex-cop and barely successful private eye, despite his talent for detective work. He works the "mean streets", associating with the lowest stratum of persons in our society.
What he brings to the table: His detective skills---he's the sleuth for the team. And he's tough, gutsy, and knows his way around the seamier side of life, with connexions that would come in handy.
Gregory Reed.
Why he's an "outcast": After being stereotyped as the man who portrayed Superman on television, he lost his career in Hollywood.
What he brings to the table: His acting skills and, obviously, his exact image of Superman. There would be times when his imposture as the Man of Steel would open doors in official channels. He's motivated by his desire to be a real hero, rather than just playing one on TV.
When I mentioned this idea on another forum a couple of decades ago, I got responses insisting that Reed was "just" an actor. I answered by pointing out that Hollywood starlet Hedy Lamarr co-invented a frequency-hopping system which prevented Naval torpedoes from being diverted by having their radio frequencies jammed; this frequency-hopping system led to spread-spectrum communications technology. And Paul WInchell (ventriloquist, comedian, and voice actor), who, with Henry Heimlich, developed the first artificial heart, for which he holds the patent, along with twenty-nine other patents. Not to mention Mayim Bialik, who holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience and Danica McKellar, an estimeed mathmatician with scores of lauded research papers and technological books under her belt. Actors, all.
So, it's not untoward that Gregory Reed would be more than "just an actor."
Monsieur Mallah.
(I know . . . I know . . . he's a villain, but hear me out.)
Why he's an "outcast": Obvious. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Evil for years.
What he brings to the table: His genius-level intellect and the agility and massive strength from being a gorilla.
The way I would write it is that Mallah's intelligence has finally made him realise that being on the side of good is better than being a villain. Thus, he's reformed. Or has he? Is he pursuing his own dark agenda by joining the team? Lady Blackhawk and Gregory Reed wouldn't be sure that Mallah is on the side of the angels, but are willing to give him a chance. But Jonny Double outright suspects him of having villainous motives and doesn't trust him as far as he could throw him. This would be the source of internal friction on the team. Even if Mallah has reformed, he would resent always being under a cloud of suspicion.
Lastly, I would include Doctor Occult as a recurring character. He's in his eighties now, so he's not going to be involved in any derring-do. But the team comes to him for consultation, especially when a case involves magic, or the suspicion of magic.
I really wish I had the imagination to put together workable plots because I think this idea really has merit.
I'll give some thought to those duos, Cap... but right now I'm thinking about a way to launch the Commander's team of outcasts, which sounds like a lot of fun!
To bring them together, I'd start with Johnny Double. He's an investigator, and I could see one of his cases taking him into Hollowood, where he could decide Gregory Reed is an honorable guy he can confide in. (Maybe it's his face.) Reed becomes Johnny's contact at the movie studio... and it looks like there's a smuggling operation going on (perhaps in equipment moving from country to country for second-unit and location shoots?). Trying to track that down, they enlist a moonlighting Zinda to shadow the flights, and do some investigating too. The evidence, somehow, leads to Monsieur Mallah -- and Double is determined to bring him down. But Reed believes in his innocence -- perhaps working with animal actors gives him some experience reading primate "tells," but for whatever reason, Reed believes him. Their partnership is about to fall apart when Zinda swoops in with new evidence exhonorating Mallah... and pointing to the real culprit!
As for Dr. Occult, I'd probably save him for the next story -- maybe he first approaches the new team as a client, and then remains available to help them out when his skills are appropriate.
I like the Commander's team, too. Add one more and they'd be a secret team of six people. If only we could think of a name ...
Where are they now?
M'sieu Mallah's last interpretation (or at least the last one I saw) depicted him and The Brain as both very evil -- and in love. Obviously platonic, since one of them is an ape and one of them is a brain in a jar. I think they died in that series, though, so we don't have to count it. If he's appeared since, I haven't read it. With this character, I'd want the Silver Age version, restored via "Rebirth."
Jonny Double last appeared in a four-issue miniseries in 1998. I read it back then, and from what little I remember, it aligned with the Silver Age version. No changes to worry about. If he's unavailable for some reason, sub in Johnny Peril.
Lady Blackhawk was brought to the present by Zero Hour, and eventually ended up with the Birds of Prey. And she was awesome! She was depicted as a tough '40s gal who could outdrink and out-bar-fight most guys, and had a swell time doing it. I loved her old-movies dialogue, and how she was always ready for a drink or a fight. I swear, I'd have bought a Lady Blackhawk solo book, she was so much fun. I think this version ignored most of her Silver Age continuity except occasional vague references, which was OK by me. (The Lady Shark bit did not age well.) She wasn't really leadership material in her Birds of Prey run, and I'd hate to lose that brash, Ted Grant-style characterization to make her a flinty, calculating boss type. There's plenty of those lying around, but only one 2007-style Zinda Blake. Maybe some compromise could be had.
Gregory Reed: The internet tells me his last appearance was in 1984, which sounds about right to me. Like with Jonny Double, we could pick and choose "what really happened" with any stories from the Bronze Age, and let his Silver Age persona stand. Any objections, and we shout "Rebirth" until they shut up.
His skills would be perfect for espionage, as we all know from Mission: Impossible.
Doctor Occult: He was in limbo after June 1938 until Marv Wolfman threw him into Crisis on Infinite Earths, and lo! Now he's a regular DCU character. At some point he suffered some injury where, in order to survive, he merged with Rose Psychic. (I'm not sure it was ever depicted. I think we were just told about it.) They have a Starhawk-type existence now, where sometimes "Doctor Occult" is Richard, and sometimes they're Rose. That all happened in Vertigo books, though, so I guess you could ignore it if you want to. But he still appears occasionally (he was in Justice League Unlimited recently), and is the same age he was in 1935. Must be that Symbol of the Seven business. If you want him to be 80 years old, that would be simple enough to arrange.
If you want him to be 80 years old, that would be simple enough to arrange.
I figure an accomplished sorcerer can be immortal or at least very long-lived if you want them to be
Great ideas all around here in this thread.
I find myself wondering if this could not be an annual event of some sort. Bear with me:
* As a starting point, one of the most experienced and best connected heroes (Superman, Batman, Flash, etc) returns home fresh from some important or at least demanding event - preferably some sort of team mission or team-up.
* After a brief moment of contemplation about how complex and varied are his duties and how much he welcomes his network of trusted allies, he quickly detours to a slight worry about what they are not quite capable or interested in focusing on right now.
* So his attention naturally wanders to other, less often seen trusted allies, some of which may be retired, inconvenienced, depowered or even just plain tired of living in the spotlight. Curiously enough, many of those happen to be characters that do not have a regular feature at that time.
* Some triggering event happens to motivate our core hero to immediately resume contact with a small group of those allies. It may be as simple as plain nostalgia, or as complex as a hazardous duty that he has been attempting to put aside until proper, more favorable conditions are met. Or he may be contacted himself by one of those people or by some sort of enemy or criminal. For an extra dose of human relevance content, have it involve an entirely logical yet unusual event such as (say) Lian Harper coming of age and finding out all of a sudden that she does not feel quite certain on how to deal with people who are not around superpowered people all the time. After a brief panic attack she realizes that she needs some unusual guidance and companionship and ask Roy, Ollie and/or Jade to organize the superpowered people equivalent of a combination Alateen group meeting / holiday camp / bounding activity for unusual teens. It happens and leads to a carefully curated measure of mutual interaction between one-time protagonists that just don't usually work together.
* All of those memories and newfound connections bring a variety of pending situations to the surface. How is Hawkman's legal situation regarding Thanagar? Can Dorie Evans be made aware of the truth about Firestorm? Can the Challengers of the Unknown be reunited again? Is it possible and worthwhile to pressure Jon, Damian and Trinity into spending some time around Lian? Hey, what if Mister Terrific can find a way to give Metamorpho full control of his powers? Are we sure that Koriand'r is in healthy mental state and well resolved about her people being galaxies away? Shouldn't the heroes of Earth try to spare some time listening to Swamp Thing about the planet's state and ways ahead? Perhaps at least one of the many current Clayfaces deserves a bit more attention and perhaps a cure?
The basic idea is of a socially-motivated sporadic event that connects to a very specific mission that is by nature related to the very existence of superbeings. It does _not_ lead to a regular superteam for any reason - perhaps simple lack of continued availability of each member, perhaps sheer lack of interest in working together with any regularity, or even emotional pending issues among some members (_can_ Starfire, Nightwing, Oracle, Catwoman, Animal Man and Captain Comet work together without a very clear and limited mission?)
For bonus points, have a series of annual meetings with evolving situations of specific characters.
The "team of outcasts" idea sounds a whole lot like Danger Street.
I recognize a handful of those characters. I suspect that someone emptied out the back of DC's "character closet".
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