Say You're Given the Chance to Re-Write Any Superhero...

[Xallace]

...which one do you choose? Why? Is there anything in particular you would do with your story?

[Finn Solomon]

Spider-Man. Reverse the events of One More Day. After that I would immediately quit and hand over the reins to another writer, but not before punching Joe Quesada in the face.

Seriously though, I'd want to explore Death from the Sandman series. I'd love to do various stories like Death meeting JFK after the assassination, Stalin's victims, Jesus on the Cross, etc. I've always been interested in historical fiction, and Death is my favourite comic character of all time.

[Bluelantern]

Gailman din't gave too much about Death to sort keep the character valuable.

If I coul re-write a character? damn... there is so much yaoi potential.

[Tirian]

I'd get Barbara Gordon out of the wheelchair. It's intolerable that she should be permanently crippled in a universe with magic and resurrection on demand.

[Bluelantern]

I'd get Barbara Gordon out of the wheelchair. It's intolerable that she should be permanently crippled in a universe with magic and resurrection on demand.

Add that to anyone with any problem actually. It just doesn't make any sense that Rogue has a problem with touching someone with the dozens and dozens of methods to stop mutants powers.

[Revlid]

Ghost Rider. My god, Ghost Rider.

0) I'd like to set it in the Ultimate Universe. Ignoring everything past Ultimates 2 and ~X-Men Vol. 10, of course. Ultimate Spider-Man continuity, essentially.

1) Streamline the backstory. Blaze isn't the adopted son of his uncle who sells his soul to save his best friend, only for him to die anyway, and Blaze to be saved by Roxanne's faith/a renegade angel, and then stuff happens blah blah skeleton on fire on bike what. A bit closer to the films, thank you.

2) Establish a (somewhat) more solid recurring cast and themes - Crash, Roxanne, and Doctor Strange are good candidates for the cast, while humanity, faith, and borders are good examples of themes.

3) Utilise the plot device of Johnny Blaze moving around with his stunt-biking act to go to different, interesting places. The Ghost Rider can ride between worlds, but Blaze has an identity to preserve. Whether fighting Shoggoths at an Alaskan gig or recapturing a djinni while performing for the troops, Johnny can head almost anywhere, geographically.

4) Properly lay out the purpose and history of the Ghost Rider (to return escaped souls and demons to Hell, and act upon the wishes of his master, Mephistopheles)/Zarathos, as well as the mythic cosmology of the universe, which would be rather Sandman-esque. The series may center on the creatures of christian mythology, but the universe doesn't, allowing for Mephistopheles hiring Blaze out to the fairies to hunt down a missing changeling, or Blaze clashing with Shinigami over a lost soul that ostensibly belongs to Hell.

5) Create and/or reimagine villains that are a credible and suitable threat to Blaze/Ghost Rider. The Ultimates are super-powered military who fight super-powered military threats. The X-Men are mutants who fight mutants and anti-mutants. Spider-Man is an accidental superhuman who fights accidental superhumans. Ghost Rider is a magical hero who fights... muggers? No.

5.5) Make Mephisto a Chessmaster Magnificent Bastard, a Duke of Hell who's really the most understanding of how humanity works. As opposed to a Deus Ex Machina in the form of a Halloween Devil. And he is nothing compared to Lucifer himself.

6) Thank god the 90s are over, and take advantage of this. Humour should be present (something the Nick Cage movie got right, if little else), and Johnny Blaze will not wax poetical about his state. Of course there'll be angst, because this guy sold his soul for nothing but a hellish night-shift job. But Blaze isn't the kind of guy who'll talk about the blackness of his soul, besmirched by the hatred of an uncaring universe. He'll be griping about how his head is on fire while kicking the Straw Man in the face.

Lots of other stuff. I'd love to write Ultimate Ghost Rider. I have the story arcs planned(ish) out and everything. :smallbiggrin:

[Finn Solomon]

^ Get this man in touch with Marvel, immediately!

[Jayngfet]

I'd make pixie's recent beating harder to get through, it should take more than four pages to get past something like that.

[chiasaur11]

ROM, SPACEKNIGHT!

Mainly, I'd just want to get him back into continuity.

Anything else is delicious gravy.

[Revlid]

ROM, SPACEKNIGHT!

Mainly, I'd just want to get him back into continuity.

Anything else is delicious gravy.

Rom is in continuity. He appeared at Rick Jones' wedding, and made an appearance (iirc) in the most recent Captain Marvel series. Or possibly Annihilation, I can't recall.

[Ecalsneerg]

Spider-Man. Reverse the events of One More Day. After that I would immediately quit and hand over the reins to another writer, but not before punching Joe Quesada in the face.
This, but I wouldn't use my fists...

I'd actually re-do Superman. I liked what they did post-Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Super-family were in general handled quite well, he wasn't uber-powerful and yet he was still everyone's favourite big blue boyscout.

Of late, we've seen millions of Kryptonians appear, including a super-powered dog, and 'Superman stops holding back' seems to have become a common Deus Ex Machina, made worse when he actually fails to stop something then 'stops holding back.' Superman is not that insecure of himself as to screw up in that particular way.

So, Supergirl is gone, as is Krypto, New Krypton, etc etc. I like the Phantom Zone villains, I like Power Girl as an alternative to Supergirl (last son of Krypton and the last daughter of pre-Crisis Earth-2? Sounds OK to me) and Superboy post-Crisis is cool. Lex Luthor cloning Superman isn't just plausible, it's likely. Bring him back.

I'd also define an upper limit to his capabilities, but still keep him as one of the most powerful guys on Earth. He is Superman after all.

Oh, and anyone even suggesting he can keep pace with any of the Flashes will be someone to mock in this rebooting :smalltongue:

[Tirian]

Oh, and anyone even suggesting he can keep pace with any of the Flashes will be someone to mock in this rebooting :smalltongue:

Sheesh, I hope no one is being taken seriously even without your excellent work. (I miss Matrix. *sniff*) Wally beat Clark in the ubiquitous around-the-world race even before he found the Speed Force. Superman is fast, but Flash is FAST.

[chiasaur11]

Rom is in continuity. He appeared at Rick Jones' wedding, and made an appearance (iirc) in the most recent Captain Marvel series. Or possibly Annihilation, I can't recall.

You're right, but I meant active appearances. You know, like a much, much better ending to Secret Invasion.

[Revlid]

You're right, but I meant active appearances. You know, like a much, much better ending to Secret Invasion.

...Why aren't you working at Marvel?

[Yulian]

He'll be griping about how his head is on fire while kicking the Straw Man in the face.



Hey! Straw Man is a hero! He is also totally awesome. I mean, he's a supernatural Fear Lord who not only is an ally to humanity, but runs a horror-themed TV network in his spare time. What's not to love?

But such a tough call on who to rewrite.

Before Straczynski rebooted the title, I would have said Thor, but he's hitting all the notes I wanted to change. It's mythic, more about the gods themselves, who and what they are.

I'd have to say...Captain America. It always struck me as odd that someone so patriotic was so...politically unmotivated. Think of him as Green Arrow from the other side. First, fix the death. Easy.

He cut a deal with Tony to fake his death. Notice the special dispensation given Winter Bucky? Why would Stark have done that? Simple. Cap needed a way out. Bucky is now the public face of Captain America, he's learning how hard it is to be that symbol, and how much tempation there is to abuse it, to let your morals fall to the wayside.

Make the book dual-focused. Winter Bucky and Steve.

Steve is free. But he's got some soul-searching to do. Where did it all go wrong? How could his idea of freedom and support of the superheroes go, in his eyes, so wrong and endanger the public? Send him off to "find America", like Green Arrow in the 70s. He can tackle real, current social issues. He can travel the nation, meeting people, helping them, and sometimes failing or having to accept that all the nation's problems can't be fixed so easily.

He can deal with drug-dealers in areas or crushing poverty and the sad fact that for some people, it's almost the only way out. He can see the still-damaged New Orleans, he can go to Detroit for adventures in the urban wasteland. He can come up against your typical racists, but how about an all-black hate group? How does he cope with that?

Make him a legend again. A man on a motorcycle with a satchel at his side, taking odd jobs, seeing where the USA has gone wrong, and trying to set it right. Take him out of the big, superheroic action for a while. Oh, throw in the occasional Sons of the Serpent encounter, or the odd rampaging robot, but make it mostly about a man finding out what it means to be an American. He can use his original shield (I'm sure it can be/was fixed after Hyde crushed it) and make him have to do his own upkeep on equipment and costume. Make it a little grittier, but also more "real". He isn't always clean and shiny. He has to fix his own armoured costume, has to buff the occasional ding out of the shield, work on his own bike. make it an ongoing metaphor for the state of the nation.

Maybe throw in some old friends. What's Diamondback up to, lately?

As for Winter Bucky...he's the symbol. He's the superhero. And he'll have to learn what that means. Captain America is looked up to by everyone, and he's not that man. But he knew that man...he has to find a way to balance the symbol and the man he knew with the man he is, and who he wants to become. He'll have to learn that he can't be that person 24/7. That living as a mere symbol isn't enough and that, displaced in time (more or less, from all the cryo) he needs, desperately, to build a life for himself as well as a reputation. Who is he now? He has to go through the same struggle Steve did when he awakened, and he can't access Steve's wisdom on that end.

How does he deal with the media culture we have now? How does he deal with a world where our wars seem less justified? How about a black President? Unimaginable in his time...but then, why doesn't it seem like racism is dead? How does he feel about what Germany has now become? Japan? Russia? How about dealing with USAgent after the Civil War? How about the Initiative? Will he take a stand? Will he make any public statements? Really explore that more thoroughly. How does the public react to this new, somewhat harsher Cap? Will they even accept another?

First issue cover: vertical split. Steve on the right, Bucky on the left. Each facing outwards, each looking determined, each with their own (now different) shields extending past the split, so they seem to merge in the middle, the straight stripes contrasting the curved ones, make sure the central star on each overlap into one star in the center.

- Yulian

[TheEmerged]

The problem with mine is that it was done recently -- The Freedom Fighters (Uncle Sam, Black Condor, The Ray, Human Bomb, Doll Man, Phantom Lady, and other minor golden age characters). At first, it was actually done well -- and then the guy who got the next miniseries didn't seem to have read the first one (several of the characters were *badly* out of established character).

I *liked* Black Condor being portrayed as being equal in power to Uncle Sam (since they're both the epitome of their nation). I liked the new Doll Man and could tolerate the new Phantom Lady & Human Bomb (but Human Bomb should have been Damage, end of discussion).

[Revlid]

Hey! Straw Man is a hero! He is also totally awesome. I mean, he's a supernatural Fear Lord who not only is an ally to humanity, but runs a horror-themed TV network in his spare time. What's not to love?

Ultimate-universe, so nah-nah-nah-nah-nah to previously established continuity! :smalltongue: This Straw Man is basically a cross between the actual Straw Man and the Marvel Scarecrow.

For me the Straw Man is an old, old god - perhaps an African or European spirit of the harvest who also served as a boogeyman - who fell when Christianity came along. He ended up becoming enslaved by Mephistopheles (perhaps through a deal gone wrong - Mephisto's distinctive method) and acts as a demonic "Hound" - hunting souls and lesser spirits in Hell for Mephisto's amusement. When Mephisto decides to punish/kill/test the Ghost Rider, he sends the Straw Man to Earth, using the corpse of a contortionist from Blaze's old circus as a vessel.
Looking a bit like (http://glennhager.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/straw-man.jpg)this (http://i12.ebayimg.com/07/i/001/1f/a3/ac3a_1.JPG), only more corpsey and demonic, the Straw Man hunts down Blaze and fights him with a variety of fear themed powers before finally being destroyed - straw burns well. The fact that he knew the guy leads him to distance himself from Roxanne and Crash, as he begins to realise how much danger he might be putting them in just by existing around them - perhaps what Mephisto (http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/6/20/justasplanne128584548650291636.jpg)wanted all along. This is all fairly early on (like, the third arc? maybe?)

Much later, the Straw Man returns, empowered by Nightmare (who would be introduced earlier, in an Ultimate Dr.Strange/Ghost Rider team-up), and goes on a Dr. Destiny-style jaunt throughout the city (scary movies in the cinema, a mugging in a dark alley, the sudden terror of a car crash, underneath a child's bed...) to regain some power - he finally ends up fighting Blaze after growing powerful enough that he breaks out of his corpsey shell and becomes a huge monster, empowered by fear, who ends up swallowing Blaze in the course of their fight (largely accidentally). Blaze goes on a fear-induced hallucination journey with the (then-deceased) Caretaker as his stereotypical spirit guide, and bursts out of the gigantic Straw Man's 'stomach' in a storm of hellfire and burning rubber just as he completes his inner journey.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I'd kind of like to say Hawkman...just to get the continuity straight (Geoff Johns did a good job wrapping it all up, but nothing was thrown out).

[Fjolnir]

I wouldn't have brought back the missing heroes that were captured in the secret invasion, splitting the focus of the MU between the current threat (Dark Reign) and "where did all these people GO?!" eventually some of the charecters would return (giant man, invisible woman) but for the most part they would disappear from the marvel universe completely, allowing the universe to regain its focus from its collective massive jumble (M-day, Civil War, WWH and Secret Invasion are all supposed to have happened within a fairly short time since Hank Pym was supposedly captured preM-day) and creating a reserve of heroes to reintroduce once the crapstorm slows down, because honestly there are too many people running around with stupor powers anyhow, and any reduction in that group is a good thing

[Vic_Sage]

ROM, SPACEKNIGHT!

Mainly, I'd just want to get him back into continuity.

Anything else is delicious gravy.
Gotta wait till the legal issues with Hasbro (I think it was Hasbro) are straightened out before ROM makes a comeback.

[alchemyprime]

Damn... who would I re-write?

I know... I'd do to the Marvel Universe what Stan Lee did in Just Imagine... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Imagine...). But also kinda like the Tangent comics... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangent_Comics)

So let's see... I'll redo 10 Marvel heroes like Stan did to DC. Make it a fun Alt. U. I suppose. I love the originals, do not get me wrong, but this is just for fun.

Captain America- Steve Barnes entered the Navy and was positioned at Pearl Harbor. He was killed during the attack on December 7th, 1941. A vision of a woman wrapped in a large American flag so she could not be seen appeared to him. She told him that he was destined for great things. This was the Spirit of America, and she granted Steve Barnes the ability to protect America. He was given the Red Flame of War, granting him increased strength and allowing him to shoot concussive force from his hands, the White Flame of Peace, allowing him to fly and heal others, and the Blue Flame of Freedom, allowing him to run as fast as the "wind over the Great Plains" and to call upon to knowledge of past Americans. Taking up a name for himself, realizing he no longer looks like Steve Barnes but rather an amalgam of the faces on Mount Rushmore, and creating from his flames a proper uniform of red, white and blue, he has dubbed himself Captain America!

Peter Ben Parker: Spider-Man- Benjamin Parker is down on his luck. He has a wife and nephew to take care of and his business has just gone down the drain. All seems lost until a man calling himself Michael Dormammu offers him a new job administering drugs to test subjects. All is well until he is overcome by a rare blood disease. Ben takes an experimental medication to try to defeat the disease, and it reacts with his physiology to allow him to be able to control arachnids telepathically. He calls himself Spider-Man and becomes an exterminator and part time hero.

The Fantastic Four Five- Richard Storm, an astronaut working for NASA, was called in by SHIELD to test their newest space craft separate from NASA, to be used by The American Valiant Enhanced Network: Genetic and/or Exceptional Reactionary Squad, or AVENGERS. However, the shielding on the ship was insufficient and the ship was damaged on reentry. Richard was the only survivor and went insane. His own mutant genes awakened and had an odd reaction with his newly formed split personality: when Richard was in control, he could control any nearby liquid; when the egocentric Johnny was in control, he could cause people's own sins to cause physical burns across their body; when the female Alicia was in control, he/she could fly and cause people to loose their memory of the past few hours; as the grim and pessimistic Benjamin, he was a powerful telekinetic. However, a final personality, the villainous Victor, arose. As Victor, he had complete understanding of people, machines, and how to manipulate his ever changing genome. The other four have become set on stopping Victor's plans and trying to make sure that no one get hurt by "our hands and Victor's mind."

Iron Man- Young Anthony Stiles was born with a heart condition. His father, a brilliant but underfunded researcher and inventor named Howard Stiles, put in his son an artificial heart of his own design. When his father was killed, Anthony and his close friend James "Rhody" Rhodes, at this point a lawyer and a surgeon respectively, find his father's last possession: a replacement heart for Anthony, so that he would no longer need the bi-yearly surgeries to keep his artificial heart running. Rhody and Anthony put in the new heart, which increases Anthony's strength, speed and agility 100 fold. When the criminals who killed his father come after Anthony for the heart, the other failsafe is activated: a genetic replacement code that allows Anthony, using the password "I Am Iron Man", after his favorite song as a teen, to become bullet-proof and able to control metal with his mind. He dons a suit of armor custom made and becomes the world saving hero Iron Man.

The Incredible Hulk(s)- Twins Steven and Bruce Banner were two trouble making teens in New Mexico that accidentally stumbled across an ancient Mayan temple. Exploring it and defacing it, the two were struck with a curse by the gods Itzamna in Bruce and Ah-Puch in Steven. Now, when Steven calls out for help, Bruce becomes a large reptilian creature of great wisdom and caring and great strength, while when Bruce calls for help, Steve becomes a cruel and swift creature that looks like an oversized necrotic avian humanoid. The two have become wanderers, trying to find a place that will accept two incredible, yet fearsome, Hulks.

The Mighty Thor- Donald Blake was an eccentric billionaire with an obsession with occult artifacts. After finding the legendary hammer of Thor, he lifted, only to find that it was a source of great energy, not power. The hammer fell apart, revealing a small orb of light that arced with energy. Blake creates a suit fo robotic armor powered by the "hammer", calling himself Thor after the Thunder God.

Doctor Strange- A researcher for Ancient Pharmecuticals, Doctor Maxwell Strange had developed many a new drug. His formula using spider genetics and venom to cause the body to repair its red blood cells was stolen by the head of Mordo Pharmecuticals, Michael Dormammu, and Strange was outraged. In an act of desperation, he created a poison and tried to use it on DOrmammu while he slept, though Dormammu woke up. The two fought, and the syringe ended up in Strange's heart, fully injected. He was tossed into a river by the security of Dormammu's house and left for dead. When Strange awoke, he found himself in the best condition of his life. He saw his body did what he wanted, as did the bodies of others, beyond what should be possible. Presumed dead and gone for a whole year, Maxwell Strange now goes out with a team of super-powered youth and enhanced animals made by his powers to fight the evils caused by Dormammu Pharmecuticals.

The X-Men- Roughly five years ago, seven individuals were altered by the powers of Maxwell Strange. They were Scott Summers, a blind youth that had one eye regenerated and given sight beyond what humans are used to, allowing him to see one second into the future, and in every part of the electromagnetic spectrum. He was given the code name of Cyclops. Jean Grey was given deep violet skin, the ability to cling to walls and increased agility, as well as echolocation. She became Nightcrawler. One youth was fused with a wolverine, giving him the relative agility and strength, as well as the claws of, the wolverine, but erased her name from her memory. She is now called Howlett. Kurt Wagner was given enhanced strength and the ability to grow bone spikes from his fast healing flesh. He is called Havok. Young Anna Marie gained the power to stretch like a rubber band by having her cells replaced by bacterial stacks. She calls herself Marvel Girl. Charles Xavier, a youth whose legs were injured before the influence of Strange, was fused with an elephant, given the ability to grow to elephant size, as well as grow the tusks of an elephant and use of his legs back, though he cannot jump. He is the Juggernaut. Finally, Bobby Drake was given leech like suckers on his wrists and the ability to squeeze and flatten his bones and organs without any damage, being able to become five cells thick if need be, though it causes pain. He is the Rogue. They were given a mission by Strange: as you are no longer human, you must protect humans both from metahumans and themselves. You must rise above what you expect to be. With this in mind, they took the name Anna Mari came up with: X-Men, though she meant Ex-men.

AvengersA.V.E.N.G.E.R.S The American Valiant Enhanced Network: Genetic and/or Exceptional Reactionary Squad, formed by former Vice President Nick Fury and Head of SHIELD General Marvin Vell, called General Marvel by some, is a strike force of individuals recruited to protect America. Their members include:

Carol Danvers, wielder of the Elemental Ring which allows her to control Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Life, Death, and any combination she can find. In truth the "Ring" is another Asgardian artifact, used by the peoples as a terraforming tool.
Anthony Stiles, better known as Iron Man,
Steve Barnes, called Captain America by many,
Donald Blake, the technical genius called Thor,
Julia Drew, a who was infused with the powers of the Greek god Phobetor allowing her to psychically infuse into people images of fear and to turn into a six armed form giving her the named Spider-Woman,
Janet Pym, who has created a set special robotic exoskeletons for herself called Surtur (The fire giant of Norse myth, intended for high heat scenarios), Thrym (the frost giant of Norse legend, made for low temperature excursions), Ahsonnutli (the wind giant from Native American legend, made for aerial battles), Hecatoncheries (after the hundred handed giant of Greek legend, for heavy artillery, named for its over one hundred seperate weapons), Freya (the Norse goddess of love, her general scenario suit), and Aegir (the Norse god of water, made for aquatic battles.) Her giant exoskeletons has earned her the name Giant Woman.
Henry "Hank" Van Dyne Jr., who was genetically altered by his father Henry the first to have animal DNA mixed with his own, has the relative speed of a wasp, the wings of a wasp, and was given by Blake and Pym a gun that shoots poisoned darts (called Wasp Stings), helping him gain his named of Wasp.
Various other members, including Irish immigrant Thomas O'Grady, who's speed, agility, strength and costume has given him the codename Black Panther, the nano-machine infused surfing legend Norman Rogers or the teleporting, super fast, airborne Silver Surfer, and the Charles "Chucky" Handler, the 3-D Man, who can become the super strong Red 3-D Man, the super fast Green 3-D Man or the mixed Red and Green 3-D Man with a thought.



I'll do whatever other ones people ask me about too.

[Fjolnir]

personally I'd like to see the A.V.E.N.G.E.R.S. of that universe, it seems like that might be the goldmine

[alchemyprime]

Hm... this isn't the right thing to do, buuuut....


SUPER-RE-WRITE BUMP!
:smalltongue:

Hm... What do people think of my freaky changed Marvel?

[Fjolnir]

I personally don't like the x/ex-men concept, or your treatment of dr strange however I do like the idea of using a modified norse mythos to describe a vast majority of the world they're in

[Ecalsneerg]

Sheesh, I hope no one is being taken seriously even without your excellent work. (I miss Matrix. *sniff*) Wally beat Clark in the ubiquitous around-the-world race even before he found the Speed Force. Superman is fast, but Flash is FAST.

It's not really in the comics (although they did often tease us with unresolved races), it's just the fanboys who keep saying stuff like that which annoy me. Flash needs to get more credit.

And I wanted to do something with Matrix, but she's not really in non-comics media so I don't know too much about her, and it was very convoluted-looking on Wikipedia. I don't want to completely re-do Supes, just define him better. One thing I forgot to put in his how writers occassionally have the contradictory points of view that he feels like an outsider because of his powers, or accepted as a human being. I'm going for the latter one in this re-definition, because Batman should be the outsidery-y, 'emo' one, Superman has a very positive outlook.

[alchemyprime]

I personally don't like the x/ex-men concept, or your treatment of dr strange however I do like the idea of using a modified norse mythos to describe a vast majority of the world they're in

Well, I was trying to avoid the "Sorcerer Supreme" image, and for some reason thought it'd be cool to have Doctor Strange and Spider-Man have linked origins. I really love the original Doctor Strange, but decided to make him another chemical hero. Also, when I first heard of X-Men when I was five I did misinterpret it as Ex-Men, like they weren't men anymore but something different. So I've kind of always had the idea of people no longer human in my head about them.

Yeah, I figured this 'verse should have no real Asgardian gods. Kind of like how Ms. Marvel and Thor use the Asgardian artifacts while Giant Woman draws from thier mythology to make her giant robots.

[Morchaint]

I would rewrite charles xavier with a on off switch for his mental abilites, so if he wanted to go walking around he could. but to use his mental abilities he'd have to sit down or something. and give him hair or something.

[WitchSlayer]

It's not really in the comics (although they did often tease us with unresolved races), it's just the fanboys who keep saying stuff like that which annoy me. Flash needs to get more credit.

And I wanted to do something with Matrix, but she's not really in non-comics media so I don't know too much about her, and it was very convoluted-looking on Wikipedia. I don't want to completely re-do Supes, just define him better. One thing I forgot to put in his how writers occassionally have the contradictory points of view that he feels like an outsider because of his powers, or accepted as a human being. I'm going for the latter one in this re-definition, because Batman should be the outsidery-y, 'emo' one, Superman has a very positive outlook.

Seconded, I always liked the fact that Batman was the one who was human, but on the outside, and that the alien, Superman, always seemed human.

Also, post-speedforce Wally also had a "race" with Superman, except this time Superman and Jay Garrick (The original Flash) were trying to catch Wally when Abra Kadabra took control of his muscles. Jay said that he was keeping Wally slow so that they could actually stand a chance to catch him.

As for re-writing, I would redo the Batman/Superman friendship, as of late they don't seem very... Friendly towards eachother, it doesn't help that batfans call for Superman's blood 24/7, as if Dark Knight Returns was canon.

[archon_huskie]

Green Arrow I

I throw Green Arrow vol 2 #75 out.

Here is why. In #75, the series is ending. (to be replaced by Green Arrow I (GA1) and Black Canary (BC)). To close this book GA and BC are fighting Deathstroke while Green Arrow II (GA2) and Speedy 2 (S2) are fighting Damon.

This is the final book the series. It takes place after GA1, GA2, S2 have undergone intense training and GA2 has been enhanced by the blood of a mythical Chinese Dragon. All of our heroes are losing their respective battles, GA1 is even begging Deathstroke to kill him and to let BC go, when they are saved by the Justice League. Deathstroke and Damon both escape after using a bomb that weakens every member of the Justice League.

Yes. Issue 75 is getting rewritten.

[Tirian]

And I wanted to do something with Matrix, but she's not really in non-comics media so I don't know too much about her, and it was very convoluted-looking on Wikipedia. I don't want to completely re-do Supes, just define him better.

It's a shame that the early post-Crisis years aren't bound into graphic novels, because they were a great ride.

Long story short, Matrix was a nigh-invulnerable shapeshifter created by the (not evil) Lex Luthor of another universe to battle that universe's Zod because that universe didn't have a Superman. Eventually, "our" Superman chose to murder(!) the evil Kryptonians because they destroyed life on that Earth and threatened to find a way to make it to the "real" universe, and he brought Mae back with him. Because of her history, she fell in love with our Lex Luthor II (his "father" was dead at the time) and spent several years impervious to any evidence that he was an evil scumbag.

[Ecalsneerg]

As for re-writing, I would redo the Batman/Superman friendship, as of late they don't seem very... Friendly towards eachother, it doesn't help that batfans call for Superman's blood 24/7, as if Dark Knight Returns was canon.
But... (http://shortpacked.com/d/20080922.html)


Long story short, Matrix was a nigh-invulnerable shapeshifter created by the (not evil) Lex Luthor of another universe to battle that universe's Zod because that universe didn't have a Superman. Eventually, "our" Superman chose to murder(!) the evil Kryptonians because they destroyed life on that Earth and threatened to find a way to make it to the "real" universe, and he brought Mae back with him. Because of her history, she fell in love with our Lex Luthor II (his "father" was dead at the time) and spent several years impervious to any evidence that he was an evil scumbag.
Then there was the whole Linda Danvers thing and becoming an angel for some reason... I could see me including her in the rewrite, but probably not for more than one arc. I like the idea, but not enough for a prolonged presence in continuity.

[penguinreich]

I don't really know if this goes beyond what this particular thread is asking but whatever. Not being able to pick a hero to change (I just thought of Aquaman but it's too late now isn't it?) I've decided to put in my two cents for what I'd do to an entire comic universe! How about the Marvel one? Why not?!

Alright so I know I'm probably going against the grain here but in my opinion magic sort of ruins comics books. Alright so maybe ruins is a harsh word, but it really just mucks everything up. Here me out alright? So far comic books have done a piss poor job of not abusing the magic they have in their Universes as a cheap source deus ex machina. Crazy misadventure that leaves the world in shambles? Doc Strange can totally just clean that up for everyone. Take that consequences and compelling storytelling! Not to knock on the good Doctor of course, he might just be my favorite characters. Alien invasion? Where are the gods? Shouldn't they be involved in protecting earth? (Yes I know the Norse gods fought the Skrull gods once, but that's only once) Captain America is shot dead? Where's the magic to bring him back? So you might say to me "But Penguinreich, I like magic. I think it's neat. I love characters like Doc Strange and Ghost rider or whatever. Don't destroy things I like!" I would respond by telling you to relax, I'm not going to get rid of magic. I'm going to compartmentalize it!

What I'm proposing probably won't be popular or well received, but that matters not to an anonymous Internet poster! I propose that we divide the Marvel universe in twain (or maybe in three, I'll get to that later) Writers have consistently shown that they can't incorporate Magic into the superhero world to my satisfaction, in fact their attempts to merge magic and regular heroes (Vampire Storm anyone?) have been so unintentionally hilarious that I think for the betterment of both groups they should be confined to separate universes. In one universe our lovely quasi-science based heroes can run around in tights and chest symbols, fighting whatever ner do well they happen to be fighting. In another the mystic heroes can do the same thing! And never shall the two meet. You might think that this would be detrimental to the magic comics, which it may be I don't know I can't predict these things, but I say that it would allow magic heroes to explore a whole limitless world. Want to have Fenris escape into New York City? Go ahead! Want to have crazy magicians duel from atop skyscrapers? Knock yourself out! Want the normal world and Faerie to merge for a year? Sounds like a neat story! While previously magic in Marvel made rare actually appearances to help preserve some sense of reality that problem wouldn't exist in Magic Marvel! Cool huh?

Another thing that might be too radical, give the X-men their own separate universe. Don't get me wrong, in a lot of cases the X-men chillaxing with other heroes has gone well. But then you have to look at how huge the mutant issue is portrayed in the X-men comics (it's on their t.v all the time!) and how it doesn't even really exist with the Avengers and what not. There's also the case of Magneto destroying New York city and the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Spiderman, and every other Big apple bases hero conveniently being busy somewhere else. In the X-men world Magneto is the hugest of deals, the guy has a huge terrorist organization! But Does Iron man go after him (never mind, that would be the worst idea ever) or Spiderman or whatever? Really I think the Genetic heroes, as I'll refer to the X-men only this once, should also have their own little comic verse.

So there's my crazy radical idea. I doubt many people will like it, but I wouldn't mind if some discussion was provoked. Oh I should mention none of this would really be necessary in Ultimate Marvel. They more or less have their act together. For now anyways.

[Dalenthas]

War Machine. "But wait" you say. "Why War Machine? Why not someone higher profile?"
If I felt that I had the writing chops to handle Iron Man, I would. Right now I'm ok with Fraction's take on the character, with a few small nitpicks here and there and a huge problem with the art. But War Machine...

I'd like to note that I haven't actually gotten a chance to read the new War Machine #1 yet, but I've heard a couple in depth descriptions and read a few reviews and I don't like what I hear.

James Rhodes should never have been made into a cyborg. But given that he has been, I could still work with that. First of all, though he was a marine (depending on the issue referencing his military background he's either in the Army or Marines, though the movie version has him in the Air Force, go figure. Marines is the most common interpretation), I don't think he should be a weird hybrid between Iron Man and the Punisher. Rhodey has been Iron Man for quite a period of time (over a full year of comics worth on his first run in the armor, including the first Secret War), during which time the non-lethal nature of being a superhero should have impacted his fighting style. Sure, he might be a bit more likely to employ lethal force than most superheroes, but it shouldn't be his first option.

First, get his weaponry sorted out. The big thing seperating War Machine from Iron Man should be range of weapon options. Set the sholder cannon as a gatling repulsor that can be varied in intensity and you don't have to worry about his primary weapon being useless 90% of the time because it's overkill. Bring back the energy sword he had back in the early 90s. Also, a flamethrower mounted on his left arm. Because flamethrowers are cool. You know what, while we're at it, get rid of the palm repulsors to further differentiate him from IM. The sholder one should be enough in most circumstances. Missiles should be some kind of superhightech programmable ammo to be a bunch of different types, from high explosive to armor piercing to nonlethal concussion, etc. depending on the current needs of the story. Set out 5 or six that he can do on the fly, and stick to it. Special circumstances would require him to load special missiles back at the base (such as the superpenetrator with a hollow casing for firing Ant-Man sized characters, like in Avengers: The Initiative. That was badass.).

After we get his weapon loadout set, give him a base of operations. None of this 'lets visit a fictional country with real-world issues and fix it' crap. Let him go back to his home in South Philly and take care of super-crime there. If Iron Man didn't have such a piss-poor rogues gallery, I'd let him take some of IM's villains with him. You know what, give him the Living Laser. Longtime Iron Man fans will remember Rhodey fighting the Laser shortly before setting off on his own. Arthur should still be mad at him for what he did (tried to send him to Andromeda). Plus, I really like the Living Laser.
And yes, I said SUPER crime. I hate it when high-tier characters fight street thugs. There's no way that anyone with small arms fire should even pose a threat to War Machine. Maybe an AIM splinter group with mega-Tanks and mecha would be a fun fight, but not gangbangers with AKs.

Oh, and give the poor guy a decent supporting cast. Someone who's smart enough to keep the armor up to date and in repair without needing to crawl back to Tony. Maybe steal a techno from somewhere else that's not doing anything. Forge maybe? Cybermancer was a decent pick in the Weapon of SHIELD arc, we can use her.
Regular guest apperances by other characters in the Marvel U. People like Hawkeye (err, Ronin), Hank Pym, and Tigra. People he worked with when he was a member of the West Coast Avengers. Tony Stark should probably show up every once in a while too.

Ok, this post turned out WAAY longer than I intended it.

[Tirian]

Then there was the whole Linda Danvers thing and becoming an angel for some reason... I could see me including her in the rewrite, but probably not for more than one arc. I like the idea, but not enough for a prolonged presence in continuity.

Urk. Peter David killed Matrix so he could write a pseudo-religious comic. I gave it a chance, but it eventually offended me away from comic collecting entirely. Not a fan.

[Taliesan]

Ghost Rider.

Not so much the character himself, but the plots around him. Instead of a bleh devil I would go with something more along the lines of a supreme rebel against a supreme dictator, where the entity calling itself God is possibly evil and the devil is... questionable.

The goal would be to leave Johnny ambigious as to just whether he should dishonour his contract or not throughout the story. The devil isn't good, but is the other side (Who actually created hell, suffering, sin and all of that) any better?

[redzimmer]

More of a retcon than a re-write...

Jason Todd. I would devise some convoluted scheme involving Hush and his first encounter with the Lazarus Pit.

Long story short, Todd is still dead, but through the wonders of Hush super-doctor power, Elliott manages to synthesize a minute amount of the hoodoo that makes the LPs work.

He exhumes Todd's corpse and injects it with the synthetic LP serum, bringing him back to a mad sort of life. Hush takes the angry and confused undead Robin under his wing, then sets him loose for the event established in Under the Hood.

After the usual Post-Crisis, BMRIP rubble is sorted, we cut to a final confrontation between the Dysfunctional Duo of Hush and Todd vs. Bats and Nightwing (Tim Drake being incapacitated for storyline purposes):

No holds are barred, blood is spilled, **** is out of the fight. Batman is brought low by Todd. Hush eagerly goads Jason to kill Batman.

But at the last minute...

Todd finally comes to his senses just before he kills Bats once and for all, and then Hush in a fit of pique kills Todd. So ends that silliness once and for all.


Of course then the next shake up at DC would result in Todd being brought back to life in Anti-Crisis! Or some such thing.

[kingworks]

Wolverine

1) Take away his near-omnipotent healing factor (regenerate from a single drop of blood, really!?) and go back to his merely 'amazing' healing factor (where a sword thrust from Ogun laid him up for a month). This would require the removal of 'accelerated healing' from nearly every other existing superhero, but that's fine with me.

2) He'd actually fight with the skill and discipline that he's been trained with and stops leading with his face. No more of this 'let 'em beat/shoot the crap outta me then kill them'.

3) Acknowledge pain - probably explore an addiction to painkillers along the way.

4) Get past the 'I'm not a dumb animal/weapon' issues and focus more on trying not to kill when it's just so easy.

5) No more surprise guests from his mysterious past.

6) Restrict him to one team at a time.

7) No more teen sidekicks for him to mentor.

That's it for now, but I'm sure there's more.

[Ascension]

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

Now don't get me wrong, I hate the whole OMD/BND catastrophe and I loathe Quesada with the loathing of a million angry suns, but I can think of interesting things one can do with a single Peter Parker. Things like living in a menage a trois with Iceman and Firestar.

The way I see it, Pete's in it for the girl. Through some lasting echo of a memory of what he once had, he's predisposed to like redheads, and, Firestar being, quite literally, a hot chick, he falls for her immediately. The problem is, she's got baggage. Human baggage. Iceman. The bigger problem is, Spidey's already gotten in too deep before he realizes there's another man in the picture. He reluctantly agrees to move in with the two of them. In their private and superheroic lives the two men have a fierce rivalry over the object of their mutual affection. But there's an... undercurrent beneath it all. Gradually Drake begins to find himself... oddly attracted to his rival.

The comic would deal with Drake's growing obsession with Spider-Man, Peter's confused devotion to Angelica, her struggle to come to terms with her feelings for both men, and a thorough exploration of the potential of all their abilities (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PowerPerversionPotential).

Oh, and there might be some superheroing too, I guess. If you're into that sort of thing. But mostly personal drama and sex farce.