Friday, March 3, 2017

Two Questions: Team Switches and Pets!

Redartz:  Hello, greetings, welcome! Thanks for stopping by today. As your reward, here's a couple of quick queries  for you today: 

1.  Pick one member of the Justice League to cross over and join the Avengers, who would be the best fit? 


 2.  Do you have a favorite childhood pet memory?



Anonymous said...
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Unknown said...

Red Tornado. He always seemed like a Marvel hero. Plus great interactions with the Vision.

I can't narrow down to one pet memory, I've always had dogs. Now I have three rescue cats too! In retirement I plan to have a legion of animals!!

Martinex1 said...

For some reason, I would like to see a) Hawkman on the Avengers; the arrogant warrior type often get fleshed out nicely in the team and I still think he is the most visually interesting flying character, but also b) The Question. I don't think the Avengers have ever had a detective style character in their ranks and I think that could supply some interesting stories. I would say Batman for the detective role, but I think there is too much baggage with that character for the team and a lesser known hero would allow for significant character and story development. Perhaps if we open it up to all of DC, the spooky Phantom Stranger would open some interesting avenues.

Regarding pets, we had many as kids: a few dogs over the years, a rabbit, a toad, fish, an iguana, etc. Now my family just has one dog - a quiet peaceful mutt named Perry. The favorite dog story from childhood was with our German Shorthair Pointer, Hans. That dog was like Houdini. He could open doors (even somehow ones with rounded knobs) and was always getting outside. He even once managed to open up both sides of our old milk delivery shoot and crawl through the relatively small opening. And once out - he couldn't be caught; he was as fast as the wind. I remember many Summer days chasing Hans around the neighborhood.

Humanbelly said...

Martian Manhunter would, I think, have made the most compelling Avenger, 'cause there was no direct analog for him in the Earth's Mightiest Heroes. While both Thor and Hercules were both from another "realm", Earth-proper was (somehow) within the sphere of both of those guys' realms-- and they were very "of-Earth" (esp Hercules) even though it wasn't their primary place of residence, y'know? PLUS their higher-dimension homelands still exist. J'onn doesn't have any of that. He's the last survivor of a different planet entirely (like Superman, of course), and doesn't readily pass as human. He's an extremely compelling figure who I imagine would have done wonderfully in the hands of Roy Thomas or Steve Englehart in their prime.

Childhood pet memories are, I'm afraid, a bittersweet hodgepodge at best. We had several dogs over the years, but only one that my dad had any tolerance for-- and that one died prematurely of lung cancer after only a couple of years. We would acquire a dog with my dad's grudging approval, and then would keep it really only long enough for him to find some way to get someone else to take it off our hands. Our own family now has gone through a BAJILLION pets (they are, after all, beloved but temporary creatures compared to us), and currently have two rescue dogs-- one of whom is developing a bit of a presence on my FB page. (She's an idiot, I tell ya---!) Our long guinea pig and bunny phase is finally in the past. We do have two parrots. And two yard ducks that are the remains of an on-going, sadly high-mortality flock that we've decided to stop replenishing.


Charlie Horse 47 said...

I'm feeling like I'd enjoy some tension, so... Being over Green Arrow to see how Hawkeye reacts. Or bring over Zatanna to see how Scarlet Witch or Vision (heh, heh) reacts?

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Marti - I agree Hawkman is really visually compelling! Truly enjoy seeing him in action.

Martinex1 said...

"Chute" not "shoot"....yeeesh, sometimes my fingers work faster than my head.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't want any of them as the JLA was DC's and they all suck!
MMMS Fo'ever


Mike Wilson said...

I agree with HB about Martian Manhunter. Or maybe Ralph Dibny ... his sense of humour would be a nice addition to the Avengers; I can definitely see him getting along with Beast.

As for pets ... I've never had one!

jeirich said...

The character that leaped immediately to mind was Black Canary. In part because, unlike so many of the other characters, she really doesn't have a Marvel analogue (Black Widow?), and in part because the Avengers still tend to be too much of a sausage party (although, to be fair, I haven't read an issue in several years).

Favorite pet memory: when I was maybe 11 years old, my favorite cat delivered her kittens in my bed--in the middle of the night, while I was asleep. I've never had that kind of bond with any other pet.

Humanbelly said...

I do like Black Canary for this as well, jeirich. She could also add that missing (non-Batman) detective character element that Marti mentioned.

And, ahh-hahahahaHAAAAAA-- yoyo! C'mon, c'mon, C'MON, there, partner! Yer just throwin' the whole poor ol' JLA right under the bus-! Okay, granted, the book could be pretty darned formulaic and homogeneous and creatively stagnant for, well, years at a stretch, sure. But it still always had loyal followers! And a pretty decent standard for the art, yeah? Of course, my own exposure to it was always sporadic at best until you get up into those Aquaman/Detroit team years--- but I really did like that odd (and ultimately fatal) arc that finally gave way to the rebirth of JUSTICE LEAGUE. Heh-- yup! But still-- none of the JLA Big 3 in the Avengers for me, please. Just doesn't excite me at all.


Doug said...

J'onn was my first impression, so I'll say him. His telepathy and ability to turn invisible bring a powerset that isn't generally on the Avengers. Plus he's a heavy hitter. I thought at first that his reserved personality might clash with the Vision, but that could easily be balanced by Beast or Hellcat.

No real pet memories. We had a couple of dogs and a cat when I was a child. I don't care for big dogs or overly affectionate dogs -- we've never had one as a family. Sometimes my wife feels like our kids were deprived!


Rip Jagger said...

I always thought Green Arrow would fit well, small time powers and a strong attitude.

But Firestorm is my pick, a very Marvel-ous hero created by Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom, two vagabond Marvel pros.

Pet memories, not so much. I grew up on a farm and the harsh truth is that between the hogs, the chickens, and the cattle, we ended up eating most of the critters who I lived around. It sounds rough, but that's the farmer mentality.

Rip Off

Unknown said...

Rip, spot on with Firestorm. As I read your comment, I thought wait isnt he a Marvel character?

Graham said...

Growing up, I always thought about Batman in the Avengers....the Bronze Age version anyway. I don't remember the Avengers having anyone quite like him, at least with his detective skills.

The later edition of Batman is quite different though and I could not even see him in a group setting, what few modern era stories I've read. I could be wrong, but....

I've had pets all my life, but when my wife and I first married, we adopted a collie. His mother was apparently having postpartum depression and drowned all his little siblings during a rainstorm. The owner happened to show up in the nick of time, but she wouldn't even let him feed her pup, so he gave him to us.

Naturally, he was pretty nervous and skittish and would have little contact with us for several years. However, when we had our first daughter, he took a shine to her, and also my second daughter. They really brought him out of his shell.

Later, we adopted a couple of other dogs and they really brought him out. He was 14 or 15 by then, and was not in good health, but they really rejuvenated him and he lived a couple more years. I was always glad that we took a chance with ol' Jake and he was able to live a long and mostly happy life.

ColinBray said...

Luther - Red Tornado in the Avengers? A perfect fit.

And (the Marvel) Hercules on the JLA roster would be real fun. A roustabout demi-god mixing it with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman (imagine!) makes for so many storylines.

No pets growing up but since then I've lived alongside pythons, tarantulas and iguanas among other things - for the record, none of which were actually owned by me.

William said...

1. Guy Gardner. He has a "Marvel" attitude.

2. My dad was a veterinarian, so I grew up around all kinds of animals. It would take a whole book to recall most of my pet memories.

Redartz said...

It's been a very busy day, so I'm late to my own topic...

Great comments all, and I love all the pet memories. Thanks everyone for sharing!

For a JLA draftee, I'd go with the Martian Manhunter, for reasons well described above by others. I initially thought Batman, but perhaps best to avoid the 'trinity'. It would be interesting to see Bats face off with Hawkeye's ego, Beast's humor, and so on.
Rip, Firestorm is a great suggestion. As is Guy Gardner: that would be loads of fun, William.

Regarding pets: I'm a dog lover from way back. In high school we had a small dog, part poodle and part I-don't-know-what. But he was really frisky, and would run across the room, hit the wall head first and bounce off, then turn around and do the same. I have a personal idiosyncrasy about nicknaming people and pets; I nicknamed that dog "Amenhotep". Amenhotep and I would walk along the river near our house together, in winter the river would freeze over. I would slide him out across the ice,spinning in circles; he would come scampering back for another ride. Great dog.

Currently my wife and I are raising three cats and a puppy (whose nickname, by the way, is "dinosaur"...

Humanbelly said...

GREAT rescue story, Graham. Like it tremendously.
As a household that has gone through SO many pets over the decades, we really have settled into a much more pragmatic mindset about their lifespans and priorities when it came to extending those lives through extraordinary measures. Especially with the smaller animals that have such short life-spans anyhow.

What drove it home was the years that we adopted my daughter's guinea pigs from a regional Guinea Pig Rescue organization (yes, there is such a thing--). Sweet folks, yes, but extremely fanatical about their cause. These little creatures (lordy, the are so cute, make no mistake) live, maybe, 3 or 4 years. Sometimes just two, sometimes as much as 5. Once they had us in the system, we would get solicitations to contribute to the dire emergency medical needs for "special-case" pigs who just weren't gonna make it w/out $1500 of surgery from the vet. "Little Fluffy isn't going to make it without a kidney transplant!!!" This wasn't a scam, these folks just saw this as a worthy priority. Most of the vets we use really do try to play down the expensive surgical option in cases like that. But it does get you to clear your mind about the wisdom of unlimited devotion to one's pets. You love them through conventional thick and thin-- but their lives are short. We keep them comfortable and happy and loved for as long as we can-- and then we do let them go.

HB (Waxing a bit philosophical, I suppose--)

Anonymous said...

Hmm I agree with Firestorm, he had a similar backstory to Spidey in many ways, like being a teenager who gains incredible powers by accident. What about the Flash, at least the cartoon version I saw a few years back? He was portrayed as a chatty kid, and this type of characterization would work well in the Avengers.

Pets? Well, I did have some small water turtles when I was a kid, although I'm not much into pets nowadays. I still miss those little guys, though.

- Mike 'wonder what will happen when Hercules meets Wonder Woman?' from Trinidad & Tobago.

Humanbelly said...

Hmmmm-- Before long we'd hear the pitter-patter of little Wonder Twins' booties running around the chateau by the Aegean Sea. . . .?


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