Scarletspeed7 Ranks User-Nominated Characters Based on Comics Potential

119 nominations, 1 winner. These are nominations, you’re the users, this is a topic about user-nominations. Welcome to Scarlet Ranks User-Nominated Characters Based on Comics Potential.

No scoring system this time, folks. No numbers or statistics to fall back on. So how the heck am I going to rank this, you ask? I will come at each character as if I’m a writer pitching the character to a comics company. I’ll provide you with my thoughts on the character’s potential in comics as well as a brief concept for where I could see the character ending up.

A note about how my rankings work – it’s all based on the best pitch I could come up with for each character. Some characters with great potential just don’t gel well with any of the pre-existing comics universes out there. All pitches could only include the character’s essentials – limited amounts of their backstory, personality, skills, weapons, vehicles, powers. No character was allowed to be pitched with associate characters or pieces of their own respective universe. So a character that is heavily entrenched in their own continuity might have trouble fitting into these other pre-established universes. Also, there were a couple characters that ended up at the bottom of the list for legal reasons that I won’t get into here… yet. The companies I included in my pitches are DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, IDW, Boom! and Dynamite.

This will all make more sense as we move through the rankings, climbing our way to the top, where the greatest comics character to never appear lies. Join me as I rank your nominations based on comics potential.

11)  Undertaker (WWE) – Mega Mana The pitch: He came from the darkest, dankest hole in Gotham – a seven-foot owner of a mortuary.  People used to say in hushed whispers that he was a kind man until a car accident killed his wife… and himself.  He was thought dead for over year, but one day he returned to his closed down mortuary, pale white, a low brim covering his eyes and most of his face.  He was always seen carrying the urn that held the ashes of his wife, they said.  He moved almost like a drone, they said.  He was a dead man alive, they said.

Batman first encountered the unstoppable Undertaker in an early case in the 1970s under the pen of Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams. “The Coffins of Night” became a cult classic story that kicked off the career of one of Batman’s more notable nemeses. Eventually, after having several incredible tangles with the Dark Knight, he moved into a famous storyline where several of Superman’s allies at the Daily Planet were found locked in airtight caskets and barely saved in time. It turned out that the Planet had published evidence about the driver who had collided with the car holding Undertaker and his wife, evidence that let said driver walk free in court. By the early 90s, the Undertaker was a fan favorite villain, and in 1992, he tangled with Lobo in a great one-shot entitled Lobo vs Undertaker: Survivors, where he proved his A-List popularity with unexpected sales. The Undertaker launched his own series at this point for about a year and a half, facing off against the Team Titans. It was revealed that the Team Titans were sleeper agents sent to the present by Extant, a fact known only to the Undertaker. Undertaker attempted to stop them, but in during Zero Hour, he was apparently killed and sealed in casket, buried next to his wife. The final issue of that series was released in 1994.

Throughout 1995, the Undertaker appeared to Batman, Superman and others as a ghost, warning of a coming betrayal. In late 1995, Lex Luthor revealed to the world that he had resurrected the Undertaker, whose attempts to protect people from the false Titans had become public. In reality, this was a false Undertaker, a powerful android Luthor had built. Undertaker returned however, and destroyed the android. This set him up to appear in the Suicide Squad series for a short period of time, where he found himself at odds constantly with the Amanda Waller and the Bronze Tiger. Eventually, the Tiger and Taker had it out at the end of the series, and Waller called in the Squad to put down the Undertaker. He was buried alive beneath Belle Reve prison to “cool off”.

When next the Undertaker returned in 1998, he was garbed as a more gothic outfit. Undertaker broke into the Batcave, seeking Batman’s help. Taker revealed that he had been receiving missives from his long lost brother whom he had believed died in a fire years before. Batman agreed to assist the Undertaker in tracking down his brother. After a year-long arc in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Undertaker’s brother was revealed to be none other than Jean-Paul Valley. Valley, his mind clouded by the teachings of St. Dumas, attacked the Undertaker deep underneath the Cathedral of St. Dumas in a treacherous dungeon called “The Hell Cell”. Taker was beaten nearly into submission, but a surprising timely arrival of Batman and the Suicide Squad allowed Taker to be rescued as his brother to begin to receive the proper treatment and help from Batman. Satisfied, Taker left for parts unknown.

About a year later notably returned as the figurehead of a new cult called the Ministry of Darkness. Undertaker claimed he was taking orders from a higher power, and he was able to begin recruiting other villains to his cause, such as Clayface, Enchantress and more. Eventually it was revealed that this higher power was a chip implanted into the brainwashed mind of the Undertaker by the Order of St. Dumas, and Undertaker faced down Batman once again. It took the combined efforts of Batman and Bane to subdue Taker, and Martian Manhunter was called into repair the damage down to his brain.

In the early 00s, the Undertaker returned to the scene in a new title of his own, where he began life as a biker. This series didn’t go over all that well (to no surprise) and around 2005, it crossed over with Azrael, and both series ended with the two brothers going out in a blaze of glory, forever destroyin the Order of St. Dumas. However, by 2007, Undertaker was back on the scene in his traditional attire, taking on anyone who got in his way. He issued an open challenge to virtually any interested villain, claiming he could beat any of them in a one-on-one match and also calling himself the Champion Villain. He began to beatdown a variety of popular villains in various titles around the DCU in a storyline that readers lovingly dubbed “The Streak”. The Streak became so popular that it propelled the Undertaker into a new title aptly called Undertaker: The Streak. Several historically high-selling fights appeared in this series alongside great stories, notably battles against Deathstroke, Bane, Metallo and Bizarro. The “Champion Villain” as he was called now, starred in a series that lasted up until 2011, where the New52 rebooted the series as Undertaker: Lord of Darkness. Despite always claiming to be a villain, Undertaker was generally accepted by the public as a good guy, simply because his only encounters with said public were in beating the crap out of the villains that terrorized them. In 2014, DC Comics decided that it was time to end The Streak as the sales for the Undertaker solo series were beginning to sag from a decade of highs. In the final storyline in his initial foray into the New52, the Undertaker took on Darkseid for the title of the Lord of Darkness, but after a long, pitched battle, the Undertaker lost and was captured and thrown into an Apokaliptian prison. His rumored return is expected to happen under the pen of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray in 2016.''' '''

12)  Harry Dresden (Dresden Files) – Drakeryn The pitch: The Dresden Files debuted at Marvel in 1993, attempting to mimic the success of John Constantine at DC, and while it never reached the point of launching an entire adult imprint, Dresden became the second-most prevalent magic-based character for the company in the ensuing 20 years.  The Dresden Files initially began as a detective-noir occult series, with Harry Dresden serving as a private investigator into matters supernatural. Provided with a sidekick and office manager in Pip the Troll, Dresden was able to carve out a decent little niche in a part of the market Marvel was losing bank in – as Ghost Rider, Dr. Strange and Man-Thing all found themselves cancelled, they were rolled into the Dresden Files series which benefitted from the starpower.  Eventually, Dresden was bankrupting a small firm of Marvel’s magical all-stars, including the Shroud, Clea, Johnny Blaze (unattached from Zarathos and no longer Ghost Rider), and Blade.

By 2003, The Dresden Files was entering a peak period of sales, and Marvel decided to push him further into the Marvel Universe. While Dresden had been a frequent guest star in other comics (notably being featured extensively in Marvel Knights), Brian Bendis decided to make Harry Dresden a founding member of the New Avengers alongside Spidey, Wolverine, Iron Man, Spider-Woman, Sentry, Captain America and Luke Cage. As Civil War began to close in on the MU, Dresden was fortunate enough to have the ability to stay neutral – as his practice was based completely around his civilian identity, he was grandfathered into the Registration Act. During this time, Harry found himself drawn into a story featuring Dormammu and the Dark Dimension, effectively keeping him out of the crosshairs of a trigger-happy Mark Millar. Following this, however, Dresden Files writer Peter Milligan decided to insert Dresden into the One More Day story arc, following the retroactive elimination of the Peter-MJ marriage with a hunt by Dresden to figure out why Madame Web was suddenly experiencing epileptic fits and mini-comas. Dresden not only found the few remaining shreds of proof that Peter and MJ were once married, but he tracked it down to Mephisto himself. In a battle of wits, Dresden was able to bring back the marriage and trick Mephisto into doing it for free.

After AvX, Dresden’s series was relaunched as the Dresden Intiative, a more superheroic take on the character that unfortunately hurt sales. Marvel editorial pushed the concept hard, but sales sank so much that the series was cancelled. Luckily, Peter Milligan is returning to the title post-Secret Wars as it relaunches once again under the name The Dresden Files.

Thoughts: From this point on, there won’t be any more thoughts attached to these pitches. They should be self-explanatory.''' '''

13)  Iago (Othello) – Drakeryn The pitch: See the Board8 wiki for my Comic Crossover featuring user-nominated characters for more information. Needless to say, he’s awesome and he’s deserving of a high spot on the list for that alone.

Thoughts: In case you’re too lazy:  http://board8.wikia.com/wiki/Scarletspeed7_Plots_a_Comic_Crossover_With_User-Nominated_Characters''' '''

14)  Ganondorf (Zelda) – Mega Mana The pitch: After the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths, there was a major threat being built up in Justice League of America.  A lot of scenes that would hint at a figure hidden in shadows pulling strings from behind a curtain.  As time rolled by, the figure began to show up in other titles such as Booster Gold, Action Comics and more.  After the JLI debuted, this figure appeared to be pulling the strings behind Max Lord as well.  In 1993, during Armageddon 2001, it was revealed that Monarch was this figure… and his name was Ganondorf.  Ganondorf was in fact the father of both Vandal Savage and Resurrection Man, and he was an extremely long-lived, manipulative villain.  After Ganondorf was outed to readers as both the shadowy figure AND the big bad of A2001, he really began putting the screws on the DCU.  He was shown working in cahoots with the Time Trapper on the opposite end of things in Legion of Super-Heroes, communicating via what amounted to a message in a bottle being shot through a time pipeline. Ganondorf was not content with ruling the world; he instead wanted to rule the world across all of time, and the Time Trapper seemed happy to oblige.

During the Death of Superman storyline, Ganondorf had gone to Warworld and fought his way to Mongul, using his considerable power to capture and reprogram Mongul’s brain. Mongul returned during Reign of the Superman as a powerful subservient creature hellbent on turning Coast City into Ganondorf’s base of operations, in which he succeeded. This in turn pushed Hal Jordan to the edge – resulting in the end of the Green Lantern Corps as readers knew it. All part of Ganondorf’s plan, it turns out, because Ganondorf constructed for himself a powerful armor from the shell of the Central Power Battery of Oa. Ganondorf’s plans continued into Zero Hour, where everything hit the fan. Hal Jordan, having gone crazy and become Parallax, initiated his OWN plan to remake the universe in his own image. He dragged the Time Trapper as well as several of Earth’s heroes to the dawn of time and in the final issue of the mini-series, attempted to kill the Time Trapper. At that moment, the Trapper’s hold fell down to reveal that the Trapper was a future version of Ganondorf. Suddenly from behind Hal, Ganondorf grabbed an arrow out of Green Arrow’s quiver and skewered Hal on it. Mortally wounded, Hal escaped, and Ganondorf and his future self worked together to remake the universe in THEIR image.

Thus, Hypertime was born.

Ganondorf has since been the main character in a new Booster Gold series featuring Booster, Goldstar, and Rip Hunter as they venture throughout the infinite myriad of alternate realities in an attempt to end Ganondorf’s reign over all the different universes that exist. This series has been immensely popular, running for about 18 years until the beginning of the New52. He also featured in Resurrection Man’s series and in Titans for a major story after Arsenal learned he was a descendant of Vandal Savage. In fact, the New52 kicked off with the Justice League facing down Ganondorf in their initial storyline. However, Ganondorf escapes and decides to take his chances against Earth-2. In a series that debuted after Forever Evil entitled “Earth-3”, Ganondorf invades yet another Earth, forcing the heroes of that world to try to work with the Crime Syndicate in order to stop the Multiverse’s greatest enemy.

Thoughts: Ganondorf is too big for just one universe to hold. He’s a timeless, spaceless villain of infinite evil, and I couldn’t give him a smaller role than this even if I wanted to. He definitely belongs in the DC Universe.''' '''

15)  Kefka (Final Fantasy) – ahirsch The pitch: Originally introduced as the scene-stealing jester sidekick of Kang the Conqueror, Kefka Palazzo really broke out on his own in the mid-70s as the main villain of the classic Jarella Saga in the Hulk, where it was revealed that the Hulk’s miniature hideaway world was actually the homeland of Kefka himself.  Kefka toyed with the Hulk and really did a number on him before being bumped back up into the Avengers villain rotation.  The Kefka Saga in the early 80s has become a Marvel standard and influenced a huge variety of other comic tales, after all.  Kefka’s murder of Tigra in the late 80s also has been a major iconic moment in the comics world.  Kefka spent the better part of 15 years showing up all over the MU, messing with everyone from the Defenders to Iron Man to Spider-Man to the Fantastic Four. But his greatest moment was yet to come.

Perhaps one of the singularly foundational comic stories of Marvel is the massive comic event known as Avengers: World of Ruin, which was released in 1998. Kefka used the Cosmic Cube to remake the universe in his own image, resulting in a dystopian alternate reality where heroes and villains alike found themselves living in a dark, oppressive world of Kefka’s making. Captain America was an old man. Almost all of America was being policed by Iron Man suits while Tony Stark himself was wheelchair bound and forced to build for Kefka. One of the last bastions of freedom was Britain, where a rebellion force led by Captain Britain and She-Hulk was gearing up to take back the planet. The World of Ruin ran for about 4 months across virtually every Marvel title until Captain Britain was able to capture the Cosmic Cube and sacrifice himself to unmake this false reality.

At this point, things died down for a while with Kefka, although he’s remained a constant source of big time storylines at Marvel. Everything from the classic Magitek War in Doctor Strange to the fan-favorite Clowning Around issue in Deadpool has all been thanks to the incomparably nasty Kefka Palazzo.

Thoughts: My initial idea for Kefka was that he’s perfectly suited (thanks to FF6) to be the catalyst for an Age of Apocalypse-type story. Naturally, I wanted to give the half of the Marvel Universe that DIDN’T get involved in AoA a shot at it, so that’s where I went. Several other slightly smaller stories have popped into my head since that, most of which I through in here as small references. There’s just a helluva lot you can do with Kefka at Marvel – he’s virtually useless at DC, but that really doesn’t matter when you can be this foundational for the competition.''' '''

16)  Elsa (Frozen) – Fbike The pitch: We open to Iceman trudging through a city that seems to be made of ice, but on closer inspection it’s revealed that this city has been flash frozen, people encased in ice, frozen to death. The sky is pouring down snow. Iceman makes his way to a grand castle on a hill where inside a teenage girl is huddled in a corner crying. Iceman confronts the girl – this is Elsa, princess of Varkania, a girl whose mutant powers have awoken, resulting in Elsa unintentionally murdering thousands of people in Varkania’s capital city (including her family).  Iceman is able to bring Elsa out of a guilt-induced non-responsive state, and eventually Elsa is brought to the Xavier Academy.  Xavier points out that very rarely do mutants seem to develop powers as similarly as Iceman and Elsa, and he tasks Iceman to train Elsa in use of her abilities.  Eventually, Elsa is considered competent enough to be added to the X-Men line-up, and she joins the team as the Snow Queen. Iceman begins to grow uncomfortable after a couple of years of Elsa serving with the team – Elsa has developed an unhealthy fixation on Iceman, considering him her savior and refusing to allow him to get close to other women. In the late 90s, Iceman moves on to X-Factor, and Elsa essentially stalks her way to that team as well.

As Iceman begins to develop a blossoming romance with Polaris around 2001, Elsa pretty much becomes unhinged, hospitalizing Polaris out of jealousy. Valerie Cooper, team manager, tries to get the X-Men to put Elsa in an isolated prison, but Elsa escapes, ending up with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Iceman, disgusted at what he feels is his responsibility, takes an indefinite leave of absence. After Morrison begins his New X-Men run, Elsa appears to have been rehabilitated, but it turns out that Emma Frost is keeping Elsa’s obsessive tendencies at bay with her powers. At one point during a Sentinel crisis, Frost is knocked out, and Elsa’s insanity seems to rush back – she seeks out Iceman again and in a classic stand-off story entitled “Deep Freeze”, the two square off, Iceman in self-defense and Elsa in an unbridled obsessive passion. Iceman is able to break through to her and convinces her to let him be. “Just let it go,” he says. Devastated, Elsa runs away, but eventually turns up in X-Factor again.

Elsa appears to be getting herself on track finally after Decimation, House of M and Civil War, serving as a mainstay X-Factor member, when she gets called up to the big leagues of the mainline X-Men. There she has remained ever since, although she has begun to obsess over Iceman again. Interestingly, things appear to be different. After Iceman lost his powers temporarily in Decimation, he appears to be weaker than before – however, around Elsa, his powers appear to be enhanced. Both of them seem to be codependent on each other like a drug, but the X-Men have come to uncomfortably accept this situation as sadly one of the healthier ones on this era’s dysfunctional team.

Thoughts: For some reason, Elsa has always screamed mentally damaged psycho-stalker for me. Literally this was the first pitch I thought up for the nominations and I frankly love it. Iceman has always been a character that deserves to grow up and mature; he’s an original X-Man after all. I think a storyline like this and a mainstay character like Elsa would be perfect to enhance both characters.''' '''

17)  Stardust (WWE) – JONA The pitch: Introduced in 1968, few readers of Journey into Mystery could have expected Stardust, a one-time antagonist of Thor, to return with a roaring vengeance in Jim Starlin’s Warlock.  But return he did.  Oh, did he return… and in a big way.  Who doesn’t remember that classic panel where Adam Warlock has clawed and crawled his way into the Counter-Earth’s White House Oval Office, only to find Stardust setting on a throne, holding the head of the President, ladeling blood into his mouth from a hand held high above his head?  That chilling smile with the drip of blood down the side of his chin as Stardust says, “Hello, Adam” has become a classic comics moment.

From there, of course, things just got bigger and better. Stardust battled Warlock and only through a timely intervention by Quasar did Warlock make a safe escape. Then, of course, Stardust rode into the pages of Silver Surfer, calling upon the Surfer and claiming that “The Power Cosmic is my own!”  That maniacal laugh as Stardust unleashed raw energy from the heart of a star housed at the core of his being, rippling against the Surfer’s own energy blasts. The frightening moment as Stardust stood over the Surfer, absorbing the Power Cosmic as his own, leaving Norrin Radd trapped on Earth with his board. And then came that tangle with Thanos, the one so big that it ripped apart an entire solar system and caught the attention of a hungering Galactus. Thanos held to a stalemate, he decided to cut his losses and take leave when Galactus arrived. Galactus of course sought the return of his power to him, but Stardust had bigger plans, taking down Galactus himself and leaving him a shriveled comatose husk. That was just the prelude of course to the Infinity Genesis, that classic story that followed up the Infinity Gauntlet. Stardust began to use the power of Galactus to remake worlds in his own image, and it took the combined might of Adam Warlock and the other Infinity Gem users as well as the entirety of the Marvel Universe to bring him down. Of course, Galactus punished Stardust by turning him into his newest Herald, returning the Power Cosmic to the Silver Surfer and releasing him from his service as Galactus’ longest-running Herald. Stardust would tangle with the unbound Surfer constantly in the Surfer’s own series, always jealous at the freedom he lacked.

Then, Stardust was able to trick Thanos into giving him the Infinity Gauntlet in Infinity Exodus. That story was the iconic tale where Eternity himself faces down Stardust, nearly being destroyed by Stardust’s power and machinations before the timely intervention from the most unlikely source – Doctor Doom – allows Eternity to banish Stardust beyond the confines of the Multiverse. We didn’t see him again for quite a while… that is, until after Civil War and Dark Reign, when Stardust came to Earth and took it as his own, leading a force of beings exiled outside of reality itself to establish the Star Perilous, a towering mammoth fortress that covered the entirety of Manhattan. The Star Perilous Saga dominated the Marvel books for an entire year, spanning every single title before Mr. Fantastic and others found a way to once again banish Stardust beyond the bounds of the multiverse. But Stardust remains terrifyingly active, currently serving as the primary nemesis of the Guardians of the Galaxy, having literally eaten Annilius’ brain in front the entire Annihilation Wave, effectively taking control of the entire hivemind in the process. His plan is clear – march on the universe itself until Galactus rears his head. Stardust wants vengeance.

Thoughts: Stardust is such a natural fit into the cosmic corner of Marvel. His costume is aesthetically similar to what belongs out there, and his insanity is perfectly suited to grand scale desires. I would love to see a new multiversal threat rear its head, and Stardust seems like the perfect candidate.''' '''

18)  The Man with No Name (Dollars Trilogy) – Eddv The pitch: He rode into Providence one day, the Man with No Name.  Hex had been resting for a spell, shaking off the dust on his boots – dust accrued from a month-long hunt for El Papoayo, the notorious Mexican cattle thief.  Hex looked out under the brim of his worn hat to see the Man, this Man with No Name.  “Hex,” said the Man.  “You’ve been caught owin’.”  Hex polished off his drink and nodded calmly, “Reckon so.”   In a flash, Hex pushed his chair away from the table, leaping to his feet. Hex’s gun was in his hand as if it was always there, but the Man had drawn first.  A clap of thunder.  Hex’s gun clattered against the wall and to the ground.  The Man holstered his smoking weapon.

This was the introduction to The Man with No Name, introduced in Jonah Hex in 1983. The Man with No Name recurred as a guest for a couple years, gaining massive fan acclaim in several amazing stories that hearkened back to the spaghetti westerns of the decades before. So popular was The Man with No Name that, when Jonah Hex was moved into the future and rebooted in his book simply titled “Hex”, The Man with No Name was given a solo title of his own set in the Old West entitled, “Have Dollar, Will Travel.”  The adventures of the Man with No Name were the only Old West comic stories published throughout the 80s and 90s – his starpower was such that the Man even found his way into guest-starring roles in JLI (during Armageddon 2001) and Batman (during Zero Hour). The Man with No Name’s series eventually came to an end in 1995 after about 12 years running. James Robinson jumped on the opportunity to bring him to Opal City in Starman, writing several tales which featured the Shade and The Man with No Name in a time prior to even Scalphunter’s tenure as the sheriff of Old Opal. The Man with No Name turns out to have the last name Knight, making him the forefather of the Starman clan of Knights in modern-day Opal. Jack Knight has a classic run-in with the ghost of the Old Knight during one of his visits with Davey, hearkening things to come. After Starman ended, The Man with No Name once again found prominence in a new volume of Western Tales, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. This series starred the Man with No Name (often called Knight or Blondie in this series) as he encountered a variety of Old West stars in the DCU. The popularity of this series was such that it spawned a new Jonah Hex series simply on the basis of Hex’s guest-starring spots in Western Tales, as well as churning out several other mini-series for characters like Bat Lash and Scalphunter. During Blackest Night, a story about Ra’s al Ghul being haunted by the Black Lantern Man with No Name led to speculation about what happened to Old Knight in his later years, as well as whether Ra’s was involved in the oft-alluded-to “mysterious death” of the Man with No Name. Readers would learn more about this as the Man with No Name came to Gotham City and ran into Ra’s himself in the popular and acclaimed New52 “The Man with No Name” series. It revolved around Ra’s and the Old Knight’s antagonistic relationship as well as a subplot featuring the Old Knight falling in love with Nyssa Raatko, the Demon’s eldest daughter. Nyssa is eventually forced by her father to betray the Old Knight, causing the relationship to end and also creating a rift between Ra’s and Nyssa that would stand to modern times. The Shade and the Old Knight would then become the dual stars of The Man with No Name, taking on Ra’s al Ghul in a globe-trotting adventure spanning the back half of the 19th century. The series is still extant today, recently taking home an Eisner Award for Best Writing in the hands of Scott Snyder. All this on top of a film being released in 2016 starring Josh Holloway as the Man with No Name and David Tennant as the Shade.

Thoughts: This was one of my first ideas, and I think there’s so much room to play around here. The Dollars Trilogy set up Blondie to be such a perfect terse western stylized hero, and letting him tool around in an era that is a major formative period for DC’s major franchises just makes him more and more valuable. I think a lot of great writers could easily be involved in making this character one of the major enduring stars of the DCU, and he’s set perfectly between being an A-List and B-List hero. Of course, his upcoming DC Comics movie (directed by Clint Eastwood in his first return to Westerns in nearly 20 years) could propel him even further. If only this character had debuted 20 years earlier – Eastwood would be such a natural fit to play him!''' '''

19)  Susan Sto-Helit (Discworld) – Natwaf

The pitch: Susan has always been an unusual woman, from her childhood all the way into her adulthood. On her 21st birthday, however, she receives a visit from her adoptive parents who reveal to her that her true mother is in fact Death of the Endless. However, Death has been missing for several years, and as Susan is introduced to her various aunts and uncles, it becomes apparent that no one knows exactly where Death has gone. In fact, Death’s realm is in grave disarray, and someone must take custody of it before Death’s assistants become overwhelmed by their temporary duties of ushering people onwards. Susan is given a crash course in how to be Death, and through the Book of Destiny, she learns to be a proper Death through ancient tales of her mother. Susan is a successful replacement for the first 40 issues of Neil Gaiman’s newest series: Daughter of Death. However, eventually Susan discovers that Death has been trapped by a powerful spell woven through the efforts of Mordru, and Susan and Delirium have to unite the Endless together to confront Mordru, who is powered by Death herself. After an extensive storyline, Mordru is imprisoned at the heart of the Gemworld, and Death returns to her duties. Death and Susan hash out their relationship, and Susan refuses to accept Death’s pleas for forgiveness; instead, she decides to embark on a quest to find her father – someone Death adamantly refuses to tell her anything about. Susan’s adventures take her around the DCU, finding hints and clues in a variety of places before discovering that Susan’s father is none other than John Constantine. Constantine, unaware that he ever had produced offspring, is naturally shocked by this discovery and despite his best intentions, he ends up sucking Susan down the rabbit’s hole that only a Constantine can create. In the end, Death has to save Susan’s soul from eternal servitude to Beelzebub thanks to Constantine’s recklessness. Susan recognizes that while her father cares for her, he ultimately is incapable of establishing an healthy relationship and she returns home to Death’s Domain to apprentice under her mother in the event Death must take another holiday. After the series ends, Susan becomes a major player in the DCU, serving with Justice League Dark as well as the Justice League International as a magic advisor and liaison (although she has a hard time putting up with the nonsense of the JLI). She eventually begins to develop a sweet, quiet relationship with Ted Kord, although she detests Ted’s best friend… Booster Gold.

Thoughts: Terry Pratchett worked often with Neil Gaiman, so it seems natural to have Gaiman introduce Susan into comics. Susan is easily one of my – if not THE – favorite characters in Discworld, and it just seemed to all fit so well together. Pratchett’s connection to Gaiman, Gaiman’s character of Death already existing… it all lines up perfectly for a series that can be both simultaneously light and dark. I suspect that the more hardcore comics fans on this board might find the concept of this series one of the coolest of the batch, and anyone who has read Sandman would likely agree that there’s not a better match for Susan out there.

20)  Viewtiful Joe (Viewtiful Joe) – JONA The pitch: Originally introduced as a character in the abomination known as Bloodlines, Viewtiful Joe was an avid movie buff that was infected with a parasite that provided him with his abilities. Joe is first brought to the pages of Etrigan by Garth Ennis in the mid-90s, spinning off into his own title around 1994. Viewtiful Joe is a series that delightfully skewers both the superhero concept and the film industry in a way only Ennis can write – Joe becomes the Hero of Hollywood, finding himself drawn into the vapid, materialistic lifestyle and the sort of drama it brings. Lots of gratuitous sex, drugs and TMZ-style superheroics turn Joe into a reality-star superhero who loses his way and spirals into the world of celluloid and silicon.  Joe’s series is a long-running popular title that ends in the early 00s. At this point, Joe is featured in a couple highly successful runs of Formerly Known as the Justice League before getting a spot in 52 where he uses the absence of the Big Three to propel his own career. A revived mini-series in the late 00s is a high-seller, resulting in him being added to the Justice League: Generation Lost line-up. In the New52, Joe is one of the most requested characters alongside Wally West and Stephanie Brown for several years, and post-Convergence, Garth Ennis returns to the classic title of Viewtiful Joe once again, booting it in a continuity-light New52 version. Joe has been the subject of several attempts at a film, all of which generally fall apart in pre-production. At one point, Guy Pearce was set to direct.

Thoughts: I see Joe as a Lobo-level character; hugely popular with a contingent of 20s-30s range readers and anyone who gets exposed to his cult classic series. This is the type of upper B-List character at DC who generally makes lists of Top 50 DC Characters that are written by people with a solid knowledge of DC. I just see this outlandish series as one with the potential to also have a lot of heart at its center once you pull back some of the gratuity that makes Ennis Ennis.''' '''

21)  Chuck Bartowski (Chuck) – CoolCly The pitch: When a young Best Buy employee accidentally stumbles into an AIM facility, a series of unlikely mishaps land Chuck Bartowski the skillset of a super-spy!  AIM wants their property back, but a timely save by Maria Hill and SHIELD leads to Chuck Bartowski being placed in the most unusual SHIELD training program ever.  Now, the Contessa, Jimmy Woo and Phil Coulson are working inside a Los Angeles Best Buy, turning their cover into a top secret training facility for Chuck.  In between Chuck’s shifts, he’s sent on missions with his crew by Maria Hill herself, taking on AIM, HYDRA and more in Mark Millar’s “Chuck”!  As the series progresses, Chuck learns more about his abilities and becomes a lead SHIELD agent, torn between his home in LA and his globe-hopping spy double life. At the same time, he begins to develop a relationship with the Contessa, despite protestations from his teammates. At the end of the series, the Contessa is captured by AIM and brainwashed to take out Chuck, but Chuck is able to break her programming – however, this leaves her with amnesia. The final scene of the series is Chuck holding the Contessa’s head in his lap and recounting all of their adventures over the best ten years. After this, Chuck becomes a higher-up in SHIELD, showing up often in SHIELD-related stories and titles like the Avengers, X-Men, etc.

Thoughts: There’s a great romance in SHIELD, something that even Steranko never got the chance to tell in his classic Nick Fury books. I think Chuck could provide us with the best SHIELD series ever, the type of seminal classic storytelling that I’ve seen hints of in Millar sporadically. If you look at the stories where Millar tones back his shock value plotting, there’s a pretty solid ability to develop good, deep relationships. I think it would take great editor, but just thinking about the potential for this series has me excited.''' '''

22)  Cole MacGrath (infamous) – Sphynx The pitch: Cole is introduced into a brand new title at DC in the early 90s published in the Dakotaverse line of comics entitled “Static Shock”.  Cole takes the identity Static early on in the series, and he is the main protector of Dakota City.  However, there’s a major long-running subplot that focuses on the mysterious and potentially dangerous origin of his powers.  A secret organization seems to be behind it all, and they appear to want the powers back at any cost.  Cole’s series sells well enough that he ends up being featured in other titles including a team-up title with the superhero Icon in “Dakota’s Finest”.  Cole is eventually brought into the DCU after Infinite Crisis thanks to a modest but successful cartoon adaptation; Cole is placed on the Outsiders as the marquee star until the New52.  In the New52, Cole is once again given his own solo series that actually integrates his origin into the DCU – in this storyline, Cole becomes a superhero after he essentially stumbles into them on a testing site run by ARGUS. One of the major players in the title is Steve Trevor, who is attempting to convince Cole to work with ARGUS. Cole ends up serving with the Justice League of America through the Trinity War and Forever Evil events, and his title is cancelled in the wake of lower sales. However, after Convergence, Cole is added to a line-up of Outsiders once again, placed on the team as the marquee character one more time.

Thoughts: Yes, I did get rid of Static in this pitch. He’s always been a stale character and I think Cole has the potential to actually work and be successful in the Dakotaverse. Furthermore, he caters to a more mature audience which would definitely make him of value to the New52. This is an upper B-Lister pitch quite frankly, despite his title being cancelled. I’m putting him on the level of a Black Lightning or an Elongated Man.''' '''

23)  Snake Plissken (Escape from New York) – Xeybozn The pitch: Dropped onto the island of Manhattan in DMZ, Snake is tasked to rescue Matty Roth by Matty’s father. However, a tense stand-off leads to Matty being killed by the Commander in the middle of Central Park.  At this point, Snake takes over the starring role in DMZ.  Over the course of the series, the Commander becomes his primary antagonist, and Snake also begins a romantic entanglement with Zee Hernandez.  As the DMZ becomes more of a hotly contested area between the two major warring factions in the US, Snake begins to dig in and survive in the most inhospitable place on the continent.  Eventually, the two warring nations completely surround the DMZ and begin to stand off with one another over Matty’s death – at this point, Snake becomes the main star of a rebooted DMZ series entitled, “Escape the DMZ”. Snake spends about 35 issues working on a way to get out of the DMZ before the stand-off becomes a hot zone, and he ends up confronting the Commander with Zee Hernandez in tow at an unprotected sewer grate that leads out of the city. Zee is shot, the Commander is killed, and Snake ends the series carrying Zee to an abandoned truck in New Jersey as the first mortars are lobbed in the Battle of the Five Cities. At this point, the series is once again rebooted into the long-running “DMZ: America”, where Snake consistently tries to avoid the massive onslaught of bloodshed produced by a new American Civil War. The first story sees Manhattan as the target of a nuclear blast, and the story runs from there.

Thoughts: Certain comics seem like they were destined to feature some of the characters, and this happens to be one of them. With just the right amount of rejiggering, I can easily turn DMZ into a franchise vehicle that could feature Snake Plissken as the sort of star comic fans would love. DMZ is already built with the perfect infrastructure to support Snake and put him over. An easy, easy pitch.''' '''

24)  The Courier (Fallout) – Murphiroth The pitch: In a world where Barry Allen’s attempt to save the life of his mother changed everything, no one is the same. Bruce Wayne is dead.  Aquaman is at war with Wonder Woman.  Abin Sur is the Green Lantern.  This is the Flashpoint Universe.  Now meet a young woman tasked with making a delivery to Ferris Airlines in Las Vegas.  Along the way, however, a run in with Citizen Cold in Keystone results in the young courier being shot and left for dead, her parcel for delivery being stolen.  Nursed back to health by a transfer resident at Keystone General named Linda Park, the Courier knows that unless she gets the package back, her life is in danger.  Venturing onto the streets of a dangerous, crime-ridden America, the Courier begins a trek that will change the face of the Earth.  As Citizen Cold takes the contents of the package for some elusive purpose, the Courier will travel everywhere from a church in Gotham City run by Reverend Jason Todd to the eerily silent streets of Tokyo, guarded by the White Tornadoes. Eventually, the courier eventually catches Cold, but the parcel has been passed on to the Siren, Aquaman’s right-hand general. Taking Cold’s gun and equipment, the Courier becomes a force to be reckoned with in the dystopian world of Flashpoint. Read more about her in Mark Waid’s “The Courier”.

Thoughts: What is the closest thing to Fallout: New Vegas in comics? DMZ or Old Man Logan, probably. However, neither of those titles have the breadth or scope to really allow the Courier to demonstrate all of her unique skills, whether it be sweet-talking a rough character, blasting baddies with a bizarre energy weapon, or keeping to the shadows as she crosses an enemy base. All in all, I think the Courier could really be a great character in the Flashpoint Universe if one were to utilize a lot of her basic attitudes and relationships and shift them from Fallout to comics. Instead of Caesar’s Legion, why not face down the Atlanteans? Instead of the NCR, it’s the U.S. government with folks like Cyborg, the Man of Steel. Instead of the Powder Gangers, you’ve got the Rogues in the Midwest. And instead of Benny, you’ve got good ol’ Citizen Cold, baby?''' '''

25)  Nameless One (Planescape) – Ark The pitch: Who is the Nameless One? Waking up on a slab in a mortuary underneath the bowels of the Central Power Battery on Oa, the Nameless One only has a message carved into his back with a knife to provide him clues as to who he is and what he’s doing here.  With the Green Lantern cryptkeeper Morro at his side, the Nameless One begins searching across the universe, piecing together the scraps of his past to learn who he really is.  Along the way, the Nameless One puts together a bizarre grouping of eccentric characters that all hold a little shred of the truth – Morro, the Lantern of the Dead; Prince Gavyn, the Man of Two Starmen; the Beautiful Dreamer, the Gorgeous New Goddess; and Arion, the Sorceror of the Golden Age of Atlantis.  Together, they learn the truth of the Nameless One – he was the first Green Lantern of Earth, one of the Original Corps of Lanterns, and creator of the Starheart. But why has he ended up on a slab in the crypts of Oa? What is the secret the Guardians are holding? And what is the TRUE history of Earth and where its superheroes came from? Find out in Geoff Johns’ and Sterling Gates’ new series, “Green Lantern: Nameless”.

Thoughts: A longterm mystery title that adds new wrinkles into the stories of several major DC franchises including Shazam, Hawkman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Blue Beetle, the New Gods, the Omega Men and more… this is the perfect high-profile title to launch a new character in a very plot-centric series. And I think the best part of the Nameless One is that he can be shaped to make the chemistry work with any character and at the same time maintain that dark past with a secret that keeps the reader motivated while at the same time being learning alongside the reader, putting both in the same boat. The beauty of the Nameless One is that he’s on the journey with the reader.''' '''

26)  '''Pit (Kid Icarus) – HeroDelTiempo The pitch: '''On Thanagar, Pit is a young boy about to inherit destiny.  Once every century, a Thangarian child is born with the wings normally crafted from Nth Metal – the fate of these children is to be sacrificed on their 16th birthday to Onimar Synn, the great Sin-Eater.  However, Pit’s mother, Shayera Thal, has been hiding her child in a remote mountain hideaway run by Thanagarian monks who have passed down a prophecy regarding a winged child.  The prophecy states that at some point in the future, a naturally winged child will put the Sin-Eater to death and lead the entire Thanagarian race to a golden age.  Pit is fifteen years old when his refuge is attacked by a cell of Thanagarian troops who have discovered the location of the winged boy.  Monks are slaughtered.  Buildings razed.  Now, Pit, his mother and a young monk named Sardath must venture across the world, finding allies and fighting to keep the hopes – and Pit – alive. Pit stars in James Robinson’s “Hawkworld” this fall.

Thoughts: This title would definitely be a great fit for Pit; he can use his wide array of weaponry by having it be slowly introduced over the course of the series. Instead of Palutena constantly providing his goals, he could rely on Shayera Thal. Instead of facing down Hades, he’s got a different despotic god in Onimar Synn. Frankly, I think it’s a great setup and it would definitely flesh out one of DC’s major franchises that constantly flies under the radar.''' '''

27)  Mallorie Cobb (Inception) – Raka The pitch: Eight years ago, Bruce Wayne brought is current longtime girlfriend Mallorie Cobb to a fundraiser for Arkham Asylum, and at that exact moment, Doctor Destiny unleashed the power of the Materiopticon in his cell ten floors beneath.  Using his powerful relic, Destiny put everyone in the facility to sleep and began to hunt them down in their dreams, killing them one by one. Sensing a disturbance on the astral plane, Doctor Fate arrived nearly 48 hours after the event the media was calling a “mysterious mass coma”.  In dreams, Wayne and Mallorie try to stay alive as the unfolding murders around them pick off other guests one by one.  At the climax of the story, Doctor Fate closes the shared dream, but Mallorie is unable to awaken in time and is trapped in the Dreaming, her physical form ceasing to exist.  In order to keep herself from being completely destroyed, Mallorie learns from the players in the Dreaming that she must tie herself to a dreamer. Years go by, and Mallorie is able to stay in Bruce’s dreams, providing a melancholy safe haven for him as she learns more truths about him. She quickly learns that Bruce is the Dark Knight, and she begins working her way into other pieces of information. When she learns Clark Kent is Superman, she begins to lurk in his dreams. She discovers that Hal Jordan is the Green Lantern. Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow. Eventually, she begins to be a part of a massive amount of superhero dreams, and she garners the attention of Doctor Fate, who brings it to Daniel, the Lord of Dreams… the Sandman. The Sandman, amused by her cleverness and resourcefulness, allows her to continue her plan, and he forbids Doctor Fate from interfering on pain of eternal nightmares. Mallorie continues to find the dreaming minds of other major characters and when the time is right, she steals the potent eternal sands from Dream’s Pouch and uses them to trap a variety of heroes inside of the Dreaming. However, the Sands are much too chaotic and powerful for a mortal soul to use, and they cause Mallorie to be dispersed across the entire plane of the Dreaming, warping it into a strange landscape filled with dreams and nightmares built around the heroes she’s learned about. Everyone from Blue Devil to Animal Man to Wonder Woman to Ragman to Cyborg must confront pieces of themselves normally reserved only for the unconscious mind. Eventually, heroes find each other and unite, and they storm Dream’s castle. Dream demands that they found his pouch, and when they do, he sets right the Dreaming. However, Mallorie’s soul is weakened from the strain the sands have put on it. In the course of the story, Jason Rusch decides that he no longer wishes to be a part of the Firestorm Matrix, and Dream cleverly realizes that said Matrix can keep Mallorie alive. Mallorie becomes Ronnie Raymond’s second half in the Firestorm Matrix. From this point on, they co-star in the Firestorm series together, falling in love and having a bizarre, intangible relationship.

Thoughts: I’d rather here your thoughts on this one. This was a tough character to set up, but once I did, I really, really dug the plot for Mallorie’s integration into the DCU. What do YOU think?''' '''

28)  Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess) – Suor The pitch: Hippolyta’s sister is back in town when Greg Rucka introduces Xena into the pages of the New52 Wonder Woman. Xena is a hot-headed, militant Amazon who has spent the last few millennia battling her way out of Tartarus for the crime of angering the oft-jealous Hera.  Hippolyta isn’t quite ready for the sudden arrival, however, and the consequences it entails.  First and foremost, Xena is the older sister – and that means Xena is also the rightful ruler of Themyscira.  Lyta is unceremoniously dumped out of her seat of power as Xena decides to take a more pro-active role in world affairs, and that includes calling Diana back to the island and rescinding her ambassadorship.  Now Diana is a back in the rank and file where Xena believes “that little clay girl” belongs.  Xena is about to find a rude awakening when she decides to go on the offensive against perceived violators of women’s rights. The world begins turning against her and Diana slowly works her way up the ranks, impressing her sisters with the courage, skill and wisdom she possesses. Diana challenges Xena to rulership of the Island in a contest of skill – bullets and bracelets. In an iconic scene, Xena narrowly loses her crown to Diana. And Diana, in turn, returns the crown to her mother. Xena strieks out to find the lost city of Bana-Migdhall after this, eventually returning to the Wonder Woman title after about a year as the new ruler THERE! And in tow with her is her new consort Artemis. Xena and Artemis have, through marriage, sewn up the ruling rights of the lost society of Amazons, and now there’s a cold war between the two states. The more open and politically accepted Amazons of Themyscira and the militant, warring state shunned by most of the UN countries of Bana-Migdhall. Xena and Artemis remain in a constant swing between ally and antagonist with Wonder Woman, depending on the situation, but regardless of their alignment, they are a permanent fixture in the Wondy book.

Thoughts: When Xena was nominated, I highly doubt there was ever any question as to where she would land in comics. Probably the only mystery was as to how high she would climb and exactly how she would fit in with Wonder Woman. Hope I pleased.''' '''

29)  Delsin Rowe (infamous) – DEADPOOL The pitch: Delsin Rowe is introduced as a member of the Young X-Men around 2010; Delsin’s Native American background allows him to develop a fast friendship with X-Force member Warpath, and after spending about two years developing his reputation and skills with the Young X-Men, Delsin moves into a newly formed X-Force, taking the codename Neon. This X-Force features Warpath, Neon, X-23, Cluster, Husk and Dazzler.  As Neon, Delsin becomes involved in a major subplot with Longshot and Mojo; when Longshot once again escapes the Mojoverse, the X-Force takes him in and decides to hold firm against Mojo’s forces when they arrive.  Mojo, however, quickly is piqued in interest by Neon’s video manipulation abilities, and he decides to take back both Neon and Longshot to the Mojoverse to further his media empire.  In a major storyline, Neon and Longshot ARE in fact captured by Mojo, which results in the entirety of the new X-Force line-up quickly jumping ship from the MU, moving to the Mojoverse. The title is rebooted as X-Men Gold. In X-Men Gold, Neon and Longshot are quickly rescued from Mojo’s clutches, and the team focuses mainly on being the freedom fighters of the Mojoverse. This is a great opportunity to introduce a variety of new mutant characters in the Mojoverse and bring them over to the regular MU. At the end of the series, Neon is forced to “sacrifice” himself to shut down Mojo’s TV empire permanently while Longshot shuts down Mojo himself. Neon stays on the back burner for about two years before being brought back as a secondary member of the New X-Men Gold after a major “Earth-shattering” status quo change turns the X-books into New X-Factor, New X-Men Blue, New X-Men Black and New X-Men Gold.

Thoughts: Native American characters are few and far between, so I’d be thrilled to add another one to the X-verse as someone with whom Warpath actually has something in common. Delsin has an excellent power set, but the extremely integrated backstory has to be entirely eradicated due to the rules o’ the game, so making him simply a new mutant character is the easiest fix. Of course, this kills a lot of his character’s primary motivations, so I tried to affix Delsin to a new storyline, and Mojo seemed like the perfect antagonist for a character who can manipulate video.''' '''

30)  Mario (Mario) – Fbike The pitch: Mario Mario was a simple Italian-American plumber until he fell into the land that time forgot… the Savage Land!  Now, Mario has found himself protecting an entire community hidden at the heart of Antarctica.  When Magneto kills Ka-Zar on a campaign to retake the far south for his Brotherhood and his plans for a new world order, Mario falls right into Ka-Zar’s place, rescuing Princess Shanna and taking on a self-proclaimed king of the Mutant Kingdom. Atop his unusual yet noble steed Zabu, Mario uses unusual powers he garners from his unusual trip down an intergalactic wormhole in a sewer pipe to fight back against Magneto.  Mario forms a brotherhood of his own to bring the fight to Magneto in a civil war in the Savage Land.  It all startsin issue #1 of Savage Mario Brotherhood!

Thoughts: Yes, this is pretty silly, but I think it fits Mario pretty darn well. Tell me this isn’t about as perfect a set-up as you can get for the guy. It definitely can sell respectably given the Magneto star power and the humor the book would likely thrive upon.''' '''

31)  Soma Cruz (Castlevania) – GMUN The pitch: Blade is the vampire hunter, but Soma Cruz is the vampire hunter hunter!  Soma Cruz is a powerful mage that busts into the Marvel Universe, looking for a challenging monster to take down… and he’s decided that Blade is the vampire he’s going to drop.  However, the game gets complicated when Baron Blood comes to town, too.  Now with three powerful forces at each other’s throats, it’s a game of cat-and-mouse.  However, Soma comes to the realization that Blade is a monster best left alive, and the two team up to take down Blood.  After this, Blade and Soma star in Marvel’s flagship horror title “Marvel: Black and White”, where the long-running plotline features the duo going after Dracula himself, who as always is being constantly resurrected. Soma also is featured in a short-lived Midnight Sons relaunch that sadly doesn’t garner enough sales to continue. At some point in the series, it’s revealed that Soma is a descendant of Dracula, and Dracula orchestrates a scenario that forces Blade and Soma to turn on each other; the series becomes Marvel: Black vs. White for a short period of time until things are settled. At the end of the series, Blade and Soma unite with Man-Thing, Morbius and Ghost Rider to take down Dracula permanently. Or about as permanently as possible in Marvel.

Thoughts: I have none. I don’t even know why I include this section sometimes. I mean, all the thoughts I got for this pitch I dropped into the pitch itself. Why don’t YOU people have a thought for a change?''' '''

32)  Gaius Baltar (Battlestar Galactica) – Murphiroth The pitch: Introduced into DC Comics as a prominent STAR Labs scientist well-regarded for curing several types of cancer, Gaius begins to play God, allowing his own brilliance to go to his head. Baltar develops the OMAC virus for Checkmate, but his tinkering with it ultimately results in the Morticoccus strain’s birth.  Baltar is often scene in the lab with Sister Eye, a sexy OMAC-based android female assistant who feeds into all of Gaius’ negative personality traits, fueling him to make further bad decisions.  After the Morticoccus strain escapes laboratory quarantine and begins to spread among heroes, villains, and civilians alike, the world begins to wreak havoc upon itself.  To top it all off, Brother Eye, the villainous satellite manipulator, takes control of the OMAC army and uses it to police the few uninfected humans left on Earth, turning the world into a dystopian dictatorship. Baltar and several ragtag heroes and villains are among the few people able to escape to the Justice League’s old satellite headquarters where they attempt to stage a re-invasion of Earth. Gaius and Sister Eye are joined by the Tattooed Man, the Ray, Black Canary, Snapper Carr, the Cheetah and the Question as they battle across the Earth – but Gaius’ secret shame is unknown to the rest of the group. Gaius must balance his precarious position while attempting to right the wrongs created by his own hubris in DC: Earth-51.

Thoughts: A little of Battlestar Galactica, a little of Final Crisis and Countdown, and a lot of fun. I think Gaius works perfectly in this post-catastrophe setting where a few heroes have to a seemingly infinite army of hivemind antagonists, don’t you think?''' '''

33)  Molly Millions (Neuromancer) – Drakeryn The pitch: Introduced in the classic “Titans Hunt” storyline in Wolfman’s New Teen Titans, Molly Millions is a mercenary contact of Slade Wilson’s – one of the few that he seems to hold in high regard.  Molly is brought in by Slade to help take down Jericho, which ends up playing out in grand, Shakespearean fashion.  Molly next shows up in Deathstroke’s solo series as a regretful mercenary out to collect the bounty on Slade’s head – Slade ends up poking out Molly’s eyes with his thumbs.  As she reels in shock, Molly still has the wherewithal to say, hey, that’s how jobs go sometimes.  Molly returns with new cybernetic eye replacements in the Titans titles in the late 90s as Cheshire’s partner on the Ravens; she helps to raise Lian Harper. Although she remains quite distant from the child, she obviously cares a great deal for Lian.  Molly shows up from time to time alongside Cheshire in titles like Teen Titans, Batgirl and Birds of Prey until Geoff Johns’ reboot of the Teen Titans. In this series, Molly is hired by Deathstroke to help him take down the fledgling group of Titans, but when Molly learns that Lian Harper is in Titans Tower, she turns on Deathstroke. Molly tentatively works with the Titans both to watch out for Lian and also to protect herself; when Deathstroke comes calling with Ravager, Molly ends up ripping out one of Ravager’s eyes, placing it in Slade’s hand and calling them “even.” Molly ends up forming a new group of Titans alongside Roy Harper in New York City after this point, a more hard-edged group of tough heroes; the line-up features Molly Millions, Arsenal, Risk, Indigo, Grace, Duela Dent, and the second Captain Boomerang. The team is one of the few to operate through Infinite Crisis into the One Year Later era. Around this time, Molly and Roy begin to form a stronger bond with each other, stemming from both of their love for Lian. However, Molly ends up having to cut and run when Deathstroke brings in his own Titans to bring down Titans East. Risk betrays the original Titans East, and the rest of the team is forced to cut and run. Molly herself shoves Roy and Lian into a JLA teleporter against Roy’s protestations, cutting off part of his arm in the process. At this point, Molly strikes out as a loner, appearing in a variety of titles until the New52 debuts.

In the New52, Molly Millions is an initial member of the Suicide Squad; however, she quickly gets fed up with Amanda Waller’s attitude as well as the team dynamic, and she uses Dwarfstar to disable the bomb in her neck. As Dwarfstar makes his way back up Molly’s throat, she simply swallows him and he dissolves in her powerful cybernetic stomach acid. Molly then ends up hitching up to Red Hood and the Outlaws. She begins to develop a relationship with Roy Harper in the New52, but after she discovers she is pregnant, she disappears from the group. As of Convergence, Roy has been attempting to find her, to little avail.

Thoughts: A great power set that visually would demonstrate itself well, Molly is equipped to be a part of the more violent fringe of the DC Universe, with the mystery as to how much humanity she actually has being a primary factor into her overall storyline. I liked hooking her up with Roy simply because they’re both great characters that are extremely damaged – I also like Molly’s moral code and I think seeing her evolution from a mercenary to a hero of convenience makes sense as she prioritizes Lian over her normal modus operandi. Plus, Molly has the potential to be DC’s best cyborg character. Yup, I went there.''' '''

34)  Samus Aran (Metroid) – GMUN The pitch: Meet the newest member of the Guardians of the Galaxy… Samus Aran!  Samus begins her run in GotG as a mysterious player who intervenes at crucial moments during major battles for unknown purposes.  For over a year, the GotG refer to this mysterious bounty hunter as a him until Jack Flag and Samus are captured by Kree forces and Samus’ helmet is removed, revealing Samus as a woman.  At this point, Samus and Flag team up to bust loose from Kree prison, and they end up taking an entire prison planet population with them.  After this, Samus is set up to be a love interest for Jack Flag, and Samus quickly proves herself to be a popular character in comics. Samus and Flag split off from the Guardians and star in their own series entitled “Colony Zero”, featuring the two of them settling the freed political prisoners on a barely hospitable backwater planet. Their relationship develops over the course of the series as they position the new colony as a major player in galactic affairs, eventually coming into contact with nearly every major alien race in Marvel’s cosmic realm. After the series ends, Samus and Flag appear off-and-on in other Marvel titles as popular guest characters before eventually being added to USAgent’s team series, Stars and Strikeforce.

Thoughts: Samus could have gone either to the Legion of Super-Heroes-dominated DC space quadrant or the Marvel GotG-infested quadrant, and I chose the latter. I just think Samus would quickly sink to the background at DC, whereas there’s definite value for her in the MU – especially since there’s still aspects of the local galaxy that can be explored. Samus is the type of character who is best used blazing new trails or being involved at the ground level of something. I just don’t see a value for her in a DCU that has such a strong pre-existing infrastructure.''' '''

35)  James Bond (Bond) – Xeybozn The pitch: James Bond spins out of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; Bond is the latest in the long line of MI5 representatives from popular literature, working through the 50s and 60s as an agent and running the team from the 90s until the present.  And that’s all I got.

Thoughts: It’s an obvious choice, it would be enjoyable, he’d be the star in a role he fits… that’s it. Next.''' '''

36)  Hermione Granger (Harry Potter) – Raka The pitch: Tim Hunter has been handed the keys to the kingdom, but he’s going to need training in order to harness his massive potential.  Thus, Tim is enrolled into the most elite school of wizardry ever – the parlor of Madame Xanadu.  Alongside Zachary Zatara and Hermione Granger, Tim begins to learn the ropes under the tutelage of one of the greatest sorceresses of her time as well as a host of DC’s biggest magic stars.  The three youths develop dynamic relationships between one another – at times they find each other insufferable, at other times they’re inseparable.  The series, Books of Magic, chronicles Tim, his friends and his owl as they prepare to go out into the wide DC Universe as full-fledged adult magicians one day, all while Tim prepares for a showdown with the legendarily evil sorcerer Mordru… who is set to reawaken very soon. Hermione is the brains of the group and eventually forms a relationship with Zachary Zatara, the youngest in a large familial brood of middle-class magicians.

Thoughts: Anyone familiar with both Potter and the DC magic scene will find this one extremely funny on at least two levels.''' '''

37)  Dante (Devil May Cry) – Snake The pitch: Dante is introduced into Spawn as a demon hunter.  He spends his first story trying to track down Spawn and put an end to his Earthly activities, but eventually he realizes that Spawn is a necessary evil and even wraps his first story by protecting Spawn from some heavenly antagonists.  Dante ends up spinning out into his own title that and moving more into the main Image universe.  Dante has a long-developing friendship with Savage Dragon and works with the big green guy on a few cases including a run in with Invincible villain Levy Angstrom.  Dante himself focuses primarily on rogue demons breaching the veil into the realm of Earth; occasionally this will lead him into the territory of other heroes such as Brit and Superpatriot.  Dante eventually becomes a member of the Guardians of the Globe, but his membership is a source of contention for many of the members – the most antagonistic development comes from Dante having an affair with Dupli-Kate, the Immortal’s girlfriend. The duplicitous heroine ends up causing the Immortal to leave the team, but most members hold Dante responsible. After an invasion by Omni-Man’s home race on Earth, Dante ends up returning to his solo title, where he ends up adding Battle Beast and the Astounding Wolf-Man to the cast. The three of them become the supernatural guardians known as The Ward.

Thoughts: Dante really doesn’t belong with one of the Big Two – there’s just no value in adding him into the DCU where the minions of Hell have such a structured hierarchy and such a neutral value to the universe at-large. With folks like Lucifer and Etrigan kicking around, it would be a disservice to Dante in pitting him against them – that would ultimately make him a villain. At the same time, Marvel ONLY has Mephisto in the game, and there’s not enough there for Dante to build a series solely round the Big Red Menace. So using bits and pieces of what exists in Image, you can essentially build an entirely new foundation around Dante and insert him as a fish-out-of-water into the mainstream scene before using his newfound exposure to hone in on a supernatural title that I think could be moderately successful.

38)  Marvin the Paranoid Robot (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) – ahirsch The pitch: Simply put, Marvin is introduced into Superman’s Fortress of Solitude as a personal assistant of sorts. Marvin is comic relief for a wide variety of Superman stories and appears occasionally in other titles whenever someone heads to the Fortress of Solitude.  Marvin also appears in the entire run of Supergirl, assigned to be her guide to the culture of Earth by Superman.  Marvin racks up a solid 800 appearances from his debut in John Byrne’s Man of Steel mini-series and also appears in the Man of Steel film in 2013.

Thoughts: Flat-out this is one of the easiest pitches I came up with thus far – Marvin is a pitch perfect comic relief character who has just enough competence to make his quirky personality the type of irritation that can be overlooked in favor of the value he provides. Superman would definitely fit in well with Marvin as he has the generally optimistic personality and no-nonsense attitude that would go well in conjunction with a depressive individual. You’d also get to see interactions with a wide array of characters thanks to Justice League, Batman, etc.  I can’t wait to see Captain Marvel be completely put off by Marvin; can you even imagine the ultimate optimist versus the ultimate depressive?''' '''

39)  Larry Butz (Ace Attorney) – Mega Mana The pitch: Larry inadvertently stumbles across She-Hulk’s path when he accidentally is left literally holding the bag when Shocker botches an attempt to rob a bank.  She-Hulk takes Larry’s case as a favor for a friend of his (Speedball), but what she doesn’t reckon for is that Larry is going to be in her life… a lot.  Larry has a bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time over and over and over. Thing is, he’s never guilty, even when all of the evidence suggests otherwise.  Good ol’ Larry finds himself in so many jams spanning the Marvel Universe that She-Hulk really has her hands full helping him out.  One of the more notable cases involves Larry accidentally stumbling into Black Cat and winding up locked in a cell with her as a conspirator. The two hit it off; meanwhile, She-Hulk has had it up to here with Larry (despite growing to like the guy), so she takes him to see Reed Richards. After running some tests, it’s determined that Larry actually has an as-of-yet undiscovered superpower – he has a talent that produces bad luck for himself. After most of the superpowered community has a good laugh at Larry’s expense, he’s surprised to find friendship in Black Cat and her understanding of a bad luck ability. The two eventually turn their friendship into a deeper companionship, and despite literally nothing being in their favor, Black Cat and Larry decide to make a go of it. Strangely enough, it seems to work out (although Larry still winds up turning to She-Hulk virtually weekly for more help). In the NYPD precincts, Larry is known as Luckless Larry Butz.

Thoughts: Honestly, this seemed utterly logical, and I think Larry is a perfect major supporting cast member for the lighter side of Marvel.''' '''

40)  Raiden (Metal Gear) – HeroDelTiempo The pitch: Marvel’s super-soldier was Captain America, but the Ultimate Universe refused to leave things alone with just a one Cap.  In fact, many heroes from the Hulk to the mutants stemmed from experiments in recreating the Captain America lightning in a bottle.  But it wasn’t until after the Death of Spider-Man that someone eventually landed on something close to the original.  When Peter Parker’s DNA is recombinated and spliced into a normal soldier, who also is augmented with cybernetic enhancements.  The process was both painful and traumatic, leaving the young soldier without his memories.  Upon waking up after his final operation, the young man, dubbed Raiden, thrashed and crashed his way out of the facility he was being held in – a lab in southern Nevada owned by Oscorp.  Raiden’s escape became a matter of national security, and everyone from the Ultimates to SHIELD to Oscorp to the Future Foundation sought to swing him under their duress or influence. But Raiden is a man without a country, a rogue wild card in the shifting tides of metahuman political power. The superhuman arms race has just gone from a cold war to a white hot one, and Raiden is caught in the crosshairs. After his introduction in Ultimate Comics: New Avengers, Raiden spins off into his own series – Ultimate Raiden: Agent of No One. This lasts until the Ultimate line folds several years later, but eventually Raiden is brought into the post-Secret Wars MU as a major player in a new Secret Warriors title.

Thoughts: Raiden is exactly the type of character that fits perfectly into… Checkmate. But, hey! I already had someone who was going into Checkmate so I decided to go in the opposite direction and add Raiden into the MU as an opponent to the Marvel counterpart of Checkmate. I think the results are fairly intriguing. If someone pitched me this idea for a series, I would definitely be excited at the amount of variety and possibilities that could stem from this concept. Having a character that can serve as a focal point for several major power players in Marvel means that Raiden is the type of guy that can easily jump into another title and not lose his own momentum.''' '''

41)  Mordin Solus (Mass Effect) – Ark The pitch: Adam Strange has tricked the Justice League into taking a Zeta Beam to Rann, all in the hope that they can free the Rannians from a Khuund invasion.  While on the planet, the League helps put together a resistance force, including a variety of other aliens that have been trapped on the surface of Rann thanks to a Khuund blockade around the planet.  One of these aliens becomes a resident doctor for the group, Mordin Solus.  Mordin is indispensible in helping to find a weakness for the League to exploit against the Khuunds, and Strange helps lead a charge to free his people.  Returning home, the League receives a request from Mordin to go with them; according to Mordin, he has been away from his home for far too long.  Hoping to find something valuable to do with his life, he moves into the Watchtower, serving as a full-time League scientist and doctor. A variety of stories begin to involve Mordin. Superman, suffering from kryptonite poisoning, goes to Mordin to help find a permanent cure for the mineral. Mordin comes up with a standard antibiotic that quickly cures the infection, something Superman begins to carry concealed in his cape at all times. Aquaman is able to convince Mordin to create a type of rebreather for his people, allowing for extensive diplomatic interaction between the surface and underwater civilizations. Along with all of the good comes some bad, too; Mordin, researching some of the trophies in the League Trophy Room, accidentally reactivates an Amazo android. Mordin also unwittingly assists Professors Ivo and Morrow in reactivating Tomorrow Woman (although this backfires as Mordin is able to restore her soul-like internal programming once again). Overall, Mordin serves with the League for over 18 years until the New52 relaunch, where only recently after Convergence did he return to comics, once again working as a Leaguer (this time with Justice League United).

Thoughts: I’ve always loved when skills outside of superheroics prove useful to the Justice League. Steel working in the armory. Zauriel serving as an historian and caretaker of the Trophy Room. Jason Blood unpacking his entire study in the Tower and moving in as the resident magicks expert. That’s where I put Mordin, but I did him one better and put him on the level of Martian Manhunter – he’s a full-time Leaguer with the ability to be involved in any sort of DC Comics title in some capacity should the need arise.''' '''

42)  Balthier Bunansa (Final Fantasy) – Ark The pitch: Balthier is introduced into Marvel comics during a major event called the Sentinel Sanction, a story where the Sentinels are given the greenlight to kill everyone with a mutant gene on Earth. Balthier is a mysterious new character who begins to rescue mutants across the world in his sleek, fancy skyship. The skyship is a massive vessel that seems to always stay one step ahead of the Sentinels; Balthier notably has a strong connection with Pixie that develops over the course of the story. After the Sentinels are shut down, several mutants choose to remain with the skyship and reform X-Factor on-board with Balthier’s permission – Madrox, M, Feral, Pixie, Gambit and Banshee. Balthier and the gang relaunch the X-Factor series at this point.  Balthier’s mobility makes him a great guest star in a variety of comics. Consistently, Balthier tends to put off major characters while impressing minor characters and causing the ladies to swoon with his “I’m the leading man” schtick. Captain America hates him. Mockingbird adores him. Iron Man can’t stand him. Pepper Potts can’t get enough. After a long period of time, Pixie and Balthier take their relationship to the next level, and when the X-Factor gang moves into more permanent quarters after several years, Balthier and Pixie form a new Defenders gang.

Thoughts: He’s the leading man, people.''' '''

43)  Solid Snake (Metal Gear) – Leonhart The pitch: Snake is introduced into Checkmate in Greg Rucka’s OMAC Project as one of the few surviving Checkmate agents after Max Lord’s purge of the organization.  By the beginning of One Year Later, Snake has taken the role of the Black Queen’s Bishop, and from that point forward, Snake is set up in the role of a Nick Fury for DC Comics.  Not the Nick Fury that runs everything, but rather the early Silver Age Nick Fury – an agent for a major world-covering organization, constantly placed into dangerous no-win scenarios and expected to gain victory.  For example, Snake is plopped down on Oolong Island and expected to infiltrate and eradicate Egg Fu with nothing but an earpiece communicator and a gun.  Snake is put through his paces quite often, and eventually the Checkmate title is re-branded as Solid Snake, Agent of Checkmate in the New52. Snake plays a notable role in Future’s End and he also serves as an ally and liaison to the Justice League, serving critically as the individual who discovers Atomica’s true allegiance in Trinity War. In the New52, Sasha Bordeaux is replaced by Amanda Waller as Snake’s boss and the new Black Queen, but his role remains the same. Snake is one of the few people to understand that Waller is one of the good guys, and he’s perhaps her greatest ally.

Thoughts: Snake, Fury…. Eyepatches, black ops missions, espionage…. I mean, these two are made to be natural mirror images of one another. In fact, my first thought was “Why haven’t we had an Amalgam of Snake and Fury?”  Which naturally led to, “Well, that’s because DC doesn’t have Snake.”  And from there, well the rest is obvious. Snake is a great C-List star who could definitely hold a middling audience in the comic book community.''' '''

44)  Sam Vimes (Discworld) – Natwaf The pitch: Introduced by JM DeMatteis in Spectacular Spider-Man, Vimes is the replacement for Jean DeWolff in the NYPD. Vimes is a gruff contact with Spider-Man who at first only works with him out of necessity regarding some of Jean’s old cases.  However, despite his outward demeanor, he ends up respecting Spider-Man (begrudgingly), and serves as a consistent supporting character in nearly all of Spider-Man’s stories that feature organized crime.  Vimes has a hard time moving up in the ranks due to his attitude, but a terrorist attack on the NYPD HQ ends up causing massive upheaval. Vimes takes a major leap in the ranks at this point (after having served in comics for about 13 years).  At this point, there’s a major antagonistic rivalry between Jameson and Vimes – Jameson constantly publishes OP/ED pieces criticizing Vimes’ stance with superheroes, and in return Vimes refuses to investigate several super-villain attacks on the Daily Bugle launched by Doctor Octopus, which ends up just angering Jameson more.  Vimes works as the commissioner of the NYPD for about 7 years until the Civil War Registration Act.  During the event, he aids Spider-Man once Spidey returns to vigilante status, and he also helps out several of Captain America’s allies consistently.  During the post-Secret Invasion Dark Reign, Jameson uncovers a lot of this activity and gets Vimes fired.  Vimes eventually shows up again several years later as the sheriff in Desert Springs, New Mexico, in a storyline from Ghost Rider.

Thoughts: Here’s a nice, extensive character history, and frankly I really enjoy the concept of a character like this being involved for such a long time in such a major role. Thanks Natwaf for giving me the opportunity to fill such a major role in comics; it’s odd that there’s never really been a major character who runs the NYPD in Marvel given how many characters operate out of NYC, isn’t it?''' '''

45)  Commander Shepard (Mass Effect) – Leonhart The pitch: “I’m Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite store in the United Planets.”  Shepard is the Science Police commander in the 31st century and one of the few people who supports the Legion of Super-Heroes. When the Legion is effectively exiled to the backwater fringe planets in the UP, Shepard begins to work with them under the table, providing information and pointing them to local issues that could be resolved by their intervention.  Meanwhile on Earth, Shepard begins to fight back against the ultra-conservative policies of the UP council, but discovers that there are mysterious players at work behind the scenes.  As the Legion faces down threats with superheroic action, Shepard has to use intimidation, charm, and good ol’ detective work to cut through the mass of political intrigue in order to discover that the Durlans and Okaarans are playing a dangerous game with the Legion and United Planets caught in the middle. Shepard ends up spinning out into his own short-lived series with the Science Police, adding a few B-list Legionnaires to the SP ranks as Shepard rises to prominence. He eventually takes a major seat on the UP council.

Thoughts: Shepard involved in future affairs and the destiny of the Earth. Seems simple enough.''' '''

46)  Stephen Colbert (Colbert Report) – HeroDelTiempo The pitch: Colbert is the New52 version of what Max Lord used to be like; he’s a personality in a suit that builds a Justice League for his own goals.  Forming it around the basis of a conservative super-team, Colbert pitches the Justice League of America as a return to core ideals that made American great. However, as is often the case with a team full of boastful ideologues, there’s a lot of in-fighting about the direction and leadership of the team.  Colbert manages to keep things together and even thrive in the political arena, and Colbert is able to use the success of his team to propel himself into the governorship of South Carolina.  The team is involved in international affairs, garnering frequent criticism for Colbert’s use of superheroes to further a political agenda, but they also serve locally in South Carolina. Colbert cites the success of the team in assisting in disaster relief, law enforcement and more as proof that the United States should be using organized superheroes as a normalcy. Ultimately, the core roster of Colbert’s League is Power Girl, Hawkman, Shazam, Liberty Belle, Johnny Quick and (of course) Green Lantern John Stewart.

Thoughts: Obviously the first thought is to hook Colbert up with John Stewart. After that, it’s just a matter of finding the right position for him in the DC Universe, and I think I succeeded with that Colbert is a natural replacement for Max Lord, especially since Lord has become far removed from his sleezy super-used car salesman past. I think inserting this cable news magnate-turned-politico is timely and relevant and only helps the comic serve as a great social commentary. Cool stuff.''' '''

47)  AJ Lee (WWE) – Mega Mana The pitch: Member of Gail Simone’s Secret Six.  AJ has a few screws loose – nay, the screws are gone and she’s completely unhinged. With solid fighting skills and a career in the public eye, AJ becomes a celebrity quasi-villain.  The Six use this to their advantage, beating down small-time villains and heroes alike and filming their antics.  AJ and the Six become viral sensations overnight, most notably when AJ’s masterful burying of Hawk and Dove nets over 300 million views on Youtube.  AJ basks in the attention, but the Six begin to find it hampering as their cover is blown more and more often thanks to a Twittercentric celebrity-obsessed mass media outlet.  AJ becomes more and more unhinged as well, and Catman follows her down the rabbit as he finds her a kindred spirit.

Thoughts: My first thought was that AJ is a lot like Harley Quinn – I’ve thought this for some time, and I think she has the strongest female personality in wrestling ever (aside from Stephanie of course). AJ just seems like a natural fit with the Six because it opens up a great avenue for exploration of our culture, an area where Gail Simone often excels. A new perspective of celebrity in society utilizing an unstable anti-anti-hero/anti-anti-villain would make sense as the fascination with celebrities seems to pass amoral and go directly to immoral. Ultimately, AJ is a great vehicle for fresh plots and new relationship dynamics in a book that’s all about fresh plots and relationship dynamics.

48)  Nightmare (SoulCalibur) – Not_an_Owl The pitch: Millennia ago, the Panoptichron grew corrupt; Dream used his abilities to purge this corruption and create the Gem of Darkness, the source of power for Eclipso.  However, Eclipso was a byproduct of this gem.  Turns out, when the gem is destroyed, that it contained the essence of the equal and opposite force of the Dreaming – The Nightmare Realm.  And the Nightmare Realm, like the Dreaming, has its ruler: Nightmare.  Now, Dream must bring the Nightmare Realm under control; humans around the world are experiencing terrors they can’t escape in their sleep, the world slowly descending into a sick madness as the nightmares become more and more pervasive, entering the waking world as waking nightmares.  Dream confronts his opposite in one of Neil Gaiman’s greatest storylines in the Sandman. Eventually, Nightmare is given a place in Hell, where his Nightmare Realm becomes a tool used to help souls find admonition and penance.

Thoughts: Isaac Newton is always a great place to find ideas for a story, and that’s where I started with Nightmare. It seems only natural that Dream – like so many other characters – would have a twisted reflection of himself. You could definitely do some really cool things with Nightmare as he wouldn’t be a “true” villain. He’s simply performing his function; he’s an outmoded tool for the living world, and I think antiquation is always a great way to make a villain sympathetic. Nightmare is a monster, but that monster had purpose; now Dream needs to figure out how to turn a broken tool into a working one.''' '''

49)  Rikuo (Darkstalkers) – pokemonandrew The pitch: Much like his distant, distant cousin Namor, Rikuo is a mutant of an underwater race of mer-people – an off-shoot of the Atlantean race located in the Sargasso Sea.  Rikuo far beyond is people mostly human appearance when he was exposed to the Inhumans’ Terrigan mists, and his appearance effectively caused him to be shunned by his entire race.  Rikuo was accepted by Sunfire, however, and Sunfire inducted him as a founding member of the Japanese mutant team X-Alt.  Alongside Sunfire, Rikuo was joined by Silver Samurai II (great-grandson of the original), Jubilee and Psylocke.  The team operates as a B-List international super-group for about seven years before Sunfire disbands it; after this, Rikuo takes a major role in the Defenders as they help him regain the trust of his people when they’re captured by Attuma.  Rikuo becomes there protector, but occasionally serves as a guest-star after that point as a semi-active surface hero.

Thoughts: My only thought right now is how tired I am. Marvel already has Triton, but they’ve painted him so far into a corner that they might as well try to reboot his concept with another character.''' '''

50)  Venom (Guilty Gear) – pokemonandrew The pitch: Venom is introduced into the Wildstorm Universe as a member of the WildC.A.T.s; initially, Venom is recognized by Grifter one the streets of London and due to Venom’s code of honor, believes he owes Grifter a life debt.  Grifter and Venom partner up quite often in WildC.A.T.s until Venom’s previous organization of allegiance – the Assassin’s Guild – comes calling.  This Guild (led by former Stormwatch leader John Lynch) is out for blood or servitude, but the WildC.A.T.s will have none of it – however, Lynch’s tactics outmatch the group, and Venom decides to return to the Guild in order to spare the team.  Venom next shows up in Stormwatch, bored and unhappy with his work with the Guild, Venom decides to challenge Lynch for leadership.  In a fight to the death, Venom ends up knocking Lynch off of a high cliff.  Now running the Guild, the High and his allies decide to go after the Guild, believing Lynch is still in charge. The Guild is run roughshod before Venom can prove that the Guild is under new order. At this point, Venom starts trying to improve the Guild’s reputation. His first order of business is to attach the Guild to Stormwatch Black. However, after several missions, a job goes awry, resulting Stormwatch severing ties with the Guild. This setback happens just in time for Lynch to reappear, taking back the reins of leadership. Venom, evicted and alone, wanders for a while in a short series before returning to the WildC.A.T.s, where he rejoins with his longtime ally Grifter. At this point, the two become an inseparable unit like Luke Cage and Iron Fist, starring in storylines and the occasional mini-series together.

Thoughts: We’re starting to get into the realm of characters that can be perennial C- or B-listers; I don’t say that lightly. These are characters that can float between titles easily, fitting in where necessary while building up the type of character history that makes comics so great. You can either follow the character from title to title or you can read a title and enjoy when the character shows up. Ultimately, that’s where Venom fits in. He has a good power set and skillset for comics, and his design works excellently as a Wildstorm-style costume.''' '''

51)  Rand al’Thor (Wheel of Time) – Sphynx The pitch: Pieces of power have been scattered across realities, and Captain Britain and Excalibur have been tasked by Roma to unite them and return them to the Nexus of Realities.  Only in this way can a fracturing of the multiverse be restored.  But the pieces must be united by an individual – a man who can wield the Dragon Scepter, the Dragon Belt Buckle, the Crown of Swords and Justice.  Only a man of the bloodline of the original Arthur can do so, and that man is Rand al’Thor, a young man unknowingly tied to destiny. As Excalibur splits up to bring the pieces of power together, Captain Britain must race against time to bring Rand back through the Multiverse.  But as the splintering continues, it becomes harder and harder to find pathways between universes.  Excalibur eventually gives up; Roma sacrifices herself to prevent the Multiverse from splintering further, using her own power to tentatively unite the pieces of power together. At this point, Captain Britain gets a solo series featuring Rand as a main character in the title. At the end of the series, Cap gets Rand to the Nexus of Realities, and Rand accepts his fated reign as the Ruler of Reality, a man tasked with protecting universes from one another. Rand shows up off and on, mainly during major crossover events, to give pushes and nudges when necessary.

Thoughts: Rand has always been a bit of a King Arthur character, so it felt natural to throw him in with the Excalibur group. However, there’s once again not a whole lot of ways to bring a sword-wielding fantasy type to the present, so I set up a bit of structured history to allow him to exist. Think of him as a sort of mythical figure whose appearances in comics signify the gravity of those comics’ plotlines. The threat level is going to be very high if he’s around.''' '''

52)  Revolver Ocelot (Metal Gear) – Pepsi The pitch: Revolver debuts as an antagonist in Checkmate, serving as extremist leader of a military splinter group; he ends up putting a bullet in Sasha Bordeaux and escaping.  After Sasha recovers, she decides to make Ocelot a priority.  Other Checkmate leaders feel she’s becoming obsessive and in a group vote, that override her directives about Ocelot and put Sasha back on a normal docket of mission directives.  However, Ocelot bides his time and prepares for a major attack on U.S.  He ends up bombing the Las Vegas strip, leaving most of it in rubble.  Checkmate realizes that Sasha was correct, and they decide to focus their resources on going after Ocelot and his organization.  Ultimately, Checkmate spends several story arcs going after Ocelot in various ways.  Ocelot also pops up in other series from time to time, such as Hawkman, Green Arrow and the Flash. In the end, Sasha uses the Thinker to hack into Ocelot’s computer network in order to get close to him, but this backfires – it turns out the Thinker has been a long-serving sleeper agent for Ocelot. Ocelot uses the Thinker and his knowledge about Checkmate to go on the offensive, taking down hundreds of Checkmate agents and forcing the organization to retreat from nearly every mission on their books. In the end, Ocelot ends up breaking down the doors of Checkmate’s mountain retreat, and in a pitched battle Mr. Terrific and Sasha are barely able to bring Ocelot once and for all – Ocelot is set to be brought to an internationally televised war crimes tribunal.

Thoughts: Ocelot is definitely the type of villain who could sustain being either a recurring villain in an A-List title or a main villain in a B-List title. Checkmate is obviously a natural fit for the guy thanks to the spy and military similarities with Metal Gear. I think Sasha is the perfect counterpoint to Ocelot in terms of comic characters.''' '''

53)  Veronica Mars (Veronica Mars) – Snake The pitch: Veronica Mars has spent years as a schoolhouse detective, but her first year at college sees her burgeoning investigative prowess put to the test when Professor Connors disappears and only his arm is found in his lab… what’s more, it’s the same arm that he’s been missing for several years!  As Mars digs into the case, she discovers that Spider-Man is involved, and she begins to track down the webhead and figure out once and for all what happened to her favorite teacher.  Ultimately, she finds Connors in the sewers with Spider-Man standing over him. Spider-Man runs and Mars goes to Connors’ aid.  Connors has of course been spending some time as the Lizard, but he has absolutely no recollection of those events.  Mars decides to take her case to the Daily Bugle, where Jameson quickly promotes her to work with Ben Urich and try to bring Spider-Man’s crimes to the light of day. While working with Urich, she meets a young photographer named Peter Parker and the two of them begin to form a romantic relationship. But can Spider-Man reconcile Mars’ hatred of Spider-Man with her love of Parker? And what will Mars do when she learns the truth? Find out in the Spectacular Web of Spider-Man, written by Peter David!

Thoughts: A cute Kristen Bell using her phenomenal intellect to prove herself a match to seasoned vets both on the force and in the press getting it on with Spidey? What’s not to like? I can easily see Veronica Mars surpassing Gwen Stacy as favorite blonde girlfriend of Spider-Man. Of course, she’ll probably get killed off by Hydro-Man after several years.''' '''

54)  Lord Vetinari (Discworld) – Natwaf The pitch: Havelock Vetinari is introduced as the headmaster and chief adult operator in the Young Justice’s Happy Harbor Academy, a remedial school for misbehaving superheroic youths. While Havelock is a calculating son of a gun, he’s also a highly competent administrator.  He’s therefore able to produce strong results with his Young Justice collective.  Assembling a strong-headed revolving roster of youngsters, Vetinari is running a School of Hard Knocks – not paying attention?  Then it’s probably going to result in you getting beaten down on the battlefield.  Late to a briefing session?  Then you’re going to be left holding the bag when it gets to your part of the battle plan. Vetinari is always sending the kids on a mission that benefits him in the long run, and his Machiavellian tendencies are strongly-pronounced in the series.  He especially has a tumultuous relationship with pupil Bart Allen, who refuses to play by the rules almost every mission.

Thoughts: There’s no decent city for him to run, but Havelock seems like a great match with Young Justice. At first, I was going to push him as a new headmaster at Xavier’s, but Young Justice is definitely a team where an iron hand would be better utilized. I mean, these are super-delinquents of the highest order, and I can totally see Batman pushing a guy like Vetinari in a position of authority to straighten out those young punks. While the role is definitely supportive, it’s still one of those extremely important support roles that would make Vetinari valuable throughout this iteration of Young Justice… until someone decides to go Graduation Day on his ass. I think he would be best served with another adult to be his gofer and field representative – Red Tornado could easily move into this role from standard mentoring.''' '''

55)  Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy) – Leonhart The pitch: “Who is the Lionheart?” This is the question posed by Marvel’s Illuminati before they are captured by the Unholy Trinity – Dormammu, Nightmare and Mephisto.  The word begins to fall to the darkest shadows of all, and there’s no escape whether awake or asleep.  The tendrils of evil are wrapping around the world, using some of the most powerful heroes as a conduit.  The Sentry himself is the central cog in the machine, being twisted into the Void once again by Mephisto, his shadowy aura enveloping everything around him.  But a few heroes and villains remain as a faction of resistance, and these are the folks who are left to search for the mysterious Lionheart: Brother Voodoo, the Human Torch, Hellcat, Dazzler, Electro and Selene are following the clues right into the heart of darkness, where they find Dormammu’s long-lost illegitimate son… Squall Leonhart. Squall, who has been raised in secret under the tutelage of the High Evolutionary, is the man with the gunsword of destiny, and he is going to take back the light one step at a time. After Squall and his newfound allies save the world, they form a new occult team of Defenders with that membership line-up.

Thoughts: The Defenders is the perfect place for Squall, and the Squall is the perfect dysfunctional leader for the Defenders. I just see a membership line-up on the cover with Squall at the center and get chills of anticipation. Let’s make this happen! He fits perfectly into a modernized setting with magical edges that the Defenders’ story arcs could provide.''' '''

56)  Jason Bourne (Bourne) – Pepsi The pitch: Jason Bourne wakes up without a name, without a memory, with nothing at all except for a gun, a post office key and a plane ticket to Amarillo, Texas.  From these inauspicious circumstances comes the story of a man searching to regain his life.  When Bourne finds the post office box in Amarillo, he discovers that his memory was stolen from him by a powerful mage of the highest order, and his only ally appears to be a nameless individual peppering typed clues in post office boxes and safe deposit boxes and hollowed-out tree trunks around the world.  Every clue leads Bourne to a shred of his life and another clue, and he follows the trail wherever it leads.  Slowly, he realizes he has amazing fighting abilities and heightened reflexes, and these revelations spur him to keep going.  The further he follows, however, the more in peril his life seems to get – LexCorp soldiers, the Rogues from Central City, the Demolition Team, and more seem to be after him, searching for the same information Jason seeks. As the trail reaches its conclusion, Jason discovers that his mind was wiped by none other than Justice League mainstay Zatanna. Bourne learns that the Justice League was behind the entire erasure of his life, and suddenly memories begin to flood back. He realizes he has some unusual abilities: super-strength, eye beams and flight. The more he uses these abilities, the more his veins begin to become pronounced on his skin (which is turning blue). As he confronts the League, the final pieces click in place: Brother Eye has been providing the clues by using dormant OMACs, and when a swarm of OMACs come to Jason’s aid, he realizes that he is in fact the OMAC Prime, the master control for all OMAC units. The Justice League, it turns out, mindwiped him at his own request in an attempt to cripple Brother Eye’s plans. Jason turns on his puppet master and destroys Brother Eye. Now in control of the OMACs, Jason retreats to an abandoned satellite station and uses his OMACs to run covert operations in order to assist the Justice League and other heroes from time to time.'''  Thoughts: '''Some ideas start in one direction and just run away in another – that was the case here. My plan was to reveal Jason was an assassin-for-hire like Deathstroke or Deadshot, but a job he was working on ran afoul of the League which was going through the Identity Crisis-type mindwipings. I was going to essentially make him a very neutral player in the DCU, along the lines of the Secret Six (the sort of people who trust no one and refuse to be party to either of the major sides in the DCU cold war between heroes and villains). Ultimately though, I felt that Jason’s hidden past should be something slightly more positive as the character is a very competent and compelling guy with enough essentials to warrant being a constant guest star in the DCU. Plus, having an army of sleeper agents that can be used any time, any place is pretty intriguing.

57)  Alyx Vance (Half-Life) – Xeybozn The pitch: Alyx is introduced into The Walking Dead as a traveler seeking hope for a cure in Washington D.C.  Of course, she’s not exactly successful on that front… but what she does find is a perfect setup for a base: the Washington Monument.  Alyx is the ultimate Runner, living at the top of the Monument at night and scouring the city during the day.  Alyx not only scours for survival, but she has accrued a massive collection of American history: the Declaration of Independence, original paintings of the presidents, the flag from Fort McHenry, and much more.  Alyx is sort of a lone wolf character that finds herself allied with Rick and the gang when her position is threatened by Negan.  Ultimately, Alyx could spin off into her own story of collecting pieces of America’s past in the zombie wasteland.

Thoughts: A little bit of Half-Life, a little bit of Fallout 3, and a whole lot of the Walking Dead mixed together results in the perfect place to drop Alyx Vance. She has the personality that could sustain a book focused solely on her, and I think ultimately this could be a fun title if it came out in occasional mini-series.

58)  Thor (Norse Mythology) – Fbike The pitch: The Titans of Myth have razed Olympus to the ground and thrown the Olympian Gods into Tartarus.  Now it’s left to Wonder Woman to fight back, but she’ll need allies to do it.  Enter Asgard, stage left!  Diana is presented the path to the Rainbow Bridge by Circe of all people, but Circe warns that the Norse gods may not be what Diana expects.  When she reaches Asgard, she discovers a husk of its former glory – buildings in ruin, faint spirits flitting amongst ruins.  At the heart of the throne room of Asgard, Diana finds a gnarled old man clutching to a walking stick, spouting nonsense and babble. Discovering this was once the powerful Thor, Diana brings him back to Earth and seeks Circe again to figure out how to restore Thor to his former glory.  Circe informs Wonder Woman that in order to restore Thor, she will need to spread belief in Thor once again. Travelling across the world and fighting creatures spawned by the Titans, Wonder Woman and Thor slowly bring Thor’s power back. He’s not the musclebound creature of myth but rather a dashing man who wields a hammer like a rapier. As his power increases, he’s also able shoot lightning from his fingertips, and his eyes spark electricity. A subplot features Thor and Circe having a bit of a romantic entanglement. Returned to true godhood, Thor prepares to help Wonder Woman build an army by bringing back the rest of the Norse Gods and bring the Ragnarok to the Titans.

Thoughts: Sure, Marvel has a Thor, but DC has every right to bring a public domain character into the company, and this Thor is wildly different from the Thor you know. He’s a slim, swift guy who uses Mjolnir as a sword rather than a blunt weapon or a thrown item. Also, the concept of belief powering the gods is one that would be pretty unique and a great visual. Asgard wouldn’t be the towering golden city we’re all used to but rather I’d like to see it be a Dyson’s Sphere – a world that actually is a giant hollow sphere with a light source at the center – kind of like Earth being turned inside out. The architecture would be mind-bending, MC Escher-esque craziness. Other gods can also be introduced as they are all public domain, and I’d like to make them all primal and elemental like Thor – very tied to their particular bailiwick (Thor being very tied to electricity, Skadi tied to ice, etc.). I could possible see Thor spinning off with the other Norse gods into their own title, or maybe Thor joining a group like the Justice League International.

59)  Jack O’Neill (Stargate) – TexWolf The pitch: Jack O’Neill thought he was being transferred to a special black ops team in the Navy, but it’s to his surprise that he finds himself attached to a recon team tasked with establishing a toehold in Jotunheim… with the purpose of preparing for an invasion of Asgard! O’Neill initially accepts the proposal excitedly, and the first two stories of his SHIELD ops team feature the group bagging a frost giant and setting up a base alongside a splinter group of exiled Dark Elves.  O’Neill soon makes contact with an Asgardian when he runs into the blind god Hoder, and he begins to realize that the Asgardians aren’t a threat… SHIELD is. Returning to his group with the news, his commanding officer attempts to arrest both O’Neill and several other soldiers who agree with Jack.  SHIELD allies with the Dark Elves and now has two enemies: O’Neill’s group and the Asgardians. Eventually with the help of Hoder, O’Neill and his unit are able to make it to Asgard where they begin to train in preparation to aid Asgard in the upcoming battle against SHIELD, the Dark Elves, the Frost Giants and a wide assortment of Norse baddies. O’Neill becomes a recurring character in the Defenders, Thor, and SHIELD titles, and also becomes the romantic interest of Valkyrie.

Thoughts: Obviously, O’Neill is a natural fit for the Norse gods, and he fits in the modern day era as well, so that makes him valuable on two fronts. Attaching him to SHIELD was sort of an afterthought as I needed him to flip sides; I want him to be a PoV character in the realm of Asgard – the type of character that can bring a new sense of wonder to these concepts that we take for granted in comics nowadays. Obviously I’m putting SHIELD in the bad guy mode here, but I can easily set this up as a shade-of-gray situation by having Loki or someone go rogue on America and **** some things up. It would only be natural for SHIELD to overreact and decide to steamroll an entire civilization because of something like that.''' '''

60)  Strider Hiryu (Strider) – JONA The pitch: Strider is introduced into Legends of the Dark Knight as an enemy of Ra’s al Ghul during the Boxer Rebellion.  Strider fought desperately from allowing Ra’s and his empire from spreading into Eastern Asia, and he fought out of the mountaintop refuge of Nanda Parbat. Strider’s war would find an added wrinkle when he fell in love with Nyssa Raatko, Ra’s eldest daughter.  The two would have a tenuous romance that resulted in Strider demanding Nyssa take a side – Nyssa, torn deeply, ended up betraying Strider and revealing the location of Nanda Parbat to Ra’s.  Ra’s would then destroy most of Nanda Parbat aside from the monastery at the very top.  Ra’s and Strider would have a lifelong enmity for one another, and it would ultimately culminate in Strider getting off a mortal wound Ra’s before being tripped and falling off the top of a Himalayan mountain. Ra’s, of course, would end up making his way to a Lazarus Pit, but he would consider Strider one of his greatest foes – high praise from an immortal man.

Thoughts: I have no thoughts. My head is virtually devoid of any cognitive process.''' '''

61)  Nicholas Brody (Homeland) – Snake The pitch: When decorated war hero Nicholas Brody returns home from Iraq, Cameron Chase believes things aren’t as they seem.  As Brody becomes more and more popular and adored by the public, Chase brings together the new and improved FREEDOM FIGHTERS to figure out exactly why Brody’s past doesn’t seem to add up.  When Brody announces his candidacy for President, the FFers begin a race against time. Uncle Sam, the Ray, Black Condor, the Phantom Lady, Damage, and the Human Bomb begin a year-long series trying to piece things together – but they’re stopped every step of the way by US government forces led by the mysterious Americommando, a masked extremist who seems hellbent on pushing Brody all the way into the White House. At the Republican National Convention, the FF are framed for the murder of Brody’s running mate and then spend the next several months on the run. On Election Night, as Brody prepares to give his winning acceptance speech, the FF break into his hotel headquarters and face the Americommando, discovering he’s actually Brody himself… and that Brody is an android reconstruction created by Kobra. The Ray smartly broadcasts the entire reveal to every electronic device with a screen using his abilities, and needless to say, Brody loses the election.

Thoughts: For me, this is an excellent mix between Homeland, Manchurian Candidate, the Number One storyline from Captain America, and the first Freedom Fighters post-Infinite Crisis mini-series. Throwing in Cameron Chase just adds more suspense, and Brody works great in the role of the central villain.''' '''

62)  Andrew Ryan (BioShock) – Ark The pitch: Namor stumbles upon what was supposed to be a Lost City of Atlantis in the early 50s, but what he found instead was the city of Nereus rebuilt in the vision of the Ayn Rand disciple Andrew Ryan, practicing as leader and Messiah of a strange dystopia beneath the sea.  Namor at first is drawn in by the outward illusion presented by Ryan, who convinces Namor to ally with Nereus to take over the entire realm of Atlantis.  Ryan attempts to use Namor as a figurehead leader in order to assume influence over the entire ocean floor.  His endgame… to build the largest army the world has ever seen, all in a bid to take the surface world for himself.  When Namor eventually realizes Ryan’s gambit, Ryan is able to inflict a mind-altering substance upon the Sub-Mariner, rendering him amnesiac.  Ten years later, the Fantastic Four find him in a bar, believing himself to be a homeless man. When they bring Namor out of his amnesiac state, the Sub-Mariner at first believes he is meant to be leading a war on the surface world. However, after several battles, Namor fully recovers and the FF travel with Namor to Nereus… which is completely trashed and a husk of itself. Eventually, they track Ryan to the Atlantean capital, Atlantis itself. Ryan and the Atlanteans take on Namor and the FF off-and-on for several years, but eventually Namor is able to defeat Ryan in a one-on-one duel and retake his throne.

Thoughts: I decided to make some twists to Namor’s Silver Age history, turning his anti-heroic tendencies into side effects brought on by the amazingly suited villain that is Andrew Ryan. While Ryan really can’t endure as a long-running perpetual enemy, he definitely provides motivation and momentum necessary for several stories that can culminate in the same result that Marvel provided for Namor in the late 60s.''' '''

63)  Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney) – Fbike The pitch: Phoenix Wright is first introduced as an attorney facing off against She-Hulk in the case of Hydro-Man vs. Shocker, where Phoenix represented Shocker, being accused of wrongfully endangering Hydro-Man with unsafe working conditions.  She-Hulk is stunned when Phoenix is able to abscond a win in this frivolous suit, and from then on, the two of them have a fierce in-court rivalry.  For a long time, She-Hulk viscerally detests Wright until she’s unexpectedly stuck saving Wright’s butt from an impromptu invasion by Moloids.  The two end up trapped under a mile of bedrock for about 72 hours and develop a relationship.  This budding romance tenuously grows as they still have a variety of court battles including Cyclops attempting to claim sole custody of Hope Summers from his occasionally-living wife Jean, a wrongful termination suit made by Bob against HYDRA, and much more. Eventually She-Hulk is ready to take the next step, but Phoenix gets a great offer from the Nova Corps to serve as there corporate attorney and he ditches Jennifer for greener pastures (which is what he lovingly referred to She-Hulk’s pubes as).

Thoughts: Was there ever any doubt? Lawyers go with She-Hulk like tampons go with Cyclops.''' '''

64)  Naoto Shirogane (Persona) – Not_an_Owl The pitch: Naoto is introduced into Models, Inc. as a mysterious detective attempting to hunt down the kidnapper of Millie the Model.  Naoto becomes a topic of gossip for the models as they, too, hunt the kidnapper; Hedy in particular is enraptured by Naoto’s dark and brooding mysterious personality.  When the models finally discover that Hedy has been kidnapped by the major Marvel baddie Nightmare, it takes the timely intervention of Naoto and a Persona to save the day and rescue Millie.  Hedy plants a kiss on Naoto’s mouth only to realize that Naoto is in fact a girl… something that the other models all realized a while ago and just didn’t feel like mentioning to Hedy.  However, both Hedy and Naoto eventually realize that they in fact do have an attraction for each other, and Naoto eventually becomes the Ellen DeGeneres to Hedy’s Portia de Rossi, and Naoto becomes a regular fixture in Models, Inc. Because let’s face it – there’s always room for more lesbian action in a comic book about sexy model superstars.

Thoughts: I think my logic behind this one is both obvious and particularly sound.''' '''

65)  Ky Kiske (Guilty Gear) – Nio The pitch: Etrigan is unleashed upon 15th century London with a thirst for the blood of Plantagents – specifically John Gaunt, the Black Prince.  However, he finds himself facing a Christian Templar unlike any he’s faced before: Ky Kiske!  Trained in the Carpathian Mountains, Ky is a skilled match for Etrigan and holds him to a stalemate.  Ky is cursed by Etrigan, disfiguring half of his face; however, Jason Blood amends the course, providing Ky with a slight bit of immortality on the side of his facial deformity.  Etrigan and Ky tangle across the centuries, while Jason Blood tries to find ways to assist Ky is stopping Etrigan, even if it costs his own life.  Eventually, Ky begins to tire of his neverending battle with the Demon and eventually hangs up his sword.  Called out of retirement during Underworld Unleashed, Ky sacrifices his soul to Neron in order to unbind Etrigan from Jason Blood and finally provide Blood with eternal rest – the cost being, of course, Ky’s eternal torment.

Thoughts: I don’t have any really. It just seemed to make sense, and I found an excuse to mention the Black Prince.''' '''

66)  Professor Layton (Professor Layton) – JONA The pitch: In the early 50s, while Martian Manhunter was getting acclimated to the Earth lifestyle in Gotham City and Alan Scott was slowly moving into retirement, Gotham City had a different sort of defender.  Meet Professor Layton, the cerebral detective!  Layton works with Martian Manhunter, teaching him Earthen customs while also partnering with him on bizarre cases like the Curious Case of the Condiment King, or the Perilous Past of the Polka-Dot Man.  Layton also partners up with other characters like Slam Bradley and Ted Grant, the Wildcat on more superheroic adventures including a trip to the Slaughter Swamp to face down the Murderous Grin of Solomon Grundy! Layton ends up retiring about ten years prior to Bruce Wayne becoming Batman, and eventually we witness a few flashbacks of Bruce learning some of his great detective skills from a part-time police consultant Layton.

Thoughts: A simpler time requires a simpler sort of character, and Layton has an innocent, laidback attitude that would work great with a Silver Age-y Gotham. It could be a lot of fun to work up a few story arcs to sprinkle here and there amongst the normal Batman titles.''' '''

67)  Kubla Khan (Kubla Khan) – Drakeryn The pitch: Kubla Khan, in his twilight days, is looking back on his long and storied career as the leader of the Chinese empire and wishes for more time.  He dreams of grand, great things – an empire stretching from the east of Asia to the west of Europe, a peaceful land of science and learning, great monuments and grand highways reaching from coast to coast.  But ailing from illness, he worries the future is in doubt.  In his sleep, Dream of the Endless is touched by Khan’s hopes and grants him his wish… in an unusual fashion.  Here in the Dreaming, the realized goals of Khan exist; there is a future where China has become everything Khan wants, a millennia-long reign of peace and prosperity, the Earth a pleasuredome, a paradise. That night, Khan passes away peacefully, but his soul and mind remain forever bonded to the Dreaming, ruling as the great leader of a China that will forever exist in the dreams of Khan’s countrymen each and every night.

Thoughts: Yes, this is a one-shot story. However, I think it has the potential to be one of those grand, forever-remembered Neil Gaiman Sandman stories that accrues Eisner and Harvey Awards, standing the test of time as one of the greatest comic stories of the era. In that sense, I feel like it’s fair to push this pitch as high as I did, despite Khan’s relatively brief run in comics.''' '''

68)  Sinbad the Sailor (Arabian Nights) – Eddv The pitch: Sinbad is first introduced as friendly rival to Deathstroke in the Flashpoint Universe – they both work as pirates in the Atlantean/Amazon-infested waters of European Atlantic.  While they are in the same competitive market, Sinbad and Slade have a respect for one another.  After Flashpoint transitions into the New52, Deathstroke retains the pirate schtick for his inaugural Deathstroke title, named “Deathstroke and the Seven Seas”. This series opens with Sinbad’s ship being wrecked thanks to a combination of angry Atlanteans and a freak storm. Sinbad’s crew is offed, but Sinbad himself is rescued by the timely intervention of Slade.  Sinbad wants to get back at the Atlanteans and Slade wants in on the action (there’s treasure in them oceans), so they decide to work together and form a crew including the Electric Eel, Black Manta, Sonar and the Tattooed Man.  The series focuses on their piracy and treasure hunting ways, Slade as captain and Sinbad as the first mate.  Over time, they grow to be close friends.

Thoughts: Sinbad is a tough pitch. Marvel already has the Arabian Knight and the most obvious place to put Sinbad is in Fables… but there’s already a Sinbad there. Regardless, piracy seems like a logical place to put Sinbad, and his jack-of-all-trades skill set makes him a valuable addition to any time period. Since Slade is also a man of many talents, not to mention that Slade respects people with abilities and he does have a sense of loyalty, I think he would go great with Sinbad if you just put a little darkness into Sinbad’s backstory, pushing him down an amoral path.''' '''

69)  Charles Barkley (Shut Up and Jam) – pokemonandrew The pitch: Charles Barkley is introduced into Plastic Man as part of a humorous story, but he spins out into his own run of multiple mini-series that focus on a tongue-and-cheek satire of the politics of sports.  Barkley is a superpowered detective that takes on issues like the massive conspiracy in the NFL propping up the corrupt tyrant Bill Belichick and faces down threats like Lebron the Team-Hopper, leaving destruction in his wake wherever he goes.  Barkley is a force for good, using his catchphrases like “Turrible” on a consistent but not overly-irritating basis.  Occasionally, he will have interactions with a superhero like the Flash when a story involves a team from the DCU like the Keystone City Comets or the Metropolis Meteors.

Thoughts: There’s nothing like a good ridiculous comedy featuring a famous person in a fictional setting (Mike Tyson comes to mind), and weirdly there are a TON of fictional teams in the DCU that Barkley could play around with. I think there’s the potential to really be satirical about the nature of modern professional sports, and that’s a very large and constantly changing playground to fool around with in a comic.''' '''

70)  Celes Chere (FF) – GMUN The pitch: Celes is introduced to Marvel Comics as the head of HAMMER during Osborn’s reign of terror; however, as she learns more about Osborn’s true motives, Celes decides that his bloodthirsty power plays don’t mesh with her own sense of morality and she flips sides as a double agent working with the Secret Avengers against Osborn.  At the height of Siege, Celes directly goes against Osborn’s orders and he punishes her by beating her nearly to death. Her body is recovered by Nick Fury and nursed back to health (somewhat).  She serves as Nick’s body woman during the Secret Warriors series and is in fact the only person Nick Fury reveals the truth to prior to Original Sin.  Celes is contacted by the new Watcher (Nick Fury) after Original Sin and given the opportunity to work with him yet again as his agent on Earth, the Eye.

Thoughts: For some reason, Celes seems to rise above her fantasy roots (possibly due to the sheer amount of technology in FF6) in order to serve as a character I could consistently see in the C-List. Not a series star, but definitely the type of heroine that pops up quite often (similar to a Black Lightning or a Namorita). I think her sense of loyalty is only dwarfed by her unflinching morality which would make her the kind of match that Nick Fury would probably want on his side. This isn’t a romantic thing at all, but simply a fact that they mesh so well as an agent and a director.

71)  Ramlethal (Guilty Gear) – GMUN The pitch: Ramlethal is introduced into X-Men as a villainous antagonist of Wolverine.  She’s revealed to be the daughter of Wolverine by Mariko Yashida, taken from Mariko who was told that the child died during birth.  Now, Ramlethal (who has been raised by a Japanese criminal syndicate) has been trained and released onto the world with the express purpose of going after the man she doesn’t know is her father. Wolverine tangles with Ramlethal several times over the years, eventually tracking down the syndicate who bred her and killing the leaders.  He tries to convince Ramlethal to come to Xavier’s school, but she refuses and eventually ends up with the Hellfire Club.  The members of the Hellfire Club find her too wild and unwieldy and eventually they, too, suggest she simply get proper training and reconcile with her father. She eventually chooses to makeup with him. After spending some time together, Ramlethal is kidnapped by a surviving Japanese syndicate member and brainwashed into a killing machine. She once again attacks Wolverine; when she starts to shake off her mental programming however, she is shot in the spine by the syndicate member, who is gutted by Wolverine.

Thoughts: A character who I think could be used well as yet another part of the Greek tragedy that is Wolverine’s life.''' '''

72)  Navi (Zelda) – Fbike The pitch: After the fall of Thanos in the Annihilation Wave, Skreet ran off with Cammi – and they haven’t been seen since.  However, when Cammi returns to the galaxy with an army of Broodified versions of Annihilus’ army, the Guardians of the Galaxy and the fledgling Nova Corps find themselves quickly overwhelmed by Cammi’s forces.  But all is not as it seems – for Skreet is the one pulling the strings.  The Guardians are forced to turn to one man to fight back against the tide of domination… Thanos!  And Thanos has an ace up his sleeve in the form of Skreet’s twin sister, Navi.  Navi and Thanos lead a ragtag group of heroes both old and new to take on the New Annihilation.  At the end, Navi takes on her sister in a fight for control of the galaxy until Thanos betrays everyone (naturally) and reveals that Skreet has been working for him along.  Now in charge of an army and in possession of a newly reformed Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos is one his way to Earth to conquer the last bastion of resistance in the galaxy – and the wave will reach Earth in one year.

Navi goes to Asgard to recruit a new army for the last stand, but through the machinations of Loki, she has grown to full size and loses her wings. However, Navi is a force to be reckoned with, and she shows Loki that he’s not the ultimate master manipulator. In fact, before the year is up, Navi begins a relationship with Loki. Together, they convince a variety of friends and foes to stand against the Wave in a major Marvel event called Earth’s Last Stand. Everyone from the Avengers to Fire Giants to the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to the Atlanteans all face down Thanos with Loki and Navi at the lead. At the end of the story, Navi’s only course of action to stop Thanos is to kill her own sister – which she does. Skreet, too, is now full-size, and in their struggle they fight on the Blue Area of the Moon, and with the Infinity Gauntlet in the balance, the two of them detonate a grand explosion utilizing the gems, and causing life to spring up all over the Moon. The Infinity Gauntlet is forever destroyed, used to begin a new Genesis.

Thoughts: Now you see why Navi skated by for so long. With just one little connection to a D-List space-based supporting character, there’s suddenly so much potential. Navi could easily be the star of Marvel for a little over a year. Great things have small beginnings.''' '''

73)  Michael Carpenter (Dresden Files) – DEADPOOL The pitch: Michael is introduced into Hellboy during a storyline involving a demon possession outside of a small village in northern Poland.  Carpenter’s weaponry comes into contact with Hellboy as Carpenter believes Hellboy himself is to blame for the rash of demonic activity in the area; Hellboy takes a bit of a beating, but Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman are able to convince Carpenter otherwise once they arrive.  Despite misgivings, Michael tentatively agrees to work with Hellboy; this relationship of strained respect mixed with a constant trepidation at what Hellboy could inadvertently bring to Earth by his very existence defines Michael.  However, Carpenter serves as a consistent advisor to the group on matters involving religious activity – Carpenter is eventually revealed to be a chosen vessel for the archangel Uriel during Hellboy: The Fury, and he takes a more consistent role with the team while Hellboy spends a period of time dead. Carpenter eventually takes on Lucifer himself in an effort to win back Hellboy’s soul. He is badly injured, suffereing a shattered pelvis, damaged spine, collapsed lung and more, but he is able to bring Lucifer to a stalemate thanks to his powerfully holy weaponry. After this point, Carpenter retires home, but still provides knowledge to the BPRD from time to time.

Thoughts: It’s the weaponry that makes Michael hard to pin into a regular comic. Anything involving religion has to be dealt with in a certain manner – it can’t rightly be brought into an X-Men comic if you want to do justice to it. Since religion does define everything about Carpenter, that means I had to find a franchise where that wouldn’t feel out of place.''' '''

74)  Akuma (Street Fighter) – Pepsi The pitch: Mysterious plot-centric supporting character in Matt Fraction’s Immortal Iron Fist.  Akuma first appears in aid of Iron Fist when the Immortal Weapons are confronted by an attack from The Hand.  Akuma’s timely intervention leaves The Hand running, but Akuma provides the Immortal Weapons a warning – the Eighth City is coming.  Akuma is the Immortal Weapon of the fabled Eighth City of Heaven, a place long believed to have been destroyed when a great tidal wave smashed into the land of Attilan millennia ago.  Now, Iron Fist must determine whether Akuma is a friend or foe, and what the Eighth City wants with the Immortal Weapons and The Hand!

Akuma ends up being a consistent ally of Iron Fist and also becomes a recurring character in Moon Knight as well. Eventually, Akuma is added to the Secret Avengers.

Thoughts: I was wavering on where to put Akuma. It would be so easy to make him a villain, but I didn’t want to go that route. Instead my first idea was to put him onto a Japanese-based team of X-Men since his design would definitely lend himself well there. However, I recalled the storyline of Immortal Iron Fist, a place he would go nicely. The problem with Akuma is that you can’t give him too much history; he needs to be kept at arm’s distance in order to increase the level of his threat and pique readers’ interest. Depicting him as a strong fighter with a hidden agenda is probably the best way to go. I don’t think Akuma could sustain long, constant interactions with readers as a main character, but definitely he has potential as a supporting character on a consistent, longterm basis.''' '''

75)  Perrin Aybara (Wheel of Time) – Eddv The pitch: Perrin is introduced into the New Gods as a hefty physical specimen that forges all of the New Genesis weaponry and armor.  Orion’s helmet was smithed in the fires of Apokolips by Perrin, for example.  Perrin rises to prominence after being a longtime supporting character when Steppenwolf successfully plants a foothold on New Genesis with a Parademon armada.  Perrin helps defend the mountainsides of Massa Lou, five hundred miles south of the New Genesis dome.  Perrin is scene wielding a hefty axe and hammer, and he stands against the advancing army for 10 days by himself.  Eventually, the Forever People and Forager come to Perrin’s aid, and Perrin collapses, sleeping for seven days.  Highfather puts Orion at forward command in the same mountainside foothills, but Perrin chooses to remain, helping to erect a grand defensive barrier called the Hemisphere, a wall that separates all of southern New Genesis from the north. Perrin serves as a tempering voice in Orion’s ear, helping Orion to stay calm and focused, quelling the unquenchable rage. When Highfather attempts to erect a statue of Perrin in Supertown, Perrin vehemently pleads with Highfather not to go through with it; impressed with his insightfulness with Orion and his own humility, Highfather secretly puts plans in place to place Perrin as the Royal Vizier should Orion ever ascend the throne of New Genesis.

Thoughts: Perrin is of course designed with certain Norse gods in mind, but there’s not really a need for Perrin in the Thor mythos. Instead, I found that the attitude of Perrin and his physique lend themselves just as well (if not better) to the New Gods. Personally, I think there are several good stories here and a really strong relationship with Orion as well.

76)  Morrigan (Dragon Age) – DEADPOOL The pitch: Morrigan is a hugely powerful immortal sorceress that John Constantine once had a one-night stand with and never called back.  Constantine eventually comes to regret this when he realizes he’s pretty much exhausted all of the possible favors he can get out of everyone else in the magical community and has to turn to the one person he really, really, REALLY hoped he wouldn’t have to run into again.  Morrigan obviously still has a bit of the hots for John but more importantly she’s extremely pissed off at Constantine, who not only shows up looking for help without apologizing after being gone for about 20 years, but also showing up with Zatanna tagging along.  Morrigan puts Constantine through quite the wringer and isn’t terribly friendly to Zatanna either; Morrigan lives in a sort-of timeless mountaintop wizard’s tower, replete with all sorts of arcane treasures that obviously have an interesting story. After Constantine convinces Morrigan to help him out (which requires John to take her to a very nice dinner in Vienna after his current case), Morrigan begins a strange love-hate relationship with John. It’s quite obvious she has more knowledge and power than John, and frankly she’s ahead of him at every turn. Sometimes she’ll show up in his title simply for some comedic effect during a particularly dark storyline, and sometimes she’ll be integral to the plot. Morrigan eventually supplants Zatanna as Constantine’s woman du jour, and the two of them have a very Cold War romance from then on.

Thoughts: I really feel like this is the story that would nail Morrigan in a comics universe. Just call it a gut reaction; there’s something here that feels pitch perfect for Morrigan. It allows her to be exactly as she is in Dragon Age (complete with fantasy/medieval wardrobe and speech patterns) while still getting an added wrinkle to her character that doesn’t require any real shift in personality. She’s just be adorably biting in a good Constantine series.''' '''

77)  Chun-Li (Street Fighter) – Suor The pitch: After Gail is killed in Sin City, Chun-Li takes over the Girls of Old Town; her first story is about attempting to track down Gail’s killer, which turns out to be Dwight’s sister. In several volumes after this, she has a strained romantic relationship with Miho for several stories as they both wish to be the dominant voice in the Girls.  Chun-Li and Miho eventually come to blows after an attempt on Chun-Li’s life is believed to be set up by Miho but in reality was plotted by the Senator. Chun-Li and Miho have a duel to the death from which Chun-Li walks victorious.  As Miho dies in Chun-Li’s arms, all is revealed and Miho’s name is cleared.  In a later volume, Chun-Li decides to enlist Goldie to help her take down the Senator, ensuring her place in the fortress that has become Old Town.

Thoughts: I don’t really like Chun-Li, but I think she fits into Sin City. Her dress would remain blue and she would go all black and white aside from that. I like the idea of her being The Girl in the Blue Dress.  

78)  Agent 47 (Hitman) – Snake

The pitch: Supporting character in Ed Brubaker’s Sleeper. Agent 47 is on the trail of one of Holden Carver’s targets. Carver has to convince 47 that he’s an undercover good guy without exposing his identity to anyone else; 47, meanwhile, is focused on executing a job he was hired to complete at any cost. Carver gets around the hurdle by “hiring” 47 as his personal body man, drawing both of them into the elaborate game he’s playing.

Thoughts: Agent 47 doesn’t fit into any of the traditional comic universes because too much of his motivation is tied into an organization that has deep backstory roots. In order to bring him into a comic world, he has to be quickly severed from this connection and put into another high stakes situation where his backstory can remain just that. Also, the brutal nature of his occupation (along with the stealth angle of it) doesn’t permit him to fit in with many of the covert agencies in comics. However, a Wildstorm title would definitely be the right place for him. Essentially, remove all of the accoutrements of the game and leave the character with his personality and skills.

79)  Derrial “Shepherd” Book (Firefly) – TexWolf The pitch: Shepherd is introduced as a travelling preacher in Ghost Rider.  He demonstrates himself as a pacifist, and he serves as a spiritual outlet for Ghost Rider himself for several story arcs.  We discover that Shepherd has a past, however, and he’s on the run from both the Arizona state police and demons of the fourth circle of Hell for an attempt to cut a deal with the Devil short… something that left Mephisto pissed and a young girl dead.  Shepherd is presented as a man who tries to help Johnny Blaze find ways to solve his problems through cunning and wit rather than force, hoping to keep Blaze from feeling so dependent on and tied to the Spirit of Vengeance. Shepherd eventually is made to pay for his crimes by Mephisto, but using his own wit, is able to escape an eternal servitude in Hell, carefully repenting some of his sins so that his soul is in perfect balance – Shepherd ends up in Purgatory. In his final scene, he’s assigned the task of guiding other souls in Purgatory through penance and repentance, shepherding them to Heaven.

Thoughts: This is the type of side character you can build a run on… at least he was after I finished with him. Generally speaking though, Shepherd is my second least favorite character on Firefly though. So boring on that show.''' '''

80)  Ash Crimson (King of Fighters) – Nio The pitch: Ash Crimson is introduced as a villain in Hawkman.  Hawkman jobs a little bit to him, making him look like a decent threat.  However, Ash’s plot is foiled in the story and he’s forced to make an exit at the end of the story.  We see him show up a couple other times here and there until he’s eventually stopped by the Teen Titans.  Ash is incarcerated but given a shot at early release by Amanda Waller with the Suicide Squad.  We get Ash involved for a significant amount of time with the team; there’s a longterm running joke about no one knowing what gender Ash is.  At one point, Duela Dent apparently has sex with him – when Harley Quinn asks Duela the gender, Duela replies, “I ****ed Ash and I STILL don’t know.”

Ash has several run-ins with Waller and eventually leaves the Squad after he’s earned his release. Ash then moves on to a storyline in Justice League Dark where it’s revealed that his pyrokinesis stems from the Black Candles developed by Neron in Hell (like the ones from Underworld Unleashed). Ash has been using this ability due to a deal with Neron himself, and now Neron is ready to collect on the agreement. Zatanna and Madame Xanadu attempt to prevent Ash from being dragged into Hell, but it ends up being to no avail. Ash is contracted into apprenticeship with Neron, and this duo has several run-ins with the Justice League Dark until Ash is skewered in a high octane battle with Blue Devil when Neron unleashes the hordes of Hell on Earth in a major DC crossover aptly named Hell on Earth.

Thoughts: Ash was the perfect type of character to use as one of the classic C-Listers that bounces around all over the place in DC. That’s one of the things I love about DC – characters are all on their own trajectory, occasionally colliding with other characters like atoms in a cyclotron. Their character histories give a lot of tiny bits of flavor all over the place and enhances the comic experience. I think Ash ends up with a pretty solid character career, but ultimately his appearance hurts him a lot in the long run.''' '''

81)  Sgt. Hartman (Full Metal Jacket) – Sphynx The pitch: Sgt. Hartman is introduced into Punisher as Frank Castle’s former CO in the Vietnam War; Hartman’s brusque attitude and demeanor were universally detested by his troops, but during an assault on a forward unit by Vietcong soldiers, it was Hartman’s tough-as-nails attitude that helped pull a panicking group of soldiers together and fight effectively.  Castle is actually saved by Hartman who takes a bullet in the liver for Frank.  Fast-forward to years later – Castle receives an unexpected visit from his now elderly but still just as angry CO.  Hartman has deduced that Frank is the Punisher, and he wants help in tracking down an unknown individual who killed his daughter’s husband and raped the daughter.  Castle accepts the request and eventually carries it out successfully. We learn that Hartman feels honor-bound to support Frank after essentially giving him life in Vietnam, and he’s chronicled the Punisher’s exploits for years. Hartman considers Frank a surrogate son, and with the death of Hartman’s only child weighing on his mind, Frank is willing to accept a relationship with Hartman. They may yell at each other, swear and curse each other regularly, but Hartman becomes an integral part of Frank’s story, and Frank does care for him as if he’s caring for the last little vestige of the man he was before the Punisher consumed his life. After several years of Hartman serving as a regular supporting character, he would eventually die from kidney failure.

Thoughts: DC already has a Sgt. Hartman (anyone remember Green Lantern trainer Ermey?), but that didn’t prove to be daunting – the story of Punisher: Born popped into my head immediately thanks to the wartime connection both men have, and it evolved from there. I wanted to give a little bit of soul to Frank, and Hartman is definitely the type of soul that Frank would have – an unforgiving, unrepenting, sonofa***** soul, but a soul nonetheless.''' '''

82)  Asura (Asura’s Wrath) – Sphynx The pitch:  When is daughter is taken by Eternity to be trained as the next Eternity, Asura launches all-out war on the universe!  In several high-powered battles, he takes each of the Infinity Gems from its possessor, finally culminating in reuniting the Infinity Gauntlet. He then beats his way through bigger and bigger foes on the path to kill Eternity himself.  When Thanos comes to the heroes of Earth seeking help in preventing someone from unmaking the universe, everyone from the X-Men to the Avengers to the Norse gods take on Asura in wave after wave of vain attempts to take him down.  Witness nearly every character in the Marvel Universe go at it with the wrath of a father… who can take down Asura?

Thoughts: This is my attempt to stretch the legs of as many Marvel characters as possible, uniting a nearly limitless power with a character on his way to that level. It’s the Infinity Gauntlet meets Kingdom Come-level of battling. We’re talking the Apocalypse here. Of course, you’d have to end this story by resolving Asura’s tale – and it would be the type of resolution that gives a happy ending to a character, the sort that means you never bring that character back to comics. Still, I think it would be an iconic, memorable tale.''' '''

83)  Vergil (Devil May Cry) – Pepsi The pitch: Vergil is introduced as a very discontent part-demon/part-human that is introduced as the elder sibling of Jim Corrigan in the Spectre, written by John Ostrander.  Corrigan is serving as the Wrath of God, the Spirit of Vengeance… the Spectre.  But he was never aware that he had an older brother – his mother once consorted with Choronzon, a duke in the kingdom of Hell, and from this unholy union was produced an angry young man, cast aside by his parents as an unnatural blight. Vergil grew into a cold, calculating and ruthless man thirsting for power; he eventually claimed for himself the Spear of Destiny and crafted it into a sword that he planned to use on his own half-brother in a bid to claim the power of the Spectre for his own. Setting up an elaborate gauntlet of pain and suffering designed to weaken Corrigan’s bond to the Spectre’s spirit, Vergil eventually is able to separate Aztar, the Angel of Vengeance from Jim. However, he cannot contain the spirit of Aztar as his soul is not in balance; Aztar consumes Vergil and re-attaches himself to Jim Corrigan. With a newfound understanding of their relationship, Corrigan and Aztar strengthen their bond with one another. Oftentimes after this point, Corrigan “goes inside” of himself to have conversations with his brother (who has great knowledge on the goings-on of demons and other arcane things). Several stories will also feature Vergil attempting a bid for escape from his new eternal prison.

Thoughts: I could’ve put Vergil a great many places, but Vergil is not the type of character you want to use too often; if you keep his appearances and his villainous runs sporadic, it builds up his threat factor immensely. That’s the type of presentation Vergil needs in order to be assessed as the force of power that he is; anything more than that, and he’ll start to feel more ordinary – a pettier threat.''' '''

84)  Thor (Stargate) – CoolCly The pitch: Introduced into pre-Annihilation Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor is an alien who has interacted with the true Asgardians gods including the superheroic Thor millennia ago.  Since then, Thor has travelled the cosmos, using the original practice hammer crafted by the Dwarves to convince alien cultures that he is in fact a god.  This isn’t for nefarious purposes, but rather to bring about occasionally necessary social changes in the effort to bring a new level of cultural progress.  However, when Annihilus seeks to capture the false Thor and take his hammer for himself, it takes Beta Ray Bill and his allies across the Bifrost Bridge to take on Annihilus and reclaim the original Mjolnir! After this storyline (a crossover between Guardians and The Mighty Thor), Thor becames a key supporting cast member in a new Nova Corps title – he uses his god-like influence in the universe to resurrect the Nova Corps with a certain Viking Flavor to it; he leads the Corps from their new homeplanet New Valhalla.

Thoughts: Personally, I’m tickled by the idea of an usurper Thor existing in the Marvel Universe without anyone really knowing much about it. The universe is a big place after all, and the Asgardians really don’t concern themselves with most of it. I wanted to have this sort-of trickster force for good; I think it makes you root for Thor more if he’s both a hero and also a bit of a rogue, pulling one over on you to get the sort of ends that a really quite positive to anyone reading.''' '''

85)  Rincewind (Discworld) – Natwaf The pitch: Rincewind is Stephen Strange’s biological father revealed to Strange by the apparition of the Ancient One. Strange seeks out Rincewind, in need of Rincewind’s raw power to help put Nightmare into the Dark Dimension. When he finds Rincewind… he is not what he expected.  Strange has to teach his father how to utilize his abilities while being taught about a hidden society of mages on the underside of Attilan dominated by a school for mages.  At this school, Rincewind was never considered to be powerful, but his magical ability is actually a sentient entity within him, able to disguise itself – this talent actually presents itself only to keep Rincewind alive, resulting in many seeming coincidences that seem to work out in his favor. Strange eventually realizes that his father’s ability is uncontrollable and gives up on him, but his father ends up saving the day from Nightmare by his very presence being all that’s necessary for things to work out in his favor. After this point, Strange develops a resentful relationship with his father; Rincewind appears regularly as a supporting character in Doctor Strange as well as becoming a part-time member of the Defenders.

Thoughts: Magic/fantasy once again being a hard sell for ideas. At this point, it should be boring to you.''' '''

86)  Shovel Knight (Shovel Knight) – HeroDelTiempo The pitch: During World War II, a young boy’s life was saved by the legendary soldier known as the Gravedigger in northern Markovia.  Inspired by the heroics that saved his life, the boy dedicated himself to pursue a life of service to his fellow men and country.  For three generations, the boy’s family grew to accept his chosen path as well, each patriarch of a generation taking up the same mantle the boy created when he became a man.  You see, this boy was Stahl Nacht, a brilliant young magician who created armor imbued with powerful enchantments.  He coupled this armor with a shovel used by the Gravedigger himself to become the People’s Hero of Markovia… the Shovel Knight.  Now, in a time of great upheaval caused by the encroaching martial law of the Rocket Red Brigade in Russia, the newest, untested Shovel Knight (grandson of the original) must quickly prove his mettle as he takes on the iron fist of the Russian superhero army.

Thoughts: You can’t have expected too much from Shovel Knight as I pretty much have run the phrase “there aren’t places for medieval characters in comics” into the ground, but I think this is a kind of cool concept. It takes an old World War II-era military character and gives him a very unique legacy connection in the modern-day topically relevant setting of Eastern Europe. Fun stuff.''' '''

87)  Stitch (Lilo & Stitch) – Xeybozn The pitch: Stitch is found in renegade Rannian scientific laboratory by Adam Strange as part of an attempt to genetically splice alien lifeform DNA into the Rannian genetic cruelty.  Stitch is one of the few aliens saved from the institution and goes on to become Adam Strange’s animal sidekick.  He’s a permanent fixture to Adam Strange stories in the way that Booster Gold has Skeets or Shadowcat has Lockheed.

Thoughts: It’s a short but sweet one here, and who could blame me? Adam Strange’s retro sci-fi roots work perfectly for Stitch, and many superheroes have this type of support character. I’m personally not a huge fan of the animal companion and am ill-equipped to write much more for Stitch, but I think the role I find for the little guy is pretty much tailored for Stitch.''' '''

88)  Mother Gothel (Tangled) – Raka The pitch: Introducing the newest cast member of Fables… Mother Gothel!  Rapunzel has been living a fairly ordinary life in Fabletown for centuries.  That is, until her stepmother comes calling!  Gothel has swept into Fabletown and signed the charter, preventing Rapunzel from taking any action against her.  However, Gothel isn’t going to stay silent in her new home.  Rapunzel and Mother Gothel will battle over control of Rapunzel’s future in the Fable community and Rapunzel’s very freedom. And when Rapunzel begins to develop a romantic attachment to Lemuel Gulliver, Gothel will have none of it.

Mother Gothel is a new supporting character in Fables who becomes a major component of the Fabletown goings-on via Rapunzel and also via the witches of the Thirteenth Floor, a group where she finds purpose as one of the powerful but quiet defenders of Fabletown through magic.

Thoughts: This was the most obvious placement of a character so far, and I daresay this was perhaps the most obvious placement of a character on the entire list. Raka, you fortunately nominated one of the FEW fairy tale characters that isn’t in Fables as of yet and therefore you provided me one of the thankfully easiest nominations on the list. There’s really not much need to explain my thought process here.''' '''

89)  Dagoth Ur (Elder Scrolls) – Not_an_Owl The pitch: It starts with a random string of murders in Gotham.  A sudden psychological break by a well-respected doctor who goes on a rampage. When finally caught by Robin, the doctor is non-responsive aside from repeating “Red Mountain” over and over. A month later in Superman, fifty patrons of a Metropolis diner spontaneously start attacking each other quite aggressively; the last survivor draws a triangle with blood before slicing their own throat.  Amazons begin to quarrel quite aggressively in Wonder Woman, getting violent with one another.  In Central City, the Rogues find themselves pinned down by mobs of people attacking them in a blind rage – they’re rescued by the Flash.  Slowly, more and more of the world becomes topsy-turvy, devolving into a madness spurred on by someone related to this oft-mentioned “Red Mountain”. Wars are launched, cities fall to riots that devolve into chaos… even heroes seem to fall victim to this. Then Dagoth Ur appears across the screens and monitors and TVs of the world, declaring an Age of Purging, a slate being washed clean by the blood of the world. Dagoth Ur sits atop a throne constructed from the flesh and bones of the fallen at Nanda Parbat, high atop the mountain refuge; the grant towering throne leaks blood all down the mountain which is now awash in crimson. Parbat is in ruins; Deadman is being kept in a spirit cage, Rama Kushna is a captive slave to Dagoth Ur, and the monks are strung up as a warning. It’s all thanks to this powerful being Dagoth Ur, a remnant of the First World. The world is on fire, and it’s up to Nightmaster, Steel, the Chief, Raven and Beast Boy to stop Dagoth Ur in DC’s next mega-event, “The Promethean”.

Thoughts: Our first company-wide crossover. I like the way that Dagoth Ur allows for a slow build thanks to his ability to influence people’s minds – not in a direct and simple way, but in an overpowering general sense of emotional distortion. Of course, Ur isn’t well-lent to a standard comic from month-to-month… but for a giant crossover? He’s the perfect antagonist.''' '''

90)  Manny Calavera (Grim Fandango) – Ark The pitch: Manny is a private detective introduced into Shadowpact by Bill Willingham.  Manny is a skeleton with keen deductive abilities who consistently is featured in the Oblivion Bar for a few storylines as a regular customer who interjects help into whatever case occupying the Pact; after a while, the Pact ends up in need of a detective who can blend into a newly formed syndicate of criminal corpses and turns to Manny; Manny joins the Shadowpact after this case. In fact, Detective Chimp ends up leaving the title in favor of Manny replacing him, moving to a back-up feature co-starring with Rex the Wonder Dog.  Manny becomes an integral player in the team, a fast friend of Zauriel and a constant irritant to Nightshade.  His best scenes tend to feature Manny interacting with patrons of the Oblivion Bar, berating them for not seeing simple solutions to seemingly impossible problems. Manny and the Phantom Stranger also have a very tense relationship stemming from a piece of guarded information that Manny seems to be holding over the Stranger.

Thoughts: Skeletons – man, it was a ***** to find somewhere appropriate to put a skeleton! Even worse was such a specialized character like Manny who is a skeleton with a very specific set of skills and personality, not to mention stylistic details that keep Manny out of several titles due to the more abstract nature of Grim Fandango’s art style. End of the day though, he’s going to fit in great the oddities that are the Shadowpact.''' '''

91)  Ezio Auditore (Assassin’s Creed) – HeroDelTiempo The pitch: Ezio first appears in the classic Marvel What If? story entitled “Marvel: 1602”.  He is adamantly opposed to the policies of the papacy and works alongside individuals like Matt Murdock and the Angel to overthrow the bloated, corrupt institution.  Ezio spins out of 1602 into his own series of short mini-series that go under the umbrella name of “Wolverine: 1602”.  Ezio begins a string of strategic killings targeting the very worst in the Catholic church at the same time as a beast from the new world called a Wolverine is first brought to Europe (This is an actual Wolverine, not the character). The killings become popularized due to the retractable blades that seem to protrude straight from Ezio’s hands, earning him the moniker “The Wolverine.”  Ezio goes after several major Catholic dignitaries including Cardinal Kang, Deacon Wilhelm Fisk, and the pope himself, Peter I (a former German church leader known for his skeletal visage). Ezio’s life is chronicled through several mini-series from his appearance in Marvel: 1602 until his final showdown with Peter I alongside the Defenders of the Faith (including new interpretations of Namor, Silver Surfer and Valkyrie).

Thoughts: You’d think it would be easy to just throw Ezio into a modern setting with his assassin-schtick intact. Think again! There’s so much missing from the character if you take him out of his time period, and I was really stretched to find something that provided him room to grow and develop. However, I was pleased with the possibilities of 1602 – it’s a pretty well-suited time period for Ezio, and I think the potential for other Marvel characters to be involved in the project are quite exciting.''' '''

92)  Varric (Dragon Age) – DEADPOOL The pitch: Introduced into Walter Simonson’s Thor, Varric is the brother of Sindri and Brokkr, two legendary Dwarven craftsmen responsible for the creation of the fabled Mjolnir.  When Thor’s hammer begins to lose its power and become heavier and heavier, Thor believes his father is giving him yet another message about his worthiness.  His father, however, points to a possible flaw in the craftsmanship, and Thor must venture to Nioavellir in order to visit the original creators of Mjolnir. When he gets there, all of Hela has broken loose – the realm of the Dwarven craftsmen has been plundered, most workers captured and some killed – the latter group including Sindri and Brokkr. However, the Dwarven scribe Varric introduces himself to Thor and together they combine Thor’s might with Varric’s wit and resourcefulness to learn more about what has happened. Their adventure even takes them to Hela’s Domain, where Varric tricks Hela into releasing the Dwarves. Sometime later, Thor and Varric go on another adventure again when the World Tree Yggdrasill begins to rescind its branches from each of the Nine Worlds. Thor and Varric must trek across each world to find unusual ways to crossover to the next. Eventually they reach the World Tree’s roots and learn that the Norns have been killed. Varric takes their place as the new guardian of the roots, and he chooses to use this position to observe the nine realms and chronicle their history. After this point, Varric often serves as a narrator for Thor stories that are epic in scope.

Thoughts: Varric’s worth lies in his storytelling ability, so you have to find a way to get him in position to be utilized as a storyteller. That’s pretty cut and dried. The real downside with Varric is being steeped in fantasy concepts – most notably being a Dwarf. That one made him a pretty hard sell, but thankfully there was a Norse guy out there that decided to include Dwarves into the stories of Thor and the other gods, so it all worked out in the end.''' '''

93)  Vyse (Skies of Arcadia) – Mega Mana The pitch: Introduced in the pages of Enemy Ace, Vyse is the leader of a brash young team of mercenary pilots who fight for – or against! – whoever has the most money.  Vyse and Von Hammer have a strong respect for one another as both are quick-witted and skilled in the skies.  However, they often times find themselves on different sides of the war, depending of course on what Vyse has planned.  A notable story would show them facing off as Vyse attempts to rob a train loaded down with gold and heading for Austria using his large airship. Enemy Ace, Vyse and the train would all be locked in a tense battle moving at high speeds.  Another story would take Vyse and Enemy Ace high into the Alps as an unexpected ambush on Von Hammer leaves him behind enemy lines without his plane; Vyse, too, would be stuck alongside of him, both trying to escape back into Allied territory. Ultimately, Vyse would be the kind of constantly recurring guest star that would probably win over readers quickly thanks to his skills and demeanor.

Thoughts: Here’s another pirate who had something going for him that kept him out of the Johnny Depp basement; thanks to the sky pirate angle, I think a minor revamp of Vyse’s ship would allow it to fit into a world of dirigibles and biplanes, making him a little bit like Han Solo flying a bizarre vehicle that somehow proves to be the fastest ship on the mainland. However, there’s really only a couple of time periods Vyse works thanks to the mishmash of era technology and era weaponry he uses. That’s the trouble with fantasy in a superhero universe. Still, I think this is a rule that fans of Vyse would appreciate, as it actually allows him to stretch his legs as a character both in personality and in skill.''' '''

94)  Guybrush Threepwood (Monkey Island) – JONA The pitch: Guybrush aspires to the life of a supervillain – the freedom to do what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. However, he’s relegated to his daydreams while working as a henchman for Mister Freeze, mainly assigned gruntwork like moving boxes or transporting materials.  But when he finds himself standing over the unconscious form of Black Canary after a purely coincidental turn of events, Freeze believes he sees potential in Guybrush for greatness.  Freeze takes Guybrush to the training camp for new Society inductees and quickly is pushed up the ranks.  Once given full membership, he allies himself with Society power player Black Adam, serving as his lieutenant and confidante.  Guybrush is a supporting character in a new Gail Simone-written series entitled The Society.

Thoughts: Guybrush rises above his pirate-based roots thanks to his personality and basic story which lends itself quite well to a darkly humorous series like The Society could be. However, I don’t think he would be made of the sort of fiber that allows him to take a starring turn – he would definitely wear thin after a while. Keeping his role in the title smaller would definitely allow him to step into the lead from time to time though. I’d probably given him a supervillain identity based on piracy just to keep him a little truer to form, something like the Swashbuckler or Cutlass, etc.

95)  Aragorn (Lord of the Rings) – Xeybozn The pitch: Aragorn enters Fantastic Four as a rebellious guerilla leader of a growing opposition force in Latveria, desperate to end Doom’s reign.  Aragorn demonstrates himself as an effective combatant and skilled survivalist, building a growing coalition of Latverians and training them for the inevitable eventuality of a full-scale assault on Doom’s castle.  However, as the subplot goes on, Reed Richards discovers that Aragorn is actually the rightful heir to the throne of Latveria; Reed tries to take back channels through diplomacy and superheroic celebrity to get Aragorn on the throne, but neither Doom nor Aragorn will accept anything but a face-to-face battle.  Aragorn’s forces march on Doom’s castle; they actually do surprisingly well, breeching the castle’s outer defenses and making it inside.  However, in a taut battle of fists and swords, Doom outclasses Aragorn and skewers him, effectively quashing the rebellion. Aragorn is declared dead and the rebellion falls into line after some leadership is made to pay as an example. A final scene after the conclusion of this story shows that Doom carefully landed his blade and Aragorn has actually survived – Doom now keeps Aragorn as a prisoner in the castle, but rather than throw him into dungeons, Doom has kept him as a guest in a cordoned-off wing of the castle. Doom sits down to dinner with Aragorn, who asks him why he’s choosing to keep Aragorn alive and treat him in this manner. Doom replies, “To teach.”

Thoughts: Aragorn was going to land much lower than this until this idea popped into my head. I feel like setting Aragorn up as this moral foil to Doom with just as much tactical skill and raw combat ability (maybe more) makes him a really solid option for comics. And the open ending I provide allows him to return to comics in one of several capacities. I really like the concept that Doom believes he can groom Aragorn to be his successor, especially if ultimately both men rub a little bit of themselves off on the other.''' '''

96)  Shulk (Xenoblade) – pokemonandrew The pitch: The power of the Monado takes on the power of the Manhunters in Green Lantern: Emerald Day, Emerald Knight. On Vescus, a planet that never turns, villages dot the Dawn Line, a thin strip of land encircling the globe at the edge of the sun’s light.  When the Manhunters invade the Night Side, they begin a campaign to force the Vescusians to the Day Side, effectively forcing them to live in burning desert wastelands.  But when a young villager named stumbles across the fabled Monado in the far reaches of the Day Expanse, he returns to his people with renewed hope and a fighting chance.  The Vescusians fight to retake the Dawn.

Thoughts: Another character that is hard to put into a story despite having great essentials. This time it’s the dreaded sword factor. If you’re not an Eastern-styled fighter, a sword-based character isn’t flush with possibilities in Western comics. Sorry, Shulk.

97)  Esmerelda “Granny” Weatherwax (Discworld) – TexWolf The pitch: Granny Weatherwax is introduced into Gail Simone’s Wildstorm series Welcome to Tranquility as a new retiree to the retirement community for the superpowered.  However, she quickly makes waves as a machinating power player in the community – attempting to steal the Condo Board presidency, ridding Bingo matches, and generally being a sneaky old bag.  This brings her into constant conflict with her fellow senior citizens for a twelve-issue period until she is eventually thrown out of Tranquility.

Thoughts: Had a really hard time finding a decent place for Granny despite her excellent personality and skillset due to her age, extensively continuity-heavy backstory and general fantasy feel.''' '''

98)  Nathan Drake (Uncharted) – ahirsch The pitch: Aquaman: Uncharted Waters, featuring a team-up between Nathan Drake and Aquaman!  Francis Drake led the Spanish on a chase around the world, and not all of his armada made it back to England in one piece.  Now, Nathan Drake has discovered the location of the fable Gloriana, the long-lost sunken treasury ship… but it’s right in the middle of the most hotly contested land in the sea!  Now, Nathan Drake and the Sea Devils most fight for treasure, their lives, and the sovereign state of Atlantis alongside Aquaman in a battle against Black Manta, Ocean Master and Tritonis’ king Thessily!

Thoughts: Here was a character that I thought would be an easy inspiration for a lot of ideas. He’s a competent and charismatic character with a backstory that fits into a wide array of settings. What ended up hurting Drake for me was the fact that there are a lot of characters that bleed into the treasure hunting business in comics. While there are only a few with the adventurer style of Drake, he’s duplicated so thoroughly in bits and pieces that he just doesn’t seem totally unique. I also had an idea for a Batman team-up, but the biggest problem there is that it didn’t make sense to bring those two characters together. This is maybe the biggest problem with Nathan Drake – his story is so perfectly fitted for him and his supporting cast is so perfectly tailored to him, putting him into alternate settings just feels odd. Don’t think this idea is bad at all, quite the opposite, but I think he’s limited in his possibilities for long-term utilization.''' '''

99)  Claire Redfield (Resident Evil) – Snake The pitch: Claire Redfield is introduced into BPRD as a rookie team member, and she is immediately thrown into the deep end of the terrifying occult cases that tend to fill their docket.  Despite being relatively inexperienced, Claire proves herself to be both tough and full of perseverance.  However, the things she witnesses – child sacrifice, people being starved and kept as slaves, entrails covering entire buildings and Elder Gods – eventually begin to take their toll.  Claire starts seeing a psychiatrist and eventually is given a desk job with the BPRD.  She remains a low-level character for several BPRD storylines until eventually an attack on the BPRD itself forces her to face her fears and put together a rescue team to find the A-Listers.  Claire ends up pushing a resurrected Azothoth through a portal into a realm of eternal darkness using the Spear of Destiny forever… or at least for a while.

Thoughts: Dime a dozen cops once again. What’s worse, she’s a tough female cop type. Cameron Chase, Maria Hill, Sasha Bordeaux, Renee Montoya, etc… She does have a more sensitive side than these others, so I tried to play that up a little bit.''' '''

100)                   Ferris Bueller (Ferris Bueller) – CoolCly The pitch: Ferris is introduced in Superior Foes of Spider-Man as a young college student and general slacking genius who, because he frankly has no motivation to do anything else, convinces a certain Professor Connors to introduce him to the sometimes reformed Beetle-turned-MACH.  Ferris cons his way into the Beetle’s lab and stealthily absconds with an older model prototype Beetle suit (the design of which can be seen in Ultimate Spider-Man by Bendis), and decides to attempt running with the Superior Foes, pretending to be the original Beetle’s latest protégé.  Ferris doesn’t actually commit any crimes, never assists in any actual lawbreaking, and eventually uses his suit to crash the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, landing on a float next to Spider-Man and singing Twist and Shout while doing the robot in a Beetle suit. Eventually the Beetle figures out Ferris’ gig and returns to get his suit back. Spider-Man, puzzled by the whole affair, is left somewhat speechless after Ferris gives Spidey a monologue about taking a break once and a while to appreciate a different side of life.

Thoughts: Ferris is a great, great character. He just doesn’t fit too well into comics. I’m actually pretty pleased with this storyline though and think it could be a pretty memorable one.''' '''

101)                   Mat Cauthon (Wheel of Time) – Sphynx The pitch: We meet Mat on the road to Basildon as Johanna Constantine is travelling to find some Arthurian artifacts lost during Oliver Cromwell’s reign in the 1660s.  Johanna is attacked by some foul bandits who intend to rape her, but Mat provides timely intervention and enough time for Johanna to slit some throats. They end up realizing they would be a good team.  Together, they spend a decent 6-issue length story developing a slow romance built mainly on both of them respecting and admiring each other’s skills.  Of course, at the end, Johanna screws over Mat and absconds with the powerful Arthurian relics, which is totally par for the course with her.  Mat smiles, picks up his staff, and continues down the road from where he started.

Thoughts: Wheel of Time, one of the best fantasy series out there, is full of characters that are definitely totally completely period piece characters. I’m not saying I’m the sole arbiter of creative possibilities out there, but I have a hard time imagining most of these nominated fantasy characters in anything but fantasy related stories. There’s a couple we’ll get to, though.''' '''

102)                   John McClane (Die Hard) – Eddv The pitch: Wayne Tower has been invaded by Penguin and his criminal cronies, and it’s up to a lone cop trapped in the building to rescue Bruce Wayne and the rest of the employees. When a series of bizarre circumstances leaves Bruce unconscious, there’s no way to get in contact with the Batman – Gordon must rely on one cop unwittingly stuck in the building to make his way to the penthouse where the Penguin is holding the entire Wayne fortune hostage!  McClane stars in Wayne Has Fallen, a four-part mini-series written by Chuck Dixon.

After this story, McClane is seen as an occasional recurring fixture in the GCPD, partnered with Renee Montoya for a short period of time before being partnered with Romy Chandler (whom he eventually marries). One of those longterm tertiary characters that add flavor to the world of Batman and Gotham City.

Thoughts: Resourceful law enforcers are about a dime a dozen in comic books, and I can’t think of a single reason why McClane stands out alongside beyond so many other worthy characters that already exist. Renee Montoya. Maggie Sawyer. Maria Hill. Christian Walker. Deena Pilgrim. Dan Turpin. Jim Gordon. Marcus Driver. Crispus Allen. Checkmate agents. SHIELD agents. The BRPD. The DEO.

But I have a soft spot for McClane and I do love his personality, so I wanted to at least give him a showcase mini-series to do him some justice and get him a slight leg up on the other Gotham cops. Because, you see, that’s exactly where he belongs – with rule-benders like Bullock and their enablers like Gordon. While he doesn’t have the comic book panache that could land him a movie, he certainly is that type of character that could be a perennially-recurring character that doesn’t get killed off for no reason.

103)                   Delita Hyral (Final Fantasy) – Not_an_Owl The pitch: Delita first appears as an ally of the Resurrection Man in the late Crusades; he fights alongside a young Mitch Shelley in the service of Richard the Lion-Hearted.  Delita and Shelley eventually begin to not see eye-to-eye on the campaign, Shelley eventually defecting to aid Saladin as Delita finds himself the main aide to the mysterious brooding general Reginald Savage (Vandal Savage’s latest guise).  The two spend the rest of their lives at odds with each other, culminating in a showdown at Jerusalem.  Delita sees the devastation the Crusade is bringing to an otherwise peaceful, cultured society and chooses to turn on his master at Shelley’s pleading.  Delita appears to mortally wound Savage but is run by Savage’s blade.  In the hubbub, Savage makes an escape as Delita dies in his old friend’s arms.

Thoughts: Another situation where you can’t really separate the character from his era. I think there’s still a good story to be told here, just not a very long one. Fits perfectly into the storied history of two immortal foes.''' '''

104)                   Boyd Crowder (Justified) – TexWolf The pitch: Boyd is introduced into Jason Aaron’s Scalped as a white supremacist who detests the Native Americans of the reservation.  His actions revolve around ending one of the local Indian casinos in the area, which he eventually blows up.  Boyd finds himself an unlikely leader of several local business leaders in the rundown community who agree with Boyd’s goals of pushing the Native Americans out of their land; ultimately, Boyd ends up with his head on the chopping block of Lincoln Red Crow.

Thoughts: There’s not a lot of use for the powerless, skill-less criminal anymore in comics. I’m lucky that Boyd has a great, developed personality with a lot of nuance to it, because I think he could hold his own in a major role for several storylines if the setting and plot were right. A community like the one depicted in Scalped is one of the precious few that could really utilize him as a pervasive threat like he deserves. Outside of that, this is the type of character that really doesn’t fit into even the non-powered world of something like Gotham City because his goals and motivations just don’t jibe with the criminal culture of those places. He’s a real world character trying to fit into a place that’s anything but.''' '''

105)                   Emil Castagnier (Tales) – GMUN The pitch: Emil is introduced into Klarion as Klarion’s younger brother.  The two share a quasi-adversarial relationship over the course of the series; Emil helps create a duality between the two: Klarion is a darkness to Emil’s light.  Ultimately, the two brothers care deeply for one another, but it is generally not expressed outwardly.  Emil trains at Nanda Parbat with Taj-Zei and Deadman, but occasionally will show up in Klarion should the need arise and Klarion need help.  That help is generally accepted with protest.

Thoughts: Again, fantasy characters are hard to bring into comics. I do think that Emil would be a natural complement to Klarion, however.''' '''

106)                   John Cena (WWE) – Eddv The pitch: John Cena is introduced into The Boys by Garth Ennis as a hero being pushed by Vought-American despite backlash from nearly half of the public.  Cena is formerly a hero who used a gimmick of “thugonomics” before being given the serum and pushed as the Hustle-Loyalty-Respect all-American we know today in real life.  Cena’s push eventually brings him under scrutiny by The Boys; Hughie has trouble finding anything incriminating or disturbing about Cena and actually believes he might be one of the rare few legit heroes out there.  Butcher, on the other hand, refuses to believe this – this brings the two into conflict over ideology.  Eventually after investigation, it’s discovered that Cena is constantly taking serum beyond any safe level, causing him to suffer temporary bouts of blind rage after injections where he kills innocents. The Boys end up putting him down and Hughie questions whether there are any true heroes left.

Thoughts: John Cena seems like a great Captain America type, right? The problem with Cena is he has no nuance and doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. I also personally really find Cena stale ever since he switched away from his early rap-based gimmick to this staid, boring **** -Hogan way of doing things. However, it’s the perfect way to demonstrate how even the most pure outward appearances and inward intents can lead to spiraling morality, something The Boys would naturally mesh with well. It also gives an opportunity to look at the steroid usage in wrestling with a bit of allegorical storytelling.''' '''

107)                   Zero (Mega Man) – Nio The pitch: Zero is created by the Viltrumites in Invincible as part of their campaign to take Earth out of the hands of their rebel member Omni-Man.  Zero is a force to be reckoned with, beating down the former Teen Team members serving as Guardians of the Globe such as Robot and Monster Girl. Invincible is able to help Zero shirk his programming and see the value in freedom.  In understanding the concept of humanity, Zero sees the errors of his actions and makes a valiant sacrifice to destroy a Viltrumite ship from within, buying the Earth time to ready itself for the impending Viltrumite armada. Thoughts: About the 90th robot who discovers the value of human life, Zero is essentially useless to Marvel and DC, and Image was the next biggest company he would fit into.  His story is very elementary and the character doesn’t have much depth (who does in Mega Man), so I think one good story is probably all I could get out of him.''' '''

108)                   Super Macho Man (Punch-Out) – pokemonandrew The concept: An adversary for Wildcat in a Wildcat mini-series, Super Macho Man would lean towards the character of Mason Dixon in the 2006 film Rocky Balboa.  After a large amount of televised discussion about who is the greatest boxer, Super Macho Man is stunned to discover people believe that Ted Grant – a boxer from the 40s – is considered the best ever.  As the current heavyweight title holder, SMM challenges Wildcat to a match in Vegas, the proceeds of which will go to charity. Here’s where things start going differently.  SMM uses his significant estate to hire thugs, hitman and con artists in order to set up elaborate plans to injure, intimidate or kidnap Wildcat, all in the attempt of disgracing him prior to the fight.  It all goes bad, Wildcat makes it to the bout, and SMM loses… horribly. End scene.

Thoughts: A very specialized character with a flimsy personality and background, I just sort of lucked out that there was a boxing-related character he could go up against for a decent-sounding storyline.

Also, let’s take some more time to discuss what this topic is about, because there seems to be confusion. This isn’t about if a character would sell well as is in a solo series. That’s a pointless exercise that lacks any creativity. Sure, Jack Sparrow would be great in his own series set in his own Disney-created universe with all of his associates and enemies and what-have-you. We’re not pitching titles for things that already exist. Where would the fun be in that? The topic is and has always been about pitching a character into a pre-existing comics company’s universe, whatever that may be. The character has to be able to stand on their own outside of their comfort zone. It’s about what the character’s potential is in a comics universe, not in their own universe being written as a comic.''' '''

109)                   Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean) – Leonhart The pitch: Jack Sparrow is character first encountered by the Black Pirate in his series of adventures in the 50s and 60s. He goes on to become a recurring fixture of the series, and fans of the title (as few as there are) would see him return in time-related events like the Lord of Time story arc in Justice League of America, Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour.  Jack also appears in a story arc in Starman, where he betrays the Black Pirate and leaves him to the gallows, setting up the Ghost of the Black Pirate subplot in that series.

Thoughts: There are certain pirates that were nominated that I found much better places for, but Jack Sparrow is the epitome of a pirate character. He just can’t be reconciled with another time period and/or setting. Sure, I could’ve reinterpreted him as a modern pirate. He really fits in well with the Somalian destitute rapists, doesn’t he? See, that’s the problem with piratism – you need to have another angle going for you to jump settings from the traditional sea pirate era. Sparrow is a great character, but much too specialized to be of use anywhere else in comics.''' '''

110)                   Link (Zelda) – Murphiroth  The pitch: Link is introduced in Aquaman and the Others as the last guardian of one of the few remaining landbound pieces of Atlantis, a temple high up in the Himalayas.  Awakened by the presence of “intruders” in the form of the Others, Link is a silent opponent who systematically uses his seemingly endless arsenal of weapons to dismantle the entire team in a flashy but extremely competent manner.  When Aquaman arrives to take charge of the situation, Link learns that the entire culture of Atlantis has changed – he opens the door to the temple and reveals what is inside: the Trident of Poseidon.  Having provided the Trident to and Heir of Orin, Link recognizes his role as a guardian is over and prepares to retire.  Aquaman, however, offers him a role in his personal Imperial Guard as the new Royal Guardian, in charge of protecting both Aquaman himself and the Trident. Link serves as a background character and occasional fighter in flashy fight sequences for years until he is murdered by Ocean Master. Orm steals the Trident and leaves Link skewered on his old one.

Thoughts: No personality, no communicative ability, but you can’t deny that Link would be highly enjoyable to watch in a fight. His Swiss Army Knife style of battle includes so many cool weapons and skills that you would always find a new way to surprise readers with what he can do. That’s why I think serving as a longterm guardian of the Throne of Atlantis would essentially give you ample opportunity to occasionally let Link stretch his legs as a fighter. Of course once that’s over, you gotta shelve him again until the next fight – especially since there’s no plotline for him to develop. He would likely become a well-liked but minor character that would be the sort of cannon fodder you can use to push an Aquaman villain’s threat level (as I did).''' '''

111)                   Yuri Lowell (Tales) – Nio The pitch: Yuri Lowell is introduced as an adversary to the Super Young Team by Peter Tomasi.  He forms a team of manga/anime-centric vigilante teens who seek to combat the negative perception of Japanese superheroics perpetuated by Most Excellent Superbat’s organization, but his team is seen as virtually identical to the Super Young Team.  They quickly fall prey to the Japanese celebrity-obsessed youth generation that disregards morality and ethics for style and flair.  Eventually, Yuri gives up his goals and leaves the team, moving to isolation at a small monastery near Mount Fuji.

Thoughts: Manga and anime. Two things that by their very nature do not fit into Western comics at all. The comic book reading culture doesn’t read manga, and the manga-reading culture doesn’t read comic books, and that’s the main reason Yuri drops here and now. Yuri’s personality also isn’t that dissimilar from a variety of other characters which hurts his chances in terms of a unique factor, and his backstory that he brings is just about the most overused concept in the history of pop literature. Yet another young kid fighting against the big evil empire in a coming of age story – sadly, there are no big, evil empires in Western comics, so that aspect is virtually useless. Sword play also is a no-sell in comics these days, and his design itself (aside from being aesthetically opposed to Western comics) is about as plain as you can get. However, I do see value in a longterm story of how a traditional Japanese-styled hero can get dragged into the abyss by modern Japanese culture, so there’s some redemptive value there.''' '''

112)                   R2-D2 (Star Wars) – Suor The pitch: R2-D2 is introduced into Carmine Infantino’s early Adam Strange stories as a robotic companion of Strange on the planet Rann.  R2 is mainly a silent companion character with occasional interactions with Strange, including the rare instance where R2 is plot integral (ie: saves Strange by using one of his gadgets to rescue him).

Thoughts: As I stated in the Kirby write-up, characters that can’t develop personalities or develop dynamic relationships are doomed to fail, and that’s kind of the problem with R2. However, R2 DOES have an actual personality based around feisty independence which goes a little ways towards making R2 slightly more appealing from a writing perspective. But at the end of the day, R2 can’t form any longterm or deeper plotlines due to a lack of communicative abilities.''' '''

113)                   Mint (Threads of Fate) – Nio The pitch: Mint is presented as Amethyst’s long-lost little sister in Christy Marx’s Sword and Sorcery at DC Comics. She’s given a backstory that she’s destined to become a chosen savior of Gemworld thanks to some murky prophecies. Ultimately, she ends up being the catalyst for Amethyst assuming that role as she dies in Amethyst’s arms, passing on some mystical mumbo jumbo to her big sis.  Turns out that the prophecy meant she was going to anoint the savior and not become the savior.  Tears. New look of determination from Amethyst. End scene. Thoughts: There’s an entire genre that frankly doesn’t work in comics, and that’s fantasy.  Remember one of the most important provisions to this topic – I can’t pitch an entirely new universe for these characters, and that’s what most fantasy characters are going to need in order to do themselves justice. This isn’t a slight against Princess Mint, but rather a sad but true fact we’re going to run into time and again. So fantasy characters, living in a genre that thrives on extensive backstories and elaborate universes that prop up the characters, are going to have a tough road in these rankings.

The other problem with a lot of fantasy characters is the period of history in which they fit. I’m pitching them to pre-existing universes, and most comics companies have little to no medieval era literature out there. I’ve got Demon Knights at DC, the time period of Black Knight at Marvel, and some backstory stuff I can use in Spawn and Hellboy. Other than that, it’s a pretty fallow era to try and dump these characters into. I also can’t really put them into a modern-day setting. The fish-out-of-water concept has been done first by Shining Knight (an Arthurian knight in the modern day) and done best by Captain America (WW2 hero in new Avengers). Any attempt to play a crosstime caper is going to be met with trepidation and impossibly hard-to-beat comparisons. So with limited options and an incompatible genre, don’t hold too much hope for your beloved fantasy reps… unless they could sell in modern times.''' '''

114)                   Erika (Pokemon) – Raka The pitch: So I wanna share with you part of a conversation I had with Deadpool and Wickle the other day, paraphrased. I was explaining how there was virtually no use for Erika in comic books.  She’s a bland, stale character with nothing going for her but a few Pokemon, things which would be hard to explain due to the lack of “Pokemon” in comics. The other two didn’t see a problem and start throwing out ideas and building off of them until I ended up with this:

''“So essentially, we have this chick who throws weeds at people, and she moves in next door to Peter Quill – who knocks her up – but she doesn’t have the baby because Iron Fist aborts the fetus by punching her in the *****.”''

I think that says it all.

Thoughts: Don’t piss on my head and tell me it’s raining. Characters need personalities. Characters need motivations. Characters need to be able to stand alone without an entire universe of continuity and culture to prop them up. Erika lacks the ability to do the latter because she lacks both of the former. Pokemon are a very unique concept, but I can’t introduce the entire world of Pokemon into comics with Erika. This is the character and the character alone – so she essentially has a few walking weeds in balls that she throws at people. Making plants attack people as already a schtick someone uses – Hi Poison Ivy! Hi Swamp Thing! Hi Floronic Man! Hi Man-Thing at times! Hi Ferak! Hi Briar Rose!

But she’s not like those guys, you say. Her Pokemon make her very different, you say. You’re right. Instead of causing any plant to attack you, we’re stuck with the same six plants every time. Great in Pokemon, terrible in comics. She has no driving force that make her a dynamic personality and frankly, she was the worst possible nomination from Pokemon. I could pitch you Lance easily. Blue. N. Chuck. Janine. Clair. Blaine. Flannery. And so on and so on. But Erika is frankly irredeemable.

115)                   Kirby (Kirby) – Leonhart The pitch: An experimental creation designed by Dubbilex in the Dan Jurgens’ era of Superman comics.  Kirby is designed as a creature with genetic inventory – by absorbing portions of other creatures, Kirby can essentially utilize the DNA of these individuals to recombinate his own DNA and utilize abilities. However, each DNA sequence that’s not of his own make-up is cast aside when he chooses to ingest more tissue from a new source.  Kirby starts out as an inquisitive but “lovable” entity that essentially becomes a new version of the Parasite – he gorges himself on people and individuals, not realizing the adverse effects he has on his victims.  All he wants is to feed.  Kirby is a one-shot storyline character that would last for about four issues at max before being given the Triumph treatment and being imprisoned or frozen or what-have-you and forgotten by writers ever afterwards.

Thoughts: Kirby works in a video game setting because personality, plotlines and character development can be light in substance when it comes to a more action-oriented game such as a platformer. Kirby games always put a premium on new and polished concepts in gaming; as such, a simple character like Kirby is perfect for that medium. However, in comics, simple doesn’t go far. The greatest characters are built on large platforms of grand ideas supported by a variety of nuanced relationships and subtle attitudes. Even characters like Superman who are often seen as simplistic are at their very core grand complexities built around storytelling. The type of character we need in a comic book is one that A) can develop a personality and B) has a design and skill set that helps them stand out. The second category is one that Kirby kind of fills, but even a perfect Category B character can only exist in the short term without any of Category A.

What kills Kirby the most is the design factor. Comic readers aren’t really interested in a character of this design, and the small round ball really caters more towards a Tiny Titans audience rather than the standard comic reader. Kirby on the surface is generally geared to the younger crowd, and without any deep or meaningful personality, is doomed to impress readers over a long period of time. Essentially a Yazz without the annoying personality.

116)                   Goldeen (Pokemon) – Suor The pitch: Goldeen lives in a fish bowl owned and maintained by Power Girl in Jimmy Palmiotti’s Power Girl run.  It is seen in passing for several years until Power Girl’s Cat eats it.

Thoughts: I think you could get a pretty good chuckle out of this, but not much else. This isn’t a character so much as just a species of fish, but people here on this board have this strange obsession with thinking that Pokemon have personalities and stuff (Ermine), that Pokemon are singular rather than just one of an entire species of things that look the same and do the same things (Ermine), and that they’re the best characters ever (Ermine). In comics, that won’t work. Kiss your fish goodbye, Suor.

117)                   Death (Discworld) – Natwaf The pitch: While trying to pitch a title for Death, all of my comic company customers declined to publish any of my ideas, citing that each of them already had at least one Death in their company.

Thoughts: I love Discworld. I truly do. But here’s the catch with Death: everyone has already got one. Heck, DC has a bunch: Death (of the Endless), Black Flash, the Black Racer, Nekron… hell, the Spectre was originally meant to be a representation of Death. Marvel’s got, well, Death. And there’s also the Doorman. And every other company has either got a pre-existing traditional personification of Death or a specific character – Lady Death, Judge Death, Grim Reaper, etc.  I just can’t pitch any role for this version of Death anywhere. Death doesn’t bring anything new to the table comics-wise, either. Now if you had given me Joe Black to work with, I probably could’ve strung something together. But appearance-wise, Discworld’s Mort just doesn’t provide anything new to these companies, and personality-wise, a couple of these companies are already klepping the crap out of Pratchett’s concept. So while, I technically could pitch this character, no one would buy it and frankly… I’m not gonna bother.

118)                   The Doctor (Doctor Who) – CoolCly The pitch: Due to legal concerns, I cannot use The Doctor, who is currently being featured extensively in various IDW titles.

Thoughts: This one can be forgiven as the Doctor’s appearances in IDW titles are all over the place these days; however, between crossovers and mini-series, it’s not like they plan to relinquish the rights on the Doctor any time soon. Still, I can’t pitch a comic for a character that already has a comic. Tough luck.

That’s the last of the characters who already have major comics-related deals. Now we move on to the ones that are so redundant that they virtually already have comics titles.''' '''

119)                   Spike (Buffy) – ahirsch The concept: Due to legal concerns, I cannot use Spike, who is currently being featured in the successful Buffy franchise of comics.

Thoughts: Two characters that were nominated are currently in the middle of deep-running series with extensive deals that would preclude them from appearing in any comic other than the pre-existing title du jour. Remember, I’m pitching these to comics companies, folks. I can’t rightly walk into Marvel and pitch Superman. Unless it’s Hyperion. Or Sentry. That was a bad example. But the gist of my point is this – only two characters on this list were involved in other comics, so it didn’t have a huge effect on the list’s outcome.

Why did I put Spike below the other choice? Simply because the Buffy comic is more well-known. It’s easier to plagiarize and break copyright law when the character’s comic is pretty well-forgotten, as the next one will be.