Fifteen Comics: Part Two

The comic geek insanity begun yesterday continues! Here are the next five comics among the last fifteen on a hypothetical Earth:

6) Quasar Corps.
Writer: MCF
Artist: Rey

Early in his career , Wendell Vaughn wondered why only one being at a time was given the title “Protector of the Universe.” When his cosmic guide Epoch suddenly falls victim to a mysterious and fatal illness, Vaughn learns the truth, that his Quantum Bands are not unique, and 41 other pairs remain concealed in a pocket dimension, the gateway to which was long ago placed on the deadly surface of the living planet Ego. Epoch dies shortly after sharing this information, and Vaughn decides that he can no longer protect the universe alone. He enlists the Silver Surfer, Kismet, Beta Ray Bill, Tana Nile and Firelord to help him retrieve the other Q-Bands and find worthy bearers. Unfortunately they are followed by Thanos, who claims a pair for himself and nearly destroys our heroes, before they too don bands. Thanos escapes with the remaining 35, and Quasar must now train his allies in the use of their new weapons, bonded to them until death. Since this is my fantasy world, I had to give myself one comic to write, and I always liked the cosmic characters. Rey can draw as well as most professionals, but has never published so much as a web comic, although he's been talking about doing one for years. Though not a Quasar fan, I suspect the prospect of drawing Thanos and the Surfer on a monthly basis would appeal to him. If not, then I'd ask Ron Lim to handle the art, and I might even let Jim Starlin write it...


7) United Strikeforce of Avengers
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Jim Lee

At long last, Millar would do for the mainstream Avengers what he's done for their Ultimates counterparts. This would be a serious team, and they would not only have headquarters on both coasts of the United States, but a vast roster of reserve teammates to call upon in times of need. Captain America would be the overall chairman of the entire organization, with Wasp running the East Coast branch while Black Knight handled the West Coast. The addition of teleporting members to the teams, such as Nightcrawler, would aid in their ability to assemble the perfect strikeforce for any mission anywhere, any time. I chose Jim Lee, because it would just be ridiculously cool to see him draw nearly every major character in the Marvel universe, including the Fantastic Four, most of whom would play a role as semi-regulars after merging their team with the Avengers once and for all.

8) Champions
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Larry Stroman

The Thing is the one member of the Fantastic Four who remains mostly a reserve member of the U.S.Avengers. Drawing on his brief career as a wrestler and contacts in the entertainment industry, he acts as both a judge and trainer of would-be superheroes who audition and compete against one another in the ring. While in theory the American Idol approach applied to discovering new superheroes is a good idea, in practice it presents the dangers of rejected competitors traveling instead down a path to super villainy, as well as rookie heroes ignoring rulings that they aren't ready. Some will fail and turn to evil. Some will face deadly perils too soon. And only a select few will survive to become....Champions.


9) Faith
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: Marc Silvestri

Maybe I can't see Eliza Dushku in Tru Calling anymore, but I can still see Faith in a monthly comic book series slaying vampires and hanging out with Wood(I refuse to use the ridiculous first name of that character which I just discovered). Of course Whedon would be the writer, and Silvestri could definitely make Faith look sexy and capture the action as she leapt into a mob of vampires.


10) The All-New, All-Invinvible Iron Man
Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Walt Simonson

It would be great to see the Simonsons collaborate on a book again. In this title, Tony Stark realizes the world needs more than one armored superhero when he's unable to join every Avengers Strikeforce mission, even with teleporters on the team. He reconciles with War Machine and designs new suits of armor for Happy Hogan, Natasha Romanoff, Donnie Gill, Abner Jenkins and young newcomer Redd Schurrt. When one of his proteges dies in battle however, will Tony's grief drive him back to alcohol, or push him to create his most sophisticated suit yet?

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Tomorrow this experiment will conclude with my final five fantasy comics. Don't miss them!