Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login
The John Byrne Forum
Byrne Robotics > The John Byrne Forum Page of 4 Next >>
Topic: DC and Marvel Characters Throughout History Post ReplyPost New Topic
Author
Message
Brian Hague
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 14 November 2006
Posts: 8515
Posted: 10 February 2018 at 1:53pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

One of my most fondly remembered comic stories from way back when was a Justice League tale in which the team is confronted by a collection of DC's historical characters such as Jonah Hex, Enemy Ace, and nurse Betty Lynne, a.k.a. Miss America. It cross-promoted their titles (those who had them) and served as a history lesson of sorts for the characters with whom the readers might not have been familiar. Years later, the JLA did a western crossover which closely mirrored an Avengers story from some years before. In the Eighties, the WCA would spend a long time trapped in Marvel's Western era. Superman went to 1776 and on another occasion met Sgt. Rock, serving as a member of Easy Co. Iron Man and Dr. Doom were trapped in Arthur's England.

As a reader, I really enjoyed these trips into the past absent all of the alternate timeline fooferah and "Sound of Thunder" butterflies crunching underfoot. Don't get me wrong, I like a good alternate timeline and Tyme Sefari kicker as much if not more than the next man, but with these stories, it was more the novelty of seeing characters interact who realistically* wouldn't have the opportunity to; The chance to get to know a character I might not have investigated otherwise. Spider-Man and Red Sonja? What a great idea! "What If Conan Walked the Earth Today?" Bring it on! I liked Two-Gun Kid's sojourn into our time as well. 

Another variation on stories of this type is the "hero is sent travelling through time" set-up recently done with Batman in Morrison's "R.I.P." saga. "Hawkman" has done a lot with various incarnations set in different times. Veitch's "Swamp Thing" went time-tripping as well**.  And then there are those stories featuring characters who are long-lived or effectively immortal, such as Thor and the Demon, who often have stories set in the past because, well, they were there.

More recently, Marvel and DC have adopted the concept of simply setting their heroes in past eras ala' "Elseworlds" or 1602, without any transportation element to the story. (Yes, I know 1602 is a bit labored on this point.) The heroes simply live there and always have. 

I also like it when characters from other eras simply age forward into our's, as was done with the Justice Society and Dominic Fortune in an issue of Marvel Team-Up. The 3-D Man from Marvel's 1950's made a memorable appearance in Hulk #251.

How about you? Do you have any favorite Cross-Time Capers or appearances by characters outside their regular temporal contexts you'd like to list or talk about? I would expect JB's Revolutionary War-era Superman annual will get a lot of love here, as will Generations. 

Also, which historical character do you feel might do well transported to another era, present-day or otherwise? DC tried it with "Hex," set in an apocalyptic future. Would they have done better had they instead published "Ace?***" Or "Hawk, Son of Tomahawk?"

This thread could also be a place to simply expound upon a feature set in another time period that you really enjoyed. I may go off on the "Creature Commandoes" here pretty soon... :-)

* Always a relative term at best in comics
** I really like the issue with Tomahawk from this story cycle. With art by Tom Yeates, I recommend it if you're prowling through a back issue bin at some point.
*** No, not the dog.


Edited by Brian Hague on 10 February 2018 at 1:56pm
Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Matthew Wilkie
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 09 March 2011
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1139
Posted: 10 February 2018 at 2:54pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

I enjoyed the New Mutants' Truth or Dare series which saw the original New Mutants interact with those in the team published at the time (if this this is the sort of thing you mean).

Of course, Bendis ripped this off and used it with the X-Men - he always seems to go that much further and ruin what might have otherwise been a neat one-off,  
Back to Top profile | search
 
Brian Hague
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 14 November 2006
Posts: 8515
Posted: 10 February 2018 at 3:06pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

I had not heard of that New Mutants tale, Matthew, and looking into it online, you're right. That does sound a bit like Bendis' set-up for the X-Men. 

I believe the extended stay in the present was the point of what Bendis was doing, though, using that time spent in the "now" to warp the character dynamics and attitudes of the younger, original members into widely differing ones from those we knew, "knowing now what they did not know then," while providing the current team with an ongoing reminder of how far they'd missed the mark from Xavier's intentions. It was a mixed bag, to be sure.


Edited by Brian Hague on 10 February 2018 at 3:07pm
Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Doug Centers
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 17 February 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 5436
Posted: 10 February 2018 at 6:45pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

These are some of my favorite types of stories.

One that I remember fondly was Thing fighting with the Liberty Legion in 1942. Love those war time hero's and villain's .

Then there are the stories where our hero is transported to the future like when Spider-Man fought alongside Killraven.

Fun stuff!
Good topic Brian.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Brian O'Neill
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 13 November 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 1964
Posted: 10 February 2018 at 7:00pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Betty Lynn's Revolutionary War heroine alter ego was 'Miss Liberty'.
She later turned up in an ALL-STAR SQUADRON crossover with CRISIS, in which she joined Firebrand, Arak, and a few other historical characters, in a story set at Cape Canaveral in 1985.

My favorite team-up was in JUSTICE LEAGUE 198-199: The Lord of Time gives 4 JLAers amnesia and sends them to Arizona in 1878, where Jonah Hex, Scalphunter, Bat Lash, and Cinnamon helped out.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Brian Hague
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 14 November 2006
Posts: 8515
Posted: 10 February 2018 at 9:54pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Right you are, sir, on the name of Betty Lynn's costumed identity. I've long wanted to track down her earliest appearances in the Tomahawk feature. I regret the error.

And that JLA story was a favorite of mine as well. I remember bringing the comic to school with me and jonesing for it in class while it remained in my locker. It's no doubt the reason I finally tracked down the Weird Western Tales issues where Cinnamon debuted.

Your post reminded me that in Brave and the Bold #171, Batman met Scalphunter in a story illustrated by the always-astonishing Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. If you liked that JLA story, you might like the other as well.

And Doug, I'd forgotten how much at home Ben seemed in the 1940's fighting alongside those early Marvel heroes! 


Edited by Brian Hague on 10 February 2018 at 10:00pm
Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Brian O'Neill
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 13 November 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 1964
Posted: 11 February 2018 at 11:14am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

That BRAVE AND BOLD story was really good, as is anything drawn by JLGL(believe Gerry Conway wrote it). My introduction to Professor Nichols and the 'Time travel via hypnosis' gimmick. There isn't a lot of interaction between the two characters, but it's one of those stories that works well despite that hiccup.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Brian Hague
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 14 November 2006
Posts: 8515
Posted: 11 February 2018 at 1:04pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

What brought the Scalphunter team-up to mind so strongly in connection with that JLA/Western Heroes story was that a student around the same time cut up the B&B story to make a collage in English class. I was apoplectic that someone could do that to such a beautiful comic...

Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Eric Sofer
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 31 January 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 4789
Posted: 11 February 2018 at 2:07pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

Cut up... a Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez comic?

Brian, you get me a name and an address. Then don't go near there for a few weeks. Because nothing happened, as far as you know...
Back to Top profile | search
 
Brian O'Neill
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 13 November 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 1964
Posted: 11 February 2018 at 2:30pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Mark Evanier, during his run on BLACKHAWK, did a good job on a team-up with Superman, in DC COMICS PRESENTS # 69. It's discovered that Perry White won a Pulitzer in the '40s...but has no memory of it. Superman does some tim-traveling(on Clark's lunch break), and, disguised as mild-mannered reporter 'Jonathan Clinton', gets involved with the aforementioned team of ace pilots...and Albert Einstein...in a tale full of Nazi nastiness(and mind-control).
Back to Top profile | search
 
Matthew Wilkie
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 09 March 2011
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1139
Posted: 11 February 2018 at 3:06pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

I remember reading a UK reprint of Brave and Bold # 120 which saw Batman transported into the future, or at least his spirit, where he meets Kamandi. I had no idea who Kamandi is and with the story played from his POV - it is well into the story before there is any explanation as to why Batman is there and after Kamandi - remember finding it quite bonkers, not least cos I spent the whole story thinking that it all seemed a bit Planet of The Apes.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Brian O'Neill
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 13 November 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 1964
Posted: 11 February 2018 at 3:14pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

Supposedly, KAMANDI was what Jack Kirby came up with after DC was unable to get the rights to a POTA adaptation.
Back to Top profile | search
 

Page of 4 Next >>
  Post ReplyPost New Topic
Printable version Printable version

Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login