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Mark Haslett
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Joined: 19 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 6979
Posted: 30 October 2026 at 12:12am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

I was confused by the decision of the powers that were to make the Gal Gadot Wonder Woman sequel set in the 1980's--

--but doing Dazzler as a 1970's Disco celebration actually has some sizzle to it -- acknowledging immediately that good movies are SO much more than just sizzle.
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Ben Stamer
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Joined: 15 December 2023
Location: United States
Posts: 62
Posted: 30 October 2026 at 3:02am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

I remember touching upon it in another thread, but the Great Lakes Avengers got a lot of retcons. Including Big Bertha. When Slott was on the book, he made it so she was a mutant and she had to vomit to lose the weight. Then the run from the guy who wrote the Rick and Morty comic made it so that Big Bertha no longer had a secret identity and she stayed fat (but not gigantic) in civilian form as a plus-sized model with shaved sides of her head and legally changed her name to Bertha Crawford. Because I guess people though removing some of the most interesting parts about her make her more interesting?
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David Miller
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Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 3276
Posted: 30 October 2026 at 6:11am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

I wouldn't think Dazzler's disco would have to be amber-sealed in 1979, although it would be awesome if it was. Aspiring singers are timeless.

It's not like there was much more to Dazzler's character for an adaptation to be faithful to. Her personality and skill set was usually dictated be an issue's writer or plot.

Any Dazzler movie would have to try to capture her insane trajectory. I've only read a few Dazzler comics and she went from nightclub singer to Hollywood bottom feeder to Hollywood superstar to Hollywood pariah to anonymous journeyperson backing keyboardist to superhero X-Man. And that doesn't include what I've heard about Galactus and everything after I stopped paying attention in 1992.
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Bill Collins
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Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11767
Posted: 30 October 2026 at 7:07am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

I think Dazzler's original problem is that Disco was on the
way out by the time she hit the stands. I think a movie
version should treat her like a Bowie type artist, always
changing and updating her look and music.
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James Woodcock
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Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8745
Posted: 30 October 2026 at 1:10pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

I agree Bill. Dazzler is def one of the characters who CAN get away with
constantly reinventing herself. It’s what pop stars do, every album.
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Eric Jansen
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Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2593
Posted: 30 October 2026 at 1:30pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Dazzler, by Claremont, Byrne, and Austin, was very cool to me.  Good name, good design, and it made sense that there should be a solo mutant comic spinning out from the popular X-MEN comic!  The first few issues of her solo book looked promising, with a great first issue cover painted by Bob Larkin and interiors by John Romita Jr.

In the Forum (and elsewhere), I have learned that the creation of Dazzler was a big deal to the editor-in-chief and there were big plans for her.  Why then make the creative team for most of its run (I'll try to say this as nice as possible) an unproven writer and a not hot artist.

Looking back, I find myself increasingly perplexed by decisions made by editors in my youth.  Usually, when a series took a turn for the worse (I see now), it was when a new editor took over.

The original run of SHE-HULK, MS. MARVEL, and SPIDER-WOMAN (I loved the Gruenwald/Infantino issues, but I know they weren't big stars at the time) also seemed to be given up on at a certain point.  Was it a superheroine thing?  (WONDER WOMAN over at DC also had the same problem for decades up to the Perez era.)  Did the big artists at the time not want to draw beautiful women every month?!?  (JB's run on SHE-HULK excepted.)
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Steven Myers
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Joined: 10 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5774
Posted: 30 October 2026 at 8:11pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

The best thing about Dazzler is that she wasn't a copy of a male hero, as Marvel's previous female-led superhero books were. Dazzler did get 42 issues in her original run, which is pretty good. I tried to read it a couple times but got bored with it rather fast.

I can't think of another character with such a pop-culture theme that had a solo series.
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 137399
Posted: 30 October 2026 at 10:08pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

How many of Marvel’s female characters were copies of males?
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11767
Posted: 31 October 2026 at 7:08am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

Steve, i have a vague memory of a female character from the
90's that was a real life minor pop star that had her own
superhero comic that Stan Lee and Marvel were giving heavy
promotion to. I never bought it, and am not sure if it was
a one-shot, also i don't recall her being a guest star in
other comics.
Edited to add, just Googled it and it was Night Cat, a one
shot prestige comic, that suffered poor sales. I think if
it was produced as a normally priced comic instead of
prestige, i may have taken a punt on it.

Edited by Bill Collins on 31 October 2026 at 7:16am
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Tony Frye
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Joined: 10 March 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 219
Posted: 31 October 2026 at 1:49pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

(If a movie happens I wonder if I will get money as one of her “creators”? That would almost make that ordeal worth it.)

......


First, JB, I hope you're feeling better.

Second, was there someone at Marvel and DC, whose job it was to keep track of who created whom? I would think the legal department would be involved in this.
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 137399
Posted: 31 October 2026 at 2:30pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Disney is good about $$. Marvel was… less so.
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