Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Comics I'd Write for Cheap - Day Two - The Marvel Family

The Marvel Family

Okay, this is really my least thought out idea of those I’ll present this week. I figured it’s best to just sort of get it out now instead of waiting all week for inspiration and then disappointing everyone with a BIG Friday reveal that is essentially – crap.

Forget Earth’s Mightiest Mortal, let’s focus on his family. That ragtag group of individuals that are generational and gender derivatives of the big red cheese. They need to be aware of their place in the DCU and know that they’re essentially derivative of Cpt. Marvel. And that’s what a lot of people forget. He isn’t Shazam, he’s Captain Marvel. So let’s make this group of people military brats with the Wizard Shazam as their mystical Charlie.

They can move from place to place across America and the world just like a military family being relocated and transferred from base to base. What’s the reason? They can be the core DCU version of John Constantine. Yes, I know there’s the Shadowpact but this is more about the “solving problems by applying brute force repeatedly” approach to mystical incidents. Plus time traveling and space travel. Why? Because I can.

This book should be aimed at a slightly younger audience and be a slightly veiled comic book substitute of a Geography textbook that explores local myths and legends. Again, I think it should be a done in one single issue approach with cartoony goodness and bright colours. I guess they’re my Mighty Scooby Gang in many ways – but with less haunted theme parks.

As for the cast, it should be Captain Marvel if he’s available but definitely Mary Marvel, Cpt. Marvel Junior, and Uncle Marvel with a few guest stars along the way like Spy Smasher and Mr. Tawky Tawny – only more of a Tellos or Thundercats looking type of guy instead of cartoon tiger in a zoot suit.

What would some of their adventures be like you ask? Let’s brainstorm:

1 – Because every first issue needs a guest star they’d go to Gotham for Halloween and the Solomon Grundy story. Guess who would guess star? Everyone’s favorite hero – Robin!
2 – Off to the deserts of America where there are stories of coyotes with mythical trickster powers – turns out it’s Dr. Sivana and his animal men.
3 – They go up to Washington state to deal with Big Foot who has been terrifying campers.
4 – Up to Alaska where Inuit legends are coming to life around the northern communities – turns out it was a dismantled Mr. Atom who is being unearthed and reassembled by The Red Crusher as a neo-soviet attack robot to house The Great Red Brain and the radiation is affecting people’s imaginations.
5 – They go to Norway or somewhere in Scandinavia to deal with a ghost Viking longboat. Turns out it’s King Kull.
6 – In this issue they try to solve the mystery of the mummy in Egypt but also have to deal with Black Adam.
7 – They meet up with Mr. Tawky Tawny somewhere in generic “Africa” and deal with Anansi the Spider plus third world politics.
8 – To England where they deal with high tech highwaymen or maybe the Loch Ness Monster.
9 – They go to China to deal with the mad Coy Fish Dragon which is burning a swathe through the countryside and they’re forced to team up with Black Alice.
10 – To the Swamps of Louisiana where they deal with some hoodoo voodoo and meet Swamp Thing and they agree water pollution is bad.
11 – Off to Transylvania to deal with vampires.
12 – Big meet up with Black Adam and Dr. Sivana as they investigate the case of The Mummers in Newfoundland.

Like I said, this is my mighty mystical version of Scooby-Doo and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I need to give a shout out to Marvel Family where I pretty much just looked at their list of characters and threw them into my “plot ideas” regardless of whether or not I may be “right.”

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