Forty

I went to the cinema on Activities Day yesterday and saw Thor again for the second time in three weeks; I still enjoyed it. Our party left before the post-credit scene that serves as another prequel to Joss Whedon's Avengers movie.
The Avengers is the biggest franchise at Marvel nowadays and has been for nearly half a decade- the X-Men, which once held that position indomitably, might be poised to challenge again if X-men First Class is successful. Meanwhile, that other company releases Green Lantern, Jonah Hex and Superman Returns, with only the dour Dark Knight mounting any real response to Marvel's box office supremacy.
It strikes me that what DC needs is a little of Brian Michael Bendis's magic touch with the Assemblers.

Four of the biggest, most iconic Marvel draws on the front cover, a couple of cult Seventies stars and a left-field selection. The magical Big Seven- the number synonymous with the Justice League.A cover dripping with mood and drama.
Recently, I posted my Bendis-style League. Here they are again, Micro Heroes-style:

 Batwoman had a brief flurry of publicity because of the character's sexuality and Constantine is probably connected in a fraction of the movie-going public's minds with Keanu. However, I think they would be ideal in a gritty, urban JLA . My real wild card was this guy, another Vertigo stalwart:

 Extra-dimensional freedom fighter, Shade the Changing Man

 I was particularly excited to give this group a covert intelligence agent handler, in the mould of Bendis's Maria Hill or Whedon's Abigail Brand. I'd chosen Spy Smasher from Birds of Prey, the Jack Bauer of the DC, with a heroic legacy dating back to the 40s. But late last night, I realised that DC's most iconic female had an alternate guise and it was her Mod Look that I found most palatable. So now, I give you government liaison Diana Prince:

 All the world is waiting for you...

Given that next to zombies, vampires are the monster du jour, I liked pitting Batman, Batwoman and company against the Cult of the Blood Red Moon, headed by two of Batman's earliest foes and a DC supermatural star of the early 80s:

 The Monk, Dala and I, Vampire

 Lanterns, lesbians and vampires. You would pass this over for Donna Troy, Dark Supergirl and Starman? Really?

I've mocked James Robinson as the Goth Roy Thomas. Certainly, what I saw of Cry For Justice, with its sadism and sexual references, didn't seem appropriate for the Super Friends. But what if we were to exchange Robinson, with his respect for and fascination with DC's rich heritage and lore, for Bendis and his snarky character voice and decompressed style? Take a dozen Avengers, past, present (and future) and see what his approach might come up with...

 As I stated previously in this blog, this trio lend grandeur to the Avengers. In some way, all three need to be represented, even if that's by surrogates like Rhodey, Bucky and, er, Thunderstrike. And they're frickin' movie stars.

 Three more movie stars- a pair of Marvel's greatest characters. And everyone likes a bad boy.
 That's half of this Dynamite Dozen (rrreally channelling Stan and Roy the Boy here!) I went to IGN's Top 100 comic book heroes to research this exercise in "If James Robinson Ran the Avengers" and the next member is number 72. The others don't feature at all.

 I think we'd have to lose the sash. Vizh is one character that Robinson could really restore to greatness.
 We're going a bit more off-road with the final three Avengers: two from the mid-80s and one who's really only appeared in Marvel Adventures Avengers:

 Photon (the former Captain Marvel), Starfox from Titan and Giant Girl.

 After a year (and doubtless a couple of mega-cross-over events) a Robinson Avengers might look like this:

Firestar and the Phantom Blonde

 Iron Man and Thor would drop in and out; the Thing would never really leave the FF for long and Hawkeye always quits. Giant Girl is my way of saving Janet and the whole Pym marriage fiasco; but Jan and Monica might pall compared to a 40s legacy character (the daughter of the Blonde Phantom) and animation favourite/ mutant poster girl Firestar.
Oh, and villains? With an arc entitled "The Inhumans/ Eternals War", that would be these guys:

 Maximus and Warlord Kro

...and these guys:

 Returning to legacy heroes of the 40s, I think James Robinson would love to get this Spirit of Vengeance into the mix:

A secret underground civilization of Skull-Men? Sounds pretty Deviant to me...

So... thoughts? Comments? Would a writer trade-off hurt or harm the Big Two's team books? Did I capture the essence of these creators?
Next: If I Ran the Teen Titans.

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