Well, there were many problems with Utopia era comics, but that one in particular had Piotr get a stupid tattoo that no other comics acknowledge to 'honor' Katya, but primarily, that line from Emma trying to be all maternal and sympathetic to Piotr. You know, the guy she had strip-searched and put in a cage after she telepathically knocked out the first time they ever met. They really tried to put Emma into a Jean/Ororo shaped hole in that era, and it just never resonated with me.
Let the flames destroy all but that which is pure and true!
Colossus does need some solid rehabilitation. I think he has good bones as a character; I love his farm boy origins, and that he is a painter and artist, and his character design is just gorgeous. He really doesn't want to be a superhero, but Xavier made him think he had to share his strength with the whole world, and the rest is history. I think his basic good nature makes him a target for 'tragedy porn' 'writers', and as a result, he's been through the wringer, and after a few decades, that weighs him down a lot. That said, when Feige is ready to cast some hunky young guy for the MCU Piotr, and they trim the fat from his less than stellar stories, we could get a refocused Colossus.
Gay Colossus from the Ultimate line was great, for example, (until they ruined him at the end of the first run with that Banshee nonsense). I guess the biggest sticking point for most people is his relationship with Kitty, which I never had a problem with back in the day, nor really in Astonishing, but when writers keep harping on his obsessiveness with her, despite her always running away from him, it doesn't look good. Just keep them away from each other, and let him branch out with a combination of his best buds(Kurt, Ororo, and Logan) and newer characters(such as his fun fling with Domino), give him a couple cool strength and durability feats every now and again, maybe a nice hipster artist storyline, and he'll be fine.
Last edited by yogaflame; 07-16-2019 at 09:04 PM.
Let the flames destroy all but that which is pure and true!
Step 1. Grow the beard back.
Step 2. Get some studio space and start painting.
Step 3. Experiment with bisexuality and narcotics. Become INSPIRED by generic heroism.
Step 4. Sell artwork to Tony Stark, Kingpin, and various international baddies. Feel bad about it.
Step 5. Get your sister, her girlfriend, her bestie, your bestie, and a Canadian to steal it back.
Step 6. Torch your career and go back to teaching.
Boy, oh boy. What to do with a problem like Colossus? I guess this could count toward that challenge a few pages back about doing one of these for a character that you're not overly fond of...
To start things off, keep him away from Kitty Pryde and keep Kitty Pryde away from him unless it's explicitly to establish the two of them as their own characters with a decent platonic, working relationship after their last break up. They both realize that they aren't good for one another. They're over it. They're young adults, they're mature enough not to fall into that trap anymore. No! Mas!
Piotr does have a really solid foundation - the whole farm boy origin, the strong morals, and there have been a lot of interesting things that have been done with him before going all the way to his passions. Masterful artist with abilities that have never exactly been capitalized on? Member of the Acolytes? Cytorrak's chosen Juggernaut? Member of the Phoenix Five? Outlaw? All of them are really good ideas for a character that otherwise wouldn't have very much to him. Also, he's a father to a child that the last we saw had grown rapidly and was nearly fully grown. There are a lot of ways to go with him.
To start, let's be honest with ourselves: Colossus is a simple man. He's got his pleasures. He's a little obsessive. He likes to close himself off from the rest of the world. And the world could always use more visible heroes with disabilities - what if it was revealed that Colossus was a man with functioning Asperger's Syndrome? It would explain all of his eccentricities. And with that in mind, give him a little break from the X-Men. Keep him around Westchester, maybe, and have him take up a simple painters' life for a little while - and then bring his son into the equation. Suddenly, Colossus has a lot more going on than being an X-Man that has to keep going back to Kitty Pryde: he's got a life in Salem Center, he's got a career, and he's suddenly got a teen or pre-teen son to look after and to teach how to use his abilities.
And with that in mind, maybe when Colossus becomes involved with the X-Men again, it isn't as a member of the team - it's as a mentor to the next generation of mutantkind. He's the teacher of the newest New Mutants, or Generation X, or New X-Men, or whatever you want to call them and Kid Colossus is also involved as part of the team. Leave the superheroics to him, and to Magik. Piotr is there to paint and to teach and live out his relatively simple life.
"We come into this world alone and we leave the same way. The time we spent in between - time spent alive, sharing, learning together... is all that makes life worth living." - Jean Grey
Colossus has a limit on how useful he will be in book. He is a "boring" character by design he is amazing character when he is going through something but Happy Colossus with no issues because of straightforward can be bit a boring. Now a genuine good person shouldn't be a liability in books. The biggest problem is the lack of team roles and jobs kills a character like this. So what do you with a problem like Colossus
1. A clear position on the team. Colossus archetype and design makes him a natural protector. So Team leader or Team Combat trainer even of Head of Security. Colossus having look out for others is where he would be at his best. Of course Team Leader would be the best option that make for a more assertive Colossus but X-men have its set leaders so it is not likely. So something like Combat trainer for the Next Generation of X-men would be a perfect role.
2. The second thing he needs an actual skill/job that he performs on mission. Something that can be transferable to a solo story. I think that every X-man should have a skill/job like EMT, Scout, Doctor, Psychologist,Pilot, Banker, Lawyer,etc. Painter/Artist/Farmer is cool but isn't active enough but it flesh out his personality as gentle soul.
3. This just a personal thought I would like Colossus to be ridiculously violent in combat but super peaceful and zen out of combat. I think that might be a better evolution as someone who will do anything protect his family and friends and realize that violence is necessary but when not in Combat he will try to do everything not resort to violence. I think that contrast would be interesting
Alright people. What to do with problems like Rosencanny and Age of X-Man?
"We come into this world alone and we leave the same way. The time we spent in between - time spent alive, sharing, learning together... is all that makes life worth living." - Jean Grey
Actually do something productive with the short amount of time you have?
Le Suck it, Dolphin!
-God I am so tired.
SCOTT SUMMERS AND EMMA FROST DESERVED BETTER.