Underrated comic book characters in your opinion.

[JudicatorPrime]

He should really be the Company’s GL. There’s so many things he could/should have been involved in over the years.

Agreed! I've been saying this for years. I think the Quantum Bands and the concept of the Protectors is so underrated and underdeveloped.

I'd love it if they were refreshed as a force comprised of individuals from various realities in the multiverse. Their mission would be to patrol and attend to various crises and hotspots throughout the multiverse, not just a single universe or galaxy. And given that the multiverse has so many divergent realities and each reality presumably has a Quantum Band wielder, there'd be a never ending buffet of characters and stories. And every major event would have a Quasar/Protector of the Universe.

[K7P5V]

^^^thank you!
Most times when I bring up NH, ppl just kinda go blank.

Not me. For a long time, I've always been wanting Kyle Richmond to have a more prominent role in the Marvel Universe...

Great choice.
He should really be the Company’s GL. There’s so many things he could/should have been involved in over the years.
I’d really love to see a storyline that ties together all the various Dr. Spectrums, as they’re GL expies too. As well as the Nova Corp. there’s a lot of fun to be had there imo. Not to mention Eon and Epoch. And he’ll, get the Elders of The Universe in there and make them a part of Quasar’s world. Those characters as both allies and enemies have potential.

In agreement with you about both the legacy of Dr. Spectrum & the Nova Corps.
The Janet Van Dyne version of Dr. Spectrum is a personal favorite, while the Nova Corps is where Adora rules...

[Ying Ko]

Captain Britain (Brian Braddock)
Red Hulk (Thaddeus Ross)
U.S. Agent (John Walker)
Ka-Zar (Kevin Plunder)
War Machine (James Rhodes)

[Riv86672]

Agreed! I've been saying this for years. I think the Quantum Bands and the concept of the Protectors is so underrated and underdeveloped.

I'd love it if they were refreshed as a force comprised of individuals from various realities in the multiverse. Their mission would be to patrol and attend to various crises and hotspots throughout the multiverse, not just a single universe or galaxy. And given that the multiverse has so many divergent realities and each reality presumably has a Quantum Band wielder, there'd be a never ending buffet of characters and stories. And every major event would have a Quasar/Protector of the Universe.

^^^That’d be some seriously trippy stuff, I’d like to read something like that!

Not me. For a long time, I've always been wanting Kyle Richmond to have a more prominent role in the Marvel Universe...




In agreement with you about both the legacy of Dr. Spectrum & the Nova Corps.
The Janet Van Dyne version of Dr. Spectrum is a personal favorite, while the Nova Corps is where Adora rules...

^^^its great to know I’m not the only NH fan.

And, you know your Dr. Spectrum, damn!

[strathcona]

Did Wendell Vaughn get the Quantum Bands back? Or has the name/mantle been passed to someone else now that Phyla-Vell no longer uses it?

After Phylla the bands and name went to new character Avril (can't remember her last name). She was only Quasar briefly and sacrificed herself during Secret Empire. Wendell has been seen with the bands again... but I prefer to think of him as having internalized the power and not needing the bands to access the Quantum Realm.

[Obeythemoderators]

Huh, never seen Kyle Richmond but nice design. Kinda reminds me of Ken from Battle of Planets.

[Blunt Guy]

Wonder Man gets lost in the shuffle of strong guys, but I've liked him ever since I read Avengers 132 with the Legion Of The Unliving. If you don't know his backstory, Simon Williams was a competitor of Stark Industries who got in over his head and went bankrupt. So of course he blamed Tony Stark. The original Baron Zemo designed a machine specifically for Simon that would bombard him with ionic energy and boost his strength just below Thor's level, and they planned for him to join the Avengers and betray them. So Wonder Man made a good impression and was made a member quickly, and at an opportune time Zemo, Enchantress, and Executioner attacked. Due to the surprise attack, the four of them wiped the floor with the Avengers. But as Zemo was getting ready to finish them all off, Wonder Man had a change of heart. Zemo had included a failsafe in case he switched allegiances, and he used it to kill Wonder Man. By then the Avengers were back awake and the villains had to run. He died in Iron Man's arms. All this happened in Avengers 9. After almost 15 years, he came back first as a zombie in Avengers 151, but during the next several issues he became fully "alive" again. He's been a member of the Avengers off and on ever since, and he has other powers bedside just being strong.

[K7P5V]

Wonder Man gets lost in the shuffle of strong guys, but I've liked him ever since I read Avengers 132 with the Legion Of The Unliving. If you don't know his backstory, Simon Williams was a competitor of Stark Industries who got in over his head and went bankrupt. So of course he blamed Tony Stark. The original Baron Zemo designed a machine specifically for Simon that would bombard him with ionic energy and boost his strength just below Thor's level, and they planned for him to join the Avengers and betray them. So Wonder Man made a good impression and was made a member quickly, and at an opportune time Zemo, Enchantress, and Executioner attacked. Due to the surprise attack, the four of them wiped the floor with the Avengers. But as Zemo was getting ready to finish them all off, Wonder Man had a change of heart. Zemo had included a failsafe in case he switched allegiances, and he used it to kill Wonder Man. By then the Avengers were back awake and the villains had to run. He died in Iron Man's arms. All this happened in Avengers 9. After almost 15 years, he came back first as a zombie in Avengers 151, but during the next several issues he became fully "alive" again. He's been a member of the Avengers off and on ever since.

Thanks, Blunt Guy.
This is truly an excellent summary for one of my all-time favorite members of the Avengers (616):

He has other powers bedside just being strong.

Agreed. LOVE Simon's ionic-energy form that both Busiek & Perez gave him, along with Simon finally learning how to fly under his own power...

[Andy E. Nystrom]

Songbird. She started out as a minor near joke of a character, a wrestler super-villain with screaming powers named Screaming Mimi and is now a capable leader who is generally trusted by the superhero community. I honestly think she could star in her own solo title.

The Circus of Crime. They aren't likely to show up in lists of top Marvel villains and to my knowledge haven't even appeared on TV but in the comics they get around.

Yellowjacket (Rita): If she hadn't been killed off years ago for shock value, she'd probably be a lot better known these days due to her fun personality. Though to be fair had she lived we probably wouldn't have gotten Songbird, as Mimi replaced her in the Thunderbolts once Kurt Busiek realized she was dead.

The Mink. Extremely minor character from the Squadron Supreme series and obvious Catwoman swipe, but she had an interesting if brief arc.

Annie the LMD. A robot with a strong human personality who is capable of having fun with the fact that she's a robot.

[Sutekh]

Songbird. She started out as a minor near joke of a character, a wrestler super-villain with screaming powers named Screaming Mimi and is now a capable leader who is generally trusted by the superhero community. I honestly think she could star in her own solo title.

Yellowjacket (Rita): If she hadn't been killed off years ago for shock value, she'd probably be a lot better known these days due to her fun personality. Though to be fair had she lived we probably wouldn't have gotten Songbird, as Mimi replaced her in the Thunderbolts once Kurt Busiek realized she was dead.

Ooh, two great choices! Rita had the potential to fill the same sort of role that Scott Lang has filled, only even more so, since he was never really all that much of a 'villain' (or have as cut and dried 'bad guy' motivation) compared to Rita. Her journey could have been quite a bit more complicated by the fact that she never got forced into crime to save her family or anything.

I'm *generally* not a fan of villains becoming heroes, but darn if Mel and Rita didn't prove exceptions to that rule! (And it certainly doesn't work for everyone. I'd never want Moonstone to 'go good' for instance. She's just too fun as a villain!)

[stingray]

Nighthawk.
He’s a great character w. an interesting history and motivations. NH would make for a great throwback type of book that’s fun and full of over the top adventure w. larger than life bad guys and stories.
Those types of books are few and far between at Marvel/the Big Two in general.

Yeah, I always really liked him, but I wish he had kept his Squadron Sinister/Supreme costume. Always thought this version was kind of garish.

[strathcona]

Yeah, I always really liked him, but I wish he had kept his Squadron Sinister/Supreme costume. Always thought this version was kind of garish.

It absolutely is garish... and that's why it works for Nighthawk. Kyle Richmond of the 616 never struck me as a subtle man.

[stingray]

It absolutely is garish... and that's why it works for Nighthawk. Kyle Richmond of the 616 never struck me as a subtle man.

Yeah, but he was originally created as a Batman knock-off, so I always thought his costume should have been a bit more subtle.

[Sutekh]

Yeah, but he was originally created as a Batman knock-off, so I always thought his costume should have been a bit more subtle.

I'd go in the other direction. He may have started as a one-off homage to Batman, but if Marvel's gonna keep using him, getting him as far away from Batman-knock-off as possible seems the way to go, creatively (and not merely for legal reasons). Garish colors? Actual super-powers? Never a teen sidekick? Yes, please. If I want Batman, I'll read Batman. Let Nighthawk be Nighthawk.

I feel the same about other riffs, like Hyperion or the Shiar Imperial Guard (particularly them, who I'd love to see developed to be nothing like the Legion of Super-Heroes they appear to duplicate. Have Oracle be a willing host to a sessile aquatic psionic life-form from her world's seas. Have Gladiator be genetically engineered by a race of small inoffensive grey aliens, who meditate in the thousands, sleeping in shifts, to transmit their vast collective telekinetic strength to augment his apparent physical strength and toughness, so that he can serve as their planetary representative on the Imperial Guard. Weird alien far out stuff that takes them totally past the Legion riffs they first appeared as).

And that's my contribution for Underrated folk. The Shiar Imperial Guard could be *fun* to develop. Do some crazy transhumanist far-future stuff that the Legion, created back in the '60s and '70s never imagined. Hive minds. 4-dimensional entities. Machine intelligences.

[JudicatorPrime]

Yeah, but he was originally created as a Batman knock-off, so I always thought his costume should have been a bit more subtle.

It used to be a bit understated with the power blue and black uni. I see the appeal of all of his costumes, except the one where he had blasters on his wings and mini-Wolverine claws.