Shaved Off the Serial Numbers - Best/Worst Proxies, Riffs, and Pastiches

[t hedge coke]

Sometimes, you just have to take another company's character, scratch off the label, and use'em for your own purposes.

Who are your favorite and least favorite proxies or parodies of other companies' characters at DC, and vice versa? (For the sake of this, and selfish reasons, I'm counting WildStorm as separate from DC; the High was an amazing Superman riff.)

The Multiversity surprised me, by taking a Justice League parody from a Marvel book where they're in a musical, and turning it into basically Earth Glee, still with a (now gay) Green Lantern riff wielding a flashlight. A riff on a riff of a revamp.

But, Morrison's always been a class act character thief, Doom Patrol villain, Mr Nobody, being a character from a Betty Boop cartoon

[Kuwagaton]

Impy was a good knock off Mxy. They've been brought up in some of the same conversations over the years, my favorite being when Mxy left in Superman #50 to tend to his job in "another universe"

[Jody Garland]

The Earth with Flashlight and the Red Racer was based on Big Bang Comics not anything Marvel related. Its probably the most obscure thing pastiched in Multiversity, honestly.

Anywho, my vote is for the original Captain Steel. He's a guy with a lot of potential unfortunately lost to the DC Implosion and the slow forgetting of '70s material. Man-Bat isn't bad either. I don't have a source, but I swear I've heard editorial was uneasy with Man-Bat due to just how much of a ripoff he was. That's always a good sign.

[t hedge coke]

The Earth with Flashlight and the Red Racer was based on Big Bang Comics not anything Marvel related. Its probably the most obscure thing pastiched in Multiversity, honestly.

It's remarkably close in places to the Not Brand Echh riff. Though, yeah, Ultiman/Optiman, and Knight Watchmen/Iron Knight clearly come from there (not that I'd have noticed without you pointing it out). Flashlight and others seem much closer to that 60s Dr Deranged story.

[ed2962]

I think DC could have gotten more use out of The Maximums who were a parody of The Ultimates/Avengers.

[scary harpy]

Anywho, my vote is for the original Captain Steel. He's a guy with a lot of potential unfortunately lost to the DC Implosion and the slow forgetting of '70s material. Man-Bat isn't bad either. I don't have a source, but I swear I've heard editorial was uneasy with Man-Bat due to just how much of a ripoff he was. That's always a good sign.

Of who were Captain Steel and Man-Bat rip-offs?

I vote for General Glory, a Captain America parody; he was in the Justice League. Yuck.

[scary harpy]

I think DC could have gotten more use out of The Maximums who were a parody of The Ultimates/Avengers.

Agreed. I liked the Maximums; they had some potential.

Marvel's pastiches do not seem to fare well in the DCU.

[Jody Garland]

It's remarkably close in places to the Not Brand Echh riff. Though, yeah, Ultiman/Optiman, and Knight Watchmen/Iron Knight clearly come from there (not that I'd have noticed without you pointing it out). Flashlight and others seem much closer to that 60s Dr Deranged story.

I didn't really put much stock into the idea 'till Grant himself confirmed it in some interview. You can sort of torture out reasons for the others (The Beacon used his GL Ring ripoff as a miner's helmet, for instance), but overall its the most vague of the Analogue Worlds.

Commander Steel (not Captain) and Man-Bat seem pretty closely inspired by Captain America and the Lizard.

[t hedge coke]

Man-Bat is fantastic, because it's spot on, but they follow through well.

The Ultra Marines were a pretty fun Fantastic Four riff. Thing made of water! Invisible overcompensation Man!

The Galactic Bum reprints just erases Lobo and replace him with someone else, right? Anyone vouch for how that works?