Random Happenstance

"Group Dynamics, or, What the hell is all this crap in my wallet?"
Pick a side, and click to enlarge!





So the idea for this one came pretty shortly after seeing the announcement for James Robinson's Justice League book. I think his lineup was Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Supergirl, Batwoman, um, Congorilla (I swear I'm not making that up) and maybe someone else. My first thought was, does everyone in the DCU have to belong to multiple super-teams?

It used to be hip to not be a team player: Metamorpho and Black Lightning both famously refused Justice League membership, and what did it get them? Once their books were cancelled, they were all but shelved until Batman drafted them for the Outsiders, and both eventually ended up in the League. (Metamorpho was rarely as well written as he was in early JLI.) So already we've got two "loners" that have been on two teams...

You have to admit, it makes fiscal sense to put characters on teams; whether they're B-listers like Rex and Jeff who couldn't possibly carry their own book; or A-list draws. When Kyle was the Green Lantern, he had a stint on the Titans...admittedly, not a shining moment for either, but there it was. Ditto Supergirl, although I never thought she was a good match for the Titans, as all of Superman's powers tend to make a green monkey and a bunch of sidekicks redundant.

Speaking of Superman, he's had JLA and Legion of Super Heroes memberships, but am I forgetting any others? Batman had JLA, and the Outsiders...I can't think of another team for Wonder Woman besides the League, and that's kind of disheartening, considering Firestorm even has dual memberships: JLA and the Power Company...hey, it still counts.

Stuff I forgot: I was going to have Wolverine in the background somewhere, going through a wallet crammed with ID cards for the X-Men, Alpha Flight, Avengers, and more. And I forgot about JLI, Extreme Justice, and Living Assault Weapons alumni Captain Atom until this morning! I know he's probably still Monarch, and yeah, if Monarch was ever even remotely popular, wouldn't he have gotten an action figure by now? He always seemed bland: even a Dr. Doom homage like the Extremists' Lord Havok looked cooler.

Also, a local store has an Animal Man marked down to $9.99, but every time I see it, I've just bought something else. He would've been a good crowd-filler, but I've only read his JLI appearances and his Grant Morrison Secret Origin so far.

I'm looking forward to the new DCUC Green Lantern, since the old one, from DC Direct's Hard Travelling Heroes subset, is past due for an update. So is Black Canary, but the only recent one I thought looked good was the Alex Ross Justice one; and I'm not sure about the scale or articulation there. On the other hand, I still think that Green Arrow looks perfect.

Next week: Batman! Maybe. Unless something else jumps out...