Playing with the recent DCUC Crime Syndicate five-pack (and making some snarky cracks) made me think how much I'd enjoy a similar Squadron Supreme set. Hyperion, Power Princess, Nightwing, Doctor Spectrum, and the Whizzer would be the obvious choices. Oddly, in continuity, that group was duplicated by the Grandmaster to make the villainous Squadron Sinister; where in reality the evil version appeared first. And they were both analogs of the Justice League, anyway; only Marvel would have the cheek to do it twice...
Unfortunately, the price point and relative obscurity of the Squadron notwithstanding, it would be a tough one to do, because which version should you make? Classic, Sal Buscema style? The maskless versions from Squadron Supreme #1 above? Or, heaven forfend, one of the modernized versions? I didn't read the Howard Chaykin one, but I read the J. Michael Straczynski/Gary Frank Supreme Power.
My main recollection of the latter was that it was less like any other incarnation of the Squadron, and more like "What if the Justice League were (almost) completely unlikable?" Straczynski's Whizzer and Dr. Spectrum seem OK, but Hyperion and Nightwing are more than a little insane; and his version of Power Princess, the Wonder Woman-analog, was straight-up eat-a-baby evil. What that says about anything, I don't know; but I gave it a couple years for some reason.
Scans from "The Utopia Principle" Written by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Bob Hall, inks by John Beatty.
The Squadron Supreme figures should most definitely be modeled on the George Perez Avengers #147/148 appearance. And we need an Amphibian and a Tom Thumb as well as the ones you named (Cap'n Hawk is not essential).
ReplyDeleteThis would be a dream set for me too, as I'd pick the same roster as you, and maybe save the others for a latter set(Black Bowman, Cap'n hawk, Nuke, Shapey, Arcanna, and or Lark)
ReplyDeleteI actually liked JMS' version of the Squadron, but yeah, his view of them was really pessimistic. I guess he was going for re-working them in the "modern, angsty" version. Hey at least the art by7 Gary Frank was kick-ass. He's come along way from his early Hulk days remember?