Marvel/DC's Big Three vs their most popular/iconic heroes

Yeah but artful things like that only really work when properly delivered.

And it would have been sort of poignant if the whole thing hadn't been delivered so black-and-white the whole time, with so many conflicting decisions by writers.

That pretty much was the point, but it got lost amidst writers who didn't quite understand that it was meant to be morally grey. During the Civil War event, JMS actually asked, "So Iron Man is a supervillain now?"

edited 12th Apr '13 8:35:55 AM by TobiasDrake

A shame, too. I was interested in Civil War because it looked like they were going to keep in the grey area. But nope, Marvel's writers missed that memo and gave us Fuhrer Stark.

Which is a problem they could have fixed by saying he was replaced by a Skrull but nope that never happened.

And they teased us with it just to rub salt in the wound.

I know. If they were going to do the whole Skrull thing in the first place, (which they did,) they could have at least done it to more characters that deserved it. The biggest ones were arguably, in order, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Hank Pym, and Tony Stark, being the big three masterminds of the whole Civil War event. And yet, Hank Pym was the only one that received that 'honor,' despite probably being the least impactful of the three. Mind you, if they had made Tony a skrull, it probally would have been considered a copout on an unholy number of levels, because he was the biggest offender; instead of having to actually deal with the consequences of his actions, he'd instead be squeaky clean. I myself would have just gone with the Skrull option, but only because I think it's the only way that Tony's actions in Civil War would make any real sense. (And seeing as this is a comic book, that's saying a lot.)

So someone talks of Spider-man, Hulk and Wolverine's traditional roles in the Marvel world? "Phhs, so two years ago!" but a character in story talks about how Ironman was a dick for the last two years? "But he used to be greater than you ever were!"

Gotta love comic fans. I really agree that Marvel's big three is determined on a relationship on who most likely gets together to get things done rather than on traditional market sales. DC is almost in the opposite way but not completely.

What makes this point especially egregious is that Thor, Cap, and Iron Man weren't even that well known to non-comic readers before the Cinematic Universe.

Changing the subject: am I the only one who thinks Flash deserves Wonder Woman's place among the Big Three? Flash kick-started the Silver Age! presented a unique dynamic by being the first speedster! He wasn't The Cowl, he wasn't The Cape, but he was definitely a unique kind of hero!

Nothing against Wondy, but frankly she doesn't have the same originality the Flash does. She's usually either Straw Feminist or Female Superman. She's a female empowerment symbol, yeah, but mostly because she's a convenient female, not because she's actually that empowering (usually).

...Except that Wonder Woman predates Barry!Flash by around a decade and a half. And for her time, being a strong-willed, superpowered Superheroine, she was pretty darn original. (Not to mention all the bondage...) Don't get me wrong, I like all the Flashes, (I used to think Barry was incredibly bland, until I read a lot more older material with him; he's alright,) but he doesn't quite have that 'legendary' status that Wondy does. He may have ushered in the Silver Age, but Wondy ushered in strong female super-heroines, even if she wasn't the first.

Also, Barry!Flash wasn't the first speedster; Garrick!Flash was. And even then, I still feel Wondy deserves a spot over Garrick, as much as I like him. (And I like Garrick a lot.)

edited 30th Jun '14 3:37:42 PM by kkhohoho