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The Remembering Comics thread got me thinking about characters I loved growing up who aren't really being used much these days, so I was wondering who everyone else wishes would return to some prominence. For me I think of these three immediately...


1). Mar-Vell: by the time I got into comics as a kid he was already dead. But reading the Kree-Skrull War, Starlin's run on the Captain Marvel series, and his few appearance in Silver Surfer, I really wish they'd bring him back. I think he has a ton of untapped potential, and now that Marvel has reinvigorated their cosmic characters these last few years I'd love to seem him brought back for good. I was really pissed in Secret Invasion when he was a skrull, and then when Remender brought him back and killed him off again.


2). Union Jack: Just something always looked cool about him. I pretty excited for James Robinsons's New Invaders because he'll appear it in eventually. He could be like Marvel's Snake Eyes if done right. Paul Cornell's MI:13 was one of my favorite books while it lasted, and seeing UJ in there was cool. Which bring me to...


3). The Black Knight: Dane Whitman was one of my favorite characters as a kid. That era (mid-80's) of the Avengers was great. Black Knight just looks cool, like Shining Knight only a little more bad***. Sure he only has a horse and a sword, but all Hawkeye has is a bow and arrows. Just need the right writers.


I thought about making a similar list for DC, but honestly, I'd rather have my memories of characters like Scandal Savage, Vigilante, and Wild Dog than see them "re-Image-ined" in the New52.

Good topic idea.

My first pick is Quasar (Wendell Vaughan) as a starring character again. As much as he is considered corny by many Marvel fans, Quasar did have a reasonably long-running, and generally very good, solo series. This is due more to the late Mark Gruenwald's outstanding characterization skills than anything else, but there is a great base for new writers to build upon. The character has been used recently, but not written to potential. The strength of the old ongoing series was in its combining Marvel's cosmic elements with strong character development. A capable and interested writer could do great things with Quasar.

Next, is Adam Warlock. No writer since Jim Starlin has done the character justice. Warlock has ties to several key Marvel characters, including Thor and the Fantastic Four, as well as the cosmic side of things. I always liked how he was written as having to save the universe from himself, and in effect killing himself to prevent the Magus and his church from being created. The later concept of continuous death and resurrection cheapened the character immensely. A story implying Warlock's inability to stay dead once again makes the Magus future possible could be interesting.

Tiger Shark. Formerly one of Namor's top villains, and a credible threat to most heroes, he has been relegated to a joke. Tiger Shark's long-forgotten origin actually had him as a hero, who was injured while saving a drowning swimmer's life. He became a villain after receiving his powers in a deal to have his body restored. If I remember correctly, his powers are a result of Namor's DNA combined with that of an actual tiger shark. There is plenty of room for character development, and for his threat level to be restored.

Speaking of villains, the U-Foes badly need restoration. They are an insanely powerful, evil Fantastic Four. They are nearly a match for an enraged Hulk, and once drew with the West Coast Avengers while missing their most powerful member, Vector. The U-Foes have been used as throwaway villains for years now. They should be considered a huge menace. Also, the team dynamic is very similar to the FF's, an aspect which has not been explored in detail.

Finally, the Wrecking Crew. They have been trendy villains in recent Marvel books (recent to me; I stopped reading a few years ago), but have been stripped of everything which made them cool. Back in the old stories, each member of the Wrecking Crew had a distinct personality. Dr. Eliot "Thunderball" Franklin, for example, was a nuclear physicist said to be on par with Bruce Banner. These days, he's a street thug, because any super-strong black guy in comics must be. The rest of the Wrecking Crew members are white, so they are all generic psychopaths now. A return to form on these guys would be great.

I didn't mind Adam Warlock in Abnett & Lanning's Guardians of the Galaxy. I would've loved to see them take a stab at Mar-Vell.

Tiger Shark was one of those characters I always thought was really cool looking as a kid in the Masters of Evil. Unfortunately, like a lot of characters, the 90's weren't kind to him when he actually became more tiger shark looking. Ugh.

The older Guardians of the Galaxy featuring Vance Astro, Charlie-27, Martinex, Yondu, Talon, Nikki, Starhawk and Aleta. I'd love to see this version of the Guardians of the Galaxy revived. I loved the stories that featured these characters.

I'd like to see marvel revive Spider-Ham. I want to see Spider-Ham comics, a new cartoon show and an Action League style toyline with villains and supporting characters.

Spider-Ham! Ha! I'll admit that as a kid I loved those books, Heathcliff, and Mad-Balls. Remember those guys?

Ah, Star Comics. Those were always at 7-11.

Although I didn't catch every episode of Ultimate Spiderman there was an episode were Loki turned Spidey into Peter Porker, lol. So many memories. I know a lot of people like Captain Carrot, but for me Spider-Ham was so much cooler.

packerbacker180 wrote:Although I didn't catch every episode of Ultimate Spiderman there was an episode were Loki turned Spidey into Peter Porker, lol. So many memories. I know a lot of people like Captain Carrot, but for me Spider-Ham was so much cooler.

I know a lot of comics fans who don't even remember him any more, but I always thought he was really fun. I was pretty suprised that we didn't see even a small Spider-Ham revival when the Sam Raimi movies were popular. They were making so many Spidey products that I thought for sure there'd be something to do with Spider-Ham, but nope.

There was a 25th anniversary one-shot in 2010. Don't even remember if I picked it up or not. Think they also had a one-shot a couple years before that, too.

I always thought Deathbird was a really cool character, and would have loved to see her have a greater presence.
Deathstrike could have been a fairly interesting anti-hero, too. Moreso than Wolverine.

Young Avengers was a great title, and a great set of characters that was completely ruined by marvel's pointless crossovers. Would love to see all the civil war stuff done to them retconned out, and restore them to status quo.
Runaways even more so.