Hehe, thanks for the message board link, Supermonkey.
Maybe John Byrne should take a stab at this - they wouldn't have to tie it into continuity at all!
OH, GOD NO!
There's an obvious joke here about how "wait, since when does Byrne's stuff EVER really worked in continuity," but you won't see me making it, nossir.
Just get someone to co-write it with him...maybe Mark Waid? Grant Morrison?
NO WAY! No more kid stuff! He's suppose to be a teen now. But they keep making him look like he's 12. Let's make him a man and be done with it. Then we can explore a real life with him. Romance??? When has he ever had a real romance??
I always got a feeling him and Beautia, Sivana's half-daughter, had a thing, but I suppose that sprang entirely from my imagination.
Seriously, Billy Batson as an adult? What would be the POINT of Captain Marvel then?
It's not "just" romance that he could explore. But where does he live? I don't think he has a job. Where's a supporting cast?
I'm not talking about "talking tigers" either. Ultimate Universe is a serious departure from the regular. Sue Richards a scientist? Doc Doom with hooves??? Cap with super strength and that kills? Thor a Hippie??? Spiderman is the only one that was similar. But even Aunt May is younger.
Of course, what this poster doesn't point out is that the Ultimates have been universally conceptually divorced, grotesque, glacially paced, and all-round lousy - AND THAT'S JUST THE SORT OF APPROACH WE WANT FOR THE BIG RED CHEESE!
And what's wrong with Mr. Tawny, the Talking Tiger? I've always been in favor of leaving characters period, but this sort of person has not gone away; I'd love to see an update of him. He'd probably listen to National Public Radio and drink Zima. (hey wait, that's me!
Mark Waid seems to have a deep respect for the character, along with Alex Ross - maybe they should be the creative team for All Star Captain Marvel?
As jaw droppingly amazing as Alex Ross's art is, I don't like his treatment of Captain Marvel. He just stuck the Big Red Cheese in the back of crowd scenes in the JLA - an organization he was never a member of until the 1980s. Captain Marvel is not great just because he is a great individual hero, but because of the wonderful world that surrounded him: Mr. Mind, Mr. Atom, Shazamo, the planet Venus, the crocodile men of Punkus, and yes, even the much maligned Mr. Tawny, the Talking Tiger. Allowing him to chew up background is not using any of his strengths as a character. Sticking him in the back of a JLA Class Yearbook Photo does no credit to his greatest advantage: the power of the imaginative concepts that surrounded him.
I don't like making fun of modern age fans, because it's like shooting a fish taped to the end of a gun. Actually their goggle-vision and damaged long term memory is really more clueless than funny. For instance: if you want to play a fun drinking game, take a shot every time somebody on that board mentions KINGDOM COME.
Despite the fact it was ludicrously implausible (would any of the morally immaculate Silver Age DC heroes place anyone in a GULAG and go power-mad?), despite the fact it was possibly the most cliche storyline of the entire modern age (insane superheroes, "Silver Age gets revenge" proxy revenge fantasy, older superheroes coming out of retirement, Superman and Batman fighting one another - there's not a single thing in KINGDOM COME we haven't seen a million times before) despite its infuriating pretention (the BIBLE QUOTES?) somehow this one work is pointed to as the correct characterization for someone that was barely an incidental character inside of it (Captain Marvel).
Notice too, that besides taking a moment to slam that Silver Age straw man, Mr. Tawny, none of them ever mention any other member of the Marvel Family. And therein lie some pretty interesting questions about how they can be updated, but none of them are ever asked by these fans, as they're totally off the radar for them.
For instance: since the MM family stories appeared, there has been a social and national schism between "blue state" and "red state" which might be interesting to influence the dynamic of Tall Marvel (from Texas) and Fat Marvel (from Brooklyn). Perhaps they get along despite their differences. Perhaps they fight a lot but come to one another's aid in a brotherly way, Ham and Monk style. Either way, an update would make them stronger instead of weaker.
Here's a question nobody's asking: how would someone update Hillbilly Marvel? He's
radioactively politically incorrect.
So he just remains a child forever......Good Grief. Will you listen to yourselves??? Change has brought some the greatest to our iconic heroes!
Byrne's Change of Krypton
Miller's change in Batman
Diana can fly under her own power from Perez
Aquaman's hook and beard.
I invite you all to weep very, very bitterly with me.
Although I *do* believe comic book characters ought to change and grow naturally and on-camera and in-story. Hawkeye's acquisition of maturity and the quest for redeption by Wonder Man are growth that happened over DECADES in the hands of writers skilled at characterization.
