Unofficial Crossovers, Tributes and...well...Rip offs!
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Unofficial Crossovers, Tributes and...well...Rip offs!
I was thinking about this subject because I was recently discussing the Squadron Supreme with someone. For those not in the know, the Squadron Supreme were an outgrowth of the Squadron Sinister, a team of bad guys created by Roy Thomas in Marvel's 'Avengers' book back in 1969, who bore a startling but obviously totally coincidental resemblance to the members of DC's 'Justice League of America'. There was Hyperion, a caped superhuman who was the last survivor of a doomed planet (so, absolutely nothing like Superman, then!), Nighthawk, a slightly scary character who was actually a bored millionaire playboy (not entirely dissimilar to Batman), the Whizzer, who could run as fast as...well, as the Flash, I guess...and Dr Spectrum, who wore a jewel on his hand which could create solid objects out of light-a bit like Green Lantern, in fact! These four were villains, of course, but it wasn't long before we learned that they were merely villainous analogues of four heroes from a parallel Earth, the earth of the Squadron Supreme-and other members of that group also seemed strangely familiar. The Golden Archer and his girlfriend Lady Lark, for instance, who weren't a million miles away from Green Arrow and Black Canary, or Amphibian, a character quite close to Aquaman (even down to his secret identity; Aquaman's real name, when not being King of Atlantis, is Arthur Curry-Amphibian's was the rather improbable Kingsley Rice). Odd, that.
Now, whether you choose to call the Squadron(s) an homage to the JLA or a spoof of them, they're quite a fun idea, but they're far from an isolated case. Consider the Crusaders, if you will! Again, a short history lesson for the uninitiated: in 1975, Marvel decided to publish a book gathering together their greatest Golden Age heroes, Captain America & Bucky, the Human Torch & Toro and the Sub Mariner, in stories set in their original World War II setting, an idea Roy Thomas (there's that name again) had first hit upon in an issue of 'Avengers' in 1969 (the same storyline in which he'd created the Squadron Sinister, coincidentally enough). In 1976, rivals DC also launched a new team book, this one set in the present day but also featuring characters originally introduced in World War II by the now defunct Quality Comics group: Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, the Ray, Doll Man and the Human Bomb, collectively known as the Freedom Fighters! The FFers had originally debuted as a team in an issue of 'Justice League of America' in 1973.
In March 1977, 'Invaders' #14 (written by, yep, Roy Thomas) saw the Invaders pitted against the Crusaders, a team of supposed superheroes who turned out in the next issue to be the unwitting dupes of a Nazi agent! The six 'heroes', though, bore a not entirely coincidental resemblance to DC's Freedom Fighters, Uncle Sam's place being taken by the domino masked Spirit of '76 while Phantom Lady, Black Condor, the Ray, Human Bomb and Doll Man were represented by, respectively, Ghost Girl, Captain Wings, Tommy Lightning (whose name actually owed much to another Golden Age DC superstar, Johnny Thunder), Thunderfist and the diminutive Dyna-Mite! By yet another staggering coincidence though, in the very same month 'Freedom Fighters' #7 saw that team come up against a team of supposed superheroes also called the Crusaders, who turned out in the next issue to be the unwitting dupes of the villainous Silver Ghost-and astoundingly, the Americommando & Rusty, Fireball & Sparky and the Barracuda were startlingly similar to the Invaders!! The DC Comics Crusaders were created by Bob Rozakis and Dick Ayers, but it's notable that the of the four comic book fans transformed into the Crusaders by the Silver Ghost (he himself was the fifth, Americommando), Marvin, Lennie, Arch and Roy are all modeled on Marvel comics creators-including Roy Thomas! Funny, that...and a great example of inter company cooperation!
The Freedom Fighters/Invaders 'non crossover' has to be my favourite example of the type, though there are undoubtedly many more.
above: DC's Crusaders. Below: the Marvel group
Now, whether you choose to call the Squadron(s) an homage to the JLA or a spoof of them, they're quite a fun idea, but they're far from an isolated case. Consider the Crusaders, if you will! Again, a short history lesson for the uninitiated: in 1975, Marvel decided to publish a book gathering together their greatest Golden Age heroes, Captain America & Bucky, the Human Torch & Toro and the Sub Mariner, in stories set in their original World War II setting, an idea Roy Thomas (there's that name again) had first hit upon in an issue of 'Avengers' in 1969 (the same storyline in which he'd created the Squadron Sinister, coincidentally enough). In 1976, rivals DC also launched a new team book, this one set in the present day but also featuring characters originally introduced in World War II by the now defunct Quality Comics group: Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, the Ray, Doll Man and the Human Bomb, collectively known as the Freedom Fighters! The FFers had originally debuted as a team in an issue of 'Justice League of America' in 1973.
In March 1977, 'Invaders' #14 (written by, yep, Roy Thomas) saw the Invaders pitted against the Crusaders, a team of supposed superheroes who turned out in the next issue to be the unwitting dupes of a Nazi agent! The six 'heroes', though, bore a not entirely coincidental resemblance to DC's Freedom Fighters, Uncle Sam's place being taken by the domino masked Spirit of '76 while Phantom Lady, Black Condor, the Ray, Human Bomb and Doll Man were represented by, respectively, Ghost Girl, Captain Wings, Tommy Lightning (whose name actually owed much to another Golden Age DC superstar, Johnny Thunder), Thunderfist and the diminutive Dyna-Mite! By yet another staggering coincidence though, in the very same month 'Freedom Fighters' #7 saw that team come up against a team of supposed superheroes also called the Crusaders, who turned out in the next issue to be the unwitting dupes of the villainous Silver Ghost-and astoundingly, the Americommando & Rusty, Fireball & Sparky and the Barracuda were startlingly similar to the Invaders!! The DC Comics Crusaders were created by Bob Rozakis and Dick Ayers, but it's notable that the of the four comic book fans transformed into the Crusaders by the Silver Ghost (he himself was the fifth, Americommando), Marvin, Lennie, Arch and Roy are all modeled on Marvel comics creators-including Roy Thomas! Funny, that...and a great example of inter company cooperation!
The Freedom Fighters/Invaders 'non crossover' has to be my favourite example of the type, though there are undoubtedly many more.
above: DC's Crusaders. Below: the Marvel group
tony ingram- Admin
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Re: Unofficial Crossovers, Tributes and...well...Rip offs!
Hyperion's world was actually a Uranium atom! He blamed mankind when they used Uranium in `A` bombs! DC got their own back a few years later by doing their own `Marvel` heroes parody!
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Re: Unofficial Crossovers, Tributes and...well...Rip offs!
Yes, I always thought Hyperion's back story was rather clever. Poor old Zhib Ran had a point, methinks.alanultron5 wrote:Hyperion's world was actually a Uranium atom! He blamed mankind when they used Uranium in `A` bombs! DC got their own back a few years later by doing their own `Marvel` heroes parody!
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tony ingram wrote:though there are undoubtedly many more.
Marvel's Imperial Guard, for one. There's a DC equivalent to the X-Men in the Legion (whom the IG resemble...) the name of which escapes me. Legion of Super-Assassins? I think the group from which Blok came. I love this kind of thing, it's a lot of fun. I'll try to think of more.
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The League of Super Assassins? I remember them, but I never noticed a resemblance to the X-Men. Well, except for Neutrax, the telepath in the chair. I do remember two very familiar reporters called Lois and Clark appearing in a couple of issues of Thor in the early eighties, though. And as I recall, this 'Clark' guy also kept showing up in The Tick.. .
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tony ingram wrote:The League of Super Assassins? I remember them, but I never noticed a resemblance to the X-Men.
Neither did I, but I read it years ago, and wikipedia mentions it at the bottom. Not sure who was who.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Super-Assassins
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Sounds like a bit of a stretch to me. The X-Men at that time would have been Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Colossus, Phoenix and Banshee. I can't see a single likely candidate...
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tony ingram wrote: I can't see a single likely candidate...
Yeah, I'm not sure, either. Just something out of an old interview.
Mbast1- Posts : 1707
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Anyone else remember the unofficial Spider-Man/Howard the Duck/Savage Dragon/Destroyer Duck crossover?
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I like some of the cameos. I remember a JLA issue ... I think (I'll have to look it up tomorrow) but seems like there were Marvel characters on a parade float. One of the guests at a Halloween party in an issue of SuperFriends was dressed as the Hulk.
Not really a comic book crossover, but the U.S.S. Enterprise from Star Trek appeared in a 70s Legion of Superheroes comic.
Not really a comic book crossover, but the U.S.S. Enterprise from Star Trek appeared in a 70s Legion of Superheroes comic.
randy77tx- Posts : 173
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Re: Unofficial Crossovers, Tributes and...well...Rip offs!
Would that have been the Rutland Halloween Parade? That parade and its organizer, Tom Fagan, turned up regularly in both DC and Marvel books in the 70's because Fagan was a friend of several creators, notably Roy Thomas and his wife. There were always people dressed as characters from the rival company in whichever book featured it, and Fagan himself was usually depicted as either Batman or Nighthawk.
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Well for ripoffs there's DC basing Lobo off of Wolverine and Marvel basing Deadpool off of Deathstroke.
For tributes there's the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Splinter sees a boy push an old man out of the way of a truck and the boy is hit in the eyes with the canister of radioactive material that mutated Splinter and the Turtles. The boy was supposed to be Matt Murdock. And the Turtles main foe is The Foot Clan which is a parody/tribute to Daredevils enemy, The Hand.
For tributes there's the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Splinter sees a boy push an old man out of the way of a truck and the boy is hit in the eyes with the canister of radioactive material that mutated Splinter and the Turtles. The boy was supposed to be Matt Murdock. And the Turtles main foe is The Foot Clan which is a parody/tribute to Daredevils enemy, The Hand.
rpd123- Posts : 2
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The Turtles were later parodied themselves, by Eclipse's Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters. And one of the Hamsters later had a two issue limited series ("Clint, the Hamster Triumphant") which parodied Frank Millers Dark Knight.
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randy77tx wrote:Not really a comic book crossover, but the U.S.S. Enterprise from Star Trek appeared in a 70s Legion of Superheroes comic.
IIRC, Spiderman showed up in the Lightning Lad/Saturn Girl marriage special. There're a ton of those cameos, and they're all kinda fun.
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Also to note about the Imperial Guard: Dave Cockrum was one of those who created the members, and he had previously been the artist for the Legion of Super-Heroes. (Cockrum had also been involved with updating the designs of the Legion's costumes.)Mbast1 wrote:Marvel's Imperial Guard, for one. There's a DC equivalent to the X-Men in the Legion (whom the IG resemble...)
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Cockrum's Legion costumes are still the best designs. Even Cosmic Boy, IMO.
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I like the costumes he did for Phoenix and Ms Marvel.
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I actually preferred the first Ms Marvel costume, but Phoenix was a classic.
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It had a sash! More costumes should have sashes.
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You can't beat a sash. Though it would give your opponent something to grab, wouldn't it?
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Not if it were easily detachable, like the tails of certain lizards.
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I don't know if Bob's is detachable.Lucy McGough wrote:Not if it were easily detachable, like the tails of certain lizards.
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I never saw Lobo as a rip-off of Wolverine. He seemed more like a revival of Keith Giffen's earlier creation, Lunatik. Quite a few creators like to rip themselves off by using variants of their characters at multiple companies, eg Rich Buckler's Demon Hunter/Bloodwing/Devilslayer, Steve Englehart's Mantis/Willow/Lorelei, Howard Chaykin's Scorpion/Dominic Fortune, Don McGregor's Hodiah Twist/Alexander Risk and Jim Starlin's Darklon the Mystic/Darklore. Don McGregor's Eclipse character Sabre initially appeared in Amazing Adventures #22-24, and Steve Gerber's Vertigo character Nevada first appeared in Howard the Duck #16, but Marvel didn't seem to notice.rpd123 wrote:Well for ripoffs there's DC basing Lobo off of Wolverine and Marvel basing Deadpool off of Deathstroke.
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I didn't notice either, and I have HTD #16...
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Nevada was loosely based on the Las Vegas chorus girl with the ostrich fighting a killer lampshade in the Obligatory Comic Book Fight Scene chapter.
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Got it! I now remember the scene.Philip K Ditko wrote:Nevada was loosely based on the Las Vegas chorus girl with the ostrich fighting a killer lampshade in the Obligatory Comic Book Fight Scene chapter.
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From Justice League of America v.1 #87 (written by Mike Friedrich) - these are "Marvel" heroes from Angor. Silver Sorceress = Scarlet Witch, Jack B. Quick (later, Captain Speed) = Quicksilver, Blue Jay = Ant-Man, Wandjina = Thor
Last edited by Silogramsam on Thu Jul 10, 2014 4:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
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I still don't know why the Sorceress has bunny ears...
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tony ingram wrote:I still don't know why the Sorceress has bunny ears...
working 2 jobs?
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Well, why did Wanda have her weird head-thing? It looked like she was wearing a box or a magazine or something on her head/face with part of it cut out for her face and hair.tony ingram wrote:I still don't know why the Sorceress has bunny ears...
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At the time, Wada suffered from terrible stress induced acne on her neck, which she was desperate to cover up. By the time she'd settled into life as an Avenger and gotten over her guilt at her criminal past, it had cleared up so she cut the thing down to a tiara.
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Maybe she needed it to, like, channel her powers or something.
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You mean like a satellite dish or a rabbit ears antennae?Lucy McGough wrote:Maybe she needed it to, like, channel her powers or something.
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Yes, that's it.
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Maybe she should have tried this look:
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She should definitely call Weight Watchers . . . and make some better choices in her wardrobe.Lucy McGough wrote:Poor lady
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I think the problem was, she got dressed in her wardrobe. With the door closed.MajorHoy wrote:She should definitely call Weight Watchers . . . and make some better choices in her wardrobe.Lucy McGough wrote:Poor lady
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That's a big wardrobe.
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And there was still room for a flying lion and witch in there as well.Lucy McGough wrote:That's a big wardrobe.
---------------------------------------
Back on topic, the issues in the early 1970s that featured the Rutland, VT Halloween parade were always a good opportunity to slip in a few guest surprises . . . like
enlarged view at http://www.littlestuffedbull.com/images/2012/rutland/1971-batman237/batman237-01L.jpg
http://bullyscomics.blogspot.com/search/label/One%20Night%20in%20Rutland
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I used to love those stories! Sadly, Tom Fagan passed away a few years ago but I gather the Rutland Halloween parade still happens every year. A shame Marvel and DC no longer choose to acknowledge it.
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I'm not sure if the lack of acknowledgement is Marvel or DC's fault, or if maybe the comic book writers don't know / care about the parade? To me, it seemed like a small group of writers / editors were the ones having fun with using it in their stories.tony ingram wrote:I used to love those stories! Sadly, Tom Fagan passed away a few years ago but I gather the Rutland Halloween parade still happens every year. A shame Marvel and DC no longer choose to acknowledge it.
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DNAgents #14, featuring Project Youngblood (years before Rob Liefeld), was an unofficial crossover with Tales of the Teen Titans #48, which featured the genetically-engineered RECOMbatants. Project Youngblood's members were Roboto = Cyborg, Black Owl = Nightwing, Celestia = Starfire, Amazing Girl = Wonder Girl and Heartstring = Jericho. The RECOMbatants comprised Dreadnaught = Tank, Pseudos = Sham, Topaz = Amber and Aurora = Rainbow.
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I remember that one, as well. I still have both issues, though I haven't read them in years. I'll have to revisit that story.
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I was pretty near Rutland recently but alas, it was June 30, not October 31
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