Most bizarre origin stories
- Thread starter JoeZhang
- Start date
That's not iconic, it's just branding. An icon by definition has to be distinct and instantly recognisable, even out of context.
Superman's 'S' is iconic. Batman's cape and cowl are iconic. Captain America's shield is iconic. The Hulk itself is iconic. The colour green....is not in-and-of-itself iconic.
You can't just take a character, paint it all green and say people will instantly recognise them as being Hulk related. Does anyone look at Gamora and assume she's another She Hulk? Would anyone think Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Beast Boy, The Spectre or Poison Ivy are Hulk related? Of course not.
Now flip that around and take any of those characters, slap Superman's 'S' on their outfit and you can bet people would instantly make the connection. Hell, stick that symbol on *anything* and people will get the connection. That's truly iconic.
So basically, you have it backwards. It's not "Green = Gamma" it's "Gamma = Green". There's a difference.
Yeah, it's not an origin story as it takes place well after she gained her powers. It's just a weird story.
Though her origin is a bit complex. She first appears as a supporting character in the Captain Marvel book,Carol Danvers head of security at a rocket base. She gets caught in an explosion which somehow merges her DNA with Captain Marvel's.Though the explosion takes place in a comic published in 1969 and she get's her powers in a comic published in 1977.Her first costume, like Power Girl's, features a cutout. Her's is on the midriff.
This actually raises an interesting question: just where exactly does an origin story stop?
While the detail may fluctuate some in the retellings, most of the major characters have pretty firmly established origin stories, but the same is not true of a lot of other characters.
Now this is probably mostly it seems due to different writers and editors having conflicting ideas on how to use them, (and as lesser known/popular properties they're easier to tinker with without upsetting too many people) with the constant retcons and rebranding their histories have sort of become their origin stories.
Is Ms. Marvel's origin story as simple as "a Kree did it", or dose it encompass a much wider stretch of continuity over which her character evolved? Does Rogue's origin stop as "born a mutant", "stole Ms Marvel's powers" or "joined the X-Men"?
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For characters like Ms Marvel/Captain Marvel, as you mentioned, they can be quite a trip. Carol Danvers has gone through several costumes, codenames and power sets. And each one counts as an origin of sorts. OTOH, not every story arc is part of their origin. The story arc where she's impregnated by and gives birth to Immortus didn't really change who she was, it was just a WTF moment. At best it caused a writer to create a story arc to erase the stink of that story.
Okay, then its fine branding. Its just not "stupid", as Kang put it.
Again, conceded.
Since she didn't first appear in the Hulk comic, as the Skrulls didn't, then no. But most green people actually related to the Hulk or his comic, like She-Hulk, have a gamma connection.
Because they're all DC Characters, wise-ass. They're not even Marvel related.
And also a brand.
How was Red Hulk created?
You could argue that the following are not a part of the character's origins, but again, there is a debate over when an origin actually ends.
While he was chosen and served as Green Lantern earlier, John Stewart had a bit of a bizarre origin for standing in for Hal in the Justice League. The first time he did so was because Hal tripped on a bar of soap and the ring, unable to wake him up, flew to John.
Meanwhile, Guy had a long origin on his way to becoming a permanent Green Lantern. Originally, Hal was chosen because Guy was farther away from Abin's crashed ship. Guy was selected as back-up. John was selected when Guy was in a coma due to an accident saving a girl on a collapsing bridge. So, John's origin involves not one, but two other Green Lantern candidates being unconscious.
Guy recovered, and was used as a back-up, when Hal felt his ring was damaged and headed to Oa to get it checked out. Ollie having a vision of the power battery exploding, went to warn Hal, who got back in time to see Guy power up, the battery explode, and Guy disappear. He was found in another dimension, where he wanted Hal dead. He was rescued, but again ended up in a coma.
During the Crisis, six Guardians went rogue and recruited Guy for a more proactive, smaller Green Lantern Corps. The various comas left him aggressive and, with his new position, he came to view himself as the "One, True Green Lantern."
Of course, all of this was before he was revealed to be a descendent of a human impregnated with Vuldarian DNA as a way to preserve their race.
I consider these two to have pretty bizarre origins.
While he was chosen and served as Green Lantern earlier, John Stewart had a bit of a bizarre origin for standing in for Hal in the Justice League. The first time he did so was because Hal tripped on a bar of soap and the ring, unable to wake him up, flew to John.
Meanwhile, Guy had a long origin on his way to becoming a permanent Green Lantern. Originally, Hal was chosen because Guy was farther away from Abin's crashed ship. Guy was selected as back-up. John was selected when Guy was in a coma due to an accident saving a girl on a collapsing bridge. So, John's origin involves not one, but two other Green Lantern candidates being unconscious.
Guy recovered, and was used as a back-up, when Hal felt his ring was damaged and headed to Oa to get it checked out. Ollie having a vision of the power battery exploding, went to warn Hal, who got back in time to see Guy power up, the battery explode, and Guy disappear. He was found in another dimension, where he wanted Hal dead. He was rescued, but again ended up in a coma.
During the Crisis, six Guardians went rogue and recruited Guy for a more proactive, smaller Green Lantern Corps. The various comas left him aggressive and, with his new position, he came to view himself as the "One, True Green Lantern."
Of course, all of this was before he was revealed to be a descendent of a human impregnated with Vuldarian DNA as a way to preserve their race.
I consider these two to have pretty bizarre origins.
Because if my power ring were malfunctioning, that's the first thing I'd do...use it to take a trip to the center of the universe. I know the guy's supposed to be fearless, but yeesh....
(Or did he call Katma or Tomar for a tow...?)
You'd be surprised how many people don't understand that DC and Marvel are different companies. All superheroes are the same to them. I've met people who confuse Spider-Man and Superman.
Leto II - To set humanity on the golden path, he consumes massive amounts of Spice and let's Sand Trouts cover his body.
Sounds like college.
Firestorm: A nuclear explosion fuses two men into a fire-powered superhero.
Donna Troi/Wonder Girl: A character created by accident because the writers of Teen Titans wanted a female member and thought that she already existed as Wonder Woman's sidekick (she apparently didn't) so they scrambled to create multiple origins for her over the years. One involves her being one of several children from all over the universe abducted and augmented/trained by the Greek Titans.
Captain Marvel: A homeless orphan follows a mysterious stranger into an abandoned subway tunnel where he is given the power to transform into an adult superhero by an ancient wizard called "Shazam"...who then promptly commits suicide by falling rocks...
Donna Troi/Wonder Girl: A character created by accident because the writers of Teen Titans wanted a female member and thought that she already existed as Wonder Woman's sidekick (she apparently didn't) so they scrambled to create multiple origins for her over the years. One involves her being one of several children from all over the universe abducted and augmented/trained by the Greek Titans.
Captain Marvel: A homeless orphan follows a mysterious stranger into an abandoned subway tunnel where he is given the power to transform into an adult superhero by an ancient wizard called "Shazam"...who then promptly commits suicide by falling rocks...
Yeah, the average person doesn't bother to keep track of who is Marvel and who is DC . . . although the movies may do more to popularize this distinction than the comics ever did.
But not so long ago, my next-door neighbor rented GREEN LANTERN thinking it was GREEN HORNET. Boy, was he confused. "Hey, what's with all the aliens? I thought this was a comedy with that goofy guy from KNOCKED UP?"
And I once saw a Trivial Pursuit card that actually got the whole Marvel/DC thing wrong!
I believe the origin ends when the character accepts the job. In Stewart's actual origin ("Beware My Power!" - Green Lantern / Green Arrow #87, from December of '71), despite the conflicts between Stewat and then-inflexible Jordan, the former ultimately accepted the position in that story.
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