Martinex1: (Editor's Note): This week, for the first time in 63 attempts we had a suggestion for our Tuesday Follow the Leader discussion that conflicted with a column we had planned. Our friend and frequent commentator Colin Jones said, "Who were the most annoying Bronze Age characters that should have been killed off (permanently)? I'm mainly thinking of comics but you can also include TV shows, Cartoons, film, etc." He then went on to mention some of his least favorites... "Aunt May, Odin, The original X-Men, Magneto, Red Skull (etc)..."
While today's column does not go so far as to want characters to die, we are asking a question (#1 below) that discusses characters we don't like and the impact of not liking that character. Although, not exactly the same query, I thought it was close enough in spirit that we might share our general dislike about certain characters in one column rather than two so we don't repeat and offend all of the BitBA fans. Our posts are usually planned well in advance (well at least an hour or in this case about a week). We appreciate Colin offering up a different topic on Tuesday.
So in the spirit of Colin's original comment if you would like to discuss actually killing off annoying characters, please do so. Here in it's entirety... are the questions for today's post as we originally intended.
Question #1: We have discussed before how a change in a creative team has prevented us from buying a comic book (or after a small sampling we changed our purchasing decision). But what about a character change? Has a change in roster on a team or the inclusion of a certain character (or dismissal of another) caused you to remove the comic book from your "buy" list? And vice versa has a certain character being included caused you to try a title you had not before?
For me, there were a few characters that just rubbed me the wrong way. I did not jump ship when Angel replaced Cyclops in the X-Men (probably because Byrne and Claremont were still involved) but I did not like that development. I understood Cyclops leaving after the Dark Phoenix events, but it really felt like they had to shoehorn in an "original" member and the Beast was taken. Angel never did anything in that run and eventually disappeared.
The New Defenders did not seem like the classic Defenders I knew, so I did not pursue any of the issues with the Beast, Angel, and Moondragon. But even before that revamp, I skipped every issue that included Daimon Hellstrom. I just do not like the character and seeing him in the corner box just made me spend my money elsewhere. That combined with Nighthawk not being shown assured my disdain. Nighthawk was the opposite for me; generally if he showed up I was interested.
Revamping Alpha Flight seemed like a huge misstep. I never picked up any of their Volume 2, but even prior to that when the team included Box and Talisman, I started to drift away because they did not interest me.
And though an Avengers fan, that roster change in issue #211 really ended my interest for a long while. And even when I perused future issues, Starfox was somebody that added to my dislike. The roster below would have been cool but the lothario from Titan irritated me.
Books like Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-In-One could be hit or miss; again certain characters in the corner box assured my buying or refusal to buy. My quarters were too hard earned then and I had to be selective. Here are some I skipped even though the issues themselves may have been spectacular (and in the case of Red Sonja - a classic).
So who don't you like as a character? Who drives you away from a purchase? Is it a headliner or even a supporting cast member that makes you gag? Who makes you choose Richie Rich rather than a super-hero mag?
Question #2: Bronze Age television seemed to be rife with police procedurals and detective dramas; we have opined in the past about some of the greats like Columbo and The Rockford Files. But there seemed to be a subset of these shows that starred a seemingly mismatched set of partners. Of the "partner investigator" shows, which were your favorites and why? Who got the chemistry just right?