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Eric Jansen
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Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2538
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| Posted: 11 February 2026 at 1:02pm | IP Logged | 1
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Simple question--who's the best Marvel or DC (or otherwise) super-hero that never (or hasn't in a long time or for that long) saw his or her time in the sun?
The first answer that comes to my mind is-- THE CREEPER
With a great start, look, and premise by Steve Ditko, he truly could have been DC's answer to Spider-Man. If any star talent really tried to do the classic premise (which hasn't really been attempted since the time of Ditko), I think he could still work.
Bonus questions--feel free to expand the question to include super-villains and/or supporting characters.
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Ted Downum
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Joined: 21 April 2004
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| Posted: 11 February 2026 at 5:11pm | IP Logged | 2
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As a child of Seventies Marvel, my first instinct is to say the Richard Rider version of Nova.
Good call on the Creeper, though.
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Andrew Davey
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Joined: 27 April 2004
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Posts: 1472
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| Posted: 11 February 2026 at 8:06pm | IP Logged | 3
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Machine Man.
Firestorm.
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Brian ONeill
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Joined: 04 July 2024
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| Posted: 11 February 2026 at 9:12pm | IP Logged | 4
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'Justice League Detroit'. Moving them out of the city after about a year led to another year of even worse stories, before 'Legends' effectively killed the JLA.
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Robin Taylor
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Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 11 February 2026 at 9:31pm | IP Logged | 5
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Firestorm is a great pick
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Edward Aycock
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Joined: 13 July 2024
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| Posted: 12 February 2026 at 2:26am | IP Logged | 6
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Human Flying Fish.
I said it, and I am sticking to it!!
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Eric Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2538
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| Posted: 12 February 2026 at 10:01am | IP Logged | 7
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Yeah, I agree with Firestorm, Nova, and Machine Man. I would add Captain Marvel/Shazam, Ted Kord/Blue Beetle, Ghost Rider, and some others. All of these have great potential, but they need some star talent to make them take off--popular characters who mostly never (or not for decades) had great runs. It would seem to me that it would behoove the big publishers to open the wallet a little to get the very best teams on some characters
I look back at the early days of Marvel and Stan Lee almost willed some characters into stardom. He kept pushing Ant-Man/Giant-Man and Human Torch even though their series weren't really working. The Hulk got cancelled after six issues, but Stan would not let him be unseen until he finally earned his comic back, then a TV show, a magazine, and finally big movies.
Human Target, Supergirl, and Mr. Miracle are three more great concepts that never really took. I wasn't that familiar with Tom King, but I just started reading his HUMAN TARGET and SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW and I really like them both, so much that I'm going to track down his acclaimed MISTER MIRACLE! (I'm out of the loop on newer stuff, but I guess that won the Eisner Award.)
He seems to be on a one-man mission to give some underutilized characters some strong (and popular) storylines. I wish there were more like him.
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Ted Downum
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Joined: 21 April 2004
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| Posted: 12 February 2026 at 2:15pm | IP Logged | 8
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I'm disappointed with myself that I didn't think of either Firestorm or Machine Man.
Blue Beetle is another good call. I think the Charlton heroes, in general, deserve more love and attention (the Peacemaker series notwithstanding). BB, Captain Atom, the Question, Nightshade...more characters with Ditko DNA and a lot of interesting potential, though their association with Watchmen might be off-putting for some creators--or, perhaps more likely, for some cooler-than-thou readers.
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Jason K Fulton
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| Posted: 12 February 2026 at 2:56pm | IP Logged | 9
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My pick - DANGER UNLIMITED. There's a reality out there where we got 200+ issues of that book.
Fucking retailers, man.
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Scott Gray
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| Posted: 12 February 2026 at 3:43pm | IP Logged | 10
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I've always suspected that if Kirby had come up with Machine Man in the 60s he would have been one of Marvel's flagship characters.
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Andrew Davey
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| Posted: 12 February 2026 at 4:04pm | IP Logged | 11
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Ditto, Danger Unlimited. That would have been fun.
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Andrew Davey
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| Posted: 12 February 2026 at 4:06pm | IP Logged | 12
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Dave Cockrum's Futurians
Edited by Andrew Davey on 12 February 2026 at 4:07pm
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