Where does this kid come from?

[palitoy]

Last week on the Aquaman Shrine I kind of let loose my disdain for two DC characters who I don't think belong in the Justice League.

This weekend my son asked me to write the word balloons in his comic, he's writing an opus involving the Justice League and oddly, Mr Errex from the Star Trek cartoons.

What do I find? Page after page of the adventures of Elongated Man and Red Tornado my two least favorite characters ( I will admit Mr Terrific, Vigilante and John Stewartdo make cameos) .

According to my wife, Red Tornado is all he talks about anymore. She doesn't get it either...

[namtab29]

maybe your son has an affinity for underdogs. if so, send him over to the Aquaman Shrine immediately!

rob!

[The Toyroom]

To me Elongated Man and Red Tornado are part of the classic JLA (starting with the group in Brave and the Bold and up to and including Firestorm). I don't have a problem with them being the 2nd stringers of the JLA. They're much better than many of the other characters DC has tried to shoehorn in over the years. For instance, in Brad Meltzer's current incarnation he has Vixen, Black Lightning, Red Arrow (formerly Speedy) and is hinting at Geo-Force being the latest member.

Brian, your son's allright by me!

[Earth 2 Chris]

Our kids should get together and play Brian. A few months ago Andrew made his own super-team JLU offshoot, comprised of Dr. Fate, Wildcat, Aquaman and Starman. I'd buy that book.

Chris

[huedell]

I didn't realize Red Tornado had enough of a profound backstory
and history and overall prolific "in print" presence to make such fans

Is Red Tornado the pre-1992 Boba Fett of the DCU?

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

That's funny BrAIn ... maybe he was placed in your universe to help you see them from a different perspective...cute story!

[palitoy]

Our kids should get together and play Brian. A few months ago Andrew made his own super-team JLU offshoot, comprised of Dr. Fate, Wildcat, Aquaman and Starman. I'd buy that book.

I honestly think if our kids played together the Batman and Superman figures would get neglected. Dean had me draw the cover to his book last night, Martian Manhunter, Vigilante, Blue Beetle, Red Tornado (and he wouldn't accept a crudely drawn tornado!) and Green Arrow.

THe boy loves his "B list" but then again, my favourite hero is Animal Man.

[number 6]

Well, Red Tornado may be a B list member, but you have to admit visually he looks pretty striking (we are talking about the red robot version right? Not the woman with the pot on her head?)

Same for Dr. Fate. All that magic nonsense doesn't interest me in the least. But he just looks COOL!

Now Elongated Man, that's another story. If you've got a choice between him and Plastic Man....

[ShadowAvenger]

I always enjoyed the Silver Age Red Tornado because he more than just another android.

[Bizarro Amy]

My friend's son absolutely loves Martian Manhunter. I think it's because he's a big green alien who can change into stuff. I collect the JLU 3-packs and keep a lot of the duplicates for customs and magnets, etc. Once in a while I go through them and give some to kids I know or friends who haven't started their superhero collection. I gave Hunter one of the entire Big 7, save one. He looked through the box, tossed aside Supes and Bats, then made Flash run around for a few seconds. Then he did a double-take, looked me in the eye and said, "Hey, where's Martian Manhunter?" I just didn't have a spare one at the time, but I made sure to get one the next chance I had. Now the kid thinks Aunt Amy is his personal toy source

[samurainoir]

I think most of us agree that Plastic Man is much more iconic than Elongated Man. I was really happy to see Grant Morrison picking him up for his run on JLA, and Mark Waid keeping him when he came on board as the only other non-original seven character in the group.

Although Elongated Man's new status quo as some kind of deceased Ghost Detective sounds like it could have some interesting potential. I think the writers of 52 did a bang up job writing him into a compelling new status quo.

I always enjoyed that classic JLA storyline that revealed Red Tornado was some kind of Tornado Being inside the Robot body.

I'm all for the JLA having a line-up that mixes the A-listers with B-list and C-list characters. Generally it's those kind of characters that tend to thrive in the group book because there is no worries about conflicting continuity with a character like Superman and Batman that star in a half dozen other comics in any given month.

Think of all the secondary characters that have had a chance to shine in the JLA over the years. Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, The Atom, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Mister Miracle and Big Barda, Guy Gardner, Metamorpho, Plastic Man, Zuriel, Conner Hawke, Power Girl, etc etc.

I think Black Lightning would have had a better shot in the past few decades if the Powers that Be at DC had let him join the JLA in the seventies.

I like the fact that Vixen does add some diversity into the mix, however I would have prefered Animal Man.

[Evel KMego]

I think kids are drawn more to the colorful looking characters rather then their importance or status in comics. I know I always loved characters like Falcon, Nighthawk , Wonderman , Dr. Fate , Firestorm etc. just because visually they atracted me.