Forgotten Marvel

[ctc]

So;

DC has a whole schload of old, obscure and forgotten characters; many of whom have made comebacks in the last few years. But Marvel has a sizable assortment of obscure characters who've been shucked to the wayside.... sacrifices to the bloated gods "continuity" and "sensibility." Some of my faves:

-Skull the Slayer; who, until his disappearance was competing with Wolverine for most convoluted back story.
-Elf With a Gun: I've heard there's actually an explanation for this guy somewhere, but I've never seen it. (Okay; he doesn't exactly disappear, he gets hit with a car....)
-The Black Llama: Appeared in a few books in the 70's offering the bad guys the secret to the universe; but only after they beat on each other for a while.

Any more?

Don C.

[Earth 2 Chris]

The latest BackIssue! had two candidates featured:
The Golem
It, The Living Colossus

I'd add Tatterdamealion (sp), and various other sundry horror-influenced characters from Marvel's early 70s obsession with the genre.

Chris

[StrangeVisitor]

....
-Elf With a Gun: I've heard there's actually an explanation for this guy somewhere, but I've never seen it. (Okay; he doesn't exactly disappear, he gets hit with a car....)...

Don C.

I hadn't heard of this guy before, had to look him up:



" Steve Gerber for his part stated years later that the Elf with a Gun was only supposed to represent the randomness of life and how no matter how much you plan and work, something completely random may occur and destroy all of your plans - like, one supposes, getting shot by an Elf with a Gun."

EwaG's story is pretty bizarre/convoluted too. If you care too, check it out

[thunderbolt]

I really dig a lot of the Kirby 70's stuff for Marvel...Machine Man, Devil Dinosaur, his Black Panther run, The Eternals.

[clemso]

I hadn't heard of this guy before, had to look him up:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-AQa73BIBuM/RtWxnHTvJ_I/AAAAAAAAAsA/8N-zJ8mOb1U/s320/elfwagun1.jpg

" Steve Gerber for his part stated years later that the Elf with a Gun was only supposed to represent the randomness of life and how no matter how much you plan and work, something completely random may occur and destroy all of your plans - like, one supposes, getting shot by an Elf with a Gun."

EwaG's story is pretty bizarre/convoluted too. If you care too, check it out

God that brings back memories, I think he turned up the Defenders quite a bit. Did they ever catch the Elf. Was there any conclusion?

[johnnystorm]

Here is everything you could need to know about the Elf:

Elf with a Gun (Defenders and Spider-Man character)

And it's scary to think that this much effort was eventually put into the character, actually devaluating the entire point Gerber had originally.

[johnnystorm]

As far as characters who've been forgotten:

Red Wolf (either version, but I'd like to see more of the Old Western one)

The Liberty Legion (goofy but interesting characters)

Monark Starstalker (a one-shot Chaykin character, thought he was interesting as well, at the least a great name)

Captain Savage & his Leatherneck Raiders (none of the love that the Howling Commandos got)

John Kowalski,War Is Hell (if I had to pick a character that could and should be updated, this is the one. a damned spirit, tortured by the embodiment of Death into living within another doomed human...it was Quantum Leap before QL. A great concept that could really be done justice by somebody like Ed brubaker or Matt Fraction!)

[ctc]

>I really dig a lot of the Kirby 70's stuff for Marvel...Machine Man, Devil Dinosaur, his Black Panther run, The Eternals.

Funny thing.... all them characters have been brought back and ('cept for Devil) made pretty prominent in the Marvel universe.

I love the old Kirby monsters, and a few years ago THEY were brought back.... only to disappear into obscurity again. (Unless you count appearances on that Superhero-Babies cartoon.)

Don C.

[jds1911a1]

whatever happened to Dazzler?

[The Toyroom]

Monark Starstalker (a one-shot Chaykin character, thought he was interesting as well, at the least a great name)

He just popped up again in one of Marvel's space books....can't remember which one though....

[The Toyroom]

A couple I've always liked from Marvel Premiere were 3-D Man and Paladin.

They were supposed to tie in 3-D Man with that Avengers character from the Busiek/Perez run but I'm not sure they ever did.....

Paladin has bounced around, most recently in the Elektra Dark Reign mini, but I'd like to see a return to his original costume and see the character given his own "gun for hire" series....

[Riffster]

Dazzlers showing up off and on in the X books, she's back to being a performer

[kingdom warrior]

I really dig a lot of the Kirby 70's stuff for Marvel...Machine Man, Devil Dinosaur, his Black Panther run, The Eternals.

I love Kirby's 70 stuff. I love his New Gods......I loved when he came back to Marvel and did Captain America and the Falcon......and I loved his Eternals that was great stuff. I just remember thinking his stuff was just so Epic!

[haggis]

A couple I've always liked from Marvel Premiere were 3-D Man and Paladin.

They were supposed to tie in 3-D Man with that Avengers character from the Busiek/Perez run but I'm not sure they ever did.....

Paladin has bounced around, most recently in the Elektra Dark Reign mini, but I'd like to see a return to his original costume and see the character given his own "gun for hire" series....

Paladin is currently appearing in the Thunderbolts, a book I rather enjoy despite the fact that they keep changing the team...

[Captain]

There were a ton of "throwaway" heroes in the old Defenders three parter (#62-63 and 64) where everybody thought they were recruiting new members. I recall Jack of Hearts, Captain Ultra, White Tiger, Son of Satan, and I'm sure there were more Iincluding the above mentioned Paladin).