The Armchair Editor

By: Peter Dimitriadis

We're back, after a long hiatus. In this edition we look at:

I generally hate the character of Cable.

However, when I was introduced to Deadpool through Gail Simone's run on the title, I enjoyed it, and him, quite a bit.

So, what happens when Marvel introduces a new comic called Cable & Deadpool? Well, presumably Marvel hopes that both Cable fans and Deadpool fans will check it out, and the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts.

For me, this was successful. Although I started mostly reading the title for Deadpool, I enjoyed their interactions, and it drew me to the rest of the story. Judging by the early sales levels, Marvel may indeed have managed to combine some of both audiences, even if some of that has waned.

A few months ago, Marvel started a flood of solo X-titles. Before that, Reload introduced a few more new titles. The problem is that most X-Characters really work best in an ensemble. As solo characters, they're not very interesting. On the other hand, with one or two other characters, it might make an interesting story. It's telling that the only one of these new launches that interested me is Madrox, which, in addition to the title character, also features Wolfsbane and Strong Guy.

That's is what started me on this train of thought. By combining concepts and characters, what other interesting books can we get? We won't cross company lines for these, to keep them in the realms of possibility (although some cross-company crossover books could be a lot of fun).

As the goal here is to make hypothetical changes to improve the chances of titles that may not have the best sales on their own, or to try out new titles with a decent shot, I'm going to avoid suggesting things like 'add Mystique to X-Men'.

The Man of MutantTown:

Madrox was a great miniseries, but didn't get very good sales numbers. There's some strong indication that it'll be coming back under another name, but nothing is certain. So, let's assume the worst, and say it isn't going to be extended. The miniseries is all there will be.

Well, we've got another title set in mutant town. That's District X.

Madrox and his PI department could make excellent recurring characters in a District X book. He's a private eye in the district, and so would probably cultivate cop contacts, but could at the same time, step on their toes by interfering in things they're already investigating. David Hine's doing a good job with things as they are now, and Madrox is looking good, but there's a chance that by combining them a little, you can attract more people.

One could even alternate a little... not every arc in District X need focus on the police - some could (maybe should) focus on the community itself, with the police only playing supporting roles.

Although I was a little mixed on the idea of adding Mutant Town to the Marvel Universe, now that it's done, there are an awful lot of stories that can be told using it. If Marvel wanted to, they could make District X a book with rotating regular creative team, much like how Gotham Central started. When a story is Madrox centered, have Peter David write it. When it's focused on Bishop and Ortega, Hine writes as usual.

The Fabulous Jubilee:

One of the recent batch of new titles focused on Jubilee. This is a series that I really couldn't see lasting very long. A Marvel Age title about a young female mutant trying to make a life in California is a worthy try, but in the direct market the prospects looked bleak. And, in fact, less than six months after the debut, the title had already been cancelled.

Jubilee's a great character, but she really needs a great cast to work with. They may attempt to create one from scratch in her book, but it's more of a draw if the cast have fans of their own.

So, when the book folds, what else can we do with Jubilee? Well, as long as she's on the west coast, why not have her throw in with the other major teen book in the area? It just seems natural for her to encounter the Runaways and try to get in good with them, based on the fact that she was actually a member of the X-Men. If nothing else, it's crying out for a team-up, although I admit my preference would be for her not to be a permanent cast member (if that made the difference between Runaways surviving or being cancelled, though, that would be a small price to pace).

More likely, you could send her back to New York. If she's still determined to stay apart from the X-Men as a whole, then she's going to be trying to survive in the big city, which puts her in the area to either encounter the kids of NYX (there's a certain poetry to the act, as some of the rumors for the earliest version of NYX had Jubilee already in it), or to get involved in the life of Mutant Town more directly. Of course, having her join NYX would, at this point, be putting her in limbo anyway, unless a new creative team was chosen.

So, looking at other teamups, of course, you can always team her up with one or two other people. But who? Well, Jubilee and Monet always had an interesting dynamic in Generation X. They could potentially carry a series together, but they're two characters in search of a plot - none immediately presents itself just from their interaction... I tend to think it's a good sign when ideas immediately jump to mind about a team-up.

Assigning Jubilee the 'sidekick' role gives slightly more potential for stories, as you really only have to worry about the ongoing plot of the main character. Since part of the game here is to combine existing titles, let's restrict ourselves to what's already out there. Having her work with Wolverine's been done... although some might like it, I think he's played out the young sidekick route. That leaves Rogue, Gambit, and Nightcrawler. I've never felt any particular spark between Rogue and Jubilee. Gambit and Jubilee have some potential, but I think the best option is to go a little unconventional and stick her with Nightcrawler. Getting them together might be an issue, but once you solve that part they'd work together well. He's got enough of a sense of humor to play along at times, but also can play serious.

Bats of Prey:

With the conclusion of War Games, the Birds of Prey have moved outside of Gotham and somewhat away from the whole Bat Universe. They've also added one new character to the team, so why not another?

Of course the Birds of Prey are something of a low level team, so you have to be careful who you add or they'll overwhelm the other members. Adding, say, a Supergirl to the team (even if otherwise possible) may seem like a good idea from the perspective of 'combining popular characters to increase sales' standpoint, but she'd be far more powerful than the rest of the team, and so would put her missions in a different class from the others.

Even though Birds of Prey is distancing itself from its Bat Roots, one good choice that comes to mind is Batgirl. She's got her own title right now, but if something were to happen to it, she's already got connections to Oracle, and, as she takes her name from a winged creature, she fits in well with the whole 'flying' motif. She also provides a different point of view from everyone else - she's the hard-core warrior, and yet she'd also be the youngest of all of them. That's got to lead to some interesting perspectives. While not one for undercover work, when sneaking around is needed she'd probably be the best choice.

DC Buddy Books:

Back in the day, there was Green Lantern/Green Arrow, but today, other than Superman/Batman, there doesn't seem to be a lot in the way of pure buddy books from DC. Still, there should be a few characters one could team up for regular adventures.

Then again, DC doesn't have a whole lot in the way of existing characters headlining solo books - with a few exceptions, characters with solo books already handle well on their own. I can only think of one that really qualifies, short of bringing back GL/GA. So, in addition to combining two existing books, I'm going to break my rule and suggest a pair from a team book that could work well together.

The Adventures of Batgirl and Robin - Well, they're both in Bludhaven right now, and away from Batman's influence... they're already just had a four part team-up book that went well but ended up with them deciding to work separately, mostly because they're in two separate books. That decision doesn't have to hold, and, as they're both near the lower end of the sales charts, perhaps by combining the two of them into a single team-up book, you could get one book that combines both audiences.

Batgirl's always suffered a little from not really having any cast aside from herself and regular appearances by Oracle and Batman. Putting Robin in the book every issue would give her someone to play off both socially and in a superhero sense.

Nightwing and Arsenal - They've been together in the Titans, and now work together with the Outsiders. Still, there's a dynamic here between what I've seen of them in Outsiders that makes me want to see more. They're like brothers, almost, with Roy seeming a little wilder and Dick a little more restrained, which could make for a good combination. Right now I'm satisfied seeing them together in Outsiders, but if something should happen to that book they have a good chance of supporting a buddy book.

So, that's about all I can come up with right now, feel free to post your own combination ideas in the forums.

Peter Dimitriadis

Standard Disclaimer: None of the characters or titles are owned by me, all are owned by their respective companies. These are just speculations about where the titles could go, and I make no claim on the concepts.

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