The Fastest Fan Alive’s 500th Post featuring more Heroes and Villains than you can shake a stick at!
So long story short after the DC Universe started collapsing in on itself with the New 52 I was pretty indifferent towards DC Collectibles until they announced the “We Can Be Heroes” 7 pack box set. Featuring the New 52’s Big Seven (Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Cyborg) in one fell swoop was a great move as once I had them up on my shelves I couldn’t stop. Next came Darkseid and a couple of Parademons and then I just had to dig my old Teen Titans figures out of storage and then came all of the rest. Fed up with DC’s New 52 for the most part I took what I’ve liked here and there and built my own iconic version of what the DC Universe should be for the most part. I have a bunch of stories swirling about in the back of my head and I will definitely get around to filling these in as I go. I still have quite a few heroes left to acquire for my own personal universe but as you can see I have the basic framework set up as far as teams and alliances go. Some are just placeholders until other figures arrive or are released and others are pretty much final. For example I’m pretty anxious to add Black Manta and Black Adam to my Injustice Gang but they have new figures coming up before the end of the year. No point in going out and buying older versions if newer ones are right around the corner (that is unless I prefer the older versions).
I actually have not decided on whether Wally West will find his way into my universe yet. The more I think about it the less speedsters I want in my universe. It is a world-breaking power and the less people with access to the enigmatic speed force the better. Not only that but it just sounds better when there are only one Flash and one Kid Flash running around. I thought about possibly giving Wally a different identity altogether but for now he is just not going to be represented. On that same note I still wanted to show you all a glimpse of the classic New Titans together, Miss that team.
I ran into a similar problem when it came to the Justice Society of America, Hawkwoman, and the New Gods. I’m not sure if I’m going to go the Earth 1/Earth 2 route ala current DC or leave the Justice Society firmly in the past as a stepping stone. I’m pretty sure if they release Earth 2 figures I’m going to be getting them so perhaps I will just leave this bit of history hazy for now. Hawkwoman/Hawkgirl however (especially after rewatching Justice League and Justice League Unlimited on Netflix) had to be on one of my League’s. I especially wanted to continue the alien origins she has from the series into my own universe as it gave her awesome depth. I haven’t even begun to think about the New Gods yet except that I need to get some version of them. Thankfully the ones in the comics look to be quite similar to Kirby’s original designs.
As far as The Teen Titans/Titans go I decided to go a somewhat different route with the Titans. Essentially the only iteration of the Teen Titans in this universe was never really officially called that. Back when each of them was a teen sidekick they would unofficially team up from time to time. Roy Harper was the oldest of the team (and is only a few years younger than Oliver Queen in my universe) and when he left Green Arrow he convinced the rest of the sidekicks/partners to do the same. The history is pretty murky for now but they would eventually officially become known as The Titans.
The Teen Titans are now known as Justice League Academy. The best and brightest of the young superhero community working and learning together. I, like many of you, loved Young Justice and I also liked the idea of a junior Justice League team. I personally think that Teen Titans has too much history behind it and that Young Justice just doesn’t sound as official as what Justice League Academy is going to be. Tim Drake has moved on and semi-graduated to the next step as a senior member of the JLAcademy. Supergirl in this reality is a more mature superhero who has been around as long as Clark and has a similar fanbase and presence. After Clark discovers her “brother”, Kon-El, she is tasked with the role of helping him develop his burgeoning Kryptonian powers. Tim and Supergirl are the more experienced vets keeping the rest of the team in line.
Batwoman and the Outsiders is my homage to Batman and the Outsiders from my childhood. I recently acquired both Metamorpho and Batwoman and I saw it instantly. Especially since I don’t really see a role for Batwoman anywhere else in my universe. In any case The Outsiders, like they have often been portrayed in the DCU proper, are the more proactive heroes. Seek and destroy pretty much. They go after villains who are actively wanted and bring them to justice as opposed to waiting for some stuff to go down. I kind of dug the partnership of Black Lightning and Blue Devil from DCU Presents so I decided they were going to be teaming together in this covert ops team with Blue Devil providing a lot of the technological skill and know how. This is prior to him becoming an actual demon (a development I’m not sure I’m going to follow). Owen Mercer in this reality isn’t literally Digger Harkness’ son. Digger dated Owen’s mother on and off for years and Owen came to see him as a kind of father figure. Of course Digger showed him quite a few things with a boomerang (usually when Digger was wasted) and when Owen turned 18 (a year or so after Digger walked away for good), Owen decided to try his hand at being a Rogue. After a few weeks of him pulling jobs similar to Digger’s (and driving both The Flash and Digger crazy), Digger finally tracks Owen down and nearly beats the kid to death for impersonating him before realizing who it is. Digger still angry breaks the kid’s throwing arm and sends the kid home to his mother on a train (you didn’t think Digger would spring for a plane ticket would you?). Owen of course swears revenge and ends up joining up with Batwoman and the Outsiders.
I’ve always liked the idea of multiple League teams and with the announcement of Justice League of America I decided to create my own version to tide me over until they release more of the official members (Vibe, Catwoman, Simon Baz). Green Arrow is approached by Waller as the leader and face of the team while Martian Manhunter is one of the heavy hitters and provides intel. Black Canary was placed on the team by the government, Hawkman basically has the JLU background right now of being a former Archaeology professor driven mad by Thanagarian discoveries (resident loose cannon), Dr. Light II (physicist), and Green Lantern John Stewart (Will be explained why Earth has so many eventually).
Now on to the bad guys. While I’ve gotten a lot more than I even thought I would I’m still missing quite a few big bads like Lex Luthor and the Joker. But here are what I have so far: Mirror Master, Captain Boomerang, The Shade, Dr. Light, Amazo, Despero, Psycho Pirate, The Black Hand, Anti-Monitor and Superboy Prime, Ocean Master, Sinestro, Deathstroke, Mongul, Darkseid w/ Parademons, Vandal Savage, Circe, Professor Zoom, Lord Kobra, Deadshot, Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, and Solomon Grundy.
My apologies for the lack of updates lately. You can now see what I’ve been working on and why I’ve been staggering my posts so much. :) I do want to give a special “Thank You” to all 261 of my followers who check in no matter what.
-Flash Johnson
