Fantasy Football - Part II

Again with this? Ok. At least they're fun to write. Probably the most fun part is highlighting interesting characters and stories, which is also probably the reason why all of these characters are from Marvel Comics, as that tends to be what I read more widely. As I spread out my reading into more Indy comics and even DC obscura, expect these articles to get a bit more variety as well. 


Caiera Oldstrong

First appearing in the "Planet Hulk" storyline, Caiera is a rare warrior woman, the last of her line and, briefly, lover of both the Hulk and Bruce Banner, making her pretty unique. Dying at the close of the story, Caiera's power and compassion have lead to more than a few "What If" stories and brief returns. Although she proves herself to be a strong leader alongside Hulk, Caiera is perfectly happy to follow a competent and beloved leader, and her ability to change, grow and usurp tyranny are also pretty useful. A strong warrior with no desire to harm the innocent is always a great addition to any team. 


Doctor Doom (From Doom 2099) 

In the epic, and epicly underrated, Doom 2099, Victor Von Doom wakes up in the far future to find his land, people and power missing; over nearly 100 issues, Doom regains what he has lost, forms a team of superheroes and liberates humanity from alien and corporate oppression. In the year 3000, Victor Von Doom institutes a post-needs technological utopia and is savior of the world, alongside Miguel O'Harrah. As Doom is one of my favourite comic characters, you bet he's on this list, but picking which version was the real challenge. Infamous Iron Man, King Doom and Ultimate Doom were all strong contenders, but only Doom 2099 has literally saved the world, made it a better place and united disparate teams of heroes to do so; perfect. I'm off to read Doom 2099 again.


Hawk-Owl 

I've mentioned why I like Hawk-Owl before, so I won't drag this one out, but every team needs a ninja, and Hawk-Owl just seems to have the best Competence to Damage ratio. Think about similar characters like Batman, Daredevil and Nighthawk, all of them have some tragic backstory that cripples their efficacy at a crucial moment, so why bother with someone that unstable? Hawk-Owl chose to be the hero he is for altruistic reasons, not selfish ones, and whilst he doesn't want to join a team, given he hasn't had a comic appearance in over a decade, I think I could twist his arm into working alongside my other choices.


She-Hulk (From the Dan Slott run) 

Superhero, model, Avenger, lawyer, is there anything Shulkie can't do? Aside from getting a film of her own, I mean. The She-Hulk of the now-famous Dan Slott run is seeking the balance between celebrity and meaning, with her superhero duties often proving to be less of a challenge than her legal work, as punching something requires a great deal less critical thought. She-Hulk is all about confidence as opposed to Hulk's rage, but she is her best hero self when that confidence has been shaken and she has to recover it internally, rather than relying on her existing celebrity. Even on a good day, Shulkie lacks the strength of her more famous cousin, but she almost never gets out of control and has the brains to match her brawn; an excellent addition to any superhero team.


Venom Punisher (from What If?) 

I'm not a fan of the tendency to let anyone play with the Venom symbiote, but even I had to admit it works pretty well with Frank Castle. Thing is, becoming Venom doesn't make Frank a worse murderer or more evil, he just has access to more efficient means of murder now, and his iron will keeps the alien in check better than most. Now, having Frank Castle running around murdering criminals at will is a moral grey area at the best of times, so adding the power of Venom won't lead to a happy ending for many, but sometimes, you need to point a killer at the problem and watch it disappear in pink mist. If that's the case, I'd much rather the infallible precision of Frank Castle than the pure rage of someone like Logan.

Well, that's the last of these for a while at least, I'm out of ideas right now, and will have to get some together before doing more of these. Most of my ideas for this kind of thing will be working their way into my "Ultimate Alliance Fiction" pieces anyway.