Thank you for covering Ma Hunkle, the original Red Tornado. She was a B-side hero, but I find her to be fascinating. A hero that the bad guys of the time couldn’t imagine being female. No superpowers or techno gadgets and no tragic backstory, but she earned the respect of some of the most powerful people in existence.
I would like to see some of the villains explored in depth first. You could fill several episodes with them. Earth X is the obvious next choice. Then Earth 3, 4. 5 was only seen once but set via Secret Files as COIE 5.5 the Flashes teamed up to save humanity by merging them with their counterparts on the remaining Earths before Earth 5 fell to the Anti-Matter Wave.
Few similarities aside, DC actually did a great job creating their own unique Golden-Age characters and world. If they wanted an analogues ongoing pulp world, they should just bring back all their GA characters, and actually set them in that time period. Starting with the likes of ... The Crimson Avenger is The Green Hornet pretty much Midnight from Quality Comics, I think, was an attempt to take the Spirit without having to pay Eisner. You could probably rework the Superman stand-in Iron Munro into a more pulpish Superman (though maybe not quite Doc Savage) especially if you moved his conception back to around 1911 where Gladiator makes it more probable. Or since the novel seems to be in public domain you could just rework Hugo Danner himself as that sort of character following his supposed death at the end of the novel. DC's First Wave had promised a few more pulpish versions of DC heroes (I remember Black Canary being mentioned). I'm sure that between DC's own characters from the Golden Age and those of the companies they later acquired (Quality, Fawcett) there are other obscure characters that could be re-positioned as pulp analogues,
In case anyone misunderstood the statement about some being created later than the golden age (like female Firebrand, black Amazing Man and Commander Steel), Liberty Belle, Johnny Quick, Robot Man, Tarantula and most of the others in the All-Star Squadron were solo characters published in the golden age.
I like how you mentioned characters like Black Pirate and Liberty Bell. I really like the idea of there being costumed heroes before the 20th century, though perhaps they were not as prominent back then as they are now.
And if we are using stuff from the Stargirl tv series, then the fall of the JSA happened in Los Angeles could be a starting point for Anne and her friends getting dragged into the world of heroes & villains. Also Iron Munro(Arn Munro(DCs Doc Savage)), Fury Erinyes(Helena Kosmatos), Flying Fox, and Neptune Perkins once WWII/pulpy era analogues for their "vanished" golden age counterparts Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Aquaman. Green Hornet analogue is Crimson Avenger, even had the Asian sidekick. With a bit of the Shadow thrown in. - Rima was actually a character eventually used in the DCU, yet you can see her influence on several lead heroine characters. - There was a couple of Bat themed pulp characters, The Black Bat from Black Book Detective, and Johnston McCulley(under the name C.K.M. Scanlon) created The Bat, from who DC completely ripped off the Bat through the window origin. Obviously Batman would be the DC analogue for those., - Ms. Fury is Catwoman. - Some kind of Hybrid of John Carter, Gladiator(Hugo Danner), and Doc Savage would be Superman. - Flash Gordon/John Carter is Adam Strange - Carter's Barsoom Martians obviously are J'onn J'onzz, crossed with standared pulp era a gumshoe. - Flash Gordon's Hawkmen are the Thanagarians - Sandman has elements of the Shadow and Green Hornet, and again McCulley's the Bat who also used a gas gun. - The Phantom is another analogue for original gun toting Batman) - Mandrake became Zatarra
I'd like some more coverage of Infinity Inc if you want more sequels to the Earth 2 ones. You kinda covered them a bit in previous videos, but I feel like there was a bit more you could talk about.
My guesses which are most likely wrong Baman will be Thomas Wayne Bruce's father. Robin will be Chuck Grayson the former aid to the WW II Robotman. Huntress will turn out to be former Tigress/Paula Brooks of the Young All-Stars. Golden Age Mr. Miracle will be a young Thaddeus Brown. My second guess would be public domain Golden Age Mister Miracle from Holyoke wiki/Mr._Miracle Golden Age Aquaman will be Atlan Aquaman's immortal father or Neptune Perkins under the name Aquaman now. Golden Age Red Lantern will be the host to the Butcher Red Lantern entity. Golden Age Legionnaire is most likely a time traveling member of the Legion of Super-Heroes however he could be connected to the Club of Heroes Legionary i suppose. Ladybug is most likely tied to the Golden Age Blue Beetle i would think. But i thought he had a sidekick called Sparky. The truth will probably be that they are all new characters though. Another possibility would be the Young All-Stars. Originally, Iron Munro, Flying Fox, Fury, and Neptune Perkins were created to be replacements for the Golden Age Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman; but they were created in the 80s, with 80s sensibilities; so recasting them as (part of) the JSA of the 80s would be appropriate. Neptune Perkins was actually a character from DC comics back in the 1940s. The New Golden Age: Discussion Thread Someone (D.Z) mentioned in the Flashpoint Beyond thread that we should start a New Golden Age thread to talk all things that are coming out of Flashpoint Beyond and the Stargirl spring break special. What do we have to talk about? 1. We have time travel 2. We have returning characters like Helena Wayne Huntress 3. We have 13 new characters who got sent to the 1940's and are being reintegrated into the timeline 4. We got missing golden age children captured by someone named the Childminder 5. Possibly the Legion of Superheroes 6. Definitely the new generation of Watchmen characters. "It's fun and it's cool, so that's all that matters. It's what comics are for, Duh." I’m hoping one of the unannounced projects will be a time masters miniseries, really want to more with them. Though with them having a supporting role in the first JSA arc(which is already a crowded title), I’m doubtful they get a book so soon.
Moving Iron Munroe towards a more Doc Savage-ish direction is a smart idea. As everybody has already pointed out, The Crimson Avenger & Wing were shameless rip-offs of Green Hornet & Wing, just as Zatara was initially a Mandrake The Magician knock-off. However, these characters have all evolved into something new and unique. I particularly like how Ostrander sprinkled in a bit of The Shadow's faux Oriential mysticism into the Crimson Avenger's backstory by having Lee Travis visit Nanda Parbat in his youth, where he witnessed a vision prophesying the death of Superman. That's a nice way of keeping Superman's importance while also acknowledging the importance of the mystery men of the pulps. DC doesn't quite have a Flash Gordon-type, although Adam Strange shares some of his DNA, but through the lense of the 1950s Scientist-Hero mold. Gary Concord is another out-and-out Buck Rogers ripoff, but nobody but Roy Thomas has ever done anything with him. f you enjoy pulp heroes, you may want to look at the latest Hawkman series; it has a real pulp adventure feel to it. Yeah, Crimson Avenger is an imitation of Green Hornet…but not a good imitation. Not only is his pseudonym a mouthful to say, Crimson Avenger sounds less like an alias and more like an epithet e.g. The Dark-Knight Detective; The Emerald Archer and etcetera. Some say the Crimson Avenger evolved into something else. I don’t see it. I feel the Sandman was a better pulp hero than Crimson Avenger…but maybe I am just biased. Yeah, The Terrifics has definitely shown Michael to be a modern version of Doc Savage. The “super science” adventurer who has peak human mental and physical abilities. They even have Tom Strong set to make an appearance. Kinda indicating that Mr. Terrific is his Earth 0 equivalent. Ghost Fist from The Immortal Men is another new pulp hero very much in the vain of The Shadow.
They should bring back the pre Crisis on Infinite Earths Earth 2 and restart All Star Squadron with the last pre crisis issue and continuing from there.
Not really relevant, but I do collect Action Figures and I currently have a 31 member Justice Society! It's slightly fudged with a few who were more like All Star Squadron (Guardian, Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, and the Ray) I threw in the early Silver Age Batwoman and Batgirl as the modern ones were in my Earth 1 League. Still, I think it's a pretty good Collection. And, it could be 33, as I keep waffling on Magog and Obsidian. Sometimes Heroes, sometimes Villains. Golden Age Superman Golden Age Batman Golden Age Wonder Woman Earth 2 Robin Green Lantern Alan Scott Flash Jay Garrett Spectre Dr. Fate Black Canary 1 Earth 2 Hawkman Earth 2 Hawkgirl Hourman Dr. Midnight Sandman Wildcat Starman Atom Commander Steel Mr. Terrific 2 Power Girl Earth 2 Huntress Stargirl Cyclone Jade Atom Smasher Guardian Uncle Sam The Ray Phantom Lady Batwoman Batgirl
If I read more of Earth-Two comics, I might even consider it my favourite universe. After all, Jay Garrick exists, Batman has a biological daughter and Powergirl exists.
