Before I begin today's blog entry, I wish to apologize for a lack of an update, yesterday. Long story short, I spent most of the day fretting about a job interview, and an evening working on-and-off with registry and testing for an employment agency. (The testing was by FAR the worst part. Geez... I didn't expect it to take NEARLY as long as it did.) All this combined into a perfect storm of frustration and tiredness... and a lot of perspiration... that not only failed to result in producing product for this blog, but also made me very irritable in general. I DID calm down... if for no other reason than to calm down my girlfriend and her pets, who thankfully didn't beat me with bars of soap in socks, overnight. I've done my best to apologize to them for my grouchiness, and now I do my best to apologize to you blog readers for not taking the time to BREATHE and do something I enjoy. What this means is MAYBE I might shift the two alternating blog designs I had in mind for yesterday to later this weekend. Enough drama fer ya?
Now, for today, I AM still sticking with my guns for another FFF entry. I admit, it WILL be another entry picking away at the creations of Rob Liefeld. I can't help it; sometimes you just need an easy target to base a day of mockery around. Just because I don't think he's the worst comic creator in the industry... that may come for a future FFF entry... doesn't mean I don't recognize that a lot of his creativity has a basis on a certain "homaging" of other creations. ... And the inability to recognize feet on people. BUT a major difference about today's blog, and my usual targets of mockery, is Wolverine gets a break, today! Do I feel Logan is rather overplayed in comics for the past 20-some years? I still do. But can I still feel sorry for a character that has inspired rather... um... "creative" riffings on their source existence? Indeed I can! I remember reading about how DC used to FUME about such infringements back when various fly-by-night companies from the 1940's would create their own "Supermen". Just because comic companies, and creators, don't seem to outright go on the warpath for similarities between creations doesn't mean us fans can't rib them for the less-than-stealthy connections. So I bring you five examples of the goofiest Wolverine rip-offs!
1. Feral: Maria Callasantos was first introduced in the pages of "New Mutants #99". And she hit the scene like a chimpanzee flinging its fecal matter at an offending party. Have you ever spent nights wondering what the result of a ménage a trois between Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Wolvesbane would result in? (Add in more kitty-cat than wolf, obviously...) That's the gap Feral fills for your imagination. All you need to know about her power set is she IS Wolverine's copy... outside of a prehensile tail. Tell me... What cats do you know of that possess prehensile tails? This anthropomorphic puddy-tat sure did! Some other traits of hers was that she turned up the berserker meter to eleven for her social interactions. And when she WAS being nice, she would slip into a thick accent that makes Gambit seem outright restrained in his dialoguing. After she switched loyalties from the X-Force team to the Mutant Liberation Front, I lost all track of the character. But sometimes it's best that the cat DOESN'T come back.
2. Cougar: Daniel Tsuchida just happened to receive an insane break for appearing in the record-setting "Youngblood #1", to help initiate the 90's Image tide. I WILL give Cougar a break for the fact that he isn't quite as ludicrous as Feral. His abilities were just general feline-based enhancements from his heritage of being a half-breeding between a human female and an anthropomorphic feline male chief of a hidden "cat people" tribe. (If ONLY I was making that up...) Still, you can't deny that any character that still resembles Logan unmasked, and still prefers up-close combat, doesn't bear some umbilical links to the "Canuckle-Head". ... And no, I don't know what Cougar's ultimate fate was, in between what felt like twenty relaunches of "Youngblood" as a title between the late 90's, and now.
3. Wildmane: Er... AKA Wildmane. I've got NOTHING on this character's background. All I can offer you is he first appeared with the rest of the Berzerkers in "Youngblood #2". I can also offer he came from the same dimension as the big threat of that initial Youngblood opening arc, Darkthorne... who also wasn't a "subtle" riff on Darkseid and Thanos. More on that in the future... There is nil information about the character on the Internet. I was even lucky to find ONE picture of him! What I can tell you is he appeared in that opening Youngblood mini-series, and a "Berzerkers" mini-series of their own. I can only surmise that the character has the general "Wolverine" power set, with less of a bipedal stature. DEEP characterization!
4. Deadlock: What? You say characters that resemble Wolverine's traits and unmasked appearance weren't enough for your appetites? How about a character that is BLATANTLY wearing Wolverine's costume, only with long sleeves, random wrist and leg straps, and a palette swap? Then I have just made your day with Deadlock. This character is unusual in that he has TWO first appearances. There's the version that had links to the villain team "The Four" that appeared in "Youngblood #1". But there's also the version that was an undead soldier in association with the Bloodstrike team, from "Bloodstrike #1". What's the difference? The Bloodstrike title NEVER answered the question it postulated, but know that there were apparently two versions of the same character. And their characterizations were equally as "deep": both were characters quick to blood-lust and bad tempers. I SUPPOSE one difference that Deadlock carries over the other knock-offs is he actively uses firearms. Not even Logan often packed heat!
Last, but not least...
5. Faust: John Jaspers sprang from the imaginations of David Quinn and Tim Vigil as an independent comic from the late 80's, debuting in "Faust #1". I will give the character of Faust credit for being a precursor to the character arcs that "The Crow" and "Spawn" would later take to the banks; deals with the underworld to wreak havoc with the forces of crime and corruption that ruined their lives. The main difference with John is that he didn't have to DIE first before being gifted with his powers. ... Which seem to be the standard smorgasbord of Wolverine-ish abilities, with a Batman cape added to the mix. What also sets this character aside from the rest of the "knock-off" listings is that his title was SUPER-MATURE. Sex, violence, and naughty words... They were all assembled in the pages of "Faust" to a degree... for the 80's... that even Logan would blanch at. (The books were also, to my perception, rather full of themselves with extended text pieces establishing background for the characters, exploring themes of human degradation. Yes... Quinn and Vigil... I get it. Humanity ISN'T perfect.) But one can't deny a character... mature-elements aside... that sports a horned mask and even just a set of MECHANICAL claws doesn't owe some of his formation to Wolverine.
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