----

The Case for Connor Hawke: Green Arrow II

DC is built on Legacies.

Just about every major character in the DCU has at some time been succeeded by a new Hero (and in some cases villain) with an old persona.

Some by tragedy, some by retirement, some by the respect of others...and some by family.



Ollie Queen was a character who has been beset by change in his 70! odd years as a character.

Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941 and was based around the idea of the great British hero Robin Hood.

Ollie originally started off as a Batman style knock-off, with all the trappings of his more famous inspiration.

Time though saw the character grow.

Come the Nineteen Seventies, writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams saw the character develop a strong social conscience, a famous girlfriend in Black Canary and a take no nonsense attitude.



Along with a highly left wing political stance, the decade saw him become one of the more...promiscuous heroes in the DCU.

So it came as no surprise that after his heroic death (Green Arrow V1 #100–101), it came to pass that we met Ollie's illegitimate son.



Connor Hawke was a product of his times, created by Kelley Puckett and Jim Aparo (Green Arrow V2 #0), Hawke was a master martial artist with a sensitive bent.

After leaving the Ashram where he grew up, Connor set out in the world to live up to his father's Legacy.

Given one of his father's old bows by Dinah Lance (Black Canary II), Connor met and befriended many heroes of the DCU, most who were busy living up to their own mentors.

Although Connor never really took off as well as some of his other peers, he was still able to prove himself adequately and earned his place in the pantheon of DCU legends.

A short term member of the JLA of the time, Connor overcame his fears to earn the respect of the elder Heroes of the DCU, where he continued to live up to his identity until his father's resurrection in the "Quiver" storyline.

Notable appearances:

Green Arrow V2 #114 (Final Night Tie-in)
Green Arrow V2 #130 (Green Arrow/Green Lantern/Flash Team-up)
JLA #8-9 (Against the Key)
Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood (Mini-series)





http://www.facebook.com/TheDecadeMattelForgot

http://www.criticalmess.net/index.php?topic=17779.0

Conner never got the respect he deserved.
The way they removed him from the family still saddens me, not to mention that there is literally NO WAY he can exist in the "New 52" universe ....

Yeah, it sucks.

I loved the days of Wally, Kyle and Connor being friends.

It was my generation's version of Hal, Ollie and Barry.

I always wished there was Hawkman still around for Connor to bounce off, it would have been fun to see the calmer, more even tempered Connor deal with him.

There was "a" hawkman, just not "the" hawkman.

Hawkworld had its moments, but I was glad when we got Carter back.

While I didn't mind Conner, I always liked the female Speedy better. Her backstory was more interesting.

But many of the 90's characters deserve their turn in plasic.

The case for Doctor Mid-nite III



Somebody better call a Doctor..

I sometimes wonder, just how many of the characters we see in the DCU who have decided to place an honorific in their chosen Noms de guerre actually earned them?

Well, there's no doubt that Pieter Cross, the third person to adopt the name Doctor Mid-nite (created by Matt Wagner and John K. Snyder), has earned his.



Delivered as a baby by the first man to take the name (Charles McNider), Cross originally had no desire to follows in his famous midwife's footsteps.

A man with a strong social conscience, we first meet (adult) Pieter as he runs a free clinic in the town of Portsmouth, Washington.

Concerned by the amount of junkies, suffering from symptoms of a new Venom based derivative named "A-39", Cross sets out to find the source.

Tracking the suppliers down (former Batman foes, The Terrible Trio), Cross is caught and subjected to a forced car accident, Cross escapes the wreck, but not without cost.

His female partner killed and himself badly injured, in a twist of fate, he finds himself, like the original Doc, blinded, except for when he is in pitch darkness.

Using his new-found powers and taking a leaf from the original Mid-nite's bag of tricks, Pieter creates himself an armoured suit, black-out bombs and a pair of goggles adapted to enhance his new found powers of sight.
He too also has an owl sidekick who aids him in his adventures.

Later in the course of his career, he is contacted by the newly formed JSA.
With history destined to be repeated, Cross settles easily into his role as the teams physician.

Preferring to heal than to fight, Cross is still a valued member of the team when trouble flairs as respected for his surgical skills as his fighting abilities.

Indeed, he is held in high esteem by heroes such as Batman and the new Mr Terrific, has worked with such organisations as S.T.A.R Labs, and has been present for a number of high profile cases throughout the DCU, including the autopsy of Sue Dibney during Identity Crisis.

Notable Issues:

Dr Mid-nite #1-3 (Mini-series detailing origins)
JSA V1 #8 (First Dr-Mid-nite/Black Canary team up)
JSA V1 #28 (Deadly game of Chess vs Mr Terrific II)
JSA V1 #40 (Dr-Mid-nite spotlight issue)
JSA Classified #19-20 (Versus Roulette)

http://www.facebook.com/TheDecadeMattelForgot

The case for Bloodwynd:

It could well have been the Justice League that time forgot..were it not for this guy.



But...I'm not here to talk about Doomsday..yet.

Coming off the back of the declining Justice League International/Europe titles, Dan Jurgens took over the ailing book with a title change (Justice League America) and a change of pace that was sorely needed.

Jurgens dialed down the humour, brought in new threats and made the book readable again.

The League faced off against major villains (Starbreaker, Weapons Master, Dr Destiny) and the roster was cut back to allow more focus on the team.

More importantly, he also introduced the character this article is based around.



Bloodwynd, created by Dan Jurgens in Justice League America V2 #61, was a descendant of a group of slaves indentured to a brutal landowner, Jacob Whitney.

Unable to take the abuse, the group performed an ancient ritual to create the mystical "Blood Gem".

Using the gem to escape the evil man's clutches, the jewel was passed down through their family through the ages.

The bearers of the stone all gained great power, with a caveat, unbeknownst to them the soul of the landowner lived on in the gem, by now twisted into demonic form and known as the entity Rott.

Eventually the stone passed to Freddy Widmer.
Taking the identity Bloodwynd, a necromancer able to drain life energies and speak to the spirits of the dead, he arrived at the JLA headquarters just in time to be confronted by the villainous Weapon-master.



Phasing out of our plane to avoid the villains blasts, he found the JLA's cave empty, the team already kidnapped.

Later given full membership of the team, Bloodwynd performed duties as the team's resident Mage.

Present for the monstrous Doomsday's rampage, Bloodwynd fought hard and was badly injured.

It was during this battle that it was revealed that Bloodwynd was not all he seemed, the demonic Rott had been able suck Freddy's lifeforce into the gem, there to fight for control of his body.

In the meantime, the Martian Manhunter had found himself mind controlled by Rott.
Forced to impersonate Bloodwynd, in order to infiltrate the JLA to find a source of power sufficient to free Rott, the Disguised J'onn J'onzz was exposed to fire, his one weakness.

Realising that their friend was trapped the JLA took the fight to Rott and freed both J'onn and Bloodwynd.

His own man once, again Bloodwynd fought on as one of the mystically inclined "Sentinels" of DC's pantheon of Heroes.

Staying with the JLA for a while after, Bloodwynd found himself increasingly loathe to act, like other mages before him, he began more and more often to take "neutral" stances against foes, as he felt that such battles were in the natural order of things.

It is possible that he was like other Sentinels, drawn towards either the forces of Order or Chaos, that govern mystical characters such as Doctor Fate and The Phantom Stranger.

For these reasons, Bloodwynd decided to retire from active JLA status and become a reserve only.



Later appearances were sparse, on officially becoming a Sentinel, Bloodwynd would show up usually only with the magical group in tow.

He played a small role in the Day of Judgement crossover, when a rampaging, rogue angel unleashed the realm of Hell upon the DCU, and was last seen during the "Black Baptism" event.

However Bloodwynd is still active as a JLA reserve, he was one of many members to be called in during the "Amazo" incident from JLA V4#27.

Notable appearances:

Justice League America V2 #61 (First appearance)
The Death of Superman
Showcase '94 #5 (Solo story)
JLA V4 #27 (VS Amazo)
JLA: Black Baptism

http://www.facebook.com/TheDecadeMattelForgot

I always thought a yellow ring Guy Garnder was coming since I would think he is a easy repaint. Aztek and Zauriel are also major 90s players I want to see. I would LOVE to see the Key have his Morrison JLA run zombie look and PROMETHEUS is a must have !

We got a Bloodwynd in the DC Infinite Heroes line. It's a cool figure. We also got that Guy Gardner with that costume and yellow ring and fire and ice as well. Not much else 90's though.

We also got a nice Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, and Superman. We pretty much have that entire roster in the DCIH line...

I hope to high heavens we get Fire and Ice at some point. Maybe an Oberon too. I needs me a JLI league...

It's funny I was hoping for a Maxima for the DCIH line and actually was hoping for a Maxima in the JLU line too since she showed up in the Superman animated series.

My top 90's guys in no particular order:

Tempest
Prometheus
Huntress
Zauriel
Tim Drake Robin (done right)
Dolphin
Doomsday (done right)
Catwoman (purple costume w/leggings)
Hook Hand Aquaman
Kyle GL
Wonder Girl (Cassie)