Friday, January 27, 2017

Top 5 Fridays: Top 5 Characters I'd Like to see Replace Lobo in JLA


Welcome to another justice filled edition of Top 5 Fridays! This week we had the conclusion to the Suicide Squad vs Justice League event, paving the way for the Justice League of America Rebirth premiering in two weeks! I've been excited for a while now, especially with the lineup. The young Atom, ready to rise above like his mentor before him. Vixen, wielding the powers of the Red to fight evil. The Ray, shining hope like never before. Killer Frost, ready to prove herself to be a true hero. Batman and Canary guiding this team of heroes. And then there is Lobo... Just Lobo. Lobo... on a Justice League... They couldn't have thought of anyone else better? Well, I think I've compiled a few candidates that could fit better with this new team of heroes. Like Frost, I believe that the people on this list have a chance to redeem themselves or like The Atom, can prove how useful they can be for the greater good. As always this is an opinion based list, so if you see someone you don't like, I apologize. With that out of the way, let's take a look at the candidates for the newest team in the DCU.
5: New 52 Lobo


And like that, a bunch of readers just left. To the readers who stayed, let me point out the obvious reason he belongs over the current in the league: he actually was a hero at one point. For those who don't know(or didn't care) a long time ago, he was captain of the Czarnian royal guard. He was loved by his people, the princess, and the king. He had it all... That was until the king lost his mind. Using a ritual to give the planet life, the king used his tainted blood to effectively poison Czarnia. The military turned on the civilians and Lobo couldn't stand for it. He cut through the armies of his world and drowned the king in his own blood, damning himself for ending his planet and his people for allowing the king to poison the planet for so long. In a way, this version of Lobo could be considered a space ronin, a masterless samurai, who has lost his honor due to his actions. With a background like that, tell me this guy doesn't deserve a chance at redemption in comparison to the current Lobo.


4: Firestorm

There are two reasons why I feel the nuclear man should be brought into the JLA. First off, while he doesn't need a redemption like Frost, he could make an interesting dynamic with her. Killer frost has always been the main Firestorm villain. As far as I know, they have never stood on the same side, so what would happen if they did? It would be a great hurdle for Frost to jump over, as if she can get her old nemesis on her side, she can put the past behind her. I first expect distrust from Firestorm, but it would be awesome to see the pair grow on one another, even go as far as tag team a villain. The second reason is something I'm certain the creative team behind the book was aware of. Five of the Seven members of the JLA are part of the CW universe. Atom and Vixen are on Legends, Canary has been on there and Arrow, killer frost is a Flash regular, and Ray will be getting his own animated series based in the same universe. Whether they meant to or not, they've brought a comic version of the Legends of Tomorrow, so go full out with the roster.


3: 'Red Star'(China Super Weapon)

Yeah, I bet quite a few of you readers don't remember this antagonist from Sean Ryan's run on the New Suicide Squad. For a recap, this was a Chinese experiment to try and create a superhuman of their very own. Thanks to the Suicide Squad, he was the only subject remaining but proved that the experiment could work, as he was able to take on the Chinese Military with Superman-like abilities. So why does he deserve to be on the JLA? Despite the experiment's intentions, Starman is more for protecting the life of EVERYONE and not just China. He turned on his superiors the moment they began endangering the lives of the squad and felt great anguish when the last of the Man-Bat ninjas died. In the end, he was able to remove the last of the control the military had over him and flew to space. We haven't seen him in any book after that, but I wanted to know more.This star burnt out before it really had a chance, so how about we give him another one.


2: Vibe

This choice continues to play into the topic of the CWverse being the idea for the group. I don't think it's a stretch to say Cisco Ramon is one of, if not THE, most popular side character in the CWverse. He's funny, realistic, and a geek that we can all relate to. So why not put him on the team? Especially since his actual comic book counterpart was in the Justice League of America since 1984! Speaking of that comic book adaptation of him, what has he done in the past few years. After the Justice League of America's adventures concluded, he kind of just vanished. He didn't join the Justice League United, the Justice League, hang out with the Flash, or even retire. He just vanished. Did Dr. Manhattan come in and remove him from the timeline because he was a threat? Did the writers just get bored with him?(probably this reason) Either way, this team looks like it needs a few laughs, and this guy would be perfect for that role.


1: El Diablo


Chato Santana is not a bad guy. Okay, he is one, but compared to the other members of Task Force X, he might be the only one who has a chance to be a true hero. I mean look at all his appearances since he was first created for the Suicide Squad. Personality wise, we have seen him ready to sacrifice himself to help his allies, regret his past crimes, and was ready to bring the criminal Dasko of Checkmate to justice. He literally has the spirit of a hero inside him. Powerwise he could be an awesome duo with Killer Frost. He can reach incredible temperatures and would allow himself to get drained by Frost if it meant stopping a big bad. With such a background, it is surprising that Batman didn't pick him out of the Squad as well. The man was made to be a hero but got the short end of the stick in his origin. We may have had his epic miniseries, but El Diablo deserves his chance to be a hero.

That's it for this week's Top 5 Friday! If you could replace someone in the JLA, who would you replace? Leave a comment and I'll see you next time!

12 comments:

  1. New 52 Lobo could be interesting, if not Lobo in general. My biggest issue with both characters is that neither have really been given proper exploration, especially the latter, who's mostly played for dumb jokes. I keep hearing fanboys make comparisons with Deadpool, but that not the case at all - even that character has more in the way of nuance and character development than Lobo ever had.

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  2. While I agree that Lobo is a poor fit for this team... I'd rather replace some of the characters I don't really care about, like the Ray and this version of the Atom. That said, the only one of the list I'd like to see on the team is Firestorm... and New 52 Lobo just needs to die and never come back.

    Replacing them however, if there's a free choice:
    Jason Blood/Etrigan: team needs magic, we need our rhymer
    Donna Troy or Raven: it would be nice to see either of them move on to pastures new
    Zatanna

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    1. "New 52 Lobo just needs to die and never come back."

      I'd rather they just give him a new name, if not explored that imposter angle a little better.

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  3. Vibe disappeared after everyone was freed from within the Firestorm Matrix at the end of Forever Evil. For whatever reason he just disappeared and it was only mentioned that no one knew where he was once before it was never brought up again.......... poor Vibe.

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  4. It's a shame that New 52 Lobo was dumped to the side. I actually think there's some potential with him. Maybe in the same way they brought back Jason Todd and made him into his own character they could do the same with New 52'Bo and give him a different name like "Lupo" or something.

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    1. he was in hal and gl corps book in beginning of rebirth

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    2. Yeah, but as a snide joke with him being the only one trapped in a jar.

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    3. Yep...which is why I don't think we will ever see him again. I liked the concept of new lobo, but his book wasn't great which was a shame

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    4. Yeah, his book wasn't great. I still think that there's enormous potential in terms of New 52 Lobo, especially in terms of that imposter storyline. It's weird, 'cause Lobo is a character of immense potential, but DC doesn't have a clue what to do with him. Even in JLA, he seems immensely watered down and like a waste of space.

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    5. Did you read the new 52 issues of stormwatch when he joined the team? Almost the same nonsense as him in JLA...complained the whole time and stood around. Someone needs to figure out what to do with him! I agree that the imposter story had potential. Of course, everyone cried about it because they wanted the "real" Lobo back, but as we have mention ed, DC doesn't seem to know what to do with him. It sucks

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    6. I'd love it if Marguerite Bennet would return to do a Lobo book, just because I got the sense that she wanted to more with the character, if not Czarnia, especially in that "Earth 2 World's End" series. I also heard Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo had expressed an interest in doing Lobo years ago. I think it was on Twitter.

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