Superheroes that never made it?

[ray gower]

For everyone of our superheroes today, there were at least six second and third teir heroes that came and went without notice.

How many can we list?

Captain Wonder and Mulrooney- 1943- Similar to Captain America
Angel- 1946- A non-flying, no special abilities hero.
Black Marval- 1942- Genuine American Indian hero
Blazing Skull- 1942- Superhero pacifist
Defender and Rusty- 1941- Another Captain America cash in

 

[Tabitha]

Sorry Ray, this is a bit beyond me. There have been lots of characters that have been introduced into comic books that have fallen by the wayside, but, uh, I can't remember many
I remember 'General Glory' from the Justice League a fews ago. It was quite an interesting story actually - the character was very similar to Captain America. The idea was that he was a hero in the forties during WW2, and at some point was frozen. He was then defrosted (or whatever) in modern day, and was surprised to find that everyone thought he was a comic book character! His existence had been kind of covered up and turned into comics stories. I don't know what happened to him after that, though, but he certainly isn't still prominent in DC's current comics.

 

[ray gower]

Actually, I think you might be surprised at how many you do know. If only because the characters, or the names, have been reused.

Characters like Black Widow only appeared in her original guise for about eight months during the forties. She was a clairvoyant and not I Psyloc as her newer namesakes are/were.
Or how about Rubber Man. Appeareed in all of two issues of Action?. An incompetent hero that could stretch and bend himself into any shape. Sound very like the JLA's Plastic Man?
Angel obviously now appears in X-Men as a genuine avian. Though I think his abilities may be closer to another Marvel hero the Falcon. Again not to be confused with DC's Hawk- Who also had a short life.

To be honest, I think most of the current X-Men had an earlier incarnation, that did not involve radiation poisoning!
Another that comes to mind is Wolfman- Who could grow long claws.

I'll find them and you tell me who they are now?

 

[Tabitha]

Out of all of those I only really know about Angel - and only really his newer incarnation. What we really need is a Marvel freak in here that knows everything!

You are right about a lot of characters having an previous incarnation - there are many powers that are used again and again - think about Angel for example, there are lots and lots of old and new characters in both Marvel and DC that have wings. I think it is weird when they bring in new versions of an old character that have absolutely no relation to the orginal. I think perhaps it is easier to get away with without the readers noticing if the older incarnation is very old and relatively short-lived too.

 

[ZachWZ]

Due to conflicting stories their are two Golden age Angel's running around. I am not a freak just a fan, so bear with me. They are brothers.

#1 Got turned into a Street Bum. Had adventures with Cloak and Dagger. Got stabbed, but no body showned.

#2 Became the money behind the Scourge.

That's all I know.

ZachWZ

 

[ray gower]

Thanks for those, ZachWZ.

I don't know the fate of the version I found. Merely that he disappeared after two episodes. In looks, he would not be unlike Gambit from the current X-Men.

So I think you may actually be adding more to the pot for the title 'Angel failures'. It does seem to be a popular name for a superhero!

There was also an Angel in one of the British wartime comics, Boys Own I think (I've lost the cover), though in this case it was the 'real thing'.