Cheesed Wiz

 

The Wizard was MLJ/Archie Comics’ first superhero, and was also one of the more popular ones in their stable. So it was kind of strange that with all the times Archie has revived its superhero line, he was mostly ignored. They even turned him into a villain in the 1960s (the gentleman on the right side of this cover). Although mightycrusaders.net says that this Wizard is Hans Martz, a Nazi sorcerer who defeated and killed the heroic Wizard (Blaine Whitney), then impersonated him. I can’t find the comic where that specifically happened, but this cover above is my take on what happened a bit after that took place.

Fashion Shoot

 I think Dakota North was not originally intended to be part of the Marvel Universe, but rather a standalone series in its own universe with no superhero trappings. Her series only lasted five issues, though. Maybe Marvel didn’t want the character to go to waste and later on integrated her into their superhero universe.

She was originally slated to guest star in Spectacular Spider-Man alongside Silver Sable, but that did not push through. So here’s my version of what was supposed to be Dakota North’s initial entry into the larger Marvel Universe.

Relative Unknown

 Phantom 2040 was designated as the 24th Phantom in the line, so that would make him the great-grandson of the current 21st Phantom. But since 2040 is a mere 15 years away, that isn’t accurate anymore. I think it was a missed opportunity not to age The Phantom in real time. Since he’s been established early on as a legacy character, it would have worked.

But, hey, a lot of Phans are happy that the current Phantom is still the same one from the 1930s, so what do I know.

Astro Void

 Vance Astro was a guy who was trapped in a containment suit. It was stated that he was thousands of years old, and if the suit was breached he would crumble into dust. That got me to thinking… that suit must be pretty indestructible, since even just a small tear would mean his demise. And if it was not, wouldn’t it make sense for him to always be wearing protective gear on top of it to ensure his survival?

Uncanny Resemblance

Back in the 1990s (and even the preceding decades) copyright laws were virtually nonexistent in the Philippines. They were there, but not strictly enforced. In this chaotic environment, there arose a publisher that took advantage of this and released a number of comic books that were pastiches (to put it kindly) of popular characters from the USA. One of these was the anthology titled Dragonboy Z, which included imitations of Dragonball Z and, as seen above, X-Men, retooled as X-Gen: The Unknown Generation. These were quite popular among kids and teens, despite their dubious origins.