Board 8 > Scarlet Ranks User-Created Superhero Teams

(+) Yeah! (+)

The Justice League. The Avengers. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Planetary.

Comic book super-groups have a fundamental foundation in our literature and our mythology. From the days of the Argonauts, we've been enamored with the concept of mythological entities, archetypes unbound to the convention of dreary reality, forming conglomerates. Titans, standing as collectives. Hives of authority. We dream these groups into existence for a host of reasons. Celebrity. Creativity. Security. What better way to examine society than through the lens of the gods? Whether allegorically or through the pulp noir of condensed prose, comic book teams have always embodied or presented shifts in culture that humanity has needed to tackle. The Fantastic Four defended us from threats scientific in nature. The Teen Titans were a coming-of-age story for those who needed a hero experiencing the same shift in development as them.

I asked the Board to go wild in creating their own superhero teams. The thread that follows is a result of that clarion call. I will attempt to rank these potential teams of gods and monsters, and I apologize if my own point of view differs from your own. I will try to fairly parse out what I think is potentially successful and what isn't using my own personal metrics of comics. Hopefully you all won't think I'm being too tough on your concepts. I'll take a look at several different key factors. Potential cohesiveness as a team, diversity as characters, conceptual creativity, and a general Scarlet factor all will play roles in determining where your rosters drop on the list. That final category is, of course, the wild card amongst the rest.

I hope, much like my wrestler-ranking list, you'll all join me in discussion and conversation as we go from ranking to ranking!

Without further ado, the potential teams:

List of Proposed Teams
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vpzNqyTc51iGf2iPX6WkX6sqjU6t70I3FEejn-HHQ3s/edit?usp=sharing
---

Remaining Nominations:
Anagram - 3
DeathChicken - 2
Eddv - 6
GavsEvans - 4
Girgugamesh - 2
Gravy - 1
IHateThisCPU - 5
Inviso - 3
Johnbobb - 5
JONA - 1
Karo - 2
Lopen - 5
Mega Mana - 5
Murphiroth - 5
Pirate Harris - 5
Ratsel Harris - 5
Raka - 1
Snake - 5
Stifled - 1
Tangy - 5
Wickle - 4
---

tag
---

I am expecting one of the teams featuring Omega Red to go out first.
---

This should be good because I had very little thought for cohesiveness and made most of mine up on a whim.
---

Tag, this is gonna be good!
---

Tag
---

#73 - "The Bodyslamers" Created by: Pirate Harris

Brute force is this teams motto.

The hulk
The juggernaut
Doomsday
The thing
The absorbing man
Abomination

Hoo boy, where do I start on this one? This is one of the least diverse teams I have ever seen in my entire life, and that's a terrible, terrible thing. Consider that the greatest superhero teams feature a variety of roles in which multiple characters can fill. I'll probably hold all of these teams to certain high criteria: Justice League, Suicide Squad, Planetary and the Authority. These are, generally speaking, the varieties of superteams that exist.

What makes this team fail where those teams succeed? Because a superhero team is supposed to develop characters or promote them as valuable and unique alongside other characters. It's why you hardly ever see two Green Lanterns on the same non-Corps team. It's why Flashes never come in pairs (except for Don and Dawn, Irey and Jai... never mind). This is a group of the same character done six times. In fact, not only is it the same character done six times, but there is only one archetype in terms of personality here. Either they have a personality and it's pretty much just wrestling with the duality of man and monster (what is the man, what is the monster) or it's a cardboard cut-out character that is designed to have little to no personality.

I can't even think of a reason the Abomination and the Hulk would work together. Why is Doomsday on a team without a mind-controller keeping him in check or giving him purpose? Doomsday would murder the Thing and Abomination, cripple the Juggernaut, and ultimately end the team before it began. Absorbing Man just wants to go home, probably, and that leaves us with a solo team book right out of the gate.

"Hi, I'm the Thi-" *insert the sounds of breaking rocks and a scream of utter agony*

That was page 1.

But, truly, the biggest problem with this group is the lack of diversity. I'm not even talking racially or gender-wise (although I do think that from a superficial perspective, that does help liven up a group). I'm just talking about how all of these guys are going to go around punching things. Teams need finesse; they need leadership. A comic book series requires a variety of potential solutions to problems. The Avengers don't always clock the bad guys with a well-placed fist. There is pseudoscience, magic, stealth, tactics, diplomacy, creative uses of well-trodden powers. All of these things go out the window with HULK SMASH x6.

Membership Drive: (Wherein I attempt to fix a team with some roster edits)
So, the first thing I would do here is toss out Doomsday. Either you build the entire team around him or you do away with him. That's the primary concern. I can functionally speak with the rest of the group. I can at least create some form of dialogue. Doomsday requires special effort to make that happen. I'm also going to toss out Abomination; the handwaving I have to go through to explain to new readers or casual fans why this motherfucker is working with Hulk (who is notoriously hard to work with if he hates you), is ridiculous. In place of those two, I think I can work a quasi-Thunderbolts type of fisticuffs group. I'm going to add Doctor Fate as the MacGuffin creator and plot-repairman for the group in place of at least one of these guys. He can use his abilities to calm the rowdier brutes of the group, and he can simply avoid any potential consequence thanks to his extremely versatile abilities. He can point the plot in any direction you need. I'm also going to add a tech/support character for some comic relief in Ted Kord (Blue Beetle).
---

Tag. Also, while it makes no difference, you accidentally merged my name with Pirate Harris' and listed me with 5 noms instead of 3.

scarletspeed7 posted...

Ratsel Harris - 5

And wow, that was a great write-up already! Very much looking forward to reading the rest of them.
---

Oops, just a typo on my part. I'll fix it.
---

Oh shit, not sure how I managed to entirely miss the nomination period for this, but I'm hyped to see these rankings.

I looked through the first few pages of the doc, but figured it'd be more interesting to be surprised with each team that comes up.

Tag!
---

I think it will be more fun to be surprised, that's why I put all of the nominations in a document.
---

Awesome write-up. Poor Thing :(

Also man seeing how you dumpstered "here are a buncha guys that do the same thing" I feel like I can predict the bottom 10 or so ha ha.
---

Lopen posted...

Awesome write-up. Poor Thing :(

Also man seeing how you dumpstered "here are a buncha guys that do the same thing" I feel like I can predict the bottom 10 or so ha ha.

What is interesting is that "doing the same thing" isn't necessarily a dealbreaker if the characters have a wide variety of personalities.
---

The Bodyslamers could probably make a good one-shot humor issue conceivably.
---

#72 - "Big Guys Breaking Stuff" Created by: Johnbobb

A team of big strong guys who primarily break things

Hulk
The Thing
Hercules
Blob
Colossus
Juggernaut

Pirate Harris isn't far removed from this team of large individuals who brutishly hit things and have very little introspective personality. What separates this group from the previous one is the lack of a member so heinously ill-equipped to be a team member so as to render the team completely null right out of the gate.

But that doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. This team is an example of not understanding team dynamics on a fundamental level.

Let's take a look at this team past page one. Because the last team couldn't even make it through the first page. This team is going to make it through an issue and say, "Hey, we may not all work on the same side of the law, but there comes a time when this sort of brute strength on a massive scale is necessary." So they decide to go out and buy a headquarters. They get it all set up (by someone else because all of these guys suck at any detail-oriented project), and then on the distress signal comes in the first case. And I'm going to make it super-simple: it's Hawkman.

And here's where it gets fun, because this group of massively overpowered dumb-dumbs can't even deal with a dude with wings. Ground-bound (and don't give me the "Hulk can jump argument"; Hulk is not able to anticipate rapid movements, and no one else in this group can either) and brainless to the umpteenth degree, they'll start arguing with each other immediately since they are all alpha jocks with the caveman-mark-my-territory attitude. They immediately fall prey to in-fighting thanks to failure. Hercules is a great character with a team of less egocentric individuals. Juggernaut could even function in that sort of group. Putting them together with Hulk is an accident waiting to happen, and the remaining members are either toothless quiet men who just get swept up in the fight (Colossus) or lazy and likely to take advantage of the hostility to break a law (Blob). So because no one can touch Hawkman, they all blame each other and give up. Because that's the personality type. If the brain overheats, it's all over.

"But that's what I want!" you say. "I want a funny team that falls apart!" you claim. Well, kiddo, you'll find some much funnier teams falling apart that are way more viable as concepts on this list. I'm not adverse to humor. I'm adverse to stupidity. And this is a team where itsdialogue does the universe a disservice by even existing.

Oh yeah, and if you provided a name for you team, it better not suck. This one is terrifyingly bad. Names should provide some quality of either brevity or stature. This makes the group look like a joke right out of the gate, and not even a good joke. It's an Epic Movie joke, not a Shaun of the Dead joke.

Membership Drive:
First and foremost, I'm cutting Hulk. He provides no value on this group at all. If you wanted Hulk as a dedicated scientist, then you should pick someone who is truly a dedicated scientist and not prone to transformation at the most inconvenient of moments. This group features a significant amount of mutant fun, so I would drop the Thing for Strong Guy in keeping a little more thematic. Hulk would see a replacement in M, a female mutant with super-strength and also a rational mind. I could see her finding a breakout role as team leader here, taking down the rowdier members with some adroit displays of how strength can be used tactically. I'm happy to keep Hercules as the oddball of the group, but honestly, he would probably leave the group early on and be replaced by a C-List mutant to whom you want to give credence.
---

tag
---

#71 - Badass Normals Created by: Pirate Harris

No powers but they can still kick your ass.

The punisher
Iron man
Batman
Lex Luthor
The joker

Hi, you've just created a team with the two most iconic villains in the DC Universe and called it a superhero team. I'm Common Sense. You're Pirate Harris? We haven't met before.

Conceptually, a hero/villain team-up can work. We've even seen Lex Luthor flip sides to great success for multiple years at a time. But that's a bend in the alignment system, and this is a break. There are certain villains you can work with, and there are certain villains you can work with when you don't have other villains. Instead, we have a hodgepodge mismatch of personalities and alignments that don't just create internal conflict, they destroy any chance of momentary harmony as a team.

Batman and Joker together is about as no-dice as you can get with comics. And that alone didn't sink you this far. Lex Luthor and Batman together is generally a no-dice situation. Given that Batman is the natural team leader of this group, both Lex and Joker should be immediately fired from the group. Joker should be obvious; this isn't the Silver Age anymore, and Joker isn't going to happen about Batman in a single issue of Brave and the Bold and decide to team up with him. Lex Luthor, of course, tried to frame Bruce Wayne for murder, tried to take over Wayne Enterprises in a hostile corporate cold war, and then there was his attempt to buy Gotham City that was foiled by Bruce. So those two are out immediately. This is followed quickly by Punisher thanks to Batman's no guns policy. And lest we forget, Batman and Iron Man didn't play well with each other in JLA/Avengers, so expect that to seal the deal here. Batman is a great character, isn't he? He just single-handedly ended this team before it began.

And on top of that, the team concept is that these are normal people? Well, I hate to break it to you, but these are anything but normal people. Batman is jokingly referred to as Bat-God. No one realistically thinks of Batman as anything but the zenity of human fortitude. Iron Man is a billonaire, as his Lex. Punisher would try to kill these billionaires for the various perceived slights against the working man, because, you know, he's the fucking Punisher. He's a crazed blood-addled monster and far from "normal". And calling the Joker, a man who is actually three men, normal - and an immortal, no less - is staggeringly not getting the concept of the team you're making.

Normal people who are badass would include folks like Lois Lane or Rick Flag.

Membership Drive: I really can't fix this team easily. I would likely wipe the field and go with a Forgotten Heroes style roster. Jimmy Woo, Lois Lane, Cave Carson, Adam Strange, Rip Hunter, Ben Urich... that's the kind of "normal" person we're looking for when we make these types of teams. Otherwise, I think it's a concept rooted in failure by its very nature. People don't really read comics for teams of normal people. That's just like going to work.
---

I can't believe I never put Adam Strange on a team.
---

I feel like the Hawkman dilemma can be solved by throwing cars at him.
---

Anagram posted...

I feel like the Hawkman dilemma can be solved by throwing cars at him.

Hawkman moves much too quickly and has much higher reflexes than any of those guys on the ground. Not to mention that he operates in three-dimensional space and they operate in two-dimensional space.
---

I'm rooting for The Chainsmokers, based on the 5 or 6 teams I seen over the course of the first couple pages of the doc.
---

I would normally bow to your superior comics knowledge, but Im 100% sure you can find panels of each of those guys throwing things at moving targets in the air.

The superior reflexes part is true, though.
---

Anagram posted...

I would normally bow to your superior comics knowledge, but Im 100% sure you can find panels of each of those guys throwing things at moving targets in the air.

The superior reflexes part is true, though.

Of course you can. But Hawkman is A) one of the biggest veteran heroes ever, B) has heightened reflexes and C) Nth metal wings that allow a lot of "physics-breaking" things.

Hulk has to pick up a car to throw it, and it's in that motion that Hawkman can ready himself to move. Hulk doesn't have super-speed. If this was Power Girl throwing a car, I'd lend this more credence. But Hulk functions at a normal speed to turn around. I could dodge you picking up paper and throwing it at me. A car is like paper to Hulk, but he still takes to time to throw it.

Now if you had one single eye-beam/wrist-light/lantern-ringer in this bunch, I'd cede you can hit Hawkman. But we don't.
---

I bet if you had a tactical brute they could throw cars in a danmaku pattern and make it impossible for Hawkman to dodge

If only
---

#70 - Gravy's Angels Created by: Gravy

Mag - Fuckin - Neto (Xmen)
The Juggernaut (xmen)
john stewart (green lantern)
the silver surfer (xmen/fantasic four)
nova (nova)
dark phoenix (xmen)
mr freeze (batman)
shazam
Gambit

Several people decided to nominate teams of favorite characters and call them "So-and-So's Angels". Every single one of those teams dropped around 5 rankings as a result. The exception is this one - and that's because it's so bottom of the barrel bad already that I felt bad lowering beyond the "We don't understand that the same character duplicated a million times isn't fun" tier. But I digress. "ME LIKE THESE CHARACTERS THEY MUST BE GOOD TEAM" (Trademark Tamina) is perhaps the worst possible way to construct a superhero team out there. I'm torn as whether to discuss how building a team should work at this point, but suffice it to say, "My Favorite Characters" is not a good system. Even worse, the clear failure to even attempt to obfuscate that concept behind a name that could disguise the group with even a simplistic concept is irritating.

Gravy takes it a step further by not even thinking about who he's jamming into a group.

Dark Phoenix is functionally one of the worst possible characters you could ever put on a team. Either you have a character with godlike reality manipulation, something that utterly destroys any sort of stakes to the comic, or you have a crazed woman who will refuse to work with the rest of the group. Jean Grey may be evil, but she still hates Magneto. That's a gutteral, visceral reaction. And given that Magneto is the guy here with real leadership skills (don't pretend that "I just fire mah gun" John Stewart is anything more than a glorified yes man to whichever Lantern is top billing this week), Dark Phoenix is murdering the team effectively to get to him. Not that this team will work with Magneto. Mister Freeze is going to walk away from this group quickly because they have nothing to do with Nora. Shazam is going to blow himself up trying to stop Dark Phoenix if she's at full strength, and Surfer/Nova are also going to be put down by Phoenix likely. Surfer is maybe durable enough to survive, but he's not much of a team player in the sense that he never sticks around with a group when they have any tribulation.

Oh, and Gambit is not going to be in the picture once Magneto shows up. You almost could have something if you quick out Freeze, Jean and Magneto. That's a team I could maybe work with. But instead, I've been saddled with something that is akin to throwing darts at boards and accepting the results.

If you just stop and look at this line-up, you'd see that much like Okonkwo's village, things fall apart. It looks like Gravy's Demons are shouting down his better Angels.

Membership Drive: These Angels teams can't be adjusted because they are based on simplistic wish fulfillment. I can't make Gravy like another character. The concept of this group lies entirely in "My Favorite Characters". Instead, I would disband this team and just give the slot to the Legion of Super-Pets because at least they aren't going to murder each other at first sight.
---

I feel like both the smashy teams were (well, I suppose Doomsday is arguably even more team destructive than Dark Phoenix so maybe just Johnbobb's) better than these last two and they got hurt by basically the same team being submitted twice
---

You could make the argument that the second Brute team was better than the last two; it depends if you think that watching the same character do the same thing six times in a row ad nauseum is worse than a team just dying in a blaze of glory immediately.

I think it's just because bad is so bad, and I gut reaction put grades down and that really determined how these rankings landed, that you could say "this handful could be re-arranged" and then the next handful could be re-arranged, etc., until we get to the good stuff. It's really a tiered process.
---

scarletspeed7 posted...

Anagram posted...

I would normally bow to your superior comics knowledge, but Im 100% sure you can find panels of each of those guys throwing things at moving targets in the air.

The superior reflexes part is true, though.

Of course you can. But Hawkman is A) one of the biggest veteran heroes ever, B) has heightened reflexes and C) Nth metal wings that allow a lot of "physics-breaking" things.

Hulk has to pick up a car to throw it, and it's in that motion that Hawkman can ready himself to move. Hulk doesn't have super-speed. If this was Power Girl throwing a car, I'd lend this more credence. But Hulk functions at a normal speed to turn around. I could dodge you picking up paper and throwing it at me. A car is like paper to Hulk, but he still takes to time to throw it.

Now if you had one single eye-beam/wrist-light/lantern-ringer in this bunch, I'd cede you can hit Hawkman. But we don't.

Alright, fair enough.
---

Sure. I'm just saying I could see a potential for Johnbobb's brute team working with a swap or two. You need a smart tactical strong guy in there to orchestrate the smashy dudes in place of Hulk and a strong leader type tough guy in there to hold the team together in place of Blob and it would kinda work (assuming smashies of these types exist which I have no idea none are immediately springing to mind).

I said danmaku cars as a joke but it's kinda true. There are things you can do with 6 coordinated bulldozers that you can't do with one! It could be more interesting than you think!

Not really here to nitpick rankings in any case though just thought it was funny to think that Big Guys Breaking Stuff may have been subconsciously slipped a few rankings cause of The Bodyslammers existing.
---

It might have slipped because of it, but I'm not ranking these groups on if they work when I fix them, just if they work right now.

Also, it's Bodyslamers. How dare you misspell that!
---

I suppose that's true. As printed it is pretty boring.
---

#69 - The Top Tier Created by: GavsEvans

Whether it's Marvel VS Capcom or Injustice, face this team and you can kiss game balance goodbye.

Magneto
Storm
Cable
Sentinel
Dark Phoenix
AI Batman (10 Combo, 20 Rush, 30 Counter)
Deathstroke
Superman
Deadshot
Doctor Doom with his Hidden Missiles assist

There is more starpower to this team, and that's the only reason it ranks higher than the last team. Otherwise, we're fantasy booking this team falling apart. It's about the same level of stupid as the last one. Jean Grey goes nuts, and likely for a brief moment the rest of the roster works together. Once that's behind them Sentinel also goes nuts (because that's what these characters do, people). Then if he's dispatched, we have a war between heroes and villains that splinters the rest of the team. There's no cohesiveness possible here. Doctor Doom and Magneto are going to tear this team asunder, and Batman will refuse to play well with anyone but Superman on this roster. It's a jumbled mess of disunity.

Membership Drive: More isn't better. Pare away Deathstroke or Deadshot. They play the same role in the group no matter how you slice it. Doctor Doom has got to go as well. We've seen Doom and Magneto together, and they can barely contain themselves around each other. Batman is going to have to go, and a Sentinel can't be on a team with the others unless it's reprogrammed. I think you're looking at a roster of Magneto, Storm, Cable, Superman, Deadshot. Since the concept of this team is "people who are good in video games", I don't think there's much else I can provide here. That's because this isn't a concept, it's a cute thought experiment. It doesn't make it past the drawing board because there is no opening salvo of a reason to keep these people together.

Something other teams on this list are going to do well is either have an innate cohesiveness to the team or provide a plot-based function that makes the group a positive idea in utility. We're nowhere near those types of groups yet. Hell, the next list is a heinously bad one for an entirely different type of reason we've yet to touch on these lists. But the lack of that glue that holds a team together and instead doubling down on dysfunction kills this group and others like it.

But it has better brand awareness than the last one so we live and learn, and we move on.
---

Do you rank that team higher or lower if Batman is replaced with a robotic version of Batman that has the mentioned three states and Doctor Doom is just a reskinned Doom shaped automatic homing missile launcher with infinite ammo that disappears into a pocket dimension after each time it launches a volley.

Ironically that seems to remove a lot of the lack of cohesion there !
---

I had to use comic versions of the characters because that was what the roles specified. Comic characters.
---

I am going to rank the teams after scarlet makes a pass at fixing them!

1. Bodyslamers - would probably read but needs more comic relief
2. Big Guys Breaking Stuff - even after the fixes its just too one note and lacks a real star
3. The Top Tier - Even less of a team but all that starpower means an annoying level of fandom would pop up

DNR:
Gravys Angels
Badass Normals
---

Membership Drive: These Angels teams can't be adjusted because they are based on simplistic wish fulfillment.

Yeah, I get that. It was a sporadic "Ooh, that looked fun! I'll do that too!" without too much editing or thought before posting. I did try to keep things more balanced out than it would be if it were straight favorites. Like, my first three originally were Soranik Natu, Siryn, and Songbird and I immediately went, "No. That's stupid." I also just realized while lamenting I never nominated anyone from Alpha Flight at all in any of my five teams like I originally went in thinking I would do, Purple Girl/Persuasion could totally be on that roster, grr.

I won't be surprised to see it soon, but I did try to keep it balanced overall through personalities and powersets.

My next Angels team will definitely be better thought out (and highlight both Kara Kilgrave and Tempo).
---

I'm not saying they are all bad. One "Angels" team did well.

This Angels team was the straw that broke the camel's back. I try to imagine that I'm an editor and you are all pitching to me. So that's my thought process as I get these noms.
---

Oh man, I wish I didn't look at the other teams before they were ranked because all I wanna do is make commentary! Spoilers: One needs Metamorpho, another needs Adam X

I should probably stick to what we've already got, hmm...

The Bodyslamers - Yeaah... it really doesn't make it past the first page. That's just... I'm kind of interested in seeing the dynamics between Ben Grimm, Cain Marko, and Crusher Creel with Ben Grimm's heart and Yancy Street upbringings influencing Cain and Crusher through the school of hard knocks over time, but yeah, Abomination, Hulk, and Doomsday just ruin any chance of anything.

Big Guys Breaking Stuff - Utterly boring in comparison. There's nothing here to grab onto.

Badass Normals - No. This is just... there is nothing here I want to see as a team book. Maybe if they ruled five separate factions trying to take control of a city, I'd want to see that book for how alliances form and break, who they recruit, how dirty the heroes would get... I think that'd actually be a legitimately interesting read. But NOT a team book. And not with that name.

Gravy's Angels - No comment on why they were selected together, but this better have an artist supremely skilled in cosmic warfare. I don't think I'm interested in the line-up at all, but with all the different color power sets these guys have I really want to see some of the splash pages.

The Top Tier- Hilarious, but with the Doom and Batman specifics, it fails because that Sentinel isn't Mango.

Interest:
A. Badass Normals (as something else entirely)
1. Bodyslamers
2. Gravy's Angels
Rest Do Not Care
---

I think in all these destructive forces, people just have way too much basic knowledge in terms of what they're using. Why Hulk? Why not She-Hulk or Thunderbolt Ross (if you need it to be a male)?

How about instead of just tossing villains, grab someone who'd actually turn good and still can deal some punches. Forget Blob, get a storyline where Kingpin wants to be on the hero's side, likely buys the participation of a couple Wrecking Crew members. Grab Wonder Man, or Sentry. Someone with more than just strength and can actually help defeat enemies, not just destroy a town, but still do some damage to that town anyway.
---

tag

not surprised to see big guys drop as my lowest team, but surprised they were this low. I get it though. don't remember seeing the other brute team during the nominations
---

Tag, and I've an uneasy feeling about most of my teams...
---

Haha looking back at my teams makes me both fear and look forward to their write ups. Can't get enough of that classic Scarlet harshness.

(Also just now noticing, my apologies on the horrible grammar/spelling of my team descriptions. Posting when I'm half asleep is never a good idea)
---

#68 - Genius Loci Created by: Johnbobb

Ego the Living Planet
Danny the Street
Mogo
Krakoa, the Living Island
Dream of the Endless
Ranx the Sentient City
Solaris
The Centre
Spragg the Living Hill
The Chrysler Building

One thing about comic book teams - people like them to actually appear in the same place at the same time. That's virtually impossible in this instance, as several of these characters appearing next to one another would result in physics wreaking havoc on other members of the team. So, from a feasibility standpoint, this is impossible.

While I will give Johnbobb credit for trying to be creative, there are a lot of things here that I think are just failures on a fundamental level. I don't think, for example, that Johnbobb considered for a moment how or why these characters would work together. Ego would attempt to destroy the rest, Ranx is a mortal enemy of Mogo, Solaris would successfully destroy the rest, and the Centre isn't even sentient. And I'll get to Dream in the membership drive section. But suffice it to say, this is yet another team of characters that were put together without any real attention to detail. Not only would the physical strain destroy several of these so-called characters in the process, but even amongst buildings and cities, there are good guys and bad. Literally putting a Joker/Batman level blood feud into the mix with Ranx and Mogo is just a ridiculous head-scratcher. I hate to say this, but if you want to do a cute idea like this, you need comics knowledge. It becomes apparent when you don't have it.

That's not to be a personal knock on Johnbobb, but more of a challenge to the more comic savvy of you out there. If you have copious comics knowledge at you went with a safe bet team, you did yourself a disservice. A truly excellent comics team draws A-Listers and D-Listers alike. This is a team with a B-Lister and a bunch of C-to-Z listers. There's also no reason to draw these characters together. The thing that makes each of them special, their unique existence as locations, is completely ruined when you dump them all together. It's like pouring a bottle of vanilla extract when a single teaspoon will do.

Membership Drive: I can't believe that Dream was added to this team when probably one of the greatest non-building/city/planets wasn't included that needs to be here. In a group of cities and planets, how do you NOT include Jack Hawksmoor, the man who speaks to cities AS A FREAKING SUPERPOWER? Hawksmoor is, quite honestly, one of the top 5 biggest whiffs on this entire project. Maybe even the biggest. Not only is he a perfect fit in terms of power set, but he's also the kind of character that has been itching for a major star vehicle for years. This title would effectively be a solo venture for him. Give him the ball.
---

scarletspeed7 posted...

I don't think, for example, that Johnbobb considered for a moment how or why these characters would work together.

that would be correct

I just thought the idea was funny
---

Which is fine, nominations are open for a reason! But I have to give points to teams for being, you know, feasible. It's a good general rule to remember that in the history of everything, I have found nothing cute or funny. I'm very much a buzzkill ranker.
---

Easy there Bruno Gianelli
---

Eddv posted...

Easy there Bruno Gianelli

Only you would get that reference.
---

Out of curiosity, how would you work Doomsday onto a team that doesn't come in last place? I spent the day thinking about it and...well I don't have enough comics knowledge to come up with much of anything. The closest I could get would be a one-shot alternate universe set during Civil War:

Tony & Reed, having already gone rather...psychotic during the plot, go even further and create a wretched monstrosity to brutally force compliance. And then everyone dies shortly afterwards, because of course they do, there's no version of "we create and/or enslave something called Doomsday to destroy our enemies" that doesn't end that way. But, your line about building the entire team around him, makes me think you had at least half an idea to work with?
---

A truly excellent comics team draws A-Listers and D-Listers alike.

*Looks at every team that I entered.* ...I appear to have made numerous creative errors.
---