DC and Marvel: Myths and Legends (The Overview)

I have always been fond of comic books, and have seen them as more or less modern mythology. But this does present a problem in that they are meant to be a continuing never ending thing, and to some extent this prevents them from attaining that lofty status. But at the same time, there is A TON of history and such to explore within.

So as a sort of writing experiment, as I like to do, I began to wonder... what would I do if given both these properties? What would I do differently? What would I do the same?

It all started by me trying to limit myself. What are the categories that need telling? What characters are the ones to focus on? I thought of this in terms of trying to convert the entirety of both universes into TV series, but that's really just the way I think. TV is an excellent medium for conveying serialized story telling. So, I looked at it in terms of that.

Firstly, There are six categories of stories to be told with either universe. And they break down thusly:

Headliners

These are your high profile, big name characters, the ones with tons of potential to draw on in story terms.

Second Stringers

These are your characters that are... well, a notch below the Headliners, characters that can still carry a tale, but perhaps not to the extent of your Headliners.

Duos

These are your characters who work best in a buddy/buddy dynamic. Kinda like putting two Second Stringers together to get an equivalent Headliner.

Teams

These are your ensemble tales dealing with a group of characters together, rather than a main character and their supporting cast.

Worlds

These are your expansive areas not always dealing with the Earth of here and now. As such, these would be like a larger scale team story, but not AS concerned with fitting into the same world. (Same universe, but a different world if you will)

Anthologies

This one I really dug. Mainly it's due to it giving focus to lesser characters that you could still tell fantastic stories with. I look at it in terms of having a set group of characters of a type, and then giving each a season to have their story.

But those are the six Categories I fit them all into.

After that I limited myself to Six choices per category. Only six of any of them. So, you don't have just a passle of things trying to figure out what they want to be, but a finite number of things place specifically into a position of what they are.

Within that, each choice gets only FIVE seasons to tell whatever they need. Five seasons. A beginning, a middle, and an end. That's it. They tell the tales important to that character and done. (Within that, I'm still trying to decide total number of episodes per season, but I'm leaning towards 26, with some of them limited to 13.)

Most importantly, I tried to look at it in terms of themes. Not only telling a story with the characters, but finding the core theme of that character to exploit. And for this purpose, I would use stories that serve it from the comics, but also change them as necessary. (Bet you never thought you hear THAT one.) But not to gain a wider audience or simplify, but rather to serve that theme and meaning within the character. What their singular story represents.

In other words, thinking of them in terms of mythology.

Now, I don't have this all totally worked out, but I thought you'd be curious to see at the very least my choices for each Category. Each I thought there was something to say something with. Some of them are obvious, some, not so. Later, I might get into more of what I had in mind for each, but right now, these are my choices of focus:

Headliners (DC)

• Superman
• Batman
• The Flash
• Wonder Woman
• Aquaman
• Green Lantern

Headliners (Marvel)

• Spider-Man
• Thor
• Iron Man
• Hulk
• Captain America
• Doctor Strange

Second Stringers (DC)

• Shazam!
• Plastic Man
• Martian Manhunter
• Atom
• Green Arrow
• Dr. Fate

Second Stringers (Marvel)

• Captain Marvel
• Silver Surfer
• Daredevil
• Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.
• The Punisher
• Spirits of Vengeance

Duos (DC)

• Hawkman/Hawkgirl
• Blue Beetle/Booster Gold
• Fire and Ice
• Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.
• Hawk and Dove
• Animal Man/B'wana Beast

Duos (Marvel)

• Heroes for Hire
• Ant-Man/Wasp
• Cloak and Dagger
• Ka-Zar and Shanna
• Cable/Deadpool
• Marvel Team-Up

Teams (DC)

• Justice League
• Teen Titans
• Suicide Squad
• Doom Patrol
• Challengers of the Unknown
• Legion of Superheroes

Teams (Marvel)

• X-Men
• Fantastic Four
• Avengers
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Thunderbolts
• Damage Control

Worlds (DC) 

• Fourth World (aka New Gods)
• The Endless
• Earth Two (aka Golden Age)
• Earth Three (aka Crime Syndicate of Amerika)
• Wildstorm
• Elseworlds

Worlds (Marvel)

• The Inhumans
• The Eternals
• Exiles
• 2099
• Ultraverse
• What If?

Anthologies (DC)

• Weird War Tales

• Blackhawks 

• Sgt. Rock 

• Unknown Soldier  

• Creature Commandos 

• Mademoiselle Marie

• Weird Western Tales

• Jonah Hex

• Vigilante

• Bat Lash

• El Diablo

• Pow Wow Smith

• Weird Worlds

• Zatanna

• Timothy Hunter

• Frankenstein

• Deadman

• Kamandi

• Demon Knights

• Etrigan

• Shining Knight

• Madame Xanadu

• Viking Prince Jon

• Demon Knights (Team)

• House of Mystery

• Dial H for Hero

• The Question

• Human Target

• Hitman

• Resurrection Man

• Vertigo

• Swamp Thing

• Constantine

• Shade the Changing Man

• Preacher

• Kid Eternity

Anthologies (Marvel)

• Midnight Sons

• Morbius

• Werewolf By Night

• Son of Satan

• Brother Voodoo

• Man-Thing

• Nightstalkers

• Blade

• Tomb of Dracula

• The Zombie

• Terror Inc.

• Legion of Night 

• Journey Into Mystery

• Machine Man

• Sleepwalker

• Spider-Woman

• Sentry

• Impossible Man

• Astonishing Tales

• Runaways

• Deathlok

• Namor the Sub-Mariner

• Wild Pack

• Alias

• Amazing Fantasy

• Howard the Duck

• Death's Head

• Hercules

• Power Pack

• Alpha Flight

• Marvel Knights

• Shang-Chi

• Moon Knight

• Black Panther

• Squadron Supreme

• Darkhawk

Within each of the two universes, the stories would take place in the same worlds (mostly), so there would be crossovers and things, so, don't think the ones I listed are the only characters. It's just the rest I would deal with within those various tales. But more or less, each of these had a certain angle I wanted to deal with, and that is why they were chosen.

As I said, later I may fill you in on the various thoughts and ideas I had with each. Till next time.