It possibly says a lot about me to reveal that the Marvel characters that appeal to me aren’t the angst-ridden characters so caught up in their own soap operas that they can forget about the supervillain on the loose, nor the mysterious antihero who solves every problem begrudgingly with one of several teams even though they pretend to be a loner. Instead, give me the characters that have a good attitude, friendly and the ability to play well with others. Like this guy, in fact:
Henry McCoy, the blushing, blue-eyed (and blue-furred) Beast is definitely one of my favorite Marvel characters; I actually discovered him as an Avenger, and so the discovery that he has also been an X-Man – and later, a Defender – came as a surprise: Characters that work well in multiple teams? Without bickering or thought balloons about how they don’t fit in? Characters that other characters seem to like? What was this insanity? (Ben Grimm, interestingly enough, has the same appeal for me.) I’ve always appreciated the upbeat, unapologetically smart, nature of Hank, and found him to be a constantly under-used character, and one that could easily carry his own series if given the chance. Maybe we’ll get to see one post-Avengers vs. X-Men, if we’re lucky.
February 27th, 2012 at 9:10 am
It’s funny that you mention the Thing also; I was thinking a Beast/Thing teamup would be a lot of fun. They’re like Felix and Oscar, but as monsters.
February 27th, 2012 at 12:43 pm
One of my favorites as well…him and Nightcrawler when he wasn’t being written as an angsty wannabe priest.
February 27th, 2012 at 1:08 pm
Well, he did have his own series. Written for the most part by Steve Englehart, one of your favourite old guard writers. Check it out.
February 27th, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Good gravy, it IS nice to read about characters that aren’t filled with angst and woe for a change! Which is why it is also infuriating when formerly happy-go-lucky characters get thrown into the mixer and get a bunch of psychosis ladled into their lives.
The Beast and Nightcrawler both have reasons to be depressed…but they go against type and are generally happy. I…miss that.
February 27th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Everyone loves the Beast!
March 13th, 2012 at 9:22 pm
without telling you my whole life story. hank really is my hero for real and i’ve been in love with him for 20 years and im 28 yrs old.
i was a very depressed kid with ironically a big body and 12 size feet for a 8 year old. he showed me that you can be anything you want to be and your appearance does not matter.