When I was a kid I was surprised that Sunfire didn't have a higher profile in the comics. he had a whole episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends dedicated to him, after all! I guess there are a lot of fire-based heroes and villains and perhaps that's why he kind of got lost in the mix.
I quite agree, Ross. I remember reading a barber shop back-issue of the X-men featuring his debut. The only mutant born from the residual radiation at Hiroshima's ground zero! Of course, in the fifty years since that origin was published, the back story has probably been modified quite a lot. So as not to make him look like a Baby Boomer ready for retirement.
ReplyDeleteThat origin is probably one of the reasons why he hasn't been used much, yes; then there's the fact that he is (or, at any rate, was originally) an arrogant jerk with a deep (albeit understandable) dislike of Americans -- a category that includes most of Marvel's other heroes -- and the fact that his energy-blasts were probably harder to use in a non-lethal manner than were a lot of other character's powers...
ReplyDeleteAnother couple of problems with Sunfire:
ReplyDelete1) Rightly or not, he was considered by some to be a 'diversity/token' character and caught in the backlash against those.
2) Possibly he was just a hard character for American writers to find a proper and authentic 'voice' for, one that would pass muster with both American and Japanese audiences, and wasn't just the 'arrogant jerk'.
Given that American readers now have more exposure to the style and tropes of Japanese comics and their characters (and are another generation removed from the WWII or cheap-electronics-ripoff associations with Japan), a good writer could probably do a decent job with Sunfire.
Good stuff! How about a SUNFIRE and WILDFIRE team-up?
ReplyDeleteI remember that episode too Ross. Really solid episode, that was especially cool because it involved two people with fire powers bonding and almost becoming a couple. Not too many same-powered couples in comics these days.
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely agree with the problems writing him, as unlike Namor, he doesn't have a kingdom to fall back on. Earth X treated him a lot better. Too bad he still hasn't gotten his due. Even with that Big Hero 6 movie.
Wolfhammer, you surprised me. I was sure someone was going to suggest Sunfire and Starfire.
ReplyDeletehow about sunfire and the human torch(fantastic 4 version) and firestorm
ReplyDeleteGreat, but I think that "Silver Samurai" would combine with Katana even better...
ReplyDeleteAnother possibility would be Katana & Zatanna, the aliterative
superheros...