Tuesday, July 16, 2019

The IMProbables



There were plenty of characters to fill up this team with, I could probably have had twice the number of members.  I wonder why it is such a common theme - diminutive sidekicks or antagonists with amazing magical abilities.  One would think it was for marketing purposes, but I haven't seen many toys or stuffed animals featuring these imps over the years so there must be another reason.

28 comments:

jack-el said...

another wonderful cover and new team, Ross...
all i can say is gad ZOOKs...

Anonymous said...

Maybe the Great Gazoo could meet The3 Mask, Disney's Aladdin's Genie, G.E.E.K.E.R., and maybe other similar characters.

Simreeve said...

Wonderful!

In some cases they might be because the writers had made their heroes too competent for actual villains to be much of a challenge, so jokers [with a small'j'] like these were seen as a break for the readers from easy triumph after easy triumph ... sort of like how Superman was given the Toyman and Prankster as "entertaining" opponents...

det_Tobor said...

Yahoo!!! What a concept. To your question, magic was used to counterbalance Superman's superpowers and make the story "kid friendly". The staff doing Batman often followed ideas that were done by the staff on Superman. Stan Lee wanted to do his own take on such an "antagonist". I believe Gazoo came after My Favorite Martian.

Think of these beings as being pure energy superbeings with very little limitations.
Think of them going for a stroll thru all the dimensions and realms.
The Dreaming, Nightmare from Dr Strange along with a lot of his main concerns, Wonder Woman's gods... All of these would be an early starting point for this group's quest of finding just the right picnic spot.

Would the Ancient One have tried to ignore them as Reed tried to? Could Loki?
What if they wanted to create a universe of their own.

Ahh Ross, what you have unleashed could go far but who could "concern" them??
Beautiful concept...wait for the movie version of this to come out. It will make TRILLIONS!

Anonymous Plus One said...

It was
the Impossible Man playing with the Hulk
Bamf was looking into Mighty Mouse
Mr. Mxyzptlk was looking for the express lane from Dormammu's dwelling on his way to Rocky and Bullwinkle
Batmite was talking with Professor X and Tony Stark
when they heard Paul Revere cry out: One if by land, two if by sea and three if by air!Then the cow jumped over the moon while the spoon ran away with the cheese.

Lovecraft would have loved this.

jack-el said...

hey, Ross, the blog "Dial B for Blog" had several fake covers using most of these imps as the Imp League of America....
check it out....

Anonymous said...

What fun!

Carycomic said...

I agree with all of the above sentiments. Furthermore, I applaud you for bringing such an obscure character as the Fairy Godmother (from Rocky & Bullwinkle's "Fractured Fairy Tales") out of retirement.

Bravo! :-)

Bob Greenwade said...

I can just see the Fairy Godmother (and thank you Cary for identifying where she's from) trying to lead this group into something cohesive, and periodically checking a pocketwatch to time her anti-anxiety medications.

MarchHareSupreme said...

Oy. One of these clowns would make me stress , three would make me nuts . Together , I'd just beg for death .

Anonymous said...

Agreed. Great to see the Fairy Godmother.

How about Archie Andrews and Rocket J. Squirrel in the Search for the Missing Mooses?

Quite unrelatedly, if DC and Marvel ever do another crossover, I'd love to see Howard the Duck and the Terrifics. Those characters seem a great match. As this is unlikely, how about a cover here, Ross?

I really enjoyed today's cover.

kidkyoto@hotmail.com said...

Were it a real comic I'd say it needs a straight man, maybe the Punisher or Constantine

Anonymous said...

On Thursday or Friday, maybe you could feature a group of lions, referencing "The Lion King", with Linus the Lionhearted, Lippy the Lion, King Leonardo, Kimba the White Lion, etc.

Ken said...

I'd love to see a cover using the Mighty Heroes from Mighty Mouse. Such a great cartoon back in the day!

Ross said...

Ken, they appeared in STF #1481.

Anonymous said...

Above anonymous, you do realise that these covers take quite a bit of work, don't you? Asking on Wednesday for a particular cover on Thursday or Friday seems a bit unreasonable. Or did you mean ANY Thursday or Friday?

Anonymous said...

P.S. Loony Leo could also form part of that group.

Bob Greenwade said...

On the topic of lions, the group wouldn't be completely without L. Frank Baum's Cowardly Lion.

It similarly occurs to me that someone from Oz (I'm thinking Dorothy and Tik-Tok) could land in Wonderland, using the original art from the respective stories. Ditto with Alice in the Hundred Acre Wood.

Carycomic said...

@Anon1202: I'd settle for the Tuesday where Wimpy finally pays me back for all those hamburgs I treated him to on Monday.

Anonymous said...

Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew had a mini-series involving Oz and Wonderland.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the "improbables"Improbables" could meet the Incredibles and the Impossibles (who once shared a cover on this website!"

Carycomic said...

@Anon453: that would be indescribably enjoyable!

Carycomic said...

@Ken and Ross: then, how about the Mighty Heroes vs. the Agents of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.?

Anonymous said...

Nice cover, Ross.

Cary, it was Tuesday last February: https://braveandboldlost.blogspot.com/2018/02/captain-hero-and-super-dagwood-vs-wimpy.html?m=1

Bob G, it could work, but would need to be done properly. DC tried something like that with Captain Carrot in the Oz Wonderland War. It didn't work. The plot was largely lifted from the book Ozma of Oz. The artists tried very hard to match the original Oz and Alice illustration styles, but they completely missed the spirit of the books. If I remember properly, and I do try to forget it, the characters looked like the original and too often spoke words almost exactly duplicating the books, but didn't behave like them. A real disappointment. End of complaining.

DC50 said...

On 7/18/19, Ross will provide the answer to who could be "straight man" to this fine group: Amanda Waller. 😬

Couldn't think of a better person for it to happen to...and no X factor for her to use.

Anonymous said...

@DC50: methinks thou didst speak too soon.

Carycomic said...

@Anon549: No, that wasn't me he repaid. That was Marty Graw!

Anonymous said...

I don't think she's the fairy godmother. I think she is just the Fractured Fairy!

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