Comic books have now spawned the highest-grossing film of all time and some of the most recognizable characters in history – with some superheroes even getting turned into verbs ala hulking out. But what about the heroes who are often overlooked?
Here we take a look at some of the unsung heroes of comic book franchises. Whilst these characters may not be getting their own movie trilogy, or their own slots on online casinos with the best casino bonuses Canada has to offer, each of these heroes has their own charm and place in the universes.
Cypher (X-Men)
A very overlooked X-men character who has almost zero offensive capabilities, Cypher kind of meagerly limped onto the scene of the New Mutants.
But when X-Men writer Louise Simonson killed off the character in New Mutants Issue 80, people started to realize just how much of a key component his ability to understand languages and see everything as language was.
He was revived a few years ago and has since gone on to be a key component in the Krakoa era, helping Professor X with his unique power set.
Dazzler (X-Men)
Hoping to start a new craze, the whole premise of adding Dazzler to the Marvel roster was to create movie and music tie-ins with real-life Bo Derek.
None of the movie or album tie-ins ended up happening though and Dazzler went on to join the X-Men roster. She did have a rather cool power though – being able to turn sound energy into light energy – which has since earned her a solid spot on the A-Force, the all-female version of the Avengers.
Frog Thor (Thor)
If you were to try and pitch me a frog version of Thor without me knowing more than that, you would have been seeing a very confused look. But Frog Thor in the comics has since become one of the many cult characters – even earning a very small cameo in the recent TV series.
The very first iteration of Frog Thor happened when Thor’s mischievous brother ended up transforming him into the small amphibian creature. The second version of Frog Thor (amazingly known as ‘Throg’) was added to the comic when a stray frog found a piece of Mjolnir. This turned him into the amphibian hero we never knew we needed – the Frog of Thunder.
But he hasn’t had that many notable appearances in the comics, with his most important roles to date as being part of the Pet Avengers and part of the thor Corps in the Secret Wars series.
Longshot (X-Men)
Rocking the essential 80’s mullet, Longshot was an alien from the TV dimension who stormed onto the scene. With his ability being boiled down to ‘being extremely lucky’, he quickly became a bit of a joke character.
This wasn’t helped by his rather fuzzy backstory and quirky apparel, but he somehow managed to worm his way into the hearts of the fans, having various run-ins with various Marvel characters.
He’s had a few different revivals since his conception and fans will be rejoiced to hear he recently got another one in a recent X-Men Legends anthology.
Doop (X-Men)
What do you get if you cross Ghostbusters Slimer with the X-Men franchise? Doop. The floating green blobby creature doesn’t speak in full sentences and on paper just shouldn’t really work. But Doop wasn’t just a hit with the ladies and gents of the X-Men universe – he was also a hit with the fans.
Doop is a product of the Weapon X program and some might argue he’s the strongest character of them all – he has some crazy powers. He is superhumanly strong, can fly, can copy physical objects, and has even shown the ability to manipulate time and space to some degree.
Whilst It’s never been fully explained exactly what his powers are – he just uses them and then usually makes a quirky remark in his language – he’s so invaluable to the team that he has featured in numerous superhero squads and even had his own limited comic book series.
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