Squad Goals

So remember that one time I mentioned Marvel's "Squadron Supreme/Sinister" is unnecessary because Marvel already has characters similar to DC Comic's characters? WELL GUESS WHAT, PEACHES! I'M TALKING ABOUT THAT. Another day, another sick Panel Biter Pitch-It, this is my comic book pitch for "Squadron Superior".

A little reminder to some of you loyal readers, "Squadron Supreme/Sinister" is a alignment ambiguous team of characters who are obvious rip-offs of DC Comic's Justice League characters. Hyperion is Superman, Nighthawk is Batman, blah blah blah. Sometimes they're heroes, sometimes they're villains, but if you ask me they've always been boring. Unnecessary-really-when you consider the fact that Marvel already has characters enough like DC Characters to use. And this is my big example of that! The Squadron Superior was an idea I had after reading about Marvel's Sentry in stuff like "New Avengers" and "Siege" and I noticed the potential directions for the character. Everything else fell into place.

The Sentry-of course-is a Superman allegory with "the power of a thousand exploding suns". An advanced super-serum gave Robbie Raymond these powers, but also created a split personality called The Void. Essentially, every time Sentry does something good he must do something evil, and vice-versa. Going on with the members, next comes the Batman allegory Marc Spector/Moon Knight. Moon Knight is a former mercenary inspired by an Egyptian God to become a vigilante, using his fortune to fund various weapons. Moon Knight also has multiple personality disorder as he has developed multiple disguises over the course of his career. Valkyrie is the Wonder Woman allegory, as Brunnhilde she was personally selected by Odin-King of Asgard-to lead The Valkyrior, a group of warriors who would guide the mortal souls of warriors to Valhalla, should they be worthy. Since she is a warrior first and a hero second, her interactions with superheroes have been alien. The Flash allegory is Quicksilver, the loyal brother of Scarlet Witch and victim of a retconned origin this speedster has a patience issue as the rest of the world moves too slow for him. Nova is the Green Lantern allegory, as he is a member of a law-enforcing space corps called The Nova Corps. I chose the older Richard Rider over the young Sam Alexander simply because of the subject manner of this team. Namor is the Aquaman allegory, he is King of Atlantis and very difficult to work with for his superiority complex. Finally the Martian Manhunter allegory would be The Super-Skrull. While there have been many, this Super-Skrull would be an original character who used his shapeshifting powers to hide among human society and grow a love for them. Despite that, he is the target of many alien "hate comments".

As my desired story would go, The Sentry would be trying to live a normal life again after all the hell he's been through, but become threatened one day by the most recent version of The Squadron Supreme/Sinister. Losing his tolerance for these judgmental heroes, Sentry would accidentally kill them. To make up for this and establish a better new life, Sentry would turn his nefarious lair-The Sentry's Watchtower-and attach it to a orbiting meteor above Earth. He would then trick certain characters into looking for him. He steals an Egyptian totem to lure Moon Knight, he destroys an Asgardian plaque in Norway to draw out Valkyrie, he pollutes in the ocean to get Namor's attention, he beats up the young Nova Sam Alexander to coerce Richard Rider Nova, he knocks Scarlet Witch unconscious to piss off Quicksilver, and finally he destroys the home of Jones Johnson (secretly the Skrull known as Jon'John) to force Super-Skrull out of hiding. Once these six gather on Planet Sentry-that Watchtower I mentioned-Sentry tries to convince them to help him. Obviously a large fight between Sentry and these six occurs, but after that venting Sentry reveals that his dark alter ego The Void used Sentry's limitless powers to separate from him and spread it's evil influence into the galaxy. That The Void had become so bored of Sentry's attempt to be normal that it looked for other sources of control. When the six characters rationally refuse, Sentry claims he's inserted sparks of his energy into all of their skulls and that with a mean force of will he can kill them all. Without The Void inside him, Sentry's evil intentions come purely from his own desires. Against their will, the six characters agree to help Sentry travel the galaxy in their tower and destroy The Void once and for all. The Sentry, Moon Knight, Valkyrie, Quicksilver, Nova, Namor, and Super-Skrull take the name Squadron Superior in honor of the catalyst of Sentry's mission.

Essentially you have a version of a galaxy-trotting Justice League with some of Marvel's most savage, conflicting, and hard to work with characters. The fun writes itself! Think how the comical ball-busting between the characters mixed with no-nonsense violence could do for Marvel as their image has been mostly upbeat. Story threads like "why did Sentry choose them", "what is The Void's end goal" and "could The Sentry be lying to us" would run through readers minds, providing a super-team established out of pure force, kind of like The Suicide Squad. Recently when characters in Marvel use the term "Superior", they are going through some counter-productive and antagonistic change. When Spider-Man was "Superior" he was possessed by the villain Doctor Octopus, when Iron Man was "Superior" his personality reverted back to his greedy, playboy, irresponsible mindset, so for Sentry and The Squad, their change would be establishing themselves as a capable team of heroes, but also hating each other's guts. This book would revitalize certain characters and be a good way to educate readers on some of Marvel's more B and C-list heroes. And with characters like Sentry, Moon Knight and Valkyrie being absent from Marvel's cinematic universe so far, it could be a good advertisement move too. I hope you enjoyed by comic book pitch and are interested in future pitches coming your way. Thanks for reading!

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