TGIT!!!!
Still recovering from the fine Christmas feast and hangovers are we?
Don't worry, 'cause you're not the only ones. Apparently some of the elves around the House of Fun(*cough Ben Grimm, Nick Fury, Hal, cough cough) can't seem to hold their holiday cheer like they used to. Oh well, it tends to happen with age.
Well how you guys celebrated Christmas, I hope you all got what you wanted, or needed. And at the vry least, something good. If not, well, there's always next year I suppose.
Now onto today's edition of the Top 5.
I was thinking about what the hell I could possibly talk about, then I remebered I haven't done a list concerning certain comic characters or teams and who should work on them that already hasn't.
So for today, the subject of this particular Top 5, are the Metal Men.
Yes, the Metal Men. Those wild and wacky silver age robots who were the brainchildren of famous silver age writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru.
As the creations of brillant scientist Dr. Will Magnus, the Metal Men were created with a unique invention called a Responsometer which gives each robot his and her own unqiue personality according to the main element their created from.
In case you didn't already know, there names are Lead, Iron, Tin, Platinum, and Gold. There's supposed to be another one called Copper as well, but I'm not sure if she's still being used or not. Hell, Doc Magnus himself was once a Metal Man, but I think that was ret-conned into be a dream/hallucination.
It's amazing to think the Metal Men have been around for over 50 years, and yet they don't have a regular title(they did back in the day, but not anymore) and instead are merely treated as bit players in the DCU. Shame really, considering the crazy amount of potential a damn good writer could pull out of them.
And so here's the Top 5 list of comic writers I wouldn't mind taking a stab at those lovable robotic misfits.
5). Kieron Grant.
Kieron Grant's proven himself to be the type of writer that elevates lesser known or lesser used characters, leaving them much better than he found them. And isn't what a great writer does? Just look at the sucess and praise he's amassed since writing Loki, Thor, Phonograph, and now Young Avengers and Iron Man. With Young Avengers, he took a great cast of young heroes, and turned them into legit stars, where lesser writers might've bungled and fucked them up. Not Grant. He has a unique way of making his characters shine with their own brand of wit and grace.
I'd expect no less from him were to tackle a concept like The Metal Men. I can only imagine just how much more social and meta-commentary we'd get from the team,as well as the kind of innovative layouts and 4th Wall-breaking we've already seen in his Young Avengers run. So yeah, a mini or a couple of arc from Kieron Grant, and I bet creators will be breaking the doors down to work the Metal Men again.
Seriously just think of the fun and depth he'd get out each one of the Metal Men's personalities, and you tell me you wouldn't be the least bit interested. I dare you.
4). Adam Warren.
Speaking off fun and robots, look no further than this guy, Adam Warren. Warren's famous for his work on the Dirty Pair, Gen 13, and other various titles. He's tackled the subject of robots before when he created the mini-series LiveWires, about a group of walking, robotic WMD, pulled from various bad guy groups from the Marvel U. If he can make those characters look awesome, imagine what the Metal Men would look like as drawn by Adam Warren. I guarentee you Platinum and Copper would look even hotty than normal. And if you've seen the way he draws women, than you know what I'm talking about. I guess that'd be one way to make Doctor Magnus notice Platinum more, as creepy as that is;)
3). Warren Ellis.
Would you trust your kids alone with this man? Maybe not, but you'd let him write you some kick-ass and intriguing stories though. Considered the 21st Century's answer to Alan Moore, Ellis has been around for, what over 20 years, writing various titles for various publishers around the world. Most notably Marvel, where write Thor, X-Man and Excalibur, and DC, where he wrote The Authority and Planetary.
I picked this guy because he's at his best when he's writing about technology, as evidenced by his Iron Man: Extremis work, and Doktor Sleepless and Anna Mercury for Avatar Comics. He just knows how to come up or use the right amount of belivible gadgets and upgrades to make you wonder. Even more scary when you think how some of the stuff he comes up with, winds up turning up for real later down the road.
I'd imagine he give the Metal Men a darker, more grittier edge and feel, but enough of his infamous dark humor would be display. I'm just curious on how he'd wrap and twist the technology in the book, and how the Metal Men would adapt and evolve under his pen. Probably best you let Ellis have a mini by himself, but what fun it would be.
2). Mark Waid.
Speaking of fun and the silver age, there's always Mark Waid. If you don't know his work by now, fucking google him. He's shown in the past, and even now with Daredevil, that not only does he write the characters he handles well, but especially in the cases of longtime comic stables like Captain America or Flash, he elevates and reveers them. He writes and treats them with the utmost respect, all the while makng them fresh and exciting for a new generation. Just look at his work on JLA: Year One. I imagine it was this maxi-series that really helped grease the wheels over at DC and set them in motion to eventually bring back both Hal and Barry, which eventually did happen.
Plus he's just really good at humor and character work, getting to the heart of a person, and going from there. And as a lover of all things silver age, you know the Metal Men are relatively safe in his hands. No unnecessary ret-conned bad pasts or skeletons in the closet for them.
1). Grant Morrison.
Speaking of a lover of all things silver age and wild ideas, none get wilder, than those that come out of this guy's head. Ol' Mr.Morrison's long proven he can always find new and exciting takes on older properties. Just look at the new ideas and fresh coats of paint he put on characters like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Batman, and The X-Men.
He almost never seems to run out of ideas, themes maybe, but never new ideas. I can only imagine all of the wild and crazy fantastical ideas he'd use to showcase the Metal Men. Not to mention the ways in which he'd highlight there different personalities. Hell, his Doc Magnus alone might get many to ask for a Doc Magnus solo.
And that my friends is a the Top 5 list of comic creators that haven't worked on the Metal Men(that I know of) but should.
Have a good weekend folks:)
