Unused Idea: The Maximums (comic book)
Marvel's mightiest superteam seen through a different angle.
As a comic book fanatic, I’ve always been fascinated by alternate takes on iconic superheroes. This goes all the way back to reading Watchmen for the first time and finding out they were based on established golden age superheroes. Over the years, I’ve read up on a lot of reimagined versions of established heroes, from Rob Liefeld’s Supreme being an edgier version of Superman to DC’s Sideways aping a number of tropes identified with Spiderman, in addition to all of the darker versions of Superman that are popular as of this posting (i.e. Omniman, Brightburn, Homelander, and the Plutonian from Irredeemable, just to name a few.) But for all of these alternate takes, the one that resonated with me most was Squadron Supreme, Marvel’s original alternate Justice League. It dealt with serious real world issues a decade before Watchmen saw print. And plus I just liked the name of the team: “Squadron Supreme” sounds cooler than “Justice League.”
But since Squadron Supreme has led a number of alternate versions of DC’s iconic heroes, I wondered why Marvel’s top guys haven’t been treated like that nearly as much. We’ve seen a number of wannabe Wolverines in the 1990s, and a couple of copies of Captain America, Daredevil and the Fantastic Four. But I was curious as to how DC would handle their version of the Avengers. I got a taste of it when they did a send up of Marvel’s Ultimates in the midst of a Superman/Batman story. I thought the concept could be taken further, so I dreamt up a treatment for them. If you like it and you’re a subscriber, you can use this as you see fit. Check it out.
THE MAXIMUMS
A Universe-wide threat is coming…
But this world’s mightiest heroes have been forced into hiding…
You’ve seen DC’s icons given the Marvel treatment many times over – everything from Squadron Supreme to The Sentry to even Moon Knight are in some way derivative from DC’s premier superheroes. You’ve also seen takes on the JLA from Image/Wildstorm and more independents than you can shake a stick at.
But rarely has there been an alternate take on Marvel’s mightiest superteam, The Avengers.
This story aims to take some of the classic elements of the Avengers (being brought together by chance, the ever changing lineup, the cosmic but also very human threats, and the interplay between characters) and look at them through a different lens – the DC lens.
I feel that the major difference between marvel’s storytelling and DC’s is that DC is better known for definitive battles featuring their iconic heroes, while Marvel is better known for their definitive character moments. So with this in mind, I bring you DC’s version of the Squadron Supreme: The Maximums (originally featured in Batman/Superman as an alternate take on Marvel’s Ultimates)
A Giant, cosmic entity that consumes planets has turned its sights on an Earth in an alternate DC universe. But earth lies defenseless, only able to watch the oncoming carnage. Where are the heroes? People cry. Where are the people who would save us from this menace? But the cries fall on deaf ears. You see, this is a world that has turned its back on its superheroes, hounding them into hiding and showing no appreciation for their sacrifice. A worldwide “Superhero ban” passed, with heroes having to register their powers under penalty of death. and instead of complying, all of the superheroes of the world, all of the heroes simply quit. (think “Civil War” meets the events in Bendis’ “Powers”). Super-villains are neutralized somehow by the government’s ordinary police, and that even forces the supervillains away (no superheroes to fight, no spectacle, right? And most supervillains are hubristic, so they need that foil)
But now the world-consumer approaches, sending his herald to warn an unsuspecting Earth. The world begs for some kind of solution, but no conventional strategy works, they simply aren’t powerful enough. But there are a group of people who can do it…
Now the call goes out for the superpowers to return. Help save your earth, they cry! But many of the former heroes are so embittered that not even the imminent destruction of Earth is enough to sway them to act. Some even try to ransom their help in exchange for the end of the ban, or some other more trivial things. The world’s governments won’t negotiate, so the problem remains.
Here’s where the story takes a DC-type of turn.
Somehow, someway, a long, forgotten cryogenic chamber opens up, and the Earth’s mightiest SOLDIER steps forth. He has little time to adjust to a new world, as he immediately sees the threat looming on the horizon. Knowing nothing about the superhero ban, he begins a desperate search to recruit heroes who can stop the world consumer (maybe he spends each issue recruiting one or two different people until he has his team). This takes him all over the world and even into different realities. And all of these heroes are jaded and bitter from the ban for various reasons (which should tie in loosely to their Marvel counterparts) and SOLDIER has to use his reason and charisma to convince them to come aboard. Eventually he gathers a team consisting of his main powerhouses – himself, ROBOT and VIKING, with supporters SKYSCRAPER, RAPIER (who turns evil by the end of the series), HORNET, BOWMAN (who dies heroically during the battle) RUNNER with his sister SORCERESS, RUSSIAN SPY and MONSTER. Due to the ban, all the heroes were stripped of their codenames, and/or they chose not to use them in protest.
Since they are the maximum of what the world’s powers has to offer, they call themselves THE MAXIMUMS and go about devising a way to stop this great threat.
When they unite to battle, they also inspire help from BUG, WOLFEN, LEOPARD KING, WEATHER GODDESS, MERMAN, ACROBAT, DOCTOR MAGIC and SKULL BIKER.
Finally, a giant cosmic battle commences between THE MAXIMUMS and the world consumer and his heralds (who maybe could resemble other Marvel heroes, or heroes from other non-Marvel or DC comics), DC-style, with the heroes having great moments where they show off their great powers and teamwork in creative ways. SOLDIER proves himself to be the great leader he was always meant to be (maybe he has self-doubt because of the events that led him to being put in cold storage). But the final blow has to be dealt by someone outside their universe, for the world-consumer is not of their universe. So somehow one of them must go to another reality and recruit a “Fantastic Four” group of heroes – DC’s CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN – to make it happen. They actually fail, but SKULL BIKER reveals himself as ATOMIC SKULL from the DCU (he made a deal with a DEVIL to get to a world where he can commit crime without worrying about Superman and Batman, but the state of the world forced him into hiding, too.) and he sacrifices himself to defeat the world consumer.
In the wake of the threat, the government reaches a compromise with the Maximums and the other world’s heroes. First, the Maximums become a U.N.-sanctioned team. Second, the ban on superheroes isn’t lifted entirely, but it allows people with powers who want to help people some room to breathe. And, of course, this inspires the supervillains to want to come back (namely, guys like ANTI-SPIDER, EIGHT ARMS, ARMOR DESPOT, SKULLHEAD, and THE BIG CRIMELORD).
One of these events should have some minute bearing on Infinite Crisis, to show that this was one of the worlds in the multiverse that was eliminated…and possibly to have one of the Maximum heroes find himself stranded in the DCU?
This was an idea that I had which will probaly never see the light of day…unless you decide to do something with it. And as a subscriber, you can do so with my blessing. So Subscribe! I post ideas like this every month, along with weekly writing advice.