The idea of a company crossover gets most comics fans jumping up and down with joy. It's pretty awesome to see a couple of your favorite characters, from competing companies, come together to fight for the greater good. In 1996, something in the world of comics happened that I will forever remember. Marvel and DC came together and beat the heck out of each other in DC Vs Marvel, a four-issue mini-series. It wasn't the first time these two colossal companies crossed over, but for me, it was the most memorable.
We don't get to see crossovers that often, sadly. In fact, the last cross-company crossover, from at least one of the two big comic book companies, we got was back in 2008 when Top Cow and Marvel teamed up for The Magdalena/Daredevil. Independent publishers don't seem to have a problem doing these cross-overs, but they still don't do it that often. Currently, IDW & Dynamite have the Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness book. That got me thinking, what crossovers would I like to see? I came up with a few, but I quickly realized that the chances of these happening are slim to none. Why? Because Marvel and DC aren't too keen on the crossover. So here's 5 crossovers we'll never see.
== TEASER ==Justice Society of America/All Winners Squad
All Winners Squad? What about the Invaders? While I thought the Invaders would be a great edition, if we're going with DC's first WWII team, we might as well do the same with Marvel's. The Justice Society of America and All Winners Squad both had the same goal: Beating the heck out of Nazis, but who are these two teams?
Well, the Justice Society of America consisted of many members over the years, but there were 9 people who truly made up the original team. 8 of them were featured on the cover of All Star Comics #3: The Atom, Sandman, The Spectre, The Flash, Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern, The Hour-Man, and Johnny Thunder. As for the All Winners Squad, they were made up of 7 lively chaps: Captain America, Bucky, Human Torch, Toro, Sub-Mariner, Black Marvel, and Angel. Although some of the names look familiar, trust me, they're not the people you think they are.
Why would these guys team up? Nazis. Duh! But who would they fight? There's no question that these two teams would take on the toughest Nazi villain in comic book history: Red Skull. There isn't another Marvel or DC WWII era villain as iconic as the Red Skull. Sure, there's tons of WWII era DC villains, but none of them have the "umph" that Red Skull does.
Ghost Rider/Spawn
There are so many similarities between these two characters that a crossover like this would make sense. Ghost Rider and Spawn both sold their souls, essentially work for the devil, and were "cursed" (Cursed my butt. Their powers are awesome). They both have some pretty awesome super-powers, so throwing them in the same book just makes sense.
What would these two employees of hell being doing in this book? One idea that comes to mind is battling the men they work for. Malebolgia (Spawn's "boss") and Mephisto would be a great team-up, in order to take over Earth, and of course, it would be up to Ghost Rider and Spawn to stop them.
This is a book where I'd really like to see Todd McFarlane on the art. He created Spawn and defined the character, but I don't ever think he's ever done a book with Ghost Rider in it. As for writing, I'd love to see Daniel Way on a book like this, since I really enjoyed his Ghost Rider run back in 2007.
Rick Grimes/Marvel Zombies
Rick Grimes is the lead character of a little book called The Walking Dead, and Marvel Zombies are... well... Marvel Zombies. Rick Grimes runs from zombies and occasionally ends their undead existence, and the Marvel Zombies... eat Galactus. It seems these two comic book franchises are a great fit for each other.
What makes a cross over like this REALLY cool is that Walking Dead is written by Robert Kirkman, who happened to also write the good volumes of Marvel Zombies. No one knows these characters better then Kirkman, since he created them, so you better believe it would be an awesome storyline. There's no set characters on the Marvel Zombies end, but the big question is whether or not to give them the power cosmic, which they got from eating a chunk of Galactus. Since Rick is already up against super-powered undead, I say leave the power cosmic out of this one.
Most likely, these guys wouldn't be teaming up with each other. They'd be at each other's throats, which would be pretty hard for Rick, since that character is much more interested in his and his family's survival than killing off the undead. It may be tougher to come up with a great story for this one, but if Kirkman took the role of the writer, you could count on one enjoyable story.
Deathstroke & Lobo vs Deadpool & Wolverine
Quick insider info for those not in the know. Deadpool is Marvel's parody of Deathstroke, a DC comics assassin. Lobo is DC's parody of a mixture of over-the-top, ultra-violent Marvel characters, mainly Wolverine. What happens when you team up the real character with the parody? Chaos.
There are so many different ways to do this. Yes, you could have the parody teamed up with the original or both parodies teamed up with each other, but this story would work best if it's Marvel vs DC. As you may know, Deadpool and Wolverine are both currently on X-Force, so having those two on the same team wouldn't be too hard; however, how do you get Deathstroke and Lobo on the same side of things? Well, maybe they've both been hired to hunt down either Deadpool or Wolverine.
If this book was ever put together, it would have to be as 90s as possible, with very gritty, dark 80s undertones. It needs to be ultra-violent, and all the characters need to have as many pouches as possible. Lobo and Deadpool will dish out the ridiculous dialogue. I smell terrible, yet awesome mini-series.
Doctors!
What happens when you put Doctor Fate, Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, The Doctor, Doctor Octopus, Doctor (Wildstorm), Doctor Mid-Nite, Doctor Druid, Doctor Nemesis, Doctor Occult, Doctor Alchemy, Doctor Terry Thirteen, Doc Savage, Doctor Solar, Doctor Bong, Doctor Robotnik, Doctor Ligh t, Doctor Mindbender, and Mr. Terrific (He has many doctorates) all in the same room?
Answer: A doctor convention! If you've ever read the mini-series Common Grounds, then this giant, ridiculous crossover could work. Common Grounds was about a diner where all of the super-heroes hang out at after their day of work is over. There's no fighting. Just a bunch of coffee. This crossover could work that way. It could also fail miserably. It would have to be pretty light-hearted and be more about the characters, rather than "fighting the good fight," or bad fight for some of these guys. Come on, haven't you ever wanted to see every character with "Doctor" in his or her name (and Mr Terrific) team up in a book? No? It's just me? Oh well.
When it comes to crossovers, sure, we'd love to see them all the time, but you can't do that because it would take away the specialness of it. A couple of these ones are a bit silly, but hey, if you think about it, many crossovers are a bit comedic or zany. Sometimes they just have to be since what happens in crossovers, especially with the "big two," can't affect continuity.
The main reason we'll most likely never see any cross overs like this is because Marvel and DC just don't crossovers with other companies like they used to. It's a bummer, but that's just the way things are. Sure, we got to see Daredevil/Magdelena in the past few years, but that's about it. I've come up with a few serious ideas, and a couple ridiculous ones. Now I ask you guys, what cross overs would you like to see? What characters need to team up or battle it out?