questions about Amalgam characters

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NetSpiker

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#1  Edited By NetSpiker

When an Amalgam character has the same name as a DC or Marvel character, should they still get a separate character page?

Right now, the answer is yes for Colonel Bruce Wayne, no for Colonel Nick Fury and no for Thunderbolt Ross. On the surface, this seems to make sense. Nick Fury and Thunderbolt Ross have not been amalgamated with anybody, while Colonel Bruce Wayne is an amalgamation of Bruce Wayne and Nick Fury. Except that he can't be an amalgamation because Nick Fury exists as a separate character in the same comic. Or maybe he can be.

Amazon is an amalgam of Storm and Wonder Woman. This is proven in DC/Marvel: All Access #4, when Doctor Strangefate fused Storm and Wonder Woman together, and Amazon was the result. But then why does Diana Prince exist as a separate character in the Amalgam Universe? She's still an Amazon and she's still the daughter of Hippolyta, just like the DC version. So if Diana can still exist despite being combined with Ororo, then Nick Fury could still still exist despite being combined with Bruce Wayne. Amalgam logic is weird.

Logically, an Amalgam Universe character should have a separate page if they are an actual amalgam of a DC and Marvel character. But how can we be sure? The Diana Prince page says that Diana is one of the few amalgam characters not amalgamated with anyone. But the Amalgam page claims that Diana Prince is an amalgam of Wonder Woman and Elektra. John Ostrander (the writer of Bullets and Bracelets) says that "Diana was mostly DC, maybe influenced a little by Elektra (reference the Hand)".

I only have the Amalgam comics as single issues. Does anyone know if the trade paperbacks have an introduction or glossary or index that explains which characters are amalgams of which other characters?

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MajinBlackheart

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#2 MajinBlackheart  Moderator

They are completely different characters in a different universe from what I understand (or I was told, my first wiki edits were Amalgam characters). Usually, they are just different enough (like Tony Stark or Diana Prince).

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#3  Edited By NetSpiker

@jloneblackheart: The only thing really different about Colonel Bruce Wayne is that he never became Batman. But neither did Bruce Wayne (Green Lantern) from Batman: In Darkest Knight (1994). Neither did Bruce Wayne (Detective #27) from Batman: Detective No. 27 (2003). Neither did Bruss Wayne-son (Nosferatu) from Batman: Nosferatu (1999). Neither did Bruce Wayne (Paladin) from Justice League of America #25 (2008). Neither did Bruce Wayne from Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl and Batgirl (1998). So what makes Amalgam Bruce Wayne so special?

Likewise, the only thing that makes Amalgam Diana Prince different is she never became Wonder Woman. But the Diana Prince from JLA/Planetary: Terra Occulta (2002) never became Wonder Woman either.

Amalgam Tony was never actually called Tony Stark, so he could easily be a different character.

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#4 MajinBlackheart  Moderator

@netspiker: Well, Batman never became an agent of SHIELD either...

Never becoming Batman, or Wonder Woman or Iron Man is kind of a major difference if you ask me. That automatically changes character history immensly. I guess the main difference that makes them separate characters is the fact that it's a different publisher. While the examples you provided are simply alternate reality versions of the same character, the Amalgam version is not a DC version of the character.

There are some that appear to have absolutely no difference at all that I can think of. For example, the Female Furies appeared in Bullets & Bracelets, but since they were apparently the exact same characters I didn't bother to create different pages for them (kind of a waste of time and space). But there are plenty of other examples like you are asking about, like Puck or Blob, but since they are a different publisher with different characteristics/origins/associations, they should have their own page.

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#5 fesak  Moderator

The amalgamated characters should have separate pages, the others shouldn't as per the no alternate reality character pages rule. The exceptions are only made if a character has a significant number of appearances, which the amalgam characters don't.

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@fesak: But it's sometimes hard to tell if a character in an amalgamated character or merely an alternate reality version of an existing character. Colonel Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince are the most ambiguous examples. If you have Amalgam Age: The Marvel Comics Collection, could you check to see if there's any kind of introduction or appendix that confirms that Colonel Bruce Wayne really is an amalgamation of Batman and Nick Fury?

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#7  Edited By fesak  Moderator

Sorry, i don't have any amalgam comics, but there must be someone here who has.

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#8  Edited By NetSpiker

@jloneblackheart: I have another question about amalgam characters.

What is Comic Vine's policy regarding the use of unofficial names and semi-official names? The name Black Bat (Barbara Gordon) is semi-official, since it came from the trading cards and not the comics. In the comics, the character was called Huntress and she only had the first name Barbara. The names Cannonflash, Emerald Eye, Green Phoenix, Icebreaker, Le Bat and Supermutant are all fan nicknames "proposed" by Jonathan Woodward on his Who's Who: Handbook of the Amalgam Universe webpage.

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#9 MajinBlackheart  Moderator

I suppose those are fine since there are no other names for the characters, but an explanation pin their pages would be beneficial.

Sorry, can't figure out how to @ reply from my phone.