I like the idea of seeing characters work together around some big issue, but I get tired of back to back world wide crisis/disasters/emergencies.  It's just to over the top...

If I could have Daredevil's abilities at their highest, when he has his other 4 senses at an amazing level (able to recognize people by heartbeat!) AND his "radar sense" (essentially giving him a 360 radar view of what's around him), sure.

First off, countless folks with vision issues live fulfilling, happy lives (and might even be members of comicvine!), second with his senses Matt "sees" a lot more than others.  Between his highest level radar and four incredibly enhanced senses, Daredevil's world is actually much more textured and complex than anyone with typical senses. 

I've always wanted them to do more stories looking at how beautiful the world must seem to him (when he's not horribly unhappy and buried in melodrama).  The sounds, smells, tastes and textures would be amazing...

Of course, I'd also like to be a brilliant, "olympic-level" athlete with unbelievable will power like he is, but I don't know if that's part of the deal...

What  a fun question of the day...Although I tend to like second string characters, so my teams probably look odd...

My Avengers Line Up:

1. Captain America
2. Vision
3. Captain Marvel/Photon (Monica Rambeau- at her most powerful)
4. Hercules (At his most powerful)
5. Mockingbird
6. Thunderstrike
7. Tigra
8. Living Lightning

1. Black Canary
2. Steel (John Henry Irons)
3. Vixen (duplicating animals only, not humans)
4. Rocket Red
5. Green Lantern (John Stewart)
6. Mister Miracle
7. Booster Gold
8. Wonder Woman

Here's my take on the registration issue.

In theory, the idea of having people with potentially dangerous abilities register with the government seems appropriate to me.  We ask people to get driver's licenses, hunting licenses, and register to practice certain professions (Nurses, Doctors, Lawyers, etc.).  We ask people to register their cars, guns and property they own.  So the idea of having a list of people with super powers, and even licensing those who want to use their powers publicly, seems acceptable to me.

Having said that, I was very unhappy with Marvel's whole civil war story line for taking something that could have been interesting and nuanced and making it black and whilte and melodramatic.  The Marvel story line ended up with the general decietful, untrustworthy government on one side and heroic but sometimes misguided opposition on the other.

It could have been much more interesting if...

1) They could have had folks register, but not institute a draft.  Males in the US register for selective service, but we can't be drafted at the drop of a hat.  People register their cars, but that doesn't mean the government can take their vehicles.  There's a huge difference between keeping information on file and forcing everyone into some ridiculous super army.

2) They could have come up with a way of licensing folks to legally use their powers.  We have private security firms, individual bounty hunters, body guards, etc.  They could have a similar process for setting up super folk.

3) They had dropped the melodramatic mega battles and focused on more human issues; people debating the issues, deciding how it would affect them, what they wanted to do, etc.

4) Finally, all the over the top gov't actions were just annoying and undermined the whole story.  SHIELD attacked Captain America before the law went into affect.  Secret prison camps with inhumane conditions and no access to due process, covering up the death of a recruit, then sending a clone home to take his place, etc.  Of course, a lot of it was intended to reflect current affairs, which is an idea I can appreciate, but the implimentation was classic over the top melodrama.

...to tell a compelling story?

This is a question I've been thinking about a lot lately.  I'm constantly seeing stories that involve mass murder, genocide, and country-, even planet-wide devastation.  Recently DC reintroduced the multiverse, only to devastate and destroy a number of alternate earths almost immediately.  Marvel had the Annihilation wave, blew up the Hulk's city to trigger the subsequent wars, killed off countless children and adults in its X-titles, sent the Exiles around numerous dimensions to watch Proteus kill people off, and is currently featuring a planet-wide war.

Now, I am in no way suggesting comics should be devoid of melodrama, violence and death.  All three have been cornerstones of comic culture.  Superman was rocketed away from a dying Krypton, a burglar shot Uncle Ben, Batman's parents were killed and Galactus eats planets.  When used effectively violence and death can be part of compelling, powerful stories, the kind of stories that you remember years later.

(Spoiler alert: the next paragraph talks about the climax of Watchmen)

DC's story Watchmen uses violence and death to create characters and situations that are truly moving.  Numerous murders are featured throughout the plot, and the climax includes the gruesome deaths of half the population of New York City.  That moment when the death of the city is revealed is riveted in my memory.  That instant represents the ultimate failure of the protagonists and an irreversible change in their world.  The characters are shocked and overwhelmed, and the depth of the tragedy is powerfully conveyed to the reader.

(Spoiler alert: The following paragraph talks about pivotal moments in Marvel's New Universe)

On the Marvel side the death of Pittsburg in its New Universe is equally compelling.  The destruction of the city, and the subsequent consequences, affect every character in the universe, and fundamentally changes their entire society.  This portrayal is especially powerful because we see the consequences from the point of view of each major title, with the interpretation and impact varying based on the various points of view.  Hence we see the tragedy from multiple angles, making it feel comprehensive and overpowering.

Unfortunately, stories that use death and violence as compelling, seamless parts of their plot seem few and far between.  As often as not, characters, teams, families, countries, planets and dimensions are slaughtered to manufacture cheap melodrama, as if to tell the reader "See, this is REALLY important!!!!!!!!!"  It's as if the deaths act as excessive exclamation marks and gratuitous formatting.

I think about this whenever I see the Joker killing off a room full of faceless people, a bunch of barely known mutants get wiped out, Galactus consuming some random planet or any of the miscellaneous Earths DC likes to blow up.

(Spoiler warning - the next paragraph mentions the end of Romeo and Juliet :-) )

Macbeth and Hamlet are bloody - Romeo and Juliet ends with a double suicide!  But to be powerful, to really impact the reader, action of any sort has to feel believable and involving.  The reader has to feel the loss, understand the tragedy.  The death of one well-developed character, told in a way that seamlessly fits the story, is much more compelling than the death of millions of unknown, faceless stand-ins, who only exist to be victims.

The thoughtless use of death and murder in stories actually takes away from the power of the narrative.  When I see even one person get killed, let alone a city, country, etc, I find myself thinking about all the consequences that act would have.  When one person is murdered it affects an entire family, even an entire community.  When 100 people die in an accident it makes headlines across the country.  An attack that kills 3000 people has reverberations around the world.  An act of genocide impacts countless future generations.

When these things happen in comic books, and are instantly forgotten, or have little to broad impact, it undermines the entire fictional universe in which it takes place, and makes the story itself seem two dimensional and unimportant.  In the DC universe Topeka, Coast City, Bialya, and Montevideo, Uruguay have all been destroyed.  In Marvel Genosha has been the site of unbelievable destruction.  Those events should have consistent, worldwide ramifications for years to come, but they are all quickly forgotten, and become part of the background noise in their various universes.

This is unfortunate, because it not only weakens the stories, but also represents a lack of appreciation for what death really means, how it really impacts individuals and the world.  Of course comics aren't meant to be realistic, but such a callous treatment of such an important topic makes for poor storytelling and an even poorer depiction of human experience.

So here's MY answer to the question I posed.  A story can be compelling with zero deaths or billions.  But in order to be effective deaths have to be a well developed, integral aspects of a story, not throw away moments without used like an extra exclamation point.

I just found Comic Vine recently, and I'm really enjoying it!  I'm having a lot of fun adding information to my favorite characters/teams, which is funny, since none of them are very popular, so I'll probably be the only one the ever reads any of it!  The same is probably true for this blog, but hey, it's still fun...

Mega Kudos to Whiskey powered and all the moderators for having such a great site!