Pop Culture 1

[bryant]

What I'm thinking is this: in the DC Universe, shapeshifting is a trait associated with good guys. Often tricksters, but good guys. Plastic Man, Elongated Man, Metamorpho, Beast Boy, so forth and so on. Meanwhile, over in the Marvel Universe, shapeshifting is sinister and dangerous. Mystique, Loki, Warlock (good guy but horrendously dangerous), and of course the Skrull.

Reed Richards kind of undermines this but I think there may be a general trend here.

Comments

[carneggy.livejournal.com]

Badguy DC shapeshifters: All the various Clayfaces; Everyman; all the various White Martians. On the good side: Metal Men.

[bryant]

Clayface is a good counter example.

[head58.livejournal.com]

Madame Rouge is the biggest name evil shapeshifter I can come up with in DC. Also Chameleon Chief from the Legion of Super Villains (who is balanced out of course by Chameleon Boy). On the Marvel side you've got Dire Wraiths and Space Phantoms. More whole races of shapeshifting evildooers!

Are you distinguishing at all between shapeshifting and body alteration/elongation? I wouldn't count Reed Richards, Super Skrull or Elongated Man as true shapeshifters.

Overall though, very interesting observation. I wonder if it's a conscious thing among 2nd and 3rd generation writers to keep up the traditions laid out in the 60 or if it's just happenstance.

[bryant]

If we eliminate elongation, and we probably should, it takes care of the Reed Richards counter-example. So that works.

I have a stone cold comic book fan pal at work. I'll have to ask him about this.

[chaoticmoth.livejournal.com]

And shouldn't Loki be one of the good guys? ;)