One of my favorite comic book runs was the early issues of the West Coast Avengers, largely due to the writings of Steve Englehart. A certain issue in particular that captured my attention was the appearance of Graviton, who easily defeated Earth's Mightiest Heroes at the time and truly appeared to be a menace first-class. His plans bolstered by the villains he gathered around him, forming a loosely-defined team of "fundamental forces."
West Coast Avengers #12 (1986) by Steve Englehart and Al Milgrom
It was one of those cases where comics were truly educational, and I went out of my way to learn about the fundamental forces because of their prominence in making up an effective super-villain team. And this is one kid who was NOT academically or scientifically minded. It made me love learning, if only to discover things, deep and sophisticated things, that I wasn't being taught in school.
So for today's super-villain team-up, let's return to that concept. Let's have a slightly mediocre villain choose to bolster his effectiveness by coordinating a team of fundamental forces!
In this case, the WIZARD represents the leader and the force of gravity, his specialty. DOC SPECTRUM is recruited for his master of the STRONG INTERACTION, which allows him to bind particles to create his energy constructs and powerful blasts. NITRO is a living example of the WEAK INTERACTION, where his body literally explodes with the repulsion of radioactive decay, and, of course, Zzzaax, the only original member, a energy-being who is the living embodiment of the ELECTROMAGNETIC force. Together, they are a new, Fundamentally FRIGHTFUL FOUR! (Frightfamental Four?)
Comments