Due for a Comeback!
Every major country wants to hire him, and every major country wants to kill him! He's one step ahead of everyone, because everyone is one step away from seeing him dead! Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy... Danny Vincent is Codename: Junta!
Some characters are easy to identify by a flashy costume, specialty gimmick, and/or high concept. Junta . . . well, I:m not sure he has any of those. And yet, he:s a favored character of mine that was used for great effect during Christopher Priest's Black Panther run. (see Black Panther: The Client and Black Panther: Enemy of the State)
Danny Vincent is a smooth-talking, seemingly carefree freelance agent that manages to get involved in some pretty serious black-bag operations that destabilizes a tiny African nation and threatens the Black Panther's homelands of Wakanda. Later, Danny's forced to work against his employers in complicated agenda that nearly crashed the world's economy and seemed to involve kidnapping the U.S. President. (But he didn:t really. Like I said, it was complicated!) After all is said and done, Danny does what:s right, even though it leaves him a pariah to nearly every espionage agency in the world-- what does the world's top agent do when there's no world to agent for?
Another intriguing part of Junta is that his powers also defy easy cataloging. The author had said he wanted Junta:s powers to be the answer to the question -- what if the Matrix were real life? It:s a simplified way of saying that Junta:s body disregards physics. He bends like "bullet time," walks on walls, and does fantastic leaps/gymnastics. The unfortunate thing about these cool powers is that it:s hard to communicate the same effect as film in static comic panels. And then there:s the "flying servo tech" device that he calls "mom." Not sure what to say about that!
Beyond just being a favored character, let's see how well of a comeback Junta can make. What kinds of story possibilities are there? First and foremost, there:s the politically-charged espionage thriller. Right away, that means not only Black Panther stories, but Captain America and Black Widow stories, too. There's also potential for Iron Man stories, particularly if you blend in the corporate espionage fact and/or metaphor. The street-level intrigue is a fit, too, as seen in Junta:s appearance in The Crew (see The Crew). That brings in Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Cloak & Dagger stories. These stories go beyond mere tone and setting-- Danny lends himself to stories that homage great caper flicks, too, especially those with many twists like The Italian Job and the Ocean's 11 series. And what else makes great character drama than ambiguous characters? Danny is equally a "good guy" and "bad guy," especially in his current status quo of being willing to do anything to regain his status in the world of international espionage.
And, after all that, I guess I'll admit I just also like him because his first name is like my first name.
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