#mydcu

From time to time I like to think about, what would be the modern Legion of Doom? Because the "Superfriends" version has guys like Brainiac and Grodd, who I think wouldn't want to team up with humans, and also the Riddler, who doesn't have powers.

I think picking members for the Syndicate is easier than the LoD because you only need to look at the iconic members of the JLA as a major sign post on where to go, and I decided to aim for 13 members just for fun. One thing to keep in mind is that they're NOT 1:1 analogs of the main JLA. For instance, Owlman is Thomas Wayne Jr, who had a younger brother (Bruce) who died. In the most common version, Super Woman was Lois Lane, but the "Crisis on Two Earths" version was Mary Marvel, meanwhile the New 52 version is Donna Troy. You could say that remixing all the characters is part of the fun of having Infinite Earths

Two big change ups: I would leave out Johnny Quick/ Power Ring. I think if you have an Evil Flash, you got to wonder why he wouldn't time travel all the time. Meanwhile, Power Ring makes you wonder, where's the rest of the Evil GL corps? Or why don't you get GOOD Brainiac to help you? So, leave out most of the Space Stuff.

SO, you've got to start off with the Big 3: Ultraman, Owlman, Superwoman.

Ultraman: I like the version that was a human astronaut who was "super evolved" by aliens while on a mission, but the process made him evil. Its a nice allusion to the versions of Superman that's an advanced human.

Owlman: Gotta go with Thomas Wayne Jr. This evil "Batman" decided to conquer/ kill the criminals that killed his family. Batman's mission is this never ending quest for "the one that got away." In Owlman, we see a version that decided to control everything. Also, in the main DCU, Thomas Wayne Jr. was "Talon" a champion of the Court of Owls.

"Superwoman" - I'd go with a new version that is either Diana, or Hippolyta. A "Herald" of the Roman Gods, there to start a war that will end the world. Except she's taking her sweet time, enjoying "man's world." Alternatively, if I could have infinite time to tell a story, then I would make her Lois Lane, but this time she's a Star Sapphire. (WW and Star Sapphire used the have basically the same origin.)

Let's look at some other CS members based on the some classic JLAers. I don't know these other members very well, so I'm going cover them really quick

Sea King - basically a version of Aquaman that instead of growing up on Land, became the tyrant of the seven seas.

Grid - a version of Cyborg that fully embraced his machine side.

DeathStorm - an Evil Firestorm that is technically controlled by Dr. Martin Stein.

Atomica - An Evil version of The Atom, also happens to be a woman.

Silver Cyclone - an evil version of Red Tornado. Secretly hates all humans.

Black Siren - an evil Black Cannary. Alternatively, there was a version called "white cat.

Angelique - an Evil verison of Hawkgirl.

Vamp - an Evil Version of Vixen.

Black Power - Evil Black Lightning

"Stretch man" - I don't think he officially has a name. He's just evil Plastic Man. Very important character because he's famously unkillable.

I'm starting this series for the ideas that I had about how I would flesh out the DCU, if I was in charge. (Of course, now that I'm putting it out there, it'll never happen.)

So, Themyscria, home of the Amazons, very often has one "patron" Goddess, just like the Greek city-states of the ancient world. Originally, "Paradise Island" was created by Aphrodite (or Venus, technically.) The post-Crisis version was essentially created by Artemis. (I think there's a version that was created by Athena.)

If I could start a new DCU, I would use Hera as the patron Goddess of Themyscira. All of the Goddesses, would be represented in Themyscira, but Hera would be the first and most prominent.

She is the Queen of the Gods, and Zeus's equal.

It does mean I would have to fight against the widely accepted notion that Hera is cruel. I would just say that most of the stories about here were distorted and exaggerated by men over the ages. (I mean, Zeus is a rapist, but somehow Hera is the one that gets labeled as Cruel.)

I would go with the angle that she is the all encompassing Goddess of Women and Harmony. Harmony between the sexes is what Feminism is about. It is supposed to be the goal of Wonder Woman.

Finally, it is established that Wonder Woman's powers come from the Gods. But, eventually, even the Greek Gods must die or fade away (Go back to the Dream Country.) What happens to Diana then?

Well, when the last of the Greek Gods is gone, Diana will lose her powers, and she, along with the rest of the Amazons, will become a mortal woman.

Like a lot of comic readers, I have my own ideas of what I'd do if I was in charge of DC Comics. I spent a lot of time thinking about Wonder Woman and her villains, and I think Giganta would be better as an Ally of the Amazing Amazon, rather than her foe.

Think about it... the power to grow is a terrible superpower, even for a villain. You can't do anything in secret, because your own powers make you a gigantic target. It relegates Giganta to always being someone else's minion, rather than having her own plans.

Not helped by her origins being flimsy at best. In her modern origin, she started as a scientist with a blood disease that transferred her mind into the body of a strong woman that JUST HAPPENS to have size changing powers.

[The original Dr. Dorris Zuel]

You could even see her as sympathetic, she did the mind transfer to escape her own dying body. (Sure she first tried to steal DIana's body, and she killed her lab assistant and essentially killed that strongwoman [Olga was her name BTW]) She's trapped as villain because there is no going back to a normal life.

Like I said, I think there's more potential for her as Diana's ally, if we give her a redemption arc like they're doing with Harley Quinn.

Giganta can simply repent. One day after getting caught up in another failed villain team up, getting beat by The Teen TItans, getting a bomb in her neck as part of the Suicide Squad, and being forced to work with real psychos in the Squad. Dorris realizes how awful her situation in life is and decides to get on the straight and narrow.

I'm sure Wonder Woman, the Atom, and maybe Batman, would be willing to help her set up a new life.

Finally, I would change her powers a bit. Firstly, instead of having to grow all over, change it so that she can grow individual parts. This would mainly be her arms, or maybe her legs, but she could grow other parts if she really wanted to (for a joke, for example). Also, her powers are magic based, so make it so that her clothes change size, too. They will only tear if she wants them to.

Speaking of her magic powers, it be great to start her off on a Vision Quest, like on Dinosaur Island, to master her powers. There she can have an encounter with the Shaman that gave Olga her powers. (It's implied that Olga got her powers from some random shaman, which was lifted from her origin in the Superfriends cartoon.)

I would flesh out more about Olga, the circus strongwoman that Giganta mindswapped with. Maybe that Shaman, was one in a network of spiritual leaders around the world, that were preparing for some kind of great battle that was coming. When Giganta stole Olga's body, Olga never got to complete her training for that big battle. Now the great battle is closer than ever, so Giganta needs to complete Olga's role.

So, another power would be the ability to access Giganta's strength without having to turn into a giant. This would be like her "defense mode" where she bulks up in a wall of muscle, but is only 7 feet tall.

We don't want her to just be She-Hulk all the time, so it's a double edged sword. She can only shift into "defense mode" for like 15 minutes at max. Afterwards she's hit with crippling muscle cramps, and her powers just go away for an equal amount of time.

Then, we could flesh out more of Giganta's family? Did Doris Zuel have any siblings? What about Olga's family? What if Olga is still in her head and the personality starts to re-emerge? How will they learn to co-exist in one body?