All Things Supreme: Straczynski's Squadron (pt1)

So, as I said in a previous post, it's time for the Squadron Supreme to steal the spotlight!

In celebration of the news that Chaykin and Turini will be taking over the Squadron, it's important to take a look back. It's important to take a look at Straczynski's foundations for the Squadron.

Today we look at Hyperion - the hero without a home; the Blur - our Everyman and Princess Zarda - our kill-happy psycho! Wheeeeeee!

Hyperion
The hero without a home
DC analogue: Superman
Alias: Mark Milton (I'm sure his middle name also begins with "M")
Powers: "Flash" vision; supersonic flight; super-strength
Character traits: somewhat naive, strong in his beliefs, losing his faith in America, isolated/lonely

Supreme Power is Hyperion's life story as a child. The alien who became Mark Milton crash-landed into a remote agricultural area in America, and, he was taken in not by any mild-mannered couple, but by the government under Jimmy Carter's presidency.

He was raised in a bubble, conditioned for American beliefs, and before you knew it, Mark Milton was running errands for the regime, all the way up to the Clinton era. And sometimes, these regimes called for the use of coercive means.



Slowly realizing that he was being exploited, Mark lashed out (to the point of a 10.5 on the Richter scale!), but eventually returned to working for the government -- with his own agenda, this time.

Which brings us to the present. We haven't seen too much of this agenda implemented yet, but I bet we will when Chaykin takes it up again.

Mark's generally had feelings of isolation. Living fenced off from society, his first interactions with people his own age was as a teenager, and even then, it was surrounded by guards. Later on, the death of his "parents" was faked, and the feelings became worse.

They became better, though, when Mark learned that there were other superpowers out there. The two big ones are his friendship with Stanley Stewart AKA The Blur, and the relationship (romance?) with Princess Zarda - her alias is currently Claire DeBussy. We'll be covering these two fellers today as well.

Currently, Mark is the leader of the Squadron Supreme, but he's still subordinate, of course, to the one-handed (uni-ppendaged??) and balding General Alexander.



The Blur
Our Everyman
DC Analogue: The Flash (duh.)
Alias: Stanley Stewart (Stan the Man!)
Powers: superspeed
Character traits: humble, average, thoughtful

Stanley here was living in a rural home with his mom (his dad died), when it just so happened that Mark's ship landed around that area! Spores from the ship infected Stanley, among others, and made him super super-sick, until he miraculously recovered - with superspeed!

Supreme Power saw the rise of Stanley from a small-time errand boy to a high-profile superstar. Sports companies flocked to his personality for endorsements, and he became a media sensation. Despite all the fame and fortune, though, his mom was always his top priority.

Currently, Stanley is a small part of the Squadron, if you can call its conscience small. On their mission to Africa's Salawe province, Stanley's the first one to bring up, "Has anyone bothered to ask the natives what they want?" He may be representing America in the Squadron, but he's one of the most personal members on the Squadron.

Princess Zarda

Our kill-happy she-psycho

DC Analogue: Wonder Woman
Alias: Currently Claire DeBussy. We never know her real name, beyond Zarda.
Powers: super-strength, flight, regeneration
Character traits: insane, sadistic, delusional (maybe?), confident

I love Zarda so much. She knows who she is, and she'll never lie about that to herself or anyone else. She knows what she likes; she knows where she wants to be in life, and she's working to get there. She knows how to enjoy life to the fullest too.

You gotta respect that.

She also is (thinks she is?) that Mark and she are the last of their kind, and that they were sent to Earth. . .

"To rule. To kill. To conquer."

It's very convoluted, and it's unclear whether they're the descendants of Greek Gods or just aliens or what have you. Also, one of Zarda's followers said that she came to liberate woman from Man's world (WW reference?).

Yes, it's established very clearly and very early that Zarda's mind is unstable. This is due to one of her powers - regeneration. She can absorb and pretty much disintegrate any human she touches to heal any of her physical ailments, from minor cuts to outright body decay. The thing is, she also kind of absorbs different personalities in the process!

Currently, Zarda is the Squadron's lovable insane sadist.

Never change, Zarda. Never change.

So, that does it for today's post. This is me signing off and saying Zarda is awesome.

If you have any questions, if anything's confusing you, feel free to speak up! The Supremeverse was one of my first comics, and it's just wonderful, you might say supremely so, that I get to share it with you.

Next time, we'll be looking at the Supremified Green Lantern, Aquaman and Batman, but not before I go through this week's review in comics!