Top Ten Characters That Are Being Underutilized

What up muchachos. Another week and another top ten.  Earlier this week I was watching the X-Men Animated Series while cleaning and doing so chores and was wondering why isn't Morph or Gambit used more/better. They are two of my favorite characters and I have never read a Morph story.  As for Gambit, until this Deadpool v. Gambit there hasn't been anything worth reading with his as a main character. This got me thinking on what other characters are being misused or underutilized. Surprisingly I am ok with how Wolverine is being handled right now, they have Old Man Logan along with the New Wolverine and both are pretty good. I was tempted to put the whole X-Men team on here, but I think that may be better addressed in one of my conspiracy theory articles about how Marvel is killing off the X-Men universe and replacing it with Inhumans because they don't own the movie rights.

 

 

#10 The Question - According to Wikipedia The Question first appeared in Charlton Comics Blue Beetle #1 (June 1967). The character was acquired by DC Comics in the early 1980s and incorporated into the DC Universe. Following the events of the 2006–2007 miniseries 52, his protégé Renee Montoya took up his mantle and became his successor. Following the DC relaunch The New 52, Vic Sage is reintroduced as a government agent.

So I was excited for them to do something with this character when Convergence came out.  They gave The Question her own book, as it was Renee Montoya at the time, and I was hoping that something was going to spin out of there.  Unfortunately, they wasted it and The Question has not been seen in continuity since. This is a popular character that DC is letting waste away in storage. If DC continues to ignore him, people are going to think that The Question is a rip off of Rorschach. The series that got me interested in this character was the 2005 Mini series that came out by Rick Veitch and Tommy Lee Edwards.  It is defiantly a series worth reading with great art.

#9 Aqualad/Kaldur - It is a travesty that DC is not using this version of Aqualad.  In Young Justice, according to Wikipedia, Aqualad was first seen as the protege of Aquaman. He was later unanimously elected by the team to be their leader after their first mission together, as he was perceived as having good leadership skills. In the second season of the series he uncovered he was in fact the son of Black Manta. 

Kaldur being the son of Black Manta is a great twist to this character that is so intriguing and has so much potential that it blows my mind that DC is not using it. The fact that he works with Black Manta and sees that there are good, even great qualities in his father, would make the struggle to fight his father that more interesting.  He is a great leader and on even ground with Robin/Nightwing. He has enhanced strength and thick skin that grants him some protection as well as some magical fighting techniques. Anyone that has watched Young Justice will agree with me and if you have not Watched it, WHAT are you waiting for.  It is on Netflix, get watching.

#8. Dick Tracy - I actually loved this movie as a kid.  Yes I realize that it was terrible, but I still enjoyed it.  I loved the Tommy guns and the weird bad guys and the whole mob aspect.  This would be so easy to reboot and make a dark and gritty comic book.  Something like the Image book Fade-Out was.  This is a highly recognizable property and it is sitting collecting dust.  Tommy guns, the cool cars, the mob mixed in with a good mystery or investigation and you have a great book.  Imagine Ed Brubaker on this book. EPIC.

# 7 Hawk Girl - I love Hawk Girl especially the Bombshell version. Regardless, this is always a tough as nail character that flies around with a freaking Mace. Yeah I know she uses other weapons, but a Mace and a Warhammer are pretty awesome weapons.  In the New 52 they stranded her off in the Earth 2, but she should be part of the Justice League or at least make an appearance once every couple of arcs.  A lot of people love her, but she is not being used to her full potential right now.

#6 Morph - Wolverine pull back! Morph is awesome and hasn't appeared since 2009 in a comic book. I always enjoyed him in the X-Men cartoon series. This is a character that should get a comedic mini series.  Morph is not that powerful, but can change into any character that he wants and does in the show while making fun of them.  Pair this with Nick Spencer where he goes around and punks Cyclops, Bishop, Colossus and Deadpool and you would have a book that everyone is picking up.  A book in the same vein as the Superior Foes Of Spiderman

 
#5 Gambit - What can I say about Gambit that you guys already don't know.  Aside from the fact that they can not get him his own ongoing that is written well and compelling. This is a immensely popular character that Marvel, or Fox for that matter, cannot seem to get right.  Marvel did team him up with Deadpool in a fun book, but a darker ongoing is what we want from him.  I mean exploring the thief and assassin guilds would be a great start of an ongoing Gambit book. As for the movies the X-Men Wolverine Origins version was terrible, but they messed up Deadpool.  So here is hoping the rebooted version of Gambit will do as well as the Deadpool.

#4 Omega Red - I know there are a lot of X-Men related things on this list, but I am such a big X-Men fan and Marvel is doing such a bad job with them that it drives me nuts. Omega Red is super boss and hasn't really been used sine the Wolverine Anime back in 2009. Yes, I am not counting the X-Men 92 that recently came back and left a very poor taste in my mouth. Loved the art but the story was womp womp.  This is a powerful villain that they aren't using. Have him fight someone please.

#3 Bane - Bane is the most underrated villain in the DC Universe. He outsmarted the smartest hero that most people argue could beat anyone with enough planning and preparing.  Batman is the best DC tactician and lost in a war to Bane.  Bane beat him in everyway and is reduced to the muscle for Poison Ivy.  GRRR that really angers me.  Since Bane has defeated Batman there has not been a great Bane and Batman story. I think Detective Comics is going to tackle Bane next and I hope that it is amazing. However, based on the last Bane story I read in Detective Comics, I am not getting my hopes up.

#2 Fantastic Four - This is a little bit of a cheat, but the fact that they do not have their own book is baffling. Arguably they are the biggest team behind The Avengers and the Justice League.  For them not to have their own book, but there be 10 different team up books with different Marvel characters is so odd.  This falls into the conspiracy of since they don't own the movie rights, this is not a property they want to push.  This is one of their oldest and most well known properties and for them to languish in never never land is crazy.  This property is so well known that even non comic fans know who they are, yeah probably due to the kind of goofy and campy Fox movies and the terrible dark reboot that was completely botched.

#1 Martian Manhunter - The fact that Martian Manhunter was kicked off the Justice League for Cyborg really drives me nuts.  Martian Manhuter is way better than Cyborg and I have seen it argued that he may be the most powerful Justice League member.  He can shape shift, go invisible, and go through walls.  He also has super strength and has went punch for punch with Superman.  With all that he also can read minds and is highly intelligent.  Instead he was relegated to Justice League United and the likes.  He did have his own ongoing that was ok, but he seems to work best with the Justice League.  He is a fan favorite of what seems like a vast majority of Justice League fans, so the fact that he isn't on the team or was replaced by Cyborg is a little strange.