The Fire and Water Network celebrates its ninth anniversary with an all-star fantasy draft special. Join the Irredeemable Shag, Chris Franklin, Paul Kien, Brett Young, Sean Ross, and Ryan Daly as they select superheroes from the DC Universe to build their own ultimate Justice League lineup.
Who will be drafted first? Which signature hero of the Fire and Water Network will be left off the rosters? How many Green Lanterns will be selected? How many redheads will Shag select? Which lucky host will come away with Rex the Wonder Dog? And will Neptune Perkins be this year’s Mister Irrelevant? Tune in to find out!
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Music: “Everything and Nothing At All” by Neil Daly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT3H5hMznAc
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AFTER listening to the episode (to avoid SPOILERS), check out the image gallery for visual representations of each drafted team!!
A fun episode, but the failure of ANY of your players to draft either of the namesake members of the network (thank you to Ryan Daly for pointing this out within the episode) is a black mark. Perhaps you all should consider a name change. š
(At least we got Firehawk!)
It’s time for the Network to be named for me and Ryan. The Maple and Fishnets Network Presents…
Had a lot of fun listening to this! Iām struck by the numerous powerful and interesting female superheroes were included in all of your lineups, as well as others that were mentioned. Thereās a deep bench of these characters that donāt get the spotlight and Marvel is also guilty of it.
I had a visceral reaction to the requirement that Superman and Batman had to be on the team, since Iām a JLI guy as well as a big fan of New Warriors, Peter David X-factor, and Harras/Epting leather jacket Avengers, and thus someone who prefers teams without ābig gunā characters as I find them more interesting bc writers can do a lot more with them and thereās lots of depths to be explored. But I realized it was ONLY Superman and Batman, it wasnāt like you were insisting Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Hal Jordan all had to be on the team too. So itās cool.
Iād like to see you guys (and even have the chance to participate in) do the same thing for Avengers, X-Men, and Teen Titans!
Oddball side note: an interesting and very short-lived JL lineup was the post-Doomsday lineup that seemingly got derailed when Dan Jurgens left the book. Wonder Woman as leader, Guy Gardner, Maxima, Bloodwynd, Agent Liberty, Black Condor II, and Ray II. Powerful and solid lineup (EVERYONE can fly!) that was so disappointing to see cast aside.
Mentioned some of these during the show, but the network-beloved-heroes notably absent from any of our rosters included Aquaman, Firestorm, Black Canary, Blue Devil, Plastic Man, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Hawkman, Power Girl, Metamorpho, and Starman.
Very fun format. (The Poscast holiday draft has always been a highlight of each winter, and while you don’t have anyone with that level of chaos energy, this was still great.)
Lots of possibilities for more drafts, a villains as villains team and a suicide squad/thunderbolts villain team gets you to five more across DC and Marvel, and an indie draft would be good too…
Fun episode. And all the fun you guys had came thru on the mic. I’m not a regular listener, but more eps like this one would get me there.
Loved the question about who you’d see as the villain and I think that or “What do you see as their first story arc?” would be fun, especially if the drafters knew before going in.
As for other ideas, close to my heart would be a draft of The Outsiders. Who would Batman put on the original team in 1983? Can only use 1983 or earlier characters who aren’t on the JLA or Teen Titans.
I think that’d be niche but cool.
I liked this for a couple of reasons – first and foremost hearing the sports fans use Fantasy Football lingo throughout to the non-sports fans. Like Steel in round 1 is like when someone drafts their Defense in the first round. But here we are.
I decided I would insert myself in this mock draft as if I was picking 7th and couldn’t pick anyone who was eventually taken.
Superman – Wayne Boring style, sorta silly Superman from 1950s
Batman – ultra-paranoid Bat-God a la Morrison
Rd 1 (pick 7) – Captain Atom, need an energy guy and can also be a bruiser
Rd 2 (pick 8) – Nightshade – need a magical person but also need a teleporter to get the team there and back again; time on the Suicide Squad so could be the wetworks person
Rds 3 and 4 (picks 21 and 22) – Hawk and Dove (Hank and Dawn) – need some medium level heroes to do the not so epic side missions; like Dawn as a second in command strategist given link to Order, like Hawk being a little chaotic, could work well with Nightshade for military strike missions; plus Chaos/Order is a little mystic
Round 5 (pick 35) – This is the wild card. I thought Question to have a detective but I don’t need to non-powered people. Thought Shade the Changing Man to add a little high-tech madness. But ultimately had to go with the Creeper. You need some insanity.
So my team –
50s Superman
Angsty Batman
Capt Atom
Nightshade
Hawk
Dove
Creeper
Call it JLD – Justice League DItko. Would be in the vein of Bwa-ha-ha mostly seeing the World’s FInest, already quite different, dealing with the Ditkoesque insanity before them. But also a solid enough team to take on a Crisis.
This is an awesome team, Dr. Anj! I would love to see Dove (Dawn) in a prominent leadership position.
What a shame Ditko never drew Black Orchid (or did he? I can see it in my head!).
Iāve started listening but am stopping to go and Wiki this draft businessā¦ itās sport, I think.
Research done, yep, itās sport and the draft business is over my head – donāt athletes want to play? – but I can ignore that aspect, itās a clever framework on which to hang a show. In the UK we have the thrilling TV viewing that is a man picking which football teams play each other in the FA Cup or whatever via the medium of a bag filled with names on bits of paper.
How lovely to hear the All-Stars, that could be the name of a sports team itself. There were some great picks. The characters Iād swap out would be:
Mr Terrific – just stands around telling people how great he is, when was the last time he actually thumped anyone? Heās not earned the kudos he gets.
Sensor Girl – love her, but donāt enjoy time-displaced Legionnaires, their whole story becomes about getting home. And sheās really not telepathic.
Now, I didnāt get why Superman and Batman had to be one everyoneās teamā¦ Iād rather see Supergirl than Superman, though I love Chrisās āLegion of Batmanā.
So anyway, I can have five people and should avoid existing picks. How about: Elongated Man – āstretchableā and āsleuthā. Also, for Shag, ginger.
Traci 13 – magic user with a fun personality and a dad who can bring conflict.
Firestorm – the best new character of the Bronze Age, with wonderfully visual powers, and the personalities of a jock and a boffin.
Captain Comet – psychic spaceman, he blasts, is clairvoyant, telepathic, telekinetic, and predates Jāonn Jāonzz as a heroā¦ heās spent so much time off-Earth that most heroes would think heās a newbie, which could bring fun conflict. Also, dig those tightie whities!
Meridian – teleporter and martial arts instructor. She might not be able to take out Conor Hawke but she could send his nasty man-bun somewhere else.
And would I like to see more shows along these lines? Yes please, the Legion in particular. But please, if you value what passes for my sanity, no more of that tinny horror which, research tells me, is known as the NFL Draft Chime. A āone punchā or āa whipā – anything – would be far better.
Martin, you forgot we’ve moved on in the world that now we have bags full of small marbles with numbers on them for people to withdraw from a bag to randomly assign cup matches. My favourite example of this was when Rod Stewart was doing the Scottish Cup – there were rumors that the “BIG CLUBS” marbles had been stuck in the freezer so when you went to select you were to make sure you didn’t pick two cold marbles to play each other. Anyway perhaps it might have been fun for each of the Leagues picked to randomly select one of the big 7 as their starting point and on from there – rather than just assume you have Superman and Batman (who has quit the league 2 or 3 times) on each team.
Anyway I think your line up is great and worthy of its own book. Captain Comet really needs to be used more in the DCU.
Here’s my picks:
Since neither Superman nor Batman are good fits for a Justice League, being too busy elsewhere, I would pick:
Detective/Leader = Nightwing (present)
Icon = Wonder Woman (New 52)
Brawler = Atom (c. 1950)
Magic = Doctor Fate (Bronze Age)
Emerald Knight = Green Lantern (JLU John Stewart)
Speedster = Flash (Tangent)
Telepathic/Shape-shifter = Martian Manhunter (any J’onn J’onzz, they’re all the same)
I would read the heck out of series starring the teams drafted by Paul, Sean, and Chris, especially Sean’s team–DC’s “Trinity” plus Kyle Rayner, Zatanna, Sensor Girl, and Tesla Strong! How awesome is that!
My picks (and I’m trying not to duplicate anyone else’s selections):
Oracle (Barbara Gordon from the 90s Birds of Prey)
Silencer (from the New Age of Heroes series ca. 2018)
The Olympian (from The Global Guardians)
Monkey Prince
Stargirl (any version of Courtney Whitmore will do)
along w/
Superman (Earth-2 version from late Bronze Age as in the JLA/JSA crossover vs. the Secret Society of Super-Villains)
Batman (the one from BTAS)
These ended up skewing toward more recent characters than I expected, but I wanted a team of characters I love but who aren’t making a lot of appearances in current DC Comics. And of course, my wife likes all these characters too and would enjoy it as well.
Thanks for the shout out about my team! I really wanted to add Stargirl, as she is an all time favorite character of mine, but I always think of her as a JSA character.
I need to read more about Monkey Prince.
Honestly, his strip was great, he was annoying in his first appearance with Captain Marvel but blimey, the comic is great – and with an all-Chinese-American creative team, and a surprising link to the Golden Age.
Agreed, a very very fun book
This was, probably, the most fun I have had listening to a podcast in a good long while. I was really pleased with a lot of the choices. Sean totally broke the room right out of the gate, but also made the most solid choice.
I made my picks early on, and held my breath that they would be in contention when the dust settled, and they totally were. In no particular order, my picks were/are:
1. Superman* (Early Byrne version)
2. Batman* (Bruce, shortly after Knightfall)
3. Geo-Force (circa 2007)
4. Black Lightning (circa 2007)
5. The Huntress (From the Morrison JLA era)
6. Red Tornado (During the Young Justice era)
7. Swamp Thing
Love the Huntress pick! The Cavalieri/Staton post-Crisis Huntress book is so good!
I tried to find some justification for drafting Swamp Thing during my early brainstorming process, but couldn’t get there. That’d be a fun lineup, though.
I’m really with Ryan on these. His team is the most believable. To my tastes, JSA members should never be in the JLA. Titans should never be in the JLA. Legacy heroes, yes, just not those particular ones (I was never onboard with Cyborg, even). Ryan has young heroes, like his GL and Mary Marvel, but it still works.
Had I participated, I probably would have tried to do a theme like, I dunno, a member from each era of the Justice League. That might have been fun to juggle roles/eras.
As I said, I made a ton of lists and probably considered upwards of 40 different characters. Never considered any Justice Society members except (briefly) Power Girl, and never considered any Titans except (briefly) Changeling.
Drafting myself to sleep last night, I stuck to the eras of MY JLA reading and came up with:
Satellite era: Zatanna
Detroit era: Martian Manhunter
JLI era: Elongated Man (with Sue Dibney)
post-2000s era: Vixen
Morrison era: Fell asleep
It’s great to see a draft podcast on the network! I very much love that everyone was trying to assemble balanced line-ups rather than. Power gaming with all heavy hitters. Putting huge “pick me” energy into the world if you ever do a Titans draft. š
My list for JLA would be:
1) Vixen
2) Black Canary
3) Steel (Would’ve lost this one to Shag in Rd 1)
4) Elongated Man
5) Dr. Light
6) Red Tornado
7) Tasmanian Devil
It would’ve been tough to pass up an iteration of WW as the draft progressed.
That’s a fun lineup.
Great episode and awesome teams. I donāt have a full seven members in mind, but my first pick would be the Hal Jordan Green Lantern from Challenge of the Super Friends. He can casually move the entire earth (although he seemingly doesnāt know to move it back in place).
Good pick. I said every Justice League needs a Green Lantern representative.
The most surprising thing about this draft is how balanced its conservative and contrarian impulses were. No one did a variation on the Magnificent Seven, or semi-recreated any previous Leagues, and everyone made a point of getting a little funky with their line-ups. On the other hand, there were no truly controversial, “inappropriate” choices, with “family” or figures from every major Leaguer represented on at least one team. The furthest afield anyone went was a Silver Age western hero well familiar to the Who’s Who crowd who read Bronze Age JLAvengers time-travel tales. Quirky yet anodyne. The book I’d be most likely to buy would be edited by Sean, who just clicked with my tastes the most, with Ryan providing the nearest competition. I’ll have to do some cooking to come up with a League of my own to back up my pretenses, but I have something in mind…
In the 30th Century, during an annual JLA/JSA/Legion team-up, their longtime foes Per Degaton, the Lord of Time, and Mordru successfully hatch a plot to erase all three teams from existence. This occurs in modern cosmology, so the DC universe remains more or less the same, because the erasure of the heroic legacies has a domino effect that also wipes out most of their foes.
However, threats remain, and the need for a League of Justice will again be felt, first by the Kherubim alien Lord Emp. Guided by Providence, he assembles a team of possible heroes to counter the dominance of his sworn enemies, the Daemonites– who have replaced most world leaders, and turned the year 2025 into a fascist nightmare. The enemy of his enemy being a potential friend, Emp first frees Harvey Dent, a world class mentalist and telekinetic whose own bid for global dominance was dubbed the “Reign of The SuperMan.” He was stopped by a collection of heroes led by Icon, but recognizes his work is still necessary to halt the shapeshifting alien invaders. From the same prison, the Santa Priscan strongman Bane is sprung. Having once conquered Gotham City under the guise of “The Batman,” he was defeated by the Midnighter, and now seeks a path of redemption. The unauthorized “early release” was facilitated by the technical support of the anti-establishment gadgeteer Hardware, who also is motivated fight the powers that be. Unfortunately, the Daemonite Lord Defile bars their escape, and succeeds in slaying Lord Imp, sending Providence into hiding.
The SuperMan, Bane, and Hardware form a brain trust that recognizes the need for raw power. Through his connections to the Shadow Cabinet, Curtis Metcalf is able to locate the Egyptian mage Ibis the Invincible, who in turn leads the team to the modern demi-god Son of Vulcan, and then the goddess of creativity Promethea. Still branded as insurrectionists, they are confronted by The Fightin’ Authorities: Uncle Sam, Lady Blackhawk, Battalion, Kid Eternity. Jenny Quantum, Union, and Phantom Lady. One of these new players will be convinced to join the League without Legacy, but which? Even having won an opponent over, can the League defeat the rest, or even trust the intentions of those already nominally on their side against the forces of Lord Helspont?
That lineup would be nuts. I entertained the notion of drafting either Backlash or Warblade from the WildStorm universe or Hardware from Milestone, but I ended up staying safely in the proper DC lane.
I thought that space-time would be a bigger factor in mine, especially after going through the latest Encyclopedia and noting people like Harbinger and Rip Hunter. I also clearly wanted to include someone from Wildstorm, but the obvious selections were too obvious, and the rest were too Wildstorm paramilitary who-ha. The push to avoid anyone with an actual legacy tie meant largely finding appropriate scale heroes who had started their life outside of DC and managed to never get dragged into a League, and the pickings were really slim at Charlton, Milestone, and so forth. As much as I wanted another lady, the seventh pick would have been Kid Eternity, because he checked both the Quality & Vertigo boxes without ever having real ties to any preexisting super-team (much less the JLA.)
Listened to the draft. It was kinda predictable, but fun. However, some of your organizations will be firing your coach and GM mid-season.
Predictable backlash about predictable Bat Lash?
How is Witchfire even being mentioned predictable? Who actually thought anyone would draft Tesla Strong?
There’s probably a better word than “predictable”, but it was not meant as a slight. Might have been better to say “predictably non-traditional draft” or “comforting in the non-conformity of the picks”. What I mean is, a draft is to pick the best possible players for your team. And while you may dig the cut of a particular player’s jib, that doesn’t mean they’re the best player on the board. The zany aspects of picking Titans, JSA members, forgotten heroes, or other characters is entertaining, but it doesn’t create an “ultimate Justice League”. Maybe closer to a modern A-SS or what was in the JLU cartoon where everyone gets a pass to ride the transporter tube. The League is the best of the best. Otherwise it’s just a Justice League Dark (which, if we’re being honest, was just a Sentinels of Magic/Shadowpact, and not a Justice League). Anyway, I should have been more clear and emphasized the “fun” part of my comment and found another term than “predictable”. It was a good show and enjoyable. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
I figured part of your expectation was that, your being a sports guy and this being a draft, that there would be a competitive aspect to the picks. Instead, after everyone cried about losing Zatanna as a first round pick, they all just found a different lane from each other anyway. Nobody tried to build the best tech-heavy team to counter, or at least get the best X member to build a Y time team, or poach a prospect that you knew would be most valuable to someone else’s line-up.
I think the default World’s Finest played heavily into the line-ups. Once you know you’ve got a Superman and a Batman, everyone else is just providing support. You can only get so weird with it, because you’re anchored to and buoyed by the two biggest DC heroes already. I think this also fueled the omission or minimal usage of many classic Leaguers, as well. What would be more predictable than having a Wonder Woman join to form the DC Trinity? 50% of the teams had a Green Lantern, and a third had a Flash type. Nobody’s building a team around Shazam when you already have a Man of Steel locked in.
My roster:
1. Fleischer Superman
2. Keaton Batman
3. Shipp Flash
4. Saturn Girl
5. Black Orchid (OG version, not that plant nonsense)
6. Natasha Irons
7. Hippolyta Wonder Woman
Nice team! (Though I would have gone with plant-based Black Orchid.)
Super-spy version is my favorite! I think she had a unique, mysterious space that the plant-elemental thing kinda ruined.
Hooray for Black Orchid!!
I got your back, doc!
Some quick thoughts for the folks who didnāt favor adding members from the Titans or the JSA. There is a long history of this, so adding for the draft was a logical choice. Just a few examplesā¦
From the JSA:
– In the Silver Age, the JLA added both Black Canary & Red Tornado from the JSA
– In the 1980s, the JLA added: Steel, Dr Fate, Power Girl, and Huntress
– In the 2000s they added Hourman
So there is a long history of poaching JLA members from the JSA. So adding Liberty Belle/Jesse Quick is just following the legacy.
From the Titans:
– Wally West was a mainstay of the JLA for decades
– Speedy/Red Arrow, Nightwing and Donna Troy have all been part of the JLA
– And if you are going to point out they were all legacy characters, then Cyborg has been associated with the JLA many times (as early as the Super Powers cartoon)
So there is a long history of adding from The Titans as well. And really Lilith is one of the few early Titans who have never been given the chance to step-up.
I will also add the concept of this draft was that any hero in the DCU was on the table. So whether you were part of another team, or a solo act, you were available for drafting into the Justice League. That way it opened things up and kept the show more interesting, and the field much wider.
Oh snapā¦ I forgot that Jesse Quick was already a member of the JLA around the 2005 ONE YEAR LATER era. So she wasnāt even poached from the JSA, sheās a past JLA member!
Even Jay Garrick was a member of the JLA at one point. OK, it wasnāt a very good JLAā¦
I’m also saying those choices felt wrong, although MANY of those characters weren’t the same versions that were in the JSA (not the same Huntress, Atlantean Power Girl, etc. So I’m not against Jesse Quick per se. Wally is a Flash replacing a Flash, so it’s a strong exception. And Commander Steel was never in the JSA, was he?
What a fun episode. Count me as another vote to see the process repeated for other teams, or even another JLA episode with different guests.
My lineup
Superman (Morrison JLA version)
Batman (Grant/Breyfogle)
Power Girl (Amanda Conner version; as a complement to Superman)
Black Canary (Golden Age version, with the mask; as a complement to Batman)
Booster Gold (original Jurgens version; as a strong contrast to Superman)
Plastic Man (Morrison version; as a strong complement to Batman)
Martian Manhunter (Ostrander version; the backbone of the JLA, crazy powerful, and I love him)
Dr. Fate and/or Zatanna as part-time magic consultant(s)
Impressive podcast most impressive. Interesting lists yāall got there. What Shagg is there and no Fire Storm? That is off brand sir.
Ah so we auto get bats and Big Blue. Cool.
But I was gonna use subs but K. Canāt use my favorite Bruce replacement for Bats since Dick Grayson is off the table. So John Paul Valley. For my bats. Yāall didnāt say ya had to use a Bruce just Bats. Iāll keep Clark. Letās see for my team.
3 Plastique
4.Dolphin
5.Guy Gardner
6.Zed Martin sheās from. Constantine and my team leader. And sheās a mage.
7. X-S. from LSH
Great podcast as always. It was interesting hearing Iāll come with yāallās cool list anyway canāt wait to hear the next podcast.
Weird blind spots all over the place in these drafts. Not one Milestone character at all, which is wholly unacceptable when you’re fishing around in Wildstorm and ABC for draftees.
1) Raven (Perez Teen Titans run) – there’s your magical Swiss army knife with a sideline in unblockable team transport and a ton of plotlines around her heritage, the League can’t afford to leave her running around unsupervised once they know about Trigon anyhow.
2) Hardware (late in the Milestone run) – incredible tech-hero who’s a perfect counter for (and smarter than) long-time nemesis Lex Luthor, and he can fill in for the insufferable Ollie as team anti-establishment guy.
3) Metamorpho (any era, really) – you keep mentioning him, but you left this incredible toolbox of abilities on the workbench anyway, I’m not that foolish.
4) Rocket (late Milestone era) – the non-powered hero with an incredible tech gimmick (that Hardware can keep in repair, it’s the same tech base) and a real sense of justice, so much better than some dunce with a bow and arrow.
5) Mister Miracle (Scott Free in the original series or the brief Engelhart/Rogers relaunch, although it would be fine to eventually replace him with Shilo Norman) – As good a problem solver Bruce Wayne, almost as good a techie as Hardware, expert fighter and god-tier intrusion and escape specialist, and you can tie him in to plotlines with Apokalips and have Big Barda show up when the issue has room.
Speaking of Bruce Wayne, since you didn’t specify which Batman we’re saddled with, the old man can stay home and my Batman is Terry from Beyond, ditching the decades of accumulated baggage and adding a time travel element and some possible-future knowledge instead – and a cool super-suit as well. With the rest of the people on the team he can commute between time periods as needed.
I’d ditch Clark for Icon any day of the week, but if I’m stuck with a Superman it’ll actually be multiple Supermen, pulling different ones from the DC One Million story in rotation so the writers and artists can do something fresh with them and their team appearances don’t clash with solo book commitments. Actual million-year-old godlike Clark probably stays out of things but there’s plenty of more reasonably-powered Supermen to work with and you can invent more as needed. Terry-Batman can catch a temporal lift with them as needed to attend meetings, and we can have even more temporal shenanigans going on.
Team leadership probably goes toward Mister Miracle and Hardware in this format, and the team can form in the first place during some temporally-oriented Crisis, Maybe Hal has another stupid tantrum or something and we get an Absolute Zero Hour event leading to the Justice League of Alternity. It won’t last long, but given how fast creative teams abandon books (and publishers) these days it’s a small miracle for any new title to last to issue 30 anymore.
If I had room for a comic relief character it would be Major Bummer, of course.
Great episode. I laughed a ton. Fun stuff.
I would listen to these episodes all the time. Maybe an annual version of this with the same people playing would be fun. Would you do it the same? Different?
Having said that, Iād welcome other versions of this, including the Avengers (think Henry Gyrich picking his 7 members in the 180s when Falcon joins the team). I definitely volunteer to join the crowd sometime. This is blast.
Oh me too, because HPG got it so wrong.
My line up. 1. Earth 2 Superman Perez JLA/JSA version He just seems like the best leader.
2.Englehart/ Rogers Batman tough, and brilliant without being the Bat-God.
3. Ted Kord Blue Beetle C’mon Shag He has to be on here somewhere.
4. Saturn Girl Mike Grell Legion pink costume
5 Raven George Perez version the other hot girl magic user.
6 Hal Jordan Green Lantern Adams/Grell version He was much cooler then than now although Geoff Johns got it too.
7.Metamorpho a lot of power and adds to the JlI/E vibe.
Might want to try this without Batman and Superman being required.
Ryan, that Mera and Atom pairing was awesome.
Thanks!
Well that was a fun episode I wondered if it was released like a skip week when we end up with 5 new comic book days in a month.
I loved the draft but I really didn’t need to have Superman and Batman on all the leagues – after all Batman likes to quit the league on a regular basis so I’d much preferred both of them weren’t mandatory. After all they didn’t even bother showing up to help the league out against Starro back at the beginning.
I have to say that first pick of Zatanna was HILARIOUS – it is the hallmark of every NFL Fantasy draft I’ve been part of that someone picks a 2nd round expected player in the first 2 picks and throws everyone out as they scramble to figure out things.
I’d actually like to see if these teams could maybe go into the other favourite of sports fans… a Bracket show. Throw in a random environment selection, quest/challenge and it would be interesting to role play out who would win out – not in a fight against each other mind you.
Anyway enough of all that… I’m sure you are all wondering who I would pick on my team assuming the picks from the podcast are valid and I’m having to join the “Fantasy Draft League” to make up a 7th team ( and really you couldn’t make this a 7 person draft to hold up to the theme?)
My Batman ? Well I was going to draft Oracle in this line up but when I think about it… I want Old Man Bruce from Batman Beyond.
Superman ? I want Triangle Superman pre Doomsday still to sort out the whole wedding to Lois but post the engagement.
Blue Devil – I want this to be a league with a sense of humour. Not Bwah-ha-ha style but not super po faced as that will REALLY wind up Old Man Bruce. While Dan isn’t a whiz at magic he is also technical to an extent after all he built the suit.
Blue Beetle – Ted Kord – When I said Not Bwah-ha-ha Style I meant it but this is Ted Kord from his own book era. Dan and Ted will be working on gadgets regularly and trying to out do each others ideas.
Firestorm – Someone that can handle energy and in theory bring some super science along with him if Prof Stein is involved. I love the idea of Ronnie trying to translate what Martin is saying while Super Smart Ted Kord looks on bemused.
Jade / Green Lantern – You need a Lantern of some kind and well Jade is sort of a Lantern.
Miss Martian – If you need a Telepath and supposedly every league does then why not bring one up from the ranks of Young Justice.
If I was given the choice to swap out Superman I’d want Supergirl in there or Power Girl. I realise I’m lacking a speedster as well but I think Superman can handle most of that.
It’s a very conventional league I know, no crazy pitches in there but it’s a team I’d follow. In the book in my head we’d have Booster showing up regularly but not getting involved a new catchphrase of “You couldn’t pay me to deal with that” while it would be Time Master Booster actually keeping an eye on things.
Miss Martian is a great shout!
1. Superman
2 Batman
3. Black Canary
dr ocult
4 A green Lanten I made up whose a man-skunk
5 ether the demon or Captan comet
there will be a black Canary Batman Romance (it’s time for Batman to date someone who never tried to kill him a BC to date a guy thats not an asshole
Iām late to the comments, but let me say what a fun idea this was – I had a total blast listening to the show. (I particularly loved the little tinkling sound effect that heralded each Pick.) The ā2025ā in the title hints that this might become an annual event, and I would absolutely up for listening to another round of this!
Being generally unfamiliar with the draft concept & workings, I hope that you might permit me the audacity of suggesting a couple of tweaks to the rules if you play this game againā¦
1] Iām personally not super-keen on both Supes & Bats being on a JLA team together as active members. Instead, – rather than the 1 and 2 slots being automatically filled – how about permitting the Pickers to select their first two choices from the original Brave & the Bold #28 roster (Aquaman, Batman, (Barry Allen) Flash, (Hal Jordan) Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Superman, Wonder Woman). That would give more variety to the final teamsā¦ and give Aquaman a 1 in 7 chance of being selected!
2] In place of the Free Agent section – when nobody took the chance to swap out one of their selections – each Picker gets to select one recurring Supporting Character – an administrator like Catherine Colbert, a tech support guy like Kilowog, an information broker like Oracle or a team mascot like Snapper Carrā¦ or Gānort.
Who would I have on my team?
Superman (Christopher Reeves version),
Batman (Azbats version: inexperienced, a bit of a loose cannon),
Big Barda (female powerhouse & story-wise links to the New Gods),
Kyle Rayner GL, Connor Hawke Green Arrow (I think these two could bring a Blue & Gold vibe to the team),
XS and for my long shotā¦
Zauriel (for the Hawkman-esque look and a connection to a more spiritual / supernatural world)
Again, thank you so much for a super fun listen! Really hoping a further run is forthcoming!
Chris,
Great team! I also love Zauriel and strongly considered him as a magic character.
Thanks Sean – I lament the underuse of Zauriel ; I thought he was an interesting character on Morrisonās team, and the subsequent mini series was a good take on the factions of the DCU Heaven – lots of story potential here, I think.
Show your Working: I tried to bring some āDouble Actsā to my team: Reevesā Superman + Zauriel as the moral centre of the group, Azbats and – to an extent – Barda bring a more warrior / berserker raw energy by way of balance. Batman & Connor Hawke are great martial artists, Kyle and Connor could bring the Blue & Gold buddy vibe. I like the idea of Barda & XS as mentor / mentee heroes. And – if memory services – Connor has had an Eastern spirituality (Buddhism?) element to his character which could work nicely against Zaurielās overtly Christian background and however Bardaās New Gods plays against regular religious belief in the DCU. Links to the New Gods and the Legion would also give easy springboards into potential storylines.
Zauriel was a strong contender on a lot of my brainstorming lists.
Tune in next month for my God Squad Draft. Zauriel, Spectre, Atlas, Hercules Unbound, and your choice of two New Gods!
Very fun episode! I love this concept. I really enjoyed hearing everyoneās more obscure references. My picks arenāt that obscure but I think Iād go with
Green Lantern (either Hal or Kyle) cuz every team needs a Lantern
Dr Fate to take care of any magical needs
Firestorm for the youngster who will grow into his immense power
Flash cuz every team needs a speedster to handle the āin the nick of timeā and any time traveling situations
Hawkman for the savage beast when needed.
Looking forward to more great stuff from you guys. Until then, boo gators, go Noles!
What an incredibly fun episode! Let’s have these at least once a year. And if for some reason anyone gets the wacky idea of extending this to non-network guests I’ll gladly volunteer to be the person with the worst picks!
I realised that after I looked at my picks, I didn’t have any females on my team. That being said, I would reluctantly change Dr Fate to Zatanna. Either that or I would trade in Flash for Wonder Woman
After thinking about some of the glaring omissions….I wonder if a couple of other rules could be considered for future drafts:
1. Everyone gets their “signature character” – so Shag gets Aquaman, Sean gets Wonder Woman, etc.
2. Instead of Batman and Superman, let everyone have ONE character that someone else can also draft. For example, Zatanna goes first. Everyone else can pick her up. But that’s the only character on that team that someone else can have. In other words, you can select one hero that has already been taken, but you’re only allowed to do that once.
3. After the final round, have a “poach” round. Maybe even re-roll the order. Maybe it works like an expansion draft. You can protect one hero (we’ll use Zatanna again), but everyone else on your squad is available for poaching.
This was such a great listen. The angst from Sean picking Zatanna first was palpable! But how can Shagg, Mr “I love Dr Fate”, say all other magic characters suck?! Kent probably changed the locks on his tower after that.
Rather than have a good team, I couldn’t help but think of a silly theme team: The puffy sleeves League:
Black Lightning
Firestorm
Katana
Arion
and of course, Gnort.
I love the idea of Arion as a member!
I think, like me, Shag had a Nabu sized brain fart about Dr. Fate. I blanked on him too until he was selected. I still would have taken Zee first, but Dr. Fate is awesome.