Marvel’s ‘The Rangers’ - A Matter of Place

(Originally published 4th November, 2016) 

From Wikipedia: “ The Rangers are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #265 (November 1981) and was created by writer Bill Mantlo and penciller Sal Buscema. The title page of The Incredible Hulk #265 also credits Mark Gruenwald with co-creation of The Rangers.”

Essentially created as a version of the Avengers based in the American Southwest, they were brought together by accident (just like the original team) by Rick Jones (just like the original team) to stop a rampaging Hulk (just like the original team) who was actually being set up by a behind-the-scenes villain (just like... aw, you get the picture). The team originally consisted of the five members in the front row above (from L to R) Red Wolf, Shooting Star, Phantom Rider (a.k.a. Night Rider, a.k.a. Ghost Rider), Texas Twister and Firebird. Later they acquired several temporary members in The Armadillo (the big hoss in the picture above) and Living Lightning (not pictured). Since their creation, they’ve pretty much been a blip on the radar, showing up very occasionally, but never really making much of an impact. But ever since I first became aware of them (thanks to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe), I’ve been kind of obsessed with them.

One reason is that, as a superteam, they manage to fill all the archetypes, with a rich variety of character-types, power-types and personalities, but the main reason is that they and, more importantly, their setting, are pretty much a blank slate. I’m a big fan of stories with strong settings and, for the most part, Marvel’s heroes don’t like to venture far past New York. What this means is that a creator could build their own version of the Marvel Universe’s South-Western US.

he Marvel Universe, while ostensibly like our own, has a great many fantastical elements, from The Savage Land at the South Pole, to Doctor Doom’s country of Latveria, to the Morlock Tunnels, home to outcast mutants beneath New York City. It’d be interesting to create a rich, evocative setting, full of story elements for a region of the US which has largely remained unmapped. My initial thoughts would revolve around the Hulk, because for awhile there, he was based largely out of the Southwest. Maybe have the team get outfitted with a new base of operations in a decommissioned Hulkbuster Base. Secondly, while I don’t recall if it was every detailed, the initial Gamma Bomb test which created the Hulk was performed in the region, and it would be interesting to look into the long-term aftereffects of such a monumentous event... maybe even building up something like the whole Roswell thing, with nearby towns cashing in on their reputation. You also have the whole history of the region. With two characters (Red Wolf & Phantom Rider) being legacy characters whose histories date back to the old West, providing a chance to revive or revitalize some of the weird Villains who appeared in Marvel’s Western Titles back in the Silver Age. And of course, there’s the various political angles, with Texas Twister being a former member of SHIELD’s abortive Super-Agent Program, One member being Indigenous, Three Members being Latino (Firebird, Armadillo and Living Lightning), with Living Lightning also being gay, and Armadillo being a former criminal (and Pro-Wrestler!) (Like I say, rich variety of character types)

So basically, you’ve got...

THE TEXAS TWISTER - a character I’ve always had an inexplicable love of as the ‘Front Man’ of the crew, the Super Friends-era Superman who’s usually the one speaking for the team, who’s super-bombastic and larger than life (kind of like a toned down version of Patrick Warburton as The Tick).

SHOOTING STAR - who’s the Team’s Hawkeye or Green Arrow. Basically a cross between the craziest Chow Yun Fat gun-fu madness you can imagine and the most wild, fearless, thrillseeking cowgirl daredevil who ever lived. Plus, her and The Twister are in a relationship (that could be a good relationship, or a post-break-up one, though I’d prefer the former just to have a cool, fun comic book couple for a damn change).

RED WOLF - Problematic because I have NO idea about American Indigenous Culture, so I’d just be working with more white dude stereotypes, so that’d take a shitload of research. Also, he’s totally getting a costume redesign. Mike Perkins illustrated a Union Jack Miniseries where he gave two of Marvel’s International Heroes, The Israeli Sabra and the Arabic Arabian Knight really nice facelifts. I wouldn’t mind going a similar route. Something that looks a bit less like a bad Hallowe’en costume. I’m thinking he’s the team’s ‘Batman’; The serious, nonpowered crime-walloper.

PHANTOM RIDER - I’m thinking I’d have a NEW host for the character, who’s the team’s resident spooky-type. The Rider’s gone through a bunch of different incarnations, so it’s entirely appropriate. Maybe the female Jaime Slade version, or maybe an all new character. I might retain the original Carter Slade (or maybe Jamie Jacobs, or Reno Jones, even Rex Fury, the ORIGINAL original version as a kind of ghostly mentor).

FIREBIRD - The team’s character who’s very powerful, but who’s also very restrained in the use of her power. Plus, as a practicing Christian and a social worker, she’ll be very concerned with helping the team’s opponents rather than just blasting them with fire.

ARMADILLO and LIVING LIGHTNING will be probationary members, with Armadillo trying to redeem himself for his criminal past. He’s basically going to be trying to keep his nose clean while having the sort of appearance and powers that makes that REALLY hard. Living Lightning, meanwhile, will be someone who’s only reluctantly a superhero. He’d much rather NOT be dressing in a silly costume, risking his life and fighting bad guys, but he’s decided that he needs to be a high-visibility Gay Superhero to serve as a role-model.

So far, my ideas for plots include:

• Mysterious doings at the original Gamma Bomb test site, and establishing a nearby town that’s sprung up, renamed itself ‘Gamma Flats’ or ‘Pueblo Verde’. Establish the residents of the town as colourful and interesting. There’s also a bunch of people who’ve grown up and are feeling the effects of long-term Gamma Radiation exposure - possible new recruits, enemies, local heroes, threats, whatever - who are referred to collectively by the locals as “Green-Genes”.
• The return of or legacy characters influenced by Marvel’s old Silver Age Western characters. There was a miniseries called ‘Six Guns’ which features modern versions of old Marvel Western characters, and it might be interesting to dip into those, but mainly the old pseudo-supervillains who appeared back then like The Rattler, Dr.Danger and the Iron Mask. I’m sure it’d be fun to tweak them.
• Re: the old Western Villains, the idea of Supervillains in a place where there are few superheroes of note. These guys could easily run a town, for instance. Maybe even introduce some small-time minor local hero-types as well. 
• I definitely want to make the landscape a major character. Have a ‘Mystery Mesa’ trapped in time with dinosaurs straight out of ‘Valley of the Gwangi’ and the like... definitely play up the fact that you’re pretty much dealing with a blank slate. I’d like the series’ setting to be as vivid as ‘Starman’s Opal City (for instance).

Of course, besides a fondness for ‘Breaking Bad’, (awesome) 90’s comic series ‘El Diablo’, a fondness for “Weird Westerns” and a history of exhaustive viewings of Road Runner cartoons, I’m not all that familiar with the region... still, it’s an area ripe with untapped story potential and it’s kinda driving me mental that it’s lain fallow for so damn long.