Marvel's Flagship Female

[ragingdemon155]

Hard choice to make here but, yea I will go with Storm or the Invisible Woman.

I mean She-Hulk got a huge push when Dan Slott was writing her and has remained pretty consistent since. Marvel really gave her a nice push forward but, even so she has a long way to go before catching up with to Storm and Invisible Woman in terms of recognition. My first choice was actually going to be Mary Jane but, then I stopped and thought about how Marvel is pretty much just stepping all over her character these days.

 

[Sloth7d]

It doesn't matter. It has been animated more time since the 60's. So if you want to talk about cartoons then Sue Storm has gotten more visibility in the long run than Storm.

Also the next X-Men cartoon will be lead by Wolverine, not Storm. And it features the White Queen who will undoubtedly get lots of attention.

What do you mean it doesn't matter? It makes no difference if the cartoon didn't last as long or get the same proper airing time as the X-men cartoons.

As for the new X-men cartoon, to say the most popular X-woman (Storm) will not get screen time is ludacris.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

No, it's ludicrous.

This is Ludacris:

 

[Sloth7d]

This just proves my point on how current rappers make people illiterate. Wait, did I even spell that right?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Remarkably, yes.

 

[Sloth7d]

Then there is a God.

 

[GL1]

Sorry GL, but you're just blowing hot air. I have never seen those supposed Halloween costumes of Storm. I have never seen anybody dress up as Storm outside of a Comic Book Convention. I've seen lots of Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and Batgirl costumes. But who wouldn't dress up as them?

As for the Storm centric episodes that doesn't fly either. Jean Grey still got a lot of story spotlight in both the first series and the Evolution series. Her Phoenix plot and romance with Cyclops helped her in that regard. She got the same advantage in the last two X-Men films. Invisible Woman only had three other teammates to share the screen with so any viewer would know her name quickly. If one sees Storm in a commerical, it's only to promote the X-Men.

As for the toys, nope, I still haven't seen that many Storm toys to say she is a flagship female. It doesn't matter if Jean Grey wasn't in the Evolution series. She's been in the movie merchandise, the X-Factor merchandise, 12-inch dolls series, and others that only collectors would notice. That still doesn't make her or Storm the Marvel flagship heroine.

To be a flagship character, Marvel has to consciously promote that heroine with the company image. Just like they did for Spider-Man when they did this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SxfYgICKo8

and this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMJIwOsMRQg

Okay... lets stick to my not hot air comments then:

There are more Storm toys than Jean Grey toys in existance, being sold and played with. Storm appears in every line that Jean Grey does and then some.
There are more Storm costumes than Jean Grey costumes in existance, being sold and worn. Google will help you out with this one.
Storm has been in Marvel commercials sans other X-Men (except for perhaps Wolverine) such as the American Express Credit Card Commercial that ends with Underdog.
Who cares how many teammates IW had if no one watched the show and it was only one for one and half seasons (ANY incarnation) in a bad time slot? She's NOT recognizable that way.

But you did say one thing correct, to be a true Flagship character, Marvel has to concious market the character as such, and while Storm has been the frontrunner female for a while now, and is by far the most popular and well known, Ms. Marvel is who Marvel is pushing now.

Actually, I take part of that back, Mary Jane, due to the movies, is actually competition for Storm in terms of popularity.

I have no problem with Ms. Marvel being the Flagship, I just don't want this foolishness that suggests that any of these other great comic book superheroines are as popular and well-exposed to the general public as Storm is.

 

[Franklin Richards]

 

[TheCorpulent1]

God, Greg Land is a boring artist.

 

[storyteller]

I think female superheroes could be taken a tad bit more serious if their breasts didnt make up half their body mass. Seriously Powergirl seems smaller then the work marvel has done to their girls.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Are you just talking in general, or specifically about Sue's breasts in the pictures above? Because, really, for all the criticism I give Land, I don't think you can honestly say that he goes overboard with breasts. Hell, he drew a Birds of Prey cover where I thought Black Canary's breasts were too small, compared to how most other artists portray them.

 

[Red Mask]

Who cares how many teammates IW had if no one watched the show and it was only one for one and half seasons (ANY incarnation) in a bad time slot? She's NOT recognizable that way.

Same with Storm. Ask a normal person that name, they'll more likely think "X-Men", not Marvel. And they will also think "Halle Berry", who's done Catwoman, Jinx, Monster's Ball, and those make-up commercials. I see websites linking the Storm costume with Halle Berry's Catwoman costume. Come to think of it, others like Jessica Alba and Rebecca Romjin, made their characters more visible to the public. It's their image that carried the characters, not the other way around.

But you did say one thing correct, to be a true Flagship character, Marvel has to concious market the character as such, and while Storm has been the frontrunner female for a while now, and is by far the most popular and well known, Ms. Marvel is who Marvel is pushing now.

Only in the comic books. There isn't enough merchandise or any film to prove Marvel is ernest about that. And in the Secret Invasion promos they've chosen many heroines in those Skrull portraits. Equal visiblity there.

Actually, I take part of that back, Mary Jane, due to the movies, is actually competition for Storm in terms of popularity.

Yeah, and that's because of the movies and the actresses who played them. Afterwards, Marvel directs the attention back to comic book fans. But the general public will usually recognize the male icons first, like Spider-Man, Hulk, etc. Marvel needs to promote a heroine who isn't carried by the fame of an entertainer.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I don't really see why so many are quick to judge this by the reaction of the general public, as if to say, "Oh, Ms. Marvel is being pushed to the comic audience, but the real audience has never heard of her." Do we as comic fans have such low collective self-esteem that we won't even count ourselves as the real barometer for things in our favorite medium?

 

[Red Mask]

If Marvel wanted a 'flagship female' they'd have put more effort in doing so. X-Men was the only movie to have the most female superheroines. But it's called "X-Men". If someone asked about Capcom's heroines, Chun Li and Jill Valentine will quickly come to mind. Ask about the women of Star Wars, you'll likely get Princess Leia and her mother, Queen Amidala. But if you asked about Marvel and you just a variety of names based on title preference. And that's why I believe Marvel hasn't got a solid 'flagship female'.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Kind of an uneven comparison there, isn't it? Marvel's got a lot more female heroines in a lot more long-running series than Star Wars, of which most people have only seen the main 6 movies--not a huge selection of characters, let alone female characters, to begin with, so of course you're gonna get similar answers from most people. As for Capcom, that's closer to Marvel but, like Marvel, different people would give you different answers based on preference. The first female I would've thought of is Roll, since Mega Man is pretty much synonymous with Capcom for me.

 

[The_Vision]

Ms. Marvel, its in the name

 

[Zombie_Comics]

Sue Storm was the first. Her character broke bounderies, she is part of the first family of superheroes and should be Marvel's First Female Icon. I already think she is.

 

[Obi-Ron]

Ditto.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Sue Storm was the first. Her character broke bounderies, she is part of the first family of superheroes and should be Marvel's First Female Icon. I already think she is.

She's the only character I know of who was upgraded from a "Girl" to a "Woman."

 

[Darthphere]

Donna Troy?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Donna Troy was upgraded from Wonder Girl to cheap imitation of Wonder Woman.

 

[Zombie_Comics]

I agree with TheCorulent1 Sue Storm is the only one to go from "Girl" to "Woman"

 

[kainedamo]

If we're talking about a female with superpowers, the flagship female is a toss up between Jean Grey and Invisible Woman.


If we're talking about popularity and outsider recognition of a character, the flagship female character is Mary Jane.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Not in another few years, if Joe Q has anything to say about it.

 

[Franklin Richards]