The Comic Character Wish List

All players of Dice Masters have their little wish list of characters they would love to see introduced in the game.

It’s the guaranteed social media conversation starter – throw the question out and you’re undoubtedly going to see the Fans mobilise with lists of their faves in the hope that Wizkid’s might notice and one day fulfil those dreams.

So I had a little think and pulled a quick list together of some comic book characters I think would be fun to see. I’ve stuck to existing IPs and chucked a few names on a list to share my version of fan-casting for the game.

Here’s who I’ve gone for…

Captain Britain

I mean – this is BritRollerSix – I couldn’t let this one go unmentioned now, could I?

Jingoistic accusations aside; Captain Britain is notably as the central character of Alan Moore’s only mainstream contribution to the Marvel canon, and nobody can deny that guy’s outstanding contribution to the comic book art form. I love me some Alan Moore writing and as a fan Captain Britain scratches a few itches – obscure X-team member, UK based hero, and written by one of comic book’s all time greats. What’s not to love for a British pop-culture Mod such as myself.

Mystically bestowed his powers by the wizard Merlin himself – he’s as tough and superhuman as Captain America and has the added ability to fly – so there’s an abundance of game-text options for him. Plus – as a long-standing member of the Excalibur team he could mark the introduction of a new Affiliation that could also feature Nightcrawler, Meggan, the original English Psylocke/Kwannon and more recent faves like Pete Wisdom.

Cat-Man

One story run in the pre-52 I enjoyed immensely was the Villains Unlimited mini-series and the subsequent Secret Six monthly series (Both written by Gail Simone). At the centre of the books was the team’s leader: Cat-man.

The definition of pure anti-hero, Gail Simone’s writing on the books gave him (and his team mates, I’d love another new Affiliation that’s the Secret Six with Scandal, Deadshot, Cheshire, Ragdoll, Knock-Out etc all in the mix) the killer-combo of witty lines in among moving drama that made for a belting read.

It’s a shame that he’s not in the game, even if he & his team are a bit more obscure. Game-text that relies on team work with his fellow Secret Six mercenaries, and something that acknowledges his honourable, anti-hero status from the Simone years, would be awesome.

Moria McTaggart

After so much X-Men related content in the game I must confess to being a little surprised that such an important figure in the X-books lore hasn’t had a card yet.

She was a strong presence in the X-Men revival of the 70s, featuring as the central character in many important, legendary storylines and even ran her own X-Team from her home on Muir Island for awhile. Not only this – she was a key character in the movie franchise prequels. She’s firmly entrenched in the X-History.

She has been both a Doctor and Mentor to various X-teams, and so she could be the “ally” character the X-Men Affiliation has been waiting for, with some sort of tribal game-text that reflects her longstanding role in the X-universe.

Lady Shiva

One genre aspect of the DC Canon I have always been particularly fond of is the Martial Arts stories. I love stories when heroes like Batman, Black Canary, Green Arrow and Katana get into with a legendary League of Assassins member or travel to a mystical monastery to train with a Martial Arts master.

And there is none more badass from that part of the DC world than Lady Shiva. She features in so many great stories and has been a central figure in a couple of my favourite story arcs in Robin and Birds of Prey.

She’s widely regarded in the fictional universe as the most lethal assassin in the world – who even Batman openly admits he could not possibly defeat. That said, she’s not just a one dimensional character at all, with complex relationships with characters like Robin (Tim Drake) and Black Canary, as well as being Orphan’s (Cassandra Cain) Mother that has given her character depth and made her a compelling character to read.

She would make a top addition as a Villain with some master assassin game-text.

Stryfe

My comic book fandom began in the 90s and for a period of time (inspired by my love of the cartoon series) I read an awful lot of X-Men books – there was…like… a hundred different X-titles after all. One of the biggest villainous influences on X-Men lore at that time was Stryfe.

He is, to my mind, one of the nastiest, edgiest villains in the X-Men stories and really needs a place in Dice Masters. He’s too wrapped up in convoluted Summers family drama and crazy X-verse time travel shenanigans to explain here, but to cut to the chase he’s a clone of Cable from the future that has completely lost his mind.

Lots of opportunity with him here – some sort of game-text that reflects his time travelling storyline or some Villainous disadvantage for X-Men would be spot on.

Bronze Tiger

Back to my love of DC Universe martial artists with Bronze Tiger.

This is the guy who famously defeated Batman in hand-to-hand combat, a true legend in DC lore, how can he not have a card yet? He’s got a cool aesthetic too, and there’s been some awesome artwork of him that reflects the brutal & disciplined skills of this martial arts warrior.

There’s lots of great lore around this guy. He was once romantically involved with Vixen and has a past as a fellow martials arts trainee of Cassandra Cain. He is considered to be of equal skill to Lady Shiva my some, although Shiva would dispute that.

He has also been an on again/off again member of the Suicide Squad, an Affiliation in the game in desperate need of a boost to its ranks, so that would be a nice thing too.

Lobo

This guy is indicative of an area of the DC Universe I think is largely going un-catered for in the game, what I like to call the “Outer Space-y Stuff”.

Lobo, the Last Czarnian, appealed to me greatly as as a young teenager with his healthy dose of infantile humour thrown in with some ultra-violent satire. (Who am I kidding – I still love infantile humour now) Reading a Lobo book as a young teenager felt a little naughty.

He’s super-strong, can regenerate, rides a space hog, and has a really nasty hook on a chain as his weapon of choice. Loads of interesting game-text opportunities with that.

Plus – he’s has been drawn by some really unique artists over the years, so could definitely be a lovely looking card that would stand out for its artwork as much as it’s game-text.

Forgetmenot

Possibly one of the most intriguing meta characters in the X-Verse to date, and suitably obscure in more ways than one.

His mutant power is “existential superposition”, which means he is imperceptible and instantly forgotten by anyone he encounters. It creates a fascinating read whenever he appears (albeit a bit bewildering, he is an X-Men character after all), or doesn’t appear as the case maybe, and has driven some curious retcons of storylines where his unseen hand played an integral part of the X-Men’s success against a number of enemies.

He’s funny, and tragic, and could be a tremendous opportunity for some really fascinating game-texts.

Blue Beetle – Ted Kord

We’ve had one Blue Beetle, but not THE Blue Beetle as far as I’m concerned… Ted Kord.

At the very beginning of my comic book nerd life one of the titles I read without fail was the Keith Giffen era of Justice League, and have since those days followed the characters I first fell in love with back then, including Ted Kord’s Blue Beetle.

At that stage he was a bit of a wise cracking buffoon, but as a character he is so much more and many writers have developed deeper layers to Ted Kord – with many heroes demonstrating their respect for him by acknowledging his intellect, technological talents, and physical capabilities. All of this culminates in his position as the central character of one of my absolute favourite DC story arcs “Countdown to Infinite Crisis”, where we get to see the many talents of the man in action and solidified his status as so much more than just the comic relief.

A Justice League affiliation, with game-texts that reflect his genius level intellect, awesome gadgets, and hand-to-hand combat skills would be ideal.

Notable Mentions

A few characters I’d like to see, but don’t sit on my dream list:

G’Nort – hilarious Green Latern character that entertained a young Mr Six

Cassandra Cain/Orphan/Batgirl – Love me those master martial artists in DC

Creeper – Colourful & crazy anti-hero

Hypno-Hustler – Dude has a hypnotic guitar and played in a soul funk band. Definition of cool, ignore the Hypno-Hustler critics

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There we go folks, a brief list of character cards I’d love to see in Dice Masters. It’s leans a bit more on DC I think, mostly because I’m more of a DC fanboy and there’s been less sets (and so we’ve seen less obscure characters).

Tell me – who have you always wanted to see a card for? Any suggestions for it’s game-text? Let me know in the comments below…