|
Daredevil Message Board
The Board Without Fear!
|
The Message Board is currently in read-only mode, as the software is now out of date. Several features and pages have been removed. If/When I get time I intend to re-launch the board with updated software.
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
The Overlord
Paradiso
Joined: 22 Aug 2004
Posts: 1095
|
 Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2014 10:17 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
| Mike Murdock wrote: | He also had a gun for a hand. That makes him a bit different from Bullseye. I don't recall any religious connotations with the character, but it's been awhile. What do you remember specifically?
It's a shame he was killed off by Wolverine (although I will point out his first appearance also involved Wolverine, so it's fitting to keep the mutant connection). Then again, it's Marvel. Wolverine's dead too right now. Hopefully, they'll both come back. |
Yeah but the robot arm is a gimmick, not a character trait. I think too often they write Bushwacker as an evil psychopath who just kills for fun. The Punisher Daredevil mini series from 10 years ago tried to just make Bushwacker a psycho killer and I think it made him more boring.
Bushwacker was once a Catholic Priest, so his religious fundamentalism makes sense:
http://marvel.com/universe/Bushwacker
There are lot of things we don't know about him, like why was he killing mutants in his first appearance, but considering in the X-Men titles there are religious groups that preach against mutants, that would fit in with Bushwacker's beliefs as well.
Bushwacker has often made statements about religion and sinners.
Not to mention Bushwacker is sometimes presented as someone with an insane moral code that makes sense to him alone. In Daredevil Annual 4, Bushwacker was hired by a drug lord to kill Ben Urich, who was writing a story about the drug lord's illegal activities. Instead of killing Urich, Bushwacker let Urich write the story to see if he could use the system to find justice. When the drug lord was able to bribe his way out of a jail term, Bushwacker killed, to prove to Urich that the system is fundamentally broken.
You couldn't do that kind of story with Bullseye, Bullseye would have killed Urich and then maybe have killed the crime boss for kicks. Bushwacker may like killing more then a sane rational person should, but he shouldn't be some Bullseye clone in terms of personality. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Mike Murdock
Golden Age
Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Posts: 1750
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2014 11:02 pm Post subject: |
|
|
That's interesting. It's a shame it was in an annual because, to be honest, even back in the earliest days of the character, he was often portrayed as just a mercenary, hitman, CIA agent, etc. More could be explored with that, particularly in contrast with Matt Murdock's faith (which often isn't explored either and shouldn't be explored unless it's done better than last time), so it's a shame it hasn't. But that one story might, unfortunately, be the out of character story - at least as far as Daredevil stories are concerned.
_________________
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother
Not sure what to read next? Check out the Book Club for some ideas!
I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
The Overlord
Paradiso
Joined: 22 Aug 2004
Posts: 1095
|
| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2014 1:24 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Mike Murdock wrote: | | That's interesting. It's a shame it was in an annual because, to be honest, even back in the earliest days of the character, he was often portrayed as just a mercenary, hitman, CIA agent, etc. More could be explored with that, particularly in contrast with Matt Murdock's faith (which often isn't explored either and shouldn't be explored unless it's done better than last time), so it's a shame it hasn't. But that one story might, unfortunately, be the out of character story - at least as far as Daredevil stories are concerned. |
Well that wasn't the only story that dealt with Bushwacker's fundamentalism, there was a time where he fought Punisher and he wanted Punisher to confess his sins to him before he killed him, so Punisher will go to Heaven. Bushwacker also often peppers his dialogue with religious references. This site has a great look at his character:
http://www.writeups.org/fiche.php?id=1201
Bushwacker also had a relationship with his wife (which I guess he married after leaving the priesthood) that was kinda interesting, with his wife believing Bushwacker needed professional help, wanted DD to catch Bushwacker before Wolverine did.
I think when written poorly (which often happens) Bushwacker will seem like some C-list loser, a poor man's Bullseye in terms of personality or just a plot device with gimmick designed to give DD a good fight scene. When written well, Bushwacker becomes his own character, he has sadistic and psychopathic impulses like Bullseye, but because of his religion, he needs to create rationalizations for his killings, he has an insane moral code that makes sense to him alone. I also think Bushwacker would be far less glib then Bullseye. It seems like Bushwacker could be a very interesting character, if a writer weaved together the various plot threads with him that we have seen over the decades. He seems like one of the more popular Nocenti villains, he has appeared in a couple of Punisher video games over the decades.
Now going back to Silver Age elements that could work in modern DD, it seems like some villains get used more in the modern era (Owl, Mr Fear, Purple Man, etc) because they are better concepts then the lame villains (Stilt-Man, Matador and Leap-Frog). However there is a way around that, have a superior successor character take over from the lame character. The third Mr. Fear was far more interesting then his predecessors, the Brubaker version of Matador was a bit generic, but was certainly a step up from the Silver Age Matador. Waid introduced a version of Leap-Frog with a gimmick that is more dangerous then the original (give him a worth while personality and you may have something) and Bendis created a new Leap-Frog that would have fit better with the story he was writing then. Stilt-Man's gimmick might just be too goofy, there have several new Stilt-Man characters since Wilbur Day died and they have all been ineffective losers.
I think you could introduce a new version of say the Masked Marauder and have a big mystery story about who he or she really is. The original Masked Marauder is just Matt Murdock's old landlord who had a blindness ray (which is about as useful against DD as a kryptonite ray would be against Green Lantern). You could easily kill him off and replace him with a new more mysterious and dangerous version of the character. I don't DD ever had a good long term mystery villain plot, like Spidey used to have with Green Goblin and Hobgoblin. Depending on who this new Masked Marauder is, you could have an interesting new long term enemy and if not, at least you could have an interesting mystery plot for a while. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mike Murdock
Golden Age
Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Posts: 1750
|
| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2014 7:53 am Post subject: |
|
|
Although, for some reason, I seem to recall his blindness ray turning of Matt's radar sense.
Looking at Marvel wikia, Bushwacker apparently had 35 appearances in comics. In Daredevil, he had seven, of which I've seen four. Of those four, none of the personality traits mentioned showed themselves. Yes, Daredevil wanted to get to him before Wolverine because he didn't want Wolverine to kill him, but that's about it. However, since 28 of his appearances weren't Daredevil appearances, maybe he shouldn't be considered just a Daredevil villain anyway.
_________________
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother
Not sure what to read next? Check out the Book Club for some ideas!
I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
The Overlord
Paradiso
Joined: 22 Aug 2004
Posts: 1095
|
| Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 1:19 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Mike Murdock wrote: | | Although, for some reason, I seem to recall his blindness ray turning of Matt's radar sense. |
Fair enough, though I think a new Masked Marauder instead of turning off DD's super senses, using technology to render himself invisible to DD's radar senses. Not only would that prolong the mystery storyline, but I do like stories where the hero's normal advantages are gone and they have fight a villain with a handicap (there are many fun stories with Spider-Man losing his spider sense) and would fit in with the theme of MM blinding DD.
| Mike Murdock wrote: |
Looking at Marvel wikia, Bushwacker apparently had 35 appearances in comics. In Daredevil, he had seven, of which I've seen four. Of those four, none of the personality traits mentioned showed themselves. Yes, Daredevil wanted to get to him before Wolverine because he didn't want Wolverine to kill him, but that's about it. However, since 28 of his appearances weren't Daredevil appearances, maybe he shouldn't be considered just a Daredevil villain anyway. |
Well like almost all B-list villains, Bushwacker's personality seems to depend entirely on who is writing. With characters like that, you have to pick and choose what version of the character you like best. I just happen to like the fundamentalist version of Bushwacker best, it makes him unique among DD's rogues.
As for whether Bushwacker is a DD villain or not, a good question to ask is who is considered a DD villain anyway? Even Kingpin started out as a Spidey villain and the Hand spends a lot of time harassing Wolverine, as well as DD. Purple Man didn't appear in DD for almost 30 years until his recent appearance and he has had a far bigger impact on Jessica Jones' life then he did on Daredevil's life.
I think if you want to big DD a good rogues gallery, writers will have all to look at all the villains created in the pages of DD and see if they work well with modern Daredevil or should be placed with another hero or simply forgotten. But if the writers realize which of those villains are a good fit for DD, they should be used often and used well, not be punching bags or plot devices with little actual characterization.
As for Bushwacker, if he is not a DD villain then who's villain should he be? He has appeared a fair amount in Punisher and even appeared in some Punisher video games, but I don't like 616 Punisher, I only like the Max version of Punisher and Bushwakcer wouldn't be a good fit for that version of Punisher. Heck if he fought Punisher on a regular basis, it would be hard to come up with reasons why he wouldn't be dead, Punisher doesn't have much of a rogues gallery, because he almost always kills his enemies, so Bushwacker would have a short run as one of his enemies. As for being Wolverine villain, Wolverine has evil cyborgs and anti mutant fanatics by the dozens, he doesn't need more villains like that. I think Bushwacker is best served as a DD villain, because you justify him being around fighting DD, because guys like Wolverine and Punisher are more then happy to kill him if he crosses their path. I also think, if written well, he would be a unique foe among DD's rogues gallery. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mike Murdock
Golden Age
Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Posts: 1750
|
| Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 10:53 am Post subject: |
|
|
I tend to think of him as a Daredevil villain as well, but I'm just saying his personality seems to have been invented outside the mainstream Daredevil storylines. He's probably best classified as just a Marvel character that goes from comic to comic. His recent appearances have had more to do with The Hood than anything else. Here is the list of comics he's appeared in: http://marvel.wikia.com/Category:Carl_Burbank_(Earth-616)/Appearances (although I couldn't find the Annual you mentioned).
Daredevil #248-249 (Wolverine Crossover)
Daredevil #259-260 (Typhoid Mary Storyline)
Punisher War Journal Vol. 2 # 12-13
Deathlok Vol. 2 #5 (not sure what this story is about, but it appears to have an X-Men connection)
Nomad Vol. 2 #5
Daredevil #334-336 (Gregory Wright's story, know nothing about it)
New Avengers #1
Daredevil v. Punisher #3
She-Hulk Vol. 2 #5
Punisher War Journal Vol. 2 # 5
New Avengers #35
New Avengers Annual #2
Secret Invasion #6-7
Dark Reign: The Hood #1, 4, 5
New Avengers #56, 57, 60, 63, 64 (appearing as part of Hood's Army of Criminals)
Amazing Spider-Man #626
Enter the Heroic Age #1
X-Force: Sex and Violence #2
That doesn't mean he shouldn't appear in Daredevil again. My only real point was that his appearances in Daredevil were just as a mercenary, not a nuanced character. His character development seemed to occur elsewhere.
_________________
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother
Not sure what to read next? Check out the Book Club for some ideas!
I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
