by Bevan Thomas
Art by various collaborators
Some Tangent characters
Thanks to the magic of the Internet, I stumbled upon Tangent Comics, an idea that DC Comics played with in 1997. The premise of Tangent was a new world of superheroes, with each major character, item, etc. named after something from the normal DC universe, but was reinvented in a totally different way. For example, in the normal DC comics universe, the Flash is a man who runs so quickly he’s gone in a flash, while in Tangent comics, the Flash is a woman who’s able to create bright light. Likewise the DC comics Green Lantern is a superhero with a magic ring that is powered by a battery in the shape of a green lantern, while the Tangent comics Green Lantern is a woman who places a green lantern on people’s graves that reanimates that individual for 24 hours in order to right some wrong. Tangent Superman is a man with a highly evolved brain, Batman is the ghost of a knight from Camelot trapped in a suit of armour, and so on. Creating new characters from old names. What fun! Superhero and supervillain names are so iconic, archetypal, and the idea of finding new interpretations for them is such an engaging exercise of the imagination.
So that’s what my “Name Game” is. I have two superhero universes: Universe-D and Universe-M. Universe-D uses DC comics names, Universe-M uses Marvel comics names. Every major character, organization, object, and location (besides those from our universe, of course) is named after something from the respective comic book universe, though I may turn a person into an organization or an object, a location into a person (so members of Iron Fist may be hunting for the Dormammu book under the orders of the entity Madripoor).
All images of the inhabitants of Universe-D and Universe-M will be provided by Cloudscape comic artists.
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Universe-D
Individuals of exceptional skill and power compete for mastery of the Earth while the intergalactic armies of Emperor Solaris, the Tyrant Sun, draw near to devour this world. |
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Universe-M
Noble heroes and enigmatic spies confront numerous sinister forces that threaten the lives of the innocent. |