Monday, January 23, 2006

The Detroit Phantom


Gypsy is back, judging from this cover to April's Birds of Prey #93.

Phantom Lady is dead, killed by the Society in Infinite Crisis.

A new Phantom Lady is going to be needed (I assume) for there to be a new Freedom Fighters.

Gypsy's abilities are similar to Phantom Lady's (as highlighted in the JLU #17.


Will Gypsy be the new Phantom Lady?

17 comments:

Steve said...

I tend to figure there's not much point in giving up one trademark to maintain another...why make Gypsy the new Phantom Lady when they can have a Gypsy AND a Phantom Lady?

Scipio said...

True. But it's not like Gypsy's bursting with popularity. Phantom Lady's more likely to get underoos than Gypsy (until they put Gypsy in Teen Titans...!)

Anonymous said...

Also, you've got to take into account that calling a hero "gypsy" might be a wee bit racist, maybe? So maybe she'll graduate to Phantom Lady and just have a sexist costume instead.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Gypsy will become the new Phantom Lady and then (with some help from Uncle Sam, of course, provided he isn't dead) she'll resurrect Steel and Vibe and recruit Vixen and they, along with The Ray and Damage will reunite both Justice League Detroit and the Freedom Fighters? I'd buy that.

Scipio said...

Resurrect Steel?

Nah. Just have John Henry Irons join them. THAT would be cool...

Scipio said...

At the moment, I'd be happy to see Uncle Sam stand up, let alone interact with JHI...!

Scipio said...

My theory on this is based on the idea that Damage will become the new Human Bomb.

I was thinking that Gypsy, like Damage, doesn't have the best rep or memories associated with her, and "re-branding" them both might be the smart thing to do.

Anonymous said...

Also, you've got to take into account that calling a hero "gypsy" might be a wee bit racist, maybe? So maybe she'll graduate to Phantom Lady and just have a sexist costume instead.

I agree. Having a hero named Gypsy is pretty much as bad has "Caucasian Man" or "Hispanic Lass"... or something.

Bully said...

We all know she's got the powers and the experience.

But does she have the cleavage?

Scipio said...

Interesting idea, Ken. A Phantom Lady about whom no one knows anything; her real life would be as invisible as she.

She could go out with the Question or the Phantom Stranger!

Marc Burkhardt said...

Just want to say that I was one of the remaining two readers of the original Freedom Fighters series. Whether DC choses Gypsy, Damage etc. or not, there MUST be a new Phantom Lady, Human Bomb and Black Condor.

(No way was Uncle Sam killed, unless he was a Marvel character. Then he'd be resurrected as a Russian killer named Comrade Boris or something...)

Harvey Jerkwater said...

I have a horrible confession to make.

When I started to follow comics and really get into them, it was the era of the Detroit League.

And I liked them. I still dig that era of JLA. Without irony. I liked Steel. The interplay between J'onn and Gypsy was touching. And even as a young hetero boy, I could appreciate the raging sexual allure of Dale Gunn.

They weren't good comics, but dammit, I loved them. You should have seen my face when I read the comic where Vibe was murdered. Shock! Shock, I tell you!

Back to the topic: re-naming an existing character to fill an old name strikes me as a losing proposition. Turn Gypsy into the new Phantom Lady and I'll bet within two years she'll be Gypsy again, if only because a writer won't know what else to do with her. I sez leave her be.

And dammit, would it kill the writers to make J'onn J'onzz a regular supporting character in whatever book she's in? Their relationship was the best part of her character.

Sleestak said...

"Bully said...
We all know she's got the powers and the experience.
But does she have the cleavage?"

The artists will make sure she does by the time she appears.

Anonymous said...

Gypsy's public appearance has always been an illusion. She could project as much cleavage as she wants.

Does anyone know offhand how much DC time has passed since JL Detroit? She's still a kid, isn't she?

Anonymous said...

Sadly, they did bring back Steel, now called Citizen Steel.

And why is Gypsy's ghost molesting the Crime Doctor?

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Everard said...

The guy is absolutely fair, and there is no suspicion.
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