This topic came to my mind reading the Siege. I am not spoiling anything for who had not yet read it, but one post in the GREAT story by Grimm (go read it, if you have not yet done it) made me wondering what was MY all-time Vanguard line up.
To make it in line with the general rules of the writings, I say that just one character for poster could be chosen.
My all-time Revolutionaries/MBL/Vanguard line up is (from the earliest to join):
Euro (it's my character, I am fond of it, can I exclude him?)
Kristogar Velo (the gadget-era Batman, with some of the current toughness. A long gone character- and poster- who in the few posts he appeared struck my imagination with a sea of potential roles)
Doctor Quantos (for me, still the best character from TTT . Maybe he has not been considered a true V member, but for me it is. He is, or at last has been for some time, a glue for Vanguard. Truly human, with a supermind, he is for me an essential part of Vanguard.)
Dirk Bell (the human character among the superhumans, with very human goals -find a woman to gave birth to a child to continue a legacy... cool!- forced to be the best to keep up with his meta gifted colleagues, and with a mysterious past in space so far from what his character is -or seems-about. The coolest one, for me)
Phil Smith (I have a special fondness for telepatic characters, having written one for a couple of years in TOMB. I picture Smith in my all time Vanguard, more for what I expect from him than what he has done. I loved him madly in his first apparitions- when he was hiding under the table and when he saw Sinatra under the sea- but I am again liking him a lot these days, after the Dark World adventure.
Drake Marshall (I don't see him as a Captain America - he was a vigilante, a man of roof and nights, afraid of publicity and shy of reporters - more of a Spiderman, I'd say, and I dislike Pro's interpretation of him as a well known hero, that clash with all that has been written about the HR Universe before (but Ozzie's admiration for him was a great touch, in itself). His stepping from lone warrior to Vanguard (E) leader is perfect, and perfectly done. I see in him the true Vanguard leader).
Ozzie Baxter (What a great character! One power, great background, though attitude. I love him. So different from Prometheus, and yet equally "round", real. As usual, great stuff from Pro's mind).
Nobody (Mxy did it again. Another masterpiece creation. Whatever hero he wants to write, now he can. And it is the revamp of a stuffed doll from the old Universe. Why I am not able to come up with things like that?)
Lady Likopys (Wonder Woman done right. Can I add more? CJ is quickly becoming one of the best... no, she is one of the best writer/creators around here. Kudos for all her work. Lady "Bitch" is fantastic).
Edmund Gaunt (I love him. A sort of cross between Prometheus X from the early MBL stories, and a friendlier Shade. The door for vanguard to step into disturbing dimensions...)
And that's my line-up.
I know some posters have not been mentioned. Chewy and Gooz, for example. But I see just tow characters, from them, in my Vanguard line up, despite what they could think: Charles Walker and Agent Turner. Two characters much more real than the others, from them, that have joined Vanguard. More mature, profound and motivated. Walker would be my chosen director for an "Authority/Avenger/JLA Vanguard. A man not on the field, but at the table of the War Room. I see a lot of the old Chewy Walrus of the last days of TOMB in him. And Turner would simply be the powerful Vanguardian of all times.
And Robo Squirrel would also been on the list, if not for the fact that the little guy has not yet actually joined Vanguard. I am not joking. The little robot is the proof of Danny's ability. He turned a one line joke into a cool, unexpected character not less credible than the likes of Mxy, Phouka, Naecken or Adem, with a mysterious agenda and the needed role of funny relief, without being useless in hard situations. I prefer him to Danny, that from the last story seems to have been a character with a definite story-arc, cut from a free, unwritten evolution.
Last, a mention of Bruteforce. The berserker aspect that we saw just one time, I think is the prelude to cool revelations, like I-man made us used to in the old universe. I am waiting, ready to include BF in my list.
