How many western superheroes are there?

[J'onn J'onzz]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but since all the comics I listed are fairly old, I decided on this forum.

Western US, I mean. I was originally going to say "west coast", but then I'd have to leave out Starman (the 1980s series, by Stern, which was really good, and is typically overlooked).

Most comics tend to either be set in either


New York City
or
A fictional city


So I was wondering how many are actually set in the west.

Off the top of my head:


Starman- the 1980s series that I already mentioned; set in Arizona, though there's an issue where he goes to Las Vegas to see Jay Leno's act
Aztek, the Ultimate Man- that obscure Grant Morrison/Mark Millar series from the 1990s; yeah, it's set in a fictional city, but in the letters column when someone asked where the city was, the lettercolumn writer said that it was set in the Pacific Northwest, which makes sense, since I could totally see it taking place in, say, Oregon
Daredevil, briefly- there was a period of time where he was located in San Francisco, back when the Black Widow was a co-star
The Champions- anyone remember this title? it was fairly obscure, but it starred the Black Widow, Ghost Rider, Hercules, Iceman, the Angel, and maybe a few others, and it was originally billed as The Champions of Los Angeles, I believe
West Coast Avengers- I really liked West Coast Avengers; it was a fairly random concept and a fairly random comic, but Englehart was a really good writer and most of the characters in it were pretty awesome, even though it sort of deteriorated near the end; also set in Los Angeles

So, am I missing anything? Obviously, there are some old western comics I'm leaving out, but I'm not really including most of the old western characters since they're not generally superheroes.

[MDG]

Green Lantern was originally in Coast City, which was implied to be on the west coast.

I think Green Arrow's solo series (after LongBow Hunters) was set in Seattle.

[JKCarrier]

In the '60s and '70s, the Hulk spent most of his time in the deserts of the southwest.

DC's Blue Devil was a Hollywood stuntman.

[spoon_jenkins]

Green Lantern was originally in Coast City, which was implied to be on the west coast.
Later on it was explicitly stated that Green Lantern was based in California. For example, in Green Lantern Corps #202, the Ferris Aircraft facility is in El Segundo, California.

The Hulk encountered a Southwestern group of heroes called the Rangers.

[T GUy]

Green Lantern was originally in Coast City, which was implied to be on the west coast

Only because Americans insist on using the term 'the coast' to mean 'the west coast,' as though they have forgotten that there's an east one as well.

JKC: You remind me that Atlas's The Cougar was also a stuntman, as was, I assume, the S&K character called Stuntman.

J'onn J'onzz: I'm not really including most of the old western characters since they're not generally superheroes.

There's a reasonable case for El Diablo. And the Two-Gun Kid behaves suspiciously like Batman et al.

[Cei-U!]

Iron Man operated out of Seattle for several years. The Outsiders relocated from Gotham to LA shortly after the Crisis On Infinite Earths. And Evanier and Spiegle's Crossfire was set in Hollywood.

Cei-U!

[MWGallaher]

The Gerard Jones/Mike Parobeck version of DC's El Diablo was a modern-day superhero in Dos Rios, Texas, and the current Blue Beetle operates out of El Paso. DC's Golden Age hero Vigilante operated in the modern-day West, too.
It seems to me that Marvel's 70's biker hero, Ghost Rider, spent a large part of his time in the desert West.

[MDG]

Only because Americans insist on using the term 'the coast' to mean 'the west coast,' as though they have forgotten that there's an east one as well.
Well, it was more than that--he was in the aviation industry that's based on the west coast, and was close to a desert.

Also, whenever they showed the ocean, it was on the left.

[benday-dot]

I was going to mention Ghost Rider as well MW. And I guess we can count both versions: the flaming skull head Johnny Blaze and the earlier Dick Ayers white phantom on horseback model.

I also feel Kirby's whole Fourth World has a pretty large west coast vibe. The hippie centred Forever People of course, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen when the titular character found himself among the Outsiders and the Hairies, and to a lesser extent even Mister Miracle, when the its lead character wasn't back on Apokolips fighting Darkseid, all seemed to breathe the air of the Cali desert.

Kirby had of course recently moved to California and the setting of his magnum opus very much seemed to reflect this new beginning for him.

... Also dare I mention the Texas Twister of FF legend.

[InfoBroker]

The largest super-hero density west of the Mighty Mississippi you ask?

The answer is so easy and obvious. I quick visit to Astro City is all it takes.

-jb the 'watching the night skies from Mount Kirby" ib -

[prince hal]

Super-Chief, from the pages of All-Star Western, was an Old West hero.

Wasn't some recent version of Aquaman set in a sunken San Diego?

And I think that the Champions and Black Goliath were set in LA.

Rawhide Kid may have been touched by some muta-gene or whatever that made him a super-shooter, but even if he wasn't super, more than a few of his foes bore the distinct earmarks of Marvel super-villains.

There were the West Coast Avengers once upon a time.

I seem to remember that according to the old Amazing World of DC Comics magazine, Middletown, where your buddy John Jones was a detective, is in Colorado.

Didn't you always think that Midway City, the Silver Age Hawkman's hangout, was supposed to be Chicago? Not the Far West, I know, but...

[prince hal]

Sorry,JJ, didn't catch your mention of the Champions and WC Avengers at first glance, and then thought... would Zorro count?

[spoon_jenkins]

How far west does a superhero have to be to qualify? I think the Doom Patrol started out in a fictional city (like most DC heroes), but when their series was relaunched in the 1980s I think they may have been based in Kansas City, MO.

[Cherokee Jack]

I seem to remember that according to the old Amazing World of DC Comics magazine, Middletown, where your buddy John Jones was a detective, is in Colorado.

Didn't you always think that Midway City, the Silver Age Hawkman's hangout, was supposed to be Chicago? Not the Far West, I know, but...

For some reason, I thought Midway City was Detroit, but Chicago does make sense.

[dan bailey]

The Order, from the unfortunately short-lived recent Marvel series of that name, was based in, I believe, LA. I pay no attention whatsoever to the mainstream MU these days, but I don't think any of the team's members were around before the title launched. As to whether any of them have shown up anywhere since, I'm likewise clueless.

[Cei-U!]

I also feel Kirby's whole Fourth World has a pretty large west coast vibe. The hippie centred Forever People of course, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen when the titular character found himself among the Outsiders and the Hairies, and to a lesser extent even Mister Miracle, when the its lead character wasn't back on Apokolips fighting Darkseid, all seemed to breathe the air of the Cali desert.

Kirby had of course recently moved to California and the setting of his magnum opus very much seemed to reflect this new beginning for him.


Those books may've had a "west coast vibe" but they were all specifically set in and around Metropolis. The Wild Area and DNA Project were located north of the city and Miracle's mansion was identified as existing in a Meteopolitan suburb.

Didn't you always think that Midway City, the Silver Age Hawkman's hangout, was supposed to be Chicago? Not the Far West, I know, but...

Didn't I read somewhere that Midway was so named because it was situated midway between Metropolis and Gotham?

Also leave us not forget that in their first two issues, the Fantastic Four operated out of Central City, California.

Cei-U!
I summon the early riser!

[Lone Ranger]

Black Cat (from Harvey) was also based in Hollywood.

[Slam_Bradley]

Infinity Inc., moved to L.A. early in their run.

[prince hal]

How far west does a superhero have to be to qualify? I think the Doom Patrol started out in a fictional city (like most DC heroes), but when their series was relaunched in the 1980s I think they may have been based in Kansas City, MO.

Yes. Now that you mention it, I remember that the DP was set, at least in some issues, in Midway City.

[benday-dot]

Didn't I read somewhere that Midway was so named because it was situated midway between Metropolis and Gotham?
Cei-U!
I summon the early riser!

Did you read the World's Finest saga by Gibbons/Rude?

Midway is therein explicitly stated as being situated right where you suggest.

[Cei-U!]

Did you read the World's Finest saga by Gibbons/Rude?

Midway is therein explicitly stated as being situated right where you suggest.

Since that is far and away my favorite Superman/Batman story, it seems more than likely that's where I got it from.

Cei-U!
Nice detective work, b-d!

[MDG]

Didn't I read somewhere that Midway was so named because it was situated midway between Metropolis and Gotham?
I was surprised this turned out to be true (although I read the Gibbons/Rude series when it came out). I keep thinking of some WF stories (maybe from back in Dollar Comics days), where there was a bridge linking Metropolis and Gotham.

[Rob Allen]

There was a map published at some point in the 80s that showed Gotham City and Metropolis on the shores of Delaware Bay, with Gotham on the New Jersey side approximately where the town of Bivalve is, and Metropolis in Delaware, somewhere southeast of Dover. That would put Midway City at about the location of Wilmington.

I wasn't in fandom at the time this map was published; I read about it in the Newark Star-Ledger, the largest newspaper in New Jersey. The headline was something like, "Holy cartography, Batman - Gotham's in Jersey!"

[Cherokee Jack]

There was a map published at some point in the 80s that showed Gotham City and Metropolis on the shores of Delaware Bay, with Gotham on the New Jersey side approximately where the town of Bivalve is, and Metropolis in Delaware, somewhere southeast of Dover. That would put Midway City at about the location of Wilmington.

I wasn't in fandom at the time this map was published; I read about it in the Newark Star-Ledger, the largest newspaper in New Jersey. The headline was something like, "Holy cartography, Batman - Gotham's in Jersey!"


Okay, I went and dug out the JLA issue of AWODCC that gives the locations of the members base cities.

Midway City, Michigan

Gotham City, New Jersey

Metropolis, Delaware

Smallville, Maryland

Ivy Town, Connecticut

Star City, Massachussetts

Central City, Ohio

Coast City, California

Middletown, Illinois

I know this is all different today, but that's where the locations were in the DCU, 1977.

[MDG]

Was Wonder Woman explicitly set in Washington DC at that time?

[prince hal]

Response to original theme of thread: Was Red Wolf (Old West version or modern version) super-powered?

Response to drift of thread: Wasn't Happy Harbor (site of JLA's original HQ) clearly stated to be in Rhode Island even back in the Gardner Fox days?

[Cei-U!]

Response to original theme of thread: Was Red Wolf (Old West version or modern version) super-powered?

No, neither version had powers.

Response to drift of thread: Wasn't Happy Harbor (site of JLA's original HQ) clearly stated to be in Rhode Island even back in the Gardner Fox days?

I took notes on all the Fox JLA stories not long ago and found no reference to Rhode Island as the location of Happy Harbor. I'm pretty sure that came later. I could be wrong though so don't take that as gospel.

Cei-U!
I summon the answers!

[DC906270-BIL]

the Uncanny X Men are currently operating out of SF..

[T GUy]

Was Wonder Woman explicitly set in Washington DC at that time?

At least implicitly - she was working in an office next door to Steve Trevor in what cannot be anything other then the Pentagon, last time I looked (i. e. the Essential WW Vol. 1).

[Cei-U!]

At least implicitly - she was working in an office next door to Steve Trevor in what cannot be anything other then the Pentagon, last time I looked (i. e. the Essential WW Vol. 1).

Wasn't WW operating out of New York City at the time MDG means? She was a troubleshooter for the United Nations for several years in the mid-Seventies, not returning to Washington DC until #272 (October 1980).

Cei-U!
I summon the shaky chronology!

[Cherokee Jack]

Wasn't WW operating out of New York City at the time MDG means? She was a troubleshooter for the United Nations for several years in the mid-Seventies, not returning to Washington DC until #272 (October 1980).

Cei-U!
I summon the shaky chronology!


Again, from my trusty copy of AWODCC # 14 (1977), and the WW entry:

"Following her career as a plainclothes adventurer and boutique owner, Diana Prince became an employee of the United Nations in New York City, wotking for Morgan Tracy's Crisis Bureau."

[Cherokee Jack]

I took notes on all the Fox JLA stories not long ago and found no reference to Rhode Island as the location of Happy Harbor. I'm pretty sure that came later. I could be wrong though so don't take that as gospel.

Cei-U!
I summon the answers!


One more time from AWODCC # 14, in the section called "Headquarters":

"The Justice League has utilized two different headquarters....in it's existence. The original headquarters, located in a cavern in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island...."

But, maybe this article was where this was first established, not by Fox.

[prince hal]

One more time from AWODCC # 14, in the section called "Headquarters":

"The Justice League has utilized two different headquarters....in it's existence. The original headquarters, located in a cavern in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island...."

But, maybe this article was where this was first established, not by Fox.

I think that must be where I got the idea. And that was definitely after Fox's time.

When that came out, there was lots of talk about how right or wrong some of those designations were. Some seemd to make sense, e.g. Ivy Town's being essentially a counterpart of New Haven.

Over the years, Metropolis and Gotham had both accumulated aspects of NYC, which may have given rise to the notion that they were twin cities, a la Minneapolis and St. Paul. What made it worse was that suddenly, there was also a New York City in the DC Universe.That idea just never seemed to work for me because it made no sense that the biggest city in the USA would not have attracted Superman to be its guardian. (Don't know if it was that issue of Amazing World that first mentioned it.)

Cei-U would know right off the bat, but wasn't there a New York City on Earth-Two from the start? And didn't some hero or heroes operate there? I'll have to check when I have more time and energy.

The admisson that there was a New York in the DCU did mean it was easier to have Superman and Spider-Man meet in that first big crossover, though? Or was that on Earth 20-something, where Marvel and DC heroes exist, but rarely meet?

[Cei-U!]

Cei-U would know right off the bat, but wasn't there a New York City on Earth-Two from the start? And didn't some hero or heroes operate there?

NYC was indeed the home of many of DC's Golden Age heroes, including Crimson Avenger, Sandman, Hawkman, Hourman and Johnny Thunder (who lived in the Bronx). Flash also started out there before relocating to Keystone City. Even Batman was specifically set in New York in his early stories (see Detective #31). Metropolis wasn't mentioned as Superman's base of operations until Action #17 and in one story he was identified as living in Cleveland!

Cei-U!
I summon the footnotes!