In defense of Triathlon and Silverclaw

[JulianPerez]

Triathlon and Silverclaw, the "original" Avengers created by Kurt Busiek and George Perez, are among the more interesting additions to the Avengers roster in some time. The thing that strikes me the most about them is that they are so much in line with the "spirit" of new Avengers members.

Silverclaw for instance, is a great addition because she has what good Avengers should, a connection to the other characters. She's Edwin Jarvis's soap opera baby. She's an Avengers ingenue, in the tradition of Hellcat and Firestar. When she guessed "Captain America" was really a disguised Taskmaster, it showed she had brains.

Oh...and there was that story where she TRANSFORMS INTO A LLAMA and smashes a wall. TRANSFORMS INTO A LLAMA.

Silverclaw's most interesting use was in AVENGERS: CELESTIAL QUEST by "Stainless" Steve Englehart, where she was the young, inexperienced Avenger terrified of sexuality, who gets fellow hero Inertia to open up. Silverclaw as a character changes and grows on camera while we watch.

And then we have the Silverclaw origin arc by Kurt Busiek and Perez.

Silverclaw is from an intriguing region of the earth, and she has an interesting look: with the nose ring and the silver tipped hair all.

I don't think people realize how cool and versatile Silverclaw's power is. She can change into an electric eel-woman and fire electrical bolts. Or become a chameleon and blend in with backgrounds.

As for Triathlon...okay, yes, he has boring powers, true. And they're the kind that are so vaguely defined that they can be virtually limitless. For instance, there's the idea he has three times normal human hearing as well. It prompts jokes like "is IT three times peak human, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?" But still, his over-arching agility, even in the context of the Marvel universe - is something else, and he's done some incredible stuff with it...witness for instance, his "mugging" of the Atlantean control sphere in "Kang Dynasty."

Still, Triathlon had a very nuanced and interesting origin as a disgraced track star. His reaction to his misbehavior is that he is not proud of it, but doesn't dwell on it and let it consume him, as Atlas from THUNDERBOLTS allowed to happen.

And I love the "threes" that keep showing up over and over! Like his THREE Olympic Gold Medals. That's so cool and so very comic book, where the one guy that gets eight limbs is named "Otto Octavius."

In the Kulan Gath story, Triathlon got ALL the best lines. "That's mighty WHITE of you!" Or "I've gonna get some water for the rich lady!" If they ever make a Triathlon doll, that's GOT to be two of the sayings when they pull the chord.

Like Silverclaw, Triathlon worked great in Avengers dynamic. People focus a great deal on the racially charged atmosphere Triathlon brought, but I for one applaud Busiek and Perez for talking about race openly. People forget, however, that Triathlon was a wonderful foil for Ms. Marvel - she was given a second change by the Avengers and was grateful, as opposed to Triathlon, who resented the circumstances of his introduction. The two had chemistry! In fact, I'm surprised Triathlon hasn't shown up yet in Ms. Marvel's own book. They had a Cap/Hawkeye dynamic - conflict that becomes mutual respect.

[Cam Man]

Triathalon sucks so much. 3 TIMES human strength, hearing, speed, etc. What lame - o powers! Thats why I love him!

[StoneGold]

And the arguments against them?



I rest my case.

[TimmyTony]

And the arguments against them?



I rest my case.

I don't see your case.
What are you saying that they have "lame", garish costumes and/or looks?
Because if that's the argument, then 98...nah, 100 % of The Avengers are lame.

I agree with everything JulianPerez said.
(Ok, I don't really care for Triathlon, but Silverclaw has tons of potential)

[StoneGold]

I don't see your case.
What are you saying that they have "lame", garish costumes and/or looks?
Because if that's the argument, then 98...nah, 100 % of The Avengers are lame.

Then why do you read the book?


Seriously, when all is said and done, George Perez: great artist, lousy character designer.

[Will.S]

I have to agree with StoneGold here, their costumes are really bad.

They could use alot more streamlining or at least in Silverclaw's case, something that resembles a costume. Tri just needs a new color scheme and ditch the 3D Man nod.

[superion]

I agree with StoneGold Triathlon just sucks lame powers, ugly uniform annoying personality a total loser.

SilverClaw looks horrible but at least has some decent powers.

I happen to think Thor, Iron Man, the Vision, Captain America, Hawkeye and Quicksilver all had pretty good costumes/looks. The only one of the major Avengers I disliked was the Scarlett Witch.

They should just go with something similar to the Ultimate Scarlett Witch design when she comes back. I will never understand what artist see in the red costume with that thing on her on her head. It just looks stupid and lame but then they are bringing back Wonder Man's even lamer safari jacket look just when he finally got a cool look with the Ionic energy.

[Froggy]

good points. watch everybody go gaga over a ult triathlon, if he doesnt get made into a noe shotter by bendis

[Nevets F]

I never liked the character of Triathalon, but Silverclaw was cool.

[XPac]

I kind of wish they were doing more with Silverclaw right now. I can't believe Jarvis has no reaction whatsoever to Tony locking her up. Even if Jarvis philisophically is pro-reg you'd think it would be worth a mention.

[Siddon]

Triathlon- Stupid, wraping him in an African flag was dumb, making him a disgraced black character just like Luke Cage and Falcon, stupid. Giving him the same powers as all the street levels, stupid.

Silverclaw - good character in the sense that she could have potential.... but still years away from being something worth remembering

[Shellhead]

Then why do you read the book?


Seriously, when all is said and done, George Perez: great artist, lousy character designer.

What about Deathstroke, Nightwing, Starfire, Raven and Cyborg?

[Michael P]

Nightwing

What, you mean this eyesore?

[Fatguy]

I actually thought Silverclaw was an interesting character, she just never seemed to get fleshed out properly. Wasn't a big Triathalon fan, but he was an eyesore and that's hard to get around.

[Will.S]

What, you mean this eyesore?

What's funny is that George's Justice Avenger costume redesign revisits the ugly sensibilities that the Nightwing costume had athough I do like the look on Justice more:



Justice: "G...George? What the hell? Why is there yellow metal teeth by my neck?!?"

There are a few redesigns George Perez did that I liked such as the Firestar costume tweaking and his gypsie look Wanda which works fine given her roots and only he can draw that costume well enough to pull it off. Hopefully Triathlon and Silverclaw get redesigns somewhere down the line post Civil War.