Why are current writers afraid of Monica Rambeau?

[StoneGold]

Vagina dentata. It'd scare me.

[West]

I'm sort of cool with Bendis not using her, although having her appear in other titles would be nice

[IronMagnus]

No one's afraid of her, they just don't give a shit about her.

Sad but QFT.

[vitruvian]

Vagina dentata. It'd scare me.

What story was that power of Monica's shown?

[Shellhead]

I wouldn't say writers are necessarily afraid of her... but I would think she is one of the harder characters to write because of her powerset.

Having light speed and the fire power to hurt a sky father is a pretty scary powerset... she should be able to win most fights in a fraction of a second unless she's dealing with someone with a very specific power set or specifically prepped to deal with her.

Course, the fact that she's a challenge hardly makes her impossible to write. If a writer genuinely wanted to use her, they could rise to the challenge (or just water her down). If she's not being used, odds are there's simply a lack of interest.

This is what I've been saying about Monica for years. She isn't a bad character, but her power set is difficult because it usually doesn't fit with a good fight scene. Either she wins at the bell or she is occasionally screwed over by some very specific plot gimmick. And as you mentioned in another post, she was Stern's pet character and most other writers haven't been interested in her the way Stern was.

[Hypestyle]

I'll get to write a story for her someday. Something cosmic-scale, for sure..

[Free-Man]

Sad but QFT.

Right. I loved her in Nextwave but she isn't a particularly popular heroine so I can see why she isn't being used. I doubt it has anything to do with some vast conspiracy to keep her down.

Perhaps if they could rework her powers a bit she could get used a little more. But don't worry, comics are cyclical. At some point, someone is gonna take an interest in her and use her again in some capacity.

[Alpha Male]

Hudlin when he wrote Black Panther made good use of her. I liked T'Challa's nickname for her, Sun Goddess. As far as the powerset talk goes, ridiculous. Hell, you have Thor one the Avengers team and at one point Sentry. Both of them rate up there in skills and yet writers are intimidated by Monica? That's crazy! Ms Marvel is powerful too but yet no one is shook by her.

[XPac]

Hudlin when he wrote Black Panther made good use of her. I liked T'Challa's nickname for her, Sun Goddess. As far as the powerset talk goes, ridiculous. Hell, you have Thor one the Avengers team and at one point Sentry. Both of them rate up there in skills and yet writers are intimidated by Monica? That's crazy! Ms Marvel is powerful too but yet no one is shook by her.

In the case of Thor, the sollution is often pretty simple... simply write him below his potential power level when necessary. And they can water down Monica if they need to.

Sentry was a whole other thing entirely ... he was too powerful by design.

[Kieran_Frost]

why is current avengers writers afraid to use Monica Rambeau(Photon) ?
one of marvels most powerful female heroes and she rarely get used ?

I think you answered your own question right there, mate.

Marvel writers are afraid of strong confident black women... thats probably not true, but it seemed like it fit.

Yeah... because that's REALLY hurt Storm's career over the years.

[Shellhead]

anther made good use of her. I liked T'Challa's nickname for her, Sun Goddess. As far as the powerset talk goes, ridiculous. Hell, you have Thor one the Avengers team and at one point Sentry. Both of them rate up there in skills and yet writers are intimidated by Monica? That's crazy! Ms Marvel is powerful too but yet no one is shook by her.

You're missing the point. It's not about power level so much as type of power. The vast majority of super-villains can't harm Monica. And she can either harm them or she can't, but either way, that's a boring fight. Thor is extremely powerful, but he can be touched, so villains at least have a shot. They can blast at him with energy, or punch him with super-strength (a very common power), or whatever. He's really powerful, so he will probably win in the end, but at least there can be a fight with blows landed and damage done and people getting knocked around. Same goes for Sentry or Ms. Marvel. In a fight scene with Monica, it's probably over immediately, for better or worse.

But since you're going to disagree anyway, why don't you describe a lengthy battle involving Monica Rambeau? Pick whatever villain or villains from the Marvel Universe and show us how this fight could be interesting. Go for it. And if you can do that once, maybe you can do that every month for years, and maybe fans will even buy it. Contact Marvel if you think it's going to be easy.

[ImmortalIronFist]

Because the only people asking for her return are a few people on an Internet message board?

I think she should be brought back on a cosmic level...as long as she's not called Captain Marvel.

[Blind pugh]

I remember that cover. I was actually excited and was hoping that Monica would get some limelight again but she never popped up in that issue of Avengers. I think someone on the board mentioned that the story got scrapped and thus it never happened. I was hoping she would be one of the new recruits since she was on the cover of Avengers 18 but I'm not getting my hopes up though.

I was hoping the storyline would've been just pushed back rather than scrapped. With 4 Avengers teams (including Academy staff) I'd of hoped there would be a place somewhere for Monica.

[Thundermonkey]

You're missing the point. It's not about power level so much as type of power. The vast majority of super-villains can't harm Monica. And she can either harm them or she can't, but either way, that's a boring fight. Thor is extremely powerful, but he can be touched, so villains at least have a shot. They can blast at him with energy, or punch him with super-strength (a very common power), or whatever. He's really powerful, so he will probably win in the end, but at least there can be a fight with blows landed and damage done and people getting knocked around. Same goes for Sentry or Ms. Marvel. In a fight scene with Monica, it's probably over immediately, for better or worse.

But since you're going to disagree anyway, why don't you describe a lengthy battle involving Monica Rambeau? Pick whatever villain or villains from the Marvel Universe and show us how this fight could be interesting. Go for it. And if you can do that once, maybe you can do that every month for years, and maybe fans will even buy it. Contact Marvel if you think it's going to be easy.

How about a fight with the Radioactive Man?

[XPac]

You're missing the point. It's not about power level so much as type of power. The vast majority of super-villains can't harm Monica. And she can either harm them or she can't, but either way, that's a boring fight. Thor is extremely powerful, but he can be touched, so villains at least have a shot. They can blast at him with energy, or punch him with super-strength (a very common power), or whatever. He's really powerful, so he will probably win in the end, but at least there can be a fight with blows landed and damage done and people getting knocked around. Same goes for Sentry or Ms. Marvel. In a fight scene with Monica, it's probably over immediately, for better or worse.

But since you're going to disagree anyway, why don't you describe a lengthy battle involving Monica Rambeau? Pick whatever villain or villains from the Marvel Universe and show us how this fight could be interesting. Go for it. And if you can do that once, maybe you can do that every month for years, and maybe fans will even buy it. Contact Marvel if you think it's going to be easy.

Yeah, Monica is a bit tricky.

She's both intangible and a light speed speed-blitzer. That means not only that few people can harm her, and even those who can probably wouldn't be fast enough to.

She's a freaking beast, no way around it. You have to have a specif powerset to deal with her, or you need to get the jump on her everytime.

It's not JUST that she's powerful... it's that she's got an especially difficult powerset to write well. Hulk is powerful too... but in a LOT of ways, he's actually MUCH easier to write in a fight.

I genuinely believe super speed is the most underrated power in comics. People only seem to see it on the rumbles board. Combine that with her other abilities, and she's a handful for anything short of a cosmic or a high end god.