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It's fairly common knowledge that Peacemaker and Judomaster, two ongoing characters in James Gunn's DC Universe, actually originated in a separate company, Charlton Comics. After DC purchased the rights to the Charlton characters in the mid-'80s, they were brought into DC's comic continuity. James Gunn recently hinted he could continue this tradition himself, bringing in even more Charlton characters.
Charlton's superhero line kicked off in 1960, with Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko lending his talents to designing many of Charlton's new heroes and writing and drawing their adventures. And though you may not be well-acquainted with the Charlton heroes, some of them may be more familiar than you realize, as they provided inspiration to the characters of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen.
Blue Beetle
Ted Kord, the Silver Age Blue Beetle, is perhaps the most famous Charlton Comics hero. With a costume designed by Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko, the hero is one of the most striking and endearing characters to make the jump to DC.
Instead of using the magic scarab given to him by his mentor, the original Blue Beetle Dan Garrett, Ted Kord uses his vast engineering knowledge to create an arsenal of weapons and his iconic Bug ship. In the '80s, he became one of the most prominent members of the Justice League. He was also the inspiration for Nite-Owl in Watchmen.
The Blue Beetle will appear in the DCU, but it's Ted Kord's successor, Jaime Reyes. That said, Ted's legacy was a huge part of the Blue Beetle movie, which James Gunn has said only needs a bit of tweaking to fit into his new continuity, and he also had a small cameo voiced by actor Jason Sudeikis.
The Question
After the Blue Beetle, The Question is the next most famous member of the Charlton Comics canon. Created by Steve Ditko, who had his hands in many Charlton Comics, the Question is a faceless vigilante who stalks the streets of Hub City using his lateral thinking and impeccably keen detective skills to fight crime. He is adapted into Rorschach in Watchmen.
After years at DC, the original Question, Vic Sage, later passed on the mantle to Gotham City PD detective Renee Montoya, who was originally introduced in Batman: The Animated Series. The Montoya Question has a romantic relationship with Batwoman, and has recently served as the security officer of the Justice League's current satellite headquarters.
Either version of the Question could be an appropriately quirky addition to James Gunn's DC, but the Renee Montoya version could be extra intriguing thanks to her connections to the Bat-family.
Captain Atom
The inspiration for Watchmen's Doctor Manhattan, Captain Atom is, as his name implies, an atomic hero with radioactive powers. He's one of Charlton's most powerful heroes, strong enough to challenge even Superman after coming to the DC Universe. Like many other Charlton heroes, Captain Atom was co-created by the legendary comic artist Steve Ditko.
Captain Atom's name is not just an affectation; he's actually a Captain in the United States Air Force. And though his story has evolved somewhat over the years, he's carried his legacy as one of Charlton's strongest heroes into the DCU.
Like Blue Beetle, Captain Atom became a member of the Justice League in the '80s, at a time when Superman himself was not part of the team. Given his occasionally adversarial relationship with other DC heroes, he could be an interesting character for James Gunn's DCU, a government controlled answer to Superman.
Nightshade
Another Steve Ditko co-creation, Nightshade is the alter ego of one Eve Eden, the daughter of a US senator who moonlights as a superhero and who eventually has a romantic relationship with Captain Atom. Though there were several inspirations for Watchmen's Silk Spectre, including DC's own Black Canary, Nightshade is her Charlton Comics counterpart.
Nightshade's powers involve manipulating shadows and darkness for a variety of results, in particular summoning shadowy 'homonculi,' and teleportation. Her powers are hereditary, bestowed by her lineage as royalty in a dimension known as the Land of Shadows. Upon transferring to DC, she became an ongoing part of the Suicide Squad as one of the team's government handlers.
Along with her Suicide Squad connections, Nightshade has a history with Batman and his son Damian Wayne, which could make for an interesting connection in The Brave and the Bold, which reportedly focuses on Damian's training as Robin.
Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt
Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt has one of the most interesting real world histories of all the Charlton heroes. Created by Pete Morisi, Peter Cannon was actually partially inspired by the original Daredevil, a semi-obscure Golden Age hero who came and went long before Matt Murdock.
Morisi tried to buy the rights to that Daredevil, but the deal fell through, leaving Morisi to borrow the character's blue and red particolored costume design. Likewise, Peter Cannon, who is described as having reached "physical and mental perfection" during his upbringing in a Himalayan monastery, provides the inspiration for Watchmen's Ozymandias.
The Golden Age Daredevil was later revived by Dynamite Entertainment as The Death-Defying 'Devil, existing alongside Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt at the publisher, making his real world history a twisted web of inspiration and adaptation. If James Gunn does bring Peter Cannon into the new DCU, that will just be one more peel of the onion.
Sarge Steel
Though he's not a superhero but a hardboiled private eye with a literal steel fist in his original Charlton Comics incarnation, Sarge Steel, a creation of Pat Masulli, was later brought into the DC Universe as a special agent of the US government. Later, he becomes the head of the government's superhuman operations, including overseeing the Suicide Squad.
Steel's successor as head of the Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller, is already a major part of James Gunn's DCU, though she's recently been replaced as head of the superhuman bureau ARGUS by Rick Flag, Sr.
With all those potential connections, it's entirely possible that Sarge Steel could make an appearance in some capacity in the new DC Universe. James Gunn has indicated that his overarching plans for the DCU will unfold over the better part of a decade, so there's plenty of room for more ARGUS agents to be added to the fold.
New episodes of Peacemaker stream every Thursday on HBO Max. Check out the best non-Marvel, non-DC superhero universes, Charlton included.
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