The Technodrome Forums - View Single Post - Would Casey Jones work as a stand-alone superhero?

*DrSpengler* · 10-02-2010, 09:22 AM

I dunno, we never really got to see much of Casey in full-on vigilante mode to really gague how effective he was at fighting crime.

Once he met the Turtles, all he did from then on was pretty much just fight aliens, monsters and the Foot Clan to varying degrees of effectiveness (some times he could keep up, some times he was the bumbling comic relief).

I think he'd have solo potential if the writers ramped up his competence and skill level a few degrees. One of the pitfalls of being a supporting character is that you're often relagated to the aforementioned "comic relief" or "the guy who messes up and makes the conflict worse" or "the guy they gotta rescue" and so on.

In the few solos stories we have for Casey (just "North by Downeast" and "Muscle and Faith" come to mind, where he has no support from any Turtle characters), there's a glimmer of a standalone character in there, but without the foil of Raph or another Turtle at his side, he also feels a bit empty or just incomplete.

As for how interesting a Casey solo series would be and if Casey-himself is interesting enough to carry it?

Well, intellectually, Casey's a third grader, so we can't really expect him to think his way out of various dillemmas. Skill-wise, he has no technique and is primarily a "street brawler", which is cool, but he's very frequenly shown to be outmatched by anyone with a smidgen of martial arts training.

I really don't know if he'd make a very good or effective solo hero. He's more of a "team player", or at least one half of an effective duo.

Then, of course, for a solo series to work, you'd have to have a well-rounded cast of supporting characters. Since Casey has always been the "tagalong" to the Turtles, the Turtles wouldn't work in his book as supporting characters, so you'd have to come up with new ones who would be willing to tagalong at Casey's side as opposed to the other way around.

Personally? Casey's my favorite character, so of course I'd like to see him shed the Turtles more often and prove his competence as a solo character. But I dunno if he'd have what it takes to carry more than a mini or limited series. An ongoing would be a tough call.

10-02-2010, 09:22 AM	#2
DrSpengler Foot Elite Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 4,842	I dunno, we never really got to see much of Casey in full-on vigilante mode to really gague how effective he was at fighting crime. Once he met the Turtles, all he did from then on was pretty much just fight aliens, monsters and the Foot Clan to varying degrees of effectiveness (some times he could keep up, some times he was the bumbling comic relief). I think he'd have solo potential if the writers ramped up his competence and skill level a few degrees. One of the pitfalls of being a supporting character is that you're often relagated to the aforementioned "comic relief" or "the guy who messes up and makes the conflict worse" or "the guy they gotta rescue" and so on. In the few solos stories we have for Casey (just "North by Downeast" and "Muscle and Faith" come to mind, where he has no support from any Turtle characters), there's a glimmer of a standalone character in there, but without the foil of Raph or another Turtle at his side, he also feels a bit empty or just incomplete. As for how interesting a Casey solo series would be and if Casey-himself is interesting enough to carry it? Well, intellectually, Casey's a third grader, so we can't really expect him to think his way out of various dillemmas. Skill-wise, he has no technique and is primarily a "street brawler", which is cool, but he's very frequenly shown to be outmatched by anyone with a smidgen of martial arts training. I really don't know if he'd make a very good or effective solo hero. He's more of a "team player", or at least one half of an effective duo. Then, of course, for a solo series to work, you'd have to have a well-rounded cast of supporting characters. Since Casey has always been the "tagalong" to the Turtles, the Turtles wouldn't work in his book as supporting characters, so you'd have to come up with new ones who would be willing to tagalong at Casey's side as opposed to the other way around. Personally? Casey's my favorite character, so of course I'd like to see him shed the Turtles more often and prove his competence as a solo character. But I dunno if he'd have what it takes to carry more than a mini or limited series. An ongoing would be a tough call.