Catching a Falling (Shatter)star — From X-Force to the Longshot Connection

Sometimes, there’s not a whole lot that needs to go into a basic superhero origin.

Take Superman, for example.  Last survivor of an alien planet, crashes on our planet, and is raised by good, salt of the earth to become a champion against injustice.  Simple enough, right?

Or how about Spider-Man?  Nerdy kid gets bitten by a radioactive spider and gets super powers.  Seems legit.

But other times, the origins need to be seemingly needlessly complicated, especially when they’re unfolding over several years and being constantly written and rewritten by several different writers.

Did Hawkman’s origin really ever need to be as convoluted as it was?  Or Donna Troy’s?  Hell, how hard could it have been to keep Tony Stark as being a petulant rich guy who learned a life lesson and opted to man up and do something about it instead of the nonsense currently playing out in Kieron Gillen’s Iron Man?

Ummm, probably because a spider frikkin’ BIT you, dude.  Just saying.

When it comes to complex and ridiculous origins, the X-Men certainly seem to have cornered the market, whether it’s the true origins of Cable—which involved way too much time travel, an aneurysm or two on the parts of the readers, and most likely a healthy serving of meth on the parts of the writers to complete—or piecing together the ever evolving tapestry of Wolverine’s past.