Growing up Mark Gruenwald via his 'Mark's remarks' column and letter columns was the voice of Marvel for me - I really enjoyed his writing (Cap was a favorite as was Quasar, DP7 and Squadron Supreme blew my mind). It is interesting to me to read about how much of a DC fan he was and how that influenced his work. Rereading some of his work now it seems pretty obvious.

I love his Quasar run but now I see (and it does not diminish it at all) it is a Green Lantern reboot/pastich: we have Quasar ('guardian of the Universe/GL"), Eon (an actual Guardian stand in), and even veiled references to Superman (Aquarian), Daxamites (Dakkamites/Quantum in issue 4); Parasite (the fight with Absorbing Man), and the Flash (the fast running alien from another dimension). Deathurge in issue 2 follows him on skis and is obviously a Black Racer analogue.

DP7= Doom Patrol (with a negative man stand in = the antibody guy).

I wonder how he would have fared at DC? Anyone else notice this in his writing? Any other instances you can note?

Squadron Supreme seems vaguely reminiscent of some of DC's characters...

yeah that is the obvious one

Some other examples that hit me:

His Hawkeye mini series where he brings in Mockingbird (= Black Canary)

His Cap run where he does indeed portray Cap with Superman like morals (refusing/agonizing over killing a terrorist, no sex with Diamonback, no drinking) and then towards the tale end of his run an almost silver age like whimsey to his stories (which suffered IMO): Cap-Wolf, She-Cap, Cap in the armor (like Cap had been hit with Red K).

Great writer and i think his only flaw was he stayed on certain titles way too long (Cap started to suffer around issue 385 after Rom Lim left, Quasar was brilliant until around issue 36 or so and then became directionless).

The Squadron was thunk up by Roy Thomas, though.

Oh wait, so was Quasar. It appears I've misunderstood the question.

Paulo yes - Roy Thomas created them in Avengers but Gruenwald wrote the seminal mini series (and follow up OGN) with the Squadron (think JLA the END as a storyline).

Yeah, sorry. But maybe Roy Thomas was DC-minded too.

I assume you have never read All-Star Squadron, or any of Thomas' work for DC, otherwise you wouldn't have needed the "Maybe"

No need to be sorry - just comic book chit chat

Roy was indeed DC minded - Gruenwald really took it to the next level though!

I think that the difference is that Thomas eventually had an outlet for his tendencies.

I think no less an authority than John "has" Byrne has indicated Mark would have been happier working at DC and preferred their characters.

Just noticed another item in his Quasar run: Gru has Makkari the eternal (super speed) join Quasar as a sidekick (odd choice at the time) but I realize now he is a Flash analogue - Gru's way of writing classic GL/Flash team ups!

And I want to reiterate - he pulls this all off pretty well - great writer. It would have been cool to see him at DC for a bit though.

Yeah. In all seriousness, I'm probably what you could reasonably call a fake comic book fan

The artwork by Greg Capullo was fairly good too.

What do you think of Gru's Cap run? Any DC influence there?

I was a big fan of Gru's Cap run - but I do feel he stayed on too long - around issue 385 it got pretty hokey.

Check out my first post - in regards to Cap's personality Gru portrays him as a Superman like boy scout (no drinking, no sex, no killing, etc) - in retrospect not my favorite portrayal - I prefer the Brubaker soldier portrayal - more romantic in my opinion - the world weary soldier who does what needs to be done including kill enemy combatants.

Just reread the Squadron Supreme mini series and the follow up OGN - wow what an amazing body of work - I had forgotten how great this series was.

Gru tackles so many issues that are still relevant today in a way that is not preachy and still manages to keep the action flowing: gun control, behaviour modification, free will, cancer, etc..his story really transcended a JLA pastiche (lots of clever nods though).

He really knew how to hit the emotional beats too. Loved the ending of the OGN with Arcanna's baby.

There was a great issue of Quasar too where Makkari is obsessed with winning a race against super speedsters - he comes in 2nd (to Buried Alien = Barry Allen ( a mysterious speedster who crosses dimensions with no memory) and Quasar consoles him by saying if he did come in 1st he would have been spirited away to another dimension..and what would he do without a good buddy like him..Makkari teary eyed then tells Quasar he is a good friend..beautiful little human moment amidst cosmic drama.

First time I read that issue I didn't realize it was supposed to be a nod to Barry Allen. I could tell there was something I was missing but I just didn't know what. When I finally realized about a year or so later I felt like the biggest fool for not picking up on such an obvious thing.

Lots of little DC in-jokes I did not catch when I first read his books a while ago so don't feel bad!

Just finished DP7 - great series at least until issue 23 or so when the whole PITT/DRAFT/WAR starts to creep in and the whole thing goes off the rails.

For the first 2 years we get great characterization, emotional moments, cool power moments, etc..great writing by Gru.

Never made the Doom Patrol connection when I was a kid reading this (DP= Doom patrol) and the whole AntiBody is a great take on Negative Man...cool stuff.

I wonder if the PITT was a sales gimmick due to dwindling sales so they said lets go crazy or was it a pot shot at Shooter..probably a bit of both..a real shame as it ruined a cool series IMO.

Hey, wait a minute... you're right! They're a TOTAL Teen Titans knock-off!

No offense, but while I love the concept, I thought it felt extremely preachy... and the wooden dialogue was no help either.

No offense taken - when it comes to Gru's work I have some nostalgia rose colored glasses on due to having been exposed to it in my teen years.

Having read DP7 he also adds in a lot of 'relevant' issues - a little heavy handed but miles better than a lot of his contemporaries IMO and at least Gru took risks in his stories back then. Not for everyone though (and to be honest I have noticed he stayed on titles way past his 'best before date' and the started to stink: DP7 after issue 20 or so, Cap 390 and up, Quasar 40 and up..he did not know when to quit while the audience was applauding).