Way back in 1996, as a follow-up to their massive "Marvel vs. DC" crossover, the two major super-hero publishers did a strange and actually kind of awesome event called Amalgam Comics. The premise was simple: These were comics from a parallel universe where the DC and Marvel characters were combined -- or amalgamated, get it? -- into mash-up versions like Dark Claw (Wolverine + Batman), Iron Lantern (Green Lantern + Iron Man), Super-Soldier (Captain America + Superman), and my personal favorite, Spider-Boy and the Legion of Galactic Guardians 2099 (Spider-Man + Superboy + The Legion of Super-Heroes + Galactic Guardians + the entire Marvel 2099 Universe).

As you might expect, they were pretty goofy, but they were also a lot of fun -- thanks largely to creators like Mark Waid, Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern, Karl Kesel and others -- which explains why "Awesome Hospital" co-writer Chad Bowers was feeling a little nostalgic for them earlier this week. He started pitching his own Amalgamated characters on Twitter under the hashtag #AmalgamReborn and before long, others were joining in -- and a few even went so far as to draw their Amalgamated creations.

So if anybody out there from DC or Marvel is reading and needs a good reason to extend the olive branch, I think we've got a pretty good handful right here:

Marvel's Pet Avengers + DC's JSA + Marvel's Howard the Duck + DC's Hawkman =

Hawkman the Duck and the Pet JSA

By Chris Chance
Marvel's "Deadly Hands of Kung Fu" + DC's Egg Fu = The Deadly Hands of Egg-Fu

by Rusty Shackles
DC's Captain Marvel + Marvel's NFL SuperPro = Captain SuperPro

By Chris Chance

DC'S Star Spangled Kid + Marvel's KISS = Star-Spangled KISS

by Matt Digges
Marvel's J. Jonah Jameson + DC's Jonah Hex = J. Jonah Hex

By SteveG

Marvel's Franken-Castle + DC's Hitman = Franken-Monaghan

By Chris Chance
DC's Batman Beyond + Marvel's The Beyonder = Batman Beyonder

by Matt Digges


For real, guys: If there's anyone out there who doesn't want to read about Power Bunny and Hourhound, then I don't want to know 'em. And hey, if you're an artist who feels like drawing something awesome, there are way more #AmalgamReborn ideas on Twitter -- including my suggestions, the Dr. Doom Patrol and the Aunt-May Monitor!

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