Back in the 90s, the New Warriors were, as far as I know, a big thing out of Marvel. These days? Not so much. There have been multiple attempts to revive the team, but they never seem to last long. I mean, Marvel thought putting them in a series where they had their own reality show was a good idea, but I decided a long time ago to try and ignore that one.
But then there was a member who initially called himself “Hindsight Lad”. He didn’t have powers. He just refused to go away.
Hindsight Lad, later shortened to just “Hindsight,” was Carlton LaForyge. First appearing in The New Warriors Annual #3, Carlton was the obnoxious, know-it-all neighbor to Robbie “Speedball” Baldwin. By what was more than likely dumb luck, Carlton learned his neighbor was the New Warrior Speedball and followed that time honored way to ingratiate himself to the teenage hero and his friends: attempted blackmail.
That actually didn’t work, but when the team as a whole was in trouble and someone had to go find team leader Night Thrasher, Carlton opted to be that someone. From there, he more or less weaseled (the word Wikipedia used) onto the team with a silly codename and an outlandish costume that included rearview mirrors attached to a bike helmet. See, Carlton was smart, so he figured he could be the guy that today might be known as the “guy in the chair”. His codename was basically the idea that since hindsight is 20/20, he’ll always have good analysis of whatever was happening after the fact.
Wow. That must have been so useful. I’m sure he really was a beloved member of the team.
Say what you will about Carlton…he stood his ground.
Now, during the initial New Warriors run, Carlton did gradually become useful, offering good commentary on missions, even being instrumental in saving the day a few times. Let’s face it: anyone targeting the Warriors would probably ignore the chubby kid in the homemade outfit.
But hold on, I hear my potentially nonexistent hypothetical reader say, what happened to Carlton after the Civil War storyline where most of the Warriors were killed following an ill-advised stunt for that stupid TV show concept someone thought was a good idea? I mean, I am on record for saying the only way Civil War makes sense is if pretty much everyone involved had some kind of brain damage. Did Carlton manage to stay sensible?
Oh hell no! He went online, blaming the Warriors like everyone else did. Then he leaked the surviving members names to the public, even though many of them that had nothing to do with the incident in Stamford, Connecticut. She-Hulk ended up helping the Warriors track him down, and he was arrested.
These days, he’s apparently a superhero conspiracy theorist, currently claiming the superhero community is controlled by a secretive cabal whose numbers include Beta Ray Bill, the Inhuman dog Lockjaw, Dazzler, and, of course, Deadpool.
You know, if you look forward and not back, maybe you can avoid these sorts of problems.
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