WTF would the icons of DC look like if started today?

[Digifiend]

No kiddie sidekicks for anybody, except maybe if they have super powers. They worked fine for the juvenile readers of yore, but were questionable with my Bronze Age generation and even more so with the mostly-adult fans of today.

Yeah, if Robin still existed, he certainly wouldn't start out as the Boy Wonder. He'd have to be at least 16 (thus, more like his 1970s Teen Wonder status quo), not the 8-12 he's usually depicted as starting at. The whole concept of a kid sidekick is a Grandfather Clause. With all the worries about child endangerment, it's a wonder that pre-teen heroes still exist (Marvel's Moon Girl, and Flash's daughter Thunderheart are a couple of examples - notably, the cartoon adaptation of Moon Girl aged her up, while Irey actually got a sudden unexplained age up in the comics recently).

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

That actually comes closest to the problem.
If these characters are being newly introduced "today" then are we assuming that their influences on the genre would not be present?

No Superman means no Clark Kent with his dual identity and triangle for two. No emphasis on circus costumes as the standard. Even the name superhero might be different.
No Batman means no Robin which might mean that kids as partners doesn't catch on (no Speedy, Pinky, Captain Marvel Jr, ...)
And without Superman to set the "perfect man" idea, does Marston even conceive of a female counterpart?

It wouldn't just be how would the basic characters be different, but how would the genre be different? And how would that in turn play into the creations of a "Man of Tomorrow", a "Dark Knight Detective" and an "Amazing Amazon"?

Im assuming Marvel and other companies took over DC's traditional role. Probably Archie's Mighty Crusaders took over DC's traditional role.

No kiddie sidekicks for anybody, except maybe if they have super powers. They worked fine for the juvenile readers of yore, but were questionable with my Bronze Age generation and even more so with the mostly-adult fans of today.

Superhero comics are comparable to Shonen anime like DBZ, Naruto etc. So they'd still exist but more akin to Robin. So they'd be teen heroes who are more self sufficent.

We'd have more like Blindspot from DD and Signal from Batman which would be an improvement to what we do currently.

[Stanlos]

I dunno. I feel like that genre is very different from American superhero comics with its own language and collection of tropes. But a lot more flexible

[Badou]

The most obvious change is that Wonder Woman would never had used a whip. She would always have used swords, shields, and probably more magic.

No kiddie sidekicks for anybody, except maybe if they have super powers. They worked fine for the juvenile readers of yore, but were questionable with my Bronze Age generation and even more so with the mostly-adult fans of today.

I feel the opposite. I think there would probably be even more kid sidekicks, or kid characters in general, created given how widespread manga is now where the most popular shounen manga are all early or late teen characters fighting to save the world. DC Comics wouldn't have this attachment to old fans and history where they are trying to appeal to adults and mature readers from generations past, and would probably focus more on younger readers because there is more money to be made there. Younger readers means younger characters to identify with.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I dunno. I feel like that genre is very different from American superhero comics with its own language and collection of tropes. But a lot more flexible

Shonen is a term that refers to young boys. Its a demographic than a specific genre. So superheroes are fighting with the battle mangas for the same audiences.

[j9ac9k]

The most obvious change is that Wonder Woman would never had used a whip. She would always have used swords, shields, and probably more magic.

lol - Freudian slip? I assume you mean her "lasso."

[Badou]

lol - Freudian slip? I assume you mean her "lasso."

Lmao, I was thinking of mentioning the bdsm elements of her creator's influence on her character at first but then I decided not to. I guess from that I had whip on the mind over lasso.

[Stanlos]

I don't know that WW would change much. Marston's design is still very much way ahead of us. Even now, people deny & despise of the union of Femininity and Dominant Force. More, Feminism is outright mischaracterized and vilified. Among a certain segment of fandom, the discussion of strength for female characters seems limited to x is strong enough to take y's d!@# but that is the end of it. Anything that disrupts the rape fantast thing is still despised. More, it appears that the pther components of the design are eithet outright feared as Morrison showed in Final Crisis or outright rejected (War is good and can only be good! I like to do it!!!).

So I think his design still executes the same and people would still be trying to resist it.

[Stick Figure]

This is the kind of thinking I wish DC & Marvel used to reboot their comics. I’d love to see modern takes. Despite significant improvements in adding diversity, most of the main faces of each company are still the heroes created decades ago. They need updating.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

This is the kind of thinking I wish DC & Marvel used to reboot their comics. I’d love to see modern takes. Despite significant improvements in adding diversity, most of the main faces of each company are still the heroes created decades ago. They need updating.

That could be what the rumored "absolute comics" is.

Future State and Earth one couldve been that but they were misfires.

[ducklord]

I mulled these ideas over a lot when I was thinking about potential new Parallel Earths a while back.

Some characters seem easy to fiddle with. A Superman of indeterminate race, perhaps not even raised in America. Definitely not a reporter, but maybe a writer. He would not necessarily have a secret identity.

Batman's a trickier beast. I've mentioned this elsewhere, but secret identities are an increasingly ridiculous concept, and a triply so for "normal" humans. So, does Batman just turn into a Bat-themed Iron Man? That seems off brand. Of course, "gazillionaire who dresses up as a bat to beat up criminals when he could be doing better things with his money" is, as countless others have noticed, also an increasingly weird brand to begin with.

Wonder Woman? As others have said, overtly bisexual from the jump. The only question is whether she'd still be tied to the increasingly hidebound Greek myths, or perhaps some more modern mash-up. Maybe something like Promethea, even.

[Stanlos]

Yeah, if Robin still existed, he certainly wouldn't start out as the Boy Wonder. He'd have to be at least 16 (thus, more like his 1970s Teen Wonder status quo), not the 8-12 he's usually depicted as starting at. The whole concept of a kid sidekick is a Grandfather Clause. With all the worries about child endangerment, it's a wonder that pre-teen heroes still exist (Marvel's Moon Girl, and Flash's daughter Thunderheart are a couple of examples - notably, the cartoon adaptation of Moon Girl aged her up, while Irey actually got a sudden unexplained age up in the comics recently).

You can't see a dark Game of Thrones key belt guy take with a bunch of children--Robins--spying for them in exchange for food?

My hesitation there is the gross implications from that show with respect to how that old key belt guy was using the children.

But regarding Secret Identities--I don't know that they are far fetched in the least. YouTube algorithm has been posting these crime focs looking at monsters in plain sight. Suffice it to say that if a madk can be worn to such an effect that the person that sleeps with you every night is yet unaware of who you are....well, secret IDs become far more plausible

[The Darknight Detective]

But regarding Secret Identities--I don't know that they are far fetched in the least. YouTube algorithm has been posting these crime focs looking at monsters in plain sight. Suffice it to say that if a madk can be worn to such an effect that the person that sleeps with you every night is yet unaware of who you are....well, secret IDs become far more plausible

My take is if there were no secret identities, then there wouldn't be superheroes. Maybe if you were Superman-level powerful and had no friends or family to worry about, but otherwise, it wouldn't make sense not to have one, IMO.

[ducklord]

My take is if there were no secret identities, then there wouldn't be superheroes. Maybe if you were Superman-level powerful and had no friends or family to worry about, but otherwise, it wouldn't make sense not to have one, IMO.

I don't know... the MCU seems to be operating fairly well without too many secret identities. Almost defiantly so.

And I'm not saying they're *impossible*, it's just that they're getting reallllly hard to maintain in the modern age. I mean sure, if you dress up in a costume and beat up some criminals, and are super-careful, you probably won't get found out. But if you start messing around with powerful people or the government, chances are you're gonna start leaving your DNA around, or get caught on some satellites leaving your apartment or... let's just say it's not tenable in the long run.

Now, if you've got powers, you can keep the secret a lot longer. The Flashes have a HUGE advantage here, as they can zip away from their secret identities without being noticed by cameras. As do characters who shrink or turn invisible and whatnot. But regular guys n gals? If they get on the government's radar, it's just a matter of time. Unless, of course, they're a billionaire - Bruce Wayne probably drops at least ten million bucks a year keeping the hounds at bay.

[Robotman]

Batman is up there with Spider-Man as the world’s most popular superhero, so I don’t think much would need to change.

The issue of him running around with his young “ward” who was dressed in speedos and pixie boots had raised eyebrows for decades but now that Robin is literally his son and has a badass attitude, that’s pretty much killed all the jokes people once made about the dynamic duo.

So, the only thing I can imagine being different if Batman were created today is that Alfred probably wouldn’t be his butler since that’s a bit antiquated. He’s ex-military so maybe Alfred would be made the family bodyguard or something. He would also feel guilty for failing to stop the Wayne’s murder, so maybe that’s why he takes it upon himself to look after and train Bruce.