Thunderbolt AKA Peter Cannon

[golgi]

Is anyone interested in Thunderbolt coming back to the DCU?

[Jon Clark]

I'd be interested, but I think it's unlikely as his creator took back the rights. I doubt DC would be interested in leasing them as past attempts with both the Red Circle heroes and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents didn't work out and even things like the Doc Savage and Shadow rights which Dynamite has didn't seem to be worth DC's time to hold onto. And after working to reclaim the rights I'm doubting there is any chance of the creator letting DC get them longterm.

[MajorHoy]

I'd be interested, but I think it's unlikely as his creator took back the rights. I doubt DC would be interested in leasing them as past attempts with both the Red Circle heroes and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents didn't work out and even things like the Doc Savage and Shadow rights which Dynamite has didn't seem to be worth DC's time to hold onto.

Just because the licensing rights for a character go from one company to another don't always mean that for the first company those rights "didn't seem to be worth" the company's "time to hold onto". Sometimes it's because the owner of the license wants more money to continue the license than the publisher can justify, or sometimes the deals are set up where the license holder just wants to do business with some other company now for whatever reasons.

[Ascended]

Peter Cannon is an interesting enough concept, and with the right creators and approach he could be badass, but Ive little interest in seeing him return to the DCU.

Now, if DC could snag the rights for the Green Hornet and The Shadow? That is something I would be all over.

[MajorHoy]

Peter Cannon is an interesting enough concept, and with the right creators and approach he could be badass, but Ive little interest in seeing him return to the DCU.

Now, if DC could snag the rights for the Green Hornet and The Shadow? That is something I would be all over.

I'd really only be interested in that if DC kept these characters back in their original time periods (1930s/1940s). If DC wanted to use them in the present-day 21st century, they've had plenty of characters in the past who could be used instead to tell those same stories but just may not have had the same instant name-recognition.

[Ascended]

I agree that those old pulp characters don't really work in the present day.

I think the Shadow is an exception to that when handled right, but generally characters like the Hornet and Phantom, etc., really work best in the Golden Age era.

I'd happily read a DC title set in the early 40's that uses JSA members and the pulp characters. Toss Tom Strong in there as well, since DC apparently is going to use him anyway.

[Jon Clark]

Just because the licensing rights for a character go from one company to another don't always mean that for the first company those rights "didn't seem to be worth" the company's "time to hold onto". Sometimes it's because the owner of the license wants more money to continue the license than the publisher can justify, or sometimes the deals are set up where the license holder just wants to do business with some other company now for whatever reasons.

The bolded part to me falls under the "not worth the time to hold onto". If DC was licensing the rights to Batman they would be willing to pay more money for those rights than for the rights to say, Jimmy Olsen. So in this case I don't think there is sufficient interest in Peter Cannon that DC would pay to license the character.

The second part of what you said the license holder not wanting to do business sometimes with a company might apply since I think DC may have accidentally used the character without his permission. IIRC they assumed they had the rights along with the other Charleton heroes, but when they put out a series using him it turned out that the creator had actually acquired the rights from Charleton.

[Jon Clark]

I'd really only be interested in that if DC kept these characters back in their original time periods (1930s/1940s). If DC wanted to use them in the present-day 21st century, they've had plenty of characters in the past who could be used instead to tell those same stories but just may not have had the same instant name-recognition.

Isn't the Crimson Avenger basically the Green Hornet with the trademark scratched out

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Isn't the Crimson Avenger basically the Green Hornet with the trademark scratched out

Yes, it was common practice back in the Golden Age to shamelessly rip-off other people's ideas without any sense of shame.

DC owns a few knock-offs. The Crimson Avenger & Wing are the Green Hornet & Kato, but he wore a red cloak instead of a green one, so he's a totally different character now. Midnight is the Spirit with a slightly different mask.

Ironically, some characters that were actually different ended up attracting the most attention. National Comics sued Fawcett Comics into bankruptcy over the so-called similarities between Superman and Captain Marvel/Shazam! On the other hand, Sub-Mariner and Aquaman started off as very different characters, but Aquaman then adopted Namor's origin in the Silver Age. Thanos is often derided as a knockoff of Darkseid, when Starlin's original conception of him was thinner, but Roy Thomas insisted he bulk him up.

[Dr. Poison]

I'd love to see Peter Cannon come back to DC! He's my favorite Charlton hero!

[scary harpy]

I'd love to see Peter Cannon come back to DC! He's my favorite Charlton hero!

I fear Ozymandias is as close as you will get.

[Elmo]

He's a pretty dumb character. However there is a backup story in an issue of Justice League written by Mike Collins where he is just a random dude in a tux but ends up suiting up again to save Flash and Power-Girl. thought it was really well done. but as a whole there is nothing about that character that is interesting

[Kaijudo]

I'd love to see him back. I started reading DC with Crisis on Infinite Earths and was immediately drawn to, of all things, the Charlton characters who were appearing in the DCU for the first time. His solo DC series was a personal favorite of mine. Plus, the Dynamite series was stupidly set entirely around a one issue imaginary story (yes, they're all imaginary stories, but come on) of the Charlton run.

And if he won't work/is redundant to the modern-day DCU, then I say put him in the 60s. Make him one of the adventurers that occupied the space between the end of the JSA and the birth of the JLA.

[golgi]

I'd love to see him back. I started reading DC with Crisis on Infinite Earths and was immediately drawn to, of all things, the Charlton characters who were appearing in the DCU for the first time. His solo DC series was a personal favorite of mine. Plus, the Dynamite series was stupidly set entirely around a one issue imaginary story (yes, they're all imaginary stories, but come on) of the Charlton run.

And if he won't work/is redundant to the modern-day DCU, then I say put him in the 60s. Make him one of the adventurers that occupied the space between the end of the JSA and the birth of the JLA.

Is his origin similar to Iron Fists?

[Kaijudo]

Is his origin similar to Iron Fists?

Quite a bit, yeah, except with an emphasis on expanding the mind's abilities vs. martial arts (which were, admittedly, included).