There are too many Robins in the DCU. Why can’t we lessen the Batman family abkt as Dc depends on them too much in comics and other media.
There are too many Robins in the DCU. Why can’t we lessen the Batman family abkt as Dc depends on them too much in comics and other media.
If there was a period where they could have started this trend and gotten it to stick, we are long since passed it. Dick taking over as Batman should have happened in the Silver Age if it was gonna get cemented. Or instead of doing COIE, they should have followed the train of logic of NTT being their biggest property and gradually phased out the JL generation and have the adult Titans take over as the main superhero team. "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" would have been the last canon Superman story, and I can think of worse notes for him to go out on. In some ways, a part of me wishes that had been it for Superman (and we had gotten similar stories for others in his generation), end his story on a high note instead of rebooting him over and over again, resulting in periodic low points.
But that time has passed. The OG generation has acquired new fans over the decades. It's not just older fans who are attached to them. And as far as the comics are concerned, the Titans' star has fallen pretty far. From a narrative perspective, it's the most logical path for them to follow, but we can't do it now. Not everyone is a fan of Dick's generation, or even if they are, they may be fans of the older characters as well and don't want to lose them in favor of the next group down. It's not fair to Batman's fans to lose him to make way for a character they may or may not even be fans of in the first place.
Plus, DC has made plenty of lousy business decisions, but I think retiring all of their big name money makers and marketable characters in favor of the unproven next generation would be a completely stupid and unnecessary risk. They'd only have two characters (Dick and Wally) who might be worth the investment. With Aquaman and Wonder Woman's movies, it'd be totally bonkers to retire them in favor of Garth and the hot mess that is Donna Troy.
Yeah, I love the idea of a sprawling shared universe that actually ages and shows developments. But in practice, it's not really possible with the Big Two, at least at this point. Way too many properties, some of whom have sub-properties/spin offs, a big fanbase that cannot agree on anything and has different desires, and different writers and artists who all want to do different things. And since all of this is going to go on indefinitely with no end in sight, you have to factor in future generations of creators/fans-turned-creators who are going to have their own views on what needs to happen that may be different than the current setup. How do you coordinate all that?
Maybe the respective shared universes should have come to a close a long time ago and both publishers branched out to do different things. Everything is nostalgia or brand driven these days, either regurgitating things or changing them up so they are no longer recognizable. People don't want their icons to be messed with, which is perfectly understandable, but at the same time they are not receptive to new ideas. And creators are not putting much energy into creating new icons, both in comics and elsewhere. And I mean legit NEW stuff, not repackaged/legacy stuff. Stan and the Marvel artists created the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Avengers, and the X-Men in the 60s, and it was all brand new and never seen before.
Nah.
DC was built on the popularity of the main JLAers. It has sustained for nearly 6 decades now; that's some pretty strong staying power. DC will mess with the formula periodically - as they should. New concepts, characters, new faces under old masks, etc. But DC's core strength and identity is:
"It's too bad she won't live! But then again, who does? - Gaff Blade Runner
"In a short time, this will be a long time ago." - Werner Slow West
"One of the biggest problems in the industry is apathy right now." - Dan Didio Co-Publisher of I Wonder Why That Is Comics
Fantasy is already pretty inherent in comics. A book focusing on connections with Greek myth and the actual Greek Gods shouldn't focus on relatability. At least on Diana's side. That's why Steve and Etta are around, to give that human connection with all the emotions and relatable life decisions and what not. Diana is a princess made from clay or a demigod that was raised on a mystical island of all women protected by gods. The word relatable shouldn't be near Wonder Woman I think. At least initially, there are some things like her discovering the world through naive and loving eyes like we have at some point. And others but that's not really my point.
"It's too bad she won't live! But then again, who does? - Gaff Blade Runner
"In a short time, this will be a long time ago." - Werner Slow West
"One of the biggest problems in the industry is apathy right now." - Dan Didio Co-Publisher of I Wonder Why That Is Comics
I was going by the movie. In modern times, she is ancient compared to others.
As the daughter of Zeus, I assume she was born like human beings do.
Maybe her mythos and origin is one of the reasons why I don't find her as interesting as other DC characters. Not very into it even after watching her movie.
1. Legacy is a totally overrated aspect of DC Comics.
2. Dick Grayson will probably never get the level of attention and focus he deserves unless he somehow became Robin again. I say that as someone who likes the Nightwing mantle.
3. I think alot of the fans who're upset by DC's supposed Silver Age obsession are hypocrites. Alot of them just want DC stuck on the 80's-2000's instead of the 60's-70's.
4. Black Lightning should have Cyborg's spot in the League.
5. Post Christopher Reeve, most Superman media isn't remarkable enough, and that's a big reason why Batman has taken his spot. Under the current management at WB/DC, he'll continue being second best.
If you want to bring a more science based concept to Wonder Woman, I can go along with that thought experiment. The revivals of Green Lantern and Hawkman shifted from the supernatural to the space age. And I maintain that Martian Manhunter is the Spectre story done as science fiction.
But Zeus as father is simply a lateral move from a maternal goddess to a paternal god. Moreover, if he got Hippolyte pregnant by conventional means that's pretty much rape (because of the power imbalance). So you're giving what was once a female centred myth story a male centred myth update.
To do Wonder Woman as science, I'd have this New Age cult of women establish their own science based commune, free from men. But because they had no men around, they created an artificial system of procreation. The clay myth of Wonder Woman becomes the scientific production of synthetic people--all female.
If this sounds far-fetched, there was an actual cult, based in Quebec, called the Raelians who believed in space aliens, and back in the early 2000s they announced they had cloned a woman. It was hard to know if they had or they hadn't and their story was carried in newspapers around the world, with it seeming like the Raelians really could have carried out clone experiments and possibly produced a human child by such means.
If Huntress was kicked off the Justice League for trying to kill Prometheus, the JL members who mindwiped people should have suffered the same consequences.
Last edited by Agent Z; 01-25-2019 at 10:42 AM.
"It's too bad she won't live! But then again, who does? - Gaff Blade Runner
"In a short time, this will be a long time ago." - Werner Slow West
"One of the biggest problems in the industry is apathy right now." - Dan Didio Co-Publisher of I Wonder Why That Is Comics