Your DC-Only controversial opinions (part II)...

[Sandy Hausler]

Someone has/had ownership of "Captain Thunder." I....think.....it belongs to Ronin Publishing, which makes (made? They might be out of business now?) table-top RPG games. I think their Captain Thunder was actually a Shazam knockoff, which if true is just kinda funny.

Ah the weird and twisted tale of the Captain Marvel name!

Personally I'm glad DC changed Billy's name. They can't use Captain Marvel, and Marvel Comics isn't about to let go of the title. They should've just bit the bullet and changed Billy's name as soon as they brought him into the DCU, instead of trying to split the difference. Shazam isn't a great name or anything, but at least DC can actually market it!

I've checked the Patent and Trademark Office website and whoever had the trademark for Captain Thunder let it lapse on December 15, 2008.

[superduperman]

I've checked the Patent and Trademark Office website and whoever had the trademark for Captain Thunder let it lapse on December 15, 2008.

And with that, I would like to tell everyone about my new creation: CAPTAIN THUNDER!

[Jackalope89]

And with that, I would like to tell everyone about my new creation: CAPTAIN THUNDER!

Taken during Flashpoint...

[Dark-Jacket]

DC in the 90s was far more successful and optimistic than anything they've put out in the 2000s and 2010s.

Hmm Death of Superman, Green Arrow, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, Ice... Batman's back, Donna Troy's family, Aquaman's hand...
Alex Dewitt stuffed in a fridge, Death of most of the JSA, John Stewart crippled, his wife dead. And I was barely reading the comics...

Let's agree to disagree. ^^

[SiegePerilous02]

Hmm Death of Superman, Green Arrow, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, Ice... Batman's back, Donna Troy's family, Aquaman's hand...
Alex Dewitt stuffed in a fridge, Death of most of the JSA, John Stewart crippled, his wife dead. And I was barely reading the comics...

Let's agree to disagree. ^^

I feel like it's gotten worse, but yeah I agree that it doesn't seem like things were all sunshine and roses in the 90s either.

Characters are getting screwed no matter what. This time it happened to be Wally West, not Hal Jordan. Same ****, different era.

[H-E-D]

Hmm Death of Superman, Green Arrow, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, Ice... Batman's back, Donna Troy's family, Aquaman's hand...
Alex Dewitt stuffed in a fridge, Death of most of the JSA, John Stewart crippled, his wife dead. And I was barely reading the comics...

Let's agree to disagree. ^^

Well, on the other hand, the 2000s were stuffed with dismemberment.

[Ascended]

I've checked the Patent and Trademark Office website and whoever had the trademark for Captain Thunder let it lapse on December 15, 2008.

Really? Interesting......and no one has it now? Did it hit public domain or something?

Taken during Flashpoint...

Was it ever used on a cover? I'm pretty sure there's a big legal difference between covers and interior pages. If DC could get their hands on that name I can't imagine why they wouldn't though, especially since they used it in Flashpoint.

[byrd156]

He can still say the magic word and is still a good kid.

And you do know they can't call him Captain Marvel without Marvel suing them right?

They can use it.

Just not for titles and I think advertising. Which they can easily get around by using Shazam or something in it's stead.

[byrd156]

Hmm Death of Superman, Green Arrow, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, Ice... Batman's back, Donna Troy's family, Aquaman's hand...
Alex Dewitt stuffed in a fridge, Death of most of the JSA, John Stewart crippled, his wife dead. And I was barely reading the comics...

Let's agree to disagree. ^^

Most of those things were overcome and were triumphant in the end.

[Agent Z]

Hmm Death of Superman, Green Arrow, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, Ice... Batman's back, Donna Troy's family, Aquaman's hand...
Alex Dewitt stuffed in a fridge, Death of most of the JSA, John Stewart crippled, his wife dead. And I was barely reading the comics...

Let's agree to disagree. ^^

If you were reading comics alot more regularly, you'd know most of these examples are poor ones for your argument.

The death of Superman was reversed almost immediately and saw the creation of Conner Kent and John Henry Irons, who are fan favourites. They even got their own books.

Katma Tui was killed in a 1988 story by Christopher Priest.

Batman's back breaking was reversed almost immediately, like Superman's death.

The Aquaman book was the first step in washing off the stench from Superfriends.

Green Arrow dying is not in and of itself unnecessarily dark and his replacement Connor Hawke, was even more heroic than him and is a fan favourite to this day.

Alex DeWitt's death was pointless. On the other hand, it was criticized at the time and it was when people became a lot more critical of killing off or harming love interests for male characters drama.

The death of Hal and the Corps gave us Kyle Rayner, which saved the GL comic for a while.

The deaths of the JSA paved the way for newer replacements some of which became popular like Stargirl.

About the only one of these that you can use are thd death of Ice, the death of Donna's family (though most were glad to be rid of Terry Long) and John's crippling. And these pale in comparison to what the 2000s and 2010s gave us.

[Agent Z]

They can use it.

Just not for titles and I think advertising. Which they can easily get around by using Shazam or something in it's stead.

Even before this, most people thought his name was Shazam due to stuff like the NBC cartoon from the 80s. Might as well just use the name since another character from a different company is using it.

[Robanker]

If you were reading comics alot more regularly, you'd know most of these examples are poor ones for your argument.

The death of Superman was reversed almost immediately and saw the creation of Conner Kent and John Henry Irons, who are fan favourites. They even got their own books.

Katma Tui was killed in a 1988 story by Christopher Priest.

Batman's back breaking was reversed almost immediately, like Superman's death.

The Aquaman book was the first step in washing off the stench from Superfriends.

Green Arrow dying is not in and of itself unnecessarily dark and his replacement Connor Hawke, was even more heroic than him and is a fan favourite to this day.

Alex DeWitt's death was pointless. On the other hand, it was criticized at the time and it was when people became a lot more critical of killing off or harming love interests for male characters drama.

The death of Hal and the Corps gave us Kyle Rayner, which saved the GL comic for a while.

The deaths of the JSA paved the way for newer replacements some of which became popular like Stargirl.

About the only one of these that you can use are thd death of Ice, the death of Donna's family (though most were glad to be rid of Terry Long) and John's crippling. And these pale in comparison to what the 2000s and 2010s gave us.

None of that refutes how dark those moments were. If there brutal murder of a friend brings two people together, it doesn't offset the murder. It just means something good came off of a horrendous moment.

The '90s had an in-house and denoting with glee that they killed Superman, broke Batman and now are gunning for GL. It was a dark time, and I like a lot of books from that era.

[Agent Z]

None of that refutes how dark those moments were. If there brutal murder of a friend brings two people together, it doesn't offset the murder. It just means something good came off of a horrendous moment.

The '90s had an in-house and denoting with glee that they killed Superman, broke Batman and now are gunning for GL. It was a dark time, and I like a lot of books from that era.

I'm not denying these were dark but they were either reversed immediately or mitigated by lighter stuff that came out of it. The same can't be said about the 2000s or 2010s for the most part.

[jetengine]

If you ask for a modern DC book to be on another earth your essentially getting it cancelled. Fans want mainline relevance, the head office dont care for stuff they can easily sideline. Both are a recipe for disaster.

[Robanker]

I'm not denying these were dark but they were either reversed immediately or mitigated by lighter stuff that came out of it. The same can't be said about the 2000s or 2010s for the most part.

Heroes in Crisis is getting two books spin out of it to repair what was done, one of which is marketed as a fun book where Harley gets her girl back. I'm sure there will be some drama, but it's already backpedaling. What's your point? DC published Kyle Baker's Plastic Man at the same time as Identity Crisis. It's not that much different.