Are there any characters who you feel should be retired?

[married guy]

NO character should be killed off!
A character is only as good as the writer giving them the voice.

Perfect example - Booster Gold
Written by Jurgens or Johns? A great, multilayered FUN character portraying an image to the world to hide the true heroism he performs in secret.
Written by King? An incompetent moron.

I'd argue there are no BAD characters, just some who hasn't found the right creator the lend them the voice that resonates.

[Vordan]

Hank Henshaw. Yeah I liked him in Reign but Jurgens needs to stop dragging him around everywhere he goes. Dude is yet another evil copy of Superman, and a not very interesting one at that.

[byrd156]

NO character should be killed off!
A character is only as good as the writer giving them the voice.

Perfect example - Booster Gold
Written by Jurgens or Johns? A great, multilayered FUN character portraying an image to the world to hide the true heroism he performs in secret.
Written by King? An incompetent moron.

I'd argue there are no BAD characters, just some who hasn't found the right creator the lend them the voice that resonates.

This 100%. The characters we read are just mouth pieces for the writers, the consistent tone they are given or lack there off shapes our view of them and their worth.

[Timothy Hunter]

NO character should be killed off!
A character is only as good as the writer giving them the voice

I get the gist of what you are trying to say, but I disagree. I feel that most deaths in the comics of DC and Marvel are poorly handled. However deaths of characters is necessary for a universe to progress, move on, and grow.

[Immortal Weapon]

Hal Jordan. Give him Kilowog spot and have an actual interesting lantern lead the franchise.

[Jackalope89]

Dan Didio

That's my pick.

No kidding.

I always liked the Earth 2 Bruce Wayne who retired as Batman, but STILL fought the good fight as Bruce Wayne.
THAT would be something I'd be OK with Earth Prime Bruce doing, passing the mantle onto Dick (not Ric or Rich or whatever other STUPID crap currently going on) and go from there.

That is something I could get behind. Bruce fully retiring, passing the mantle to Dick until Damian is old and big enough for it himself.

NO character should be killed off!
A character is only as good as the writer giving them the voice.

Perfect example - Booster Gold
Written by Jurgens or Johns? A great, multilayered FUN character portraying an image to the world to hide the true heroism he performs in secret.
Written by King? An incompetent moron.

I'd argue there are no BAD characters, just some who hasn't found the right creator the lend them the voice that resonates.

Yep. All it takes is having the right author with the right character(s) to make something good.

[Kyer]

The Joker.

The concept feels so creatively bankrupt they have to do stuff like have 3 Jokers now! Or have a atl reality Batman that turns into a universal threat Joker! They will never retire the character but I don't feel any excitement or anything with Joker stories anymore.

I feel the same about The Reverse Flash. From what I understand, the TV show also has/had? been overdoing him as well.

[Jackalope89]

I feel the same about The Reverse Flash. From what I understand, the TV show also has/had? been overdoing him as well.

Eobard makes MAYBE 1 appearance a season. Last season, it was during the big crossover. That's it.

[lemonpeace]

Hal Jordan. Give him Kilowog spot and have an actual interesting lantern lead the franchise.

I wouldn't put it that harsh but it would be nice for them to retire Hal for a bit and let the other Lanterns have some fun. I think having him play the mentor role like John did for Kyle or Kilowog is to everyone is a good idea. I have held that view for a while but I was moving away from it....until the ending of Green Lanterns. The ending of Green Lanterns is exactly my issue with how DC has handling Hal as of late; why was the finale of Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz's book so focused on Hal Jordan? Not every Green Lantern story needs to somehow relate back to Hal Jordan.

[Kyer]

I get the gist of what you are trying to say, but I disagree. I feel that most deaths in the comics of DC and Marvel are poorly handled. However deaths of characters is necessary for a universe to progress, move on, and grow.

So Barry Allen, Superman, Batman, Wally West, and every other character who ever 'died' should have stayed dead? Or just the ones you don't like?

I personally don't need for a fictional universe of fictional characters to 'grow'. It's nice when they do, but what I really want is a good story that takes me out of The Real World Wherein There Be Tragedies for a short while. Killing heroes does not do that for me. Or maiming them either (Roy). If I want violence for entertainment I'd watch CNN/Fox/ABC/etc for hours on end. If I want 'realism' I'd tune into some phony-baloney Reality TV program.

[Ascended]

I love that idea!

Thanks! I've floated it around here a few times (mostly on the Bat board) and it doesn't seem to be a very popular idea (talking about "demoting" costumed heroes into supporting players in civilian clothes, it's not the easiest pill to swallow), but I still think it's got a lot of potential, and would provide a new, interesting view on characters without breaking who and what they are >coughtimdrakecough<

Hey, look at Oracle. Yeah, the Killing Joke thing was.......that's a whole thing. But Babs going from Batgirl to Oracle? That said new things about who Babs was as a person. It kept her in the narrative, gave her a new role that helped change the whole setting, and if you look at her in-universe relevance she never mattered to the heroic community (or guest starred) more than she did as Oracle. And even though Babs is back as Batgirl she still benefits immensely from her time out of the costume as a supporting character.

I was never all that big on Beast Boy (although the Deathstroke's Trial arc and Donna's wedding almost flipped me), but this is a cool approach to him.

I'm not overly fond of Gar myself (and as you can imagine, this idea has not sat well with his fans) but it's not just about getting rid of characters I don't care for, it's about opening up new avenues in their narrative.

Like, I love Tim Drake (or at least, the Tim we used to have) but it's clear DC had no idea what to do with him, and the way they handled him did the character no favors. Seriously, who has been happy with what's been done with Tim since 2011? So I said, let the kid retire and get out of the hero game. Let him be a detective for the GCPD or a self-employed private eye (someone else's suggestion). He can still be around, still be part of the story, still be perfectly capable and have his own agency and still be a hero, but he'll be coming at it from a different direction and seeing things with a different perspective. That might breathe new life into the character and make him matter in new and exciting ways. And if it turns out to be a dead end, it's easy to walk back. All you do is have Tim decide to come out of retirement.

The only issue is that it requires an Astro City approach to the DCU, and the discipline to stick with it.

Man, you aint kidding. But I've never put much stock in aiming low.

[Timothy Hunter]

So Barry Allen, Superman, Batman, Wally West, and every other character who ever 'died' should have stayed dead? Or just the ones you don't like

I would consider Barry Allen, Superman, and Batman's death well handled as they shined a much needed spotlight on their legacy characters, and reinvigorated their respective franchises.

I personally think a lot of good can come out of killing off characters if done correctly. You could argue that Gwen Stay and Jason Todd achieved more when they were dead than they ever did when they were alive.

[Lightning Rider]

There are characters I want to see retire from superheroics, but not because they're overexposed. The market itself will fix that problem.

No, what I want to see are characters who don't offer a lot of potential as costumed heroes moved into different kinds of heroism. I've been, for the last few years, really intrigued by a post-spandex view of heroics and how that plays out. There's lots of ways to be a hero that don't involve costumes and violence, and I'd like to explore those avenues by having established heroes push the boundaries of what we consider "heroic" in the DCU. Sure, we could introduce new characters or use supporting characters, but that's nothing new. No, I think it'd be far more interesting to see actual, established heroes move in different directions. They won't carry solo books in these new roles but they weren't going to contribute much in the first place, so there's no real loss.

So, for example; Beast Boy. I feel like basically everything that can be said about Gar Logan as we currently recognize and understand him has already been said. He's not a property with a ton of solo potential and his strongest ties are to a team franchise that needs a fresh perspective more than it needs nostalgia. There's not a lot of new places to take him as a superhero.

So I'd have Gar become a highly successful Award winning actor in the vein of Andy Serkis; playing crazy roles and bringing ridiculous characters to life in a way few others could. And he'd be one of those loud mouth celebrities who is always being outspoken about various social issues, political opinions, etc, with a big focus on issues that impact at-risk kids.

And it'd turn out that Gar accomplishes far more good as a noisy celebrity than he ever did as a costumed hero. He raises money that changes lives, keeps non-profits in business, and impacts political policy. As a hero, Gar Logan was a also-ran who was never able to grow beyond his childhood team. But as a social powerhouse and Hollywood trendsetter, he's able to make a much bigger difference in lives all across the country, or even the world.

And he could still pull out the costume now and then for the big Crisis events, or for a nice evening of superheroic patrol with his best friend Cyborg. A shift away from full-time heroics doesn't mean Gar can never be Beast Boy again, it just means that most of his panel time is going to be spent developing and exploring a new facet of both his character and the wider DCU.

That's the kind of retirement I want to see. "Life after the cape" as it were, and what can be done from that vantage point. If we want a character written out of the DCU, just stop writing them.

Yeah, I've always been a fan of not just life after the cape, but contributing in a thousand ways that don't involve punching a bad guy. This is a great avenue to take Beast Boy in IMO.

[byrd156]

I would consider Barry Allen, Superman, and Batman's death well handled as they shined a much needed spotlight on their legacy characters, and reinvigorated their respective franchises.

I would also add Jason's to that list, the problem is Superman and Batman didn't really die. The world just thought they did and that's fine. I love the Death and Return of Superman and Batman RIP. The stories that came from them were great and impacted the DCU which is always important.

As for many others deaths they lost the importance once they came back. The idea of hero death or retirement died when Barry, Jason, Ollie, etc. came back. Even small side characters will die but will be back within a couple months or years or so.

There are dumb senseless deaths like Hal, Lian, Pantha, most of the Titans, etc. that didn't do anything for the greater DCU.

[MajorHoy]

I'm sure there are some other people who would love to name staff at DC who should be retired, but best not to go there . . .