Creator's Pet

[Johnrevenge]

Anissa and Jennifer as Jefferson's daughters has become too popular and ingrained into Black Lightning's mythos to not come back at some point.

If Bryan Hill's use of Jefferson goes on long enough, I expect he'll re-establish them as his daughters sooner rather then later.

I would hope so. Cause I really liked the two of them back when they were active before Flashpoint and new52.

[DragonKent17]

The Batman Who Laughs under Snyder. Jesus Christ

[j9ac9k]

Re-reading this thread, people seemed to mention Green Lantern characters a bunch, which made me think of Terry Berg as Judd Winick's mouthpiece/protagonist for his social views.

[king81992]

The Batman Who Laughs under Snyder. Jesus Christ

The Batman Who Laughs is a mistake and a tool to derail other characters for shock value.

[Restingvoice]

The Batman Who Laughs under Snyder. Jesus Christ

Yes, but he also sells really well. For once, the creator's pet is also a fan favorite that moves books so can't really blame 'em for churning more.

[Sutekh]

The whole "pet" character derogatory, contempt thing is just stupid and salty to me.

Yeah, I'd kind of hope that *my* favorite characters would be some creator's 'pet' characters.

But, in spirit of the thread, Lobo. Gosh. Giffen seemed to throw him in everything, even if the tone wasn't particularly suited to him.

On the upside, better Lobo (who can at least have some narrative use, as an adversary) than Ambush Bug!

[Tzigone]

NTT Raven always seemed kind of emotionless to me, but in the current mini series she's a snark machine.

She was supposed to be (in older stories). It was a major plot point that emotions were a way for Trigon to get to her. At least, if I recall correctly. Admittedly, I think it was a retconned plot point, where she was first as emotional as anyone, and then went unemotional, but it's been a long while since I've read early issues. I tend to like old Raven over new Raven.

Yeah, I'd kind of hope that *my* favorite characters would be some creator's 'pet' characters.

Me too.

[Lee]

It sounds like the premise of this thread is that writers shouldn't write characters who appeal to them and should avoid creating new characters at all costs.

[mikelmcknight72]

If it doesn't already exist, I think we need a new trope called Corporate Pet. It would primarily cover a character the company pushes hard because they want them to be the next big thing, but the fans haven't responded accordingly. Think of Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel. She arguably became less interesting, less likable, etc after she took on the CM identity. Marvel obviously wants her to be their Wonder Woman equivalent, but wanting it to be so doesn't mean you are publishing material worthy of it, it doesn't mean readers are going to agree, and it doesn't mean they've picked the right character. At DC, some of these creator pets might really be corporate pets. Pandora might have qualified at one point. She was initially everywhere, but readers by and large didn't care about her. DC wisely backed off after a while.

[mikelmcknight72]

It sounds like the premise of this thread is that writers shouldn't write characters who appeal to them and should avoid creating new characters at all costs.

Nah, the original premise remains. Characters that get pushed because a creator loves them, but they do it in such a way that they misuse other characters to elevate them. Usually with some Mary Sue elements. Danny Chase is a great example, especially at the expense of Changeling. It got better by or during the Titans Hunt era, but it was too late to overcome readers' dislike.

[Sutekh]

Nah, the original premise remains. Characters that get pushed because a creator loves them, but they do it in such a way that they misuse other characters to elevate them. Usually with some Mary Sue elements. Danny Chase is a great example, especially at the expense of Changeling. It got better by or during the Titans Hunt era, but it was too late to overcome readers' dislike.

Yeah, not all salt is bad salt. Terry Long, for instance, deserves every precious speck of salt that falls his creepy Creator's Pet way.

Sometimes criticism of salt is just more salt, yanno?

[skyvolt2000]

It sounds like the premise of this thread is that writers shouldn't write characters who appeal to them and should avoid creating new characters at all costs.

There is nothing wrong with having a favorite but there is an issue of doing it at the EXPENSE of others.

An example of trashing someone for a pet can be seen in Black Panther. Especially Black Panther The Crew & WOW. Those are his book yet you BARELY saw him in the books.

I think we need a new trope called Corporate Pet. It would primarily cover a character the company pushes hard because they want them to be the next big thing, but the fans haven't responded accordingly. Think of Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel. She arguably became less interesting, less likable, etc after she took on the CM identity. Marvel obviously wants her to be their Wonder Woman equivalent, but wanting it to be so doesn't mean you are publishing material worthy of it, it doesn't mean readers are going to agree, and it doesn't mean they've picked the right character.

In Carol Danvers case she never buried anyone else. Also her trades tend to do better than her actual books. The majority of the folks who support her don't buy floppies. Same with Aquaman.

A corporate pet would be Hal Jordan in that case. Outside of comics a lot of folks don't care for Hal. I see his books pack bins worst Batman, Peter Parker, Deadpool & Superman.

[Frontier]

In Carol Danvers case she never buried anyone else. Also her trades tend to do better than her actual books. The majority of the folks who support her don't buy floppies. Same with Aquaman.

Mar-Vell...Genis...I mean, they were dead long before Carol was Captain Marvel but I don't see them being as prominent now that the identity is hers.

[SiegePerilous02]

A corporate pet would be Hal Jordan in that case. Outside of comics a lot of folks don't care for Hal. I see his books pack bins worst Batman, Peter Parker, Deadpool & Superman.

Aren't sales for The Green Lantern really good?
His cartoon did well, it was canceled due to low toy sales of all things (we should similarly say nobody cares about the YJ characters outside of comics), so I think outside of comics he's no worse than the rest of the GLs.

Mar-Vell...Genis...I mean, they were dead long before Carol was Captain Marvel but I don't see them being as prominent now that the identity is hers.

And Mar-Vell got altered and has his story glossed over in the movie for the sake of servicing Carol's story.
Which isn't a bad thing for a film's story, but now we have the mainstream audience thinking there is no other Captain Marvel besides Carol. I don't really have a horse in this race, but Mar-Vell's story is very well regarded from what I've seen. He kind of got buried for Carol.