Small/Big screen dependence of some characters?

[Eto]

STARGIRL BY GEOFF JOHNS TP
written by GEOFF JOHNS and others
art by LEE MODER, DAN DAVIS, SCOTT KOLINS, FREDDIE E. WILLIAMS II and others
photo cover
When teenage Courtney Whitmore learns that her stepfather was the sidekick of the original Star Spangled Kid, she finds his old gear, dons the costume and becomes the all-new Star-Spangled Kid! Seeing no other alternative, Pat constructs an eight-foot-tall armored mechanical suit and takes on the codename S.T.R.I.P.E. to show her the ropes in the super-hero game! Collects STARS AND S.T.R.I.P.E. #0-14 and JSA ALL STARS #4.
ON SALE 09.18.19
$34.99 US | 416 PAGES

The sollicitation for Stargirl by Johns.
Ever since I'd read JSA omnibus vol. 1 and 2 (just ordered vol. 3) I wanted to know/read more regarding Courtney. I did some digging and I gathered info that Johns (the creator) had a run.
Where I live, there aren't many back issues, result = I found no Stargirl issues/TPBs. Now with her upcoming tv-series, DC has decided to release a Stargirl TPB (which I'm grateful for).

Okay, so let's get to the point, I can't refrain myself from thinking that's it solely due to the release of her tv-series. I know this has been a thing for years for both DC and Marvel, but I really do think the situation will exerbate if this keeps going this way. It feels as if some characters wouldn't see the sunlight if it wasn't for a tv-series/film, which is a damn shame.

Do you agree with the title of the thread? Are some characters "dependent" on the small/big screen. Is it still possible to turn the tide? If so, how would you tackle this "problem"?

[Frontier]

Sometimes it seems like the small-screen or cartoons is the only place certain DC characters can get some love and attention outside comics.

[skyvolt2000]

Do you agree with the title of the thread? Are some characters "dependent" on the small/big screen. Is it still possible to turn the tide? If so, how would you tackle this "problem"?

For A LOT of these guys it takes TV & Movies for them to even see proper usage.

That Start Girl trade features stuff that is already in trade. So she might be a bad example.

Look at someone like John Stewart-he was on a hit show and excluding his first run as main GL, his ONLY solo nor his first ever appearance is in trade. Mind you that was before all the legal mess with Gerard Jones.

Vixen-she has a show and is on another one-where is her trade? Aside from the G Willow Wilson mini?

Static's trades are nowhere to be found and pretty much anything with him in it-is going for blood money in the secondary market for some reason.

Most of the Young Justice kids like Bart & Conner are still waiting for complete runs of their solos to hit trades.

Black Lightning 's second series probably got a trade due to the show. Folks forget Tony got chased off that title.

Look at Marvel-they threw some trades together for Falcon & War Machine when those movies came out. I think War Machine is only missing the later half of his first solo series.


As Frontier said outside of comics is the only way some get any type of attention.

Look at Bumblebee.

Very FEW will debate you that cartoon John Stewart, Cyborg (ESPECIALLY Doom Patrol version), Black Lightning's daughters, Aqualad (Black one) and Vixen are better than the comic versions.

[Vampire Savior]

Yes, I agree with the thread title. At a point in the 90s when the industry was trying to keep itself from totally collapsing, the major comics companies consciously decided to start "appealing to the base". The base being the the hardcore comics fans. The goal was to give them exactly what they wanted without even trying to be accessible to potential new fans. This went on throughout the 2000s and it's kind of still going on today, but the companies, mainly Marvel, have tried to break away from that some and have received intense backlash for it. Marvel is only bothering to do that because it is aware that its stable of major characters is homogeneous and rather dated, and its looking to exploit more diverse characters and women outside of comics, like what it did with Captain Marvel.

All those years of appealing to the base has made it so newer ideas and characters are often shunned by comics fans, and only the usual suspects of characters that are 60, 70, and 80 years old are the only ones comics fans want to read about, with the very, very, VERY rare exception.

Mainstream U.S. comics have pretty much driven themselves into a corner. Characters like Stargirl, John Stewart, Artemis from Young Justice, and so on, can successfully build strong fanbases outside of comics, but have difficulty being as popular within comics because the industry is near wholly dependent on curmudgeons who are stuck in their ways and don't care at all about a character like Static, for example, despite that character being able to sustain a successful cartoon show for four seasons, even without the support of a toyline or any worthwhile merchandise. The same isn't true for movies and television, or streaming. As long as the entertainment is good, a character can find an audience and fanbase over there, because the audience is much broader, way more diverse, and a lot more open minded.

[byrd156]

Sometimes it seems like the small-screen or cartoons is the only place certain DC characters can get some love and attention outside comics.

It feels like the only place for anyone not backed by a big creative team.

[Vampire Savior]

Look at someone like John Stewart-he was on a hit show and excluding his first run as main GL, his ONLY solo nor his first ever appearance is in trade. Mind you that was before all the legal mess with Gerard Jones..

John Stewart's first appearance is in trade and has been for a loooong time:
https://www.dccomics.com/graphic-nov...en-arrow-vol-2

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I think Wonder Woman and Aquaman are going to benefit greatly from their big screen outings, even if that doesn't translate into better comics for them. The increased prominence of those characters will keep them on the forefront of the DCU in much the same way that the failure of the GL movie lowered that franchise's importance within the DCU

[Eto]

Sometimes it seems like the small-screen or cartoons is the only place certain DC characters can get some love and attention outside comics.

That's not what I meant but that's true I guess.

[Eto]

I think Wonder Woman and Aquaman are going to benefit greatly from their big screen outings, even if that doesn't translate into better comics for them. The increased prominence of those characters will keep them on the forefront of the DCU in much the same way that the failure of the GL movie lowered that franchise's importance within the DCU

No doubt, good for WW and Aquaman. I've got Abnett's run in trades. Will get Johns' omni.

True, but GL has large fanbase and I hope GL comics will greatly benefit from the upcoming GL(C?) film whenever it'll come out.

[Pohzee]

Covers like that are the worst.