Rebirth missing in Action: Where is Cyborg, John Stewart, Jakeem Thunder, BL...

[Vampire Savior]

I am sorry but saying "I am not interested" would not be acceptable to YOUR BOSS. It might fly with Dan but that black woman who killed Vertigo is not going to her bosses with that excuse.

No one is going to accept "I am not interested." nor "Comicsgate" nor "bigoted comic book stores." as an excuse.

Someone will get FIRED. It won't be anyone ranking at Dan's level or higher. It will be YOU the editor on the way out.

YOU as an employee of a company can NOT tell folks go somewhere else. Because doing that is why DC is in the mess that it is in.

Does Black Panther have to make another billion? Win 3 more Oscars?

If I was an employee I would see a HUGE issue with that. All you are doing is giving more power to your competition.

It's not that hard to do 3 issue mini here, guest spot in a book there, a team role, one shot, backups and role in an event.

I am not asking for the Carol Danvers deal. Do the LITTLE things that eventually pay off.

This is probably the most entitled thing I've ever read here. "Give me comics I want or someone's definitely going to get fired!" If that's even the case, and I'm definitely not saying it is, let that be a concern for whoever's getting fired and doing the firing. You're only a consumer here. And DC doesn't really have to specifically answer whatever Marvel does. That is probably not the best strategy anyway. DC had success hitting Marvel where Marvel was lacking with Wonder Woman, and that worked pretty well for them. Again, you're acting like DC is specifically obligated to cater to you, but maybe they're just not as interested in hitting your demographic, and there's no crime in that. I'm not interested in writing lesbian romance novels, and you know, I shouldn't really be forced or browbeat into having to do that. That said, I'm sure there is a market for that, and I'm willing to bet someone much more interested in that than I am is out there servicing that market.

I'm all for black heroes getting attention, but I just think it's a little weird to continually verbally arm bar DC to try to get them to give into your demands. Just look elsewhere if you're not satisfied.

[Shockingjustice]

This is probably the most entitled thing I've ever read here. "Give me comics I want or someone's definitely going to get fired!" If that's even the case, and I'm definitely not saying it is, let that be a concern for whoever's getting fired and doing the firing. You're only a consumer here. And DC doesn't really have to specifically answer whatever Marvel does. That is probably not the best strategy anyway. DC had success hitting Marvel where Marvel was lacking with Wonder Woman, and that worked pretty well for them. Again, you're acting like DC is specifically obligated to cater to you, but maybe they're just not as interested in hitting your demographic, and there's no crime in that. I'm not interested in writing lesbian romance novels, and you know, I shouldn't really be forced or browbeat into having to do that. That said, I'm sure there is a market for that, and I'm willing to bet someone much more interested in that than I am is out there servicing that market.

I'm all for black heroes getting attention, but I just think it's a little weird to continually verbally arm bar DC to try to get them to give into your demands. Just look elsewhere if you're not satisfied.

Yeah, but the difference between you and major comic company DC is if you don't appeal to different demographics then you fall behind and just like you said people will leave for something else which not good for DC in the long run. This is the exact reason DC open the zoom and Ink labels, to appeal to a different demographic and get YA interested in superhero comics.

Plus considering in your signature you call both "Cyborg and John Stewart weak ass characters" when Cyborg is a founding member is something DC really cant ignore considering they wanted to put Cyborg on the Justice League for more than just him being Black and filling a quota. Otherwise it kind of proves DC doesn't care about black characters, which is not true considering the character Naomi. However DC themselves aren't promoting Naomi, but Brian Michael Bendis, one guy, is. If he was never brought in we would probably just have the terrifics, John Stewart who will probably only be on the Justice League until the current writer leaves, Cyborg in JLO which had a shake start apparently.

I will say things do look interesting with Nubia and Aqualad getting their own books. And all things considered black heroes at DC are a little better than the Hispanic and Asian characters. Jaime Reyes has been gone for a very long time which is weird considering how much effort DC tried at pushing him.

[Vampire Savior]

Plus considering in your signature you call both "Cyborg and John Stewart weak ass characters" when Cyborg is a founding member is something DC really cant ignore considering they wanted to put Cyborg on the Justice League for more than just him being Black and filling a quota. Otherwise it kind of proves DC doesn't care about black characters,

That's part of my point. I don't think DC really does care that much about their black characters. However, the difference between someone like me and someone like skyvolt2000 is that this doesn't really bother me that much (doesn't bother me at all, really).

which is not true considering the character Naomi. However DC themselves aren't promoting Naomi, but Brian Michael Bendis, one guy, is. If he was never brought in we would probably just have the terrifics, John Stewart who will probably only be on the Justice League until the current writer leaves, Cyborg in JLO which had a shake start apparently.

As you said, that's likely Bendis having an interest in a black character, not the editorial staff at DC. They just have a relationship with Bendis.

I will say things do look interesting with Nubia and Aqualad getting their own books. And all things considered black heroes at DC are a little better than the Hispanic and Asian characters. Jaime Reyes has been gone for a very long time which is weird considering how much effort DC tried at pushing him.

Well, being all things to all people is a pretty tall order. I mostly see people make complaints of this nature in regards to black characters. Not asians, hispanics, or even gay characters...or not nearly as often. It's usually black people complaining about black characters, and looking for the majorly white DC Comics to do something about that, oftentimes even demanding it of DC, or at least in tones that suggest such. I suspect those other groups don't complain as much likely because they are not looking for majorly white DC, with an 80 year foundation of prioritizing white characters, to satisfy them in these regards.

What I realize, and DC does, too, is their bread and butter is Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman. For many decades, they have built a following with those non-black characters. Their priorities are, first and foremost, with those non-black characters. Their paying fans expect DC's priorities to be, first and foremost, with those non-black characters.

It would be great if DC could be all things for all people, but that can be a pretty tall order, because DC's foundation wasn't built to be anything like that.

Yes, as my signature says, I'm not impressed with DC's black characters. Because of that, I don't really look to DC for something like that. I'd sooner look elsewhere to people who are actually interested in prioritizing their black characters, or their characters who just happen to be black.

[Midnighter]

True and I should've explained better but with Cyborg his problem is weird. His backstory is messy not because of him but instead the Titans. He has his origin and it remained the same since New 52 but whether he was with the Titans or an actual founder of the JL is up in the air.

Preview art for DC: Millennium shows Cyborg with the classic NTT next to disco-Nightwing. I would assume what happened in Origins was an upgrade at this point.

All of the League's prior history has been restored so I don't see how he can be a founder at his age.

[MoneySpider]

DC should probably do more with Vixen. They can never seem to find a steady place for her.

They should put her on the main Justice League team and develop her some more and get more readers used to her and all that she can do.

[MoneySpider]

This is probably the most entitled thing I've ever read here. "Give me comics I want or someone's definitely going to get fired!" If that's even the case, and I'm definitely not saying it is, let that be a concern for whoever's getting fired and doing the firing. You're only a consumer here. And DC doesn't really have to specifically answer whatever Marvel does. That is probably not the best strategy anyway. DC had success hitting Marvel where Marvel was lacking with Wonder Woman, and that worked pretty well for them. Again, you're acting like DC is specifically obligated to cater to you, but maybe they're just not as interested in hitting your demographic, and there's no crime in that. I'm not interested in writing lesbian romance novels, and you know, I shouldn't really be forced or browbeat into having to do that. That said, I'm sure there is a market for that, and I'm willing to bet someone much more interested in that than I am is out there servicing that market.

I'm all for black heroes getting attention, but I just think it's a little weird to continually verbally arm bar DC to try to get them to give into your demands. Just look elsewhere if you're not satisfied.

Personally, I agree with skyvolt2000. I don't think it has anything to do with entitlement as much as it has to do with wanting something very specific from DC Comics that other comic book companies have no problem giving us. To me, it's like wanting Burger King to give us chicken nuggets and french fries like McDonald's and other burger joints do. So if Marvel is giving us solos starring black characters, and other comic book companies are giving us solos starring black characters, then I want DC Comics to give me solos starring black characters, too.

And "looking elsewhere if you're not satisfied" only works if you're willing to read about characters that are NOT from DC Comics. I want to read more about Vixen, and since I can't read about Vixen from any other company because DC owns the rights to the character, where else am I supposed to go to read about her? There are only so many past adventures I can read of hers before I want something new to read about for her. And I've never been a fan of giving up on one's favorite characters because the company that owns those characters don't do what they should be doing to compete with their competitors.

Also, whenever consumers aren't happy with certain companies, consumers WILL make their feelings and opinions known, so much so that companies will sometimes listen to the consumers and do what the consumers ask. I don't know why comic book companies should not be told when they are doing something wrong. Since we're consumers and buying their products and may not be happy with those products, we as consumers have every right to make our concerns about those products known. And I'm not talking about consumers who make outlandish and outrageous demands...I'm talking about consumers who feel their demographic is being ignored and are merely asking to have more and better representation of that demographic, regardless of what that demographic is.

Another thing is, I feel as though telling someone that "You're only a consumer here" is a bit insulting. Everyone is a consumer, in some shape or form. Without consumers, companies would go out of business, even comic book companies. I think consumers have a lot more power than you think they/we have.

[Sodam Yat]

I am sorry but saying "I am not interested" would not be acceptable to YOUR BOSS. It might fly with Dan but that black woman who killed Vertigo is not going to her bosses with that excuse.

No one is going to accept "I am not interested." nor "Comicsgate" nor "bigoted comic book stores." as an excuse.

Someone will get FIRED. It won't be anyone ranking at Dan's level or higher. It will be YOU the editor on the way out.

YOU as an employee of a company can NOT tell folks go somewhere else. Because doing that is why DC is in the mess that it is in.

Does Black Panther have to make another billion? Win 3 more Oscars?

If I was an employee I would see a HUGE issue with that. All you are doing is giving more power to your competition.

It's not that hard to do 3 issue mini here, guest spot in a book there, a team role, one shot, backups and role in an event.

I am not asking for the Carol Danvers deal. Do the LITTLE things that eventually pay off.

I'm going to say that I agree with this 100%. It would be unacceptable for people that work in the comic book offices to be passive in that regard. They are a business after all.

True and I should've explained better but with Cyborg his problem is weird. His backstory is messy not because of him but instead the Titans. He has his origin and it remained the same since New 52 but whether he was with the Titans or an actual founder of the JL is up in the air.

I haven't done much reading with DC Comics these days, so yea, it's starting to be a bit confusing. Kind of reminds me of when fans were confused about the time difference with Damien's age in the New 52.

[Godlike13]

It seems it’s trickier then it may appear. They tried New Age of Heroes, the comic market didn’t seem to respond. When the BL show aired they tried a BL book, the comic market didn’t seem to respond. Cyborg was featured predominantly since the New 52, and yet the comic market still didn’t seem to respond to his multiple solos. Could they do more, absolutely, but at the same time it’s not necessarily just that simple. Black Panther could win 100 Oscars but the guys some of you are yelling at don’t make the decisions as to what movies are going to be produced. Hell they often seem out of the loop, or even at odds with one another. Look at Titans for example and how DC’s comic department responded to that.

[Agent Z]

Yeah, but the difference between you and major comic company DC is if you don't appeal to different demographics then you fall behind and just like you said people will leave for something else which not good for DC in the long run. This is the exact reason DC open the zoom and Ink labels, to appeal to a different demographic and get YA interested in superhero comics.

Plus considering in your signature you call both "Cyborg and John Stewart weak ass characters" when Cyborg is a founding member is something DC really cant ignore considering they wanted to put Cyborg on the Justice League for more than just him being Black and filling a quota. Otherwise it kind of proves DC doesn't care about black characters, which is not true considering the character Naomi. However DC themselves aren't promoting Naomi, but Brian Michael Bendis, one guy, is. If he was never brought in we would probably just have the terrifics, John Stewart who will probably only be on the Justice League until the current writer leaves, Cyborg in JLO which had a shake start apparently.

I will say things do look interesting with Nubia and Aqualad getting their own books. And all things considered black heroes at DC are a little better than the Hispanic and Asian characters. Jaime Reyes has been gone for a very long time which is weird considering how much effort DC tried at pushing him.

Nubia's getting a book? Didn't know that. Who's writing?

[deadman322]

He's a Titans and joined Justice League later

outside of a couple of hallucinations by wally, when else has there been actual proof that he was a titan anymore? i heard about some slight winks at the audience when he interacted with raven, but nothing concrete.

[Digifiend]

He's a Titans and joined Justice League later

Yeah, it's easy to explain this one. In New 52 JL's first arc, we saw his origin. But due to Superman not being a rookie or in a romance with Wonder Woman now, we know it had to play out differently to what we saw at the time. That goes for Cyborg too. Vic wasn't becoming Cyborg for the first time there, he was now just getting upgraded. The entire history of the Teen Titans is back, with the first of the two New 52 volumes getting overwritten (it's Superboy and Kid Flash never existed).

[iron chimp]

And of course no mention of Michael Cray....

[Wakeneuron]

I just do not understand why Cyborg's and Black Lightning's history has to be stripped away. In JLO Cyborg doesn't even mention his father or STAR Labs.
I think that the lack of supporting characters for Cyborg and BL in their current books doesn't help but I'm still looking forward to reading the events in JLO and BATO.

Cyborg has a strong track record in regards to sales. But like every other comic his sales dip as time passes but DC just didn't make the right choices to boost his sales. When Marv Wolfman came back to write Cyborg after it was cancelled the solicitation copy was terribled. If I was a comic shop owner I wouldn't have order heavy either on that issue. But Cyborg # 22 sold out the week it came out because fans really seemed to like the new villain Mekkan X. And today it's still selling above cover price on Ebay. But instead of trying to capitalise on the popularity of Mekkan X, like Marvel would have done they instead cancelled Cyborg with issue # 23. Like I said if this was Marvel, Mekkan X would have had his own mini-series by now.

Also, again, sales for Cyborg solo series has been strong. His first solo debuted with about 52,000 copies order, Cyborg Rebirth 62,000, Cyborg # 1 about 52,000. JLO which is basically a Cyborg book debuted with about 42,000. And the recent mini-series DCeased which is a Cyborg lead book debuted with 240,000 copies order. So Cyborg can generate sales. But I want to read a Cyborg solo book. Team books haven't been good for a long time.

But like someone said it is time to move on and that's what I'm trying to do. I just can't seem to find a solo Superhero book that I like but I'm beginning to warm up to Bendis' Superman, Black Panther and Miles Morales.

[Shockingjustice]

Nubia's getting a book? Didn't know that. Who's writing?

It was in the zoom, ink, black label thread.

NUBIA - TBA - L.L. McKinney & Robyn Smith

[MajorHoy]

That's part of my point. I don't think DC really does care that much about their black characters...

It seems it’s trickier then it may appear. They tried New Age of Heroes, the comic market didn’t seem to respond. When the BL show aired they tried a BL book, the comic market didn’t seem to respond. Cyborg was featured predominantly since the New 52, and yet the comic market still didn’t seem to respond to his multiple solos. Could they do more, absolutely, but at the same time it’s not necessarily just that simple. Black Panther could win 100 Oscars but the guys some of you are yelling at don’t make the decisions as to what movies are going to be produced. Hell they often seem out of the loop, or even at odds with one another. Look at Titans for example and how DC’s comic department responded to that.

I think the key point is that if enough readers showed their support for more of the minority characters, DC would be convinced to give us more / treat them better. But, unfortunately, I don't think DC has really seen enough wide-spread support for that. They see the bigger support for Batman and other classic white characters, so that's what they tend to give us more of.

And, yes, people may say DC doesn't put the "big name" writers and artists on more minority-starring books, but DC may not have as much say on that unless those big-name creators express a firm interest in such projects first.

But then again, I'm not in the industry, so what do I know?