Does anyone else like the legacy characters more than the original ones?

[Sacred Knight]

Nope. If anything, by and large its only the first generation of sidekicks I have a strong attachment to at all.

[Sandy Hausler]

Hello,

I personally have to say that I like the Legacy characters more than the Big Ones.

There are some modern heroes I like better than their golden age counterparts.

I Like Pieter Cross (Dr. Mid-nite) better than Charles McNider.
I like Michael Holt (Mr. Terrific) better than Terry Sloane.

This is because, unlike golden age characters like Flash, Wildcat and Green Lantern, these particular golden age characters never became fleshed out characters. Flash (Barry) and Flash (Jay) are equivalent in my mind as are Green Lantern (Hal) and Green Lantern (Alan). Other Flashes and Lanterns are mere distractions.

Sandy

[katefan]

I always thought that DC's edge over Marvel was its legacy heroes. To me, DC was the company where legacy heroes would eventually surpass the original ones. With DC going back to its Silver Age roots since 2004, I lost interest.

Yes, yes, yes! I liked Wally West more than Barry Allen, I liked Kyle Rainer more than Hal Jordan. Geoff Johns coming in and relegating the legacy characters into the background was a huge mistake.

I will go another step further and say I thought Grant Morrison having two Batmen was a tremendous idea, with Dick being Gotham's Batman, Bruce the globe trotting head of Batman Inc. Then Nu 52 ruined that.

Now, Marvel sort of did have legacy characters but they did not seem to have any faith in them. The New Mutants and Generation X were supposed to be the next generation of heroes, weren't they? And what's become of most of them? Cyclops, Storm etc. are still in the forefront. Monica Rambeau should have stayed Captain Marvel but they pushed her aside for a son no one asked for, one that had very little in the way of personality. Now we got Carol Danvers, and...

Well it's the DC side, and I'm digressing. Point is, I agree with you in that there was a huge creative mis-step and Johns should never have been allowed to do it.

[astro@work]

I'll always be more attached to the Fab5 as legacies > their JLA mentors, because they were my gateway characters when I started reading.
They were closer to my age ( a bit older than me at the beginning, then gradually same age or younger). To me, they were more relatable than their older counterparts.

As far as other legacy scenarios, I like the JSA legacies equally to their Golden Age counterparts. I honestly couldn't pick one generation over the next.

GL Corps I don't see as legacy, they are all equal members together.

I have always been attached to all the Super-family probably because they read to me as a family. Each has their own place in the family, so I don't see them as competing for position. Probably part of the reason I didn't like the aging of Jon is because it makes himself and Conner a little redundant. Although Jon will always be the son and Conner more the "younger brother" to Kal. Maybe the top-secret new codename for Conner will be Super-bro. (Kidding!)

There are literally such an army of Bat legacies it's hard not have a few favorites. I will say that while I enjoy reading stories about Bruce I always lean toward the legacies because having them around makes him more human. Bruce on his own is a textbook psych case, but Dick/Tim/Damien/Barbara et al are the gateway to seeing his softer side.

[Jim Kelly]

I never liked the word "legacy." I feel like that's a word for objects or abstract concepts. I'm not a legacy of my father--his war medals are a legacy--I'm a flesh and blood person and I wouldn't like to be called a legacy.

Beyond just that, the way the word is thrown around to mean whatever someone wants it to mean is exasperating. Dick Grayson was introduced in 1940. He was Batman's junior partner--he was never a legacy. And what about Barry Allen--there was no intention for Barry to be the "legacy" of Jay Garrick--he was a revival of the concept with improvements for the jet age.

It not just apples and oranges, it's kumquats, grapes, cherries and cucumbers.

[SiegePerilous02]

Nope. If anything, by and large its only the first generation of sidekicks I have a strong attachment to at all.

Yep, I think I'm mostly the same. Dick;s generation is really the only one I care about after the big names. And even there, I at most like them as much as their mentors (like Dick and Bruce) or sometimes only a little more (Wally and Barry), but seldom outright prefer them.

I never liked the word "legacy." I feel like that's a word for objects or abstract concepts. I'm not a legacy of my father--his war medals are a legacy--I'm a flesh and blood person and I wouldn't like to be called a legacy.

Beyond just that, the way the word is thrown around to mean whatever someone wants it to mean is exasperating. Dick Grayson was introduced in 1940. He was Batman's junior partner--he was never a legacy. And what about Barry Allen--there was no intention for Barry to be the "legacy" of Jay Garrick--he was a revival of the concept with improvements for the jet age.

It not just apples and oranges, it's kumquats, grapes, cherries and cucumbers.

Yeah, legacy as we've come to use the term (as in, a new character adopting a costumed identity previously held by someone else) doesn't really apply to Dick Grayson. He's been around longer than most (if not all of us) have been alive, one year less than Batman himself. Despite periodically becoming a Batman II, he's known for two identities that are not Batman.

And Barry was not initially thought up as being a legacy to Jay the way he would later be retconned to be. That goes double for Hal with Alan.

[manwhohaseverything]

I don't see calling them "sidekicks" as a term of endearment and respect,if not "legacy".i can deal with junior partners, but not sidekicks thing. It always felt like a way to condescend towards the titans narrative . It is precisely why i hate this notion that jl is be and end all of dc in universe and out of it.

[Gaastra]

For me it's klye and wally over barry and hal. Barry and hal are fine in the jla but i find them dull as dirt in thier own title. (ironic thing is i do own a few of thier solo series trades from the golden age!)

Once barry and hal returned I dropped both comics and never went back!



The trouble with legacy heroes is almost all dc heroes are that! Even batman, superman and wonder woman are legacy or copy heroes. They are not the originals. They are younger copies from another universe! The original real batman died in the 70s!

For Marvel though I hate legacy characters in general. None of them work for me and I hate seeing them, lol!

You hate the robot vision, fantastic four human torch, avengers black widow, dr doom, Ka-zar, X-men's angel, or and all ghost riders that came after the west one? None of them are the originals! They are all replacements!

[failo.legendkiller]

Yes I do.
I don't care at all about Justice League and I love Titans.
Dick and Tim are my favorites in the batfamily. I like Bruce but I always prefered stories where Dick or Tim are in.
I've never felt anything for Diana and Barry, my interest is only for Donna and Wally. I like Cassie Sandsmark too.
Kyle and Guy are my lanterns far over Hal.
Roy is my favorite in the GA franchise even though I love Ollie.
In Superman franchise i like Steel, Conner and Supergirl on the same level of Clark. The same for Arthur and Garth.
In general I love stories where Legacy characters are in, without them something is missing.

[Pohzee]

I think Dick and Wally are two of DC's best characters.

I'm ambivalent about Donna and Roy. Donna has her continuity all messed up and Roy has reeked since he got that stupid hat and latched on to Jason Todd. Garth just sucks. They shoulda replaced him with Kaldur when they had the chance.

Jaime is the Blue Beetle with the most potential.

I don't even know where to start with the GL's.

In general I think the concept of legacy is a good one, but after like 1 or 2 replacements it's played out. Nothing additional is accomplished other than diminishing the character's distinguishability.

[Photon Torme]

I liked Barry but felt that his story had beed told and wrapped up beautifully back in COIE. So, I wish Wally had remained the Flash. Same story with Hal, really. I felt that Kyle was the more interesting Gl of the 2 John Stewart may have been the best choice of the three. I liked the new Doctor Midnite and Mr. terrific Better. I prefered the original Wildcat. I felt That Byrne got Superman right and I enjoyed the original Connor and the way he grew and evolved.

[mikelmcknight72]

After about 40 years as a comic book fan, I've found that each version of a legacy has its pros and cons. My preferences tend to not exist with wide margins. Unless stated otherwise, presume I'm referring to pre-FP versions.

Superman - Definitely a tie between the post-Crisis "married to Lois" version and the current version.
Batman - Dick Grayson's characterization as Batman was a reminder that Batman wasn't always a depressing character.
Wonder Woman - Tie between the pre-Crisis and post-Crisis versions. Her mother's run as WW gets an honorable mention.
Flash - A tie between Jay & Wally.
Green Lantern - A tie beween Alan, Hal, & John.
Robin - A tie between Dick & Tim.
Wonder Girl - Wolfman's Donna Troy.

[Dr. Ellingham]

Beyond just that, the way the word is thrown around to mean whatever someone wants it to mean is exasperating. Dick Grayson was introduced in 1940. He was Batman's junior partner--he was never a legacy. And what about Barry Allen--there was no intention for Barry to be the "legacy" of Jay Garrick--he was a revival of the concept with improvements for the jet age.

Agreed.

I'd bet that most fans on this site generally prefer legacy / alternate / replacement characters to whatever they're offshoots of. Partly because comic fans like minutiae, continuity. But more that online fandom skews towards older fans - which means readers from the 80s and 90s. And this board was created at the height of DC's "legacy" era, the 1990s. I mean - if you went by discussion on this board, you might think Nightwing is DC's most popular character. When in actual fact, this board is simply the watering hole for his fans.

[Vampire Savior]

I like Wally West and John Stewart more than Barry Allen and Hal Jordan. Other than that...I can't think of legacies I prefer more than the originals, and I think these numerous generations of heroes and excess of characters with the same hero identity are very problematic with the story model that DC Comics employs. If DC Comics collectively aged and retired its heroes, these types of characters would work better, but the characters weren't created for that paradigm, and with the big shared universe, it's a lot to keep consistent. Thus, most of the time I see these characters as extraneous.

Also, I wouldn't say Nightwing is a legacy hero in any worthwhile capacity. The name may have come from Superman comics, and he may have been Batman for a short time, but that stuff is just trivia. He's by and large his own character.

[Sutekh]

I always thought that DC's edge over Marvel was its legacy heroes. To me, DC was the company where legacy heroes would eventually surpass the original ones. With DC going back to its Silver Age roots since 2004, I lost interest.

Ditto. DC's strength in the '80s seemed to be the 'sidekicks growing up' era showcased by the Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans, and they were utterly kicking ass in that arena over Marvel. Dick transitioned from Robin to Nightwind, Garth from Aqualad to Tempest, Wally West became the actual Flash, etc.

Marvel just couldn't even compete in that arena, having few, if any, sidekicks or younger heroes to 'grow up' in that manner.

And then DC just kind of surrendered, when they were, IMO, winning.

As for preferring legacies to originals, it depends on the specific character, but generally, yes. (Although it's always funny to me to hear Hal Jordan (1959) or Barry Allen (1956) referred to as 'the originals,' as if Alan Scott (1940) and Jay Garrick (1940) never existed.) I prefer not only Nightwing to Batman, but also Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake and Jason Hood to Batman. (But prefer Batman, Bat-Mite, Ace the Bathound and the Batmobile's left rear wheel to Damien, so I don't universally prefer younger legacy characters!)