Characters you like, think were given opportunity, but just didn't break out

[BohemiaDrinker]

The first storyline is fantastic. After switching to a new writer (issue 26?), it definitely lost some steam. It wasn't bad, but not as good as before. Though I do think that's a fairly common thing to happen in new media, regardless of writer - arcs are planned instead of just episodics, and that first arc is fantastic. But it can't really be topped, and subsequent stories (like season 2 of a tv show) just isn't as good. Good choice, though - he had his own comic and he was on the Teen Titans and so on, but just didn't flourish.

Yes, it took a bit of a dive after John Rogers left at 26. It still had a very solid foundation, though. It pains me he went sort of nowhere.

[lemonpeace]

Kenan Kong and the Justice league of china. Kenan had a cool concept, cool powers, and the book featured the only Batman I liked, but the book tanked, and now that Jon's a teenager and Connor's back I'll probably never see him again.

There's also Khalid Nassour's Dr. Fate. I loved his book, it was like a more mature Ms. Marvel. He did appear in Justice League Dark though. I'll miss Hoodie fate.

Oof, that's a real one and it still hurts. I do feel that New Super-Man and crew was recieved better than most new characters, they just never reached the bigger audience they deserved.

[9th.]

For me, it's Jaime Reyes.

Didio was pushing for diversity back then (yeah, it was a thing) and everyone involved just made a pure gem out of that book. The character is great (imagine Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Iron Man and Wally West all rolled into one), and even when sales failed to meet expectations (probably in protest to what happened to Ted Kord), Didio still kept it in print for about ten issues.

They made 2 further comic attemp´ts with him, put him in Teen Titans, several animated shows and yet.... It didn't take,

I'm still mad he didn't get an animated series, a character like that is tailor made for one.

[Ascended]

Lot of really good choices here.

I'm gonna throw in Kate Spencer; Manhunter. DC and the fans really tried hard on that one. That book got brought back two or three times, DC gave her a backup in 'Tec (or maybe it was Batman?), now she's in Event Leviathan.......I feel like DC has gone out of their way to try and capitalize on Kate Spencer, but outside of her fairly small fanbase (who deserve a ton of credit for all the efforts made on Kate's behalf too) the audience just will not pick her up.

I think a fair amount of effort was put into Damage (Grant Emerson) too. A solo, a couple stints on the Titans, then the JSA......I don't think anyone bent over backwards trying to make that kid sell, but I do think people did try.

Sideways. Really the whole New Age line. DC tried really damn hard on that stuff, and I really enjoyed a lot of it. Shame it didn't catch on (I doubt any of us expected it to, but still, shame).

The Others. Johns introduced them in Aquaman, where they got to feature in a story or three, then they got a book of their own. Okay effort on DC's part, and I thought those characters were a ton of fun, but alas, DC didn't try hard enough.

[LordUltimus]

Martian Manhunter.

[j9ac9k]

I'm convinced a big part of why Jaime Blue Beetle is still around is that amazing Cully Hamner design. He's also still the best "DC's Peter Parker" for my money.

[Aahz]

The nu52 Vibe. They gave him his own series (which was really good) and put him on Justice League team. The main problem was that Justice League book was trainwreck from pretty much day one and people didn't give his solo a shot. Maybe he just got lost in the ever changing "long term plans" that DC seems to have such a massive problem with these days, but as a character the revamped Vibe is pretty great and has a lot of untapped potential.

I think with Vibe you have also the problem that the original (Justice League Detroid) Version was pretty terrible. So getting people to buy a Vibe book is already an up hill battle.

[BohemiaDrinker]

I'm convinced a big part of why Jaime Blue Beetle is still around is that amazing Cully Hamner design. He's also still the best "DC's Peter Parker" for my money.

Yeah, it should never had been updated. The design is badass.

[Agent Z]

Lorena Marquez the second post crisis Aquagirl. A smart, capable and likable superheroine who also provided much needed diversity to the Aqua man line. Unfortunately, her tenure with the Teen Titans is not fondly remembered and she hasn't been seen since Brightest Day.

Koryak, Aquaman's half-Inuit son who was also the first poc hero of the Aquaman line.

For me, it's Jaime Reyes.

Didio was pushing for diversity back then (yeah, it was a thing) and everyone involved just made a pure gem out of that book. The character is great (imagine Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Iron Man and Wally West all rolled into one), and even when sales failed to meet expectations (probably in protest to what happened to Ted Kord), Didio still kept it in print for about ten issues.

They made 2 further comic attemp´ts with him, put him in Teen Titans, several animated shows and yet.... It didn't take,

Would Jaime count? I feel his considerably large presence in other media somewhat mitigates how he's been used in the comics and tv and games easily trump comics these days.

[BatmanJones]

One of my favourite characters: Hourman, the android version, sometimes called Tyler. He came out of the popular One Million comics event. He was a member of the JSA when they got their new series. He starred in his own absolutley great comic book, HOURMAN, with stupendous art by Rags Morales and highly imaginative story-telling from Tom Peyer. Yet for all that, he's been consigned to the dustbin of futuristic comics history. He just never caught on with mainstream comics audiences.

Such a great series. I'm loving re-reading it after all these years on DC Universe.

[BohemiaDrinker]

Would Jaime count? I feel his considerably large presence in other media somewhat mitigates how he's been used in the comics and tv and games easily trump comics these days.

Well, he's not a seller, he doesn't generate excitement, he's mostly background... DC/WB still tries with him from time to time, but the audience seems lukewarm at best. So I'd say he counts.

Which is a shame: he was Miles Morales or Khamala Khan 10 years too early. :/

[Aahz]

I'm not sure if Batwoman would fall in here.
Her first solo was quite successfull for a while, but the sales dropped eventually, and the second solo did not that well.

[Agent Z]

Well, he's not a seller, he doesn't generate excitement, he's mostly background... DC/WB still tries with him from time to time, but the audience seems lukewarm at best. So I'd say he counts.

Which is a shame: he was Miles Morales or Khamala Khan 10 years too early. :/

I think there is interest it's just DC made so many missteps with the character and don't put nearly as much of an effort behind him as they should.

[Zero Hunter]

I agree with other in that the Jaime Blue Beetle is just not used enough for the amount of exposure he gets in other media. Why he is not a member of the Teen Titans just makes no sense. They should use him instead of just making new character no one cares about over and over.

Then again DC is pathetic at taking advantage of characters that get exposure on TV and trying to use that to build up their comic counterpart.

[Tzigone]

I agree with other in that the Jaime Blue Beetle is just not used enough for the amount of exposure he gets in other media. Why he is not a member of the Teen Titans just makes no sense. They should use him instead of just making new character no one cares about over and over.

Then again DC is pathetic at taking advantage of characters that get exposure on TV and trying to use that to build up their comic counterpart.

Kind of the opposite of what this thread was meant to be about - which characters that were given a fair shot at becoming big, but just didn't achieve it. Where DC didn't do anything wrong, but the character you like just didn't have the mass appeal needed to make it to that level.

FTR, if we're talking YJ-cartoon version of Jaime, I haven't seen season 3, but in season 2 he bears little resemblance to the Jaime I loved in his 2006 series, so I don't want to see more of that Jaime (and I even saw the show before reading the comics). Haven't read N52 Blue Beetle with Jaime, because I didn't hear good things from the fans of the older version. That's one of the things with tv or movie popularity, if the characterization or background is significantly different. If it gets ported over to the comics (like it did with John Stewart), you can sometimes end up with a new character(ization) that bears little resemblance beyond the superficial (name, powers, costume) to the old one. From DC's perspective, it only makes senses if it makes them more money - doesn't alienate more existing fans who are spending money than it draws new ones. Creatively, it can work, but probably best with characters that don't have solid foundations or large fanbases (less risk in alienation). Jaime may be one of those (I don't know), but it's sad for people who liked the old version and lose it. People think they ought to be happy because the character they liked is getting more prominence, but it's often at the expense of the things they liked about the character.