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

[j9ac9k]

Vigilante doesn't strike me as a good name honestly. It's too basic, too non-descriptive. Nearly every character DC puts out is a vigilante, after all.

While it's true, they tend to refer to themselves or think of themselves as "heroes." When someone unabashedly eschews that terminology to admit that they're a criminal, it implies a bit of an edge that's not necessarily heroic. But that's why I like how the name's been used.

The thing about Adrian Chase is when he first showed up in THE NEW TEEN TITANS, he just appeared to be a middle-aged district attorney in average condition. Then he became the Vigilante and he looked like he was a top body builder, with special arms training--now he had guns and guns. Where'd he find the time, between being a prosecutor and a father? It was like if Jack McCoy all of a sudden put on a spandex suit and started carrying out renegade justice with a rifle. I could never buy it.

Adrian Chase trained with the convenient plot device of some kind of justice-seeking monks or mystics or something after his family was killed, so he had plenty of time at that point.

[DrNewGod]

...The thing about Adrian Chase is when he first showed up in THE NEW TEEN TITANS, he just appeared to be a middle-aged district attorney in average condition. Then he became the Vigilante and he looked like he was a top body builder, with special arms training--now he had guns and guns. Where'd he find the time, between being a prosecutor and a father? It was like if Jack McCoy all of a sudden put on a spandex suit and started carrying out renegade justice with a rifle. I could never buy it.

Adrian Chase trained with the convenient plot device of some kind of justice-seeking monks or mystics or something after his family was killed, so he had plenty of time at that point.

NTT Annual 2 took place over an extended period of time. In addition, there was some metaphysical business involved, as he was trained by a bunch of murder victims.

[Aahz]

It kind of boggles the mind how little DC has done with Dr. Light.

I never found this character particularly interesting or appealing.
IIRC her defining character trait was that she is a massive jerk, and that was usually not even written in a funny way.

[Frontier]

I never found this character particularly interesting or appealing.
IIRC her defining character trait was that she is a massive jerk, and that was usually not even written in a funny way.

I thought her defining character trait was being a very standoffish and arrogant scientist with an attitude problem but who still finds it in herself to be a hero.

So I guess a female Guy Gardner (minus the scientist aspect)?

[lemonpeace]

I thought her defining character trait was being a very standoffish and arrogant scientist with an attitude problem but who still finds it in herself to be a hero.

So I guess a female Guy Gardner (minus the scientist aspect)?

this how I interpreted her. it is odd that DC has such a powerhouse female Asian character with that kind of personality and regulated her to a cameo as a Arthur Light's wife. I would think that kind of character would would be perfect for today's cultural climate where people are looking for unapologetic competent female characters.

[Ultimate Rogue]

Firefly - His claims of seeing prophetic visions within the flames of the things be burns is freaking epic/intense/freaky/clever.
I love it. I love the concise motive of it all. I think he should have and merits a push. Fire is mesmerizing, it's universal.

Gypsy - Rename her Traveler or Romany or Runaway, I like her powers but also I'd love a Rogue analogue in DC and Gypsy is the closest due to the amalgam comics.

Thorn - But the tide seems to have turned, Cool, at last Bendis does something that interests me.

Karu-Sil - She needs to go on a rampage on earth to give her a reputation.

Penny Black (Britannia) - from Flashpoint, I was pissed that they brought Godiva on into Justice League International and not Penny.

[Aahz]

So I guess a female Guy Gardner (minus the scientist aspect)?

With Guy it was iirc mostly played for laughs (OK I know him mostly from JLI), with Dr. Light not so much.

I would at least claim that she doesn't fit the "given opportunity" criteria for this thread. She never had a solo, and I can't really recall her ever being in the center of any story line in a team book (or is there any note worthy Dr. Light Story that I'm forgetting ?).

[Frontier]

this how I interpreted her. it is odd that DC has such a powerhouse female Asian character with that kind of personality and regulated her to a cameo as a Arthur Light's wife. I would think that kind of character would would be perfect for today's cultural climate where people are looking for unapologetic competent female characters.

I don't think the idea was to relegate her to a cameo any more then Johns re-did Plastic Man's origin in Forever Evil without any plan to follow up on it, but they probably just wanted to connect the two Dr. Light's together and build from there.

But much like most of the New 52, it didn't end up going anywhere.

[j9ac9k]

I think DC maybe didn't push the concept far enough. The idea of the Power Company was great, but I think the execution of the narrative didn't go far enough into the idea of corporate superheroics. There was a WildCats book....volume 4 maybe? that did this to tremendous effect. But I think Power Company ended up feeling a little too much like a standard superhero team that had official backing, and we've got teams like that all over comics; even the League and Avengers have been funded by the UN, yknow? I dont know if DC made the Power Company stand out as much as they should've. Of course, with a book like this, with the roster it had, there's no way to tell if DC's choices were actual misfires or if they did stuff right and it just didn't fly.

The roster probably maybe could've benefited from a few familiar faces too. I loved most of the characters and was happy that DC pushed some new faces, but for marketing purposes it wouldn't have been the worst thing to put a couple long-running B- or C-listers (Booster perhaps) in there.

I think they made a mistake launching the series with all those one-shots. It was a lot to ask people to invest right off the bat, then I'm sure people felt like they wouldn't be able to jump into it when #1 came out. But yes, as fun as it was, they could have done more with the corporate setting.

And to the other point, didn't they add Firestorm at some point? Maybe it was too little, too late by then.

[Riv86672]

Damage.

DC has done Hulk parodies, mostly villains, but this was a fun take on the concept w. a likable character who was quickly shown to be able to hang w. DC’s big guns, and could have had a lot of interesting adventures in corners of the DCU that aren’t often explored.

[hotroddii]

I agree with Gypsy

And with N52 making her an interdenominational Traveller even more exotic and diverse.

I always thought if they increased her martial arts ability ... combined with moving around unseen, she’d be a force to be reckoned with ... an invisible Black Canary.

[Ascended]

I think they made a mistake launching the series with all those one-shots. It was a lot to ask people to invest right off the bat, then I'm sure people felt like they wouldn't be able to jump into it when #1 came out. But yes, as fun as it was, they could have done more with the corporate setting.

Good point. Perhaps guest appearances in other books would've been a better way to go about it.

And to the other point, didn't they add Firestorm at some point? Maybe it was too little, too late by then.

They did, but I bet it was too little too late by then (though I'm just guessing). And it's not like Firestorm is (or was) a draw anyway. I'm sure those issues did get a boost but I doubt it was anything truly substantial and I doubt it lasted long (again, just guessing).

I'd like to see the concept revisited. I think there's a lot of potential in DC having corporate heroes. But honestly I wouldn't approach it like the original comic did at all.

[mikelmcknight72]

Characters who are either created for a team or have the bulk of their development happen in a team are definitely handicapped in this regard. Characters like Wolverine becoming breakout characters is pretty rare. That being said, my few examples are characters who either were created as solo characters or carried an ongoing for a least a year. I see duos as closer to the solo dynamic than the team dynamic, so I am including one.

Firestorm - Fun and versatile powers, built-in interpersonal friction in the two people comprising Firestorm, and their villains had a lot of unfulfilled potential.
Hourman (Matthew Tyler) - Interesting powers, fish out of water nature, and ties to a Golden Age heroic legacy.
Hawk & Dove (Hank & Dawn) - The order vs chaos dynamic is interesting, the classic mystical ties are interesting, and the power potential as seen when they were in Druspa Tau was very interesting. The one thing I think didn't work very well was the whole "Hawk is crazy without Dove".

[Dr. Skeleton]

Arsenal, Occult, and PG would've been great fits, yeah! And I can totally believe that the new characters had been created before hand and adapted into the DCU. Makes sense. And most of them were pretty good characters (always happy to see new faces). But DC's fandom isn't nearly as accepting of new people (generally speaking) as I am.

I mean, just looking at the business/marketing side of things, and considering the era this book hit, there probably really should've been a Bat in there somewhere. Not sure who would've made sense (probably none of them) but that sort of creative authenticity only gets you so far when the accountants start looking at income statements.

Well, they eventually had Firestorm join the roster, but didn't really gave the book the big boost it should've gotten as he suffered to get the respect he deserves. Yeah, the book pretty much got overshadowed by any book with the letter "X" on it.

[married guy]

Gypsy
Manhunter (Kate)
Ragman
The New Gods
Firestorm
Blue Beetle (Jaime)
Vibe (I really enjoyed Johns' take)
Damage
The Ray