As it stands today:
John Stewart
Cyborg
Vixen
Black Lightning
Any one of those can certainly crack DC's top 6-7, I think.
Green Lantern (John Stewart)
Vixen (Mari McCabe)
Cyborg (Victor Stone)
Black Lightning/Vulcan (Jefferson Pierce)
Static (Virgil Hawkins)
Naomi (Naomi McDuffie)
Mr. Terrific (Michael Holt)
Steel (John Henry Irons)
Bumblebee (Karen Beecher)
Icon (Augustus Freeman IV)
Rocket (Raquel Ervin)
Amazing-Man (Any Version)
Aqualad (Kaldur'ahm/Jackson Hyde)
Other (Specify Below)
None
As it stands today:
John Stewart
Cyborg
Vixen
Black Lightning
Any one of those can certainly crack DC's top 6-7, I think.
DC's most popular black superheroes in comics at this point seem to be:
Cyborg
John Stewart
Black Lightning
Steel
Mr. Terrific
Vixen
Jason Rusch
Natasha Irons
Bumblebee
Bronze Tiger
I'll leave it to others to decide if Connor Hawke counts as black or not.
Last edited by Electricmastro; 10-18-2019 at 09:13 PM.
I gotta disagree with you on some of these, white some of them are arguably still popular others just aren't the most popular, especially compared to other newer characters who aren't on this list. While the Steels and Bumblebee still linger in the public consciousness, Bronze Tiger hasn't had a real moment in a very long time and Jason Rusch is all but forgotten nowadays. I would say Jackson Hyde/Kaldur'ahm and Wallace West are easily two of the most popular black characters DC has at the moment, the Batwings are about as popular if not more so than Bronze Tiger, and both he and Duke Thomas are probably more popular right now than Jason Rusch. Connor Hawke is known more as an Asian/white hero than a black hero in the sense that if they were to cast him in a movie he'd likely be that mix as opposed to any type of black
Last edited by lemonpeace; 10-18-2019 at 09:58 PM.
THE SIGNAL (Duke Thomas) is DC's secret shonen protagonist so I made him a fandom wiki
also, check out "The Signal Tape" a Duke Thomas fan project.
currently following:
- DC: Red Hood: The Hill
- Marvel: TBD
- Manga (Shonen/Seinen): One Piece, My Hero, Dandadan, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kaiju No. 8, Reincarnation of The Veteran Soldier, Oblivion Rouge, ORDEAL, The Breaker: Eternal Force
"power does not corrupt, power always reveals."
Why id Jefferson given the alternate code name of Vulcan in the poll?
They are still popular now - thats why they are always in print. People still buy them in numbers today. Why? Because the quality is extremely high.
Image is exactly DC. Its vertigo. Dc readers supported ceeator led projects for 2 decades. Dcs break out hits werent in the pages of superman or what have you - they were fables, dmz, hitman, the filth, invisibles , watchmen, preacher, sandman, etc. Those were the books shifting big numbers in the bookshops and trades. Thats the level you need to be at to break a book to a mass audience.
Dc readers have supported a LOT of crazy shit over the years.
Expecting them to support "its hulk... but at dc" and when it fails say oh well thats DC readers for you... Its a nothing idea - thats why - and DC readers are used to better than that. Even in the main line those teams wouldnt have sold much - didio, venditti, orlando, tynion, lemire havent had a hit between them in god knows how many tries.
If you cant deliver at the quality Dc readers are used to, dont then blame the readers.
Its a piece of cake to break a black character at DC but tye level has to be at sandnan, dnz, fables, animal man, doom patrol, hitman, preacher etc. If its not at that standard the book is doing nothing.
In defense of New Age of Heroes, most of them actually weren't Marvel copycats but it was the Marvel copycats that DC marketed the most. I do think it is telling that the one that lasted the longest (the Terrifics) was using established characters whose similarities to Marvel characters was pretty superficial at best and Silencer (again not a Marvel ripoff) was the most interesting as a concept.
Depending on how hard DC pushes luke fox next year, he could be up there soon.
Since this is kind of being talked about...I've actually sort of been pondering the idea that new readers are never going to get into DC and Marvel, at least not at a rate that actually matters. They are never going to go to the comics shops. They're never going to bother with these events, or other such nonsense. There will be/are new and different comics readers, but most people who follow DC and Marvel probably won't hear about them most of the time, because they'll be involved in something totally different that's not a part of this particular sphere at all, like reading crowdfunded comics, Webtoon (there are some extremely popular comics over there), or stuff like that. You might hear about them when comics from those areas become massive sensations here and there, but sometimes not even then. I think that is/is going to be a totally separate audience with little bleed over, for the most part.
As for New Age Heroes, I think the truth is somewhere in middle. The ideas mostly stunk. If you're going to create something new, it HAS to be good to gain traction. Furthermore, DC fans probably don't REALLY want new stuff. The people who do will be going through other channels to get what they want, and I think that will only grow.
But that has nothing to do with what you were saying. You talked about how they were new characters who got big. And they did. Decades ago. New characters showing up *today* struggle a lot more. The point of contention here is the difference in the market since the 80's, and you're not addressing that.
The differences between mainline DC and Vertigo are many, and while many of Vertigo's classic titles are still trade sellers today, look at how the modern Vertigo imprint is doing. Again, you're using examples from decades ago, but the changes to the market make these comparisons moot.Image is exactly DC. Its vertigo.
The quality of New Age was easily on par with most of DC's titles, and above a whole lot of them. But New Age still sold poorly. So no, it's not the quality that made a difference there, otherwise most of those books would still be going. And saying that the line failed because it was riffing Marvel doesn't stand up either when both companies have been very successful when stealing from each other, from Marvel's early days right up to the modern era.Expecting them to support "its hulk... but at dc" and when it fails say oh well thats DC readers for you... Its a nothing idea - thats why - and DC readers are used to better than that.
The quality *was* there. So was the marketing and high profile push. So yeah, I'm blaming the readers.If you cant deliver at the quality Dc readers are used to, dont then blame the readers.
And what DC books right now are on the same level as Gaiman's Sandman? Or Ennis' Preacher? These are some of the most well crafted titles the company has ever made, so what exactly is DC pushing right now that equals them? If your argument is that "new/PoC characters have to be on the level as DC's greatest and most celebrated hits to be viable" then I'm pretty sure you're just proving my point, since a lot of other books can get away with much, much lower quality and still do fine.Its a piece of cake to break a black character at DC but tye level has to be at sandnan, dnz, fables, animal man, doom patrol, hitman, preacher etc. If its not at that standard the book is doing nothing.
"We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."
~ Black Panther.
I think the best answer is below. I will say, they have to have compelling enough stories to carry sales. But, I'm not arguing one way or another if that's been done yet, or not.
But to even get to the point that king81 says below, DC's leadership needs to make a proactive push to get these characters jumpstarted.
I can see this, but I would also caution because Duke Thomas didn't quite do what I thought he would. Then again, IIRC, Duke wasn't really thrusted as he could have been. It was a half hearted attempt.
Luke Fox cannot reach trinity status unless he becomes more popular than Bruce Wayne, becomes the center of his own new Batman mythology, and becomes Batman for good. Otherwise, he's just some guy wearing Bruce Wayne's clothes temporarily.