How many versions of each DC's top heroes do you want to see active?

[KC]

All of them. Every character has their fans and the right to exist. And if you don't like a character, you don't have to read any books they are in.

The idea that multiple characters with the same name is confusing for some fans, especially when they have been reading comic books for years, in baffling to me. It isn't rocket science to understand that there are multiple characters who have the same Superhero name.

[Vampire Savior]

All of them. Every character has their fans and the right to exist. And if you don't like a character, you don't have to read any books they are in.

The idea that multiple characters with the same name is confusing for some fans, especially when they have been reading comic books for years, in baffling to me. It isn't rocket science to understand that there are multiple characters who have the same Superhero name.

That sounds nice and all, but in the end, it rarely plays out so cleanly. I think it's naive to believe that if you ignore a character you don't like, they have no effect on the character you do like. For example, Barry Allen returning to the role as Flash has an effect on Wally West. Hal Jordan returning as Green Lantern meant Kyle got shoved aside as the franchise lead. The fact that John Stewart exists meant that the people working on the Justice League cartoon had a viable option not to use either Hal or Kyle for the show, which deprived a lot of GL fans from seeing the character they would have preferred (while other people were happy with the decision). So the thinking that you can have a gazillion versions of the same character and everything will be peaches and cream...in reality it rarely works that way. It often tends to lead to competition between the characters and their fanbases for spotlight and prominence, and favoritism and abuse from creators and editors.

[Flash Gordon]

There's only one Batman, Bruce Wayne. Superman is Kal-El/Clark Kent. Aquaman is Arthur Curry. For most of the DC characters, they are not legacies or titles- they are individuals.

I mostly don't like multiples, but Jessica Cruz and Hal Jordan (or whoever) can both be Green Lantern. The Flash can be a mantle that's passed down.

I kind of love Dick Grayson never passing on the mantle of Robin, but now there's Damian Wayne also calling himself Robin.

[KC]

That sounds nice and all, but in the end, it rarely plays out so cleanly. I think it's naive to believe that if you ignore a character you don't like, they have no effect on the character you do like. For example, Barry Allen returning to the role as Flash has an effect on Wally West. Hal Jordan returning as Green Lantern meant Kyle got shoved aside as the franchise lead. The fact that John Stewart exists meant that the people working on the Justice League cartoon had a viable option not to use either Hal or Kyle for the show, which deprived a lot of GL fans from seeing the character they would have preferred (while other people were happy with the decision). So the thinking that you can have a gazillion versions of the same character and everything will be peaches and cream...in reality it rarely works that way. It often tends to lead to competition between the characters and their fanbases for spotlight and prominence, and favoritism and abuse from creators and editors.

Creators can use whatever characters they like in their stories. But with most characters who share an identity, they all end up getting used at some point. All the GL's have been used in stories since Hal came back.

It would be unfair to the creators and the fans of the characters to just delete them and never use them again. Straight up deleting characters would start the exact same problem of depriving fans of a character they want to see, but instead of them just being in limbo with the option of being used, they would be deleted. And that would also still create competition just with the fan bases of the deleted characters being angry that their favourite does not even exist.

That's why I said fans don't have to read books with characters they don't like. It is better to not read the books of characters that a fan does not like than just deleting said characters.

[TheRay]

The other characters, whoever it is, can get a different name, like Red Robin, Scarlet Speedster, Superkid, Troia, Elder Hawk, Hourglass, or whatever

Exactly. You have Robin, Red Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood. You don't need to refer to all of them as "Robin".