A team book for characters that have fan bases, but aren’t solo material.

[Digifiend]

Don't we have that already with the Outsiders?

Katana
Black Lightning
Metamorpho
Halo
Geo Force

All seem to fit the criteria (except maybe Black Lightning. I would support a monthly.)

Well, the current roster is Katana, Black Lightning, Signal, and Orphan. Metamorpho (who has a good excuse, since he's in the Terrifics), Halo and Geo Force aren't in the book, and the latter two aren't even being used (despite the book involving Markovia!).

[caj]

This reminds me of when I was a kid when I would try to draw comics. I came up with my own comic of a super hero group. Can't remember what I called them - maybe it was The Super 7 or something like that. I can't remember anything about the story I actually wrote for it. Maybe I just drew a cover for it. Who knows?

It was made up of seven heroes who were not in the JLA. The membership:

Supergirl
Captain Marvel
Batgirl
Black Lightning
Mera
Plastic Man
Madame Xanadu

[Ascended]

DC needs a book for characters like Powergirl and Martian Manhunter. Characters that move the needle a little bit, but perhaps couldn’t really sell a solo series. Individually they might not sell but lump them together and you might have a book that sells decent. Who are DC comics most popular C list characters?

Well, I think you'd have to be real careful about the roster.

The idea here is that each member has a fanbase, and all those fanbases put together equals enough sales to keep the book going, right?

If that's the case you have to watch out for fan overlap. Like, Power Girl has a fanbase who would buy a team book with her in it. And Adam Strange also has a fanbase who would follow him to a team book. But if most Power Girl fans are also Adam Strange fans, then you're not getting extra sales from having them both on the book.

You'd need a pretty eclectic roster, I think, to ensure there's minimal overlap within the fanbases.

[Güicho]

This reminds me of when I was a kid when I would try to draw comics. I came up with my own comic of a super hero group. Can't remember what I called them - maybe it was The Super 7 or something like that. .....

Were you perhaps a kid in the late 70s early 80s

[sunofdarkchild]

The idea to have a team book for all the different Supergirls back in 2003 wasn't a bad one. The name was pretty bad, 'blonde justice,' but I think the basic idea for the book was waaay better than what was done with Supergirl since.

[Riv86672]

Were you perhaps a kid in the late 70s early 80s

^^^cheesy goodness...!

The idea to have a team book for all the different Supergirls back in 2003 wasn't a bad one. The name was pretty bad, 'blonde justice,' but I think the basic idea for the book was waaay better than what was done with Supergirl since.

Jesus, DC just can’t help sticking “Justice” on every book, can they.

[Raijin]

Every character is solo material.

[Riv86672]

Every character is solo material.

Of course they are.

[mathew101281]

Every character is solo material.

Not really. Most characters are built one way or another. It’s why X-men and Fantastic Four solos rarely go on for long. It’s part of the reason why most of the Teen Titans haven’t really broken out either. A character that works well in a team dynamic is not the same thing as a character that can carry a franchise. A character who was created as part of a team is usually built with that particular team’s dynamic in mind. It’s no accident that the only X-men to break out into a solo career is Wolverine the “loner character,” that was actually an independent character that was grafted onto the franchise from elsewhere. Team characters tend to struggle in the solo role because...

1. They usually don’t have a supporting cast that isn’t just the team they came from. And if that’s the case the book just feels like a frivolous extension of the team book.

2. Solo hero’s tend to be generalists, team heroes tend to be specialist. When Building a team superheroes tend to have roles. You have the strong one, the smart one, the leader etc. This works well in a team dynamic when the characters of different roles can play off of each other. But in a solo book characters with somewhat limited power sets can become somewhat one note and boring. Solo heroes tend to be built in a more self contained manner. Batman is a good example of this. The guy is Martial artist, a detective, a forensics expert, a gymnast amongst a plethora of other skills. He’s also rolling in cash. He’s a generalist. Now take Cyclops from the X-men, sure he has other skills, but at the end of the day he’s a guy with energy beam eyes first and foremost. His versatility pretty much boils down to how many different ways can you make a guy shoot lasers from his eyes(I know they aren’t lasers but still).

[mathew101281]

A good example of solo character vs team character is The Flash vs quick silver. Both have superhuman speed, but clearly the Flash is on another level. How these characters were created has a lot to do with how their abilities are depicted and how they are represented as characters. The Flash was conceptualized from the beginning as a solo hero. So from the very beginning their was a definite focus on making the character as self sufficient as possible. He had his own supporting cast and villains, city etc. This way of thinking also effects how his powers work. People say the Flash's power is superhuman speed, but this is only partially true. His Speed is a catalyst for a whole arsenal of abilities including time travel of all things.

Quicksilver on the other hand was built as part of a team. Whether it's the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the X men, the Avengers, or even just a duo with his sister, Quicksilver is first and foremost a team player. On most superhero teams their is a definite goal of balance in most cases. Usually each hero has a clear strength and clear weaknesses that's covered by other members of the team. This means that most heroes in teams tend to be specialists. Notice that Quicksilver usually isn't depicted as having nearly as many sub powers as the Flash. That's because having a character that powerful in a team dynamic would overshadow the rest of the team.

Allstar teams like the Justice League and the Avengers are really the only exception to the rule and their whole premise is "hey, lets throw all are solo heroes together in one book." This is why Cyborg had to get a serious upgrade (mother box) to make sense as part of DC's big seven. All the other members of the new 52 league were definite solo heroes, and the difference in power level was glaring when you compare them to standard pre new 52 Cyborg. Cyborg's old team however (Teen Titans) is a more standard superhero team, with a bunch of specialists.

[Riv86672]

Not really. Most characters are built one way or another. It’s why X-men and Fantastic Four solos rarely go on for long. It’s part of the reason why most of the Teen Titans haven’t really broken out either. A character that works well in a team dynamic is not the same thing as a character that can carry a franchise. A character who was created as part of a team is usually built with that particular team’s dynamic in mind. It’s no accident that the only X-men to break out into a solo career is Wolverine the “loner character,” that was actually an independent character that was grafted onto the franchise from elsewhere. Team characters tend to struggle in the solo role because...

1. They usually don’t have a supporting cast that isn’t just the team they came from. And if that’s the case the book just feels like a frivolous extension of the team book.

2. Solo hero’s tend to be generalists, team heroes tend to be specialist. When Building a team superheroes tend to have roles. You have the strong one, the smart one, the leader etc. This works well in a team dynamic when the characters of different roles can play off of each other. But in a solo book characters with somewhat limited power sets can become somewhat one note and boring. Solo heroes tend to be built in a more self contained manner. Batman is a good example of this. The guy is Martial artist, a detective, a forensics expert, a gymnast amongst a plethora of other skills. He’s also rolling in cash. He’s a generalist. Now take Cyclops from the X-men, sure he has other skills, but at the end of the day he’s a guy with energy beam eyes first and foremost. His versatility pretty much boils down to how many different ways can you make a guy shoot lasers from his eyes(I know they aren’t lasers but still).

This is why you need a good creative team when taking a team character (or any character) and giving them a title.
An interesting supporting cast and villains are 90% of a solo book’s success.

[achilles]

This is why you need a good creative team when taking a team character (or any character) and giving them a title.
An interesting supporting cast and villains are 90% of a solo book’s success.

Important elements, I'll grant you, very important. But I think the most important factor is the hero or heroine. Building a largely team character up to a solo character means making the character likeable, sympathetic, charismatic, and someone the readers can really get behind. Neglect that, or indeed the other elements for success in a solo character, and the title will fail to catch on. It's not rocket science, but it does requite the writer to actually think the whole thing through, which most don't, it seems.

[Riv86672]

Important elements, I'll grant you, very important. But I think the most important factor is the hero or heroine. Building a largely team character up to a solo character means making the character likeable, sympathetic, charismatic, and someone the readers can really get behind. Neglect that, or indeed the other elements for success in a solo character, and the title will fail to catch on. It's not rocket science, but it does requite the writer to actually think the whole thing through, which most don't, it seems.

And that’s the other 10%.

Because yes, a writer has to absolutely think the whole thing through, 100%. And many don’t.
A mini series can be back to back issues of hero vs villain, but an ongoing? That requires a writer to define a character, put him in civilian clothes, let us readers see where he lives, how he makes ends meet, what his interests are, etc.
A solo comic can’t be like the 1998 movie SOLDIER, where Kurt Russell and his platoon were shown to be literally sitting on their bunks between missions, just staring into space.

[Photon Torme]

Justice League Task Force could have been the perfect answer for this if it had the staying power, just like Secret Defenders

[achilles]

And that’s the other 10%.

Because yes, a writer has to absolutely think the whole thing through, 100%. And many don’t.
A mini series can be back to back issues of hero vs villain, but an ongoing? That requires a writer to define a character, put him in civilian clothes, let us readers see where he lives, how he makes ends meet, what his interests are, etc.
A solo comic can’t be like the 1998 movie SOLDIER, where Kurt Russell and his platoon were shown to be literally sitting on their bunks between missions, just staring into space.

Yes, that's the big area where a writer can make us like what to be honest are fairly remote from our experience when they're being superheroes...but far more relatable in their civilian guise...well, most of them. You can relate to the day to day troubles of even the most powerful heroes. Assuming they're the same troubles that we all have, or at least understandable.