How Might We Expand A Character's Presence?

[Vakanai]

That's true. Ian Wayne and Bruce Wang were not well thought out. Talk about stupidity.

Who? Which books are these?

White-wash the person of colour and race bend the white guy. DC exec's can be morons.

Eh, I think race bending isn't that big a deal - Hollywood has desensitized me to it. There's more important things to a character than whether he's white or not.

I also feel that Dc could have been making the most of having a person of Colour as Robin for more than a decade now.

No! We have one or two too many Robins as is, no more Robins ever again! Just push Batwing or Signal better. But adding more Robins has to stop.
(Sorry about that last outburst, but I just really don't want them adding yet another Robin to the pile, four is overly bloated and ill thought out as is.)

[PCN24454]

The only way to expand a character's presence is to retire old ones. No one even thinks about the original Captain Marvel (Marvel's) anymore.

[Vakanai]

The only way to expand a character's presence is to retire old ones. No one even thinks about the original Captain Marvel (Marvel's) anymore.

That's not true - no one retired to make room for Harley Quinn.

[CPSparkles]

Who? Which books are these?

Eh, I think race bending isn't that big a deal - Hollywood has desensitized me to it. There's more important things to a character than whether he's white or not.


No! We have one or two too many Robins as is, no more Robins ever again! Just push Batwing or Signal better. But adding more Robins has to stop.
(Sorry about that last outburst, but I just really don't want them adding yet another Robin to the pile, four is overly bloated and ill thought out as is.)

The YA books made Bruce Chinese and Damian a brown haired kid whiter than Jon kent. they also changed their names.

Hollywood might have been doing for ages but why would you race bend Bruce Wayne and then make Damian Wayne who is half Al Ghul even more Caucasian looking? It's not like diversity is lacking within the Batfamily.

Just represent them accurately.
All they ended up doing was alienating fans.

This is exactly the problem. They don't need to add any new character's Robin has been a minority since Damian Wayne.

He is of mixed parentage. Simply reflecting that consistently will go a long way helping young fans see themselves included.

Robin is a high profile mantle not to be devious but there's pr and goodwill points to be gained by making audiences more aware of the fact that the holder is a minority.

[Vakanai]

The YA books made Bruce Chinese and Damian a brown haired kid whiter than Jon kent. they also changed their names.

Which YA books? There's quite a few, and most of them didn't racebend them. Which titles specifically changed their race?
Just curious.

Hollywood might have been doing for ages but why would you race bend Bruce Wayne and then make Damian Wayne who is half Al Ghul even more Caucasian looking? It's not like diversity is lacking within the Batfamily.

I'm assuming that this wasn't all in the same book?
And probably because a lot of the diversity in the Batfamily is with characters many writers aren't interested in. Let's be honest, beyond Batman and the various Robins and Batgirls most of the Batfamily isn't going to get wide use.

Just represent them accurately.
All they ended up doing was alienating fans.

Only in, I'm guessing, two books, and only some fans (I don't mind one Elseworld Chinese American Batman among all the other Batman books). Again, the YA line isn't all one big continuity - I wouldn't judge the whole line on two outliers.

This is exactly the problem. They don't need to add any new character's Robin has been a minority since Damian Wayne.

He is of mixed parentage. Simply reflecting that consistently will go a long way helping young fans see themselves included.

This I'd like to see (well not personally, I hate Damian no matter what his race is, but if he's going to be in a book and targeted to kids and young adults there's no reason not to show his heritage and race).

[MoneySpider]

For Vixen, since Mari is a fashion designer, DC/Warner Bros. could develop a software game/program for girls and women where a simulated Mari can show them how to design their own clothes and maybe sew them in real life. Mothers and their young daughters could use the software together. Maybe these software kits could also come with a free download of the Vixen animated movie or something.

Another thing Warner Bros. could do would be to make a toy totem that lights up and emits various animal noises when you press certain buttons. This could be sold alongside Vixen costumes for girls and women.

Also, perhaps DC Entertainment could publish a new Vixen graphic novel every quarter, or if they can't release them that fast, maybe a new graphic novel every year (depending on how well a Vixen graphic novel would sell the first time around).

Fourth, add her to the "DC Superhero Girls" TV show and have her be a mainstay. She could hang out with Bumblebee and Wonder Woman most of the time...

[Aahz]

Which YA books? There's quite a few, and most of them didn't racebend them. Which titles specifically changed their race?
Just curious.

In case of Batman "Gotham High" and in case of Damian "Super Sons" by Ridley Pearson (I'm not sure if you can really call that racebent, but the characters don't really resemble the main continuity version).

It is also not necessary the characters that are to different, sometimes it is just the style of writing/story. I'm not sure if someone who is into something like "Gotham High" (even if we ignore the racebending) would be really interested in the normal Batman stories.
"Gotham High" is of course an extreme case, but it something that one need to keep in mind.

And in some cases the Novels are simply not based on the current incarnation of the character, we got a Cassandra Cain Batgirl comic and an Oracle Barbara Gordon Comic, even if Barbara has been Batgirl for almost 10 years at this point, and will probaly also be Batgirl going forward.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

It’s basically what the Arrowverse tried to be. It wasn’t completely horrible, but it could be ridiculous a lot of the time.

They came off as teenagers in a superhero club.

Oh god. That actually terrifies me.

One problem is that the YA version are often so different from the normal comic versions that it is hard to bring the readers over.

Those are understandable concerns but the tradeoff could be worth it to me. These Minority C-listers could get a second wind with a different audience. A lot of them are pretty dated or just exist as background fodder so a revamp is in order. I'm mostly basing this off of Kami Garcia's take on Beast Boy. I liked the character but I never saw him as a solo lead till I read her book.

To deal with the crossover question, I'd bring over the writer to handle that. For example, I'd have Garcia write a Raven or BB miniseries.

[Vakanai]

for vixen, since mari is a fashion designer, dc/warner bros. Could develop a software game/program for girls and women where a simulated mari can show them how to design their own clothes and maybe sew them in real life. Mothers and their young daughters could use the software together. Maybe these software kits could also come with a free download of the vixen animated movie or something.

Another thing warner bros. Could do would be to make a toy totem that lights up and emits various animal noises when you press certain buttons. This could be sold alongside vixen costumes for girls and women.

Now that's pretty creative, great ideas!

in case of batman "gotham high" and in case of damian "super sons" by ridley pearson (i'm not sure if you can really call that racebent, but the characters don't really resemble the main continuity version).

It is also not necessary the characters that are to different, sometimes it is just the style of writing/story. I'm not sure if someone who is into something like "gotham high" (even if we ignore the racebending) would be really interested in the normal batman stories.
"gotham high" is of course an extreme case, but it something that one need to keep in mind.

And in some cases the novels are simply not based on the current incarnation of the character, we got a cassandra cain batgirl comic and an oracle barbara gordon comic, even if barbara has been batgirl for almost 10 years at this point, and will probaly also be batgirl going forward.

I really got to get Gotham High one day.
That's one of the most Elseworld-y ones though as I understand it. Which honestly makes me more curious about it. I like having wildly different and out there versions of things.

The Batgirl and Oracle books good?

[MoneySpider]

Now that's pretty creative, great ideas!

Ok, thank you!

[scribbleMind]

I like the idea of a committed 52-esque anthology series. Put your foot down on running it for 2 years, and depict stories from lesser known characters in major corners of the DC Universe that have an effect on current events and are actually referenced in other books from time to time. Use cheaper paper, make it 2.99.

[CPSparkles]

I really got to get Gotham High one day.
That's one of the most Elseworld-y ones though as I understand it. Which honestly makes me more curious about it. I like having wildly different and out there versions of things.

The Batgirl and Oracle books good?

The BatGirl and Oracle books are very good.

Gotham High is in the so bad it's good category. It's bonkers. Out of the all the YA books it's the book I got the most entertainment from.

[Badou]

That's not true - no one retired to make room for Harley Quinn.

Well Harley was attached to the most famous and popular comic book villain of all time in the Joker. She didn't really have to step over or replace anyone to become his girlfriend/henchwoman. So it was a new role that was created for her. Which is a way to expand a character's influence and probably one of the oldest ways. That is to attach a lesser character to a more popular character. Usually that means by a romance, but not always. Can be in the form of a friendship, team up, or some kind of new dynamic between the characters.

Of course the most reliable way to expand a character's influence is to give them an already popular identity. So having a new character become Batman, Robin, Superman, Batgirl, Flash, Green Lantern, and so on. This is probably the most common way. Just look at Miles and Kamala over at Marvel. They were given the Spider-man and Ms Marvel identities and it greatly helped fast track their influence. Going back to Harley Quinn, you are seeing DC possibly turning that role of "Joker's girlfriend" into a legacy identity with Punchline, so years from now that role might turn into what Robin or Batgirl is now. This is why comics are filled with so many legacy characters because giving them an already popular identity and/or attaching them to an already popular character is the easiest way to push a new or less popular character.

But all of this is super obvious. So nothing really new here, but it is really tough to increase the presence of new or lesser characters these days.

[MoneySpider]

But all of this is super obvious. So nothing really new here, but it is really tough to increase the presence of new or lesser characters these days.

I don't think it's really tough for DC Entertainment/Warner Bros. to increase the presence of new or lesser characters these days at all. I have a really hard time believing they know EXACTLY how to increase Batman's presence, Harley Quinn's presence and the presence of all the other characters they love to push, but somehow don't know how to do the exact same thing for lesser known characters. I think it's more of a "We're going to just push the most popular characters and the ones that aren't seen as popular, we won't waste our time on."

I think DC CAN do it for lesser known characters and CAN make it work, but I just think DC doesn't WANT to put in the effort for lesser known characters (at least the previous people in charge didn't seem to want to make that effort).

[CPSparkles]

I don't think it's really tough for DC Entertainment/Warner Bros. to increase the presence of new or lesser characters these days at all. I have a really hard time believing they know EXACTLY how to increase Batman's presence, Harley Quinn's presence and the presence of all the other characters they love to push, but somehow don't know how to do the exact same thing for lesser known characters. I think it's more of a "We're going to just push the most popular characters and the ones that aren't seen as popular, we won't waste our time on."

I think DC CAN do it for lesser known characters and CAN make it work, but I just think DC doesn't WANT to put in the effort for lesser known characters (at least the previous people in charge didn't seem to want to make that effort).

Increasing the presence of a character that's in high demand like Batman or Harley is different from increasing the presence of a Character that the public doesn't know and might not be willing to give the time of day.


I too believe that DC can do it for lesser known characters but they go about it the wrong way. They tend to go for short term gimmicks rather than long term dedicated effort.

Easy money.