Not every new creative idea is a hit. When you take big swings, sometimes you're going to miss and there's nothing wrong with that. I'd rather creators be trying to come up with new stuff and failing than simply regurgitating the same reheated comics over and over again.

However, I think it'd be fun to shine a spotlight on some of these failures to launch. Not out of spite or mockery, but to show just how hard it is come up with something new in the DCU that sticks.

Even top writers like Geoff Johns, who has created so many great new stuff for the DCU, has also thrown out some stinkers that landed with a thud almost immediately. Among his more notable misses were his ignored and forgotten retcons like Superman's inability to be around technology, Barry Allen being the creator of the Speed Force, and Wonder Woman's superfluous secret twin brother. I suspect that Johns's recent retcons in Three Jokers will also be ignored, but it's too early to tell...

Peter David once attempted to explain away Hal Jordan's fearlessness by retconning Abin Sur lobotomizing Hal to remove his ability to feel fear. This idea was tossed so quickly, it was forgotten almost as soon as it was introduced, lasting only one or two stories in Action Comics Weekly.

Another notable DC flop was, like the recently failed and ignored New Age of Heroes, another well-intentioned attempt to launch a bunch of new characters at once--the Bloodlines crossover. This event saw more than a dozen new DC characters introduced that were almost universally considered failures right out of the gate, with the notable exception of Hitman.

Another fascinating failure was Priest's attempt to retcon in Triumph, a deliberately unlikeable and abrasive new superhero, into the history of the JLA as its unknown founder. This character was so despised and the hate heaped upon him was so immediate, I can't think of another character at DC that was so decisively rejected. Preist's recent revelation that Triumph was also gay only adds to this failed character's mystique in my mind.

What about you guys? What are some of your favorite failures and immediately ignored oddities within the DCU?