Originally Posted by
hellacre
Loving the posts!
As for Jon and Yara. No in my opinion they do not count. No more than Conner and Cassie as Superboy or Wondergirl. They are legacy characters. Not THE Superman who is Clark/ Kal and THE Wonder Woman who is Diana. Heck Artemis and Hippolyta wore the WW costume at one point, we won't suggest they are the same as Diana. The SMWW fans ship the original heroes for a reason. ie Their hx and personalities and dynamic. DC can't come just drag in two relatively new characters and think we will adore them because they wear the costumes. It does not work that way. And even as legacy characters they have no real emotional ties as Conner and Cassie did with the fandom.
Jon is SM son...but he has no hx to speak of and Yara is new. The people who like Rebirth might want this title...maybe they will buy it for Jon but most SMWW fans who I spoke to who love Clark and Diana, they won't be for the reasons as I said.
Rebirth Clark has not even had any close relationship with Diana, the way he did preflashpoint etc. Most of our fandom has complained how DC have done their best to keep the characters isolated from each other, even as besties in the comics and live medium they have not even conversed. Their relationships feels cold and detached. Like people who work in the same company, but, not the close friends who use to confide in and support each other emotionally.
As a result Jon, has very little connection with Diana. The idea DC might try to say Diana is close to the Kent family the way she use to be preflashpoint is very much inaccurate. His dad is close to Batman, he is close to Damien. That is it. Diana use to interact with Conner. We liked Conner because we got to know him. The SMWW fandom loves WW and wants her respected and valued and when writers give her some page time or show she has some value to the Superman mythos the way they treated Batman during Rebirth, we could appreciate that. They use to do it all the time preflashpoint. That was never done by any Superman rebirth writer. So for them to come now to pretend Jon respects Diana as his Dad's friend is a bit much to swallow. What meaningful conversations did he ever have with her? What does Jon even think of her or she of him ? And no that God awful plot where she was raped by the Darkness and had Hunter and gave him up to the Kents to raise after she killed herself does not count.
The SMWW title also belongs to WW. It is shared. The people who supported them for years, as proven by these appreciation threads ,are not just fans because of costumes even if some would try to pretend that is why we ship them. DC needs to understand Future State using legacy characters as say Conner or Cassie was in other bks is well enough for the future and AU. But is is not a substitute for what the fans want and they should not be surprised if fans do not respond to it the way the did to the new 52 SMWW title.
SMWW merchandise is all Clark and Diana and they are aimed at couples. Jon and Yara are not going to be suddenly representative of that. They are not going to generate all the merch we saw off the new 52 from Hot Topic stuff of clothes and accessories, statues, and games like Dicemasters , Heroclix etc. There is no comparison whatsoever.
And on the topic of merch, I see many licensed products and I am pleased but so baffled at DC/ WB bizarre marketing model. Imagine approving so much stuff yet having the couple nowhere in comics or live media. Who are they exactly aiming this at? We know people buy smww stuff regardless but merchandise is something that is pushed even more and sells more when there is a book, tv or movie etc And the funniest thing is the couples they push in movies don't generate that much couples' merch or at least there is limited demand for it. We are looking at a couple that can bring it money for both franchises. WW fans buy WW. SM fans buy SM . SMWW buy BOTH. The couples as we see will pick up the costumes or the tees or caps or onesies or mugs or tumblers or pet clothes. It also is the most family friendly as we have seen. SM and WW are dad/mom and the kids are superboys or wondergirls. While BMCW and Joker/Harley might be popular too, we don't often see families dressing their babies/ kids in the costumes to empower them or use them as themes for special personal events etc. People even get custom SMWW stuff that WB could be making but they need to push the couple in some live media to make general audiences aware of them. The shift to the multiverse can facilitate this but yet one wonders where are the iconic stories where SMWW had a strong presence, be it friends or lovers? I find it so haphazard and myopic , this management of a brand that could be making them real money.