Originally Posted by
lemonpeace
eeeeehhh yes and no? not that I don't think Punchline is dope or has legs but it's still pretty early in her career to say she's particularly successful, at least not moreso than any of the other new characters that had been introduced in recent years at this stage of development, when the bat-offices pushed them. as far as I can tell I mean. I think the biggest difference with Tyrion's batch (Clownhunter, Ghost-Maker, Punchline) is it appears that older/hardcore fans (the message board/internet subculture types) have taken to them better and haven't been as combative about them as they have been with characters introduced around the New 52 era like Harper, Duke, and even Damian in a way. none of them were really "pushed down anyone's throat", they merely existed and people needed a talking point to justify shitting on them.
for Punchline particularly, I wouldn't even say her character's any less derivative than these other characters (which is to say, those guys weren't really all that derivative) but that's likely attributed to the fact that she's filling a niche that people feel doesn't "get in the way" of their favorite character or a character they're invested in; the same reason Luke didn't get as much push back as Duke and Harper despite coming out during the same era. Luke took over for Batwing, a secondary character based in Africa (an area most westerners are ignorant of and don't pay much mind) so he got minimal push back when they switched him in because most "hardcore" fans' investment in Batwing starts and stops at "black (african) Bat character that's over there somewhere". not to say there were no genuine post-Crisis Batwing fans, but let's not get bogged down into that. similarly Punchline is fulfilling a role that isn't perceived as stepping on any one's toes. She taking up Harley's old role, which some fans have felt she has strayed too far from as she's skyrockets in popularity, so they don't mind Punchline coming in, and are willing to process her points of difference and appreciate what she's bringing to the table; which is more than someone like Harper got not too long after she first hit the scene.
