Are there any DC characters that truly feel "outdated"

[Bored at 3:00AM]

This is a cudgel that's used against many DC characters, so I think it's worth discussing with as much nuance as we're able to muster.

I can certainly see how many would view DC's roster, or superheroes in general, as very old fashioned. Most of them are, after all, half a century old or older. They are largely the products of white men who were often Jewish and living in NYC. These characters are shaped by their experiences growing up through the Great Depression, WW2, and the Cold War looking to make a buck from children with disposable entertainment. As a result, the characters reflect the anxieties, preoccupations, and prejudices of their times, so superheroes are overflowing with rich playboys, scientists, test pilots, spies and soldiers fighting a never-ending battle against villains that almost always evoke the Nazis.

However, does that mean these are characters that we need to move on from in favor of newer, fresher characters that better reflect the diversity of our culture? I can certainly see that argument. It's undeniable that the adventures of straight white men have dominated the superhero market for decades to diminishing returns, particularly once the Baby Boomers fully took the creative reigns and the superhero genre became more and more focused upon itself rather than trying to reach out to newer audiences.

This inward looking aspect of the superhero readership has also made it increasingly difficult to introduce new characters because the dwindling readership, forever obsessed with the old characters and comics they'd first fallen in love with as kids, frequently aren't interested in reading anything that isn't a retelling, reimagining, recontextualization, or continuation of those old comics.

So, with not enough readers to showcase both the old characters and the new, what should DC do? Didio's 5G plan of aging out the older heroes in favor of replacing them with the next generation clearly wasn't something DC's current corporate overlords felt was going to work.

I don't think there's a solution that's going to please everyone. There are simply too many great characters available to DC and not enough readers to justify giving them all time to shine. Choices are going to have to be made and there are going to be fans of certain characters left out in the cold, which will inevitably lead to resentment, bickering, and the usual nonsense.

In the end, there's very few characters that DC has that I would call outdated. Time and time again, great creators have shown that any character can be tweaked or shown in a new light that makes them just as relevant today as they were when they were first created. All it takes is the right creators who are able to make that character feel new again.

What do you think?