Are there any DC characters that truly feel "outdated"

[Vakanai]

The tone has changed.On the contrary though,satire is satire.It can be intelligent.I would say,It's more intelligent.

But the glasses were never meant as satire...

[9th.]

Yeah - but I don't really view the glasses that way. Or the trunks.

I'm curious if contacts would be accepted as an update to the glasses concept

[manwhohaseverything]

But the glasses were never meant as satire...

The silent movies certainly were, which the character is from.The whole purpose of glasses identity is making fun of things.
"the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues."
That's exactly what it's for. there were things like Clark poking fun at nuclear paranoia and stuff like that.The thing is,old comics never felt safe.It boldly could be on the wrong side of history.Unlike,it trying to make superman always being right.when he ain't.

[byrd156]

Honestly tone is overrated, some things are just timeless.

Ain't that the truth.

[BatmanJones]

But the glasses were never meant as satire...

Agreed. But in today's world, glasses succeeding as a secret ID is almost as reasonable as outsmarting facial recognition software. Facial recognition software is the reason Ridley said Next Batman wore that mouth/chin covering. If facial recognition exists in the DCU, secret ID's are only believable if a hero wears a full face mask. But this is comics and if I can believe a man can fly, I can believe glasses work as well as otherwise evading facial recognition.

[Domino_Dare-Doll]

Oracle as far as being shut in behind doors, acting as a costume-less superhero and coordinating from the sidelines.

It isn’t nobler to insist over and over that your paralysed character doesn’t ‘need’ a costume or to be mobile when the opportunity’s never been afforded to them, especially when all they ever seem to be is support for other characters. Babs can easily be a paralysed Batgirl, she can easily have adaptive technology that allows her to act as a cyber-detective on the go.

And before people start in with “but there’s thousands of capes!” Yeah, there are: so why don’t we take one of them away to make room for our paralysed hero? Let her have a visible identity for a community that’s always been made to feel invisible. Barbara Gordon is a character who has always broken boundaries and this should be one of them: making an inaccessible world accessible.

Plus, the point of our mobility equipment is, ya know, mobility? Why not show that off rather than act like the chair would be too much of a hinderance?

[I'm a Fish]

The characters aren't outdated, in fact these character are more popular than ever and are juggernauts in the entertainment industry. I supposed you could argue it's the comic medium itself that is outdated.

High quality tv shows, video games and cartoons become cheaper and easier to make every year because of advancing technology.

That being said, if Disney and AT&T got rid of comics they'd be shooting themselves in the foot and they know it. Comics provide endless R&D and are a cheep and fast way to test new ideas with little drawback. You also don't have to pay the comic writer who wrote the story if you use their story ideas in another medium so more money saved there (it's pretty sleezy honestly).

Comic readers are basically a test audience at this point. Look at the most recent superhero show, Superman and Lois. The show runners didn't come up with the idea to make Clark and Lois parents, the comics did. The idea was already tested and approved by comic fans years before the show was ever conceived, and what do you know, non-comic readers love the idea too.

Other mediums constantly take little known and seemingly outdated or even boring character and breath new life into them, like Captain Boomerang for example. Captain Boomerang is now a well known character because millions of people saw the movie he is in as apposed to the thousands of people that are reading the comics he's in. Now AT&T can make money off of selling Captain Boomerang t-shirts, which they couldn't do 10 years ago.

Even Egg Fu has been updated...freaking Egg Fu...lets all just let that sink in for a moment...

Ultimately no character is outdated no matter how lame, terrible or old they are, they are all just toys waiting for the right person to come along and retool them.

[hareluyafan1]

I know I'll be hated for this but I think Batman is outdated.

I mean, if you look at the world from a left-leaning perspective, then you can argue that a character like Batman is 'outdated'. He's a white male billionaire who spends his nights violently beating up criminals and mental patients with the arms-length support of the local police department. Hell, some would even regard such a character as a villain...

That is true but also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQJsLicChl0

For those who are too lazy to watch a six minute video I'll summarise:

Batman was created as a very "pulp-noir" type character, a relatively grounded hero who fought crime and corruption on the streets of a big, mean city. The problem is that over the years DC has made him a guy who is treated as superior to the likes of Green Lantern, Wonder Woman etc. In order to do that they needed to keep increasing Batman's super-power, namely his money. He has gone from being a rich guy to having more money than Scrooge McDuck, to the point he can spend billions building space stations, anti-superhero robo-suits etc without anyone in his company even knowing. Yet despite that DC still depicts him as a "street-level" hero who spends his nights beating up petty criminals and the mentally ill, even though if he really wanted to make his city a safe place to live he could easily do so by using his unlimited money for urban development, creating jobs and so forth.

Yes I know, some comics show Bruce Wayne doing just that, but it's clearly a token effort at most. Again, if Batman has the money DC insists he has (which is the only way he can be in the same League as Green Lantern, Wonder Woman etc) then he should have cleaned up his city long ago. And before anyone says I'm just being a hater, you can still have Batman stories. Just show him as doing something more productive than beating up guys who are so desperate to support themselves and their families they'll risk working for something like the Joker.

[hareluyafan1]

Hmm...the characters themselves aren't dated, but Superman's and Batman's sense of fashion feels very, very dated every time artists continue to draw them wearing trunks or bring back the trunks.

Not in the slightest. Trunks have tons or symbolic and artistic significance, and are an important part of Superman and Batman's core identity. You should really watch this, it's fascinating:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwK2EFO0Z6U

BTW, "Professor Geek" isn't just a moniker, he is an actual professor. He knows what he's talking about.

To put it simply, what do wrestlers and bodybuilders usually wear? Oh yeah, they wear trunks. So no, trunks are not "dated" at all.

[The Darknight Detective]

I know I'll be hated for this but I think Batman is outdated.

Hated? Nah. Scratch my head over the idea that the most popular superhero is outdated? Oh, definitely that!

He has gone from being a rich guy to having more money than Scrooge McDuck, to the point he can spend billions building space stations, anti-superhero robo-suits etc without anyone in his company even knowing.

Bruce is just as rich as he was back in '39, but a dollar doesn't buy what it once could.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Oracle as far as being shut in behind doors, acting as a costume-less superhero and coordinating from the sidelines.

Is this still an issue anymore though? Isn't Babs currently doing both nowadays?

[Domino_Dare-Doll]

Is this still an issue anymore though? Isn't Babs currently doing both nowadays?

Hardly. The option’s open sure, but Tynion’s treating it as her only using it “Judiciously.” Which may as well be code for never.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Hardly. The option’s open sure, but Tynion’s treating it as her only using it “Judiciously.” Which may as well be code for never.

Wouldn't it be better to wait and see if it's indeed "never" before getting upset about it?

[Ascended]

Hardly. The option’s open sure, but Tynion’s treating it as her only using it “Judiciously.” Which may as well be code for never.

I think I heard that Babs will mostly be doing Batgirl stuff in Tynion's book, and mostly Oracle stuff in Nightwing's. Or something.

As for Superman's glasses....it's metaphor, and part of the buy-in. Rationalize it however you want, but the mild mannered reporter wears a mask to hide his secret, heroic face, that mask is a pair of glasses for obvious Everyman reasons, and it's all too thematically important to discard for something silly like "logic." The glasses work because the story demands they do and the rest is justification.

[Agent Z]

The characters aren't outdated, in fact these character are more popular than ever and are juggernauts in the entertainment industry. I supposed you could argue it's the comic medium itself that is outdated.

High quality tv shows, video games and cartoons become cheaper and easier to make every year because of advancing technology.

That being said, if Disney and AT&T got rid of comics they'd be shooting themselves in the foot and they know it. Comics provide endless R&D and are a cheep and fast way to test new ideas with little drawback. You also don't have to pay the comic writer who wrote the story if you use their story ideas in another medium so more money saved there (it's pretty sleezy honestly).

Comic readers are basically a test audience at this point. Look at the most recent superhero show, Superman and Lois. The show runners didn't come up with the idea to make Clark and Lois parents, the comics did. The idea was already tested and approved by comic fans years before the show was ever conceived, and what do you know, non-comic readers love the idea too.

Other mediums constantly take little known and seemingly outdated or even boring character and breath new life into them, like Captain Boomerang for example. Captain Boomerang is now a well known character because millions of people saw the movie he is in as apposed to the thousands of people that are reading the comics he's in. Now AT&T can make money off of selling Captain Boomerang t-shirts, which they couldn't do 10 years ago.

Even Egg Fu has been updated...freaking Egg Fu...lets all just let that sink in for a moment...

Ultimately no character is outdated no matter how lame, terrible or old they are, they are all just toys waiting for the right person to come along and retool them.

Egg Fu has never been updated. He is every bit the racist stereotype he is now that he was back then.