DC’s Lack of Female Led Franchises!?

[CosmiComic]

I feel YA has become a stereotype but I don't see why it should bw

[Kaijudo]

I think the problem is two-fold, with both the fans and DC. Obviously, readers who aren't willing to invest in something new and different, or can't/won't see series beyond their current pull lists, are a major factor here.

But DC's big problem is that it adheres so much to the past that it clutters the way for any new characters, unassociated with any other franchises, to really have a chance to shine. DC ultimately has six major franchises: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Justice League. All of those can be tied back to the earliest years of the company, whether the person with the ring or the speed is the same as the 40s or not (same with the League being the JSA redone). Most of the other potential franchises tie into those six: Supergirl, Batgirl, Catwoman, Harley Quinn are obvious, but even Teen Titans is basically JLA for sidekicks. The Legion is a "Superboy and Friends" book, and every time it risks evolving beyond that, a Superboy finds his way back in. So when you have that, and you consider that longstanding characters/teams who've been around since before most of us were born are at best sporadic with regular series starring them (Green Arrow, Aquaman, the Atom, Hawkman, Doom Patrol, the JSA, even Firestorm, who looked like he was going to buck the trend in the early to mid 80s), is it any wonder that it's hard for a new character to make a mark, especially when DC is pretty comfortable propping itself up on the "Big 6" franchises? Honestly, the closest thing to a standalone franchise we've seen in the last 40 years that's likely going to stick is Suicide Squad, and even that is fed by (some) characters belonging to other franchises.

It's sad. I look at a couple books being published by Image and Vault and there's no reason those couldn't be a Nightshade series. Between Game of Thrones and the YA push, an Amethyst series embracing that concept seems like a no-brainer (and the original book was closer in execution to that than the most recent Wonder Comic version). I love Vixen as a character, have read all the minis they've given her over the years. If her ongoing had come out in the 70s, if it hadn't been swallowed in the DC Implosion, would Vixen have better footing and potentially be a franchise unto herself? Maybe. But I think, because DC's main focus is still fueled by the characters/concepts of the its earliest days, she'd more likely be in a similar boat to a character like Shazam: character with a good fanbase who gets trotted out every once in a while to test the waters, see if there's any takers, but between readers who won't deviate from the "norm" and a company that isn't willing to really push the character to make her work because those resources can be devoted to a book where Batman, Superman, AND Wonder Woman star, it's never going to get that far. And yes, a good portion of it can be about how the book's done, but that can also be a bit of a crutch after a while.

So here we remain, waiting for Punchline to get her own ongoing series in two years' time.

[CosmiComic]

Maybe some of the characters they're pushing don't have interesting enough powers to some people?

[Kaijudo]

Maybe some of the characters they're pushing don't have interesting enough powers to some people?

If you're reading comics based on powers, you're doing it wrong.

[Confuzzled]

It really makes you wonder why DC was so willing to try and give Vixen her own solo ongoing series in 1978, but 43 years later, STILL has not tried to give her ANOTHER solo ongoing series, ESPECIALLY with seemingly more calls for diversity and diverse characters and titles these days.

YouTuber Grace Randolph who has some insider info on WB/DC said that when the subject of a Vixen solo movie was brought up at the studio, WB was reluctant as they found her to be too similar to Black Panther.

...which is mindboggling on the surface but also depends on the pitch. If the pitch was just "Black Panther, but female" then I get WB's trepidation. But the ideal way to do justice to Mari is to prominently focus on the glamorous, supermodel aspect of her life too. Making her the most beautiful woman in the world who also happens to be a superheroine would make her unique and very different from T'Challa.

[Confuzzled]

Creators seem to be more willing to throw new villain ideas at Batman because he is DC’s biggest franchise. But the jokes on them because it’s almost impossible for new villains that aren’t connected to old villains to actually stick in the Bat mythos these days.

The Court of Owls seem to be doing fine. They will be the Big Bads in the upcoming Gotham Knights game and if rumors are to be believed, may be involved in Robert Pattinson's The Batman film as well.

[Confuzzled]

Birds of Prey: again, they need to divorce themselves from the Bat-family. It's ok to have members that have ties to Batman's world, but the team shouldn't be based in Gotham and their mission statement should be big enough to not be tied down to the Bat-franchise. To me they should be a team specialized in finding missing criminals across the DCU.

The Gotham aspect of Birds of Prey is not the problem. The problem is taking away Oracle. They have tried to push Black Canary as the one irreplaceable member of the team but that person was, and will always be, Oracle. BOP was incomparable because it was the legacy of a heroine, who people had dismissed as broken and as a tragic victim, persevering and coming into her own while making sure other women heroes don't suffer the same fate as her. Taking away Oracle robs the franchise of all that pathos, even when Barbara Gordon is still a member of the team as Batgirl.

[I'm a Fish]

There's is that upcoming Wondergirl ongoing with Yara Flor.

[MoneySpider]

If you're reading comics based on powers, you're doing it wrong.

Why do you say that? What's wrong with someone picking up a book because they like Vixen's, or Swamp Thing's, or Zatanna's powers, but don't pick up Batman because he lacks powers?

Personally, I love characters with versatile powers more than I love characters who lack powers, or just kind of have one gimmick to their character.

Sometimes for some people, it could be the powersets that draw them to characters. If they find that the characters have good writing, great characterization, a great supporting cast, etc., I consider those bonuses.

[Sutekh]

If you're reading comics based on powers, you're doing it wrong.

Been doing it wrong for over four decades, not gonna stop now! I'll buy any book that has a fun character with one of my favorite powers, like duplication (like Triplicate Girl, Silent Majority or Multiplex) or matter mimicry (like Amazing Man) or animation (like Life Lass or Sargon the Sorcerer).

But the key for me is interesting powers. Not uber over-the-top unbeatable powers. Vixen is interesting because she is versatile, but not ridiculous. Black Canary having *a* power automatically makes her more appealing to me than other street-level fighters, like the Batfolk. But the Specter lost me when he and Wotan were chucking planets at each other back in the sixties or seventies, because that was just silly, and there's a sweet spot there for me where they have *some* power, but aren't just peen-measuring feat-monsters like Superboy-Prime tends to be. Ooh, he broke the unbreakable thing. Ooh, he punched reality. Whatever.

[Aahz]

Katana: I've long thought she should become the leader of the Outsiders and the team should cut ties with Batman to truly be an independent organization.

Birds of Prey: again, they need to divorce themselves from the Bat-family. It's ok to have members that have ties to Batman's world, but the team shouldn't be based in Gotham and their mission statement should be big enough to not be tied down to the Bat-franchise. To me they should be a team specialized in finding missing criminals across the DCU.

I don't really think that the connection to Batman is really a problem.

The Spin Off Books are usually pretty independent from the main book. They just need to put effort in creating villains and support cast and keep using them when the writers change (or maybe keep the same writer long term on the same book).

[achilles]

I just don't think that overall, DC is great at writing good female characters.

[Vakanai]

YA makes me think of the vampires and werewolves craze. There's an entire manga category centered around Monster Girls. Might as well be a genre like magical girls or mechas.

The vampire and werewolf craze seemed aimed and appealed to the "lonely" house wife crowd as it was YA girls, and Monster Girls definitely appeals to the older "otaku" crowd as well. I wouldn't limit or dismiss the YA category to Twilight or certain manga types. I mean, One Punch Man and My Hero Academia are from manga, appeal to the YA crowd, and they're both as superhero as you can get.

Edit: More on topic, the magical girl genre is often basically a superhero genre for girls, so yeah, DC could see how that genre does it.

[I'm a Fish]

I just don't think that overall, DC is great at writing good female characters.

Same with Marvel TBH.

[Vakanai]

The Gotham aspect of Birds of Prey is not the problem. The problem is taking away Oracle. They have tried to push Black Canary as the one irreplaceable member of the team but that person was, and will always be, Oracle. BOP was incomparable because it was the legacy of a heroine, who people had dismissed as broken and as a tragic victim, persevering and coming into her own while making sure other women heroes don't suffer the same fate as her. Taking away Oracle robs the franchise of all that pathos, even when Barbara Gordon is still a member of the team as Batgirl.

Maybe, but I think Barbara is better off as a character as Batgirl than she is as BOP's Oracle. BOP just needs to find a way to work without needing Bab's in a wheelchair.