View Poll Results: Best character comeback?

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  • Dick Grayson (Robin) - Nightwing

    12 27.27%
  • Jason Todd (Robin) - Red Hood

    13 29.55%
  • Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) - Oracle

    17 38.64%
  • Bette Kane (Bat-Girl) - Hawkfire

    0 0%
  • Cassandra Cain (Batgirl) - Orphan

    1 2.27%
  • Other - post in comments

    1 2.27%
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  1. #16
    Ultimate Member Jackalope89's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by charliehustle415 View Post
    Yeah Damian's return was pretty amazing too with Batman going to Apokolypse in the Hellbat to find his body and then he is reborn with superpowers - what a great arc.

    The lead up to that though, was trash. Especially with what Bruce did to Jason.

  2. #17
    see beauty in all things. charliehustle415's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dietrich View Post
    Don't know how I forgot Bruce. May the Gods of Comics forgive me! This is clearly the answer. Bruce Wayne had the best, most epic come back ever to a mantle.
    When Bruce finally put on the costume and finally entered Batman & Robin #15 it gave me goosebumps.

    It was pretty thrilling especially if you were reading it monthly.


  3. #18
    Ultimate Member dietrich's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jackalope89 View Post
    The lead up to that though, was trash. Especially with what Bruce did to Jason.
    Na, the lead up was perfect. Showed Bruce completely losing it and going through the stages of grief. Him trying to trick Jason made perfect sense just like him breaking and nearly killing Joker after Jason made perfect sense.

    He wasn't himself and that showed you just how far he was willing to go.

  4. #19
    Ultimate Member dietrich's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by charliehustle415 View Post
    When Bruce finally put on the costume and finally entered Batman & Robin #15 it gave me goosebumps.

    It was pretty thrilling especially if you were reading it monthly.

    I think I need to revisit that run. Can't believe I forgot how brilliant Bruce's journey was

  5. #20
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    With 29 people having voted,
    * Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) - Oracle = 11 votes
    * Dick Grayson (Robin) - Nightwing = 9 votes
    * Jason Todd (Robin) - Red Hood = 7 votes


    The three other options have either 1 or 0 votes.

  6. #21
    Extraordinary Member Restingvoice's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dietrich View Post
    Na, the lead up was perfect. Showed Bruce completely losing it and going through the stages of grief. Him trying to trick Jason made perfect sense just like him breaking and nearly killing Joker after Jason made perfect sense.

    He wasn't himself and that showed you just how far he was willing to go.
    It does, it's just tiring because that what he does every time he lost it. To Dick when it's Jason, to Jason and everyone when it's Damian, to Tim and Gordon when it's Bane... so my reaction was just... oh okay. This story again.

  7. #22
    Mighty Member Bat-Meal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dietrich View Post
    Don't know how I forgot Bruce. May the Gods of Comics forgive me! This is clearly the answer. Bruce Wayne had the best, most epic come back ever to a mantle.

    Not sure why that's not on the list. Also not on the list is Damian's return to Robin complete with Superpowers
    Did they return with an entirely new mantle that they kept (for a significant amount of time)? Because, in retrospect, I should have used the term reinvention rather than comeback - anyway, that's what was meant. I realise Babs went back to being Batgirl, but she was Oracle for a significant amount of time, and still kept it.

  8. #23
    Extraordinary Member adrikito's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by charliehustle415 View Post
    Yeah Damian's return was pretty amazing too with Batman going to Apokolypse in the Hellbat to find his body and then he is reborn with superpowers - what a great arc.

    That was Awesome.

  9. #24
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    NOTE: Thread was originally started in July 2021.

    -------------------------------------
    Quote Originally Posted by Bat-Meal View Post
    Some Bat-Family characters, for various reasons, have been removed from their mantle.

    And while they sometimes return to their original mantle, sometimes they get a new one that sticks, or they get two. Rather than purely focus on all the negative reasons writers attempted to erase/replace the characters in the first place - who do you feel has had the best comeback?

    Note: I'm not including Steph and Tim in the poll because they've both since returned to their original mantles (Spoiler and Robin). Babs, I have included because she's currently both Batgirl and Oracle at the same time. I also realise that Dick was given a new mantle to move the character forward rather than to be replaced, but I figure it still counts as a semi-comeback even though he didn't exactly go away. I'm also not including previous new mantles that are no longer in use, so last time Bette Kane was in costume she went by Hawkfire and not Flamebird, and Cassandra Cain doesn't go by Black Bat at this time.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bat-Meal View Post
    . . . in retrospect, I should have used the term reinvention rather than comeback - anyway, that's what was meant. I realise Babs went back to being Batgirl, but she was Oracle for a significant amount of time, and still kept it.

    With 37 people having voted,
    * Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) - Oracle = 14 votes
    * Dick Grayson (Robin) - Nightwing = 11 votes
    * Jason Todd (Robin) - Red Hood = 10 votes


    The three other options still have either 1 or 0 votes.

  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Avi View Post
    Dick as Nightwing isn't a comeback to me, so I'm taking that out.

    Can't say anything about Bette.

    Cass as Orphan wasn't a good comeback, imo. Orphan is a generic name that doesn't quite fit either, and it just hasn't caught on. B&RE wasn't a strong story, and it changed her backstory in ways that weren't needed.

    For me, Jason as Red Hood and Barbara as Oracle are the two strongest contenders for the best comeback.

    Jason has become Red Hood in a way Cass and Barbara haven't become Orphan and Oracle, and he clearly benefits from returning in a Batman storyline and later getting The Lost Days to expand upon his return. But the weak how's and why's of how he came back to life after so many years are always going to be a weak spot of his comeback.

    The comparably slow but steady reveal that Oracle is Barbara is more enjoyable to me. I like that she came back not in a Bat title but in the Suicide Squad and later formed her own (international) vigilante group. If not for her comeback as Oracle and that identity's staying power, Barbara wouldn't have the presence she has as Batgirl now.

    Both made a good comeback. Both flaundered and then got big pushes. My vote goes to Barbara.
    Pretty much this. I'm a huge Nightwing fan but Dick has always had a steady fan base and him becoming Nightwing was just the next step in his story. It was not necessarily a "comeback". He has always been a successful character.

    Jason on the other hand came back from being everyone's least favorite Robin to being a good character with depth, a fanbase and marketability.

    Barbara becoming Oracle completely redefined the character and made her crucial to the DC community. Its gotta be between Jason and Barbara.

  11. #26
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Iclifton View Post
    . . . Jason on the other hand came back from being everyone's least favorite Robin to being a good character with depth, a fanbase and marketability. . .
    You should probably have added to being dead for many years between "from being everyone's least favorite Robin" and "to being a good character with depth, a fanbase and marketability".

  12. #27
    Astonishing Member Timothy Hunter's Avatar
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    It took a long time for the resurrected Jason Todd to find his footing. It seemed like until the New Fifty Two, writers didn't know what to do with him. He was written inconsistently from writer to writer, the Judd Winnick version of Red Hood seemed like a whole different character from the Grant Morrison version. It's easy to say that at that point Jason fresh off of Countdown and impersonating Nightwing was featured in more bad stories than good.

    I remember the initial reception to Red Hood and the Outlaws be generally negative with perhaps the biggest controversy of the 2011 relaunch being Starfire's sexist portrayal in that book, but people seem to like that version of Jason and the Rebirth Outlaws was well received.
    Last edited by Timothy Hunter; 04-21-2022 at 07:20 PM.

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