Creating characters to make headlines vs characters that actually stick around.

[phonogram12]

By 1940s standards, being Irish was diverse, so he arguably used to count.

Was the fact that he was Irish first introduced in those Golden Age stories? Just curious because I don't even think Daredevil was revealed to be Catholic until Miller got on the book.

I honestly don't know.

[The Cool Thatguy]

In general it can't just be throw it against the wall and see what sticks. They need to invest the time. Look at Blindspot who was introduced in Daredevil a few years back...and then reboot and new creative team and he is gone. Books like DD and Captain America would be the place to bring in some new blood like that. Bring Blindspot back to DD. And with Sam doing his own thing and Bucky being put to good use elsewhere give Steve a new partner. Can Eli be used? Or bring back and update Vagabond? Or create someone new altogether.

Blindspot is really symptomatic of a larger problem with comics, in that one writer will rarely respect what's come before.

We the fans know that, and thus are hesitant to get invested.

And that's made all the worse by characters who fail, and often seem to get punished for that. I mean hell, Inhumans got slaughtered after their push failed, and reduced to their old status qou of a Royal Family.

So fans of that series, who were brought in by the push, were screwed, and other fans saw what happened when the 'new thing' failed.

A self fulfilling prophecy, really.

[Digifiend]

Yeah, these days only three of the non-Royal Inhumans are seeing any success - Quake (a pre-existing character retconned to an Inhuman), Ms. Marvel, and Moon Girl. The latter two both have their own upcoming TV shows, but with the Inhuman connection removed.

[Devaishwarya]

I think is more complicated than only said if a character is created for make headlines.

All characters are created to tell and to sell a story. A character created to make headlines can stick around but characters than stick around could come from anyplace. The reasons for a character to stick around, that are really the hard to get. Could be a good writing or a good penciler, the editor knows how to make the character popular, maybe the character captures the zeitgeist of the historical momentum, the publicity used is big enough.
Now we live in a time where publicity is more used more aggresively, but before also ther were publicity stunts than sticked and other than flopped.
But making headlines with a character just created is a double sword risk: it can attract attention, but also you risk to make your fall more evident.

I agree with this. Headline Characters can stick but it's usually as a result of a confluence of many factors occurring simultaneously. And Time.

But I would also add "readership interest". The onus is not only on the creators to give us something we could love and become fanatics over. We, the readers also have to recognise that a new character could be the next big popular thing and be invested in said character. Even if that character's introduction might not be the most stellar and exciting and awesome! (it very rarely ever was).

Take new LGBTQ characters, for example, I think most readers now are very dismissive of any new LGBTQ characters being created and pushed, with good reason as their introduction can be problematic but, for any number of individualistic reasons, the attempt is usually shut down, sometimes pre-emptively, almost immediately. Like the Marvel Voices anthologies. Sure, Marvel can do more, but will doing more even matter if the audience they're trying to reach refuse to be invested because it's an "agenda" or some other silly reason?

I'm not saying to blindly support "rubbish" but there are a perfectly good/mediocre books and characters that are written by new upcoming writers and artists that, with Time and vested interest from both sides, can grow and flourish...With. Time. Overnight Success for new characters is a "lighting in a bottle phenomenon".

[skyvolt2000]

I really wish Marvel would bring one of those titles back. An anthology series with a rotating creative team to bring back minor characters who have not been seen in a while and introduce some new ones to gauge feedback.

Here is the thing-

A lot of us would LOVE to see Marvel Comics Present and others return.

However the issue aside from price is WHO do you put in those books?

Because SOMEBODY is going to take issue with whoever is in that book.

Lets take the Marvel Voices-we redefine it to $10 for 100 pages.

You are assured of 5 complete 20 page stories.

1 is automatically confirmed to be a slot for Peter, Logan, Thor, Iron Man and that lot.

2 is from someone from the above's franchise-Peter's case anyone from Miles to Black Cat to Rocket Racer to Hornet

(the above 2 in that case can be combined to one 40 page story)

3-5 is open season.

So for example would this entice anyone?

Marvel Presents #1

1 Peter Parker
2 Black Cat
3 Rich Ryder Nova
4 New Warriors (I would not be against tossing in the aborted series here for 5 issues)
5 Rouge from X-Men

Marvel Presents #2
1 Thor
2 ENchantress
3 Namor
4 New Warriors
5 Mosaic (Inhumans)

[Devaishwarya]

Excellent idea except...you run into the problem of some (most) close-minded single-character fans who eg. LOVES ROGUE!!!! but will not buy MP01 because they only care about...Rogue.

I would say...keep the MP stories franchise centric. Build your anthology within and around the franchise and introduce your new characters there at the very least you are assured your Spidey fan or X-Fans or Avengers fans would be more invested...and Bloody Hell make it cost attractive...even if that means BnW on Newsprint.

[PCN24454]

Here is the thing-

A lot of us would LOVE to see Marvel Comics Present and others return.

However the issue aside from price is WHO do you put in those books?

Because SOMEBODY is going to take issue with whoever is in that book.

Lets take the Marvel Voices-we redefine it to $10 for 100 pages.

You are assured of 5 complete 20 page stories.

1 is automatically confirmed to be a slot for Peter, Logan, Thor, Iron Man and that lot.

2 is from someone from the above's franchise-Peter's case anyone from Miles to Black Cat to Rocket Racer to Hornet

(the above 2 in that case can be combined to one 40 page story)

3-5 is open season.

So for example would this entice anyone?

Marvel Presents #1

1 Peter Parker
2 Black Cat
3 Rich Ryder Nova
4 New Warriors (I would not be against tossing in the aborted series here for 5 issues)
5 Rouge from X-Men

Marvel Presents #2
1 Thor
2 ENchantress
3 Namor
4 New Warriors
5 Mosaic (Inhumans)

This sounds like a bad idea since it would be similar to Hulk’s treatment in the MCU. No one watched the Hulk for the Hulk; they watched to see the Hulk interact with the rest of the Avengers. They aren’t going to watch the Hulk on his own.

[BlackClaw]

Yeah, these days only three of the non-Royal Inhumans are seeing any success - Quake (a pre-existing character retconned to an Inhuman), Ms. Marvel, and Moon Girl. The latter two both have their own upcoming TV shows, but with the Inhuman connection removed.

Has it ever truly been confirmed that Lunella won’t be an inhuman in the upcoming cartoon?

[Chris0013]

Here is the thing-

A lot of us would LOVE to see Marvel Comics Present and others return.

However the issue aside from price is WHO do you put in those books?

Because SOMEBODY is going to take issue with whoever is in that book.

Lets take the Marvel Voices-we redefine it to $10 for 100 pages.

You are assured of 5 complete 20 page stories.

1 is automatically confirmed to be a slot for Peter, Logan, Thor, Iron Man and that lot.

2 is from someone from the above's franchise-Peter's case anyone from Miles to Black Cat to Rocket Racer to Hornet

(the above 2 in that case can be combined to one 40 page story)

3-5 is open season.

So for example would this entice anyone?

Marvel Presents #1

1 Peter Parker
2 Black Cat
3 Rich Ryder Nova
4 New Warriors (I would not be against tossing in the aborted series here for 5 issues)
5 Rouge from X-Men

Marvel Presents #2
1 Thor
2 ENchantress
3 Namor
4 New Warriors
5 Mosaic (Inhumans)

Would be more a Marvel Premiere/Spotlight/Fanfare thing as opposed to MCP. A multi-issue story with a single character/ team who is not active in a current title.

[skyvolt2000]

Would be more a Marvel Premiere/Spotlight/Fanfare thing as opposed to MCP. A multi-issue story with a single character/ team who is not active in a current title.

Well you would STILL have the same issues you are having now-a faction of fans and store owners who would take issue with that. Because they don't care for any character they view as a threat to what they like. Even if they haven't bought a comic in years.

Yet will scream agenda for any book that is not straight white and male. Every other company can be diverse without complaint except the big two.

The only other option is removing them from the equation by doing OGNs that could be sold for $10-$15.

[Dreaded Porcupine]

Blindspot is really symptomatic of a larger problem with comics, in that one writer will rarely respect what's come before.

This is so true. I’ll give you a recent example. Roger Gocking the Porcupine. Dennis Hopeless Hallum took a seldom ever used D list supervillain and invested in him. By the time he got done with him he was a bonafide superhero who was romantically involved with Jessica Drew Spider-Woman and appeared quite a bit in her book. A new writer comes along and pretty much discards everything he did with the character. Then even worse another writer in a one shot Lucky the Dog comic book turns him back into a villain who steals pizzas. That is total disrespect for what Hallum did with the character. Lazy writing at its finest. Poor editorial for allowing this to happen. If a writer invests this much in a character then another writer shouldn’t just be allowed to come along and trash a few years worth of characterization in one story.

[The Cool Thatguy]

This is so true. I’ll give you a recent example. Roger Gocking the Porcupine. Dennis Hopeless Hallum took a seldom ever used D list supervillain and invested in him. By the time he got done with him he was a bonafide superhero who was romantically involved with Jessica Drew Spider-Woman and appeared quite a bit in her book. A new writer comes along and pretty much discards everything he did with the character. Then even worse another writer in a one shot Lucky the Dog comic book turns him back into a villain who steals pizzas. That is total disrespect for what Hallum did with the character. Lazy writing at its finest. Poor editorial for allowing this to happen. If a writer invests this much in a character then another writer shouldn’t just be allowed to come along and trash a few years worth of characterization in one story.

Yeah, the same happened to Constrictor, killed and replaced off panel by Spencer after all the work Slott and Christos Gage put into him.

These are fictional 2-D characters. Getting invested isn't hard. But it's a lot harder when we know that they can get hit by a bus at any time.

[Dreaded Porcupine]

Yeah, the same happened to Constrictor, killed and replaced off panel by Spencer after all the work Slott and Christos Gage put into him.

These are fictional 2-D characters. Getting invested isn't hard. But it's a lot harder when we know that they can get hit by a bus at any time.

Roger is apparently going to get hit again by a bus in the new She-Hulk. I’m sure he will be villain fodder instead of the comic accurate hero that he is.