Rebuild the non-Bat DC line

[Factor]

So by now I think everyone has noticed how reliant DC has been on Batman. Out of the 19 ongoings solicited for October, 13 star the Batfamily.
The rest of the DCU is in desperate need of a shot in the arm, so what would be YOUR ideas for the rest of DC’s line?

Thread rules:
1) This isn’t the thread to discuss Batman. Bat-characters can be part of team-books in your line, though. Otherwise, just assume DC will keep publishing at least 10 Bat ongoings while you’re in charge of the rest of the line.
2) You can have a maximum of 35 additional books. That’s already more than 3 times the amount of DCU ongoings.

[Digifiend]

Justice League
Justice League Dark
Showcase (JLA anthology)

Green Lantern
Green Lantern Corps (Lantern anthology)

Flash
Impulse
Flash Family (Flash anthology)

Shazam

Aquaman

Wonder Woman
Sensation Comics (Wonder anthology)

Green Arrow

Action Comics
Superman: Son of Kal-El
Superman: Last Son of Krypton (Clark gets his second book back but it doesn't replace Jon's)
Superboy
Supergirl
Adventure Comics (Super anthology)

Teen Titans
Deathstroke
Titans
Young Justice

Justice Society of America
Infinity Inc
All-American Comics (JSA anthology)

Legion of Super-Heroes
Outsiders
Doom Patrol
Suicide Squad

The anthologies I mentioned would all be the same format as Batman Urban Legends.

[Menacer]

I've counted. DC has within the last year 60 minis and series that are not batman...

Dc doesn't need to rebuild anything does it?

Dc fans need to buy the nonbatman books. Support those and dc will continue to produce non bat books.

But if I am gonna play along I'd love to see more female heroes get solo books. Specifically I'd love to see Power Girl get a good mini or ongoing.

90s Superboy... glad he's got that round Robin book coming.

Starfire, mini or ongoing

Big Barda

Supergirl... I am waiting for Kings trade, but not to keen on that series Art

Stargirl


Lobo and Crush sequal mini series
....

Generally I collect very little or the Batman line and mostly follow dcs not bat books and personally find there is always way way way to much to collect. So the line is pretty non bat healthy.

[Morgoth]

Justice League
Justice League Dark
Justice Society of America
Action Comics
Superman
Superboy
Supergirl
Legion of Super-Heroes
Green Lantern
Green Lantern Corps
Titans
Young Justice
Doom Patrol
Shazam
Black Adam
Wonder Woman
Wonder Girl
Green Arrow
The Flash
Flash Family
Elseworlds
Hellblazer
Aquaman
Suicide Squad
Hawkman and Hawkgirl
Outsiders
The Question
Deathstroke
Legion of Doom
Blue Beetle

[skyvolt2000]

I've counted. DC has within the last year 60 minis and series that are not batman...

Dc doesn't need to rebuild anything does it?

Dc fans need to buy the nonbatman books. Support those and dc will continue to produce non bat books.

Fans have and way too many times a book actually has done decent and even the trades have and NOTHING is followed up.

DC tossed away a lot of books that sold leading into New 52 and some of those folks like JSA have not sniffed another shot.

Every book is not going to sell 100K like Batman and if DC is expecting that-they are fooling themselves.



What Dc needs to rebuild is the TRUST of the fandom that support and respect to everyone NOT named Batman is shown.

Fans have to have faith that a book will not get derailed by some editor like we have seen way too many times-especially those with leads of color.

DC does need to rebuilt because while you say fans need to buy non-batman books (Which is TRUE)

You gotta give them a reason to.

A reason to NOT buy Something is Killing Children or Radiant Black or Power Rangers or Spawn and buy what they are selling.

Some fans are saying Dc is not giving them a choice but to spend elsewhere.

[Menacer]

Fans have and way too many times a book actually has done decent and even the trades have and NOTHING is followed up.

DC tossed away a lot of books that sold leading into New 52 and some of those folks like JSA have not sniffed another shot.

Every book is not going to sell 100K like Batman and if DC is expecting that-they are fooling themselves.



What Dc needs to rebuild is the TRUST of the fandom that support and respect to everyone NOT named Batman is shown.

Fans have to have faith that a book will not get derailed by some editor like we have seen way too many times-especially those with leads of color.

DC does need to rebuilt because while you say fans need to buy non-batman books (Which is TRUE)

You gotta give them a reason to.

A reason to NOT buy Something is Killing Children or Radiant Black or Power Rangers or Spawn and buy what they are selling.

Some fans are saying Dc is not giving them a choice but to spend elsewhere.

Well fair point. DC may not be following up with sequals ... but as far as, are there non bat books available?

Yes. Yes there are about 60 titles in the last year that are noj bat books that anyone can explore.

I get the point of wanting a specific sequal. For me that'd definitely be a Power Girl book.

But I make it a habit to really explore books and try new things even if they aren't my automatic taste.

Generally I'm pleasantly suprised by just how much of these 60ish titles are really great and are not batman related.

But yah. Would he good to get specific titles... exactly why DC doesn't is probably more then just sales. It's also having artists and writers that can do something worth while with these other heroes.

I'm personally really excited to read more of Dark Crisis and the Tie ins specifically because they aren't the usually top teir heroes and offer variety with legacy and teen titans, young justice etc...

But of course Dark Crisis is pretty divisive topic on here too.

[G-Man27]

Ok, let's see. I'd pick

Action Comics- featuring Superman in balls-to-the-wall action adventures. Back-Up stories can feature various Superfamily members as well as The Authority. Occasionally the stories will combine or switch slots
Superman: Man Of Steel- More introspective Superman stories that occasionally will probably tie in to the other titles
Superman: Son Of Kal-El- Continuing Jon's story, maybe in another city if Clark ever returns to Metropolis.

Wonder Woman- stories focusing on Diana
Artemis And The Protectors Of Themyscira- Focusing on Artemis, Donna Troy and Cassie. Following up from Artemis: Wanted

Flash- A title for Wally
Flash Family- A title for other speedsters (Barry, Jay, Max, Jessie, Ace, etc)

Green Lantern: Protectors Of Earth- A title to go to Hal, Jessica and Kyle, along with Guy and others while John does his thing
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights- John and whoever goes with him

Justice League- A new team spinning out of Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths
Justice League Dark- A magic team led by Zatanna, she's earned it to be solo leader
Teen Titans- Led by Nightwing and featuring any Academy members you want as a training team
Young Justice- Tim, Conner and friends
Justice Society- The elder statesmen finally return

I'd throw in more but that's all I can think of for now

[kingaliencracker]

I've counted. DC has within the last year 60 minis and series that are not batman...

Dc doesn't need to rebuild anything does it?

Dc fans need to buy the nonbatman books. Support those and dc will continue to produce non bat books.

But if I am gonna play along I'd love to see more female heroes get solo books. Specifically I'd love to see Power Girl get a good mini or ongoing.

90s Superboy... glad he's got that round Robin book coming.

Starfire, mini or ongoing

Big Barda

Supergirl... I am waiting for Kings trade, but not to keen on that series Art

Stargirl


Lobo and Crush sequal mini series
....

Generally I collect very little or the Batman line and mostly follow dcs not bat books and personally find there is always way way way to much to collect. So the line is pretty non bat healthy.

Sorry friend, but I don't buy that argument. DC may have other titles, but their ENTIRE line right now is centered around Batman, at the total detriment of the few titles that aren't Batman related. I understand sales and corporate are the reason why Batman is the only character DC and WB cares about. But it's certainly hurting the comics portion of DC currently.

[Menacer]

Sorry friend, but I don't buy that argument. DC may have other titles, but their ENTIRE line right now is centered around Batman, at the total detriment of the few titles that aren't Batman related. I understand sales and corporate are the reason why Batman is the only character DC and WB cares about. But it's certainly hurting the comics portion of DC currently.

You don't buy that they have 60 other ongoings and minis since 2021? I mean that's just a fact? Or what do you mean?

Marvel does a similar thing with xmen and spiderman too though. So both dc and marvel over produce with there big Sellars...

Ultimately dc has loads and loads of non bat stuff on the shelves. Sure do at my comic shop. But yah no argument about batman. Bat stuff sells and they make a lot of it just like spiderman and xmen stuff sells.

[Jabare]

Static
The Terrifics
Powergirl
Steel
Blue Beetle (Jaime)
Starfire
Bueno Excellente
Grace Choi
Vixen
Black Lightning
Donna Troy (not in Themyscara, fun globetrotting superhero adventures)
Fire
Doomsday a love story
Steel (but just treat him like a stand alone hero)
Hawwkgirl
Doctor Light







DC has me so down on Cyborg or Captain Marvel I'm not even going to suggest them

[Lal]

I think DC's main problem is the lack of team books, so I'd probably start with that

Family books -
Green Arrow & Black Canary with arrowfam backup
Flashfamily book (starring the Flash that isn't leading the main Flash book)
Superfamily book

Team books -
No main JL book
JSA (teaching the new young heroes instead of the TTA)
Titans (lead by Nightwing, NTT lineup, dealing with the big threats, guest starring a rotating roster of DC heroes in each arc)
YJ book (lead by Tim Drake, classic lineup, not written by Fitzmartin) - monitoring threats across unprotected cities, more focus on solving mysteries. Are also the reserve forces for the Titans.
Outlaws (Jason Todd, Roy, Artemis, Rose Wilson, with characters like Midnighter, Grifter, and Cheshire appearing every now and then) - a team delivering their own justice and doing the sometimes messy missions that need to be done
Do BOP count as a bat-book? The team will go international and work with female DC heroines from all over the world.

Books that could start as minis and see if they generate interest
Wonder Girls
Outsiders - with a new direction and a new lineup of existing DC characters. A team doing mostly undercover work and secret missions that can't be associated with the Titans, dealing with espionage and the spy corner of the DCU.
JLD

At first I thought the 5G character could form their own team - "new justice", but it may be more beneficial to spread them across other teams to better integrate them in the DCU (so Jo or Jon could work with the Titans, Jackson with YJ, and Yara maybe with BOP)

[Factor]

I've counted. DC has within the last year 60 minis and series that are not batman...

Dc doesn't need to rebuild anything does it?

Dc fans need to buy the nonbatman books. Support those and dc will continue to produce non bat books.

But if I am gonna play along I'd love to see more female heroes get solo books. Specifically I'd love to see Power Girl get a good mini or ongoing.

90s Superboy... glad he's got that round Robin book coming.

Starfire, mini or ongoing

Big Barda

Supergirl... I am waiting for Kings trade, but not to keen on that series Art

Stargirl


Lobo and Crush sequal mini series
....

Generally I collect very little or the Batman line and mostly follow dcs not bat books and personally find there is always way way way to much to collect. So the line is pretty non bat healthy.

Jesus, I made it pretty clear this is NOT a thread to talk about Batman.
This discussion has already been happening in many other threads, so you can post on them without derailing this one

[Factor]

I love doing this sort of thing, so I probably gave this more thought than I should, but it was fun coming up with my "ideal" DC line, while still trying to be think of something that would be somewhat doable.

I broke everything into smaller lines to make themes easier to comprehend.
(Sorry about the probably ridiculous amount of typos)

DC EDGE

Green Arrow: Checkmate
Oliver Queen as the new King of Checkmate.
The organization would be rebuilt to be closer to Rucka's version, following the chess structure.
No Black or White sides, though. Everyone would be on the same side, working against villainous organizations like Leviathan and Deathstroke's Secret Society.
Cast: Ollie as Checkmate King, Lois Lane/Steve Trevor as Bishops (advisors), Julia Pennyworth/Sasha Bordeaux as Rooks (mission control) and Manhunter/Silencer/Bronze Tiger/Richard Dragon/The Question/Speedy (Mia) etc as Knights (field agents).
Guest-starring Vixen as Checkmate Queen (more on that below).

Birds of Prey
Oracle's field team of Black Canary, Huntress and Starling.
They'd be the DCU's experts in hunting down the world's most wanted criminals.
Oracle's first order of business? Hunt down the new Secret Six.

The Outsiders
The underground superhero team, handling epic threats before they become public knowledge.
Cast: Black Lightning, Katana, Metamorpho, Batwoman, The Atom, Killer Frost, Arsenal (Checkmate liaison).

Suicide Squad
A team of expendable villains doing the US government's dirty deeds.
Cast: Amanda Waller, Deadshot, Flag and a rotating cast of villains. Characters hunted down by the Birds may end up here.

DC DARK

Zatanna & the Shadowpact
When a new mystical threat appears, Zatanna can't risk it corrupting her Justice League teammates. A new Shadowpact is born to protect the world from the dark and the occult.
Cast: Zatanna, Detective Chimp, Blue Devil, Ragman, Nightshade, Frankenstein and Amethyst.
No Constantine here.

Swamp Thing
Continuing Ram V's run.
Further exploring the Green, the Red and the other elemental forces in the DCU.
Cast: Swamp Thing (Levi), Abby Arcane, Animal Man, Constantine (but keep him away from Zatanna).

Doom Patrol
A book about all the crazyness in the DCU. The DP handle things the Justice League could never even grasp. The place for the weirdest and most out there concepts.
Cast: Chief, Robot-Man, Elasti-Woman, Negative Man, Crazy Jane, Flex Mentallo.

DC GLOBAL

Vixen & the Global Guardians.
While Green Arrow handles the inner workings of Checkmate, Vixen's role as queen is to keep an eye on global politics.
But she may have a lot to juggle after the United Nations appoint her as the leader of the new Global Guardians, the UN's response to political situations involving metahumans.
Cast: Vixen, Doctor Light, Captain Atom, Manchester Black, Fire, Ice, August General, Impala, Aztek, Doctor Mist etc.

Black Adam
Let Priest continue to build Khandaq as a major setting in the DCU.
Push this comic as the big deal it should be. And bring back Isis (Adrianna Tomaz).
Starring Black Adam, Malik and Isis.

Aquaman: Seven Seas
As several new power players begin their schemes for control of the seven seas, Atlantis finds itself in a major crisis.
Arthur decides to step up again as Atlantis' champion, enlisting a team of allies to help patrol the seven seas.
Meanwhile, King Orm's rule is put through another test as Koryak's true paternity comes to light.
Cast: Arthur (Aquaman), Orm (King of Atlantis), Mera (Atlantean ambassador), Jackson Hyde (Manta Ray), Tempest, Koryak and Tula.

Monkey Prince
I would have Yang keep building this new character and the Chinese corner of the DCU. This could also be the place for new apperances by the Great Ten and the Justice League of China, who'd be getting new codenames like Super-Qi, Blue Bat, Green Serpent and Flare (Avery).

DC SHOWCASE

Flash: Infinity
Barry Allen: Fastest Man in the Omniverse! Barry is finally back and he never felt more alive: moving faster than ever, he balances an insane day job saving the Omniverse from Speed Force anomalies with a happy life in Central City.
Meanwhile, Ace West steps up as Central City's resident hero: Drive!
Starring Barry (Flash), Iris West, Ace West (Drive), Elongated Man, New 52 Vibe.
Guest-starring President Superman and Justice Incarnate.

Flash Family
With Barry protecting the Omniverse, Wally West is the Fastest Man on Earth. Back with his family in Keystone City, Wally juggles saving the world with building a future for his Flash Family.
Starring: Wally West (Flash), Linda Park, Tornado Twins (Irey and Jai).
Guest-starring Jesse Quick, Impulse, Max Mercury, Jay Garrick, Barry and Ace.

Hawkworld
Hawkman (Katar Hol) and Hawkwoman (Shayera) have lived many lives and been separated more times than they can count. Now finally back together for good, a major crisis in Thanagar calls them back home, but the JSA may need them on Earth sooner than later...
Starring: Hawkman & Hawkwoman, with Hawkgirl (Kendra) being in a more supporting role (I'd revise her as a descendant of the OG Hawkgirl/Shiera, who became a hero to follow her family's legacy - no icky romance with Hawkman)

Super Powers
Josiah Power's Power Company is back, and they are acquiring the competition, starting with Booster Gold and Blue Beetle. Meet the Super Powers, DC's ultimate team of heroes for hire.
Cast: Blue Beetle (Ted), Booster Gold, Element Woman, Bumblebee, Red Tornado, Shazam and more.

SHAZAM!
The book would focus on Billy Batson and his family as they protect the Seven Realms.
Each family member would get their own unique codename and probably a realm to protect.
Cast: Billy (Shazam), Mary, Darla, Eugene, Pedro and Freddy.

Stargirl
The legacy of the Golden Age of heroes lives on!
Following the adventures of young JSAer Courtney Whitmore, based in Blue Valley.
Cast: Courtney, Pat Duggan, Emiko Queen and Seven Soldiers + JSA colleagues like Power Girl, Mister Terrific etc.

Blue Beetle
Things are about to go cosmic again for Jaime Reyes!
As a sort of magnet for weird extraterrestrial events, he is quickly becoming an expert in protecting the world from outside threats. Sadly, he can't say the same about acing his college life!
Cast: Jaime, Milagro, Ted Kord, Traci 13, Sideways.

To be continued because this post is too long...

[Factor]

Last batches...

JUSTICE

Justice League
The Earth's first line of defense against worldwide threats and crisis.
As they are some of the busiest heroes around, the line-up would be big and rotate depending on mission.
Cast: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Mera, Flash (Barry), John Stewart, Jessica Cruz, Hawkgirl, Zatanna, Martian Manhunter.

Justice Society
The keepers of the superhero legacy. The older generation of heroes using their knowledge and experience to prevent new threats and to train the next generation of heroes.
Cast:
1st gen: Flash, Green Lantern, Wildcat, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Doctor Fate (Kent), Liberty Belle (Libby)
2nd gen: Power Girl, Mister Terrific, Jade, Obsidian, Hour Man, Jesse Quick, Wildcat II etc
3rd gen: Stargirl, Cyclone, Jakeem, Fate (Khalid) etc

Titans
Much more approachable than the League, but equally as powerful, the Titans are always on call to save citizens from danger, wherever they may be.
Cast: Nightwing, Donna Troy, Flash (Wally), Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, Changeling, Bunker, Argent and Tempest.

Young Justice
Former teenage sidekicks, the YJ are now young adults building their own super-hero careers and identities. But whenever they need help with a mission, they always have each other for support. Less of a formal team, more a network of friends.
Cast:
Tim Drake aka Radar: expert detective using tech to enhance his senses.
Conner Kent aka Supernova: back in Hawaii, his mission is to fight organizations using science for evil.
Cassie Sandsmark aka Fury: descendant of Olympian gods defending humans from their meddling.
Bart Allen aka Impulse: speedster specialized in dealing with time travel.
+ Empress, Kaldur, Miss Martian, Blue Beetle, Wonder Twins, Solstice, Naomi, Aquagirl etc

WONDER WOMAN

Wonder Woman
Gateway City has literally become a doorway to the mystical and fantastical, leading Diana to reclaim it as her base of operations.
But the outside world also needs her attention, so she will take all the help she can get to continue her mission of peace.
Cast: Diana, Etta (a fun version), Steve, Siegfried, Cheetah, Giganta, Julia Kapatelis + guest appearances from Queen Nubia, Donna, Cassie and the other Amazons.

Sensation Comics
The book about the united Amazon nation. Led by Nubia, but starring key members from all three tribes. A book about fantastical societies trying to make a difference in the real world.
Cast: Queen Nubia, Faruka, Artemis, Phillipus, the Esquecida, Hippolyta and the new Amazons.
Diana would also have a big recurring presence as the champion of all Amazons.

Wonder Girl
Yara is trying to make a name for herself as the new Wonder Girl. Operating in South America, she has to face both political unrest and mythological monsters to protect her homeland in the Amazon forest.
But when the Olympian gods can't seem to leave her alone, she might have to ask for help from former Wonder Girl Cassie Sandsmark (Fury).
Cast: Yara, Potira, Cassie and the Esquecida tribe.

SUPERMAN

Superman
Clark Kent has been through it all. But having gotten kid Jon back and been inspired by the timetraveling older Jon, he feels even more motivated to be the best and biggest hero he can be.
It's time to fight the biggest menaces and go on the boldest adventures as Earth's greatest hero.
Cast: Superman, Lois Lane, Jon Kent (10-12 years old), Steel, Lana Lang, Jimmy Olsen.

Action Comics
Superman has inspired more than his share of heroes, and they're all over the world. When a job gets too big for only one Super, the SuperSquad takes action.
A team-up for Supers, starring Superman and his severely ignored family.
- Steel and Lana: based in Smallville, they're helping people get better lives through technology.
- Sentinel (Natasha): the resident tech hero in Metropolis.
- Seraph (Linda Danvers): the supernatural expert of the Superfamily, based in Leesburg.
- Supernova (Conner Kent): based in Hawaii, facing corporations misusing science.
- Super-Qi (Kenan Kong): Super-man of China, trying to bring balance to the world.
- Supergirl (see below).

Supergirl
Kara Zor-El knows better than anyone the pain of losing Krypton. So with New Krypton is in its infancy, she feels it is her duty to help protect this new society. Sadly, United Planets politics can make that quite the challenge. When the UP's own elite guard the United Order turns out to be a big failure, old frenemy Vril Dox starts his play to make the L.E.G.I.O.N. the official protectors of UP territory and he wants Supergirl to to join him.
Cast: Kara, Vril Dox, L.E.G.I.O.N. (Strata, Stealth, Lobo, Wildstar etc)

Legion of Super-Heroes
Older Jon Kent is the refugee of a lost timeline only he fully remembers. When it becomes clear that staying in the present will lead to bad domino effects, he travels to the 31st century to check on his Legion friends.
What he discovers is that the legacy of his father's work has had bigger ramification than even he thought possible. The classic Legion is back and now Jon will learn from them what it means to be the Superman of Tomorrow.
Cast: Too many to mention, but basically the Levitz Legion with later additions like Gates, XS and Kid Quantum.

GREEN LANTERNS

Green Lanterns
Starring Hal Jordan and Jessica Cruz as the Green Lanterns of Sector 28.14.
While the GLC book would be more cosmic, this one would be a literally more down-to-Earth take.
Co-starring Carol Ferris (Star Sapphire) and other GLs.

Green Lantern Corps
A book about the larger Corps dealing with threats that go beyond sector limits. Kyle would be the lead, but Jo would get a big role as Corps detective and the book would have a large rotating cast of lanterns.
Starring Kyle Rayner, Jo Mullein, Kilowog, Guy Gardner, Arisia, Yolande etc.

Emerald Knight
John Stewart's solo, exploring his new role as Emeral Knight and building new corners of DC's cosmic side by introducing the Dark Sectors, as teased in the last GL run.
Cast: John Stewart and the Emerald Knights.

[The Frog Bros]

Action Comics (Clark focused)
Superman: Son of Kal-El (maybe rename it Superman: Jon Kent)
Adventures of Superman Family (Metropolis based)
Some Superman book that exists outside a shared universe
The Authority
JSA
JL Dark
JL (non A-listers only)
JL China
Wonder Woman
Wonder Girls (or some other WW family book)
Green Lantern (Jess and Jo)
Green Lanterns (corps book)
The Flash
Aquaman
Icon and Rocket
Static
Hardware
Some sort of Elseworlds book(s)