From Champ To Chump - DC Characters On The Job

[Stanlos]

Amateur hour.

Isn't...Isn't he the rumored incoming writer for the WW ongoing?

[Stanlos]

This one really frustrates me, especially in relation to Kalibak. Under Kirby he went toe to toe with Orion on multiple occasions. Now he's a one-punch stepping stone for characters on their way to the inevitable confrontation with Darkseid.

I think the validity of that would depend on who is doing the one punching. Kali' is plenty strong and ferocious af. Plus he is as big a cheater as Batman and has a whole arsenal of tools to augment his physical traits. But he is very much a brute. A skilled opponent could reasonably do that as Orion himself has shown

[Stanlos]

The Captain Atom one is a shame, but I figure the best way to go about correcting it is to 1) ignore anything Tom King wrote about the character, and 2) tone him down in terms of power. I realize he's supposed to have the power of an atom bomb or whatever, and control over matter basically, but honestly that is a bit OP and can't be written into stories very well. He's a big fun, but unfortunately people only use him as that. And he usually blows up after that.

I actually liked the New 52 series for him, and felt that it was almost like a miniseries, albeit unintended. It worked as a dramatic character study into what that would be like (but without him being thrown into the past or his wife marrying someone else when she thought he was dead.) But if you want him to fit into normal superhero teams, he's got to be given some limitations.

I think the other issue with Atom is the shrinkage of the DCU itself since a certain regime rose to prominence (and effectively killed the DCU). Captain Atom is a powerful being but if he's pitted against the likes Martian survivors, Amazons, and Kryptonian sorta last sons then he isn't going to fare great. He had a ton of awesome displays when not everything centered on the Big 7. There was also a LOT more versatility in the way he tapped the unified field to manipulate energy. Most times nowadays he is casting nuclear energy and little else which is shamefully limiting.

[WonderLight789]

Wonder Woman is the most glrified jobber at DC. Sexism is hard to beat sadly, and they keep nerfing her.