DC Hero Who Used To Be A Big Deal Now Doesn't Seem That Big Anymore

[caj]

It's only natural (I guess) that the hero dynamics change over the years. Once very popular heroes are now shoved to the backburner.

Who is one of your favorite DC heroes who used to be a huge deal in the DC Universe who just isn't such a big deal anymore to TPTB at DC Comics?

[Digifiend]

All the names I would've said seem to actually be getting a push now - Superboy, Supergirl, the younger Batgirls, the core Titans, the Flash family... I guess Wonder Girl Cassie Sandsmark? She seems to be limboed now. Bart's appearing in The Flash, Tim and Conner both have their own books and also appear in Batman and Action Comics respectively. But Cassie seems to have been set aside in favour of Yara Flor.

[Gero4568]

The Linda Danvers Supergirl had a series that went on for eighty issues, and now it's debatable if she ever even existed.

[kingaliencracker]

Captain Marvel is one of their best characters and yet they seemingly always sideline him for massive periods of time.

[Jim Kelly]

Tomahawk. Debuted in STAR-SPANGLED COMICS 69 (June 1947) and had a steady gig in that title until issue 130 (July 1952). Got his own title, TOMAHAWK which ran from issue 1 (September-October 1950) until issue 130 (September-October 1970) with Tomahawk as the featured character; however, the TOMAHAWK run continued with Hawk, Son of Tomahawk, as the main character, issue 131 (November-December 1970) to 140 (May-June 1972). Then LIMITED COLLECTORS' EDITION C-47 (August-September 1976): "Superman Salutes the Bicentennial"--despite that title and Superman on the cover--was actually an all Tomahawk reprint issue, featuring the artwork of Fred Ray.

[Twice-named]

He’s not one of my favorite characters but I would say Captain Atom

The Linda Danvers Supergirl had a series that went on for eighty issues, and now it's debatable if she ever even existed.

I would love a Linda Danvers mini by Peter David

[Holt]

From what I can gather there was a time where Legion of Superheroes was a very hot property and for whatever reason nobody’s been able to recapture that level of success in decades.

[Thirteen]

He’s not one of my favorite characters but I would say Captain Atom



I would love a Linda Danvers mini by Peter David

That was the nice thing about the early issues of the FALLEN ANGEL series, PAD played it vague enough that one could read the protagonist as a continuation of Matrix Danvers SUPERGIRL in a new city.
Peter David Once Wrote a Supergirl Book… Without DC Comics

Kyle Rayner?

Yup. Once "the next big thing, a GREEN LANTERN like no other" (he had FEAR...and that was a good thing?) and then they realized realized wanted the classic GL back and NOT as a villain.

[Stanlos]

Captain Marvel is one of their best characters and yet they seemingly always sideline him for massive periods of time.

I second the Marvel Family. He was the Fourth major IP after the Trinity at one point. I won't belabour the anti-heroing of Black Adam and the third tiering of Cap. But there it is.

[Confuzzled]

Kyle Rayner. I guess the overabundance of GLs, the drop in popularity of the entire franchise in general after the 2011 film and DC wanting to push Jamie as their premiere Latino superhero (I kind of get it but I don't get why they can't have Jaime/Kyle team-ups more often) have all contributed to Kyle being sidelined in a jarring way.

[Captain Nostalgia]

Firestorm = I was never a fan but he was huge at one point.

WW2 heroes. (Outside of the Bruce Campbell Sgt Rock mini) they've pretty much fallen to the wayside as time marches further and further away from the war.

Starman (Jack Knight) Hugely popular series in the 90's,....I hardly ever see him pop up anymore.

[dkrook]

Lobo! In 10 or less characters!

[BatmanJones]

The Linda Danvers Supergirl had a series that went on for eighty issues, and now it's debatable if she ever even existed.

I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know... (a) she never did exist because she isn't real but (b) that series that went on for 80 issues or whatever it was did exist and anytime one reads a Linda Danvers comic book she will exist as much as she ever has.

I know what you mean though and I know that's not it. Continuity has become a necessary evil when it comes to serial storytelling. (It wasn't always, re: DC.)

For me though, my relative enjoyment of a comic has nothing to do with continuity so questions of what exists/happens/counts don't even register with me. If I loved a comic, I very likely have that comic or can get to it very easily digitally so it existed and exists and will always exist and 'count'.

Doing away with questions of continuity was what I was hoping Infinite Frontier's 'it all happened' angle was going to do but nobody used it--the person charged with using it line-wide used it maybe less than anyone--so it turned out not to be anything. It was just another day at the office.

I was excited for the additive storytelling possibilities inherent to an 'it all happened' approach, but I was almost equally excited about creators not being bogged down by continuity or whether or not something is allowed to count and editors not wringing their hands so hard about those questions, none of which have anything to do with making great comics but often result in bad ones.

Maybe that's why so many of my favorite DC comics have happened outside of continuity. Maybe it's also why such stories are so well represented in lists of all-time best DC stories, albeit with even more that are in continuity. When speaking of what "happened" or "counted," does it really matter whether Dark Knight Returns or Kingdom Come "happened?" Does it matter that Killing Joke didn't happen when it was published but DC has since decided it did happen/count/exist? Speaking of which, I don't even know how the new continuity/multiverse rules apply to something like Kingdom Come.

Did that happen or did it not? I don't know. Do I care whether it happened? I do not. It definitely happened to me when I read it and, whenever I re-read it, it happens again.

[Refrax5]

It's only natural (I guess) that the hero dynamics change over the years. Once very popular heroes are now shoved to the backburner.

Who is one of your favorite DC heroes who used to be a huge deal in the DC Universe who just isn't such a big deal anymore to TPTB at DC Comics?

I don't know if he was ever a big deal exactly, but I remember Sand Hawkins being so prominent in the 2000s JSA series. He was arguably the main character for a good while. I don't remember the last time he even had a line of dialogue.

Kyle Rayner is another candidate. Once upon a time, the three main GLs were considered Alan, Hal, and Kyle, with John and Guy bring viewed more as supporting characters in the mythos. Now he's just one in a huge group and John is far more prominent.

[Riv86672]

Who is one of your favorite DC heroes who used to be a huge deal in the DC Universe who just isn't such a big deal anymore…

^^^NOT one of my favorites, but Hitman fits.
He was written by golden boy Garth Ennis, and pushed hard during the nineties, then thankfully disappeared.