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

[failo.legendkiller]

THE ATOM!!!
Why he is so forgotten? He was JL material

[Frontier]

THE ATOM!!!
Why he is so forgotten? He was JL material

Who even is the main Atom at this point? Feels like they treat Ray or Ryan interchangeably.

[HsssH]

This is true. Back in the day, THE COMIC READER would list which comics were top sellers in direct sales shops (as opposed to mass market sales) and it seemed like THE WARLORD was always in the top ten, along with a bunch of Marvel titles.

However, they did revive WARLORD after One Year Later. But it was so different from the Mike Grell original and not in a good way. It was put out of its misery after ten issues.

I don't know what the creative rights are on that. It seems like Mike Grell should own a piece of it. He created Travis Morgan just around the time when creative rights were becoming a thing. The AQUAMAN movie (which made over a billion dollars) kind of referenced Skartaris. And if they had gone ahead with more spin-off movies, I could see the Warlord as being introduced that way. Why they lost interest in doing more with Aquaman is one of those great mysteries--do I need to repeat myself--it made over a billion dollars!

Maybe it just went out of fashion? Conan is still selling, but I'm not aware of anything else in that genre moving units these days. I guess you could add Red Sonja from Dynamite, but I'd argue that she sells for different reasons.

[Lvenger]

A lot of my choices have been rightly posted already so a lot of these will be repeated:

• Kyle Rayner - Used to be a major deal in the late 90s-early 2000s as the only Green Lantern on Earth and the Justice League. Once Hal came back and more human GLs were introduced, Kyle's importance diminished. He's struggling to maintain relevance between Hal Jordan, John Stewart & Jessica Cruz's media appearances along with Jo Mullein's creation.
• Plastic Man - Similar deal to Kyle minus the sole Green Lantern aspect. Used to appear across DC and was a longstanding JLA member. Since the New 52 he's barely appeared at all and the last time he appeared in an ongoing series was The Terrifics.
• Captain Marvel/Shazam - For the character whose series once outsold Superman, the World's Mightiest Mortal has certainly fallen from grace. DC started using Billy less and less after Infinite Crisis, and the New 52 caused outrage from longtime Shazam fans with Johns' huge changes to the character and his lore. Even with the attempt to create a more marketable brand for a movie, Shazam has dipped in and out of appearances in DC during the 2010s.
• The Young Justice Generation - They've been getting their dues in the last couple of years, but the 2010s were not kind to the Young Justice generation in comics.
• Tim Drake - As someone else has said in a previous post, Tim has gone from being a fan favourite Robin to one of the least popular Robins.
• Jaimie Reyes - Jaimie had a lot going for him in the first few years of his creation. A couple of ongoings, appearances in Batman: Brave & The Bold and Young Justice along with a Smallville cameo. But the last 5 or so years have had nothing for Jaimie. Hopefully the movie and new series will help.

[krazijoe]

Damage (Grant Emerson)

[Bruce Wayne]

• Tim Drake - As someone else has said in a previous post, Tim has gone from being a fan favourite Robin to one of the least popular Robins.

Because he has been made redundant. In the O'Neil era it was only him and Dick (who was Nightwing) and Jason was dead. Tim was the "good" Robin and the one who could overcome the stain of DitF and potentially become Batman. That's no longer the case with Jason alive and now Damian as Robin. Tim has nothing that could make him standout compared to the others. Dick has almost 80 years of DC history, Jason is the Robin who uses guns and shoots people, Damian is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al'ghul, Tim hasn't any of these hooks so he is the boring vanille coke Robin.

Likewise with the aborted 5G project and the introduction Yara is doing something similar to Wonder Girl/Cassie. The idea of creating more new sidekicks is frankly self-defeating and just another flaw of the previous leadership who seems to have no attachment or even utter disdain for the 90s YJ generation because the post-crisis era was icky and run by girls.

[DrNewGod]

THE ATOM!!!
Why he is so forgotten? He was JL material

First: I love The Mighty Mite. There wasn't one thing about him I didn't think was really, seriously cool.

That said, he never thrived. He peaked very early, which is when he joined the Justice League, and he has struggled ever since. (A lot like another favorite of mine: the Hawkman - makes a certain amount of sense they wound up having to share a book that didn't make it).

He's never gone for long, but he never quite seems to make it out of the cellar. I sometimes think that his powers demand too much exposition from a writer, and thought from a reader. It's tough to visually convey increases in mass.

Diminutive heroes have always had a hard time reaching success (ba-dum-bum). The Wasp gets away with it at Marvel because she doesn't have to carry a title, and she gets to be the cool fun one in the Avengers. Still, the Atom and the Hawkman remain my favorite Justice league members. Maybe they just need the right writer.

[Jim Kelly]

Before there was Ace the Bat-Hound or Krypto the Superdog, there was Rex the Wonder Dog.

Dogs have long been favourites in fiction and real life. Stories of Lassie date back to the 1800s. Rin Tin Tin was a real life canine hero in the First World War before he was a movie star.

For a while, Alan Scott the Green Lantern was pushed off the cover of his own comic book by his pet, Streak the Wonder Dog. Issues 34, 36,and 38 of GREEN LANTERN let the Wonder Dog have the cover all to himself. Even with GREEN LANTERN being cancelled and ALL-AMERICAN COMICS already having given Alan Scott the boot so it could become ALL-AMERICAN WESTERN, Streak dog-paddled over to SENSATION COMICS for three issues (91, 92, 93). That was the end of Streak, but not the end of the Wonder Dog.

Streak had been created by comic book legends, Bob Kanigher and Alex Toth--for "The Saga of Streak" in GREEN LANTERN 30 (February-March 1948). Kanigher and Toth teamed up again to create Rex the Wonder Dog for his own comic book, THE ADVENTURES OF REX THE WONDER DOG--the first issue cover dated January-February 1952.

Toth didn't stay on the REX run for long, issue 3 being his last. Gil Kane debuted as the WONDER DOG artist in the second Rex story for that issue. In issue 4 (July-August 1952), someone else made his debut in his own back-up feature--Detective Chimp, created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino. Everybody remembers Detective Chimp, but not the heroic hound that gave him his start.

Broome soon took over the writing on Rex, as well. Gil Kane did the covers in addition to the Wonder Dog tales inside--right up to the end of the comic, issue 46 (September-October 1959). It was probably scheduling problems that sent the Wonder Dog to a farm upstate. Editor Julie Schwartz needed John Broome and Carmine Infantino on THE FLASH. While Broome and Gil Kane would be busy with their new comic book, GREEN LANTERN.

[Kaine322]

First: I love The Mighty Mite. There wasn't one thing about him I didn't think was really, seriously cool.

That said, he never thrived. He peaked very early, which is when he joined the Justice League, and he has struggled ever since. (A lot like another favorite of mine: the Hawkman - makes a certain amount of sense they wound up having to share a book that didn't make it).

He's never gone for long, but he never quite seems to make it out of the cellar. I sometimes think that his powers demand too much exposition from a writer, and thought from a reader. It's tough to visually convey increases in mass.

Diminutive heroes have always had a hard time reaching success (ba-dum-bum). The Wasp gets away with it at Marvel because she doesn't have to carry a title, and she gets to be the cool fun one in the Avengers. Still, the Atom and the Hawkman remain my favorite Justice league members. Maybe they just need the right writer.

Well said, my friend!

[DrNewGod]

Well said, my friend!

Not my pleasure, as it comes at The Atom's expense, but thank you.

[Jim Kelly]

Earth-One's Hawkman debuted months ahead of Earth-One's the Atom--THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 34 (February-March 1961) vs. SHOWCASE 34 (September-October 1961).

Despite this fact, Ray Palmer got his own comic book first, immediately after his three issue try-out in SHOWCASE. And it was not long after THE ATOM 1 (June-July 1962) that the Tiny Titan won membership in the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA--issue 14 (September 1962).

Katar Hol failed to win his own comic after his first three issue try-out and then had to endure another three issue try-out in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, with still no offers from the Justice League.

The Thanagarian next served a term in MYSTERY IN SPACE for five issues (87 - 91), until finally he was given his own book--HAWKMAN 1 (April-May 1964). And after four issues of that title, he finally got the call from the J.L.A.--winning membership with issue 31 (November 1964) of their title, a full two years after the Atom.

When HAWKMAN folded, he had to go into Ray's book which became THE ATOM AND HAWKMAN with issue 39 (October-November 1968). What a comedown for the Winged Wonder.

[Jim Kelly]

I wouldn’t call him a hero but Lobo is definitely not the big deal he was in the 90s.

Indeed. I wonder if this happened because the creators who liked the character are no longer around or because the fans who liked the character are no longer around. Maybe both. Does the Punisher at Marvel still have a following? Maybe "Dark Age" characters are on the skids.

[HsssH]

Punisher still has a following and some controversy due to far-right lunatic liking his skull logo. But besides that Punisher is much stronger character than Lobo, comparison isn't fair at all.

[Jim Kelly]

Punisher still has a following and some controversy due to far-right lunatic liking his skull logo. But besides that Punisher is much stronger character than Lobo, comparison isn't fair at all.

No comparison of the characters intended. Sorry if that somehow appeared in my post (but I don't see it). It's only that when I think of the so-called "Dark Age" of comics, the first Marvel character that comes to mind is the Punisher. And Lobo seems like a character that was trying to monopolize on the grim-dark trend--albeit in a completely different kind of comic.

Of course, both characters came before that. The Punisher in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 129 (February 1974)--I didn't have the luck to get that comic at the time, but did get the Punisher's third issue appearance in 135 (August 1974) when it arrived at the mini-mart.

Lobo didn't appear until OMEGA MEN 3 (June 1983). And to me, Lobo was just supposed to be a silly character and not taken seriously. His space dolphins being an example of how over-the-top Lobo was meant to be. That makes me think of the equally goofy Luc Besson movie THE BIG BLUE (1988), where the diving hero of the film has dolphins in his swimming pool. But when Alan Grant got hold of Lobo, he seemed to take him in a darker direction--if it was supposed to be funny, I didn't get the joke--especially in the Lobo mini-series and ongoing comic.

[ayanestar]

Because he has been made redundant. In the O'Neil era it was only him and Dick (who was Nightwing) and Jason was dead. Tim was the "good" Robin and the one who could overcome the stain of DitF and potentially become Batman. That's no longer the case with Jason alive and now Damian as Robin. Tim has nothing that could make him standout compared to the others. Dick has almost 80 years of DC history, Jason is the Robin who uses guns and shoots people, Damian is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al'ghul, Tim hasn't any of these hooks so he is the boring vanille coke Robin.

Likewise with the aborted 5G project and the introduction Yara is doing something similar to Wonder Girl/Cassie. The idea of creating more new sidekicks is frankly self-defeating and just another flaw of the previous leadership who seems to have no attachment or even utter disdain for the 90s YJ generation because the post-crisis era was icky and run by girls.

Tim is known as the bisexual Robin now, maybe that will keep him from becoming completely irrelevant.