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

[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.

[Bruce Wayne]

Captain Atom, Kyle (GL), and the YJ4 are good shouts.

The YJ generation is more due to shifting editorial priorities and the view at DC at the time the post-90s generation of sidekicks were no good. It doesn't help that they were going to be superseceded by the 5G iterations.

Given how DC continues to crap on them, they should just give us the Titans of Tomorrow versions instead and make them the failed generation or something. At least DC could be honest about their agenda for once about how much they dislike the post-Crisis gen.

[Jim Kelly]

Fauntleroy Fox and Crawford Crow, "the Fox and the Crow," were in a series of cartoons from Columbia/Screen Gems, starting in 1940 and ending production in 1950. They were licensed to National Comics (D.C.) beginning in 1945, appearing in the first issue of REAL SCREEN FUNNIES (Spring 1945). That became REAL SCREEN COMICS with the second issue (much later, TV SCREEN CARTOONS) and Fox and the Crow were in every issue, ending with TV SCREEN CARTOONS 138 (January-February 1961). They also appeared in COMIC CAVALCADE 30 (December 1948 - January 1949) - 63 (June-July 1954).

THE FOX AND THE CROW got their own comic in 1951, first issue cover dated December 1951 - January 1952. Stanley and His Monster were added as a feature in the comic with issue 95 (December 1965 - January 1966) and soon took over the covers. Issue 108 (February-March 1968) was the last for Fauntleroy Fox and Crawford Crow as the title officially became STANLEY AND HIS MONSTER with issue 109 (April-May 1968) and ended at 112 (October-November 1968).

For a time in the 1950s the pair were featured in three different titles--the same as Batman and Robin. Which I think puts them in the publisher's top three, circa 1953.

[Twice-named]

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

[Vordan]

Green Lantern as a franchise was neck and neck with Batman at one point, and then fell off hard after Reynolds’s movie bombed. Legion of Superheroes used to be one of DC’s most popular franchises, but the Post Crisis decoupling of Superboy from them began their long decline. For individual heroes I guess Plastic Man? Used to be all over the place, was a Justice Leaguer, but now he cameos once in a blue moon.

Oh and Tim Drake used to be the Robin but now he’s the last popular of the main four (Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian).

^^^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.

Uh he died dude. Ennis himself killed him off at the end of his series.

[Dr. Poison]

Blue Devil. In the 80s he had his own series, they talked about putting him on the Justice League, and he was scheduled to get a Super Powers figure. Now he gets brief appearances at best.

[Riv86672]

Uh he died dude.

^^^Yeah, in 2001.
This site doesn’t have enough bandwidth to list how many other DC characters have died and come back since then, multiple times.

[Timber Wolf-By-Night]

^^^Yeah, in 2001.
This site doesn’t have enough bandwidth to list how many other DC characters have died and come back since then, multiple times.

But like Robinson and Jack Knight's retirement, Ennis intended Tommy Monaghan's death to be one and done. How many of those deaths that you're talking about were cynical marketing ploys? How many were intended to be for real, only for somebody at DC to say, "We own this character, so we're going to bring them back and continue to make money off of them?"

I've seen fans elsewhere demand Jack Knight's return, and to hell with Robinson's planned ending. Even to the point of demanding his family be killed off to motivate him back into superheroing. I'm not convinced any other writer could capture his voice, so I'd prefer the ending be respected.

(Fans kept suggesting Blue Devil join Giffen's JLI, but he actively resisted it. Frankly, I think fans were too busy thinking "JLI and Blue Devil are both funny" to realize that they were different kinds of funny. BD didn't join until Gerard Jones was writing, and his run was so forgettable it didn't do Devil any favors.)

[Shockingjustice]

Someone on a thread a long time ago Steel had the longest running Black comic. He also got a movie, and then kinda disappeared.

[Riv86672]

But like Robinson and Jack Knight's retirement, Ennis intended Tommy Monaghan's death to be one and done.

^^^I know he did.

How many of those deaths that you're talking about were cynical marketing ploys? How many were intended to be for real, only for somebody at DC to say, "We own this character, so we're going to bring them back and continue to make money off of them?"

^^^Not sure of the exact number but, I know I wasn’t responsible for any of them, just pointing out the facts.

[Riv86672]

Someone on a thread a long time ago Steel had the longest running Black comic. He also got a movie, and then kinda disappeared.

^^^Isn’t SPAWN the longest running comic w. a black lead?

[Digifiend]

Maybe they meant just DC? I'm pretty sure Miles Morales would be ahead of Steel by now.

[Bruce Wayne]

Someone on a thread a long time ago Steel had the longest running Black comic. He also got a movie, and then kinda disappeared.

A lot of the 90s post-Crisis characters got this treatment because of the management that ran DC during the 2000s and 2010s didn't really care for them since they weren't "their" characters. The cancelled 5G event is a testament to that mindset.

[Vordan]

Someone on a thread a long time ago Steel had the longest running Black comic. He also got a movie, and then kinda disappeared.

Yeah it was because of that movie it was so bad it hurt his brand. But he never fully disappeared. He was in Morrison JLA, he was one of the leads of 52, Morrison brought him into the New 52 early on in their Action run, right now Wole Parks is playing him in S&L (his second live action incarnation since that movie), he’s in the current Action Comics run and he’s getting his own mini with his niece Nat. He’s on the rebound right now.

[Refrax5]

A lot of the 90s post-Crisis characters got this treatment because of the management that ran DC during the 2000s and 2010s didn't really care for them since they weren't "their" characters. The cancelled 5G event is a testament to that mindset.

It's weird being a kid that started reading comics in the 90s because so many characters that were such a huge part of my early comics experience are gone or kicked down to the c-list now. I'm lucky in that I always appreciated the classic characters as well as the ones of my generation, but it's weird to be like "My Thor is Eric Masterson" in 2023.