Here's a thing I've been contemplating about the DCU recently - tying certain characters to the eras they were originally introduced.
As we all know, the modern DCU timeline operates with a floating "now" that always nudges forward over time. Superman always debuted somewhere around 20 years ago, the Titans always formed for the first time around 15 years ago, and so on.
As a consequence, the gap between DC's Golden Age of super-heroes (aka the WWII era) and the Modern Age keeps getting wider and wider. And that's, y'know, fine. In some ways that widening gap between these two eras makes the explosion of modern day super heroes in the DCU all the more exciting - for decades after the Golden Age there were practically no super-heroes, then BAM, Superman shows up and suddenly the skies are thick with 'em. Cool.
But that also means that there are more and more decades in which the DCU, there's really a dearth of *any* established adventurers, 'cause DC keeps dragging *all* of them into the Modern Age.
Me, I say, leave a few of them in the past. The ones that are evocative of a particular era, that don't really stomp all over the (soft) "no costumed super-heroes between the Golden and Modern Ages" rule. Let the spirit of adventure live in the DCU during these decades, but at a low boil.
Here's a few of my proposals, by era:
The Golden Age
Pinned to the Past
As it is now, I'd keep almost all of the Golden Age super-heroes pinned to their original era. Most of them are so identified with WWII it'd be a hassle to move them anywhere else.
Allowed to Slide Forward
Zatara, since his whole story is tied to his daughter in the Modern Age (and since he's less of a super-hero and more of an adventurer) should be allowed to slide up in the timeline as necessary.
Debatable Characters
Should Plastic Man slide up? Should Wonder Woman debut in the Golden Age? What about Black Canary?
The Silver Age
Pinned to the Past
* Captain Comet - As one of the very first Silver Age characters, and one with an extremely Silver Age vibe, I believe that Mr. Blake's initial adventures should be set in the early 50's, more or less at the time they were published. Given his mutant status, and the fact that he spends so much time in space, him having decades of adventures far from Earth wouldn't muck up the timeline too much. Plus, I like the idea of a 90+ year old Captain Comet, nigh-immortal, wandering the universe looking for adventures.
* J'Onn J'Onnz - I imagine J'Onn, living in secrecy for decades, taking on any number of disguises, before Superman shows up and he decides it's time to go public.
* Challengers of the Unknown - The proto-Fantastic Four just feel like they should be fighting giant monsters in the 60's, don't they? Besides, I think they're immortal these days, too (there's a lot of that going around).
* The Sea Devils, Cave Carson, and Rip Hunter's Time Masters - All of these groups are extremely Silver Age-y in nature, fit the "adventurers, not super-heroes" bill, and probably should be characters of their time, sez I. The Sea Devils in particular seem ripe for having a multigenerational legacy that stretches into the Modern Age.
Debatable Characters
* The Inferior Five feel like characters that could have been failed attempts at a new generations of super-heroes.
* Some might suggest that Hawk and Dove could be tied to the 60's, but I think their concept easily shifts forward in time. Plus, they're wayyyy tied to the Titans.
Now it gets trickier, because the shared universe of the DCU starts getting more interconnected, making it harder to pin characters to the past. That said, I've got a few...
The Bronze Age
Pinned to the Past
* Prez - Granted, Prez's connection to the main DCU is tenuous at best. But as we get further and further into the future, the idea that in the late 70's, Prez Rickard was a successful president of the USA for two terms (a la Neil Gaiman) holds more an more appeal.
* Black Orchid - Just because.
* The Freedom Fighters - I don't know how, but I just really like the idea of an Uncle Sam-led team being active during the Bicentennial.
Debatable Characters
* Black Lightning - His original stories were SUCH a product of the time, that it would feel damn cool to pin his origins back to the 70's. But I realize that having a 70+ year old Black LIghtning running around the modern DCU is probably a non-starter.
After the, I've got virtually nothing. The post-Crisis DCU is so interconnected that the notion of making *any* character a period character seems too difficult to pull off. I suppose you could make an argument that Fate could retconned to be a character forever pinned to the 90's.
What do you think? Am I missing any obvious characters that should be pinned to the original eras? Is the whole idea silly in the first place?