Why do people hate current DC legacy characters so much?

[j9ac9k]

It may also be the issue that some fans can’t come to grips with the fact that they’re getting older and their favorite characters are not.

Batman's a Millennial for Pete's sake!! Dangnabbit!

[Robotman]

Never understood this obsession to age characters, this is fantasy, applying Real life to them is somehow forced. One issue many people have in finding comics so difficult to get in, is continuity. I am in favour of continuity but not a rigid one, just basics.
Clark has all those powers but for some reason he must age like any normal being when he is not a normal being. Just because the Protégé is running. The protege will never take place of Clark. He is just a copy.

It may also be the issue that some fans can’t come to grips with the fact that they’re getting older and their favorite characters are not.

Also many fans have a tendency to take ownership of characters and can’t handle it when the parent company rightfully starts to market the characters to a new generation of fans.

[AnakinFlair]

The only issue I really have is Supes and Bats being permanently 30 while they have decades worth of protégé running around.

This right here is the ultimate problem with Legacy characters. You want to see them take over, but the parent companies will almost never allow it to happen. And even when it does happen, wait a few years or a few decades and it will be undone.

It may also be the issue that some fans can’t come to grips with the fact that they’re getting older and their favorite characters are not.

Also many fans have a tendency to take ownership of characters and can’t handle it when the parent company rightfully starts to market the characters to a new generation of fans.

There's also the issue of characters we grew up with being sidelined, ignored, or shelved for years because someone who's in charge is feeling nostalgic and wants an older character to resume the role that they had moved on from 20 years ago.


Yeah, I'm still bitter about Batgirl.

[Goldrake]

It may also be the issue that some fans can’t come to grips with the fact that they’re getting older and their favorite characters are not.

Also many fans have a tendency to take ownership of characters and can’t handle it when the parent company rightfully starts to market the characters to a new generation of fans.

when we got into comics weren't we a new generation? These characters appealed to us, they can apply to newer generations without need of copies

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I know, my grandfather sponsored a Brazilian family moving to the States. Point is.... It's rather un-interesting as a story telling device. Especially when you have her leave it behind... It just reeks of having the backstory changed mid-story and not actually using her own back story.

Yeah, it was too rushed to come out right, and kinda feels like they also tried changing direction midway.

I guess it was an attempt at saving face. They bit off more than they could handle by making Yara Brazilian so they decided to save face by making her raised in the states before visiting in her 20s.

This right here is the ultimate problem with Legacy characters. You want to see them take over, but the parent companies will almost never allow it to happen. And even when it does happen, wait a few years or a few decades and it will be undone.




There's also the issue of characters we grew up with being sidelined, ignored, or shelved for years because someone who's in charge is feeling nostalgic and wants an older character to resume the role that they had moved on from 20 years ago.


Yeah, I'm still bitter about Batgirl.

It's hard to get invested in legacies once I realized that. They became a disappointment and need an alternate option. Dick becoming Nightwing or Jason becoming Redhood would be a good template.

[Agent Z]

Also many fans have a tendency to take ownership of characters and can’t handle it when the parent company rightfully starts to market the characters to a new generation of fans.

The fans this thread was created to address are the ones doing that.

when we got into comics weren't we a new generation? These characters appealed to us, they can apply to newer generations without need of copies

When I got into comics, Batman was on his third Robin and would later get a fourth, the third Flash had a wife and children, Green Arrow was a grandfather and Superman had a clone and an adopted son.

Newer generations don't have an issue with these copies. That seems more a problem with the older generation who keep complaining about legacy characters.

[skyvolt2000]

when we got into comics weren't we a new generation? These characters appealed to us, they can apply to newer generations without need of copies

That is not always true.

Did we not see a new generation in Star Trek? Dr. Who? Transformers?
Better yet 20+ years of Wally West as the Flash?


As Robotman pointed out

the parent company rightfully starts to market the characters to a new generation of fans.

While MANY of us would prefer the marketing to be done with original characters. We see "copies".

Because you can only go so far with a character at times.

Matrix Supergirl, Cap Marvel Carol Danvers, Batgirl Cassandra Cain and Robin Tim Drake that gave us the longest run of those suits.

In terms of diversity-All your successful POC at DC are legacies. Kyle, Simon, Jessica, Jaime, Steel, the MIA Jason Rusch and Cassandra Cain. All above that 50 solo (or co-starring in Jason, Jessica & Simon's case) issues.

Lets take the start of 2011.

Miles Morales
Malcolm Dragon on Savage Dragon
Cyborg
In terms of solo issues-who got left in the dust?
2015
Miles
Moon Girl
Malcolm Dragon
Cyborg
Who got left in the dust again?

Vixen, Duke, Nubia, Cyborg, Black Lightning, Xs, Tyroc, Bloodwynd, Jackson King and his brother, Frostbite and others-why is there a problem in using them versus the POC legacy route?

That is NOT always on fans. Not even the toxic ones.

That is on the company and the politics of hiring from the good old boy network. Along with bad editors.

[Goldrake]

That is not always true.

Did we not see a new generation in Star Trek? Dr. Who? Transformers?
Better yet 20+ years of Wally West as the Flash?

You cannot make the comparison with a TV Series and comics. Actors age, we are talking of comic characters some nearly 90 years old. I doubt a 90 year old Nimoy would be credible playing as a 30 year old spoch. Regarding Flash, just because exceptions work, does not mean it is the rule. Also at the expense of Flash fanbase like Green Lantern have become tribal, divided in factions, with fans of Barry, Hal etc boycotting comic if they don't include their favorite. Yet still when these characters end in a movie, who ends the up in it, the original or the copy?

As I wrote earlier, why do we have to make copies, instead of creating something new? Lazy creative shortcuts? lack of creativity? unable to come up with something new? Why do why have to use Wonder girl name and not Amazon Girl, Creating total new characters is fresh air. Their own characters not son of or belonging to an old franchise. What in 30years we have the grandson of ?

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

You cannot make the comparison with a TV Series and comics. Actors age, we are talking of comic characters some nearly 90 years old. I doubt a 90 year old Nimoy would be credible playing as a 30 year old spoch. Regarding Flash, just because exceptions work, does not mean it is the rule. Also at the expense of Flash fanbase like Green Lantern have become tribal, divided in factions, with fans of Barry, Hal etc boycotting comic if they don't include their favorite. Yet still when these characters end in a movie, who ends the up in it, the original or the copy?

As I wrote earlier, why do we have to make copies, instead of creating something new? Lazy creative shortcuts? lack of creativity? unable to come up with something new? Why do why have to use Wonder girl name and not Amazon Girl, Creating total new characters is fresh air. Their own characters not son of or belonging to an old franchise. What in 30years we have the grandson of ?

Legacies sell more at Marvel and DC than new characters. Back in the pre 52 and Civil War days, there were a few good new characters. But they ended up in the obscure pile or canon fodder piles. A few new characters have popped up but they are tied to a bigger ip like Batman. That even caused an informal debate on whether creators should create new characters for Marvel and DC or just go indie with them.

Hopefully those 3 are successful and pave the way for more new properties at Marvel and DC.

[BohemiaDrinker]

As I wrote earlier, why do we have to make copies, instead of creating something new? Lazy creative shortcuts? lack of creativity? unable to come up with something new? Why do why have to use Wonder girl name and not Amazon Girl, Creating total new characters is fresh air. Their own characters not son of or belonging to an old franchise. What in 30years we have the grandson of ?

DC owns a number close of 30.000 characters. They don't need to create something new, as their own catalog is not really manageable. Unless there's a very specific need for a new character, it's just easier and more profitable to take a new idea and slap a familiar name in it. Better yet if it's one which never had sales power on their own.

Before Yara, making money of the "Wonder Girl" name was not thought possible. Doesn't always work: great characters like Ryan Choi never took off, and some others like Jaime Reyes were ahead of their time. I can still pretty much guarantee that they sold more as Blue Beetle and Atom than they would have as "BugArmor" and "Neutrino".

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

In hindsight, Future State and New age of heroes characters would've been better suited for an Ultimates DC style line. An Ultimate DC line is rumored so that could be a good home for them now.

[marhawkman]

In hindsight, Future State and New age of heroes characters would've been better suited for an Ultimates DC style line. An Ultimate DC line is rumored so that could be a good home for them now.

Yeah, Future state was a way of moving the story forwards, but they flubbed it :/

Never understood this obsession to age characters, this is fantasy, applying Real life to them is somehow forced. One issue many people have in finding comics so difficult to get in, is continuity. I am in favour of continuity but not a rigid one, just basics.
Clark has all those powers but for some reason he must age like any normal being when he is not a normal being. Just because the Protégé is running. The protege will never take place of Clark. He is just a copy.

Well, if you write them as people with lives.... they DON'T just... stay the same. Continuity is only a problem if readers think they NEED to know all of it.

MC2 and Dragon Ball are good examples. Time moves forwards, it doesn't just.... stay the same, "Evergreen" continuity.... is boring because you know that nothing actually matters.

[Aahz]

Vixen, Duke, Nubia, Cyborg, Black Lightning, Xs, Tyroc, Bloodwynd, Jackson King and his brother, Frostbite and others-why is there a problem in using them versus the POC legacy route?

I guess because characaters that don't have an established mantle are usually not selling all that well.

I mean what was the last time a new DC Character without an established mantle managed to keep series going for something like 50+ issues? I might overlook something but I think it was Garth Ennis Hitman, and that was over 20 years ago.

These days when ever DC launches a book that's not staring a "big" character it usually doesn't even take two years before it gets cancelled because of low sales.

And i think they have over done even the Leagacy thing to the point that it is not really working all that well anymore.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Never understood this obsession to age characters, this is fantasy, applying Real life to them is somehow forced. One issue many people have in finding comics so difficult to get in, is continuity. I am in favour of continuity but not a rigid one, just basics.
Clark has all those powers but for some reason he must age like any normal being when he is not a normal being. Just because the Protégé is running. The protege will never take place of Clark. He is just a copy.

I'm like that with kid characters. I'm more into Digimon/Harry Potter because they had forward momentum compared to Pokémon which went in circles and lost appeal pretty fast.

Yeah, Future state was a way of moving the story forwards, but they flubbed it :/

5g was more complicated than it needed to be. Ironically Future's end had the right idea.

[Aahz]

I'm like that with kid characters. I'm more into Digimon/Harry Potter because they had forward momentum compared to Pokémon which went in circles and lost appeal pretty fast.

On the other hand Pokemon has run for 26 Seasons Digimon has only 9 sofar.

I think there is place for both but for series that are supposed to run basically for ever no or super slow ageing is likely the better approach, I mean do you think DC would be really in a better shape if we were now allready at the 4th+ incarnation of Batman and Superman?