Why Create A New Character When You Could've Used...?

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

The problem DC is that when they acquire new IPs they squeeze them onto the main earth(whichever) one is currently being used. Instead, they should first give the IPs their own earth where they exist in their original form. Then pick and choose the ones that will work or fill a need on the main earth. A few examples, Zealot&the Coda from Wildstorm woul work great with Wonder Woman. You don’t need Artemis and her city, you can have the Coda buried secretly in Man’s world. Another example. the Charlton Heroes. They could be ‘60s heroes. They’d be perfect. After all they were created in the 60s. Now additions to the main universe might require some alteration but I don’t think much.

Grant Morrison used the Charlton heroes on Earth 4. Maybe having them be there would be interesting. They have their own playground.

If Gunn adapts Doomsday clock, having Earth 4 be used instead of Watchmen would be better to me. I don't mind more watchmen but I'm not into them running into Superman etc.

[RogueWhistler]

I think that more than any other group of alternate earth/company characters, the Charlton Heroes benefitted from being placed on the main earth with series like JLI and Suicide Squad. They may not be used very well now, but I wouldn't want them shunted off to to their own earth.

[Riv86672]

I think that more than any other group of alternate earth/company characters, the Charlton Heroes benefitted from being placed on the main earth with series like JLI and Suicide Squad. They may not be used very well now, but I wouldn't want them shunted off to to their own earth.

^^^They were intergrated pretty smoothly, I’ve always said that.

[SiegePerilous02]

To be fair, Mala was also Diana's BFF, so making her an antagonistic character would've been a major departure. He could've used one of the existing rogue Amazons though like Dalma.

Yeah, we don't need more Wonder Woman supporting characters turned into villains on a whim.

It's a bit early to tell how villainous Emelie will be. It's possible she's a victim of the Lasso of Lies. In the flashback of the Contest, Emelie is pretty much putting on a front to challenge Diana, but we otherwise don't know what their relationship was like.

If she is more independently villainous, then yeah, it'd be better not to use Mala.

[Kaijudo]

Emperor Joker was also a cross-title event so Joker wasn't as weird as if it was a solo Superman story.

Also... the event created NEW characters! Granted only one had any real longevity(Scorch got used in JLA stuff later)... and one had a mystery box we never got to see play out(Ignition). Joker had the "big bad " role, but not all the screen time.

It was a cross-title event over four solo Superman books, so in a way it was a solo Superman story. It's not like Emperor Joker stories also appeared that month in Aquaman, Firestorm, and the Legion of Superheroes, like most company-wide events do.

And yeah, it created new characters, who had staying power or not, but within the confines of that story it made sense, because the Joker creating an alternate universe team to fight Superman doesn't lend itself to established characters, obviously.

[Kaijudo]

I think that more than any other group of alternate earth/company characters, the Charlton Heroes benefitted from being placed on the main earth with series like JLI and Suicide Squad. They may not be used very well now, but I wouldn't want them shunted off to to their own earth.

I'd agree with this. I really got into DC with Crisis on Infinite Earths, so a lot of the alternate Earth appeal is lost on me, but in the years since I'd say that if people insisted on putting the JSA on a new Earth-2, the Fawcett heroes on a new Earth-S, etc., it'd be a mistake not leaving the Charlton heroes on the main Earth, with the JLA, Titans, etc. Even getting past things like the Beetle/Booster bromance, their current incarnations are all unique enough from what was previously on Earth-1 (Beetle as a costumed science hero (and by extension Jaime as a Peter Parker type), Captain Atom and Peacemaker as different militaristic/government types, Nightshade combining magic and espionage) that they don't suffer the overt issues of redundancy that a JLA vs. JSA or Superman vs. Captain Marvel/Shazam/The Captain do.

[Riv86672]

I'd agree with this. I really got into DC with Crisis on Infinite Earths, so a lot of the alternate Earth appeal is lost on me, but in the years since I'd say that if people insisted on putting the JSA on a new Earth-2, the Fawcett heroes on a new Earth-S, etc., it'd be a mistake not leaving the Charlton heroes on the main Earth, with the JLA, Titans, etc. Even getting past things like the Beetle/Booster bromance, their current incarnations are all unique enough from what was previously on Earth-1 (Beetle as a costumed science hero (and by extension Jaime as a Peter Parker type), Captain Atom and Peacemaker as different militaristic/government types, Nightshade combining magic and espionage) that they don't suffer the overt issues of redundancy that a JLA vs. JSA or Superman vs. Captain Marvel/Shazam/The Captain do.

^^^Word.

The Wildstorm characters would def. benefit from their own Earth. Same w. The Freedom Fighters.

[Nomads1]

Why create Jason Todd when you already had Dick Grayson (and those who know the story know that originally, Jason was a redhead carbon copy of Dick)? Also, why create Daimon Wayne when you already had Tim Drake?
Those were the first which instantly came to mind. I'm sure more will follow.

Peace

[Kaijudo]

^^^Word.

The Wildstorm characters would def. benefit from their own Earth. Same w. The Freedom Fighters.

I'm with you on the Wildstorm characters, who always feel a bit shoehorned in whenever they interact with DC folks. Being created as a middle finger to the Big Two methodology feels like it's worked against them as they've been integrated into one of the Big Two.

Freedom Fighters, I get, but there are a few variations of the characters I wouldn't mind sticking around the main Earth, like the Ray and the newest Black Condor (to say nothing of Plastic Man). There could be other versions interacting with the Fighters on Earth-X.

[Jon Clark]

Why create Jason Todd when you already had Dick Grayson (and those who know the story know that originally, Jason was a redhead carbon copy of Dick)? Also, why create Daimon Wayne when you already had Tim Drake?
Those were the first which instantly came to mind. I'm sure more will follow.

Peace

In Jason's case it was an attempt to restore the Batman & Robin dynamic without rolling back the character growth of Dick Grayson. It was also a way to remove Dick Grayson from the control of the Bat-editorial office for better use in the New Teen Titans.

And Damian has a blood connection to Batman that couldn't be explored with any prior Robin.

To me the only ones that made no sense were Post-Crisis Jason and Tim Drake as they basically made Jason unlikable then killed him off only to then introduce Tim. If the idea had been to create a Robin with Tim's characterization, they could have either rebooted Jason in Crissi to that or slowly made Jason grow that way. No need for a kill and replace

[marhawkman]

In Jason's case it was an attempt to restore the Batman & Robin dynamic without rolling back the character growth of Dick Grayson. It was also a way to remove Dick Grayson from the control of the Bat-editorial office for better use in the New Teen Titans.

And Damian has a blood connection to Batman that couldn't be explored with any prior Robin.

To me the only ones that made no sense were Post-Crisis Jason and Tim Drake as they basically made Jason unlikable then killed him off only to then introduce Tim. If the idea had been to create a Robin with Tim's characterization, they could have either rebooted Jason in Crissi to that or slowly made Jason grow that way. No need for a kill and replace

Well... Damian is actually a remake of Ibn al-Xafusch so.... not exactly as new as some think.

[Riv86672]

Freedom Fighters, I get, but there are a few variations of the characters I wouldn't mind sticking around the main Earth, like the Ray and the newest Black Condor (to say nothing of Plastic Man). There could be other versions interacting with the Fighters on Earth-X.

^^^Agreed, in regards to individual characters.
The whole FF concept though, deserves its own earth, as that alternate history is what sets it apart.
But yeah, individual characters in the main DCU can easily have alternate versions in that reality.

[Jon Clark]

Well... Damian is actually a remake of Ibn al-Xafusch so.... not exactly as new as some think.

Not new, but like I said you couldn't have slotted Dick or Tim into a Damian story and had it work the same. Jason you might have been able to rework Ra's role in the resurrection to leave Jason in a role close to Damian's but it wouldn't be exactly the same.

Sometimes there is enough differentiation that having multiple characters around makes sense. A story involving the long term Titans works better with Wally than Barry. A story with the Big Seven of the JL has more depth with Hal than with John or Kyle. But a generic stpry that just needs Batman to have a partner pull off a last second save might not read differently whether you use Babs, Dick, Tim ,,,

[Thirteen]

To me the only ones that made no sense were Post-Crisis Jason and Tim Drake as they basically made Jason unlikable then killed him off only to then introduce Tim. If the idea had been to create a Robin with Tim's characterization, they could have either rebooted Jason in Crissi to that or slowly made Jason grow that way. No need for a kill and replace

Readers at the time felt differently regarding the need for Jason to DIE. and DC had the stones to follow thru...

[Fergus]

I have one: why the hell did we have to create Naomi when we had Vixen sitting right there in limbo?

"we've been sitting on this amazing African female character for decades, but instead of giving her a chance to shine, let's create a new one".... ????

now we get Mari in BoP and I haven't seen Naomi mentioned anywhere since her creator disappeared, so I guess I've been vindicated on this one? lol

Vixen and Naomi aren't interchangeable. In the context of the thread alternating the two doesn't work. You can't use Vixen in a story that written for Naomi. They have nothing in common aside from dark skin and same gender.

It's like saying why have Clark Kent when there's Jason Todd.