I Said What I Said And Will Stand By It To The Death!

[marshal88]

hal and barry should have stayed dead.

[exile001]

Lots of characters should either be killed, retconned out of existence or given a story reason for why they hanged up the cape and we'll never see them again.

THIS!

This should be used liberally for when characters are going into limbo (or have been there for a while). Bat-Fam too big? Have a few go to college. Too many Earth Lanterns? Have a few retire. B-Listers who were big a few decades ago but can't find a place? Hang up the cape! Getting increasingly awkward having WW2 era JSA-ers about? Train in a non-combat capacity.

Not everyone needs to be killed off dramatically or kept around as backgrounds fodder during Crises. Have some just hang it up. It's honestly a pretty realistic (if mundane) ending for the C-Listers and below, hit their 30's and bam, it's time to settle down.

This goes for villains, too.

[Laser_Man]

Superman's friendship with Batman has only been a net negative for him.

He get reduced to second fiddle in literally every single one of their team-ups, and sometimes Batman even steals spotlight when he is only guest starring in Superman's books. Meanwhile, Superman's role is limited to being beaten up in Batman stories.

Another problem is that a lot of writers use the World's Finest brand as an excuse to write Batman when they are assigned a Superman story (like Mark Russell in Superman: Space Age). Superman needs to shine on his own away from Batman's shadow. Even the birth of his son Jon, was a moment where Batman was a focal point.

Same is true for Wonder Woman in the concept of Trinity with Batman and Superman. Their teamups have never done anything positive for her, just made her the damsel in distress or potential love interest for them.

[exile001]

My hill to die on?

DC has, for decades, done a consistently terrible job of promoting and elevating mid-lower level characters and now it's probably too late to shift audience perception. This rot has spread so thoroughly that even the Big 7 (outside Batman) and the Justice League itself struggle to maintain an audience.

One Year Later was probably the tipping point, but even when given a fresh slate with the New 52 they quickly made a lot of the same mistakes (along with new and innovative **** ups!).

There's 100 reasons for this, but broadly it has been long term editorial mismanagement.

[Commissioner Wayne]

COIE was a great read but its outcome ruined DC Comics.

[DrNewGod]

THIS!

This should be used liberally for when characters are going into limbo (or have been there for a while). Bat-Fam too big? Have a few go to college. Too many Earth Lanterns? Have a few retire. B-Listers who were big a few decades ago but can't find a place? Hang up the cape! Getting increasingly awkward having WW2 era JSA-ers about? Train in a non-combat capacity.

Not everyone needs to be killed off dramatically or kept around as backgrounds fodder during Crises. Have some just hang it up. It's honestly a pretty realistic (if mundane) ending for the C-Listers and below, hit their 30's and bam, it's time to settle down.

This goes for villains, too.

That was one of the best things about Astro City.

[Hol]

Identity Crisis is a great story and kicked off an amazing string of comics for 5 years.

[HsssH]

Yeah, obviously writing characters out is preferable to killing or retconning them, but you know, sometimes you don't have the time. And well, who cares about someone like Tim getting a story about his retirement? Just kill the fool in one panel and move on.

That was one of the best things about Astro City.

We probably can create an entire thread about "good things in Astro City".

[Marvell2100]

Batman is just a normal guy dressed like a bat.

[Gaius]

Making WW the daughter of Zeus was misogynistic and so are all attempts to defend it.

[ducklord]

The concept of a "secret identity" in the 21st century is increasingly laughable.

If you're a normal dude running around in a costume these days, and you seriously get on the government's radar, they're gonna find out who you are.

The number of technological hoops Bruce Wayne has to jump through to keep the Feds off his case must be staggering, and he's a billionaire.

[Laser_Man]

That was one of the best things about Astro City.

Astro City felt like such a living breathing world. One of the best comic book universes.

[Timber Wolf-By-Night]

Starling's a pointless and stupid character made up of nothing but "bad girl" cliches.

Geoff Johns can't write a believable romantic relationship to save his life. He's stuck in a 12-year-old's mentality about what makes a "cool" romantic relationship, which is why his Superman/Wonder Woman, Kon-El/Cassie Sandsmark, and Hourman/Liberty Belle all suck.

Constantly forcing Black Canary into a relationship with Green Arrow has always been detrimental to her.

Limiting the Justice League to only facing "cosmic multiversal reality shattering" threats and events is what killed it. Writers went so over-the-top trying to top each other by creating ever-more-larger and abstract threats to all creation or realities that it just reached a point that I long ago stopped caring about the League. I don't want to see a Michael Bay movie every time I go see a movie, why would I want to read the equivalent every time I read a comic book?

[Marvell2100]

DC doesn't know what to do with the Legion of Superheroes anymore.

New Gods too for that matter.

[BatmanJones]

...or at least to a rude comment that hurts my feelings.

Legends was far better than Crisis On Infinite Earths.

Couldn’t agree more