Titans Together! Teen Titans Appreciation

[Flashback]

But this is seriously the most I've seen anybody ever talk about Hotspot. If he wasn't killed off in this, he'd likely be on the shelf forever.

He hasn't appeared in comics for a long time, so of course you haven't seen anybody talk about him for sometime.

[SiegePerilous02]

He hasn't appeared in comics for a long time, so of course you haven't seen anybody talk about him for sometime.

Yes, and why hasn't he appeared in comics in a long time? Because DC has no interest in using him and he hasn't been used enough to attract new fans, so not enough fans know or care enough that he exists to demand more appearances or provide enough data for DC to think that a Hotspot mini or spot on the Titans or JL would sell like gangbusters.

[Godlike13]

Lets see if the series he was in was NEVER put in trades along with most of his appearances-yeah it would be a real reason why no talks about him or his teammates.

And WHOSE fault is that? Then again when trying to bury the legacy of Titans (mainly Tim Drake era) keeping them out of print or killing them seems to be the game.

It's not so much the lack of talk but yet another event taking out folks who have not been seen. How about doing it to guys who did more than background or cameo duty? If you are really trying to sell this story.

Oh please, characters like Hotspot, and that whole generation, was further buried by Tim Drake's era and DC's decade attempt to make them the prominent Titans. Regardless though, who give a **** who's fault it is. Lets not try to make Hotspot into something he's not.
And they are gonna kill more prominent characters. Because the whole tragedy would fall on its face if only a character like Hotspot dies.

[byrd156]

Oh please, characters like Hotspot, and that whole generation, was further buried by Tim Drake's era and DC's decade attempt to make them the prominent Titans. Regardless though, who give a **** who's fault it is. Lets not try to make Hotspot into something he's not.
And they are gonna kill off more prominent characters. Because the whole tragedy would fall on its face if only a character like Hotspot dies.

The point isn't about Hotspot being the best overlooked Titan or something. It's about characters that are swept away fall into limbo and aren't ever given a chance for a comeback because they don't have a bat logo or S shield on their chest.

Back when the Golden Age was dying down Alan Scott's Green Lantern book introduced Streak the Wonder Dog. He became very popular and even took over the cover of the last 3 issues. The book was then cancelled because of the superhero market dying in favor of westerns and romance and Alan fell into limbo for a time until he was reinvented with the other Earth-2 characters for the JSA over a decade later. All the while Streak got a solo series in Sensation Comics. My point, you may ask? Character popularity can change, Alan's book was very popular and then was upended by his own damn dog. If a dog can become more popular than Green Lantern giving some lesser Titans some screen time can't hurt.

You guys act as if using any of these characters in a book would automatically tank sales or something.

[Flashback]

Oh please, characters like Hotspot, and that whole generation, was further buried by Tim Drake's era and DC's decade attempt to make them the prominent Titans. Regardless though, who give a **** who's fault it is. Lets not try to make Hotspot into something he's not.
And they are gonna kill off more prominent characters. Because the whole tragedy would fall on its face if only a characters like Hotspot dies.

Isn't only one prominent character going to die.

[Frontier]

Yes, and why hasn't he appeared in comics in a long time? Because DC has no interest in using him and he hasn't been used enough to attract new fans, so not enough fans know or care enough that he exists to demand more appearances or provide enough data for DC to think that a Hotspot mini or spot on the Titans or JL would sell like gangbusters.

The Titans have got to have one of the most serious backlog of unused characters ever...actually, I could say that about most of DC's teams these days .

[byrd156]

The Titans have got to have one of the most serious backlog of unused characters ever...actually, I could say that about most of DC's teams these days .

And yet those under used characters seem to be the first to get their heads punched off in event stories.

[Godlike13]

The point isn't about Hotspot being the best overlooked Titan or something. It's about characters that are swept away fall into limbo and aren't ever given a chance for a comeback because they don't have a bat logo or S shield on their chest.

Back when the Golden Age was dying down Alan Scott's Green Lantern book introduced Streak the Wonder Dog. He became very popular and even took over the cover of the last 3 issues. The book was then cancelled because of the superhero market dying in favor of westerns and romance and Alan fell into limbo for a time until he was reinvented with the other Earth-2 characters for the JSA over a decade later. All the while Streak got a solo series in Sensation Comics. My point, you may ask? Character popularity can change, Alan's book was very popular and then was upended by his own damn dog. If a dog can become more popular than Green Lantern giving some lesser Titans some screen time can't hurt.

You guys act as if using any of these characters in a book would automatically tank sales or something.

Um, ok. Character popularity can change. Let me know when Hotspots popularity changes. Death is hardly some sort of permanent sentence in comics. If Hotspot goes another 10 years barely being seen again, it won’t be because they killed him in Heores In Crisis.

[HandofPrometheus]

Um, ok. Character popularity can change. Let me know when Hotspots popularity changes. Death is hardly some sort of permanent sentence in comics. If Hotspot goes another 10 years barely being seen again, it won’t be because they killed him in Heores In Crisis.

Hotspots popularity will change when DC gives him the oppurtunity to appear in comics and out.

I don't understand why people think characters can get popular by being tossed in limbo. You have to expose them to the public. The MCU has proven this with many of Marvel characters.

[SiegePerilous02]

Um, ok. Character popularity can change. Let me know when Hotspots popularity changes. Death is hardly some sort of permanent sentence in comics. If Hotspot goes another 10 years barely being seen again, it won’t be because they killed him in Heores In Crisis.

Yes we live in an age where death in comics is well known to not be permanent. It wouldn't stop them from using him if they suddenly started giving a crap.

I don't understand why people think characters can get popular by being tossed in limbo. You have to expose them to the public. The MCU has proven this with many of Marvel characters.

I'm sure if you went through Marvel's own catalog of limbo bound characters, you'd find plenty that they are in no rush to get out there in the MCU. Hell once they got access to Spider-Man they pushed back Black Panther and Captain Marvel.

[byrd156]

Um, ok. Character popularity can change. Let me know when Hotspots popularity changes. Death is hardly some sort of permanent sentence in comics. If Hotspot goes another 10 years barely being seen again, it won’t be because they killed him in Heores In Crisis.

The point isn't the death or limbo, they are the same thing. We all read comics, we all know this. The point is that if you give a character chances to be in stories his popularity can change and become bigger.

No one is saying him appearing would suddenly change the comic landscape, just giving solid appearances could lead to something bigger. It's all about chances.

[Harpsikord]

Think about what happened with Vibe. He started showing up in the Flash and now how people feel about that character has almost entirely changed.

[byrd156]

Think about what happened with Vibe. He started showing up in the Flash and now how people feel about that character has almost entirely changed.

Exactly, I hate the idea that a character is inherently worse because of lack of appearances or money.

It then makes it seem like all people care about is the financial pull a character has or the popularity of a character instead of their stories or characterizations.

[Godlike13]

The point isn't the death or limbo, they are the same thing. We all read comics, we all know this. The point is that if you give a character chances to be in stories his popularity can change and become bigger.

No one is saying him appearing would suddenly change the comic landscape, just giving solid appearances could lead to something bigger. It's all about chances.

I understand your point, I’m not disputing it, I just fail to see the relevance. What could be and what is are not the same thing. DC is not short on characters that “could be” popular. That doesn’t make Hotspot some sort of precious commodity or something, nor does killing him prevent the possibility of someone maybe making Hotspot great again one day.

[byrd156]

I understand your point, I’m not disputing it, I just fail to see the relevance. What could be and what is are not the same thing. DC is not short on characters that “could be” popular. That doesn’t make Hotspot some sort of precious commodity or something, nor does killing him prevent the possibility of someone maybe making Hotspot great again one day.

The relevance to what exactly? The whole point of this conversation came up from characters that are created to die which then turned into people saying who cares about Hotspot and the idea that just because a character isn't popular no one should care about where they are.

The main reason I jumped into this was because of the use of the word fodder. Thinking that superheroes should just be things mowed down, ripped apart, maimed, killed, and other sorts of horriblness happen to them simply because less people know about them makes me sick. It perpetuates this mentality the current heads of DC has had since Infinite Crisis. Taking heroes specifically Titans and using them "fodder" or "shock deaths" to show this story is for real serious, gritty, real, whatever.

Pantha getting her head punched off in Infinite Crisis along with Risk getting maimed and Bushido was also killed. Also Baby Wildebeest was killed.
Power Boy and others slaughtered in the Titans East Special.
Marvin and Wendy getting eaten alive by the Wonder Dog.
Donna and Lilith getting killed in Graduation Day.
Lian dying and Roy getting maimed in Cry for Justice.
Harlequin dying in Countdown.
Aquagirl and Dove in CoIE.
Damage, Hawk, and Tempest along with his wife Dolphin and son offscreen in Blackest Night.
Hank Hall (Hawk) killed in JSA
Terra II in WWIII.

There were some deaths I left out because they died in the actual pages of the main Teen Titans or Titans books at the time, not some spin-off or non related event or story. Then jump to the reboot.

Artemis is introduced and killed off in the same issue during the Culling crossover.
Evil replacement for Superboy is killed.
Dick was brutalized and almost killed in Forever Evil.
Now several Titans are on the chopping block for DC's next big story HIC.

There are probably others that I may have forgotten but I'm tired of these characters being used as punching bags. The only reason the recent death list is so small is because most of them didn't even exist for most of the reboot any only came back a few years ago.