What is the 3rd biggest DC franchise?

[Triple J]

For a while it was certainly Green Lantern. Not only were sales consistently high and not only did it have a 3 (now 4) book franchise, it also drove the events of the line. With the slow decline of the line (I expect to see half of it canceled forthwith, unless something drastic is done to increase visibility on the anchor book "Green Lantern"), I think it's up in the air. "Flash", with the visibility provided by the show, has the potential to expand (though, again, I think the quality of the creative team/stories has to improve before that happens) into a contender, ditto Teen Titans with the rumored show/Earth One graphic novel.

Justice League is the winner if it counts; I'm not sure I really see it counting, though.

Teen titans is another big one...especially among kids.

[RobinFan4880]

Teen titans is another big one...especially among kids.

Too bad DC is too busy stumbling around in the dark trying to get TT working in the comics.

[MajorHoy]

Teen titans is another big one...especially among kids.

Only if you're talking about the animated series . . . I don't know how long it's been since the non-animated-based comic book has been "big among kids". (Anybody know what the average age of the readers were back when Geoff Johns wrote Teen Titans?)

[Thanos]

Giffen's and Bisley's Lobo.

[fumetti]

Justice League

In the comics it's the GREEN LANTERN, for sure, but he has no hold over the general public beyond- "Wait wasn't there a really dumb movie a few years ago called that?"

They must be confused. It was called "Superman Man of Steel."

[RobinFan4880]

They must be confused. It was called "Superman Man of Steel."

Sadly, non-comic fans really dug the film.

[nosinik]

I would think Green Lantern.

[Deniz Camp]

Green Lantern seems to expand and contract on a regular basis.

In the '40s, GL expanded from ALL-AMERICAN to a place in ALL STAR COMICS to his own title and a place in COMIC CAVALCADE. But his dog--Streak the Wonder Dog--became more popular in GREEN LANTERN than the man himself, by the late '40s, before tha title was cancelled. COMIC CAVALCADE saw GL and the other super-heroes replaced by funny animals. And ALL-AMERICAN became a Western. GL survived in ALL STAR for a few more years before the final blow.

You could almost say that the last traces of Green Lantern survived in REX THE WONDER DOG--which was pretty much a continuation of the Streak adventures in all but name--with later GL artist Gil Kane drawing Rex.

In the '60s, Green Lantern rose to prominence again then contracted in the '70s.

In the '80s, GREEN LANTERN/GREEN LANTERN CORPS, TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS--along with JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL--saw expansion throughout most of the dacade and then retraction at the end of the decade--with GL surviving in ACTION COMICS WEEKLY.

In the early '90s, there was another expansion with GREEN LANTERN, GREEN LANTERN: MOSAIC, GUY GARDNER, GREEN LANTERN CORPS QUARTERLY and a prominent place in the Justice League books. Then Zero Hour hit and it was all over but the crying.

For most of Hal Jordan's career as a Green Lantern, the title has done steady but unremarkable numbers. It was canceled, in fact, and made a backup in Flash for a while, and then in an effort to bring it back they paired him with Green Arrow, to buoy sales.

Then for years it sold medicore numbers, regardless of what they did. Good stories, bad stories, good art, bad art -- this was the reputation of the title when Englehart was given the reins, that no matter what you did the numbers wouldn't move.

Then Englehart doubled them. But the book was a victim of it's success -- Action Comics Weekly needed a strong lead and GL was it. Well, the book was canceled, Englehart and Staton left, and we had some of the worst GL stories ever in the aftermath (despite guys like Priest and PAD working on those stories). The Englehart era didn't really constitute an expansion -- 'Tales' was one three issue mini,a nd the subsequent "Tales" Annuals were widely spread out.

Then they relaunched and it was a success that seemed to support a lot of books but none of them really gaining star-status.

[Jim Kelly]

Green Lantern was paired with Green Arrow in the early '70s as a hail Mary pass to save the book, but it didn't work. So Green Lantern/Green Arrow finished out their run in THE FLASH and then Hal had more solo stories and occasional team-ups with Flash in that book. When they decided to revive GREEN LANTERN again, the title started out as a bi-monthly, and Hal was paired up with Green Arrow again (with Black Canary also being featured). The book was boosted to a monthly and that was the status quo for a couple of years (Green Lantern/Green Arrow/Black Canary/Air Wave). Green Arrow and Black Canary were also featured in WORLD'S FINEST COMICS at the same time--so you could say they were doing better than GL. By 1980, GA and BC had left and now Green Lantern finally had his own monthly title again (it only took a decade).

Marv Wolfman integrated his ideas in the various books he was writing. So ideas about the Gordanians, Psions and Vegans permeated his GREEN LANTERN and NEW TEEN TITANS books and those were spun off into OMEGA MEN (by Roger Silfer and Keith Giffen)--which in turn gave birth to Lobo.

Englehart had an even more cosmic vision for GREEN LANTERN and Green Lantern's cosmology is ever present in CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS (written by Wolfman)--Hal doesn't take part in COIE only because a lot of this cosmic stuff is going on in his own book (with Guy Gardner gaining his place as Green Lantern). After COIE, all of those ideas spread out to the other DC books. And in JUSTICE LEAGUE, you have the Rocket Reds, Guy Gardner and G'Nort. And other big event books like MILLENNIUM and INVASION used a lot of the Green Lantern cosmology.

[PyroSikTh]

It's between Justice League and Green Lantern it really depends. In comics maybe Green Lantern but outside of that Justice League probably sells better being more well recognized.

This.

Justice League is the 3rd biggest in the general psychosphere thanks to cartoons, upcoming movie, and the involvement of Superman and Batman.
Green Lantern is the 3rd biggest in comics, or at least until the creative team shift 18 months ago.

Wonder Woman is probably the 3rd most recognisable individual though. She doesn't really have a franchise to boast, neither in comics nor the general public's view, but everyone knows who she is, more so than Green Lantern or the Justice League.

In short, the answer depends on your interpretation of the question.

[dogwelder]

JLA without a doubt. Hundreds of Super friends and and JLA cartoons. Thousands of issues since the begining of the silver age.