DC heroes who turn 75 this year. Any you think should be a bigger deal?

[ultradav]

1940 was quite a year for creativity! Yes, the Silver Age is ruling, but we would have no Silver Age without the Golden Age.

[Badou]

The Wikipedia article seems to have missed the Joker. It's easy to remember when the Joker first appeared, because he made his debut in the same comic as Catwoman--BATMAN No. 1 (Spring 1940). I guess they are celebrating Joker with the variant covers and all the other books they've done with him. But I think they should celebrate the 75th of Robin, Joker and Catwoman all at the same time in one event. When I think of those three, I think of Jerry Robinson and Bill Finger, who co-created them. Some celebration of Robinson and Finger would be nice.

Synder's Endgame story I guess is supposed to celebrate the Joker too, and I'd imagine that there will be a Catwoman 75th Anniversary variant cover month. Plus her series will get some type of relaunch probably. Then I guess that We Are Robin book is supposed to be Robin/Grayson's anniversary thing. With Convergence they probably weren't able to prepare anything more special.

[Pharozonk]

I find it depressing that the Joker is being celebrated more than the Justice Society of America characters.

[Starchild]

Doctor Fate, Hourman, and the Atom aren't important to the DCU? I'm not sure if you're being serious or not...

So how are they important to the DCU? What landmark storylines do they have? What have they done in their existence of 75 years? I love the JSA, but I don't have my fanboy glasses on like you do. Teen Titans, Robin, Catwoman Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Aquaman & Shazam are all MORE deserving of having their 75th being celebrated. Anyone who thinks that minor and forgotten characters such as Crimson Avenger & Shining Knight are more deserving are only fooling themselves. I can't believe this is even a debate.

[Starchild]

Even the Legion of Superheroes are more deserving. Come on!

[ultradav]

The JSA was one of the most important concepts in the history of comics.

[Badou]

Well it was the Teen Titans's 50th Anniversary last year and DC didn't do anything except launch a small omnibus they didn't promote at all. So I wouldn't really expect a lot from the JSA 75th.

[Pharozonk]

So how are they important to the DCU? What landmark storylines do they have? What have they done in their existence of 75 years? I love the JSA, but I don't have my fanboy glasses on like you do. Teen Titans, Robin, Catwoman Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Aquaman & Shazam are all MORE deserving of having their 75th being celebrated. Anyone who thinks that minor and forgotten characters such as Crimson Avenger & Shining Knight are more deserving are only fooling themselves. I can't believe this is even a debate.

I'm not saying that the individual characters need to be celebrated, but the JSA itself as a concept does and deserves more respect.

[Pharozonk]

Even the Legion of Superheroes are more deserving. Come on!

The Legion actually predates both the Teen Titans and Justice League so yes they are very deserving.

[Jim Kelly]

No. Simply because a lot of those characters that are named aren't relevant in any way or form. What has Doctor Fate, Red Bee, (really?) Hourman & Atom done for DC as a company? I'll wait.

The way I read that post, it seemed you were saying a flat No to the whole idea of celebrating the 75th anniversary of any character from 1940. And then offering up those "lesser" characters to support your argument--while ignoring all the important characters that were listed in the original post.

I would take the point that not every character can be celebrated. But at least some of the more important ones could be. And for the rest some kind of collective celebration might be in order.

Marvel seems to do this a lot more than DC (although in the distant past, DC made sure to recognize anniversaries in some way). And I think the reason Marvel does it, isn't because they're just a bunch of fanboys. I think it's because they know they can get a lot of mileage by celebrating an anniversary and using it to promote their comics (and movies and TV shows).

[Starchild]

The JSA was one of the most important concepts in the history of comics.

That's cute, but that still doesn't answer of my questions. It seems like the purist and golden age fanatics only want them to be celebrated, simply because they came first and it should be much more than that. Namor came before Spider-Man, so that does that make him more important?

[The_Greatest_Username]

I don't see what could hurt DC by recognizing the JSA's anniversary. They're very important to DC's history as a company, and I really doubt we would've ever had the Justice League without the Justice Society.

[Starchild]

I'm not saying that the individual characters need to be celebrated, but the JSA itself as a concept does and deserves more respect.

Well, I thought you meant individually. DC celebrating the JSA's 75th is a no brainer to me and they probably will.

[Starchild]

The way I read that post, it seemed you were saying a flat No to the whole idea of celebrating the 75th anniversary of any character from 1940. And then offering up those "lesser" characters to support your argument--while ignoring all the important characters that were listed in the original post.

I would take the point that not every character can be celebrated. But at least some of the more important ones could be. And for the rest some kind of collective celebration might be in order.

Marvel seems to do this a lot more than DC (although in the distant past, DC made sure to recognize anniversaries in some way). And I think the reason Marvel does it, isn't because they're just a bunch of fanboys. I think it's because they know they can get a lot of mileage by celebrating an anniversary and using it to promote their comics (and movies and TV shows).

Umm, if you scroll down the page, I do mention Catwoman, Robin and Shazam. I was speaking on characters like Doll Man, Red Bee & Bulletgirl.

[Jim Kelly]

Umm, if you scroll down the page, I do mention Catwoman, Robin and Shazam. I was speaking on characters like Doll Man, Red Bee & Bulletgirl.

That was kind of my point. You made the first statement, which I and others took a certain way. Then later you made another statement that seemed to backtrack on the original statement. So you can see the confusion.

Marvel has celebrated the first appearance of Namor--because his first appearance coincides with the creation of MARVEL COMICS--issue No. 1 (October '39). They made a big deal out of both the 70th anniversary and the 75th anniversary of that--even though the publisher's original name was Timely and didn't become Marvel Comics until the '60s. The original Human Torch was also in MARVEL COMICS No. 1. Both those characters are absolutely important to what would become Marvel. Unlike the DC heroes, when the Human Torch met the Sub-Mariner, they hated each other and fought. Their bad temper is the basis for all the Marvel super-heroes that came later.

I think it's important for publishers to use these dates--even if they're just artificial numbers--to educate their readers on their past. When we appreciate the foundations of these characters and these publishers, we feel more invested in their stories. It builds brand loyalty.