Poll: Who should be dc's premiere black superhero?

[MajorHoy]

Pushing only a handful of characters is not smart business sense.

You can either have a major push with a handful of characters, or you can push more characters but not have as big a focus on individual characters.
Would it be more effective to promote, say, Superman every month for 12 months, or would you be better off pushing twelve different characters for one month each?

There are pros and cons to each approach. If you focus on one you can have a better line up of talent to focus on that character. You can't have a Geoff Johns type focusing on twelve different characters at once.

[AquaLantern]

Seriously this poll is unneeded. There's nothing wrong with Cyborg in JL.

[Slaughter]

Black Lightning.

[SmokeMonster]

To be perfectly honest, had Hal been the only Green Lantern ever created, perhaps the notion of turning him black wouldn't sound so ridiculous to some.

They should make Hal asian.

John and Guy have black and white covered.

Also, I just realized through the wording in the poll (specifically the last choice) that the TC didn't mean premiere as in biggest, but rather premiere as in the only black hero in the JL, which is like many have said, not the way to fix this diversity problem.

[The Darknight Detective]

Who should be DC's premier black superhero?

I don't know how to answer that. It's like asking: who should be DC's premier superhero? It doesn't matter what any of us think should be at the top, the answer is still going to be Batman in reality.

By the numbers, Vic has the most appearances in comics and also outside that medium, so he appears to be #1 at the moment.

[Johnny]

They should make Hal asian.

Yeah I don't know about that.

[kurenai24]

Let me preface this by saying I don't care what superheroes founded the Justice League, I just don't think some of them should be members or full time, I'm specifically talking about Aquaman and Green Lantern, one is a freaking king and seems to have conflict with multiple governments on land, his priorities should be his nation and the other is a part of a galactic police force (from my interpretation) and him being a part of this team is a conflict of interest. I don't mind if they created the team with other heroes, I don't mind them occasionally working with the team, but being active members is a no for me.

With that mindset at the forefront that would leave 3 open spots (since I'm not counting Cyborg as a member) to put in a diverse group of characters. That way it doesn't fall on the token black guy trope to be a universal representation for every minority and other minorities can't blame black people for getting basic representation for being hypervisible.

Now, I mentioned the above to solve the current Justice League problem (i.e token black dude) as it relates to the premiere black hero which is currently Cyborg who is on the Justice League.

So, to answer the above, I choose Black Lightning or Vixen.

Vixen would get rid of the smurfette syndrome that the Justice League has, not only that but her ability makes her a great all-arounder and being that her totem is magic, she might have some stuff up her sleeves for writers to create.

Black Lightning for the simple fact that if you're gonna have a token black guy on the team why not one of the oldest black DC characters created who actually had the opportunity to have his own comic and seems to be following the foot steps of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash etc in having his own legacy/family/variation characters with his daughters being in the hero business.

Not necessarily...
Attachment 46263

Is that even diversity tho, females may get roles proportionately lower then men but it's still 3 white actors and a token although in hiring terms they did cast a lesbian.

And this movie shouldn't even be used, there is no current comedy/semi-comedy movie worth gold that is good when actual comedians are cast as writers tend to bog the movie down with jokes for those comedians, no offence to people who enjoy those movies.

Ok, I try to be pro diversity and inclusivity when I can, and advocate for POC and LGBT heroes I like to get more exposure. But phrases like "trim down on the white dudes" are not helping. Not to mention you're using current Marvel as an example which makes it even worse.

Why do you have to try to be pro diversity and why do you need to make time for it?

Also, how you interpret something is not always how something is meant and how an issue is phrased shouldn't have you abandoning it so willy nilly.

Also there are people who like current Marvel, and they especially get their point across when the people who dislike it are praising DC when DC doesn't do anything with their minority characters.

LOL, that would mean DC would need to push a black hero to begin with. Their attempt with Cyborg has been half a** at best and he's supposed to be a founding father. You have golden opportunities like Val Zod but unlike Marvel's Miles Morales, I don't see DC fanbase giving him a chance. The thing is DC's fanbase won't support a "premier" DC's hero even if they pushed it, unless it was the absolute classic form of that character which usually means 2nd tier or 3rd tier mentality.

Aw Val Zod is a darling, I would love to see him get proper attention.

Who should be DC's premier black superhero?

I don't know how to answer that. It's like asking: who should be DC's premier superhero? It doesn't matter what any of us think should be at the top, the answer is still going to be Batman in reality.

By the numbers, Vic has the most appearances in comics and also outside that medium, so he appears to be #1 at the moment.

That's not true, yes DC's premiere hero is Batman, but since he isn't black, he can never be DC's premiere black hero and therefore your statement that it doesn't matter b/c Batman is at the top when we're specifically talking about black heroes, doesn't correlate.

As for your last sentence Cyborg has the most appearances b/c they decided to make him the premiere black hero, but what about before they started to lazily push him, and even if he still has more appearances are people demanding that for him and if they are can you really compare it to the other black heroes who DC has barely done anything with and hasn't even been given opportunities to gain a fan base.

[adrikito]

I vote John Stewart.. I know the character of JL Animated series

[Blackest Knight]

There shouldn't be a premiere black superhero.

There should be more than one black superhero in JL.

[MajorHoy]

There shouldn't be a premiere black superhero.

There should be more than one black superhero in JL.

But, again, are you equating "PREMIERE" as meaning "ONLY"?

Definition of premier
- first in position, rank, or importance

(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premier)

Also, unless it's different in other countries than the U.S., "premiere" with an "e" at the end generally has to do with "the first public performance, as of a movie or play". It would seem as if we really should be going with "premier" (no "e" at the end) for purposes of this discussion.

[The Darknight Detective]

That's not true, yes DC's premiere hero is Batman, but since he isn't black, he can never be DC's premiere black hero and therefore your statement that it doesn't matter b/c Batman is at the top when we're specifically talking about black heroes, doesn't correlate.

It correlates because whoever is the premier superhero or black superhero is there because he or she is the most popular. Now, if the question is who would you personally like to see as DC's #1 black superhero (or superhero in general), then that's a different story. Personally, Skyrocket and Vixen would be at the top of my list.

As for your last sentence Cyborg has the most appearances b/c they decided to make him the premiere black hero, but what about before they started to lazily push him, and even if he still has more appearances are people demanding that for him and if they are can you really compare it to the other black heroes who DC has barely done anything with and hasn't even been given opportunities to gain a fan base.

If fans weren't buying products with him in it, his appearances would be far less. The number of appearances a character has is a good indicator as to how popular a character is - appearances as the star of his or her own comic should be weighted even more so.

[Assam]

It correlates because whoever is the premier superhero or black superhero is there because he or she is the most popular. Now, if the question is who would you personally like to see as DC's #1 black superhero (or superhero in general), then that's a different story. Personally, Skyrocket and Vixen would be at the top of my list.



If fans weren't buying products with him in it, his appearances would be far less. The number of appearances a character has is a good indicator as to how popular a character is - appearances as the star of his or her own comic should be weighted even more so.

For the first few years of the New 52, the only book Vic was in was Justice League, so of course it was gonna sell well. From what I've read though, neither his DCYOU or his Rebirth series had/have been having great sales.

As far as merchandise go, the people buying that stuff are either fans of animated Cyborg, or they're people who love the Wolfman and Perez era.

I have NEVER seen someone say, "You know who my favorite character in the New52 Justice League is? Cyborg. I just love how he contemplates the same things the character has thought about for 30 years, and how he's always up on the Watchtower."

The ONLY reason Cyborg continues to be a member of the JL, the only reason he's getting his own movie,Hell, the only reason he continues to have his own book, is because DC wants to shove him down our throats. They don't care what we think of him. If they did, they never would have had him replace Martian Manhunter as a JL founder.

[The Darknight Detective]

The ONLY reason Cyborg continues to be a member of the JL, the only reason he's getting his own movie,Hell, the only reason he continues to have his own book, is because DC wants to shove him down our throats. They don't care what we think of him. If they did, they never would have had him replace Martian Manhunter as a JL founder.

You can think that all you want, but DC is pushing Vic because most people know who he is compared to the others. If the JL movie had come out in 2004, John Stewart would be in it instead.

[skyvolt2000]

If fans weren't buying products with him in it, his appearances would be far less. The number of appearances a character has is a good indicator as to how popular a character is - appearances as the star of his or her own comic should be weighted even more so.

So what is Storm's excused-she's in just as many books as Cyborg. Like Cyborg her solo was a joke.

There is a difference between being in a book and doing something in a book.

Storm was in all those books and events-yet nothing was done to make HER interesting for a solo let alone a mini.

She is a character that artist love to draw, has two well known looks and that's it. Sure you get chucks of development here and there but that is all you get. An when Marvel tried to expand her with some KING-an entire fanbase went NUTS.

John Stewart-there is a reason folks hold that cartoon to a high standard. It made him INTERESTING unlike comics under JOHNS and a few others.

Cyborg same thing. Folks are not buying the book. Moon Girl BEAT HIM in sales during his first run. She still has more digital pulls on comixology. He is looking up at a lot of Marvel books that get bashed.


Lets not forget-in order to get appearances same EDITOR or higher up has to APPROVE it.

How many writers have wanted to use Cassandra Cain and got told NO. What about Stephanie Brown? Static? Ms Martian? Jaime Reyes? REAL Wally West? If I don't care for that character you the reader will not see him.

Right now with DC they are not interested in putting up a better effort. We are suppose to settle for Cyborg, fake Wally & Duke Thomas doing little to nothing in top books. That would warrant them interesting enough to be real competition for Marvel or whoever.

[Assam]

So what is Storm's excused-she's in just as many books as Cyborg. Like Cyborg her solo was a joke.

There is a difference between being in a book and doing something in a book.

Storm was in all those books and events-yet nothing was done to make HER interesting for a solo let alone a mini.

She is a character that artist love to draw, has two well known looks and that's it. Sure you get chucks of development here and there but that is all you get. An when Marvel tried to expand her with some KING-an entire fanbase went NUTS.

John Stewart-there is a reason folks hold that cartoon to a high standard. It made him INTERESTING unlike comics under JOHNS and a few others.

Cyborg same thing. Folks are not buying the book. Moon Girl BEAT HIM in sales during his first run. She still has more digital pulls on comixology. He is looking up at a lot of Marvel books that get bashed.


Lets not forget-in order to get appearances same EDITOR or higher up has to APPROVE it.

How many writers have wanted to use Cassandra Cain and got told NO. What about Stephanie Brown? Static? Ms Martian? Jaime Reyes? REAL Wally West? If I don't care for that character you the reader will not see him.

Right now with DC they are not interested in putting up a better effort. We are suppose to settle for Cyborg, fake Wally & Duke Thomas doing little to nothing in top books. That would warrant them interesting enough to be real competition for Marvel or whoever.

I agree with almost 100% of this.

There's only one thing that I don't.

Much as it pains me to say it, NuWally, within the pages of Teen Titans, is li...is lik..."barfs", IS ACTUALLY PRETTY LIKABLE!

Oh god I feel sick...