A-List Books Adopting C-List Characters as Supporting Cast.....

[Ascended]

Just another of my ridiculous thought experiment threads. Not meant to be taken as a serious suggestion on what DC should do. Just a fun exercise for people to toss silly and fun ideas around.

Also, its late and I'm tired. So I take no responsibility for whatever it is I'm typing here.

So DC has a pretty great roster. They've got tons of fun B- and C-listers who have rich histories, long-standing memberships with popular teams, interesting powers and mythos, and supporting casts and rogues galleries of their own (or at least enough to get the ball rolling). But for whatever reasons, the likes of Hawkman, Atom, Firestorm, Zatanna, etc, haven't been able to carry solo titles long term, or haven't been able to in so long their past successes are largely moot.

So what if DC came up to you and said "Internet nerd, we need some ideas! We have these great B-listers; we love them, but they don't sell on their own. So we wanna insert them into more popular, high selling books as supporting cast members and try to build a following for them that way, with a three year plan to elevate them to solo title status. We're willing to tweak and adjust things and give them a soft reboot where absolutely needed. But mostly we want them re-focused into a direction that can hold up on its own; looking forward and not back. So who should our A-list titles adopt, and how would you fit them into those established books while aiming them for future growth?"

Couple guidelines here.

They're not going to be co-stars. Or, at least they dont have to be (I suppose if you wanted....). They're just supporting cast members. They need to get a few pages of solid involvement in any story over three issues, with at least two arcs in a three year period giving them large focus.

At least two arcs in the three year period has to use some of the C-lister's villains as the big bad. And their main supporting cast members, if they have any, need to show up at least a few times with their basic role in the C-lister's life established. Basically, if you put Ralph Dibney into the Flash comic, you have to introduce Sue and tell readers who she is and why she matters to Ralph.

All appearances, taken together, has to achieve the kind of re-focus and new sense of direction that stories like Green Lantern: Rebirth did. Not necessarily to the same level of detail, but the kind of broad stroke "this is what we've been missing, this is where we're going, and this is the new hook that'll make you care about it!"

The C-lister can't be *too* similar to the main character. That'll just lead to discussions about redundancy. So you can't have J'onn join the cast of Superman. But the character does have to "fit" the world. Dr. Fate would probably be a very poor fit for Green Arrow, for example.

So here's an idea to get the ball rolling.

Will Magnus and the Metal Men join Batman.

Magnus Robotics is bought out by Wayne Enterprises and is folded into WayneTech R&D, with Magnus moving to Gotham and taking a really good job as the AI-Robotics department Head. The Metal Men mainly work as security at the lab, but also do some hazardous environment work when the need arises. Magnus becomes one of Batman's primary "tech guys" in a role similar to what Lucius Fox and Batwing have served, as well as that guy who lived in the cave during the 90's (I forget his name because I'm tired and it's late). Magnus' narrow focus on robotics means that Batman's other tech guys still have plenty to do so no one gets sidelined.

Of course, Chemo would have to attack Gotham at some point, as well as the Gas Gang. T.O. Morrow would be set up as the puppet master, a threat lurking in the shadows.

I think I'd push the Metal Men franchise in a more cerebral, indie think-piece direction. Take the approach from "52" and run with it. Magnus struggles with his mental illness, and the addiction to the pills that keep him balanced. He's a mad scientist who happens to work for the good guys, but under that thin blanket of pharmaceutical sanity he's batsh*t crazy. I'd write Magnus and Platinum as a couple, no more one-sided love stuff. With insinuations that Magnus built her for the purpose. The moral and ethical implications of a human-robot love affair would be explored (is Platinum just a sex robot? Could Magnus and Platinum get married?) as well as the legal rights of the Metal Men themselves.

I think I'd launch the book with a story where Magnus learns that Morrow has been behind all of Will's troubles, and Magnus vows to put an end to it, thus providing the Metal Men book a solid arc to start off on.

[Godlike13]

This work out pretty well with Helena in Grayson.

[Timothy Hunter]

Will Magnus and the Metal Men join Batman.

Magnus Robotics is bought out by Wayne Enterprises and is folded into WayneTech R&D, with Magnus moving to Gotham and taking a really good job as the AI-Robotics department Head. The Metal Men mainly work as security at the lab, but also do some hazardous environment work when the need arises. Magnus becomes one of Batman's primary "tech guys" in a role similar to what Lucius Fox and Batwing have served, as well as that guy who lived in the cave during the 90's (I forget his name because I'm tired and it's late). Magnus' narrow focus on robotics means that Batman's other tech guys still have plenty to do so no one gets sidelined.

Of course, Chemo would have to attack Gotham at some point, as well as the Gas Gang. T.O. Morrow would be set up as the puppet master, a threat lurking in the shadows.

I think I'd push the Metal Men franchise in a more cerebral, indie think-piece direction. Take the approach from "52" and run with it. Magnus struggles with his mental illness, and the addiction to the pills that keep him balanced. He's a mad scientist who happens to work for the good guys, but under that thin blanket of pharmaceutical sanity he's batsh*t crazy. I'd write Magnus and Platinum as a couple, no more one-sided love stuff. With insinuations that Magnus built her for the purpose. The moral and ethical implications of a human-robot love affair would be explored (is Platinum just a sex robot? Could Magnus and Platinum get married?) as well as the legal rights of the Metal Men themselves.

I think I'd launch the book with a story where Magnus learns that Morrow has been behind all of Will's troubles, and Magnus vows to put an end to it, thus providing the Metal Men book a solid arc to start off on.

I wouldn't consider the Metal Men to fit the world of Batman, Batman comics are usually dark and grimy and "edgy", and the Metal Men (Not Will Magnus) are fun and light hearted. Plus the solo Batman comics, as far as I know, usually tend to not regulatory feature non-Batman related characters from the wider DC Universe, sure maybe in one issue, there will be a guest appearance from Superman, but Batman comics tend to focus on their own mythology.

[Thor2014]

WONDER WOMAN
Zatanna- can help with mystical, magical threats like Circe
Mera- they've had a budding friendship over in Aquaman, Mera's water construct power-set would compliment Diana's powerhouse set.

SUPERMAN
Firestorm- Martin Stein now works at Star Labs so Firestorm operates out of Metropolis now.
Maxima- Superman is married with a family but Maxima tries to 'out-do' Superman at every chance. Powerset may be too similar per your guidelines but I'll put it out there anyway.

[DurararaFTW]

Super-Sons: Superman, Superwoman and Batman are going off world for League stuff and hire a babysitter capable of keeping their kids in check and saving them when neccesary. best dad Animal Man is on the case.

[Sutekh]

Several of the Global Guardians seem like they'd make good junior partners to bigger name superheroes.

Batman could work with Bushmaster, on a mission to Venezuela that upends that heroes life in that country, and gives him a reason to go back to Gotham with Batman, and get some ducks in a row (and some advanced training and re-equipping) before eventually returning home to turn the tables on his enemies in Venezuela, who have been led to believe that they killed him (thanks to some duplicity he picks up from the Bat). [Yes, Bushmaster's dead, but I don't even care. Characters with far less potential have been resurrected for far lesser reasons. ]

Owlwoman could similarly partner up with the Birds of Prey, as her powerset is appropriately 'low-level' enough to fit on a team with Black Canary, the Huntress, etc. Some sort of mission involving native youth being recruited to come to the big city, and then disappearing (gang recruitment? a cult? slavers? who knows) could draw her to the big city on the hunt, and it could start with the usual 'misunderstanding leads to heroic fight' before she joins with the others to bust a ring that's far larger than they would have expected (the Cherokee kids have some special DNA that makes them good subjects to be turned into para-demon trackers, and it's a plot by Granny Goodness or something wild like that).

[Frontier]

For the record, I don't think of these characters as C-listers:

It might be fun to see Zatanna pop up in Gotham more in Detective Comics again (she basically was a supporting character in Dini's run) or even Batman, though I'm not sure how that would track with Tom King's plans for Catwoman.

I'm not a fan of synergy but since DC doesn't seem to have any solo plans for them it would be cool to see Firestorm, Vibe, and Elongated Man pop up in supporting roles in The Flash.

[Agent Z]

Black Orchid, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, Nightshade and Lady Blackhawk could guest star in Wonder Woman. All characters have worked with the government and Nightshade and Orchid can also involve Diana in other mystical corners of the DCU. Yara'Wa and Fire and Ice and other non American heroes could work too.

[Outside_85]

While I agree on the notion of similar characters may just makes the C-lister look redundant... like Batman & the Question. It could still work out well if there was a clearly defined line where the skills of A and B separate... like where Batmans detective skills come up shot and the Questions longer winded theories take over.

That said, I still think it would be better if the characters are in the same vein of stories as each other... otherwise you are just looking at these off the wall Brave and the Bold teamups.

So Metal Men + Cyborg + Steel... that would be good.

Wonder Woman with another magically inclined character, that could be good as well... just not Constantine...

[Starchild]

I think Doctor Fate could work in Green Arrow. The current series has some mystical undertones to it. But maybe he's too mystical?

But I think characters like Nightshade, Question and Black Lightning can work.

[Ascended]

I wouldn't consider the Metal Men to fit the world of Batman, Batman comics are usually dark and grimy and "edgy", and the Metal Men are fun and light hearted.

As I put in the description, I'd be going in a darker direction akin to the 52 maxi-series. Maybe that wouldn't work out but the light hearted stuff hasn't either so I'd take the risk. Not much to lose, after all.

Plus the solo Batman comics, as far as I know, usually tend to not regulatory feature non-Batman related characters from the wider DC Universe, sure maybe in one issue, there will be a guest appearance from Superman, but Batman comics tend to focus on their own mythology.

True, but the whole point of this is for high selling books to adopt lower selling characters, so Bats will just have to learn to cope.

SUPERMAN
Firestorm- Martin Stein now works at Star Labs so Firestorm operates out of Metropolis now.
Maxima- Superman is married with a family but Maxima tries to 'out-do' Superman at every chance. Powerset may be too similar per your guidelines but I'll put it out there anyway.

Had a similar thought about Firestorm in Metropolis. Martin Stein would be the guy running STAR Labs (at least the research side of things) so he'd be built up as a much more important figure within the DCU, as the world's leading physicist should be. Super powers aside, I'd make Stein a big friggin deal.

And you make Maxima married to Vartox, and I'm totally down for your idea! I'd read the hell out of that.

Super-Sons: Superman, Superwoman and Batman are going off world for League stuff and hire a babysitter capable of keeping their kids in check and saving them when neccesary. best dad Animal Man is on the case.

Well, now I need this.

For the record, I don't think of these characters as C-listers:

Eh, maybe not? But none of them have been able to carry a solo title in decades. Sometimes there might have been mitigating factors (I think Zee's solo got cut because of the reboot, same with Booster Gold) but for whatever reason, they can't carry their own titles. Whether you call them B-listers or C-listers is sorta.....whatever.

I'm not a fan of synergy but since DC doesn't seem to have any solo plans for them it would be cool to see Firestorm, Vibe, and Elongated Man pop up in supporting roles in The Flash.

Agreed. Sort of surprised Vibe hasn't shown up in Flash yet. And really hoping to see Ralph back in those pages too.

[Ascended]

I think Doctor Fate could work in Green Arrow. The current series has some mystical undertones to it. But maybe he's too mystical?

But I think characters like Nightshade, Question and Black Lightning can work.

Well, dont let me step on your toes or anything, I just think that Fate is a little too....flashy?.....with the magic. There's been some weird cult-ish, supernatural undertones in Arrow, true, but to me that's felt more like "Constantine" magic and less like Dr Fate magic.

But if you think it'd work, drop your idea! This whole thread is supposed to be a pile of fun, ridiculous ideas that would never see print.

Speaking of which, since we're talking magic....how about Detective Chimp joins the cast of Arrow? Wait, no! B'Wanna Beast!!

[gwangung]

Had a similar thought about Firestorm in Metropolis. Martin Stein would be the guy running STAR Labs (at least the research side of things) so he'd be built up as a much more important figure within the DCU, as the world's leading physicist should be. Super powers aside, I'd make Stein a big friggin deal.

Well, Dr. Stein WAS a great big deal, on his way up to Oppenheimer status, but it sorta got put on hold after he started having personal problems (disappearing at in opportune times, palling around with a MUCH younger male figure, etc.) after an accident at a plant he designed. He really needs to rehabilitate his image....

[Ascended]

Well, Dr. Stein WAS a great big deal, on his way up to Oppenheimer status, but it sorta got put on hold after he started having personal problems (disappearing at in opportune times, palling around with a MUCH younger male figure, etc.) after an accident at a plant he designed. He really needs to rehabilitate his image....

He really does.

Seems to me like that'd be a pretty good ongoing subplot for a new Firestorm story......

[Darkseid Is]

Super-Sons: Superman, Superwoman and Batman are going off world for League stuff and hire a babysitter capable of keeping their kids in check and saving them when neccesary. best dad Animal Man is on the case.

That sounds amazing.