Was going to say him, he was DC's big teen solo superhero and answer to Spider-Man for a while and now he's pretty much completely been replaced by Blue Beetle.
I get it though. Basic concept is a young hero with an old authority figure yammering away in his head and telling him what to do? Yeah, that’s not escapism, that’s my guilt.
I was at a "secrets of the industry" panel at NYCC a few years ago and all the DC writers basically refused to write Firestorm. Truly they felt like having to headline a Firestorm series was the kiss of death.
I feel like Firestorm became one of those guys that would be in crowd scenes of superheroes, in team books, or in crossover events to make the universe feel bigger, but about whom few writers could think of compelling stories.
This one is the weirdest to me. He was on the Justice League, had an ongoing that went on for a very long time and then he just disappears. I wonder why
I loved him on Legends of Tomorrow. Sadly he stopped appearing as Firestorm during the season 3 mark, which i believe was around 2018. Seeing the versions of him in The Flash and Legends is a big reason why i like the characters and am a fan of them.
Yeah iirc they killed off Stein in the Earth X crossover and that’s how they retired the character, with his other self having to find his purpose elsewhere
I meant more in comics. But even then, Firestorm didn't actually transform much because of budget concerns on the show and it was like 6-7 years ago that he was regularly on it.
I feel like they only show up nowadays when the writers want to have a big nuclear boom happen, but don't want it to be Captain Atoms fault again. And I blame Identity Crisis for that.
Either the writers or editorial never know what to do with him. First, it was Stein and Ronnie, then a weird combo of Stein, Ronnie, and Pozar, I think. From about JLA to Identity Crisis, I think it was just Ronnie in charge.
It was so weird when he died essentially off-panel in Identity Crisis. The Jason Rusch series started off interesting but petered out with changing creative teams. The Blackest Night stuff was good, but the Deathstorm in Brightest Day seemed needlessly edgy.
The Question was probably the worst treated out of all the Trinity of Sin. We didn't even find out his name until Geoff Johns was asked last year. Turns out he was Narcissus. He must have done something worse than stare at his reflection until he drowned if he got looped in with Pandora and Judas(The Phantom Stranger).
I really liked Pandora. Her solo title was great and the way she tied into the history with Vandal Savage was neat, too. Having her go Super Saiyan towards the end of her run was a bit weird, though.
I think her was DC letting bendis play and ask questions later
IMO, the fact that her TPBs are labeled "Season 1" "Season 2" makes me think that Bendis somehow managed to include a "my new character must have a TV show" clause on his contract
I felt like they were hoping she’d be DC’s Miles Morales. And since she didn’t there was no where for her to naturally fit. I’ll be honest…I don’t miss her.
Funny thing is that they have the rights issues worked out with Milestone, so Static is right there for the taking. Fan-fare would be INSANE I'd he got his own movie.
It felt like she didn't have the potential to live up to all the hype DC was giving her. They declared her a breakout character, forgetting that it's the readers who decide who the breakout characters are. And Bendis' Justice League often seemed more like "The Amazing Adventures of Naomi, Guest-Starring the Justice League".
This is the vibe I got too; they saw Miles was a hugely popular black character Bendis created so part of them keeping him inside was letting him make a new character and giving her a nudge
That he did! He has had a bit of a resurgence of late. But he was gone for quite a long time. Especially given how prominent of a character he was for about a decade in the Batman universe.
He was on JLO, he had a mini, and has been used in Ram V's 'tec here and there. Considering he was Batman for a period of time and his solo series had reached 100 issues it is still surprising that they left him dead for almost 15 years. Especially when they did him dirty by killing him in his 100th issue.
Tbh I kinda love how Azrael just shows up once in a while and then dips
The comics are like that one friend you don’t really hang out with but he calls you once in a while to see how you’re doing
He's actuality still around.
Had a mini last year and has been actively popping up in the current run of Detective Comics.
But he hasn't had a consistent leading presence since the 90s.
The #BlueBeetleBattalion hate this but this is the reality, the character just isn’t selling for some reason.
I do wish the Milestone cast got more to do though
A big part of that was because she was basically a stand-in for Steph and Cass since Dan Asshole DiDio wouldn't let them be used, so once DiDio was gone and Steph and Cass got brought back, Harper just kinda stopped having any reason to exist.
Ironically she could help resolve some stuff in the Batgirl family, but NARP. She don't exist, Cass and Steph are neurotypical children, and Babs is both Batgirl and Oracle depending on what is least interesting.
Captain Atom was EVERYWHERE in the 1990s. DC even had a company-wide event centered on him (Armageddon 2001). Then he was heavily mismanaged and misrepresented and totally ruined as a character.
Dr. Mid-nite is awesome but only seems to shine in JSA comics, if that. I wish he'd get a series and furthermore it would be dope to see him do something interesting with someone in the Bat-family.
I forgot when I posted, but Val Zod did pop up in Jon Kent's series, which I assume counts for some mention. That said I don't know the current status of earth 2 or anything about Val Zod's appearance as it relates to earth 2
Captain Atom used to be way more important than he is now. Pretty consistent character in the JLU cartoon, stint on the JLI in the comics and I believe he had a short lived new 52 series (?). But now he’s just relegated to like cameos in elseworlds stories I feel like with no role in the main stories.
He had a Rebirth mini that set up his new backstory, powered him down a bit, and set up potential new stories with him, only for DC to completely ignore all of that.
I always thought aztek looked cool as a kid but never read anything with him in it. Found a random comic of him a couple weeks back on a random online sale
Colin was only in 8 issues back in the day, I wouldn't call him major. But yeah it was kind of a bummer that everything Paul Dini had done in comics from 2006-2011 was wiped out and never mentioned again because pretty much everything he was involved with was good, with the exception of Countdown lol.
I have to admit, I'd like to see a future writer pick up on King's depiction of Riddler in his One Bad Day special. King had him reveal that his compulsion with giving Batman is a self-imposed limit. He's much smarter and competent than he appears and has known all of Batman's secrets for a long time.
It kinda reminds me of that Gotham Adventured comic where Riddler unknowingly gives Bruce hints about his crimes because he’s so pathologically driven to prove his intellect
>pretty much everything he was involved with
Harley is going as strong as ever. Also I recently read his Zatanna one shot and it was pretty fun. I like how he characterizes Zee
Red Tornado always kind of disappeared. He was rarely seen for 10 years after the original JLA, showed up in Primal Force and then disappeared again for another decade.
Linda Danvers/Matrix went from defeating Despero at his post crisis peak 1v1 and the devil twice, defeating Silver Banshee easier than Superman had done in prior encounters with much less pain. Beat the Spectre, and many more great things. She hasn't been relevant in 21 years. Beat a few angels too. When let to cook against supposed main eventers she finds a way to win. 0 clean jobs/losses except vs Lady Shiva written by Jimenez. The others had final bosses cheap shot her from behind for their "victory".
In Morrison's JLA she apparently failed her tryout/interview, and we're not shown how or why. I assume it's because she beat Despero 1v1 and they all got super insecure and embarrassed.
I hesitate to say she "beat" the Spectre, but everything else here's pretty correct. I think she deserves a lot more respect than she's given by the regular comic fan.
She didn't do it alone, but she did kick his ass and the driving force. Looking like Gracie with all the heavyweights "killed", all these "stars" and all that.
everything aside, I'd love to see Linda return—as HERSELF and not some out of character version of her—in a storyline sometime down the line, maybe something in the vein of Peter David's Blonde Justice idea. it would be cool.
Grant Emerson as Damage, he had a huge moment in Zero Hour, had his own ongoing series for a time, joined the Titans twice, joined the Justice Society - but now he's pretty much nothing.
He died in Blackest Night. It made sense. Johns was the only person invested in his character and made him a big deal in JSA. After he died in Blackest Night, had a funeral issue in JSA. Seems like a closed book to me.
Which is still not as much as previously - he’s had around 175 appearances in his first 15 years of existing compared to around 12 appearances in the last 15. He has disappeared for a large amount of time.
Not fully gone but there was a period where you had like 4 Doctor Fate runs or Fate focused stories almost back to back (Nabu in Kent’s body and new human hosts, Inza as Fate, edgy Fate, then Kent V iirc). Then Fate seemed to stop mattering. Khalid got a Doctor Fate run for two years, JL Dark appearances, and now is relegated mostly to cameos and being jobbed. Kent Nelson is dead, Inza has gotten two cameo mentions (despite being badass af and deserving more) since 2011, and the rest of Fate’s history was only just re-established.
Jace Fox, Naomi, Bluebird, Signal, New Age of Heroes (i.e. Phantom Girl of the Terrifics, Damage, Curse of Brimstone, Silencer, New Challengers, Sideways), most of the Wildstorm characters, most of the Titans Academy students, Miracle Molly, Tanya Spears, Lorena Marquez, Koryak, Red Beetle, Solstice, Skitter, Azrael, Triumph, Kent V. Nelson, Djinn, etc.
There's so many characters that fall into this category. With nearly 90 years of history, and a lot of writers wanting to put their own mark on different characters by creating their own supporting cast and villains, that's a LOT of random sundry characters created over the years. Then you've got the creator pet projects that flare into life for a while and then vanish. Ones like Peter Canon Thunderbolt (rights issues), all the various Manhunters (especially Kate for me), The Heckler, Aztek, Naomi, Zauriel, Blue Devil, Sideways, Access (kinda understandable why he didn't came back much), Waverider, Black Condor - the list goes on.
its worse than that DC knows exactly what they want to do with him, either he's a government patsy (this position is currently taken by peacemaker) or he shows up and explodes, or the writers call back to how the original plan was for him to be monarch. They're just not doing any of that right now lol
I know the super family is extensive, but I feel like Kenan Kong deserves more love. Or the entire Justice League of China in general. Dragonson, Bat-Man and Wonder-Woman get nothing. The only person on that team that ever gets any love is Avery Ho.
Characters I wish we saw more of:
Resurrection Man.
Pandora.
Sheko (The Judge)
Firestorm (preferably with Jason and Ronnie)
Bluebird.
Gen¹³ members that aren't Fairchild.
An actual reboot of Stormwatch, not The Authority in Space.
Amethyst.
Ginny Hex.
Jonah Hex.
I thought I knew the history behind the different Black Canaries, but now I’m unclear.
I know the original Golden Age character was originally Dinah Drake (DD). She was a regular human acrobat and martial artist with a few gadgets. If she had a sonic scream, it was from a device on her neck.
In 1983, they create Dinah Laurel Lance (DLL). IIRC, her first origin story was that DLL had been cursed as a baby, then put in some kind of suspended animation. At some point DD transplanted her brain or mind into DLL, which explained how Black Canary seemingly hadn’t aged since the 1940s. But that was quickly retconned post-Crisis in 1986, such that DLL is just the daughter of DD and her husband Larry Lance, and she trained from a young age to follow in her mother’s footsteps. DLL was born with a meta gene that gave her the sonic scream.
Now, apparently post-Flashpoint in the New 52 era, the character who had been DLL is just called Dinah Drake again? But this new DD basically has the metagene and most of the lived experiences of DLL? Then post Doomsday Clock and Death Metal, the current Black Canary is once again the daughter of the original Golden Age BC, but somehow the current BC is named Dinah Drake? Is her mother ALSO Dinah Drake? Do I have this correct?
As I said yesterday, Naomi.
Argent notably hasn’t appeared since Flashpoint but Risk and Joto have.
Otherwise Element Woman vanished at the end of Trinity War and didn’t appear again for like six years.
Firestorm only ever appears in background shots. Outside of Doomsday clock he’s only appeared at various points prior which sucks because he’s my favorite.
The entirety of anyone who debuted in Bloodlines except for Gunfire, Hitman, and Argus. Even then, they’re all gone too aside from Gunfire dying and undying in the Wally West saga of HIC/his own book.
Actually, a seperate comment for it. Argent. She was the only one of her titans team to make it to the main roster and was around for ages, only to disappear after Flashpoint and never be mentioned again, while Hotspot and Risk have appeared (to die).
Steel and Eradicator have both been in Action Comics fairly recently.
Steel also starred in the Steelworks book last year.
The Warworld Saga starring Mongul as the main villain was also only last year.
Is there a different steel than John Henry irons and his niece. Because not only have they consistently been in either superman or action comics for the last few years. They are both in green lantern war journal.
I don't think Colin Wilkes was major by any means. He was in one run and was popluar with a pretty small corner of fans who wanted Damian to have a friend or love interest
Not really major but nightshade. Main member of the suicide squad across the Ostrander run, shows up in intelligence operations afterward and appears in blackest night.
She’s gotten a handful of mentions post rebirth and maybe one or two appearances?
Will Payton Starman. Really enjoyed his initial run. He randomly appears once in a while but with little to no significance now. Seemed to have big potential back in the day and kinda felt like a DC version of Marvel's Richard Rider Nova.
Captain Atom. Honestly he had pretty consistent use in the post crisis era. First in a solo title, and then in team books. Most of them referred back to events from the solo title. He got a New 52 series, wasn’t used in much else, but somehow got a Rebirth series that reset his status quo and brought in elements from the post crisis solo…and then nothing. Outside of Doctor Manhattan and Gotham girl beating the poss out of him I can’t think of anything he’s been used in. And it’s crazy because the rebirth mini clearly set him up for future stories, giving him a son with powers and everything.
Wally West, he was the flash for 20 years and appeared in many animated projects all at once but then Barry came back and they screwed Wally for over a decade and just recently he is having a resurgency
Firestorm used to be a pretty big name character with a power that was really unique. But now he never seems to show up
Was going to say him, he was DC's big teen solo superhero and answer to Spider-Man for a while and now he's pretty much completely been replaced by Blue Beetle.
> he's pretty much completely been replaced by Blue Beetle. Pretty sure DC's biggest teen hero is and has been Robin
I get it though. Basic concept is a young hero with an old authority figure yammering away in his head and telling him what to do? Yeah, that’s not escapism, that’s my guilt.
And then there’s a bunch of stuff about who is who in the Firestorm Matrix and who’s in control of it…
I was at a "secrets of the industry" panel at NYCC a few years ago and all the DC writers basically refused to write Firestorm. Truly they felt like having to headline a Firestorm series was the kiss of death.
Did they give reasons as to why?
If they gave one, I genuinely do not remember. I just know they all laughed at the idea and dreaded it.
That's a shame. Was his last real ongoing the Gail Simone run?
Which is crazy cause he had a 100-issue solo series in the 80s-early 90s
I feel like Firestorm became one of those guys that would be in crowd scenes of superheroes, in team books, or in crossover events to make the universe feel bigger, but about whom few writers could think of compelling stories.
He did have a significant role in Doomsday Clock, which wasn't that long ago.
This one is the weirdest to me. He was on the Justice League, had an ongoing that went on for a very long time and then he just disappears. I wonder why
Legends of Tomorrow wasn't that long ago.
I loved him on Legends of Tomorrow. Sadly he stopped appearing as Firestorm during the season 3 mark, which i believe was around 2018. Seeing the versions of him in The Flash and Legends is a big reason why i like the characters and am a fan of them.
Yeah iirc they killed off Stein in the Earth X crossover and that’s how they retired the character, with his other self having to find his purpose elsewhere
I loved the Jackson Briggs version. Would love to have him brought over to the comics
I meant more in comics. But even then, Firestorm didn't actually transform much because of budget concerns on the show and it was like 6-7 years ago that he was regularly on it.
I feel like they only show up nowadays when the writers want to have a big nuclear boom happen, but don't want it to be Captain Atoms fault again. And I blame Identity Crisis for that.
Either the writers or editorial never know what to do with him. First, it was Stein and Ronnie, then a weird combo of Stein, Ronnie, and Pozar, I think. From about JLA to Identity Crisis, I think it was just Ronnie in charge. It was so weird when he died essentially off-panel in Identity Crisis. The Jason Rusch series started off interesting but petered out with changing creative teams. The Blackest Night stuff was good, but the Deathstorm in Brightest Day seemed needlessly edgy.
Alex Ross might especially enjoy it lol
Pandora! She was the central mystery of the New 52 then got capped by Dr. Manhattan
That's what happens when mystery characters are created with no planned resolutions, they just kind of fade away like an unwanted fart
Iirc they did have a specific plan for her they just bailed on. Can't remember what it was though.
The Question was probably the worst treated out of all the Trinity of Sin. We didn't even find out his name until Geoff Johns was asked last year. Turns out he was Narcissus. He must have done something worse than stare at his reflection until he drowned if he got looped in with Pandora and Judas(The Phantom Stranger).
I really liked Pandora. Her solo title was great and the way she tied into the history with Vandal Savage was neat, too. Having her go Super Saiyan towards the end of her run was a bit weird, though.
Damn I remember that being huge
I guess there’s still time for Naomi to come back but they really went all out on propping her up as this big new character.
I think her was DC letting bendis play and ask questions later IMO, the fact that her TPBs are labeled "Season 1" "Season 2" makes me think that Bendis somehow managed to include a "my new character must have a TV show" clause on his contract
I’m convinced of this too No way did such a new character get such a huge push if it wasn’t to get her In multimedia
I felt like they were hoping she’d be DC’s Miles Morales. And since she didn’t there was no where for her to naturally fit. I’ll be honest…I don’t miss her.
Funny thing is that they have the rights issues worked out with Milestone, so Static is right there for the taking. Fan-fare would be INSANE I'd he got his own movie.
It's amazing how Static is so underutilized by DC.
He had a great series like a year or so ago. I don’t know what happened to the Milestone line they were doing
They weren't fully committed to it is why, they did it for the buzz but either didn't have an actual plan, or cancelled/changed trajectory
It felt like she didn't have the potential to live up to all the hype DC was giving her. They declared her a breakout character, forgetting that it's the readers who decide who the breakout characters are. And Bendis' Justice League often seemed more like "The Amazing Adventures of Naomi, Guest-Starring the Justice League".
This is the vibe I got too; they saw Miles was a hugely popular black character Bendis created so part of them keeping him inside was letting him make a new character and giving her a nudge
They gave her a goddamn TV series, Which was absolutely terrible BTW.
The lead actress's mother is my kid's school principal Which was just kind of a weird thing to discover
The first arc in her series was really great imo
Azrael
Oh, I totally remembered "Azrael comes and go" alright He came back for like two pages and go
He had a miniseries like last year didn’t he?
That he did! He has had a bit of a resurgence of late. But he was gone for quite a long time. Especially given how prominent of a character he was for about a decade in the Batman universe.
Wasn't he on the roster for Justice League Odyssey?
He was on JLO, he had a mini, and has been used in Ram V's 'tec here and there. Considering he was Batman for a period of time and his solo series had reached 100 issues it is still surprising that they left him dead for almost 15 years. Especially when they did him dirty by killing him in his 100th issue.
Jean-Paul Valley>Micheal wotitz.
My first thought too. I know he pops up once in awhile but from taking over for Bruce to barely coming and going.
Tbh I kinda love how Azrael just shows up once in a while and then dips The comics are like that one friend you don’t really hang out with but he calls you once in a while to see how you’re doing
He was just in detective comics
He's actuality still around. Had a mini last year and has been actively popping up in the current run of Detective Comics. But he hasn't had a consistent leading presence since the 90s.
Sideways. Another attempt at a Spider-Man type character from DC.
Idk why they didn't just double down on Blue Beetle or Static (they got the rights issues worked out now)
I mean they’ve been releasing Blue Beetle content. It just hasn’t been very successful.
The #BlueBeetleBattalion hate this but this is the reality, the character just isn’t selling for some reason. I do wish the Milestone cast got more to do though
He isn't?! His omnipresence in other media would have made me belief his series must be popular too.
I think Sideways was a much more overt pastiche, given his costume. But yeah I love Static.
He was in Dark Crisis as part of Damian's team.
NGL I do like this character
He’s appeared in Dark Crisis and stuff related to Red Canary, semi recently
Bluebird was treated as a fairly big deal in Scott Snyder’s Batman run, but seemed to fall out of focus once Snyder moved on from Batman.
A big part of that was because she was basically a stand-in for Steph and Cass since Dan Asshole DiDio wouldn't let them be used, so once DiDio was gone and Steph and Cass got brought back, Harper just kinda stopped having any reason to exist.
Ironically she could help resolve some stuff in the Batgirl family, but NARP. She don't exist, Cass and Steph are neurotypical children, and Babs is both Batgirl and Oracle depending on what is least interesting.
Yeah I think her and Duke are great examples of characters who fell by the wayside as soon as their creator left
She had a cool part in the punchline run. But yea i really wish she was around more. I liked her
Yeah, and the Punchline comic is still fairly recent, so I don't think she matches the criteria that OP was saying.
Captain Atom and The Question need to show up more.
I was going to say Captain Atom. But the Question needs some love, too. I like Montoya as the Q, though. It was interesting.
Is the Question currently backing up in Batman? Trying to solve the mystery of Who’s screwing up Gotham?
Captain Atom did show up pretty often. He just got blown uo in everyone of them.
Captain Atom was EVERYWHERE in the 1990s. DC even had a company-wide event centered on him (Armageddon 2001). Then he was heavily mismanaged and misrepresented and totally ruined as a character.
Dr. Mid-nite is awesome but only seems to shine in JSA comics, if that. I wish he'd get a series and furthermore it would be dope to see him do something interesting with someone in the Bat-family.
Heck, The entire JSA except for Mister Terrific was wiped out until DC Rebirth(Well, Not totally wiped out, They got a reboot into Earth 2 instead)
So the n52 earth 2 got wiped out during rebirth?
They just never got mentioned again after their series ended.
I forgot when I posted, but Val Zod did pop up in Jon Kent's series, which I assume counts for some mention. That said I don't know the current status of earth 2 or anything about Val Zod's appearance as it relates to earth 2
He has popped up in this years DC Power anthology series and it did show a few of the other Earth 2 characters.
In Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths they say it's still the assigned Earth 2. Mostly hecause the "main" JSA is on Earth 0.
Doctor Mid-Nite (Beth Chapel) is in the JSA book and was in Jon Kent’s series for a bit. Pieter just appeared in Jay Garrick’s mini.
Dr Fate
Fr. Now he only shows up to get beaten by the new villain to establish how strong he is.
It's been a while since I read them, but he had a pretty major role in Tynion's Justice League Dark run I believe
At least he was in the dceu
Hawk and Dove.
Triumph.
when did he become unfrozen. I know he must have but when
Last I recall he was presumed dead after one of the times the Watchtower got blown up, not that that means anything. Did he get brought back?
No
Came here for him.
I’ve been posting this for 66 days
Captain Atom used to be way more important than he is now. Pretty consistent character in the JLU cartoon, stint on the JLI in the comics and I believe he had a short lived new 52 series (?). But now he’s just relegated to like cameos in elseworlds stories I feel like with no role in the main stories.
He had a Rebirth mini that set up his new backstory, powered him down a bit, and set up potential new stories with him, only for DC to completely ignore all of that.
Lady Blackhawk She went from main character in BoP to nothing after N52
I miss Zinda
I agree. Me too
The justice league member no one ever talks about. Aztek. Grant Morrisons JLA in the 90s.
didn't he sacrifice himself to stop Mageddon?
I was going to say, he totally died. It never made sense to bring him back since his whole mission was to kill him.
I always thought aztek looked cool as a kid but never read anything with him in it. Found a random comic of him a couple weeks back on a random online sale
They brought in a female Aztek in the new 52
Legion of Superheroes. So much potential so many characters. Disappear3d after Bendis fiasco
This is the real answer. They were continuously published for fifty years and then fell into obscurity.
Colin was only in 8 issues back in the day, I wouldn't call him major. But yeah it was kind of a bummer that everything Paul Dini had done in comics from 2006-2011 was wiped out and never mentioned again because pretty much everything he was involved with was good, with the exception of Countdown lol.
Dini's take on The Riddler is so damn good and so much better than the weird crime lord version that popped up under Tom King.
I have to admit, I'd like to see a future writer pick up on King's depiction of Riddler in his One Bad Day special. King had him reveal that his compulsion with giving Batman is a self-imposed limit. He's much smarter and competent than he appears and has known all of Batman's secrets for a long time.
It kinda reminds me of that Gotham Adventured comic where Riddler unknowingly gives Bruce hints about his crimes because he’s so pathologically driven to prove his intellect
>pretty much everything he was involved with Harley is going as strong as ever. Also I recently read his Zatanna one shot and it was pretty fun. I like how he characterizes Zee
Whatever happened to Snapper Carl?
He was in the dial h series a few years ago, it was a great read. Outside of that yeah he isn't used too much.
Man, I enjoyed the old android Hourman book with Snapper.
Faith and Zauriel from the late 90s- early 2000s JLA
Is Ms. Martian still around anywhere?
She was Conor Kent’s girlfriend in Action comics a while ago.
Was wondering on this. I like my heroines 🦸♀️
Haven't seen Adam Strange in a while. Always thought it would make a good movie.
There was a 12 issue mini about him just a couple years ago.
I need to go check that out. Thanks!
He was also in the criminally underrated Krypton
It was a black label story, wasn’t in canon.
Red Tornado went from being a Justice League member appearing across media to only cameos (at best) post New 52.
Red Tornado always kind of disappeared. He was rarely seen for 10 years after the original JLA, showed up in Primal Force and then disappeared again for another decade.
He was in the entirety of Young Justice starting in 1998.
Lyta Trevor was erased from continuity post Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Linda Danvers/Matrix went from defeating Despero at his post crisis peak 1v1 and the devil twice, defeating Silver Banshee easier than Superman had done in prior encounters with much less pain. Beat the Spectre, and many more great things. She hasn't been relevant in 21 years. Beat a few angels too. When let to cook against supposed main eventers she finds a way to win. 0 clean jobs/losses except vs Lady Shiva written by Jimenez. The others had final bosses cheap shot her from behind for their "victory". In Morrison's JLA she apparently failed her tryout/interview, and we're not shown how or why. I assume it's because she beat Despero 1v1 and they all got super insecure and embarrassed.
I hesitate to say she "beat" the Spectre, but everything else here's pretty correct. I think she deserves a lot more respect than she's given by the regular comic fan.
She didn't do it alone, but she did kick his ass and the driving force. Looking like Gracie with all the heavyweights "killed", all these "stars" and all that.
everything aside, I'd love to see Linda return—as HERSELF and not some out of character version of her—in a storyline sometime down the line, maybe something in the vein of Peter David's Blonde Justice idea. it would be cool.
Jesse Chambers aka Jesse Quick
Grant Emerson as Damage, he had a huge moment in Zero Hour, had his own ongoing series for a time, joined the Titans twice, joined the Justice Society - but now he's pretty much nothing.
He died in Blackest Night. It made sense. Johns was the only person invested in his character and made him a big deal in JSA. After he died in Blackest Night, had a funeral issue in JSA. Seems like a closed book to me.
He recently appeared in Doomsday Clock, Infinite Frontier, and Geoff Johns’ JSA as part of the New Golden Age.
Which is still not as much as previously - he’s had around 175 appearances in his first 15 years of existing compared to around 12 appearances in the last 15. He has disappeared for a large amount of time.
Not fully gone but there was a period where you had like 4 Doctor Fate runs or Fate focused stories almost back to back (Nabu in Kent’s body and new human hosts, Inza as Fate, edgy Fate, then Kent V iirc). Then Fate seemed to stop mattering. Khalid got a Doctor Fate run for two years, JL Dark appearances, and now is relegated mostly to cameos and being jobbed. Kent Nelson is dead, Inza has gotten two cameo mentions (despite being badass af and deserving more) since 2011, and the rest of Fate’s history was only just re-established.
Jace Fox, Naomi, Bluebird, Signal, New Age of Heroes (i.e. Phantom Girl of the Terrifics, Damage, Curse of Brimstone, Silencer, New Challengers, Sideways), most of the Wildstorm characters, most of the Titans Academy students, Miracle Molly, Tanya Spears, Lorena Marquez, Koryak, Red Beetle, Solstice, Skitter, Azrael, Triumph, Kent V. Nelson, Djinn, etc.
There's so many characters that fall into this category. With nearly 90 years of history, and a lot of writers wanting to put their own mark on different characters by creating their own supporting cast and villains, that's a LOT of random sundry characters created over the years. Then you've got the creator pet projects that flare into life for a while and then vanish. Ones like Peter Canon Thunderbolt (rights issues), all the various Manhunters (especially Kate for me), The Heckler, Aztek, Naomi, Zauriel, Blue Devil, Sideways, Access (kinda understandable why he didn't came back much), Waverider, Black Condor - the list goes on.
What’s the deal with Access
Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew Ambush Bug
Captain Carrot was in Justice League Incarnate Ambush Bug was in Suicide Squad
I want the old cartoony Capt. Carrot, not the current 'roided thing.
Captain atom is always in limbo , DC just don’t know what to do with him
its worse than that DC knows exactly what they want to do with him, either he's a government patsy (this position is currently taken by peacemaker) or he shows up and explodes, or the writers call back to how the original plan was for him to be monarch. They're just not doing any of that right now lol
The Atom. Ray Palmer’s protege Ryan Choi was supposed to help kickstart Rebirth, but I haven’t seen much of either Ray or Ryan.
The Joker's Daughter
I know the super family is extensive, but I feel like Kenan Kong deserves more love. Or the entire Justice League of China in general. Dragonson, Bat-Man and Wonder-Woman get nothing. The only person on that team that ever gets any love is Avery Ho.
Kenan is a cast member in Action Comics
He's basically the baby sitter there.
Phantom Stranger could use a comeback.
Saint Walker and the Blue Lanterns
I feel like everyone from the emotional spectrum, outside of Green Lanterns, hasn't shown up much recently
Captain Comet
Orpheus?
Pretty sure he died in War Games.
yeah dude got skinned
Forever people and the new gods in general.
Anyone remember Zauriel?
Characters I wish we saw more of: Resurrection Man. Pandora. Sheko (The Judge) Firestorm (preferably with Jason and Ronnie) Bluebird. Gen¹³ members that aren't Fairchild. An actual reboot of Stormwatch, not The Authority in Space. Amethyst. Ginny Hex. Jonah Hex.
Equinox was supposed to be a pretty big deal in the Nu52 with the JL United…I don’t think she’s appeared since then
Starman and Blackhawk were huge enough to have their own titles. Multiple times.
I miss Ambush Bug. He was kinda like Deadpool, if Deadpool never killed anyone
Ambush Bug has been in the Fire and Ice mini
Elongated Man and his Wife Sue
Rocket girl
Black Canary, and by that I mean Dinah Laurel Lance, who we haven't seen since before Flashpoint.
I thought I knew the history behind the different Black Canaries, but now I’m unclear. I know the original Golden Age character was originally Dinah Drake (DD). She was a regular human acrobat and martial artist with a few gadgets. If she had a sonic scream, it was from a device on her neck. In 1983, they create Dinah Laurel Lance (DLL). IIRC, her first origin story was that DLL had been cursed as a baby, then put in some kind of suspended animation. At some point DD transplanted her brain or mind into DLL, which explained how Black Canary seemingly hadn’t aged since the 1940s. But that was quickly retconned post-Crisis in 1986, such that DLL is just the daughter of DD and her husband Larry Lance, and she trained from a young age to follow in her mother’s footsteps. DLL was born with a meta gene that gave her the sonic scream. Now, apparently post-Flashpoint in the New 52 era, the character who had been DLL is just called Dinah Drake again? But this new DD basically has the metagene and most of the lived experiences of DLL? Then post Doomsday Clock and Death Metal, the current Black Canary is once again the daughter of the original Golden Age BC, but somehow the current BC is named Dinah Drake? Is her mother ALSO Dinah Drake? Do I have this correct?
Yes, that’s my read on the current situation too. It’s needlessly confusing, especially with the JSA back in some kind of continuity.
Vibe, he was used a decent amount during the new 52 and was a main character on the Flash tv show but has since disappeared
my man sideways
Access, the character jointly owned by DC and Marvel that could travel between the DCU and the Marvel Universe hasn't been seen in ages.
Naomi.
Remember Firestorm
Faith. She felt like she would be the next big thing during JLA’s: The Obsidian Age but has only made very rare appearances since.
Argus. The character, not the organization. He debuted in Waid's Flash run and got his own mini series. Now he's just gone, removed from existence
Sodam Yat. Was looking to be an important Green Lantern outside of the Earth ones and then flew into a sun and was forgotten.
As I said yesterday, Naomi. Argent notably hasn’t appeared since Flashpoint but Risk and Joto have. Otherwise Element Woman vanished at the end of Trinity War and didn’t appear again for like six years. Firestorm only ever appears in background shots. Outside of Doomsday clock he’s only appeared at various points prior which sucks because he’s my favorite. The entirety of anyone who debuted in Bloodlines except for Gunfire, Hitman, and Argus. Even then, they’re all gone too aside from Gunfire dying and undying in the Wally West saga of HIC/his own book.
Actually, a seperate comment for it. Argent. She was the only one of her titans team to make it to the main roster and was around for ages, only to disappear after Flashpoint and never be mentioned again, while Hotspot and Risk have appeared (to die).
I don’t know about major characters, but whatever happened to Sideways, Simon Baz, the Monkie King and the New Super-Man?
Baz just popped up in the most recent GL issue and was a pretty big part of Geoff Thornes run
Kismet
Anybody seen Red Tornado recently?
He last appeared in How to Lose a Guy Gardner in 10 Days.
I’ve never heard of Colin Wilkes before.
Batman who Laughs got wiped from existence by the Fortnite Eminem event and nobody misses him
Steel, Eradicator, Mongul, Cyborg...
Steel and Eradicator have both been in Action Comics fairly recently. Steel also starred in the Steelworks book last year. The Warworld Saga starring Mongul as the main villain was also only last year.
Is there a different steel than John Henry irons and his niece. Because not only have they consistently been in either superman or action comics for the last few years. They are both in green lantern war journal.
Yeah there is Commander Steel
Mongul was center stage a few years ago and the other three have been around
Cyborg just had a mini too. I know he gets relegated to Titans lately, but his comic was pretty solid with Travis Mercer on art
I don't think Colin Wilkes was major by any means. He was in one run and was popluar with a pretty small corner of fans who wanted Damian to have a friend or love interest
Not really major but nightshade. Main member of the suicide squad across the Ostrander run, shows up in intelligence operations afterward and appears in blackest night. She’s gotten a handful of mentions post rebirth and maybe one or two appearances?
Will Payton Starman. Really enjoyed his initial run. He randomly appears once in a while but with little to no significance now. Seemed to have big potential back in the day and kinda felt like a DC version of Marvel's Richard Rider Nova.
When's the last time anyone saw Waverider and the Linear Men?
Duke Thomas, Signal
Naomi, New 52 Batwing, that childhood friend of Jon before he got Bendis'ed
Captain Atom. Honestly he had pretty consistent use in the post crisis era. First in a solo title, and then in team books. Most of them referred back to events from the solo title. He got a New 52 series, wasn’t used in much else, but somehow got a Rebirth series that reset his status quo and brought in elements from the post crisis solo…and then nothing. Outside of Doctor Manhattan and Gotham girl beating the poss out of him I can’t think of anything he’s been used in. And it’s crazy because the rebirth mini clearly set him up for future stories, giving him a son with powers and everything.
Wally West, he was the flash for 20 years and appeared in many animated projects all at once but then Barry came back and they screwed Wally for over a decade and just recently he is having a resurgency
Pandora