Disscussion on Legacy Characters in DCU
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel DC Comics really had been being stupid with their legacy characters? At this point, nearly every big name hero is a part of some sort of legacy whether that be Batman, Nightwing, Green Arrow, or Flashes and Green Lanterns. But you know a pattern I'm seeing? Other than Flashes (which, if you put Jay Garrick aside for a moment, almost can be included in this for Bart's death before Barry came back) and Green Lanterns, it seems as of the past few years, we're just not allowed to have characters share their legacy at the same time.
The latest victim of this is of course Ryan Choi being killed to bring back Ray Palmer as the Atom. But wait a second, what's the problem with them BOTH being the Atom? They were both the Atom (sorta) during Countdown to Final Crisis, so why not now?
I have no answer for that (other than DC's just being silly). But Ryan Choi isn't the beginning of this list, not by a long shot. I may be wrong, but from what I've read, this started when Connor Hawke got shot and got amnesia. We had two Green Arrows, but that's obviously not allowed, so let's shoot Connor and give him amnesia, so he can't shoot a bow straight anymore. Brilliant.
Not so much. The next points, I'm not quite sure if it'll be in order, but it still holds. There was James Jesse (Trickster I), of the Flash's Rogue gallery, and he got killed off in Countdown, and there's the new Trickster (Axel) instead. They both could have had the title or kept fighting about it. No need to kill James off.
At the time, even though we had two Flashes (Jay as the other), they killed Bart then brought back Wally. Now, that hardly matters now with Bart back, but it still happened, and it's part of the trend.
And since this list is actually a little obnoxious long, I'll just list the rest here and get to the point. Ted Kord killed as Blue Beetle (then we get Jaime right after, which is awesome, but still, Ted had to die for it; luckily, since Winick said Ted isn't coming back, we shouldn't have to worry for the role reversal with Jaime...I hope), Owen Mercer becoming Captain Boomerang after his father was killed off (THEN in Blackest Night, the reversal happened; I saw no reason for Owen to be killed like that, so his father could have the title), and Garth was killed off in Blackest Night RIGHT after he held the Aquaman costume and contemplating taking the throne (then they bring back Aquaman; great job there, DC, really).
Then add the Ryan Choi incident and even Cassandra Cain (though, I do like Steph as Batgirl, and I felt it was in character for Cass to leave without Bruce there, but still, they both could have been Batgirl), we have a pretty long list. I mean, they don't NEED to be the same hero name at the same time, but that's an option that's being ignored at this point (and GLs don't count since they're a corps, and well, Flashes seem to be the exception to this rule). And it's not really that confusing, you know? We have multiple GLs and Flashes, and no one's getting terribly confused over that, you know?
So with this list and the trend, it makes me worry for a few characters. With Winick saying Ted won't be back, I feel Jaime's safe, but what about Dick when he's no longer Batman? There's a Nightwing in the whole Superman storyline. Can't have two Nightwings, can we, DC? Yeah, Didio SAYS he won't kill Dick, but when do we take him at his word? (And speaking of Nightwing, they've just brought Bette Kane back in Detective Comics as Flamebird; I hope there being a Flamebird in the New Kypton stuff doesn't lead to her getting killed off.)
With this info about this trend, what characters would this make you worried about? Or is my trend not a trend? Let's discuss? <3
The latest victim of this is of course Ryan Choi being killed to bring back Ray Palmer as the Atom. But wait a second, what's the problem with them BOTH being the Atom? They were both the Atom (sorta) during Countdown to Final Crisis, so why not now?
I have no answer for that (other than DC's just being silly). But Ryan Choi isn't the beginning of this list, not by a long shot. I may be wrong, but from what I've read, this started when Connor Hawke got shot and got amnesia. We had two Green Arrows, but that's obviously not allowed, so let's shoot Connor and give him amnesia, so he can't shoot a bow straight anymore. Brilliant.
Not so much. The next points, I'm not quite sure if it'll be in order, but it still holds. There was James Jesse (Trickster I), of the Flash's Rogue gallery, and he got killed off in Countdown, and there's the new Trickster (Axel) instead. They both could have had the title or kept fighting about it. No need to kill James off.
At the time, even though we had two Flashes (Jay as the other), they killed Bart then brought back Wally. Now, that hardly matters now with Bart back, but it still happened, and it's part of the trend.
And since this list is actually a little obnoxious long, I'll just list the rest here and get to the point. Ted Kord killed as Blue Beetle (then we get Jaime right after, which is awesome, but still, Ted had to die for it; luckily, since Winick said Ted isn't coming back, we shouldn't have to worry for the role reversal with Jaime...I hope), Owen Mercer becoming Captain Boomerang after his father was killed off (THEN in Blackest Night, the reversal happened; I saw no reason for Owen to be killed like that, so his father could have the title), and Garth was killed off in Blackest Night RIGHT after he held the Aquaman costume and contemplating taking the throne (then they bring back Aquaman; great job there, DC, really).
Then add the Ryan Choi incident and even Cassandra Cain (though, I do like Steph as Batgirl, and I felt it was in character for Cass to leave without Bruce there, but still, they both could have been Batgirl), we have a pretty long list. I mean, they don't NEED to be the same hero name at the same time, but that's an option that's being ignored at this point (and GLs don't count since they're a corps, and well, Flashes seem to be the exception to this rule). And it's not really that confusing, you know? We have multiple GLs and Flashes, and no one's getting terribly confused over that, you know?
So with this list and the trend, it makes me worry for a few characters. With Winick saying Ted won't be back, I feel Jaime's safe, but what about Dick when he's no longer Batman? There's a Nightwing in the whole Superman storyline. Can't have two Nightwings, can we, DC? Yeah, Didio SAYS he won't kill Dick, but when do we take him at his word? (And speaking of Nightwing, they've just brought Bette Kane back in Detective Comics as Flamebird; I hope there being a Flamebird in the New Kypton stuff doesn't lead to her getting killed off.)
With this info about this trend, what characters would this make you worried about? Or is my trend not a trend? Let's discuss? <3