I think, this April, I might make a few quick posts about my favorite DC superheroes. It has been on my mind here for a while, just between teaching and writing I haven’t had the opportunity to really delve into it. Now out of the superheroes, at least comic superheroes, Detective Comics has always been my favorite. It is one of things that makes me sad honestly. Even though Marvel is sort of faltering now, they have such a stranglehold on film and media that most DC properties are not really given much chance to really grow anymore. There are really good movies here and there, but a series that generates a cohesive universe has not arisen. And I am not knocking the media that is out, but when it comes to the general audience Marvel has all the attention.
I grew up in the 90s, so I grew up when DC really had a strong presence in the general population. Yes Marvel had media, but it was DC at the time that had multi-media projects. The multi-media empire. And I would argue some of the best representations of the Justice League. Honestly the cartoon really had a strong feel to it. It slapped, or to use another slang term, it hit hard. It still has the best Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Hawk Girl, and Green Lantern. There are shows that have come after that slap just as hard, but, all of them trace back to this one.
It is because of this show that out of the DC roster the following characters have become my favorite superheroes.
Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, The Flash, Booster Gold, and Terry McGinnis.
The shared universe is also why Static is another of my favorite characters.
Then as time keeps marching forwards you have the series Teen Titans and Young Justice. They start to open up a whole new universe of characters. Like I dabbled in comics, and watched the cartoons as much as I could. Not to mention the movies, and since kids have bad tastes, I enjoyed Batman and Robin, I still do.
All that to say, Nightwing has always been my favorites, his comics were the first that I purchased. To be fair, I also purchased X-men, Sonic, and Knuckles comics as well. Trips to the grocery stores used to be me looking through the comic racks. And if you know about the Knuckles archie comics, they are weird, but that is a tale for another time.
However, Raven and Starfire became more of my favorite characters. As well as Artemis, Blue Beetle, Technically Kid Flash (This Flash is Wally West who in Justice League was The Flash), Miss Martian, and Aqualad. Speedy, but more specifically Red Arrow. I honestly think Young Justice did the best story with this character. It’s because of these two shows that Blackfire and Cheshire are some of my favorite villains of DC. The Top spot, actually goes to Vandal Savage.
As I have gone deeper into the DC universe, you start to develop a personal sense of who these characters are suppose to be, their ideal form. And I didn’t come up with this, but because it’s so massive, I agree, the canon for these characters comes down to just that, what a person thinks it should be. You learn more, you gravitate to stories that you like, and so that becomes the defined character. There are some stories that have happened, like the new 52 that I have not been a fan of. The stories that I like shape my favorite DC superheroes.
But all of that to add Stephanie Brown, Barbra Gordon, and Cassandra Cain. Doctor Fate is also on my list as is Zattana.
That brings me to the end of this post however, I will go over in depth the listed Superheroes in their own posts. Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, The Flash, Doctor Fate, Zattana, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Nightwing, Raven, Starfire, Miss Martian, Artemis, Aqualad, Speedy, Stephanie Brown, Barbra Gordon, and Cassandra Cain.
And Batman (Beyond).
Well sort of in their own posts, I do realize some of them sort of go together. Like if I wanted to cover the Robins, I could lump Stephanie and Nightwing together. Though, Nightwing, Raven, and Starfire go better together. It would also allow me to talk about Blackfire as well.
So, the first post after this will be the Justice League. It will cover Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and the Flash*. After that will be the Teen Titans which will cover Nightwing, Raven, Starfire, and Blackfire as a bonus. Third is Young Justice covering Aqualad, Miss Martian, Kid Flash*, Artemis, Speedy, and Chesire as a bonus. Fourth will be the Batgirls; Barbra Gordon, Stephanie Brown, and Cassandra Cain. Fifth is the boys-in-blue Booster Gold and Blue Beetle. Sixth is Magic with Doctor Fate, Zattana, and Vandal Savage as a bonus. And the final post will be Terry McGinnis, the Batman of the Future, at least one of the futures.
*The Flash and Kid Flash are the same character, in fact I actually had a Wally West comic as a kid. Like I mentioned, I do dabble in comics.
**Update, I just realized I missed Static, I was afraid of that. So, I am placing him with Terry McGinnis. To be fair there were a couple of crossovers with them in the cartoons, and they were the best, so. I will explain why I like the Batman of the Future, and the Future leader of the Justice League together.
Matthew William Lindquist 