The 1990s are often looked back on rather badly by a lot of fans, especially when it comes to Marvel or Image Comics. However, the same thing can’t be said of DC Comics. While everyone else was trying to put out the most eye-catching art and depending on gimmick covers, DC was giving readers just plain good stories, and they created numerous legends in the decade of extreme. One of them is getting a chance to shine again as Kyle Rayner is becoming the star of Green Lantern again in the post-DC K.O. timeframe. Kyle was amazing back in the day, but he’s only the beginning. DC introduced numerous legends in the ’90s.
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DC was all about building new stars and using the legacy of many of its well-known mantles to do it. DC Comics in the ’90s was full of new people in old costumes, and this helped the publisher bring an energy to their books that the rest of the comic industry couldn’t match. With Kyle Rayner coming back, it’s time that more ’90s DC legends return and we’d love to see these five get their chance to shine.
5) Artemis
Wonder Woman is one of DC’s most storied characters, and after Superman and Batman got replaced in the early ’90s, it was soon her turn. She was replaced by Artemis, an Amazon from the city of Bana-Mighdall. Artemis was a failure as Wonder Woman, ending up dead in Diana’s place, but she’s returned to life and has since become an actual good character. She’s even broke away from the Wonder Woman comics appearing alongside Red Hood and Bizarro in Red Hood and the Outlaws. Artemis had a solo story a few years ago in the anthology book Batman: The Brave and the Bold that was excellent, and it would be nice to see her again in a starring or co-starring role.
4) Chronos II
Chronos was an enemy of the Atom, a C-list villain who has showed up all over the place. In the mid ’90s, DC wanted to do something different with the mantle and introduced readers to Chronos II in Chronos. Walker Gabriel wasn’t a villain though, more like a time-traveling thief that did the right thing. The book never really caught on and was soon cancelled but Chronos II was a great character that could show up in a variety of books in the present day. A time-traveling rogue who does the right thing even when he doesn’t want to, there’s always room for a character like him.
3) The Eradicator
“Death of Superman” was a ’90s blockbuster that led to “Reign of the Supermen”, which saw four people claim to be the returned Superman. The Eradicator was one of them. First introduced as a villain in the post-Crisis John Byrne Superman, this more Kryptonian than human Clark Kent clone (it’s a long story; he’s kind of a Superman clone and kind of isn’t because of the Kryptonian birthing matrix and a lot of post-Crisis stuff that doesn’t completely count anymore) has battled both the Man of Steel and his enemies. He’s usually used as a villain nowadays, but it would be cool to see him in his “more violent Superman” mode than his “trying to kill humans and remake Krypton” side. Steel, Superboy, and Cyborg Superman get good stories and it’s time Eradicator did too.
2) Damage
Damage is the son of the Golden Age hero the Atom (not the one who fought Chronos), and was pushed in the ’90s. However, despite being given a solo book, he never caught on. Infinite Crisis would see the character injured by Zoom, and he joined the Justice Society of America, trying to temper his need for revenge and his self-loathing for what Zoom was able to do to him with learning to be a hero on the team his father founded. He was eventually killed in Blackest Night, and has barely showed up since. Damage was made into a much cooler character in the mid ’00s, and it’s about time we got him back. The character never got to reach his potential and it’s about time that happened.
1) Hourman III
Hourman started out as a Golden Age hero, with his son taking his place as Hourman II in the Justice Society. Millennia in the future, the descendants of Hourman would create Hourman III, a robot that is a nanotech colony with time travel technology. He’s been up and down the timestream, and was the only Hourman to get his own solo ongoing series. Hourman II is still around, but we’ve rarely seen the “man” that he calls brother. It would be great to see him again, as Matthew Tyler, the name he was given in the present day, has a lot more fans out there than most people realize.
What are your favorite ’90s DC legends? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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