DC Comics and legacy have gone hand in hand for a long time now. It honestly all started nearly a 100 years ago with Dick Grayson’s Robin. The whole point of Robin was that the character was the audience surrogate, and he wouldn’t be alone as the years went on, as characters like Green Arrow and the original Sandman would also get sidekicks. DC kept introducing sidekicks over the decades, with characters like Donna Troy’s Wonder Girl (herself a retconned version of Diana because the original Wonder Girl was Diana a la Superboy), Wally West’s Kid Flash, Aqualad, and more. Eventually, the Earth-Two heroes of the Justice Society’s children would join their fight in the ’70s. DC’s focus on legacy intensified after 1985-86’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, as the various teen heroes of the DC Multiverse were put on one Earth and grew up, with Wally West leading the charge as the new Flash.
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Since then, DC has toyed with making its legacy heroes more important. We’ve gotten Dick Grayson as Batman, Kyle Rayner took over as Green Lantern, and Wally West proved to be the best Flash. Donna Troy has taken up Wonder Woman’s mantle. Speedy became Red Arrow. Superman’s son Jon Kent was aged up and eventually became Superman. However, the originals always came back. I think that was a mistake. It’s about time that the next generation took over; however, that doesn’t mean exactly what you think it means.
DC’s Legacy Heroes Can Take Up the Fight but the Originals Don’t Have to Disappear
I started reading DC Comics in the ’90s and it was an interesting time. Superman had died and been replaced by four heroes. Batman’s back was broken and he was replaced. Wally West had been the Flash since 1986, and The Flash was hyper popular. Hal Jordan was turned evil, and replaced, with Kyle Rayner becoming the only Green Lantern left. Green Lantern suddenly became a fan-favorite book. Legacy was important and as the years went on it, became even more important. As the decade was coming to a close, the New Teen Titans had graduated to the New Teen Titans, and a new generation of young heroes was fighting evil as Young Justice. These heroes had all proven that they were more than skilled and powerful enough to save the day, and things were looking pretty good. It was an exciting time, but eventually, it was decided to undo all of the legacy heroes and bring back the old guard. Dick Grayson became Batman during this period, but he came along just as the old guard was ascending again. Since then, DC has paid lip service to the idea of legacy, but it’s never pulled the trigger on it. I think that we’ve reached a moment when you can have the legacy heroes take over, and make the fans of the older heroes happy.
Wally West is the best Flash, but it was nice having Barry around, as well. So why can’t we have both? In fact, when Barry first came back, he and Wally were both the Flash. Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne were both Batman. There’s no reason that DC can’t pull this off. Right now, characters like Superman and Batman have multiple books anyway. Why not have two Supermen and Batmen? Why not have Wally and Barry? Look at the Green Lanterns — some can have their own books, some can be on the Justice League. Why do the Titans always have to fight the same bad guys every time? For some reason, DC is scared of making the next generation, which at this point is the Silver Age generation of heroes, important, but there’s no reason not to do it. I loved Titans when they were supposed to be the new Justice League team, but what happened? A Brother Blood story by another name. DC is big enough for the originals and the legacy heroes. Beyond that, moving the legacy heroes up in the pecking order would mean that the newest heroes would get to move up. And honestly? Superman could use a break. Bruce Wayne could definitely use a break. The last time Superman took a break, we got “Warworld Saga” and Superman, Son of Kal-El. Do you know how cool it was to have Bruce traveling the world as Batman while Dick was in Gotham? Diana could fight gods and monsters and Donna could be the Wonder Woman of Earth. The DC Multiverse is vast. There’s infinite stories out there. If legacy is going to mean anything, DC has to let it.
The Old Order Changeth
I’ll be honest — I love Kal-El’s Superman and wouldn’t want to live in a world where he retired. However, I also want more Kon-El’s Superboy and Jon Kent’s Superman. I want more Super-Man. Dick Grayson can be Batman alongside Bruce. Or Tim Drake could get his chance while Dick stays Nightwing and gets a sidekick. Donna Troy should be having her own solo adventures. There is room for legacy in the DC Multiverse.
We all love Kal, Bruce, Green Arrow, Hal, Barry, Aquaman, and Diana, but there’s more than enough room for all of them. We can have the originals and the legacy heroes. The Justice Society of America has been doing it for years, creating teams that are partly the originals and partly legacy heroes. DC has proven that they can use legacy heroes in the best possible ways. There’s no reason for comics’ greatest legacy heroes to kept being treated like second class citizens. Let them have some spotlight. It’s worked nearly every time DC was serious about it. And it’s about time they were serious about it again.
What do you think legacy in the DC Multiverse? Sound off in the comment below.
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Image courtesy of Marvel Studios. -
Image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
