5 Characters and Teams Still Missing from DC’s Rebirth

One of the goals of DC’s Rebirth initiative was to return the DC Universe to something that resembled its “classic” state. That meant bringing back characters like Ted Kord and Wally West, or replacing the edgy, young Superman with an older version who was married to Lois Lane.

While DC Rebirth has brought back several classic characters, there are still a few superheroes noticeably absent. Here are five prominent teams/characters that DC should bring back as Rebirth enters 2017.

Justice Society of America

One of the big promises of DC Rebirth was the return of the Justice Society of America, the Golden Age team of superheroes made up of DC’s earliest heroes. Although DC introduced new versions of superheroes like Jay Garrick and Alan Scott in their still-ongoing Earth 2 series, fans have clamored for the return of the “real” JSA for years. 

When DC first teased their new Rebirth storyline, a promotional image showed a classic lineup of JSA characters trapped in an hourglass. Since Dr. Manhattan (of Watchmen fame) presumably stole ten years from the DC Universe during the events of Flashpoint, it seems that the JSA were trapped in one of those ten years. 

Unfortunately, we don’t know where or when the JSA will appear next. Even Stargirl, the one JSA alumni that survived the New 52, hasn’t appeared since the end of Justice League United last year. 

The Legion of Super-Heroes

DC’s first attempt at bringing the Legion of Super-Heroes into the New 52 was a phenomenal failure. Fans just weren’t excited to see the grown up adventures of the teen superheroes from the future, even though the book followed up on Geoff Johns’ relaunch of that franchise in Action Comics. Not even legendary Legion of Super-Heroes writer Paul Levitz could save the series, so DC revealed that the Legion fans had followed from 2011 to 2013 was actually the Legion from Earth-2.

DC teased the return of the Legion of Super-Heroes in DC Universe Rebirth #1 by revealing that Saturn Girl was, for reasons unknown, trapped in the present day. Justice League vs. Suicide Squad followed up on this thread by showing that Emerald Empress had followed Saturn Girl into the past, but was recruited to an early rendition of the Suicide Squad. 

Luckily, we should know more about Saturn Girl and the rest of the Legion in the coming months. Steve Orlando’s Supergirl series will focus on the search for Saturn Girl and presumably reveal what she’s doing in the past. 

Hawkgirl

Although Hawkgirl has had some prominence in various video games and cartoons in recent years, the character has notably been absent from DC’s Prime Earth since the 2011 reboot. We’ve only seen an alternate universe version of Kendra Saunders appear in the Earth-2 comics, and Shayera Thal (Hawkwoman’s Silver Age alias) appear in the short-lived Savage Hawkman series….shortly before she allegedly died to save Katar Hol’s life.

Luckily, we might not have to wait much longer to see Hawkwoman return to prominence in the DC Universe. She’s set to appear in the next issue of Death of Hawkman, leading some to speculate she’ll replace Hawkman after he presumably shuffles off this mortal coil at the end of the miniseries.

Plastic Man

Plastic Man’s time in the New 52 has been pretty weird and disjointed. The malleable superhero made a cameo appearance in an early issue of Justice League International as a potential member of the team, but was rejected for being too kooky.

Plastic Man hasn’t been seen since, but we did see Eel O’Brian, Plastic Man’s pre-superhero alias, in Forever Evil. O’Brian didn’t have superpowers during his appearance, but he did get dumped into a vat of chemicals by Owlman and underwent a surprising (and familiar) transformation.

Unfortunately, DC never followed up on this thread and Plastic Man hasn’t appeared yet. Since Geoff Johns wrote Plastic Man’s New 52 origin, it’s possible that DC is saving the superhero for the next time Johns has time to write a superhero comic. 

The Question

Like Plastic Man, the Question has had a complicated history during DC’s New 52 relaunch. DC first attempted to reboot the Question as a mystical character and the third member of DC’s Trinity of Sin. Question’s origin wasn’t given, but the Council of Seven erased his identity and memories in order to protect Earth from his followers. Along with Pandora and the Phantom Stranger, the Question briefly appeared in his own Trinity of Sin series before it was quickly cancelled.

The Question hasn’t been seen since, but Vic Sage (the Question’s original alter ego) had an extended appearance in New Suicide Squad as a government official attempting to make improvements to the team. Sage wasn’t anything like his pre-reboot counterpart, and Waller exposed him as a corrupt official seeking to use the Suicide Squad for his own motives.

Since Sage seems to have been wasted in the New 52, it might be time to put Renee Montoya back in the mantle. After a several year absence from comics, Montoya made her first appearance in 2015 as Harvey Bullock’s partner, but she’s only made a few sporadic appeances. With Batwoman getting her own book again, it might be a good place to bring back the Question as well.