The Unstoppable Wasp hit stores this week, giving an additional spotlight on another new legacy superhero. Legacy heroes are a recurring theme in superhero comics, as classic characters retire or die and are replaced by new characters. Some legacy heroes like Kyle Rayner or Scott Lang have endured, while other legacy heroes have become mere footnotes in comics history.
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Here’s a few legacy superheroes who have dropped off many fans’ radars in recent years. Some are still active in their respective superhero universes, while others have disappeared into the mists of comic history:
US Agent
John Walker was introduced as a more reactionary patriotic hero in the 1980s, who replaced Steve Rogers as Captain America when Rogers stepped down from the role in the late 1980s. Walker’s run as Captain America was disastrous at first, as he killed or maimed many of Cap’s more obscure villains. However, he showed his mettle by helping Rogers take down the Red Skull and eventually relinquished the “Captain America” title back to Rogers.
Walker took up the codename U.S Agent and frequently appeared in secondary Marvel team books like West Coast Avengers and Force Works through the 1990s and 2000s. In 2010, the supervillain Nuke severely injured Walker during Norman Osborn’s attack on Asgard in Siege. Walker lost an arm and a leg in the attack, and used a wheelchair for several years as a result.
After a brief stint as the warden of the Raft and a liason for a new team of Dark Avengers, Walker’s missing limbs were restored and he took up the US Agent mantle once again. Last year, Walker fought Sam Wilson (the newest Captain America) during Civil War II at the urging of Steve Rogers, who unbeknownst to them is now a SHIELD agent.
Azrael
Jean-Paul Valley, a brainwashed assassin working for the Order of Saint-Dumas, replaced Bruce Wayne as Batman when Bane broke his back in the 1990s. Valley was far more violent as Batman and allowed a mass murderer to die during a confrontation. After rejecting the help of Robin, Alfred, and the Gotham City Police, Wayne took back the Batman mantle from Valley and tossed him out of the Batcave.
Taking up his former codename Azrael, Valley remained an occasional ally of Batman for years until he died fighting two of his longtime nemeses. A new Azrael took his place, although Valley made a cameo appearance in Blackest Night as a zombie.
Thanks to the New 52 reboot, Valley is once again live and well in the DC Universe. Valley first appeared in Batman and Robin Eternal working once again with the Order of Saint-Dumas, but he eventually helped Batman and his team of allies take down the order. Azrael currently appears in Detective Comics in a minor role.
Aquaman
After the destruction of Atlantis in Infinite Crisis, a mysterious new Aquaman appeared off the waters of Miami, Florida. Although the new Aquaman had the same name (Arthur Curry) and similar powers to the original, it quickly became obvious that this Aquaman wasn’t the same person as his predecessor.
Eventually readers learned that the first Aquaman was the monstrous Dweller in the Depths, transformed by magic when he raised San Diego out of the ocean (long story) and save its inhabitants. During the transformation, a part of Aquaman’s soul broke away and took residence in the dead body of the son of one of Aquaman’s friends.
The new Aquaman never grew on fans and only appeared in a few team-ups and cameos for several years. Although the new Aquaman agreed to rule a reformed Atlantis, he eventually fled the city as he couldn’t handle the pressures of being king. No one has seen Aquaman since, and it’s possible he never existed thanks to the New 52 reboot.
Green Arrow
After Oliver Queen died stopping a terrorist attack in Metropolis, his illegitimate son Conner Hawke became Green Arrow to honor his father’s memory. Hawke was the new Green Arrow through much of the late 1990s, joined the Justice League, and became a fixture in the superhero community.
When Queen returned as Green Arrow, Hawke remained a key part of Oliver’s team. The two were inseperable for several years, and Conner played a key role in rescuing Oliver from the Amazons when they kidnapped him shortly before his wedding to Black Canary. Afterwards, Conner nearly died in an assassination attempt by the League of Assassins and suffered from amnesia afterwards.
Hawke’s last appearance in the “main” DC Universe came after Green Arrow murdered Prometheus for the destruction of his home city and the death of Roy Harper’s daughter. Hawke found Oliver in the ruins of Star City and berated him for his actions. Not too long afterwards, Hawke disappeared when DC rebooted its continuity in 2011.
While Hawke hasn’t “officially” appeared in the New 52, he did briefly make an appearance in Earth 2 as that world’s Red Arrow. When Hawke died during Apokolips’ invasion of Earth 2, Oliver Queen (somewhat ironically) replaced him.
Thunderstrike
Architect Eric Masterson briefly became Thor in the early 1990s after he got involved with Thor’s dealings on Earth and merged with the Thunder God several times. When Thor allegedly killed Loki in battle, Eric was officially made Thor while the original went into exile.
Masterson didn’t stay Thor for long, as the Enchantress manipulated him into fighting the real Thor. When Thor emerged victorious from the scrap, Odin gave Masterson a mace to become the leather vest wearing superhero Thunderstrike. Thunderstrike died when he used a cursed axe to defeat the Egyptian god Seth, went mad as a result of the curse, and asked Thor to kill him during a moment of clarity.
Thunderstrike has stayed firmly put in the afterlife (with one brief exception), but his son Kevin recently obtained Masterson’s mace and is training as a new superhero at the Avengers Academy.
Atomica
The first Atom to “officially” join the Justice League in the New 52 wasn’t Ray Palmer or Ryan Choi, but rather a new Atom named Rhonda Pineda. Pineda assisted the Justice League on several missions and officially joined the League along with a second wave of recruits. Shortly afterwards, DC revealed Pineda was spying on the Justice League for Amanda Waller, before revealing her true loyalties to the Crime Syndicate from Earth-3.
Pineda escaped Earth-3 with the Outsider (that Earth’s version of Alfred Pennysworth) when Darkseid invaded their planet. Pineda kept a low profile for years before the Outsider found Pandora’s Box and used it to transport the rest of the Crime Syndicate to the main Earth.
Imprisoning the Justice League, the Justice League of America, and Justice League Dark inside of Pandora’s Box, the Crime Syndicate briefly took control of our Earth. However, their reign was short-lived as Lex Luthor and Batman led a team of villains to defeat the Crime Syndicate. As Luthor and his hodge-podge team of villains offed the Crime Syndicate one by one, Luthor killed Pineda by stepping on her when she had shrunk down to escape some rubble.
