When it comes time the New 52, it wasn’t all bad. Batman was surely a highlight of the launch. Though with some good, came issues as well. Superman would be my first thought on heroes that the New 52 damaged. The overall look and feel of Superman was not the same. DC Comics built his legacy over 80 years and I feel the new 52 went away from the persona that we had learned in Superman. The other hero I feel New 52 ruined which may be controversial, was Harley Quinn. I feel they have made her character non consequential where her stories never amount to anything. Removing her from the Joker removed the sympathetic feel you would have as a reader for her situation. Also I feel I’m not the only one who misses her classic Harley Quinn outfit.
I think Rebirth has done an amazing job with Superman, though feel Harley Quinn has not been helped by Rebirth.
Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this and heroes you feel were damaged by the New 52.
Some may have had less great runs than others, but none of them was “damaged” by the New 52, especially Superman. Hell, I’d go as far as to say that Superman had some of the best stories he had in a long time in the New 52.
After Geoff Johns put so much work into streamlining Hawkman’s confusing history the New 52 botched the character again lol. Captain Atom was also kind of weird to me. Didn’t really care for the story. On the flip side, I thought Aquaman was fantastic.
I hated what they did to Green Arrow and Black Canary. They were in a long term relationship with a whole family of side characters that were stripped away from them. The same for Dick Grayson, the New 52 reboot saw him stripped of every connection except a very tenuous one with Batman.
Donna Troy? I mean come on! Now there’s this whole will show stay good thing over her head. They made her even more convoluted for almost no reason but to screw her up even more. Almost every character felt messed up to me. The legacy was gone and that was one of the biggest things DC had over Marvel. Rebirth has given some of that back, but not enough yet
Flash in general. Not just Wally but Barry too. I didn’t like the dissolution of Barry and Iris’ relationship when New52 started and I especially didn’t like Patty Spivot as some sort of follow up to the Post Flash Rebirth series (Right after Barry was brought back, he had these few moments here and there with Patty that made it look like they had some sort of relationship on the sly before Barry disappeared in the Crisis. Now if Barry and Patty had had a relationship instead of Barry and Fiona Webb way back when, I would have appreciated that as a nod to the pre-crisis years. However, Barry and Patty never had anything between them and the scenes in Flash between Flash rebirth and Flashpoint/New52 feel like the result of an editorial mandate that any and all superheroes be either unmarried or adulterers. Rebirth helped to re-establish the Legacy of the Flash (even if only partially, we still haven’t had Jay’s full-time return yet!) But current events are finally repairing the damage done to the West-Allen family.
Captain Marvel was completely messed up. Billy Batson is a good kid who was given the power of Shazam. He was completely good hearted and good natured. There was even a whole crossover event to try and corrupt him, of course it failed. But the 52 version was a snot-nosed little punk who didn’t deserve anything but they gave him the power so he can redeem himself??? What kind of logic is that? Not to mention sharing his power with a whole cast of characters. If he shares it should only be with Freddy and his sister Mary (we can leave out grandpa marvel).
Oh, I forgot to mention Booster Gold. Before 52 he was actually growing as a person. We found out he has a son (Rip Hunter for those who didn’t read his series). He could have been useful if they ever did anything with the Watchmen storyline they hinted at. But of course they threw out all character development for him and made him a joke but without his comedic parter of Blue Beetle (Ted Kord).
Wonder Woman was messed up and I don’t think they’ll fix her at all. She went nearly toe to toe with superman pre-52 now she needs a sword and Shield? Why the hell does she need a Shield? She has the bracers. Don’t get me started on the way they handled the Greek Gods. Posideon is a big fish? Hermes is part bird? Hades is kid with melted candles on his head? Apollo (the beautiful god) is jet black with stars?
Wow, didnt even get to the characters wiped out, the Justice Society. All of them, as well as their kids in Infinity Inc. They tried to create Earth 2 during 52 but like everything else in 52, they messed that up.
Oh, should I mention Superboy? Stupid suit, lame powers and making him a vilian.
Red Robin…can we talk about the name? Why did all the Batman sidekicks have to be in black and red? Batgirl, what was wrong with the killing joke having meaning and long lasting effects? What was wrong with Stephanie Brown as Batgirl and Barbara Gordon as Oracle? Captain Atom, really? Having a Captain Atom I’m every country?
I think the Superman and Action Comics runs had some good stuff as well as mediocre. Grant Morrisons AC run was pretty great once you got to the payoff around issue 16 or so. The Men of Tomorrow and Superman Unchained were pretty great. The rest was more meh, than awful. I think there were definate misfires with Teen Titans. I really don’t get the hate so many people had for the New 52 as a whole though, there really was so much more good than bad. If anything, I feel like the writing in a lot of Rebirth books has gotten a bit weak.
Especially making Cassandra Orphan, and Stephanie never got to be Robin or Batgirl