This essay might sound familiar, because last year I basically wrote a very similar one for The Great Curve. I think it’s gone now, lost in the move, so ha ha ha it’s probably new to you.

It was called “Meddling Kids,” and it made the case that DC should stop trying to maintain four major generations of superheroes and concentrate on the middle two. Back then I said the youngest generation should take some time off, maybe think about focusing on college, and get their heads together before deciding whether to live the spandex life on a more permanent basis.

I admit bias toward the middle generations — the “Barry Allen” and “Wally West” generations — because that’s who I grew up with. I especially liked the “Wally” generation. As Teen Titans they were closer to my age; and when they started turning 19 and 20 I was getting closer to that age as well. Naturally, by now I’ve long since passed them, and am closer to Batman’s age than Nightwing’s. (Won’t be too long until I’m closer to the JSA’s age….) I should have the older, wiser perspective on how they should be living, right?

Well, at least that’s my working hypothesis. From that perspective, if I’m still living a little vicariously through the former Titans, I’m a bit disappointed in how DC has treated them. You know already about Dick Grayson and Wally West, but the others have been taken out of their comfort zone. For a while the former Aqualad was Tempest, poised to be another powerful Atlantean sorcerer; but now he’s in limbo too. Although Roy Harper had faded into the background as an agent of the pre-Max Lord Checkmate, since resurfacing as Arsenal he’s been almost tragically, if not painfully, hip. He still might have grown old the most gracefully.

And speaking of tragedy, if my educated guess about her age is right, Donna Troy was a partner in a high-fashion photo studio and the proud occupant of a swanky Amazon-subsidized apartment, probably all before she turned 18. When she got married at 19 (and don’t snicker; you were rooting for Terry back then, before you knew any differently), it looked like the sky was the limit. Little was Donna to know that she’d get hit hard by the storms of Big Comics Events, not only bouncing around as a supporting character in Green Lantern, Darkstars, and Wonder Woman, but having the emotional hook of her past, once the subject of a beloved single issue, exploited ad nauseum.

The point is, all of these characters were growing up, ready to settle into real adult lives, and now they’re all either in holding patterns or the objects of fan criticism, or both. No wonder Dan DiDio’s news that the Monitors would be visiting Dick, Donna, Supergirl, and Ion caught my eye.

It’s my hope that DC actually has good ideas about what to do with these in-between characters. In the big picture they’re neither sidekicks nor headliners, and they’ll always be tied to somebody else who the public would miss more. Yes, even the Bart Allen Flash, because like it or not, he’s in the suit now, and people root for the clothing. And yes, I know this is the “real” Supergirl, clothing and all, but DC still doesn’t seem close to a coherent, consistent approach to her, beyond emphasizing her midriff.

Indeed, all four characters DiDio mentioned seem to share a certain “well, now what?” factor. They’re all just kind of there, waiting for the next big career move. I know there are plans for each, but none of them sound much more exciting than making sure they don’t suck. Nightwing is coming off an almost universally reviled Bruce Jones story arc that might well have been rejiggered to account for him not dying in Infinite Crisis. Donna looks to have a decent short-term gig as Wonder Woman, but she also has to overcome those stiff “History of DC” backups. Supergirl has been handled well in Legion of Super-Heroes, but her own book has been a different story. Ion might be better than I think, but its setup in Infinite Crisis was a big turnoff.

If it were up to me, I’d have Dick Grayson come back into the Wayne Enterprises fold as that globetrotting troubleshooter I mentioned before. If Donna’s going to be the new Harbinger, make her the Phantom Stranger of superheroics, so when she shows up, you know it’s a big deal. Obviously Supergirl’s timeline issues will have to be resolved before too long, so while I know the kids today like to show off their bellybuttons, I hope she is at least portrayed in a way that makes me feel less uncomfortable. Finally, I’d like to think Ion will find his way back into the Green Lantern fold. He spent long enough trying to convince people he deserved the title, and he should get a chance to enjoy it now that the rest are back.

Ironically, thanks to “One Year Later,” the youngest generation of characters is now one year closer to having to make the same kinds of decisions their predecessors did in the ’80s and ’90s. I hope I don’t have to rewrite this in another few years, bemoaning the fates of Tim Drake and Cassie Sandsmark. It’s not too late for college, kids….

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 3rd, 2006 at 12:00 pm and is filed under DC Comics, Grumpy Old Fan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.