DC's big three
- Thread starter safarial
- Start date
I never really cared for Wonder Woman. Batman and Superman, on the other hand, have always been interesting characters (the human who is so traumatized by the death of his parents that he works himself to perfection, the alien with the great childhood and the perfect hometown 'heart of gold'). They are great foils for the various super-villains and superheroes in the DC universe.
Everybody, at various points in their lives, wants to be either Batman or Superman. We all want respect. Sometimes, we want to work for that respect (Batman), and sometimes we want that respect handed to us based upon who we are (Superman). We sometimes want to be the sunny, happy hometown boy. We sometimes want to be the dark, brooding bad-boy.
Everybody, at various points in their lives, wants to be either Batman or Superman. We all want respect. Sometimes, we want to work for that respect (Batman), and sometimes we want that respect handed to us based upon who we are (Superman). We sometimes want to be the sunny, happy hometown boy. We sometimes want to be the dark, brooding bad-boy.
Yeah, Wonder Woman is hardly in the same league as Batman and Superman. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that those two characters are the only ones DC has that are big enough to carry their own "solo" movies. I love Batman and Superman, but make mine Marvel! 'Nuff said!
Bats is the boss because he's dark and twisted and perfect and a paranoid dick and the whole thing is a revenge story. Supes is great because he's the prototype all powerful superhero who is selfless and noble. Wonder Woman, on the other hand, has a great costume... 
I've never really read her comic 
I've never really read her comic 
If I had my choice, DC's big 3 would be. Green Lantern, Flash, & Swamp Thing!
Norrin Radd
Vice Admiral
They define superheroes. And they were the first to do so.
Especially in the case of Wonder Woman, who is more important as an icon than a character. Between the Lynda Carter series and The Superfriends--plus the fact that there really weren't any major superheroines who weren't just feminine auxilaries to Supes (Supergirl) and Bats (Batgirl), Wonder Woman remains in the public consciousness even though no one cares about her as a comic book. Not even getting a top-selling girl's young adult book author (Jodi Picoult) to script it could do much to change that.
Pretty much on the nose; it's worth noting that those three were basically the only headlining comics superheroes from the Golden Age to remain in continuous publication through the 'dark age' of the 1950s, at which time superheroes had fallen out of favor with the comics-reading public. So as a result, the big three share the distinction of having been published continually from their debuts up to the present day.
(A couple of also-rans like Aquaman and Green Arrow continued to be published in backup stories, which can probably be attributed to the fact that they had been created by Mort Weisinger; I assume Weisinger threw his editorial weight around to keep his creations in print. But neither one of these two were on the Big Three's level of popularity; Aquaman wouldn't headline his own book until the 1960s, and Green Arrow only got an ongoing solo series in the late 1980s or early 90s.)
--g
I always thought DC had a Big Five. I would add The Flash and Green Lantern to the trio of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. In nearly every incarnation of the Justice League, and before that, the Justice Society, all five characters have played a prominent role, one way or another. -- RR
I have to disagree with the highlighted portion. Supes and Bats were only honorary members of the JSA, and only appeared in one adventure. Wonder Woman joined as their secretary and didn't start sharing in their adventures for several years after joining the team.
Checkmate
Commodore
Doy ou have to ask? Really?
I imagine multiple television shows, movies, animated series, and every other saturation of them into pop culture has had a little to do with it.
Superman is literally the first superhero. Before the first Superman story in 1938, there was no such thing as a superhero. It really is amazing that Siegel and Shuster got it so right from the very start. Virtually every superhero that follows borrows some element from Superman: a colorful costume, a cape, a secret identity.
^Well, there was a proto-superhero in the form of Doc Savage, the pulp hero who influenced Superman and the Fantastic Four, among others. -- RR
Well, as I recall, the Golden Age Superman and Batman later played larger roles in the Justice Society in the Silver Age, as they had the annual team-up with the Justice League of America. I forgot about Wonder Woman being JSA secretary, but again, she had a larger role in the Silver Age adventures of the JSA. -- RR
Yeah, Wonder Woman is hardly in the same league as Batman and Superman. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that those two characters are the only ones DC has that are big enough to carry their own "solo" movies. I love Batman and Superman, but make mine Marvel! 'Nuff said!
Really? Who does Marvel have after Spiderman and X-Men that is really in the same league? The one thing Iron Man showed was that a well made movie can be a success even without a major superhero.
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