Favorite/ least favorite "renewed" DC properties?

[shaxper]

It seems that DC has been making extraordinary efforts to bring back old, discarded properties as of late (perhaps to maintain copyrights?). We've seen a lot of this in both Infinite Crisis (and its tie-ins) and 7 Soldiers of Victory. Which ones have you enjoyed? Which ones do you feel were mistakes?


Favorites
Detective Chimp - One of the greatest comic anti-heroes I've ever read. An unlikely hero and an even more unlikely rallier of superhero colleagues with great T-shirts and a highly comic personality shadowed by a depressing past.

Klarion the Witch Boy - This title is full of imagination and wonder. Definitely off the beaten path for the DCU. I think I'm actually more fascinated with Klarion's hometown than with the character himself.


Least Favorites

Captain Marvel - DC has never known what to do with this guy. Instead of making a serious attempt to get him right this time, they trapped him in a floating rock and said "We'll get back to him later". The closest they came to doing anything interesting with him was by showing small aspects of his boy-like insecurities in Day of Vengeance.

Blue Beetle - Another character DC has never known what to do with. Don't get me wrong. I think Ted Kord's treatment in Countdown was fantastic, but this new Blue Beetle character is utter bull. I see nothing resembling the Blue Beetle legacy in this character (nor his premise) at all.

Freedom Fighters - These guys seem to come out of the woodwork whenever there's a crisis and aren't good for much else. I will never understand the attraction of bringing these guys back (other than to renew copyrights).

[Agentum]

I liked the Power of Shazam books from the end of the 90s.

I like the JSA a lot too.

I'm not so happy yet about the new spider-ma.....i mean blue beetle character.

[shaxper]

I'm not so happy yet about the new spider-ma.....i mean blue beetle character.

Ha! But at least he's a minority. I mean, doesn't delivering obligatory spanish words at the end of each sentence constitute being culturally diverse?

[glennsim]

I'll have to second a point I saw someone else make somewhere - I'm tired of new super-heroes being teenagers. Why can't a 28-year-old with a wife and kid get super-powers?

Or at least a 23 year old with a job already.

[EZMOHR]

Favorites:

Cat-Man: Beginning with Metzler in Archer's Quest and up unitl now, what has been done with Cat-Man is awesome. Just proves good writers can make good characters.

Jason Todd: Yes, everybody who was in doube digit ages in the late 80's hates him. Screw all of you. DC bringing him back as been done well. I liked it, and I think The Red Hood is a good character now.

Black Adam: For me at least, he went from just another face in the crowd, to the best written character in the DC Universe.

Least Favorite:

Deathstroke: Not a bad character deveopment per se...but this guy should not be were he is right now. He should not be a world level threat. Sorry, just not right.

Sinestro: I think writers have been doing him horrible for a long time. THis guy had some valor back in the day. Now, he just another stock villian. It is lame.

[shyguy]

Don't get me wrong. I think Ted Kord's treatment in Countdown was fantastic

Where his friends treated him like a nuisance shortly before he was shot in the head by another former friend?

Blue Beetle is my absolute least-favorite renewed property, and I don't even mind the new series that much. A very unique player in the DCU was lost (and in a poorly-written story to boot) just so we could read about Kyle Rayner redux. Bleh.

Aside from Ted, my least favorite revivals are any rarely-used hero or group that gets trotted out just to provide "drama" in some mega-crossover. Recent examples include the Freedom Fighters, Hawkwoman, Rocket Red, Sue Dibny, Jade, and especially Max Lord.

Another downgrade was going from the fantastic Young Justice to the current snoozer Teen Titans book.

The best? Booster Gold has been enjoying some attention as of late; he even has a nice-looking new costume. Shame it had to come at the expense of writers crapping all over his Justice League.

The new Reverse Flash is great. He's been watered down since his first appearance, but his first appearance is still great.

The new Jonah Hex series is a great example of taking a character back to his roots... and one of the best titles DC is publishing right now.

I've never really read any past Legion, so I'm not sure whether it's better or worse, but I love Waid's Legion of Super-Heroes.

Looking ahead, I have high hopes for Flash and the new Atom.

[shakespear]

I like the legion (always have) dont like the new BB, hated they killed him off like that.

[Babylon23]

DC really is working wonders with a lot of these characters at the moment. Hopefully, the trend will continue with DC: Brave New World.

Some of my favourites:

Zatanna: Zatanna was a neglected character for a long time, only showing up in the occasional mini or guest appearance. Now, she's everywhere, from 7 Soldiers to IC to JLA.

Cat-Man: Gail Simone has worked wonders with this guy. He's been given a whole new lease on life.

The Shadowpact: All of these guys were pretty much c-listers before Bill WIllingham gave them a shot in the arm. I'm now interested in all of them.

Adam Strange: I've always loved Adam Strange, but he's been relegated to cheap Flash Gordon knock-off for a long time. Ever since Diggle got his hands on him, the characters been back to his best.

Black Adam: Johns and Goyer transformed Black Adam from an evil Captain Marvel into one of DC's most complex and interesting villains.