New character in own ongoing?

[Brack360]

I was wondering how many of DC's characters made their very first appearance in the first issue of their own ongoing series. I have two examples so far:

Breach, who first appeared in his self-titled ongoing that lasted for 11 issues in 2005.

The Huntress/ Helena Bertinelli, who first appeared in her self-titled ongoing that lasted for 19 issues from 1989-1990. Though this example is not exactly what I am looking for, as it is a new version of a pre-existing character.

I'm not including Superman, who first appeared in Action Comics #1, because his name is not in the comic's title.

Can you think of any others?

[shaxper]

Most Kirby characters - The Demon, Kamandi, Forever People, etc.

[stealthwise]

Damage for sure. I think that Aztek was the same.

[MazingMan728]

I think that Firestorm falls into this catagory and of course Mazing Man.

[Captain Jim]

Yes, that's a definite on Firestorm.

[shaxper]

Azrael first appeared in his own mini-series, right?

[filthysize]

Tommy Monaghan.

[Bat-Mite]

Don't think Tommy counts, cause his first appearance was in the big Bloodsomething crossover.

[Groifer]

Booster Gold

[filthysize]

Don't think Tommy counts, cause his first appearance was in the big Bloodsomething crossover.

Oh hey, you're right. His origin was Etrigan... huh, I completely forgot about that.

[Apathy Boy]

-the Will Payton Starman, but not any of the other Starmen
-the Kate Spencer Manhunter, but not any of the other Manhunters
-Resurrection Man
-Chronos (Walker Gabriel)
-Black Lightning, I think
-Firebrand III
-Orpheus, the recently dead Batman character
-does Stargirl count? She debuted in a book called STARS AND S.T.R.I.P.E.
-what about Morpheus/Dream? Though I can't remember if he was ever referred to as "the Sandman" in his comic.

[Beta Ray Bill]

The Phantom Stranger and Black Lightning are two more...

[Gingold]

Shade, the Changing Man, I think. Kobra. Claw the Unconquered. Prez. Brother Power. Maybe Ragman?

Did Bloodhound and Monolith start out in their own series?

[Bat-Mite]

Did Bloodhound and Monolith start out in their own series?

Quite sure they did.

[Agentum]

The Creeper?

Hawk and Dowe?

Or was those in some Showcase first as many DC characters was in those days.

[Gingold]

The Creeper?

Hawk and Dowe?

Or was those in some Showcase first as many DC characters was in those days.

Yeah, Creeper and Hawk and Dove both debuted in Showcase.

[Cybak]

What about the Young Heroes group?? Takion??

[Rich L]

What about the Young Heroes group?? Takion??

Young Heroes in Love, definitely. Takion, pretty sure.

Bloodhound, Breach, Monolith, Damage & Aztek already got a nod.

Firestorm I got a start in his original series (even if it was cancelled after 5 issues).

Firestorm (Jason) also kick-started his own ongoing.


Orpheus, the recently dead Batman character

Doesn't count - it was a Batman mini that introduced him, same as Azrael.

[Brack360]

Thanks for the replies. This was more than I had thought.

[jerrymcl89]

Seems like one of the characteristics of characters who start out this way, at least in the last two decades or so, is that their titles very rarely succeed.

[CaptainAwesome]

How about the Flash Jay Garrick, didnt he premier in Flash Comics #1 in 1941? Does that count?

And what about the new Vigilante that just had a mini last year? Is he one?

[shaxper]

Would you count Waverider since Armageddon 2001 was essentially his story?

[Gingold]

Oh yeah, Rex the Wonder Dog, too.

[MazingMan728]

There is also Jemm, Arion, Arak, Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew and Ameythist.

[shaxper]

Captain Carrot first appeared in a New Teen Titans preview.

[Captain Jim]

How about the Flash Jay Garrick, didnt he premier in Flash Comics #1 in 1941? Does that count?

Nope; that was an anthology book, not his own series. He wasn't even on the cover every issue. (He alternated with Hawkman, I believe.) When Jay finally got his own book, it was called All-Flash Comics.

[Shem the Penman]

Does the Power Company count?

I was thinking Blue Devil, but then I remembered his first appearance was in a backup story in Fury of Firestorm.

[dancj]

-the Will Payton Starman, but not any of the other Starmen

Not Jack Knight? Where did he appear before Starman 0?

[Rich L]

Not Jack Knight? Where did he appear before Starman 0?

He showed up for a few panels in Zero Hour where Ted handed the sceptre off to Jack's brother, whose name I forget.

[Iangould]

Most Kirby characters - The Demon, Kamandi, Forever People, etc.

Weren't some of them introduced in his Jimmy Olsen run?

I was going to say Warlord but he was in First Issue Special.

Chase?

[shaxper]

Weren't some of them introduced in his Jimmy Olsen run?

I was going to say Warlord but he was in First Issue Special.

Chase?


I know Darkseid first appeared in Jimmy Olson (maybe the New Gods too?), but I'm 99% sure that the Demon, Kamandi, and Forever People first appeared in their own titles.

[Jolly Mon]

There is also Jemm, Arion, Arak, Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew and Ameythist.

Didn't Captain Carrot & Amethyst both show up in previews stuck in other comics (like New Teen Titans did in DC Comics Presents)? This was their common practice in late seventies/early eighties.

[Gingold]

Didn't Captain Carrot & Amethyst both show up in previews stuck in other comics (like New Teen Titans did in DC Comics Presents)? This was their common practice in late seventies/early eighties.

Yeah, Amythest first appeared in Legion, Arak and Arion in Warlord, and the Zoo Crew in Teen Titans.

[Gingold]

I know Darkseid first appeared in Jimmy Olson (maybe the New Gods too?), but I'm 99% sure that the Demon, Kamandi, and Forever People first appeared in their own titles.

That's right. Mr. Miracle and Omac also first appeared in their own titles.

[Agentum]

I guess really most non DCU titles would be first in their own titles so don't count those (Kamandi etc)

[Gingold]

I guess really most non DCU titles would be first in their own titles so don't count those (Kamandi etc)

Kamandi's in the DCU.

[MazingMan728]

You are correct on the Previews but I thought it was a cop-out not to add them since the previews were 8 pages to sell the series and not set as a character or spin-off from a prevoius book.

We also have the "new" El Diablo from the 90's.

[Agentum]

Kamandi's in the DCU.
it is? ok
I thought is was some kind of future post-acopalystic world or anything.

But it would be the future DCU then?

[Gingold]

it is? ok
I thought is was some kind of future post-acopalystic world or anything.

But it would be the future DCU then?

Yeah, it's a possible future of the DCU. He's met and interacted with DCU characters. He appeared in Crisis. I guess it depends on what you consider a DCU character.

[ducklord]

Chase first appeared in Batman. Bad move, too. Almost completely turned me off of what turned out to be a spectacular series.

Even if Amethyst hadn't appeared in Legion before her series, her first series wan't an ongoing (which is what we're looking for, right?), it was a 12-issue maxi-series.

While I can *see* the argument for not including Flash (anthology, not always on the cover, etc.), the book wasn't called "Flash Comics" for nothin'.

Here's how I know that those 8-page previews in the 80's count as first appearances: the price guide value of DC Comics Presents #26 has stayed over $10 for over twenty years :)

Did Fate and Manhunter V (Chase Lawler) first appear in Zero Hour?

Okay, here's quick list of solo DC characters first appearing in their own ongoing series, off the top of my head:
Major Bummer, Starman (Payton), Chronos II, Firestorm, Black Lightning, Takion, Booster Gold, Aztek, Heckler, Vext, Bloodhound, Manhunter VII(?), Omac, Kamandi, Demon, Phantom Stranger, El Diablo, Arion(?), Starfire II, Shade the Changing Man, Kobra, Stalker, Flash I (debatable), Morpheus(?), Sandman II...

Groups first appearing in their own ongoing series:
Young Heroes, Scare Tactics(?), the New Gods, Lab Rats(?)

Some things I notice about this list:
-- Man, that Kirby fella was a prolific cuss. And he must have had one heckuva deal with DC, what with all the untested concepts he was allowed to throw out there during the 70's.
-- Just about every new title DC tried out in the 60's got a test run in Showcase.
-- Only two female characters on the list.

Mike.

[shaxper]

Yeah, it's a possible future of the DCU. He's met and interacted with DCU characters. He appeared in Crisis. I guess it depends on what you consider a DCU character.

The decision to include him in the DCU wasn't made until Kamandi #29, where he finds the remains of Superman's costume. Prior to that, Kamandi did exist outside of the DCU.

[glennsim]

If the question is "what characters did DC have so much faith in that they went ahead and gave them an unlimited series from the start", then I don't think that appearances in Zero Hour or the 8-page previews should count against them, since DC obviously intended to release the ongoings no matter what. They weren't testing the waters first.

[shaxper]

Add Shade The Changing Man II and possibly Kid Eternity II to ducklord's list.

[Gingold]

Add Shade The Changing Man II and possibly Kid Eternity II to ducklord's list.

The Shade and KE revivals were still the same characters as the originals, weren't they?

[Reptisaurus!]

Some non-superheroes:

The Secret Six

Sugar and Spike

Binky.

[Shem the Penman]

The Shade and KE revivals were still the same characters as the originals, weren't they?

Kid Eternity, yeah. Shade, no, not really. He shared a bunch of background details with Ditko's Shade, but he was a very different character in many other ways.

[shaxper]

Kid Eternity, yeah. Shade, no, not really. He shared a bunch of background details with Ditko's Shade, but he was a very different character in many other ways.


Kid Eternity was designed to be the same character, but he was so heavily retconned and his tone was shifted so dramatically that it's hard to consider him the same character.

[ducklord]

Quibbles about the Vetigo Kid Eternity's status as an original character aside (I say 'no', but I'm also a bit of a jerk), he definitely didn't debut in an ongoing series, as his ongoing was preceded by Morrison's (occasionally incomprehensible) mini-series.

I think the eight-page previews and the cameos in other comics count because they're all attempts to warm up the audience. As the relative shortness of this list attests, it's a rare new character that gets a solo comic pushed onto the shelf without some pre-first-issue exposure.

I don't think I can count the Vertigo Shade, btw. The man's name was Rac Shade. He was from Meta. He wore the M-Vest.

The original Secret Six is a bit of an anomaly, isn't it? In an era when just about EVERY new concept was subjected to a test run in Showcase, DC just put it out there. Odd.

Mike

[Damo]

The cast of Countdown to Inifinity Crisis (oh sure, characters with the same names and costumes had been around before, but these were definitely new characters).

And...um... Superpro?

[Captain Jim]

While I can *see* the argument for not including Flash (anthology, not always on the cover, etc.), the book wasn't called "Flash Comics" for nothin'.

Actually, you could probably debate whether the book was called Flash Comics because there was a character therein named Flash or whether they decided to put a character therein named Flash to correspond to the book title. (I seem to recall that there's an ashcan copy of Whiz Comics #1 or 2 which was labeled Flash Comics before the DC Flash Comics premiered.)

Jay only had like a 12 page story out of a 64 page book; hardly enough to warrent calling it "his own" title. What really caps the matter, however, is DC's decision to later give him his own book, which they decided to call "All Flash Comics."

[dancj]

I know Darkseid first appeared in Jimmy Olson (maybe the New Gods too?), but I'm 99% sure that the Demon, Kamandi, and Forever People first appeared in their own titles.

I thought the Forever People debuted in a Superman comic. I've got it in my Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told (not to be confused with Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told), but I don't know what issue it was.

Dan

[dancj]

Kid Eternity, yeah. Shade, no, not really. He shared a bunch of background details with Ditko's Shade, but he was a very different character in many other ways.

He was a changed character, but he was still the same guy with the same history

[Rich L]

I just had a thought - both somewhat creator owned but appearing under the DCU titles: Fallen Angel and Sovereign Seven.

[Shem the Penman]

He was a changed character, but he was still the same guy with the same history

The history was either dismissed as hallucinations (the Ditko Shade series) or ignored (Shade's other appearances between the Ditko and Milligan series). Meta, Wizor, the Madness -- not Miraco -- vest, Mellu, and Shade's own personality and background were very different. No, he wasn't a completely new character, but he had almost nothing in common with Ditko's Rac Shade besides name and hair color.

[Gingold]

I thought the Forever People debuted in a Superman comic. I've got it in my Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told (not to be confused with Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told), but I don't know what issue it was.

Dan

The story in that collection is Forever People #1.

[Reptisaurus!]

The original Secret Six is a bit of an anomaly, isn't it? In an era when just about EVERY new concept was subjected to a test run in Showcase, DC just put it out there. Odd.

Mike

Yeah. It's the ONLY sixties DC series I could think of that immediately started in it's own Mag. (Other'n Captain Action, which was a liscensed property.)

Great book, though. One of my favorites.

Speaking of spy teams, I think T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents from Tower comics started as it's own series, and DC currently has the rights to them.

Also, didn't the seventies version of Steel start out in his own book for a couple of issues?

[stealthwise]

The cast of Countdown to Inifinity Crisis (oh sure, characters with the same names and costumes had been around before, but these were definitely new characters).

And...um... Superpro?

There were new characters in Countdown to Infinite Crisis? Who?

And Superpro, that horrendous abomination, was published by Marvel. Let us never speak of it again.

[shaxper]

And Superpro, that horrendous abomination, was published by Marvel. Let us never speak of it again.

A friend of mine has the reprint of this issue. Yes, the reprint.

Sorry. Spoke of it again...

[Lorendiac]

Did Fate and Manhunter V (Chase Lawler) first appear in Zero Hour?

Okay, here's quick list of solo DC characters first appearing in their own ongoing series, off the top of my head:
Major Bummer, Starman (Payton), Chronos II, Firestorm, Black Lightning, Takion, Booster Gold, Aztek, Heckler, Vext, Bloodhound, Manhunter VII(?), Omac, Kamandi, Demon, Phantom Stranger, El Diablo, Arion(?), Starfire II, Shade the Changing Man, Kobra, Stalker, Flash I (debatable), Morpheus(?), Sandman II...

Groups first appearing in their own ongoing series:
Young Heroes, Scare Tactics(?), the New Gods, Lab Rats(?)

Some things I notice about this list:
-- Man, that Kirby fella was a prolific cuss. And he must have had one heckuva deal with DC, what with all the untested concepts he was allowed to throw out there during the 70's.
-- Just about every new title DC tried out in the 60's got a test run in Showcase.
-- Only two female characters on the list.

Mike.

www.dcuguide.com says that the Jared Stevens Fate first appeared in Fate #0, the start of his own title. Likewise, it claims Chase Lawler first saw the light of day in Manhunter #0.

I consider the "Supergirl who's a physical and mental merger of Matrix and Linda Danvers" to be a different character than "Matrix Supergirl, the walking talking pile of protoplasm." If we go along with that, then the "Matrix/Linda Supergirl" got her first appearance in Peter David's Supergirl #1.

Of the first five members of the version of the Teen Titans that was written by Dan Jurgens in the late 90s, four out of five got their "very first appearances" in Teen Titans #1 (second series). The four were Joto, Prysm, Risk, and Argent. The odd man out was Ray Palmer, the Atom.

And why is everybody forgetting Brother Power, the Geek? Granted, his series in the late 60s only lasted, um, two issues, but I don't think it was originally intended to be a two-part miniseries and then stop! ;)

[Jolly Mon]

And why is everybody forgetting Brother Power, the Geek? Granted, his series in the late 60s only lasted, um, two issues, but I don't think it was originally intended to be a two-part miniseries and then stop! ;)

As you probably already know, everybody is trying to forget Brother Power. :D

[Lorendiac]

As you probably already know, everybody is trying to forget Brother Power. :D

Actually, I don't think I've ever read any Brother Power stories in my entire life. So who am I to judge him? But from what I've heard, I had a hunch someone would say approximately what you said :)

[dancj]

The story in that collection is Forever People #1.

Ah - that's my argument knacked then