Who is the DC Universes Next Big 7?

[Alan2099]

After the JLA's Big 7, which seven DC heroes do you consider the most iconic, and while we're on the subject, am I the only one that thinks Martian Manhunter doesn't belong on the big 7 list?

Anyway, other than the top guys, I'd say the next 7 were

Green Arrow
Hawkman
Robin
Swampthing
Captain Marvel
Firestorm
Black (Vulcan) Lightning

[kello]

I think the Martian Manhunter belongs as part of the JLA, and the big 7.

As for the next 7 most "iconic"/ recognizable:

1. Robin
2. Green Arrow
3. Hawkman
4. Captain Marvel
5. Atom
6. Catwoman
7. Spectre

[Shellhead]

I agree that the Martian Manhunter is kind of low on the B-list compared to even Aquaman.

Your list of the next 7 is okay... I would rank them:

1. Robin (lots and lots of people still automatically think "and Robin" when they hear the name Batman.
2. Captain Marvel, though many people don't know who you're talking about unless you say "Shazam."

3. Batgirl, aka Barbara Gordon, thanks to the old tv show, the '70s and '90s cartoons, and
4. Supergirl, just because she's the only other really famous female DC hero after Wonder Woman and Batgirl.

then these three guys who have been around a really long time without every quite becoming really famous:

5. Green Arrow
6. Hawkman
7. Plastic Man

After that, it gets pretty sketchy. There are a number of DC heroes who have only had one brief exposure to fame. Black Lighting and Apache Chief are remembered from a season of Superfriends, but overlooked by a vast number of people who weren't watching cartoons that year. Black Canary and Huntress had that Birds of Prey show for a short season. Swamp Thing had a movie, and so did John Constantine. Isis had a saturday morning show for one season back in the '70s, and the only people who would readily remember that are probably within a couple years of my age.

[Shellhead]

Catwoman is definitely iconic, but not really well known as a hero.

[Alan2099]

How did I forget Plasticman on my list? I was even thinking that Plasticman fit the big 7 list better than Martian Manhunter. So let me make my list,

Green Arrow
Hawkman
Robin
Swampthing
Captain Marvel
Firestorm
Plasticman

Swampthing has had a few movies, a cartoon series, action figures, and his name alone has become synonemous with "big mucky monster from the swamp."

I'll admit Firestorm is pushing it a bit though.

[bjtrdff]

I'd say:

Nightwing (Well respected in and out of the DCU, even if 'nightwing' persay isn't incredibly recognizable by the average guy on the street)

Robin (In some incarnation, he is arguably the third or 4th most recognizable DC character)

Green Arrow

Supergirl (Around in some way, shape or form forever, and immediately recognizable)

Captain Marvel

The Atom

Catwoman (iconic, even though she's kind of in between hero and villain, although you could throw several characters into the 7th slot and make a strong case for them: Steel, hawkman, several JSA characters, etc;.

[Fatguy]

1.Green Arrow
2.Hawkman
3.Robin
4.Captain Marvel
5.Spectre
6.Atom
7.Nightwing

I guess. But some of these I struggled to place there, it was hard to find 7. Spectre and Atom probably shouldnt be on there. Maybe Nightwing as well. Top 4 are defintes IMHO.

[BYC]

Robin
Batgirl
Supergirl
Green Arrow

I can't even think of any others that might be iconic. Possibly the rest of the Teen Titans, but that's about it.

[trmnlvlcty]

1. Nightwing
2. Robin
3. Supergirl
4. Batgirl
5. Atom
6. Hawkman
7. Green Arrow

[foxley]

1. Green Arrow
2. Hawkman
3. Atom
4. Captain Marvel
5. Robin
6. Catwoman
7. Sgt. Rock

[kentonindy]

Hawkman (1940)
Green Arrow (1941)
Robin (1940)
Captain Marvel (1940)
Plastic Man (1941)
Supergirl (1959)
Batgirl (1967)

Although Marvel and Plas deserve to be on the list (and Alex Ross obviously agrees) I don't like including them because they're imports from other comics companies of the past. Discounting them leaves

Doctor Fate (1940)
Black Canary (1947)

as the obvious choices.

[matt_hatyber]

half of you guys are saying night wing and robin in the big seven. you cant have that. like come on.

[Shellhead]

half of you guys are saying night wing and robin in the big seven. you cant have that. like come on.

Yeah, come on guys, it's against some unwritten rule that Matt is going to share with us later in this thread. ;)

[AllisterH]

Well, my initial Big 7 would actually be a Big 6 since Martain Manhunter isn't exactly on the same level as the rest.

Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman
Flash
Aquaman
Green Lantern

Next tier down
Supergirl
Robin
Captain Marvel
Plastic Man
Hawkman
Green Arrow

[hotrodimus]

robin
nightwing
batgirl
catwoman
hawkman
hawkgirl
supergirl

[DayWing]

Nightwing is my favorite character. But I can't really put that name as in the next big 7. However, there is no doubt that Robin is iconic. Batman and Robin! Its a household name. And the Robin that most people think of when they say or hear the name is always Dick Grayson. A lot of non-comic book reading (or non-DCAU following) people don't know about his transition to Nightwing and of Tim Drake. So in way, yes Dick Grayson is iconic but in an invisible sort of way. People know Robin but are thinking of Dick Grayson. :D

This is why there has to be a mainstream tv show or movie about Nightwing. Maybe a movie set separately from Nolan's about a Batman-less Robin becoming Nightwing. Or a sort of Smallville concept, which tells the story of Dick Grayson leave Gotham and travelling and gradually taking on the name Nightwing. We could have Bruce Wayne looking for him to patch things up. He hears about this Nightwing guy and wonders if it is Dick.

And for the record, lets all face it. After Superman and Batman, the character most non-comic book reading people know the most from DC is Robin. Not even Wonder Woman. As long as people know of Batman, they will always remember that there is a Robin. I have always felt that Dick Grayson deserves to be in the Big 7 (making it a big 8) because of this.

[Bob-el]

Let me take this in a slightly different direction.

What makes those characters the big 7 is they each represent a major corner of the overall DC picture. Of the 7, Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman have all built up a cast of additional heroes connected to them. To a lesser extent so has Aquaman as well as establishing a key geographic and myth/historical aspect of the DC picture. The reason J'onn's status is more questionable is that of the 7, he doesn't fulfill this aspect nearly as well but because of his place in the JLA from the beginning makes the cut anyway.

So who are the next 7 to occupy pillar roles for their own corner of the DCU.

I would offer the following:
1) Captain Marvel- the whole Marvel family fits this concept.
2) Hawkman - both key to DC outer space and the JSA and the source of numerous versions of Hawkgirl and himself as well as a few other characters.
3) Orion - not a springboard for Orion Lad or anything like that but central to the whole New Gods area of DC (and it just wouldn't do to put Darkseid on the list even though he actually is more broadly known and used)
4) Robin - not for being the character to follow Batman and... but by being the keystone character to the whole Teen Titans and Titans array of sidekick and teenage characters. In this sense Tim and Dick merge since both have been the Robin of the Titans.
5-7) Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad - in the same way that the founding JLA are big iconic characters of the DCU, the three founders of the Legion are inseparable and the source for all forms and characters of the Legion that follow.

I was tempted to find a place for Dr. Fate as the most representative character of the magic side of DC but can't quite support it from the sense that much more has been built around that character specifically.

Captain Marvel, Cosmic Boy, Hawkman, Lightning Lad, Orion, Robin and Saturn Girl. I think that's a pretty impressive slate of characters and big enough to fill slots 8-14.

[jchichuv]

Robin (Dick Grayson or TIm Drake)
Catwoman
Supergirl
Green Arrow
hawkman
Atom
Captain Marvel

[JamesJesse]

I never thought Martian Manhunter was part of the big 7 as far as iconic status went. He's definitely part of the JLA Big 7 though.

If the first seven were: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Robin.

The second seven would be:

Green Arrow, Hawkman, Captain Marvel, Supergirl, Plastic Man, Batgirl, GL John Stewart.

And then Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl come in. Thanks largely to their recent media presence. Atom and Nightwing barely missed the cut. If these were the early or mid 80s. The second seven would have included Firestorm.

Now...

Unlike Robin and Flash, GL's gets two people as iconic mostly due to Stewart's ethnicity helps make him visually distinct as another person to the common bystander. So to a non-geek, they know he's not the same guy as Hal Jordan. Whereas to a layman, it could either be Wally West or Barry Allen, Tim Drake or Dick Grayson under that Flash or Robin mask and they wouldn't be able to distinguish them despite the costume differences.

We know otherwise of course.

[Eumenides]

I'm amazed at the spite for Martian Manhunter here. I always thought he was one of the most beloved DC characters, being the heart and soul of almost every JLA incarnation, one of the first Silver Age characters, and more powerful than Superman. Sad to see I was mistaken.

[Alan2099]

It's not that Martian Manhunter is a bad character. I think he works really well on a team enviroment and contrasts with the others spectacularly. It's just he's not very iconic and his solo adventures really don't work.

[Bob-el]

It's not that Martian Manhunter is a bad character. I think he works really well on a team enviroment and contrasts with the others spectacularly. It's just he's not very iconic and his solo adventures really don't work.

Ditto. I love the character (but don't like the new costume). He's been the glue to hold the JLA together more than once. The truth is, however, DC has never been able to make him work solo the way Batman, Flash, etc do. May because he is another "orphan" from outer space he always seems second tier to Superman and they couldn't find a sufficiently different way to frame his adventures. I root for him and the addition of Miss Martian might be a first step to giving him that wealth of associated characters that the others have.

[Hatut Zeraze]

1. Robin
2. Green Arrow
3. Black Canary
4. Nightwing
5. Steel
6. Hawkman
7. Green Lantern (Alan Scott)