Ensemble Darkhorse/Comic Books: Difference between revisions

** Ironically, one of the early plans was for [[Chrome Champion|Colossus]] to be the [[Breakout Character]] and Wolverine nearly killed off in his third issue with the team.

** While on the subject of the X-Men, several of the background characters at the Xavier Institute developed fanbases despite having no or few lines, thanks to neat visuals or powers. Notable amongst these are Pixie, a girl with fairy wings and the ability to disperse a hallucinogenic powder; and Anole, a lizard-like mutant with superhuman camouflage powers and a long tongue.

** Under the hand of [[Peter David]], Shatterstar has been the subject of extensive online debate, beaten up The Thing, kissed almost as many people as the rest of the cast put together, been featured prominently in at least three different covers, made himself a very likely candidate for a limited series, and just generally stolen the spotlight both in-universe and out; all this in, what, ten issues or so? Not bad for a character who the writer refused to allow anywhere near the book for quite some time.

** Blink from Marvel's ''[[X-Men]]'' also gained quite a fan following after a fairly brief existence in their mainstream storylines, due to her unique look and interesting variation on semi-common teleportation powers. She got an upgraded role in the [[Age of Apocalypse]] storyline, which in turn upgraded her popularity. She was so popular that she survived the destruction of that universe and became a main character in the ''[[Exiles]]'' spinoff.

* [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] example: The Red Tornado was originally introduced as "Ma" Hunkel, a supporting character in "Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist," but was so outrageously silly that she completely overshadowed the title character. 60 years later, Ma is the curator of the ''[[Justice Society of America]]'' museum, and nobody remembers poor ol' Scribbly.

** Wildcat. A lot of modern fans don't realize that in the 40s, Wildcat was just barely a member of the JSA, participating in less than a dozen stories. He became more popular during the 70s JSA revival and ''[[All-Star Squadron]]'', and then really took off in the modern series. It helps that he's one of the few remaining living team members.

* Damian Wayne, [[Batman]]'s son, was initially intended to die after his first storyline, and was widely disliked by fans for his bad attitude and violent behavior. He was then made into the new Robin, and became the co-headliner of the immensely popular ''[[Grant Morrisons Batman|Batman and Robin]]'' series. He has since developed a sizable fanbase, and ''Batman and Robin'' continues to be a strong seller. He was even briefly added to the ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'' as part of a stunt to raise the title's sagging sales.

** Oh, Steph goes ''way'' back. Stephanie Brown, aka The Spoiler, was originally created by Chuck Dixon and appeared in DETECTIVE COMICS #647-649 as a teenaged... sort of anti-villain... created for a Cluemaster story to show the effects of crime on a criminal's family, and the story wrapped-up with her in a position where her personal storyline was pretty much concluded and she need not appear again. Except that fans liked her, so she did show up again a little later in the newly-begun ROBIN solo title (also written by Chuck Dixon) in a one-off guest-spot... and the fans liked ''that'', and she started showing up as a recurring character. Flash forward a few years and she's Robin's girlfriend and the co-star of the book. And all this ''before'' the events of the above entry, or before she was ever offered the chance to be Robin IV.

** Amusing historical note: some fans claim that Stephanie Brown is a 'Johnny-come-lately' entry to the Bat-Family. In fact, her original appearance occurs two months ''before'' the first appearance of the Post-Crisis incarnation of the Huntress (Helena Bertinelli), whose own status as a Bat-Family regular hasn't remotely been questioned since BIRDS OF PREY.

** Ganthet. The only non-[[Lawful Stupid]] Guardian on all of Oa. Had the [[Fridge Brilliance]] moment of realizing that when a Lantern's hopeful, their will exponentially increases. Hence why he's the man.

* ''[[The Legion of Super Heroes]]'' started out as a one shot appearance in ''Superboy''. They caught on and eventually edged him out of his own comic. The Legion itself is not lacking in Darkhorses; in fact it's hard to find a character that doesn't have a solid fanbase, Chemical King and the Legion of Subsitute Heroes most notably.

*** Like [[Star Wars|that other faceless EnsembleDarkhorse]], part of Wildfire's appeal is his unique design.

* ''[[100 Bullets|One Hundred Bullets]]'' author Brian Azzarello expresses dismay at the popularity of amoral sociopathic hitman Lono in [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=75284 this interview]:

* [[Squirrel Girl]] became the most popular character from [[Great Lakes Avengers]], despite being the newest and least important member of that group. You could argue it's because she's [[Fun Personified]] [[Department of Redundancy Department|Personified]] in the otherwise [[Dysfunction Junction|moopy Marvel Universe]], but it's mostly attributed to her [[God Mode Sue|beating the flock out]] [[Memetic Badass|of villains such as]] [[Doctor Doom]], Thanos and [[Deadpool|the evil, evil man]] with no other powers than [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|The Power Of]] [[Doctor Dolittle|Talking To Squirrels]]. In one appearance, she needs to borrow Dr. Doom's {{spoiler|time machine to go back in time and rescue Speedball from becoming Penance.}} She walks into Doom's castle, politely asks to use it and Doom resignedly tells her that it's door past the portrait of his mother without even asking why she's there in the first place.

* The [[Norman Osborn|Green Goblin]] started out as a typical, albeit mysterious B-list villain. Eventually he grew to be so popular, that his secret identity as Norman Osborn was revealed earlier than planned. While he got amnesia for [[Comic Book Time|months (sometimes years at a time)]] his role as a supporting character in fact increased his popularity to the point where he was the villain used in the Drug Story, permanently promoting him to A-list status. His popularity was arguably what led to the creation of the Hobgoblin long after Norman's death. He's so iconic and popular that he's come back from the dead and been the star of [[Dark Reign|a major comic book event.]] Not only that but as a result, Norman Osborn, a [[Villain with Good Publicity]], headlined THE [[Dark Avengers|Top Selling Comic Book]] for a YEAR.

* [[The Punisher]]. Originally he was supposed to appear only in one Spider-Man issue. Fans liked him, so he reappeared. And then he became an enemy of Daredevil, because of their different views. He also featured in Captain America comics and some others. And when the world in 80s was ready for a cold blooded killer to become the main character of a series, he got his own comic book. And he was all over the [[Marvel Universe]], not teaming up or fighting against maybe only guys really out of his league like Silver Surfer.

* Moonstone was just another villain until ''[[Thunderbolts]]'' reinvented her as a [[Magnificent Bastard]] [[Jerkass]]. Then she had her own comic, was a part of the Dark Avengers team and sat at the right hand of Norman Osborn.

* Carol Danvers, a.k.a. [[Ms. Marvel]], was originally created as a [[Distaff Counterpart]] to [[Captain Mar-Vell]], and even worse, 'the woman whose power got stolen by [[X-Men|Rogue]]' (who is actually more popular). However, she has actually made quite a name for herself and has a reasonably sized fan following. Which is seriously impressive, because usually female clones of popular male superheroes tend to be lame, pointless [[Flat Character|Flat Characters]], but Ms. Marvel has turned out to be really awesome and even outshined her original. She was recently included in both ''[[Marvel Ultimate Alliance]]'' games as a playable character, and many players agreed that she was one of the best characters. Presumably (and hopefully), she will return as a playable character if they decide to make a third game. She also appears in several other shows such as the ''[[The Superhero Squad Show]]'', and comic-wise, she shapes up to be one of the more important heroines of the [[Marvel Universe]] (even going so far as becoming the 'Marvel counterpart' of DC's iconic [[Wonder Woman]]).

* [[Blade]] of the [[Marvel]] comic ''[[The Tomb of Dracula]]''. He was the token minority character in that 1970s comic and appeared periodically to assist Quincy Harker, Frank Drake, and Rachel Van Helsing. Blade notably teamed up with vampire detective Hannibal King to defeat their archfoe Deacon Frost. He, Frank Drake, and King would continue years later in various 90s comics such as Nightstalkers and Midnight Suns. Drake would vanish as a result of [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]] Even Dracula himself has no reason to show up unless it's for another melee with Blade. King would show up periodically but all vampire-centric Marvel stories of the 90s and 2000s seem to acknowledge Blade as their central main character.

* Terra from ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]''. She's [[Base Breaker|as]] [[The Scrappy|hated]] as she is loved. She lasted little more then a year in the comic, but is one of the most well-recalled characters in the series. A "different version" of her was brought in a few years later {{spoiler|only to eventually be killed off and replaced by a THIRD one, who has become the best friend/sidekick to [[Power Girl]]}}.

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