If I'm not mistaken... Ralph and Sue lived longer in JL 3000!

It all depends on this picture from Justice League 3000 #14. That's a flasback with (left to right) Ralph, Max, Oberon, Ice and Sue, showing a moment, way after the Super Buddies issues, sometime after Fire exchanged places with Ice at hell.
The story also states that Ice never saw Fire again, however,
a. that's not how Ice revived in the pre-Flashpoint continuity, as seen in Birds of Prey #105 (July 2007),
b. Fire and Ice reunited and teamed up in Justice League: Generation Lost (2010),
c. by the time Ice was resurrected in the pre-Flashpoint continuity (July 2007), both Ralph and Sue were dead and Max had turned evil.

If I'm correct and those are Ralph, Max and Sue, it means we have our first post-Flashpoint continuity in which they are still alive at the present time!!

And here is a cool picture of the whole gang. Just because:

Update: I've confirmed it at J.M. DeMatteis blog, CREATION POINT (actually, he did said so in an interview that I missed before I asked). By the way, that blog is really awesome, J.M. is incredibly cool and gives honest answers to about everything.

The 6 Birthday Mysteries of the Elongated Man

"The Elongated Man's Other-Worldly Wife" (Detective Comics #332) started one of the earlier traditions of the Dibny: The birthday mysteries.Every year, around Ralph's birthday, March 21, Sue prepares a mystery for him to solve. She does so many of those that, at some point, the Daily Planet runs an entire section on them.

Some of his partners in crime include the Sue's uncle Jim, Flash, Green Lantern, Alfred Pennyworth, the entire Justice League International and his last was going to be Green Arrow.

Since Ralph turned 55 on Tuesday, in order to keep the celebration going, I decided to make the list of birthday mystery stories.

BIRTHDAY MYSTERY I

Detective Comics #332 (October 1964), "The Elongated Man's Other-Worldly Wife" - Ralph discovers that Sue is the beautiful leader of an alien invasion. Written by Gardner Fox, with art by Carmine Infantino and Sid Greene.
This is the one that started the tradition. Epic art, Carmine is the master of design Sue looks incredible as an alien queen. This is by far, her most elaborated scheme.

BIRTHDAY MYSTERY II

Detective Comics #350 (April 1966), "Green Lantern's Blackout" - Hal can't remember that he is the Green Lantern, so, since Ralph and Sue are in Coast City, Pieface recruits him to save the day.

This birthday Ralph got a very memorable present from Sue (and Paul Gambi?).
Written by Gardner Fox, with art by Carmine Infantino.
Somehow, this one has a dark feeling, a bit hardboiled for an Elongated Man story.

BIRTHDAY MYSTERY III

Detective Comics #375 (May 1968), "The Face That Stopped Clocks" - In Wayside City, a man can stop clocks by staring that them. Even though Ralph is expecting Sue's mystery and his nose doesn't twitch, he agrees with her to follow him. 

Written by Gardner Fox, with art by  Mike Sekowsky and George Roussos.
Out of all the DC superheroes of the 60s, the Elongated Man feels the most like a sitcom of that era. This story is just like watching Bewitched, The Dick Van Dike Show or My Favorite Martian. 

BIRTHDAY MYSTERY IV

Detective Comics #449 (July 1975), "The Mystery Man Who Walked On Air" - Sue spots an old man walking on air outside their hotel room in Key West, FL.
Written by Mary Skrenes, with art by Dick Giordano.
I don't know if its the 70s, or the "old man", but the only thing missing is a scary monster to make it a Scooby Doo story.

BIRTHDAY MYSTERY V

Justice League Quarterly #6 (January 1, 1992), "Take My Wife--Please!" - Sue goes missing in Seaside City and the Ralph gets help from the Justice League International to find her.

Written by Mark Waid, with art by Eduardo Barreto, this is often considered the best birthday mystery by fans. Personally, I have to agree; this one feels like Ralph and Sue take the JLI gang on a roller coaster of mystery, keeping both the Giffen-DeMatteis line of humor and the silver age vibe of the Elongated Man stories. 

Ralph is perhaps the only silver age superhero that kept his mid-60s spirit, this feels like a celebration of that.

BIRTHDAY MYSTERY VI

Identity Crisis #1 (June, 2004) - "Chapter One: Coffin" - Ralph thinks Sue is only going to get him a magnifying glass he saw in Belgium, but at their Opal City home, she has a bigger surprise and a mystery set with Green Arrow on board... We end on a sad note...Written by Brad Meltzer, with art by Rags Morales.
It's controversial... I'm not touching that one with a 60-feet pole.

And that was the last one. Hopefully, the new DC horizon will bring us many more.
 

THE END

OR IS IT? (Update: 06-30-2015)

Nope, it wasn't. And that's great news.

BIRTHDAY MYSTERY VII (or VI b)

The pic is from Justice League 3000 #12 (feb 2015), and it shows the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold of what I like to call "Earth-Bwah-Ha-Ha" (hey, the term kind of got a blog laugh from J.M. DeMatteis), a continuity in which the events after I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League are completely different from what was published by DC. This means that Identity Crisis, Countdown, 52 and all the stories that turned the lives of Ralph and Sue, along characters like Maxwell Lord, Blue Beetle and Rocket Red into deaths and tragedies didn't happen. Instead, we get a number of extra birthday mysteries for Ralph, including the one Blue Beetle is talking about in the picture.  

In this continuity, sometime after the events of  I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, disappear when the Super Buddies were having a surprise party for Ralph and wake up some 3000 years in the future. This means that, although they didn't plan it, their disappearance became the 7th published birthday mystery, and, since Ralph obviously didn't find them, we can assume it's the only one he never solved... 

Know your Super Buddy

Continuing with the profiling here are the members of the Justice League International. Giffen and DeMatteis did an excellent job demonstrating the uniqueness of their personalities, still, it's always fun to review them. Tell me what you think about them.

Maxwell Lord: The true Maxwell is an opportunistic sleazeball with a great heart. He would manipulate and push so that his will is done; fortunately, he always has the greater good and the best interest of his friends in mind.  He sounds like a used car salesman, the difference is that he always delivers what he promises. He's the incarnation of the "Like a boss" meme; he works hard and he lives hard, always surounded by luxury. He's all charm, and yet, unlike the stereotypical sanguinean type, he gets the job done without disappointments. He has a thing for power and control, but his main reasons are his egocentrism and certain paternalist feelings he has towards the JLI. As the boss, he's always has his eyes on the ball and knows how to take charge without engaging (at least when it matters).

The Martian Manhunter: The leader of the oddest incarnation of the JLI also serves as its father figure; while he seems to have a peer relationship with Batman and Maxwell, he thinks of the rest as "the children".  He knows human nature better than humans so he’s very accepting and avoids engaging in nonsense and even most of the social situations of the team. His attitude and personality often places him as the straight man among the shenanigans of his team. As a leader he's calm, insightful and patient and knows exactly what to say to lead this weird wild crowd, always with his eyes on the ball.  

Blue Beetle: Ted is creative, optimistic, enthusiastic, adventurous, witty and a bit juvenile. He has a great, easy going temper, which is why he's normally in great mood. His friends would say that he's hyperactive and often too smart for his own good. He took the Blue Beetle mantle from his teacher, but the truth is that he's a superhero out of his optimism and sense of adventure. Like Ralph, he's a true example of emotional intelligence.

Fire: Bea is loud, fiery, flirty, fun loving and very hot tempered (a lot like Sofia Vergara or Eva Longoria). She's very street wise, has a quick wit, which helps her charm her way to get what she wants; however, she has no trouble calling things by their name.

In some stories, she has a Bart-Simpsonesque, devil-may-care attitude. She's a nudist who has worked in showbiz for men, yet she showed a smart taste in men (liking Oberon, hating Guy) and was quite protective of Ice's love life. Her deal in that sense seems to be that she uses her sensuality and charisma to get stuff but is very careful when it comes to feelings. Despite her hedonistic exterior she shows good, caring values when it comes to people. This is more evident with good kind people, like Ted, Ice, Mary or the Dibnys. By contrast she's tough on jerks (even if they are still her friends) and really tough on villains.

Booster Gold: He's basically a phony superhero that is perpetually redeeming himself. For some reason, his goals as a superhero are fame and fortune. He's shallow, shameless and often desperate; however, he always pulls through. He's not much of a thinker, which makes him the perfect bottom of the jokes (making him the perfect odd couple for Blue Beetle); however he has his heart in the right place and has an amazing deal of determination, which are the reasons that qualify him as a member.

Ice: She's sweet and caring; her borderline naive innocence contrasts with Bea's sharp eye. She's utterly honest, transparent and, despite certain shyness, she always shows her true emotions. However, she's not a bad judge of character as much as she prefers not to judge, often seeing the goodness behind rough exteriors like Guy's or even Bea's. Her sense of fun is very child-like and playful, which makes her able to enjoy the simple things in life.

Ralph: In JLI he became less of a Nick Charles superhero and more of a funny, paternalistic uncle; going to extremes he never went to get people to laugh. His behavior is more sanguine than ever, as if he decided to take the back seat and relax in this team. His usual wit is still there, but he starts relying on slapstick for humor. At the end of the day people always listen to him and Wally even seeks his approbation. And it figures, hiding behind a class clown surface he's indirectly mentoring and encouraging the new Flash, Power Girl, Mary Marvel and even his wife, who became a member of the team as well. Despite being acknowledged as the most experienced member of the European branch, he prefers being a good team member to being the leader, so he always respected Captain Atom's position as the leader.

Sue: She's the proof that sometimes spoiling works. Despite having everything and being able to get whatever she whims, she cares a lot about people. That's called vision of abundance. Her mood is usually great, she is very plucky, extroverted, chatty, witty and easy going; however, at times she can be high maintenance or show quite a temper, if the situation justifies it. Like Ralph, she is only able to see opportunities and she makes things happen with even less effort. She's a natural problem solver and her main weapons are charisma, charm a quick wit and tons of confidence. As much as she trusts and admires her husband as a superhero, she usually fears for him and the rest of the team when they are on the field, which is the reason she likes to get involved. Before JLI she used to me mostly a carefree, spoiled wife on an eternal honeymoon adventure, but then, a permanent duty as monitor led her to become a technology wiz dedicated to her new team and family, which she eventually lead as bureau chief.

Guy: Arrogant, overly confident, chauvinistic, short tempered, annoying, obtuse and immature: the embodiment of the American spirit gone wrong. He is only a hero because he believes in saving the day, and he's too stubborn not to get things done. He's too much of an action man to think things through. His m. o. seems to be all about bullying the bullies; the problem is that he normally a dick to the good guys, even if he's ultimately harmless and always gets losing. Ice is the only person that gets him to rethink his ways.

L-Ron: Despite being more intelligent than his bosses, he was created to be a servant, so he uses tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top flattery (and often just sarcasm) as a form release. L-Ron seems to be doomed to be an eternal witness to really bad ideas that he can’t prevent from being executed, in fact he normally has to help making them happen. However, little by little, he has moved to a position in which he can contribute to better causes. He will always be a servant, but he'll at least try to serve where it counts.  

Power Girl: Kara’s super strength is not only physical but emotional. She’s confident, emotionally independent and very outspoken; however, her temper is short and might lose sight of what’s important in order to make a stand. Even though his views are always fair, she engages easily  and she can be quite opinionated, which put her at odds with the likes of Guy. She has little tolerance for shenanigans as well, especially when it comes to men objectifying her because of her notorious sex appeal  –she doesn’t flirt or dress for men, but she also refuses to hide her beauty. She’s normally cranky, but she can be quite generous and kind. When it comes to her work, PG has a great determination that makes her diligent, quick and effective.

Rocket Red: Dmitri is a big jolly man, optimistic and enthusiastic about everything. The type of person that rarely has anything negative to say. Always with a smile on his face, he enjoys about everything, and is loudly outspoken about it. He sees enough of everything for everyone, which is why he has a very generous philosophy and nature. When it comes to serious matters he’s very insightful and truly helpful to his friends. He has a very balanced life and has a loving family waiting for him after work.

Crimson Fox: We’re talking about two women, but in general, their behavior seems the same. They like to remain a mystery to their teammates, so they are barely socialize and come across as “a” cold peer. They inform themselves about any situation and become all business right away; pretty much like Batman, only without barking orders. This is how they manage to hide the fact that they are two people sharing the same superhero identity. Like Batman, they seem too self-aware and even melancholic, but their determination and dedication to an agenda against injustice makes them overachieving perfectionist forces.

Catherine Cobert: A diligent and independent career woman capable of great achievements. She’s such a straight man, she doesn’t even engage with the nonsense of her team. Even though she is really dedicated and hardworking, with her calm attitude and big picture sight she makes it seem as if her great achievements came with little effort. Her great perception and sensibility allows her to be as persuasive as Maxwell (which is probably why she e eventually wet from being his great discovery to his boss). It’s also clear that she’s very confident, and it also shows when she flits. While it’s clear that she liked Captain Atom from day one (and that it was mutual), she rather worked on him with friendship and teases without spoiling the tension.

Batman: A consumed pro with no time for nonsense. His perfectionism feels sharper than ever and he has a heaver reliance on fear as a weapon. He's playing on a really advanced level that few in the JLI can follow and only J'Onn does. It would appear as if his respect only went to his equals (J'Onn, Ralph, Fate, Canary) but he actually believes in all of them, so he serves as an outsider who  always knows what to do and what to say (his mind seems to go at light speed), so he arrives late, barks instructions and out he goes. He barely takes a few seconds to correct Guy's attitude problem. Tough love. His field instructions have a surgeon’s precision; however, after renouncing the leadership he decided to respect the authority of the new field commanders. And yet, the team can't help but feel as if he was the one pulling the strings (and he might be).

Other notorious members

Some members didn't really stayed that long but sitll became characteristic members of the Bwahaha era anyway.

Beefeater: Is a conceited, arrogant, phony, obnoxious, rude, inconsiderate, stubborn, pretentious and absolutely sarcastic jerk. He can’t help but show a neurotic behavior whenever he interacts; normally characterized by his excessive complaining and attention to unimportant details. His constant engaging prevents him from inspiring any real authority despite his confidence; people rather please him in hopes to get him to shot up or go away. I know, I’m basically describing Basil, but it’s the same, anyway.

Coming soon within this post: Captain Atom, Oberon, Mr. Miracle, Flash, Metamorpho, G'Nort,  and Animal Man.

For more character profiles, check out the following articles:

Know your Justice Leaguer!
Understand the personality of the early
members of the World's mightiest team.

Know your Bat-Villain! Part I - 
Probably the craziest supervillains in 
American comics, so it is a longer read.

Justice League International: The Movie

Justice League International by Daniel Morpheus.

Brazilian Deviantartist, Daniel "Morpheus", created this Justice League International picture to see what a movie with his ideal cast would look like. Here is his pitch:

"This is a poster that I've made with my cast for a Justice League International Movie.

The cast is:

     Damien Lewis as Elongated Man
     Zooey Deschanel as Sue Dibny
     Zachary Levi as Blue Beetle
     Tom Cruise as Maxwell Lord
     Garrett Hedlund as Booster Gold
     Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Fire
     James Caviezel as Captain Atom
     Hannah Sperritt as Ice

To direct the movie no one better than Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead). I always imagine this movie as a British comedy, with the perfect balance between comedy, drama and action.

I think the cast couldn't be better (how about that Mary Elizabeth Winstead?!! huminahuminahubba!!). I'm really sold on this idea. Very few actreses are charismatic and cute enough to play Sue, but only Zooey has what it takes. Lewis, on the other hand, has an odd face for Ralph, who should rather look like a young Dick van Dike; however, he has the built, the red hair and he can really pull clever. Winstead definitively has the body type (tall, curvy, great shoulders), but I'm not sure she can play a sassy, loud and spicy girl from Brazil. Tom Cruise as Maxwell Lord takes the prize. It's just brilliant; between his "show me the money" and this, Max definitively falls between Cruise's range.

I love how the picture integrates the most memorable members and elevates them as pop cult icons portrayed by contemporary celebrities. I just love that colorful reticule. Not to mention the impressive portrayals and their rendering.

That is a movie I'd like to see. I can even imagine the plot: The entire JLA but the Elongated Man gets lost in a battle against Despero and, after months of absence, Maxwell Lord recruits him for the new JLI, a project in which nobody has faith. Despite their limited competence, after accidentally saving Paris from a Bialyan attack (after the French had a misunderstanding with the Gadaffi-esque Rumaan Harjavti) little by little they gain the public trust. After gaining other battles (which will serve as opportunities for cameos by the Injustice League, Manga Khan, Starro and Mr. Nebula) and, with them, more popularity, they run into an a surviving Batman and the Martian Manhunter, who assign them a mission to rescue the rest of the real League. They accomplish their mission, but end up about to be blasted by Despero. However, the real JLA pulls a last minute deux ex machina. Finally, both leagues are restored, with Batman and the Martian as liaisons. How about that?

Anyway, there's more art where that came from. Daniel is a very gifted artist and is blessing us with a lot of samples of his art at his Deviantart page.

Enjoy!

Busterella strikes again!: Pokemon JLI

I found new fan art form favorite of this blog, Busterella, whose Dibny portraits always catch perfectly the true spirit of the couple. It's called "Superbuddies-Pokemon Rangers", check it out:

Top to bottom and left to right: Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Sue and Ralph Dibny, Fire & Ice, Guy Gardner and Maxwell Lord. 

It's the second pic I see from a Deviant artist combining elements of JLI / Super Buddies with Pokemon Rangers (which, I suppose, is a later incarnation of the Pokemon thing). However, there's no actual connection between the the two of them and I'm still trying to find out why is this a thing. According to Busterella, Pokemon crossovers with anything are common. She describes is as "Silly scribble-y crossover tomfoolery".

The other one is even more eclectic, it throws Aladdin and a character from Batman: The Brave and the Bold into the mix (what, no fire?).

Ice, the Dibnys, Guy and Captain America, Flash and his wife, Linda Parker, Aladdin and Jasmine, and the Music Meister.
Art by Clazziquai. 

And this is just the tip of the iceberg, Busterella has impressive pics done with digital media. She's crazy-talented when it comes to coloring (you hear that, DC?). For more of her fantastic art, go to her Deviantart profile: http://busterella.deviantart.com/ . She's a talent to watch!

Top 10 grounded DC characters.

Art by yours truly, Rafa Rivas.

For certain characters, who never had notoriety of any sort, its completely normal to get dry spells of publication. Nobody expects the likes of Angel and the Ape, Anthro, Prez or Detective Chimp to get their own regular series. However, since the 70s, every decade has a different set of previously prominent DC Comics character hidden under the rug. As if TPTB were ashamed of those properties. The Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Zatanna, Red Tornado, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Adam Strange and even Aquaman have all been through that.

The first clear example would have to be J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. When the Justice League of America was founded, outside the "super trinity" (Batman, Superman and Wonder), he was about as famous as any of the rest. Really. In fact, the weakest link was Green Lantern, who debuted some months before the team was created. After the debut of the JLA, all its members were editorially pushed with their own titles; the Martian moved from Detective Comics, where he was out-shined by Batman, to House of Mystery, where he became the lead. The Elongated Man replaced him in Detective Comics. However, that all faded by the late 60s; he was first taken out of House of Mystery, and then, he was written off the Justice League. By the 70s, he was known as the green bald dude who was somehow a funding member of the JLA. After over a decade of cameos, the Justice League title provided the best justification for his return: it needed full-time members, who wouldn't have adventures outside the book. Lacking options to make the team feel like the real JLA, writer Gerry Conway decided to bring the green dude back, and for similar reasons, the next creative team kept him as leader of the Justice League International. DC revamped the League once more in the mid 90s and, this time, the angle was going for the original founding members (or their available equivalents). Consequently, after all that, despite his long absence around the 70s, the Martian became known as "the heart and soul of the JLA". That's a happy ending, let's see how it continues now that he has been retroactively erased from the origins of the Justice League and shoehorned into a team called "Stormwatch".

Zatanna, for instance, was a steady member of the JLA after the late 70s. Like the Martian Manhunter and the Elongated Man, she stayed with the League during it's "Detroit era". However, once it was over, she went back to scarce cameos. The controversial and successful Identity Crisis limited series brought her back to the spotlight, she has a miniseries, joined the League for a while, appeared in Detective Comics, and got her own title. Now, she's with something called "Justice League Dark".

Firestorm popped up in '78 with a mini series, then, fully boosted by his creator (Gerry Conway), returned in 1980 to join the Justice League and get his backup feature in Flash. In 1982, he graduated from the backup to get his own title. Then, they got the popular characters out of the JLA title, they did some really weird stuff with him in his book, yadda, yadda, yadda, he didn't appear through the 90s. When I started reading comics, I often wondered whatever happened to the guy from Super Friends with fire instead of hair. He returned, but they keep doing odd things with the character.

Along with the Elongated Man, half the characters who were part of the Justice League International, were notoriously absent from 1996 to 2004. They revamped them as the "Super Buddies" in a couple of limited series that were critically acclaimed and sold very well. However, after the first series, for some reason, one by one, each of those characters was killed off (Sue Dibny, Blue Beetle, Rocket Red, the Elongated Man), horribly derailed (Maxwell Lord, Captain Atom, Mary Marvel) or went through hell because of that (Booster Gold, Fire).

Their absence is normally a bit more notorious once they return; however, I believe I can identify the missing people of this era. My criteria is how recurring they were in the past, compared to what they get now:

10. Zauriel and Aztek

Shooting stars like Ragman or Blue Devil, they were never really regulars of anything. However, their absense is odd, considering that their creator, one Grant Morrison, is one of the most influential forces of the current DC Comics authors. He tends to leave a trace of brilliantly conceived bastard children behind him.
9. The classic Teen Titans

Not really an endangered species, since we get to see them all around; however, they do lack a regular series. During the 70s, writers avoided using or creating sidekicks (children fighting crime are a dumb idea, anyway), so they kept them in the Teen Titans team (a team of teenagers with no adult supervision... sounds better, doesn't it?). In 1980, DC aged them, added new characters and it became a hit. Sidekick problem solved, right? Well, not really. They kept aging and, during the 90s, DC created a new wave of sidekicks... which eventually needed a team, and since the Teen Titans were no longer teenagers, they got the name as well. Now the original titans are too old to stay in the team and not popular enough to substitute their mentors. Some became part of the Justice League, but that didn't sit well with the title's fans at all. Without a team, most of these characters are doomed to be title-less, which puts them at risk of fading away.

8. Black Lightning

Black Lightning was created to be the main African American superhero from DC Comics, and yet the character has been blocked from every opportunity of exposure outside comics: for Super Friends, they had to create "Black Vulcan", for Static Shock, they created "Soul Power", and he was notoriously absent in Justice League. He got some recent prominence in comics, but it has been fading since he quit the Justice League. And now, with Static as the new and improved electric black dude, BL is even less likely to get some spotlight.

7. The Penguin

This guy is probably the most recurring and well known of the list. Ask anybody who's not a comics book fan - the Penguin is a popular character. He even appeared more often in the 60s TV show than the Joker. However, in the current comics, he's a mere supporting character. What happened? In the 80s all the popular Batman characters got their postmodern makeover. The Joker, Two-face, Poison Ivy and Catwoman went from silly gimmicky villains to complex characters. The Penguin (like the Riddler) never made the leap. Even though, in theory, he always had what it takes to be a spectacular villain with magnetic personality: An epic histrionic disorder. As the creators of South Park how far can a character get with that (yes, I'm talking about Cartman).

6. The Question

Between Alan Moore's Rorschach and the Fox Mulder-esque treatment the Question got in Justice League Unlimited DC had the perfect formula to make Vic Sage a hit character. On the other hand they had Renee Montoya, a minor supporting character getting quite popular thanks to Gotham Central. What was done? They killed off Vic and turned Montoya into the Question. Did it work? If the purpose was trading the lead status for a supporting one, I guess it did. Montoya is a lovely member of Batman's supporting cast, but she doesn't have the twisted mind that is required to be the Question and now she can't even fall back to her police role.

5. Garth

Aqualad's main roles were sidekick of Aquaman and member of the Teen Titans, but what happens when he becomes too old for either? Literally, not much. Garth was killed two years ago and a new Aqualad has replaced him on both fronts.

4. Green Lantern John Stewart.

John was always meant to be supporting, he was the original "fill-in Green Lantern" to Hal Jordan; however, by 1992 he was popular enough to get his own series - which was cancelled for no good reason. Later, in 2001 he became the Green Lantern of the Justice League TV series; the idea was to bring diversity to the show to reach a wider audience. The comics followed the trend for a while, but despite all the other media popularity, when DC resurrected Jordan and brought back Guy Gardner, Stewart hit the bench once again.

3. Lobo

Lobo was created in 1983 and by the late 80s he was appearing at least once every single month. He got a number of miniseries and then, after R.E.B.E.L.S. was cancelled, his own title. However, with the change of century, Lobo started fading. He became supporting character of Young Justice, some appearances in 52, and then, back to supporting R.E.B.E.L.S.

2. Wally West

Like Iris West (his aunt) and Ralph Dibny, the Kid Flash is one of the earliest and most recurring supporting characters of the Flash. In the silver age, he was also a Teen Titan. When Barry Allen died, Wally became the Flash (the character got the regular series) and has been part of three incarnations of the Justice League. Recently, DC decided to resurrect Barry. Now, we have two Flashes, but we only get to see the adventures of the original.

1. Elongated Man & Wife

Before the mid 90s, one way or another, the Elongated Man always had a decent amount of appearances. About once every month. After that, his appearances became scarce. In 2004, writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis found the perfect home for the Dibnys in Formerly Known as the Justice League. Then, Brad Meltzer decided Sue could be the perfect victym for a thriller (Identity Crisis) and further than that, her death unleashed years of megacrossover events for DC (not even the Death of Superman caused such an aftermath). Ralph died in one of those spins (52) and they ended becoming "detective ghosts". As tragic as those stories were, at least it can be said that they put the Dibnys front center; however, it has been over four years since the end of 52 and those ghosts have only made 3 very brief cameos. Ralph used to be one of the most recurring characters of Flash, along with Iris West and Kid Flash; he had ties strong ties to Batman, was a member of the classic silver age Justice League of America and the Justice League International. However, now it'd seem that DC goes out of its way to avoid featuring them (in Justice League: Generation Lost and Flashpoint, for instance). And it's not only in comics: Sue has never been featured in other media, Ralph's animation time doesn't add up to even 5 minutes, and he's notoriously absent from the DC Universe Online videogame and the DC Universe Classics action figures.