The most significant original Silver Age DC created character? 2 2

[Aman619]

Yeah, maybe Spectre was also dead. Darn.

[tth2]

13 hours ago, Aman619 said:

Tough to categorize each to fit the question...  to me Deadman stands out as the most ORIGINAL concept.  He is DEAD.  THAT EVER BEEN DONE BEFORE?

Other than the Spectre and Kid Eternity, no.

[sfcityduck]

On 6/17/2018 at 6:10 PM, bronze johnny said:

Pretty easy to say that Spidey is the greatest original character to come out of the SA. 

What about DC?

Well ... you lost me on your first sentence.  He's not the greatest or most original Marvel character IMHO.  I view him more as Marvel's Mickey Mouse (the corporate emblem).  But, setting that aside, as to DC:

I think it's very hard to argue that Deadman is not the most "original" character to come out of D.C. in the SA.  

There are other characters I like more, Adam Strange is high on the list, but they lack the originality of Deadman.  Adam Strange is just Flash Gordon.  Supergirl and Bargirl are obviously derivative.  Doom Patrol was very original, and was well copied by Marvel's X-Men (Goodman always liked a good emulation of D.C.), but it's a group.  Ditto for Metal Men which pre-dated both.  For a single character?  I can't think of anyone more original and unprecedented then Deadman.  Very hard character to write because he is so outside the comic book conventions.

[Martin Sinescu]

9 hours ago, sfcityduck said:

Well ... you lost me on your first sentence.  He's not the greatest or most original Marvel character IMHO.  I view him more as Marvel's Mickey Mouse (the corporate emblem).  But, setting that aside, as to DC:

I think it's very hard to argue that Deadman is not the most "original" character to come out of D.C. in the SA.  

There are other characters I like more, Adam Strange is high on the list, but they lack the originality of Deadman.  Adam Strange is just Flash Gordon.  Supergirl and Bargirl are obviously derivative.  Doom Patrol was very original, and was well copied by Marvel's X-Men (Goodman always liked a good emulation of D.C.), but it's a group.  Ditto for Metal Men which pre-dated both.  For a single character?  I can't think of anyone more original and unprecedented then Deadman.  Very hard character to write because he is so outside the comic book conventions.

It really depends on how the OP intended "original" to be taken -- does it mean "unique", as in a character concept that hadn't been used before, or simply a character that was created in the SA and wasn't a rehash of a previous generation (such as Flash and Green Lantern)? Since the OP said "most significant" and not "most original", I took it to mean the character DC created in the SA that wasn't a revamp of a previous character from the GA and has had the greatest impact in the DCU, thus I still think Supergirl and Batgirl are the two most significant. Although it was pointed out that they are basically re-dos of concepts that had already been tried, even their first incarnations were created in the SA, so still original concepts for that era. Yeah, I get that both are female copies of DC's biggest super-heroes, but what can you do? They at least evolved and have taken on a life of their own since their creation.

[sfcityduck]

15 hours ago, Martin Sinescu said:

It really depends on how the OP intended "original" to be taken -- does it mean "unique", as in a character concept that hadn't been used before, or simply a character that was created in the SA and wasn't a rehash of a previous generation (such as Flash and Green Lantern)? Since the OP said "most significant" and not "most original", I took it to mean the character DC created in the SA that wasn't a revamp of a previous character from the GA and has had the greatest impact in the DCU, thus I still think Supergirl and Batgirl are the two most significant. Although it was pointed out that they are basically re-dos of concepts that had already been tried, even their first incarnations were created in the SA, so still original concepts for that era. Yeah, I get that both are female copies of DC's biggest super-heroes, but what can you do? They at least evolved and have taken on a life of their own since their creation.

The 1966 Batgirl was not an original concept.  The first Batgirl (Betty Kane) debuted in 1961.  She was the niece of Batwoman (Kathy Kane), who debuted in 1956.

Supergirl, of course, debuted only after a series Superwoman tryout starting with Action 60 (1943).  An example:

 

These included a Supergirl tryouts, such as in Superboy 5 (1949).  Here's an example:

D.C., of  course, copyrighted both Superwoman and Supergirl by Ashcans issued in the 40s.

Edited August 3, 2018 by sfcityduck

[bronze johnny]

On 8/2/2018 at 8:41 AM, Martin Sinescu said:

It really depends on how the OP intended "original" to be taken -- does it mean "unique", as in a character concept that hadn't been used before, or simply a character that was created in the SA and wasn't a rehash of a previous generation (such as Flash and Green Lantern)? Since the OP said "most significant" and not "most original", I took it to mean the character DC created in the SA that wasn't a revamp of a previous character from the GA and has had the greatest impact in the DCU, thus I still think Supergirl and Batgirl are the two most significant. Although it was pointed out that they are basically re-dos of concepts that had already been tried, even their first incarnations were created in the SA, so still original concepts for that era. Yeah, I get that both are female copies of DC's biggest super-heroes, but what can you do? They at least evolved and have taken on a life of their own since their creation.

Thanks Martin Sinescu. Your interpretation of is correct. 

[flashlites]

My vote is for Kid Flash. Of course?. Teen Titans was such a huge hit for DC in the SA. Such a huge boost for Flash in general. Remember Flash only got 6-8 issues annually in the early 60's it seems that DC had some reservations about the title in the beginning. Kid Flash, I believe helped solidify that title and turn it into a monthly title. If Flash had failed would we have had Green Lantern and others?

 

Edited August 8, 2018 by flashlites
Correction

[adamstrange]

On 6/17/2018 at 9:10 PM, bronze johnny said:

What about DC?

Who's the greatest original DC creation to come out of the SA (Tec 225 and 233 are pre-Showcase 4 books so they don't count as SA)?

Adam Strange.

You ask as if this were some question as to who this is.

[bronze johnny]

5 hours ago, adamstrange said:

Adam Strange.

You ask as if this were some question as to who this is.

Was wondering when you would add your insight. It comes down to Adam Strange or Sgt. Rock. Why is Adam Strange more significant than Sgt. Rock?

[adamstrange]

Sgt. Rock is THE greatest heroic soldier character but he's not very original.  There were many prior to him, just none anywhere near as well-conceived.

Adam Strange is a minor variation of prior space heroes but still more original than Rock.  And he's also awesome.

The most original superhero concept is The Metal Men.

[ddady]

3 Words.

Lord Death Man.

Secret yoga method.

[Straw-Man]

the dead iteration of triplicate girl was the greatest.  when that tragedy befell her, i moved over to marvel and never looked back. 

[bronze johnny]

On 8/17/2018 at 9:52 AM, adamstrange said:

Sgt. Rock is THE greatest heroic soldier character but he's not very original.  There were many prior to him, just none anywhere near as well-conceived.

Adam Strange is a minor variation of prior space heroes but still more original than Rock.  And he's also awesome.

The most original superhero concept is The Metal Men.

Thanks for your always valued insight adamstrange. For me at least, it's always a pleasure and benefit to get insight from a true collector who values the history of this art form.

My question concerns the greatest original Silver Age DC creation and your point equates greatest with most original. Is that always the case? I'm going to raise these points about Sgt. Rock because it's still not clear to me whether he or Adam Strange is the greatest original Silver Age DC creation: 

Consider the number of prototypes prior to 83. The degree of originality doesn't tell the whole story of Sgt. Rock's creation. The road taken to create the Rock was a long one and unlike any other in the history of the American Comic Book. And the history leading to the Rock's creation is an amazing part his story - and more original than any other in the world of DC at that time.

The question of whether Rock was more significant than Adam Strange should also depend on the significance of each character to DC during and after the Silver Age- especially the degree of significance within their respective genres. A factor that should always be weighed concerns the length of time a character has in carrying his book and in the case of Sgt. Rock, an entire genre of comics. The question as to whether the war genre went as far as it did and if the Rock had any role to ensure that kids bought war comics into the '80s deserves further study. 

That said, either Adam Strange or Sgt. Rock is the greatest original DC Silver Age creation and this is a significant determination imho. This gives us better insight into the DC Silver Age and it's important for collectors. Moreover, the world of comic book collecting is so much more than the speculation and pimping of books to make $$$ that runs rampant today. The $$$ and books come and go but the history remains...for us and the true collectors who will discover and appreciate them when we're gone.

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by bronze johnny