r/DCcomics • u/TheBigGAlways369 • Jul 25 '26
Comics [Discussion] DC doubles down on beating the aligations by giving Steel an ongoing written by Morgan Hampton, announced at SDCC
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u/Reznor_PT Jul 25 '26
I'm really loving SDCC announcements so far, nothing major, just add more to what already works, think that with this eveyrone will be pleased.
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u/Mark4_ Jul 25 '26
I am digging the version of steel in absolute Superman and was hoping for a spin off of that but for sure will check out this mainline steel
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u/Mr_master89 Jul 25 '26
I wouldn't be surprised if we do get a spinoff. I'm pretty sure there was a post saying they have plans for the absolute universe for the next 3 years.
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u/Kaleociraptor Jul 26 '26
I'd imagine absolute steel would be part of the 4th wave of absolute stuff after the crossover when Catwoman is finished her run or something
They really want to keep the line small which I appreciate
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u/IHavePoopedBefore Jul 25 '26
Steel had a nice run in Morisson's JLA. He tried to make Steel dc's Iron Man
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u/cbekel3618 Jul 25 '26
This is a happy weekend to a blerd.
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u/Mr_bananasham Do you bleed? Jul 25 '26
Im honestly incredibly excited to see what they do with this and lanterns
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u/TheCreativeComicFan Jul 25 '26
Sorry, but what allegations specifically? Just curious.
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u/TheBigGAlways369 Jul 25 '26
Basically referring to how some fans often mock DC for not having a Black-led ongoing and call them "racist" because of it.
Now they have more Black-led ongoings than Marvel (who only really have Miles).
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u/TheCreativeComicFan Jul 25 '26
Right, of course. In spite of it taking longer than it should have, it’s great to have three Black characters get their own ongoing series in the works.
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u/Significant-Jello411 Jul 25 '26
And Storm and blade
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u/TheBigGAlways369 Jul 25 '26
Storm only has minis now and Blade hasn't gotten any substantial ongoings since like 2022.
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u/Significant-Jello411 Jul 25 '26
Centerpiece of an event in 2024 but ok 2022
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u/TheBigGAlways369 Jul 25 '26
"centerpiece" and it's being a mind controlled puppet of a bigger villain.
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u/CashWho Tim Drake Jul 25 '26
I had to think for a sec to even remember what they were talking about lol. Assuming they mean Blood Hunt, I feel like Blade was one of the least important people in that. Heck, Doctor Strange got kicked out of his body for years and Doom got the power to take over the world!
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Jul 25 '26
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u/goteachyourself Jul 25 '26
Neither Black Panther or SamCap has had an ongoing for a long time, but that's mostly because Marvel can't sustain ongoings for most of its characters anymore.
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u/Midnight_Oil_ Jul 25 '26
Wait Marvel really doesn't have a fucking Black Panther ongoing series in the year of our Lord 2026? What the fuck, man.
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u/goteachyourself Jul 25 '26
Just a five-issue mini that ended recently.
Part of this was that the character's status quo has been a complete mess for a while, just like almost everyone else in Marvel.
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u/Midnight_Oil_ Jul 25 '26
Marvel needs to just fucking reboot the damn universe, man.
I know everyone hates the New 52, but Marvel is too fucking convoluted at this point. Reboot it, put that existing world in a bottle or something. Doesn't matter.
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u/Longjumping_Bike_271 Jul 25 '26
Marvel isn’t convoluted, it’s incoherent. I have no idea how any of its books interact with any other books. The Marvel Universe itself is fuzzy.
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u/screwitigiveup DC Comics Jul 27 '26
Seriously, marvel needs a full Crisis, wipe the slate to start anew. Just move onto the ninth cosmos, let Galactus remake everything.
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u/TheBigGAlways369 Jul 25 '26
T'Challa hasn't gotten a mainline ongoing since Ewing and last Sam got was a 5 issue synergy mini.
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u/Valuable-Owl9985 Jul 25 '26
There’s no Sam Wilson ongoing right now nor anything announced, he’s not even on the avengers anymore 🙃
Black Panther is being featured in a mini coming later this year. I am sure he’ll get a new ongoing soon though, especially with Ultimate Black Panther done.
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u/Blueskyminer Jul 25 '26
Eh, more interested in Dakota Universe characters.
Think the horrible art work on Reign of the Supermen jaded me on all the new Supermen characters.
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u/B3epB0opBOP Shazam Jul 25 '26
Damn, you’ve been jaded on all the new Supermen characters for the past 30+ years?
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u/Blueskyminer Jul 25 '26
Yeah, Kingdom Come is a favorite, but pretty bored by most Superman stories/characters. Stakes aren't relatable being the biggest problem.
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u/Poku115 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
There was a "boycott" a few weeks ago saying dc is racist and didn't have black led books, but it was simply cherry picking (pretending things like absolute green lantern dont exist or don't count) in the end it was just a vehicle for the creators of the boycott to promote themselves.
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u/mike47gamer Aquaman Jul 25 '26
It was worse than cherry-picking. They were actively NOT supporting black creators like Jamal Campbell just because he's writing and penciling a white character (Zatanna). Never mind that it's great and his dream project, I guess.
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u/TubbyTuesday22 Jul 25 '26
A dream project he’s now won an Eisner for as well, which is worthy of celebration itself
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u/Recent-Layer-8670 Jul 25 '26
I believe I remember a post from a creator criticizing this campaign, saying it was essentially jeopardizing some of their behind-the-scenes work. I suspect they were referring to projects like this. In any case, there is a time and place for everything, and I believe the campaign was originally well-intentioned. But boycotting Elseworlds titles or dismissing Black creators writing white leads or ensemble pieces was not a good look.
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u/mike47gamer Aquaman Jul 25 '26
Yeah. Then there's professionals like Christopher Priest. He's a phenomenal writer, Superman Lost, for instance, was great. His Deathstroke run was phenomenal. But he's explicitly said in interviews he WON'T write black characters because he doesn't want to just be the "token black writer."
It just feels like their movement was ignoring actual Black creatives that have fought to be where they are.
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u/Nervous_Comedian9396 Jul 25 '26
Was that the whole comics explains tried to avoid? I watch his vids but dont follow social media outside of reddit and didnt understand why he was defending himself.
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u/Darvasi2500 Jul 25 '26
I think the drama with him was other black creators calling him out for following racist content creators like nerdrotic and critical drinker.
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u/Ravevon Jul 25 '26
Few weeks ago ?
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u/Poku115 Jul 25 '26
Covid fucked my sense if time for anything that isnt a priority, i legit dont remember how long ago it was
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u/dotyawning Miss Martian Jul 25 '26
Next Level launched with no new Black character led books and it's been a while since a there was an ongoing.
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u/Ravevon Jul 25 '26
That’s because the milestone initiative failed as did the we are pledged for Asian led books . So now we have great put up or shut up periods can’t thease books succeed
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u/DCBronzeAge Jul 25 '26
DC had gone over 3 years without publishing an ongoijng book with a black lead.
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u/SaintlyCrunch Jul 25 '26
*If you exclude Absolute Green Lantern
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u/Androktone Alan Scott Jul 25 '26
And exclude minis that could've become ongoings if they sold well.
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u/ptWolv022 Jul 25 '26
And Green Lantern: War Journal, a maxi-series that PKJ said on the Podcast of Oa was desired by DC to be an ongoing, but he had other commitments and could only do 12 issues.
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u/DefinitionSuperb1110 Jul 25 '26
When they moved the goal posts to exclude AGL I was pretty much done with the movement.
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u/SaintlyCrunch Jul 25 '26
Yeah exactly. Like it's still valid to say that DC needs to have better representation of their black characters, but that statement isn't invalidated by acknowledging that they have a single ongoing series lead by a black character. When there's dozens of series led by white characters, that's still an issue.
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u/Relevant_Ability2929 Jul 25 '26
What’s about absolute green lantern
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u/ptWolv022 Jul 25 '26
It's not mainline, so DC Blackout just chose to not count it. (This was not a particularly well-received decision by them.)
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u/ptWolv022 Jul 25 '26
DC had gone over 3 years without publishing an ongoijng book with a black lead.
Excluding Absolute (Absolute Green Lantern)
And excluding Green Lantern: War Journal (2 years ago; ended Aug. 2024), which DC wanted as an ongoing, but PKJ had other commitments and could only write 12 issues.
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u/TheCreativeComicFan Jul 25 '26
That’s what I figured, thanks. It’s unfortunate that it took so long but it’s great to see Steel, Vixen and Static get their own series again as part of this initiative.
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Jul 25 '26
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u/franksmapdi Plastic Man Jul 25 '26
Richard Dragon isn’t Asian. Hell, Dragon is short for Drakunovski.
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u/B3epB0opBOP Shazam Jul 25 '26
It’d definitely be great to see more asian leads, though is Richard Dragon asian? Because I thought he was white?
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u/Night_Twig Wonder Woman Jul 25 '26
It’s been over 3 years since DC published a mainline ongoing series starring a black character.
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u/damndraper Jul 25 '26
The mainline caveat was ridiculous when Absolute Green Lantern exists in the hottest line in comics. It was a campaign by a bunch of grifters looking for follows
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u/Night_Twig Wonder Woman Jul 25 '26
I don’t know that I agree. Simply because having one series, that’s borderline an ensemble, seemed more to be the exception that proved the rule.
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u/Bostondreamings Jul 25 '26
Will this be John Henry or Natasha? Or both? Cool however it is! :-)
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u/Max_Quick Jul 25 '26
I would guess John Henry, but that's mostly because I think Natasha calls herself something other than STEEL. I forget what though
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Jul 25 '26
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u/Revolutionary_Kick65 Jul 25 '26
This sounds a bit vindictive
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Jul 25 '26
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u/No-Mechanic-2558 Jul 25 '26
Lots of people have supported series like Firestorm, Zatanna, and Absolute Green Arrow
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Jul 25 '26
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u/No-Mechanic-2558 Jul 25 '26
Oh my God why are you so negative and annoying. You want this to fail. You are not making anybody a favore by being thsi sanrky and annoying
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Jul 26 '26
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u/No-Mechanic-2558 Jul 26 '26
Why the fuck It took you three hours to respond
Goddamit you desserve this
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u/Revolutionary_Kick65 Jul 25 '26
Just because it’s what people wanted doesn’t mean it was delivered how they wanted. People begged for a Starfire solo but her 2015 ongoing is rarely looked back on fondly. There are also other factors in play including marketing and accessibility.
You can’t expect everything to be a hit either but it’s hardly a good excuse to stop trying. I just don’t think assuming the worst of fans is always necessary.
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u/superseri18888 Jul 25 '26
The mister terrific mini that came out right after the movie was pretty solid and it still didnt sell even with the movie hype
And people will ask "why dont they push him"
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u/TheJarroWhoLaughs Jul 25 '26
You mean like fans of Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Kyle Rayner, Aquaman, etc?
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Jul 25 '26
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u/Jealous-Amount-8295 Jul 25 '26
What's that?
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Jul 25 '26
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u/Jealous-Amount-8295 Jul 25 '26
Nah I think enough comic fans have learned the lesson they needed to. Ain't no stoppin us now
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u/Night_Twig Wonder Woman Jul 25 '26
Proper representation shouldn’t be predicated on people forking over money whenever it’s demanded.
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Jul 25 '26
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u/Night_Twig Wonder Woman Jul 25 '26
How is, “pay for it or it will be taken away,” not a demand?
The reality is that for minority groups when they get representation it often is tied to the reality that if those series fail, then the publisher will decided that people don’t want books featuring that minority. This happened (and still happens) with women and black people in the lead for major tent pole films all the time.
The “it’s a business” argument is only fair if one could be reasonably sure that if they don’t actually like these series, they could not support them, let them get cancelled, and soon their would be another black-led book they might like more.
That can’t be reasonably assumed right now.
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u/hoodwinke Jul 25 '26
Because it’s a product, if it doesn’t sell you want them to keep producing it at a loss in the name of representation??
I’m Mexican, I didn’t buy the Blue Beetle Graduation book and I’m not mad I didn’t get more because it didn’t interest me
I’m not basing my purchases off of if I’m the same race, it’s cool to have someone of your same race but not the priority for me when I’m shopping
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u/Night_Twig Wonder Woman Jul 25 '26
I want them to commit to representation of various people groups, yes.
The whole “even if it doesn’t sale” thing is bullshit.
Let Scott Snyder write an ongoing with a black character for the first time in his career and I promise it will sale.
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Jul 25 '26
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u/Night_Twig Wonder Woman Jul 25 '26
So like I said, they can make comics that sale.
Your comment only makes sense if you don’t think it’s possible for books with minority leads to sale.
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u/Albireookami Jul 25 '26
People would attack that if he got one thing wrong about black culture because he isnt black.
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u/Zaeryl Jul 25 '26
You can say that about representation in general, but not about lead characters. At the end of the day, comic books are a business. If people don't buy the books then they won't continue to get published, so yes having books with Black leads is literally dependent on people forking over money.
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Jul 25 '26
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u/Night_Twig Wonder Woman Jul 25 '26
It’s not reality. It’s capitalism. And capitalism can fuck off.
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u/superseri18888 Jul 25 '26
All you have to do is support the book and spread the word so others can
Its that simple
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u/B3epB0opBOP Shazam Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
That’d be neat, but where did you find confirmation about it being an ongoing?
From what I can find, they didn’t give any more info besides this teaser image and that “Morgan Hampton is writing Steel”.
Still looking forward to it either way, I just don’t want to get ahead of ourselves to end up disappointed.
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u/purple-discharge Jul 26 '26
And all the people that complained won’t support it and buy absolute Batman variants instead.
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u/Jet-Let4606 Jul 25 '26
Can we not frame this as another A vs B argument and just be happy that Steel got a book because he's a great character?
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u/DaMain-Man Jul 25 '26
Pretty sure this was already in the works. These sorts of projects are discussed many months before they announce them. Also the allegations was always disengenuos
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u/Weindog902 Jul 25 '26
Too bad it's Morgan Hampton though. His Green Lantern Corps and Cyborg books suuuuuuuuuuuuck
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u/VaudevilleDada Jul 25 '26
Not familiar with Hampton's work. Any recs?
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u/Weindog902 Jul 25 '26
No, he's honestly terrible. He did a cyborg book a few years back that was awful and he's writing Green Lantern Corps right now, which is possibly the worst book at DC.
Love Steel, but Morgan Hampton on is an insta-skip for me
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u/NightsOfFellini Jul 26 '26
GLC can't be the worst book at DC when the current Adams GL run has taken a nosedive into hell.
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u/Weindog902 Jul 27 '26
Adams GL sucks
Hampton GLC is worse.
Adams GL sucks because it's goofy and goes nowhere and does nothing of interest
Hampton GLC is rife with fundamental storytelling problems from beginning to end. I don't think Morgan Hampton knows how to write a story at all.
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u/NightsOfFellini Jul 27 '26
Hampton is real bad, but there's some fun Gardner moments. But at least we're in agreement that both are really bad. Can't believe Adams's first arc was somewhat good.
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u/PlatoDrago Jul 25 '26
I’ve never read an ongoing before but I might read Steel if it’s good. He’s a character I’ve heard about and thought seemed cool but never read.
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u/Little_Tommy_Tuggins The Question Jul 25 '26
I hope they find their support if they are good. Don’t have any interest in Vixen or Steel but Static maybe
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u/Jonn_Jonzz_Manhunter Jul 26 '26
I like GLC but do they really have the experience for an ongoing in the Absolute universe?
That remains to be seen
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u/jethawkings Blue Beetle Jul 26 '26
Oh rad I read Steelworks on the assumption Kenan shows up (And well.. he was there... as background fodder) and it wasn't half bad.
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u/HayleeNow Batgirl Jul 26 '26
John Henry or Natasha? Either is cool but I'd be more excited for Natasha.
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u/Fragrant_Turnip_7463 Jul 27 '26
I love Steel so I am so down for a new ongoing. I also hope this will open the doors for the 90s run to get a collected edition.
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u/Embarrassed_Piano_62 Swamp Thing Jul 25 '26
I hope he gets a new look, with all due respect to steel fans.
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u/Big_Simpward Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
Ngl I always found steel a tad boring but ima pre order ts anyways so I can double down on them doubling down
Edit: am i getting downvoted for saying steels boring or for saying that im going to support a black character and writer just for the sake of securing more representation
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u/br0therherb Jul 25 '26
I love Steel and Morgan Hampton. But I still see no reason to trust DC. The only way to beat those allegations is to do this on a consistent basis and not throw in the towel when things get rough. We’ll see. However, as far as I’m concerned those allegations are still valid. They have a lot of work to do.
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u/NightsOfFellini Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
They're valid, but it's also a reality that DC is not going to take big losses on titles that don't sell.
DC also really desperately needs to either revive the Milestone universe or actually create a few more minority characters; Steel is really a supporting character these days, I don't see how this is gonna hit. John Stewart also needs at least a few good stories, crazy that we still need to refer to Mosaic (which isn't really a classic and comes with its own baggage) when recommending his best stories
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u/dark1150 Jul 26 '26
Steel has the longest ongoing by a black character in DCs history at 54 issues. His side cast (at least when DC remembers) is bigger than every single black hero baring the milestone characters. Steel is far from being only a supporting character.
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u/NightsOfFellini Jul 26 '26
26 years ago, and ever since has been in superman's support. But most of DC's black characters have mostly been in supporting roles, which is of course a problem and sucks. I just wish there'd be more than what there are, especially as many are part of an already established mythos, which makes them easy to relegate (like what often happens with John Stewart).
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u/dark1150 Jul 26 '26
That's more so DC shooting themselves in the foot for some reason. Many black characters (like John Henry or John Stewart) were ready to be independent heroes away from their originals, but then DC decided to back track and now they are stuck where they are. Guess we will see what the future looks like.
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u/NightsOfFellini Jul 26 '26
I 100% agree, which is why this feels a bit annoying, despite being a good step. I'm super hyped for Vixen and glad that Static is getting some more visibility, but there's gotta be something fresher with, frankly, new aesthetics that are not so strongly tied to the 90s.
Hopefully these new titles will manage to develop something for the future, too.
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