The recent news of James Gunn taking over the DC Extended Universe has revitalized interest in the franchise, but it remains to be seen in what direction Gunn will steer. DC has a plethora of intriguing characters and stories to show, but it also has its fair share of crummy characters who would be better left out of any movie adaptations. And a lot of those characters debuted in the 1990s.
The ’90s were a time when comics enjoyed an incredible surge in popularity. Add to that, many comics were refurbishing established characters, amping up certain story elements to reflect the go-go mindset of the time, and adding new, exciting characters. While some of these changes were for the better, some new additions were not met with applause.
Alexandra DeWitt
Making her first appearance in Green Lantern #48, the character of Alexandra DeWitt was introduced to readers in 1994. The sometimes girlfriend of Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, what DeWitt is most known for is her help in the design of the Green Lantern costume. After that, she died. Literally, that’s her character arc. She helps her sometimes boyfriend with his superhero costume, then gets killed by Major Force, after which Kyle infamously finds her corpse stuffed into a refrigerator.
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Alexandra DeWitt and her sole purpose being a plot accelerant inspired the label of the “girl in the refrigerator” trope in comics, whereby women in comics are too frequently relegated to role of plot device rather than being rendered as multidimensional characters.
Azrael
Batman: Sword of Azrael
#1 in 1992. Starting out as an assassin for the extremist group the Order of St. Dumas, Azrael became an ally of and later apprentice to Batman. Despite it seeming that Dick Grayson, aka Robin, would take the Batman mantle if the real Dark Knight would have to step down for any reason, this proved not to be the case as Azreal took over as Batman. Azrael’s turn in the cowl has been noted as the ”
failed Batman
” due to his brutal mentality that saw him blindly massacring criminals, in stark contrast to what Batman is known for.
General Glory
A Captain America parody, General Glory first appeared in Justice League America #46 in 1991 as a WWII soldier in modern times who received his powers of strength and durability from the Statue of Liberty. General Glory even has a Bucky Barnes analogue in his sidekick, Ernest E. Earnest.
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The character of General Glory is intended to serve a comic foil of sorts, with him being a blindly jingoistic patriot who refuses to believe that his country would or could do anything wrong. Think of General Glory as Marvel’s Captain America mixed with DC’s Peacemaker, but instead of fighting and using his powers against enemies, he mostly just delivers long-winded patriotic speeches.
Kent Shakespeare
With a silly name and a forgettable presence, Kent Shakespeare made his first appearance in the Legion of Super-Heroes #12 in late 1990. With many poking fun at his superpowers being akin to stem cells, Kent Shakespeare would not be involved in any major storylines other than his own somewhat basic origin story which involved being infected by a virus that resulted in the replacement of his cells with newer, similar cells. To be fair, he does at least have the useful superpowers of invulnerability, super-speed, and super-strength, even if he was unpopular with readers.
Dogwelder
A DC character as weird as it gets, Dogwelder’s name is pretty self-explanatory of what he does; he welds dogs onto criminals’ bodies. What’s even more odd is that Dogwelder is actually a hero in the comics which seems counterintuitive to someone who literally welds dead dogs onto human beings. On top of an already awkward character, Dogwelder had a convoluted story arc that saw Dogwelder II meeting previous Dogwelders and then welding the two Sirius “dog stars” together in space to avoid the destruction of Earth. A character too weird for the DCEU, don’t expect to see him in any movies soon.
Gunfire
Gunfire could be summed up in two words: forgettable and underwhelming. His superpower is that he can turn anything into a gun and anything sphere shaped into a grenade. That’s it, that’s his superpower. Other than that, there is not much else to say about this character who debuted in Deathstroke Annual #2 in 1993. Everything about this hero is pretty lackluster, from his backstory to his powers to his appearances in the comics. Even compared to obscure DC superheroes, Gunfire is pretty unmemorable.
The Heckler
A somewhat weird concept from the beginning, the character of the Heckler was intended to be a comical superhero. The Heckler did not have any superpowers or real motives to fight crime, so there is not much dimension to the character. Also, the Heckler would usually just annoy foes who would then inadvertently defeat themselves, similar to the way Bugs Bunny would in Looney Tunes cartoons. Starting in The Heckler #1 in late 1992, The Heckler comics did not last long mainly due to the low-point humor comics were at in the ’90s.
Danny The Street
Danny the Street is a sentient and living street that can magically teleport itself. How a street was made to be a superhero is something that could have happened only in the wacky ’90s. First appearing in Doom Patrol #35 in 1990, Danny the Street has experienced changes over the years from being a street to becoming Danny the World, and then Danny the Brick.
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Something that seems more like it came from an Alice in Wonderland book rather than a DC comic, the sheer oddness of this character restricted it from ever reaching the heights of other DC heroes or even that of the other Doom Patrol members.
Pantha
First appearing in New Titans #73 in 1991, Pantha was what could best be described as an annoying character. While she did have a sad backstory of being mutated by the Wildebeest Society with no recollection of her life before the mutation, Pantha was a difficult character. She often had a temper and was not afraid to lash out at her peers. Also, despite being a part of the Teen Titans, she was by no means a team player, as she would purposefully separate herself from the group. It’s safe to say that Pantha is not a formerly popular DC character who deserves the spotlight.
Beefeater
Based on the British character Basil Fawlty from the TV show Fawlty Towers, it is no surprise that Beefeater was not a popular character and one of the worst to come out of the ’90s. His first appearance was in Justice League Europe #20 in 1990, where Beefeater went from bumbling British security guard to bumbling staff member of the Justice League Europe. Not much character growth there. Beefeater is a pretty irritating character, being just as demanding as he is incompetent. As a result, the character is not only useless but also frustrating to read.
NEXT: 10 Worst Marvel Comics Characters That Debuted In The ’90s
