Given comics as a long-running medium, each DC and Marvel have their share of heroes who outgrew how they had been initially launched. Batman’s authentic Robin, Dick Grayson, is the right instance of this — a hero who was given a brand new codename and look when he outgrew his authentic look — from his up to date costume to his iconic codename Nightwing and his relocation to Blüdhaven. When a rebrand works, it breathes new life right into a stale character and veers them in direction of contemporary tales.
A rebrand doesn’t all the time work. Generally it’s the costume, different instances it’s the codename. For no matter purpose, followers don’t take to it, preferring the earlier model of the character and insisting on it when the comedian inevitably resets to the established order. As is the case for Marvel Lady’s mod-girl spy period, rebrands can fail, with writers typically even forgetting why audiences favored the character within the first place.
4. Spoiler/Robin/Batgirl (Stephanie Brown)
Stephanie Brown is a personality of many names, and none have fairly caught. She began as Spoiler — and has reverted to it typically — earlier than changing into a feminine Robin. Following her presumed loss of life, Brown returned as Spoiler earlier than Cassandra Cain gave her the moniker and costume of Batgirl. Underneath the tutelage of earlier Batgirl Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown lastly proved herself to Bruce and the remainder of the crew.
After all, Stephanie Brown is reset to Spoiler when she’s reintroduced within the DC Universe in 2014, following the universe’s reboot in 2011. Brown later would decide up the Batgirl moniker once more, sharing it with Barbara Gordon and Cassandra Cain. In present comics, Stephanie Brown is simply as more likely to be referred to by Steph as considered one of her quite a few codenames.
3. Changeling (Beast Boy)
When returning to Marv Wolfman’s authentic New Teen Titans run, a lot of the broad strokes are in keeping with modern comics. The key phrase there’s most as a result of New Teen Titans is insistent on calling Garfield Logan Changeling. That is against Beast Boy, a reputation he’s referred to in nearly all the pieces else.
The change was defined by a problem of Doom Patrol by which an enemy mocked the identify Beast Boy, ruining it for Gar. Changeling persists as his major id till the 1999 Beast Boy miniseries, the place former teammate Flamebird and people suspecting Gar of homicide discuss with him solely as Beast Boy, inflicting Changeling to fall by the wayside. Since then, Beast Boy has often introduced again Changeling or different names, however has all the time reverted again to his authentic codename.
2. Purple Robin (Tim Drake)
Given the truth that his creation was a kind of rebrand in itself — Tim Drake was created to interchange Jason Todd, who’d been killed off in “Demise within the Household” — it is sensible that his authentic moniker has stubbornly clung to the character. Tim Drake has additionally been fashionable with readers, with a number of solo minis early in his publication historical past. DC even greenlit a Robin ongoing collection within the early ‘90s, lower than 5 years after the character’s introduction.
Whereas Tim Drake flirted with the thought of hanging up Robin to be extra current along with his father — inflicting the mantle to go to girlfriend Stephanie Brown earlier than her presumed loss of life — Tim Drake wouldn’t formally go by a unique codename till after the mini-series Batman: Battle of the Cowl. Tim Drake’s mantle modified from Robin to Purple Robin, permitting the Robin mantle to be handed all the way down to Batman’s organic son Damian Wayne. DC greenlit a brand new ongoing collection for Tim Drake, now Purple Robin, which ran up till the New 52 reboot.
Whereas Tim Drake remained Purple Robin all through DC Rebirth, finally the character returned to the Robin mantle for Younger Justice. This was seemingly a resetting of the established order for the character. In Younger Justice, he briefly tried out the codename Drake, however as soon as once more he returned to Robin, which he nonetheless goes by.
1. Phoenix II / Rachel Gray / Status
By way of a personality so typically restricted by the inevitable return to the established order, none suits the invoice fairly like Rachel Summers. Rachel Summers was initially launched within the “Days of Future Previous” storyline earlier than returning to X-Males comics as a part of Excalibur. In Excalibur, Rachel Summers took on her mom’s mantle, serving as a correct legacy character. Because the second Phoenix, Rachel confirmed a model of the Phoenix Drive that didn’t must be damaging or overwhelming. Sadly, Rachel Summers hardly wanted to be Phoenix when Marvel Comics later resurrected Jean Gray from the useless.
Following Jean’s resurrection, Rachel Summers entered a kind of limbo. Unable to be Phoenix and aggravated along with her father’s romantic selections, Rachel Summers turned Rachel Gray. For fight missions, her codename turned Marvel Lady, taking up Jean’s authentic codename. In 2013’s all-female X-Males guide, Rachel would undertake the codename Status, a reputation that may observe her up till Krakoa.
Throughout the Krakoa period, Rachel Summers was often known as herself, finally dropping the Status codename. Whereas adventuring in Otherworld with romantic curiosity Betsy Braddock, there are nods to Rachel Summers embracing the codename Mom Askani. The acceptance of Mom Askani wasn’t a full rebrand, however fairly a smooth transfer in direction of connecting threads of Rachel’s character that had been untethered for many years.
& 1. Butterfly (Betsy Braddock)
Betsy Braddock’s been headed in direction of a full-scale rebrand for some time. Krakoa soft-launched a number of modifications for her. With the facility of Krakoan resurrection, Betsy was capable of genetically change her hair shade from blonde to purple. Betsy tried to make it proper with Kwannon, stepping away from the body-swapping confusion that had plagued the character for many years. She additionally entered right into a relationship with Rachel Summers whereas taking up the accountability of Captain Britain, her brother’s earlier mantle.
Regardless of critics each out and in of the comedian, Betsy Braddock’s assumption of Captain Britain was successful. It gave the character a transparent function separate from a ninja murderer id, and gave Betsy a brand new distinct look. Nonetheless, the character felt a bit slowed down by a title that had belonged to her brother Brian Braddock for thus lengthy.
As a possible repair, a brand new codename for Betsy Braddock was unveiled. As a substitute of Psylocke or Captain Britain, the purple haired Braddock could be going by Butterfly. Butterflies had lengthy been a part of Betsy’s distinctive psychic signature with followers noting its absence throughout one stretch of the Krakoan period. Not like prior names, Butterfly is solely Betsy’s. Whether or not it should stick is but to be decided, and it’s but to be proven whether or not it’s a reputation that audiences and writers alike will take critically.
Hero rebrands could be each thrilling and dreadful — tell us within the feedback which one has caught out to you essentially the most!