Broken Base / Comic Books

• Green Lantern. God help you if you try and discuss who is the best Green Lantern; the fight between fans rallying behind their preferred Lantern is one of the most persistent in fandom. Major factions include old-school Hal Jordan fans/Superfriends fans who feel his character was assassinated by turning him into the supervillain Parallax during the Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! event, Kyle Rayner fans who feel that he's the most creative user of the Green Lantern ring (and that Hal was a bland character with little personality), and fans of Justice League/Justice League Unlimited cartoons who were first introduced to John Stewart and wonder why comic book fans are arguing about two white guys when Green Lantern is a black ex-Marine.
• Batman's Thou Shall Not Kill code is notorious for sparking massive debates. One side believes that not using deadly force is the one thing that keeps him from being as bad as the villains he fights, that it's crucial to his character, and that those who want a lethal Batman are a Misaimed Fandom. Others argue that since Batman knows that Arkham Asylum is a Cardboard Prison, he's indirectly responsible for the countless lives that his enemies will take when they inevitably break out, and that it should be possible for him to kill his most evil enemies without Jumping Off the Slippery Slope. Another faction feels that while Batman is right not to directly kill his foes, going out of his way to save their lives when they put themselves in danger or always being there to save them from more ruthless anti-heroes or other villains is going into Stupid Good territory. Just try asking "Why doesn't Batman just kill the Joker already?" and see the sparks fly. This also extends to the film adaptations which lift his "no killing" rule.
• Batgirl: Fans are split over their preference for Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl, or her Darker and Edgier replacement Cassandra Cain, or her Lighter and Softer replacement Stephanie Brown. Further complicated by the fact that Barbara Gordon fans are split between those supporting her uncrippling and those wishing it happened again. There is always been an Unpleasable Fanbase since Cassandra Cain first took the mantle, and now that 3 fairly popular and quite different characters have had the role, it gets worse, even though all 3 have had successful times under other monikers. Which meant that if DC had simply provided all 3 with a consistent role, they could probably avoid such difficulties, but replacements cause the replaced to be Put on a Bus and ignored.
  • As of Infinite Frontier DC seem to be trying to square the circle by having Cassandra and Stephanie share the Batgirl role with Barbara as their mentor.
• Supergirl: The fanbase is polarized between fans of the original Supergirl Kara Zor-El and fans of the other Supergirls that DC spent eighteen years attempting to replace Kara with. Kara's fans feel she's the only Supergirl who actually makes sense, worked fine during twenty-six years until DC killed her off, and her death and failed attempts to replace her with short-lived substitutes led to a gigantic Continuity Snarl. Other Supergirls' fans think Matrix, Cir-El... are better characters and resent Kara's increased popularity and exposure since her return in 2004.
• Superman: Crisis on Infinite Earths and the 1986 reboot splintered the fandom and the rift hasn't yet healed after several decades. The real identity is/should be Clark Kent or Superman? Superman should be able to move planets or only mountains? He must be the only survivor of Krypton or characters like Kara Zor-El, Krypto the Superdog and General Zod are essential to the mythos? Krypton provides excellent world-building and storytelling opportunities or must be reduced to mere background excuse for the powers? The debates will NOT stop.
• The Punisher: Depending on which comic fan you ask, The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is either an awesome one-shot for having the Punisher kill every hero and villain in the Marvel Universe or is an awful Author Tract from Garth Ennis (who is notorious for disliking superheroes) for having many of the heroes' powers Nerfed so that the Punisher kills most of them effortlessly and the Punisher coming off as Unintentionally Unsympathetic for not considering that the heroes are people behind their masks until he's killed all of them.
• Wonder Woman:
  • Wonder Woman being the biological daughter of Zeus in the New 52 has been quite the hot button topic among fans. Some see it as an interesting twist and updating of the character while others see it as a violation of everything Wonder Woman was ever meant to represent. It also destroys the associations between Diana and her former patrons (Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hestia and Hermes) and Zeus who was always a misogynistic villain for her, and has tried to rape her.
    • Likewise, her not being made of clay anymore (instead being a normal birth) is a heavy topic but not nearly as contested as making Zeus the source of her powers.
  • With exceptions of Marston's, Greg Rucka's and George Perez's runs, which are mostly beloved and Merdith's Finch's and all Wonder Woman Vol 3 runs prior to Gail Simone's, which are generally disliked, all runs on Wonder Woman fall under this as a whole.
• The Ultimates: Ultimate Captain America: a more realistic portrayal of what would happen if someone like him woke up several decades into the future to a technologically advanced but far more crass and vulgar society, or an overly jingoistic joke of a beloved character? His infamous "You think this letter on my head stands for France!?" line he gives to Herr Kleiser certainly didn't help matters.
• The Flash: Generally, older fans who started reading in the Silver Age, and younger fans who started reading in The New 52 or were introduced to the character through the TV show prefer Barry Allen; meanwhile, fans who started reading in The '80s or The '90s, or were introduced to the character through the cartoons prefer Wally West. There is also a third group who like both characters but are sick of DC's blatant favouritism towards Barry and just want them to be given equal treatment.
  • The various other speedster characters; i.e. Jay Garrick, Jesse Quick, Bart Allen, etc. also have fans, but are generally seen as working better as supporting characters or part of ensemble books rather than as the headline star.
• Frank Miller's RoboCop, the comic adaptation of Frank Miller's original RoboCop 2 script, caused one, as many reviews state that they wish that it was actually was what was filmed, whereas others, including this I-Mockery article and this Den of Geeks article, come down on the side of preferring the version of 2 that actually was filmed.
• The general plot point in Flashpoint (DC Comics) of Barry saving his mother from Thawne is contentious. Supporters on this say that Barry's actions were selfish and thus had to be punished. Detractors, however, point out that Thawne killing Nora Allen and framing Henry for it was itself a change to the timeline as they were originally alive and able to enjoy their son's success as the Flash until Barry's return in Flash: Rebirth and thus Flashpoint shouldn't have even happened at all because Barry was only undoing the damage Thawne did. Another faction point out that, as understandable as Barry trying to save his mom was, the way he went about it was incredibly stupid. He knows Thawne is dangerous and that previous attempts to alter the past have ended badly, so the smart thing for Barry to do would've been to reach out to his friends and allies who do have experience with time travel in order to undo Thawne's sadistic alterations. In this sense, Barry's decision to save his mother was an incredibly stupid and selfish one because he thought he could fix it by himself when history tells him he should know better. Especially grating because Barry just recently needed to take Thawne down with help from the rest of the Flash Family, and they'd been trying to reach out to him and remind him he's not alone in the issues leading up to Flashpoint.

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