| Posted: 22 September 2018 at 2:46am | IP Logged | 11
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I think most of the independent properties mentioned already (or that could be mentioned) are considered by most "their own thing." Civilians see them as either single-concept universes or, equally, "they're all in the same reality" and could interact. Only DC and Marvel have really made any headway (in recent years) making the general public understand that they are separate universes (and there's probably still a large percentage that are waiting for Batman to join the Avengers or Wolverine fight Wonder Woman). (Who knows about the Japanese stuff.)
Dark Horse really looked like they were going to establish the third big universe for a while there, and they've had the next best amount of success getting their properties (or properties they publish at least) to the big screen, but Barb Wire, Timecop, Hellboy, the Mask, and whatever else are all unconnected. And while the series for Ghost or X might be revived every so often, Dark Horse seems to have given up on its own world now.
Neal Adams' Continuity had some really distinct characters and I believe a new series is coming soon, but we can probably count them out for the foreseeable future.
ASTRO CITY also has some amazing characters, and over 100 issues is nothing to sneeze at. Busiek could have done a whole line at one point, but I think the time for expansion has probably passed.
I'm going to go ahead and say--the Archie heroes! They get revived every so often, sometimes with really good talent involved. Characters like the Shield and the Black Hood have some real potential for comics and other media--and Archie seems TV savvy, especially lately. (Maybe movies might show up, besides JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS, and I don't know why there aren't already animated shows.) The Web and the Fox have possibilities too. (Too bad they lost the Fly though.) Unless somebody new shows up on the scene, I think the Archie super-hero universe has the best potential to be the 3rd universe and might already be the third most well-known.
Edited by Eric Jansen on 22 September 2018 at 2:51am
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