4th Pillar of DC Comics

[Robin's Gambit]

We all know the trinity (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman) occupy the Top 3 slots but who would you place as #4?

I always thought it was the Green Lantern franchise but the Ryan Reynolds film did no favors whatsoever and no member of the corps has had any prominent success outside Justice League appearances in animated films here and there and on their early to mid-2000s tv show. Now, I'm not too sure. The Flash and Aquaman I think are also obvious contenders.

Who would you go guys choose?

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Well Nightwing is often said to be the heart and soul of the DCU. I've read that he has more connections with different solo heroes and groups than anyone else. I don't really read his solo stuff so I can't say one way or the other, but I've certainly seen that expressed a lot.

I think Flash would certainly be a good candidate.

 

[Boy Scout]

My uneducated guess would be Lantern.

 

[Mani-Man]

Hm, hard to say...i always had flash or green lantern on 4...but aquaman in comics and live action has done incredible well for a few years now...so i would say aquaman has deserved spot number 4 imo.

 

[Micromind]

Aquaman.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I would say Aquaman has rocketed up the last few years too.

Traditionally though, I would probably say Flash and GL. Aquaman was unfortunately saddled with some heavy pop culture baggage because the mass audience only really knew him from Superfriends for a long time. Flash and GL were the one two punch that inaugurated the incredibly influential Silver Age of comics in general. I guess I would give Flash the edge because his villains were/are so memorable and interesting. GL for decades lacked for a truly compelling rogues gallery of opponents. It wasn't until Johns injected focus, coherence and put great new spins on old concepts that GL started to have some parity villain wise. But the Flash's Rogues, Reverse Flash, Gorilla Grodd... Those are villains right up there with Batman and Spider-Man's baddies. Great looks, great gimmicks, great personalities.

 

[Rorschach2012]

Absolutely The Flash. I see people wearing Flash t shirts at least once a week.

 

[heathjack]

I heard that wb making green lantern movie its going to feature be john stewart & hal jordan!! i even heard that there looking into tom cruise as hal jordan!! do you know what happened to cyborg movie? i heard next year 2020!! i also heard the same for green lantern! some time next year!! ! its called green lantern :corps!! i heard its being compared to buddy cop movie but in outer space!! I also heard wb/hbo warner is making liked live aciton green lantern tv series!!

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

do you know what happened to cyborg movie?

I thought that the Cyborg movie had been quietly dropped.

 

[frankgutz]

The Flash no doubt, but in my heart is a tie between Dick Grayson and Flash

 

[Yowza]

Each Perhaps Could Be Viewed As Extensions of Humanity Conditioned to Fit with Environment:
Batman to earth based humanity and testing the limits therein
Wonder Woman to the gods
Superman to the stars

There is no 4th pillar?

 

[Micromind]

Each Perhaps Could Be Viewed As Extensions of Humanity Conditioned to Fit with Environment:
Batman to earth based humanity and testing the limits therein
Wonder Woman to the gods
Superman to the stars

There is no 4th pillar?

Aquaman to Oceans as Earth 71 % of Earth is covered with water.

 

[Yowza]

Aquaman to Oceans as Earth 71 % of Earth is covered with water.

Yeah, I was trying to think how to phrase that. He's on earth but in completely different living arrangement being moreso an offshoot of humanity to be living underwater but I can't think of a narrative that echoes a comparison/contrast of human experience quite as broadly.

I suppose the narratives could go something like this please add to where see fit:
*********Wonder Woman perhaps could represent humanity as myth/legend living amongst us through time.

*********Superman is humanity coming down from the stars; not an earth based human but more... A man of the future yet from a past civilization of a distant solar system no more hence very special as being the last sole representative brought amonst the earth based human populace. This displacement communicated via abilities beyond one's means to emphasize that this is a very extraordinary person not of this earth but on the flipside perhaps Superman can be identified with moreso than Batman as an everyday person goes.

***********Batman as an earth based human gaining extraordinary abilities on earth with limits tested to the utmost always striving for perfection to become more than just human.

Aquaman I thought of but just couldn't think of a similar broad stroke narrative besides a change in environment or from an evolutionary offshoot of humanity from time's past but just applying it to a normal everyday human being it just doesn't seem to have the same archetypical qualities perhaps?

In summary:
Gods living amongst us and hence a link to; or the stars and becoming god like yet normal; or the striving to overcome one's humanity to gain extraordinary abilities beyond normal in summary I'm thinking are broad brush stroke contextualizations that could be fitted upon the big 3. I can't think of as broad a narrative for a 4th.

 

[jolldan]

Would say its a toss up between Green Lantern & Flash.

I may have just misremembered this but aren't Flash, Green Lantern and Arrow classed as the second trinity?

 

[Scarlet Spider]

Honestly, at this point, it's Harley Quinn.

 

[Flash525]

From a cinematic point of view, if WB can get their act together and take their DCEU to a cosmic level with the Lantern Corps, then I’d say Green Lantern, however they don’t currently have that.

The best they’ve got at the moment is Flash on the CW, and that’s paying off quite a bit. Aquaman is making a solid stand on the cinematic level, but once those films wrap, be it a trilogy or quadriligy(?) the dust will settle and it’ll be someone else’s’ turn.