10 Hated Comic Book Characters Who Became Fan Favourites

Damian Wayne was despised 14 years ago. Look where he is now!

Damian Wayne Robin Superman
DC Comics

While many newly introduced comic book characters have been lucky enough to be immediately welcomed by fans, this hasn't been the case for every character. Indeed, there have been many other characters who've had the very opposite reaction from fans.

As to why, however, varies from case to case. One character might be seen as the laughing stock of their comic book. Another might be poorly received due to backlash against newly incorporated continuity changes that include this new character. Or, it might've simply been that the character was just altogether unappealing.

Regardless of their initial undesirability, though, some of these characters have been able to manage a comeback later on in life.

An accomplishment that is in no small part due to the efforts of creatives, who sometimes revive and revitalize these characters so well, that they end up on-screen. Where, of which, they find themselves beloved by a spectrum of different kinds of fans.

With that being said, though, let's now take a look now at the winding journeys these characters have embarked on in their quest towards newfound popularity.

10. Guy Gardner

Damian Wayne Robin Superman
DC Comics

Guy may be everybody's favorite wise-cracking Green Lantern now, but before all of that, he wasn't nearly as popular as, say, Hal Jordan.

When Guy first appeared in 1968, he wasn't even introduced as an active character. He was instead presented in terms of an alternate reality, where he was chosen to be Earth's Green Lantern instead of Hal Jordan.

Hal himself had witnessed the potential of this alternate Green Lantern and decided to establish Guy as a possible replacement.

Following 1971, though, Guy would remain in standby, after it's decided that John Stewart should be the new Green Lantern of Earth. Not that this was hurting Guy much since he wasn't very noticeable until the 1980s when Steve Englehart began to solidify his personality.

Following Englehart, DC would continue the trend further by balancing out Guy's hot-headedness with a wiseguy demeanor, which began during his time in the 1987 Justice League International title.

This would kickstart Guy's fame as the Lantern that everyone hates but secretly loves, because of his appeal as a loudmouth, rebel lantern.

Going forward, Guy’s popularity would continue to rise and lead to him becoming one of the most well-known Green Lanterns from the DC Universe.

Contributor

Emma Chisholm hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.