Are there any well-established heroes who have never had a single solo strip * ? Speedy was around since the Golden Age, but I can't recall any solo stories. Not odd Green Arrow strips in which Ollie was busy and Roy had to fly solo, but dedicated, be-logoed features, such as those enjoyed by Alfred and Robin. I haven't read all the original Teen Titans tales, so perhaps Speedy had a shot (see what I did there?) there, but I suspect Lilith was busy hogging the back-ups, as she went across America finding psychic gingers in plaid who weren't her long-lost relatives.
Even Teen Titans Spotlight in the Eighties seems to have had no love for the guy. Did Roy really have to wait until his horrible Arsenal makeover to get some special time?
And on a vaguely similar note, were the Krypto and Superbaby strips reprinted in Superman Family in the Seventies originally run under the Superboy logo?
* So not the likes of shortlived JLAers Maya, Bloodwynd and Vibe.
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I don't know if you'd count this, but Speedy shared a feature with Nightwing in Action Comics Weekly.
As for the Arsenal makeover, I like that Roy updated his name and his costume though it did take him some time to settle on a costume that worked. The first costume (seen on New Titans #99, 1993) wasn't bad but it was a derivative blend of Hawkeye and Captain Boomerang. The second costume (seen on New Titans #0, 1994) was pretty awful. I don't have the same visceral reaction to pockets that a lot of others do, but I don't need every other hero to look like Cable either. I think it was Mark Buckingham who came up with the really cool third costume (seen on The Titans #1, 1999). It paid homage to his Native American roots with feathers and arrow decals (though, thankfully, not actual feathers) and restored his original color scheme of yellow and red. There have been a number of versions of that costume and it works every time.
In a way, Arsenal is a lot like Nightwing. I love that Dick grew up and created his own mantle. But he had to go through a couple of unfortunate costumes before settling on something that worked really well.
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Accurate portrayal. Debatable.
Good story. Not a chance.
I'm always dubious about film and literary awards from lobby organizations. The work in question is awarded for name-checking their pet issue and not necessarily for being a well-told tale. The two aren't mutually exclusive but the former is generally the factor under consideration, not the latter.
Hmm. There are quite a few long established characters that I can think of who haven't had solo strips (and I'm interpreting that to mean a backup feature - but not one that only ran for three or four issues of backups.)
Just for starters, most of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Among the Teen Titans, Aqualad, Speedy, Lilith, Bat-Girl, Golden Eagle, Starfire.
Among the Justice League - nah, not many here. Maybe Barda unless you count Mr. Miracle as her book as well.
Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman.
Bucky.
Toro.
The Wasp (again, unless you count Ant-Man/Giant-Man as her strip also.)
Can't think of a lot more that qualify.
And yes, a lot of the reprints in Superman Family had logos repasted onto them that were originally Superboy, Lois Lane, or Jimmy Olsen stories - well, or Superman stories, of course. Same thing with Batman Family. Of course, the all-original Krypto strip wasn't a reprint (and puts the Dog of Steel onto the list of well-established heroes with their own strips.)
ELS
Aqualad had solo back-ups in both Teen Titans and Adventure, plus Teen Titans Spotlight. The latter had Starfire a couple of times along with her origin in the first Tales of the New Teen Titans mini.
The Wasp definitely had some solo adventures in Tales to Astonish.
SAF: "...but not one that only ran for three or four issues of backups..."
Whatever. YMMV.
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