ComicsAlliance’s Best Of 2016: The Character Most Deserving Of A Solo Series In 2017

Harper Row has been there from the beginning (of the New 52). In Batman #1, she featured in a one-panel cameo. Months later, she’d save Batman’s life. She and her brother featured in Batman #12, the series’ first illustrated by a female artist. In time, she’d don the mantle Bluebird and kick ass across a number of ensemble titles. In Rebirth, she’d retire. DC, don’t waste years of momentum; give this bisexual badass with a talent for technology and tuxedos the solo series she deserves. [Jon Erik Christianson]

Justice League Unlimited was over a decade ago, but thanks to its popularity, Hawkgirl is still one of the most recognizable DC Comics superheroes in pop culture. Yet she hasn’t had an ongoing series for roughly a decade, and was barely a supporting character in The New 52 before being killed off. Solicits say she's coming back in Death of Hawkman, so let's have that series live up to its promise; kill off Katar Hol and give us a Hawkgirl ongoing in 2017. [Kieran Shiach]

Okay, so Koi Boi and Chipmunk Hunk are joke characters — but once upon a time, so was Squirrel Girl, and now she is one of the breakout stars at Marvel. A Koi Boi & Chipmunk Hunk book could do the same for these two characters, one of whom is all but confirmed to be a trans man (and there's definitely a need for more of that in comics in general, and from Marvel specifically). It’s time to expand the Fun Division of Marvel, and this would be a good place to start. [Charlotte Finn]

I get it, Storm's first solo series didn't get a lot of traction back in 2014, even with the awesomeness of a Greg Pak and Victor Ibanez team-up. But it's almost 2017, and as we look to the future it's clear that there's no better time for a hero like Storm to have an ongoing series. Think about it: Storm is a character who champions the rights of marginalized people --- and not just other mutants. If any character deserves a second chance at a solo series right about now, it's her. [Zina H.]

Two of the most frequent casualties in superhero media are women and journalism, forming a natural apex at Lois Lane. She’s one of the most iconic names in comics and the star of one of the longest-running series in history. Though there are two of her floating around at the moment — one a living civilian, the other a hallucinatory ghost — neither have their own series. If DC wants to highlight superheroes, it could honor some of the closest people we have to superheroes in the real world with a journalism-fueled Lois Lane run. [Jon Erik Christianson]

After a promising start in the New 52 that never materialized into much more than a supporting character role in the Justice League, Shazam should get his due in 2017. DC's Rebirth initiative has revived and reinvented many classic heroes, and reinvigorated the company as a whole, but there’s still a hole in the comics world in the shape of the hero formerly known as Captain Marvel. There are plenty of young heroes running around, but none who get at the potent wish fulfillment of instantly getting to be a grown up. Now is the time, DC. Just say the word. [Chris Haley]