Cyborg is Completely Broken, But DC Comics Can Still Fix Him

In January, DC Comics' ongoing Cyborg series concludes with issue #20. This will seemingly end the publisher's longstanding attempt to elevate Victor Stone's DC Universe status. DC has been trying to push the character to the forefront of its comic book universe for over a decade now, and what has the character to show for it all? Two failed ongoing series, and a lukewarm reception in Justice League. Now, after years of trying to make Cyborg happen, it’s clear DC blew the whole thing.

Inclusivity and the Justice League

From the very beginning, DC put Cyborg at a disadvantage. In order to make a person of color a founding member of the Justice League -- a team historically comprised of five white dudes, a white woman, and their green friend -- DC needed to prove to the audience why he belonged. Unfortunately, the publisher couldn't really do that in a New 52 continuity that was completely devoid of all history.

Casual comic book readers know the members of the Justice League, but they were far less familiar with Cyborg. The character's longstanding status as a Teen Titan -- a junior team, by definition -- was all he had to lean on to prove his worthiness on the team. Unfortunately, DC's New 52 reboot left him with no history to speak of, and no experience to pull from. He essentially joined the big leagues with a blank resume.

It also hurt his chances of acceptance that he actually had to replace a member of the Justice League in order to be considered a founding member. While Martian Manhunter was the easy victim, fans of the character were not happy. This same method worked with John Stewart taking Hal Jordan's spot in the Justice League cartoon because his status as a Green Lantern put him in the big leagues, but Cyborg wasn't really anyone of note.

Couple DC's poor setup for the character with the unfortunate reality of resistance to inclusivity in entertainment, and it's almost like the publisher never gave him a chance to succeed. He was considered the undeserving usurper from the start, and never managed to recover. In the end, we ended up with the Justice League... and Cyborg.

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DC Doesn’t Know Cyborg

In 2015, Cyborg finally received his first ongoing solo series. Unfortunately, DC Comics had no idea how to handle its most prominent black character, thus, he failed to capture an audience. Writer David F. Walker, a black man who has become noted for writing black characters in The Supernals, Shaft, Nighthawk and Occupy Avengers, came aboard to write the title, but was met with resistance from the beginning.

As Walker himself discussed in an interview with CBR back in April 2017, DC didn’t exactly know what they were doing with the character. He left the title just nine issues in, due in part to DC editorial’s inability to acknowledge who Cyborg really is: A black man.

According to Walker, he told DC. “it’s not the story about, ‘Is he more man or is he more machine?’” Walker felt distinctly that, “He is more man,” and, “If he was 99% machine, he’s still gonna be more man.” Rather than allowing a Cyborg comic to focus on Vic Stone as a man, and as a black man, DC preferred to go with the man vs. machine storyline that seems to control every aspect of Cyborg’s existence.

We get it, he’s half-human and half-machine, so his search for humanity is always going to play some part. But as Walker puts it, “Black characters meant more to me than they probably should have, because there were so few of them.” DC went out of its way to add a black man to Justice League (a title written by a white man). But when it was time to actually discuss that blackness, editorial bristled at the idea. It seemed like Walker had an actual vision for the character, but DC was unable to see or understand it.

When John Semper, Jr. launched the Rebirth Cyborg title, he spoke about much of the same dilemmas as Walker, involving Vic’s story of being “a black man in Detroit.” It felt like maybe DC had learned its lesson, seen Walker head off to Marvel and create several well-regarded titles, and now the publisher wanted to make right.

Unfortunately, Cyborg Vol. 2 fell flat on arrival, thanks in large part to its continuous man vs. machine narrative. Semper’s heart was in the right place, introducing several new black characters, but it was not the definitive statement Walker wanted to make so we could all move on and explore what actually makes this character tick. Now, Cyborg is coming to an unceremonious end, and the stories of Vic Stone as a black man may never be told.

The Justice League Debacle

All the changes that were made to Cyborg’s origin -- from his inclusion in the Justice League to the fact that he is now a walking, talking Mother Box -- were seemingly implemented for the sole purpose of one day integrating him seamlessly into a live-action Justice League movie. One where it “made sense” for him to actually be there in the first place. We saw the results, and fans voted with their wallets. It’s not good.

By now, we know Warner Bros. was not happy with the return that Justice League brought back on the studio’s investment. For a movie that cost $300 million to make to only get back around $600 million, when the studio was (somehow) expecting The Avengers money, is nothing short of a disaster. Perhaps the film's biggest failure of all, though, was its inability to drum up any kind of interest in Cyborg.

Justice League was able to generate some heat around The Flash and Aquaman, but Cyborg seemed to do very little for the moviegoing public. Ray Fisher’s performance as Vic Stone was uninspiring, and his unenthusiastic BOOYAH -- meant to be a simple homage to the Teen Titans animated series -- created a small whirlwind of controversy about the portrayal of people of color in film.

Add this reaction to the fact that Warner Bros. initially planned a Cyborg solo film to see release in 2020, for some reason, and it’s hard to see how any momentum for this character was supposed to be built. So far, no details on the solo film have been made public, and it remains the only officially announced DCEU movie with no creative team attached. Essentially, it’s just hypothetical at this point. Considering the fact that Justice League 2 is still nowhere on the schedule, it’s hard to see where Cyborg is even seen again.

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It’s Time to Bring Cyborg Home

Cyborg is expected to become the new leader of the Justice League during Christopher Priest’s run on the title, but how are readers supposed to buy this change in dynamic when they couldn't accept him as the rookie of the team? While Priest has proven to be someone to trust following his success on Deathstroke, it might be time to wonder if it’s too little too late for Cyborg and the Justice League.

Instead of trying to, once again, to turn him into something he is not, maybe it’s time to return him to his roots as a member of the Titans. Before the New 52, Cyborg was the heart and soul of the Teen Titans. As a man trapped in the body of a machine, Vic was considered the “monster” of the group, much like The Thing in the Fantastic Four. Despite his outward appearance, his humanity made him a trusted teammate and friend in The New Teen Titans.

Years later, when Geoff Johns relaunched Teen Titans, Vic returned as a mentor to a new generation of heroes. That's the Cyborg who belonged in the Justice League from the beginning, and it's the Cyborg we might be seeing again. In November, Vic played a major role in the "Bats Out of Hell" crossover, where Cyborg was reunited with Raven. It wasn’t just comforting to see old friends come together, it was also startling. There had been no indication that Vic had any history with the Titans prior to this point.

Now that his time with the Teen Titans is (apparently) back in continuity, it would be a mistake not to explore where the character can go from here. Using his resume as a former member of the Justice League, he could take control of a young team, like the Teen Titans, and become the mentor figure he once was.

Let Cyborg go back to his fans and away from the spotlight for a little while. Give a writer the chance to do something truly interesting with him, instead of trying to water him down for mass appeal. Maybe DC just needs to give him a chance to breathe and collect himself before the company tries to launch him into the mainstream again. Maybe next time they can get it right.