Can DC or Marvel purchase the character Johan Liebert?

I'm sure the Viners here who actually know who this masterpiece of a character is will agree that it's kind of a disservice that he will never again be used in a fictional work. Is it possible for either DC Comics or Marvel to buy this magnificent character and implement him into their respective universes?

Also, how do you think Johan (if you know him) would meld with the DCU and MU? Would you personally want him to be purchased by one of the big two mentioned above (DC and Marvel)?

Note: I'm willing to answer any questions about the character Johan Liebert from any inquiring Viners, so ask away.

dc and marvel don't need him. they have enough monsters on their own.

@kyrees: Name one "monster" (no one above the superhuman tier, as Johan is still only human) in the DCU and MU, excluding the Joker, who is even remotely as dangerous as Johan overall.

... And if you don't really know of the character, you should really check him out in the 10/10 series Monster.

This is the guy who, at the mere age of 15 years old, was the chairman of an underground bank... Lex Luthor, Reed Richards, Victor von Doom, Bruce Wayne, Bruce Banner, etc. couldn't even pull that off. Before anyone starts posting feats of the aforementioned characters in their youth, note that (1) Monster takes place in the late 20th century and (2) Johan has displayed the intellectual capability of achieving the same feats as the above if given their resources; when he was merely a pubescent child, he became perfectly fluent in both French and English (he's of German-Czech descent) in the span of 13 months. Just sayin'.

@kramotz: dc - anyone with a lantern entity

marvel - anyone with a megalomania and savior syndrome

frankly, i only know johann a bit but dc and marvel don't need a stereotypical psychopath who can talk people to suicide. that's literally boring against people who pose a threat to earth and the universe.

Johan isn't a stereotypical psychopath in any sense at all.

No unless naoki urasawa wants to sell him to one of them (doubtful). Still it would be interesting to have him in either universe.

and that's supposed to be a good selling point to two companies who have been doing their stuff for decades ?

yeah, very good sales pitch. i'm sure dc and marvel would go knocking on urasawa's door by now.

@kyrees: That wasn't a sales pitch and your comment is still very very incorrect; my respone still stands: Johan Liebert isn't a stereotypical psychopath in any sense whatsoever.

@kramotz: johann may not be a stereotypical psychopath you think he is but in dc and marvel who has prolly done a character of such extent, it gets lost in the translation.

so what's the new selling point to them ?

@kyrees: Joker is the only character in the DCU or MU even remotely close to Johan Liebert in characterization.

The sales pitch is that of a manipulative, charismatic and unique, young, Antichrist-esque psychopath capable of being the driving force behind amazing storylines (depending on the writer, of course). Coupled with his unique characterization, he also has a pretty unique, distinguishable and appealing character design as well.

I don't see DC or Marvel buying an anime / manga character. Most anime / manga characters are self-contained in their own universes, and don't work outside of their own stories. DC and Marvel, on the other hand, combine countless stories and characters into one world.

Also, yes, DC / Marvel have their fair share of serial killers. None, in my opinion, being better than the nightmare that is the Corinthian:

@kramotz: not even good enough at this point. i'd pick protege for that and that guy's been long gone

@kyrees: I'm sure Johan would be a nice addition to any story arc, honestly.

@kramotz: and honestly, there's enough characters on dc and marvel which can they pull up or worse, create such character again. the big 2 doesn't really need to buy characters outside their universe.

he already works good on the monster universe. he doesn't need to be lifted to a universe that is already f*cked up.

All of those so-called "monsters" you alluded to above would all be tools in Johan's various schemes. Not to mention he could play on most of their mental problems and cause a few of them to commit suicide easily.

Johan is simply on a much higher playing field than the typical psychos found in the DCU and MU. He also possesses no known super powers of any kind and seemingly relies solely on his genius intelligence; he has never been involved in a gunfight, obtained a wound that he didn't literally ask for and is generally thought to be a myth to begin with. Hell, "Johan Liebert" isn't even his real name.

It's ironic that you said Johan is a stereotypical psychopath, because most of the psychopaths in the DCU and MU are pretty prototypical... and Johan is nothing like them at all.

In conclusion, I'm getting the feeling you know little to nothing about Johan Liebert. Monster is usually labeled as one of the best and most underrated anime series of all-time. You should check it out; it's reeeally good and isn't like your typical over-the-top, hyper-realistic anime.

As epic as the character is, I think his story is better left alone... Marvel and DC don't have the freedom to give every character their full potential, I think his psychological manipulation will be nerfed and he'll be placed against someone like batman - and become another generic recurring villain.

@kramotz:

great, inflating a character because you love him. not my point. my point was that there are enough monsters on both dc and marvel that they don't need another one. whether he can tool them or not is a fanboy argument at this point.

he worked in the monster universe because there is no one intelligent or cunning enough to counter him and to use that basis as a selling point for him to be used on dc and marvel is like saying "i am the undefeatable champion in my town and i will be the undefeatable champion in the another continent". that doesn't work that way. you need to sell him in a way the both dc and marvel will like him and the supposed manipulator bios is easy enough to create on their own.

assuming they will buy him, johann will never be at 100% in either universe and even if he did (which is probably on the level squirrel girl defeated thanos meaning bad writing), the writers would put a deus ex machina to stop him (which still means bad writing). there's no way you are going to expect dc and marvel treat this character the way urasawa did.

i also get the feeling that you love johann too much to see the real picture. is that what you are saying to me because frankly, i can argue a whole lot of characters to be purchased by marvel or dc if i wanted too ?

Not seeing how his story ending is a disservice.

Why would they? He's an anime character and already had his story told perfectly. He wouldn't fit in either universe as it is.

@kyrees: That's a lack of vision, honestly. You're essentially saying that DC or Marvel's Johan adaption would be exactly the same as Naoki Urasawa's, which is false. Then there's the fact that you really know little to nothing about the character, yet are jumping to your own conclusions based on a summary (or rather sales pitch) I gave you.

About the writers throwing in a deus ex machina to stop him: You're jumping to conclusions again. As I said above, that depends on the writer. PIS is obviously possible with a shoddy writer, but who's to say that the writer who writes Johan would be shoddy? We won't know until DC or Marvel actually purchases and uses him in their storylines.

Yes, I do love the character Johan, but everything I've said thus far has been either true or possible; nothing extremely far-fetched or baseless - which your general idea and verdict on Johan going to DC or Marvel seems to be.

All in all, you lack vision. This is the difference between most random Viners like ourselves and professional comic book writers - they have the creativity and vision to spawn awesome storylines, whereas us random Viners tend to lack those skills. This is why good storylines are critically acclaimed in the first place - people like you and me could never create them and they are essentially considered masterpieces due to the creativity behind them. But I digress.

Point being: You should actually learn more about the character, either via a wiki or by actually watching the series, before judging his universal potential. "i only know [of x character] a bit" isn't a very good starting point to make a verdict on a character's potential to be applied into a new universe.

I never said his story ending was a disservice; that's just silly, as Monster's open-ended ending was one of the greatest things about the series. I was saying that the fact such a masterpiece of a character will never be used in any fictional work again is a disservice to said character. Wouldn't you consider it a disservice if Superman, Batman, the Joker, Spider-Man, Lex Luthor, etc. were never used again, even though they're all amazing characters?

@-lightbringer-: I'm assuming that you've actually seen the series then... Well, if you think that Johan wouldn't fit into any storylines within the DCU or MU as it stands, I can't argue with that. Like I said above, though: professional writers tend to have more creativity and vision than the readers, on average; in my opinion, I think someone would be able to cook up an amazing story with a character as brilliant as Johan as a plot asset.

Well like I said, why would they? His story has already been told. The way I see it is continuing his story in a universe with superpowered beings would only leave a bad aftertaste. Yes, he's a great character, but too much good of anything is bad. Villains in DC and Marvel keep coming back with wacky plans. Johan already executed his "Magnus Opus" and I doubt seeing him top himself each time would resonate well with anyone.

Secondly, I don't believe his character is popular enough to merit trying to obtain the rights to him. It would be a lot easier for Marvel or DC to create a character of their own similar to his personality and one that might fit better within their universe.

@kramotz: DC already has a character like that. TAO from the WildStorm Universe was a super intelligent person who could influence people and manipulate events just by talking to them.

Nah.

@-lightbringer-: Johan's story in Monster is equivalent to the Joker's origin story in "The Killing Joke" or Hush's new origin story in the New 52 - nothing more than a adaption. That's kind of how comic book storylines work - in one story, a character's "mangus opus" is absolutely brilliant, in one their schemes aren't so interesting, usually due to the writer, and in another, their grand plan tops their prior one. I really don't get what you're asking. "Why would they buy him?" That's like me asking why Marvel would ever want a character like Lex Luthor.

And I'm pretty sure his character and the series he's in general are criminally unacknowledged. However, popularity is essentially irrelevant when the character is as critically acclaimed as Johan is by the few who know of him, especially since when applied to a universe like the DCU or MU, that problem would fade away.

Too much of a good thing is bad, yes. That's why you don't overuse it in the first place and utilize other good things (i.e. other villains who can drive a story). What, you think Johan would be used in every DCU/MU storyline or something? I'm sure they would write him in moderation.

I do agree that DC and Marvel are capable of creating a character similar to Johan themselves. It wouldn't be an easy task at all, however. Saying it would is an insult to the character Johan Liebert.

@wavemotioncannon: Really? I'll have to thoroughly check him out.

@kramotz:

it's because i know little of him is what serves a good point here. why would marvel and dc invest money on something that has no assurance on returned savings ? "monster" being acclaimed serves no purpose on whether or not people will actually like him. would people actually buy his story ? where's the assurance in that ? that's not lack of vision, that's the business minded side of me looking at product whom at best a relatively few people exolt. me knowing the character serves no purpose if the people on top of marvel and dc sees no purpose for them to buy said character and at some point, writers from both companies do peruse the comic forums for feedback or ideas.

i am applying my business minded side to it because this is a business not an artform most people think it should be (like you). marvel and dc spew out so many stories that creativity and vision gets lost in the line. this point, anyone who tries to sell certain characters needs to have something worth of return investment. you haven't shown anything at all, it's basically "oh johann is excellent; marvel and dc should buy him". there's no substance in that at all. i can make the same claims on dark schneider or the cast of TTGL.

marvel and dc have been known to butcher their stories too much that you should expect it on any character. it's not jumping to conclusions; it's the grim reality. also what's preventing the dc and marvel from creating a similar character but in their own terms ?