DC Reboot: Final thoughts before it hits

[madmarva]

Batman inc when it comes back by MorrisonBatman inc when it comes back by Morrison

Samurainoir, man you ought to give Scott Snyder's Batman a try. The dude can write. Since he took over Detective, it's been my favorite DC title. Besides, don't you want to say I bought Batman No. 1?

[ctc]

>Am I really the only one who's reading habits aren't being interrupted in the slightest by the reboot?

No.

Don C.

[LadyZod]

I'm sticking with the Superman titles. More out of an outdated sense of loyalty.

I haven't been enjoying any of the Superman titles since New Krypton... but I've gone through pockets of time where I didn't enjoy them only to have them become enjoyable again with a new creative team. So I'll wait it out I suppose.

The rest of the DC Universe can go suck an egg as far as I'm concerned.

So can the Marvel Universe for that matter.

Upon receiving my monthly shipment from Heavy Ink yesterday I was amused to notice that I have in the box:

5 DC titles (Superman, Action, Supergirl, Superboy, Adventure Comics)
1 Abstract studios (Rachel Rising)
1 Vertigo (Fables)
1 Image (Savage Dragon)
1 Bluewater (Misadventures of Adam West)
3 IDW (Godzilla KOM, Godzilla G&G, and Rocketeer Adventures)
1 Boom (Planet of the Apes)
1 ShonenJump (Ultimate Muscle)

This is a far cry from when my pull list consisted of all the Superman books, the Batman books, Wonder Woman, all the X-Men books, all the Spider-man books, JLA, Avengers, with a small scattering of independents here and there.

Now I see it's getting whittled even more.

By next month it'll be just Superman and Action from DC, and the rest will include titles from IDW (8 different titles), Boom, Bluewater, Image, Abstract, and Darkhorse.

I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Just like I'm sure DC's sales will reflect this after the first 3 issues of their new reboot come out.

[samurainoir]

Samurainoir, man you ought to give Scott Snyder's Batman a try. The dude can write. Since he took over Detective, it's been my favorite DC title. Besides, don't you want to say I bought Batman No. 1?

I've been meaning to read his American Vampire, it's getting some acclaim, and I've also heard good things about Gates of Gotham. Okay, I'll give it a go.

[samurainoir]

As for my following Barbara Gordon into her first ongoing Batgirl title, keeping in mind that she is a FICTIONAL CHARACTER; Crippling her was probably the best thing that could have possibly happened to the character in retrospect.

Otherwise, without that bit of luck of John Ostrander turning her into Oracle and then finding the character in such well meaning and capable hands as Chuck Dixon and Gail Simone... How else would she have sustained an ongoing series for well over a hundred issues, not to mention becoming a much more central figure in Batman's supporting cast And the wider DCU (as a member of Morrison's Justice League) than she had ever been in the two decades she was Batgirl?

I think she's become a much richer and complex character as Oracle, and that is why I would buy this Batgirl comic which fully retains her past as Oracle. I don't think I would have ever picked up a Barbara Gordon ongoing Batgirl title prior to killing joke. And in fact never picked up the previous Batgirl comics starring Casandra or Stephanie.

I'm definitely an Oracle fan and even with her ability to walk again, I think she will retain her smarts under the pen of Gail Simone.

[The Bat]

I'm probably one of the few, but not only am I not cancelling books...I'm adding them.

Batgirl
The Flash
Aquaman
Wonder Woman

But I'll pass on ALL Superman books.

[madmarva]

Samurainoir,

I totally agree with you on Barbara Gordon

As Oracle, Barbara Gordon became the best female character in the DCU, IMO. Gordon went from really being a redundant character that was mainly kept in print for copyright purposes to a hero unlike any others in comics.

I'm buying the book because Simone is writing it, and like you am glad her career as Oracle will be part of her background.

But I do question DC's move. Why have Batwoman, Batgirl and Huntress? Pretty much the same hero. Certainly the characters' secret IDs can provide the difference, but on basic super-hero abilities, they are so similar a novice reader might need a scorecard.

If I were carving out a new universe, I would have put all my chips behind one and try to develop less redundant female characters to take up the spaces vacated by the others.

[Random Axe]

I still contend that DC could have done this 52 title stuff with existing continuity, or mostly intact. The biggest effort required would have been the teaming of creators, which appears to have been done very well. I see this as DC punting on third down.

I may and probably will be wrong on this and it turns out to be a hit. As tempted as I am to see Sinestro as a GL again, I will not be taking part in this new venture and will live through back issues and trades for a while. I anticipate reading all of your comments on the new books. Maybe someone can talk me into a title or two...

[jemboy2004]

I'm going to get Wonder Woman but I always will.

but I'll add Batgirl as I've been waiting for Barbara Gordon to return as Batgirl and I too liked her as Oracle in Birds of Prey. I do find Batwoman interesting and I will give that a try as well.

I think I'll give Catwoman a try as she's one of my favorite DC character's. I might try Teen Titans and maybe Justice League as well. I'll look them over as they come out and decide on most of them then.

I also am curious about the Black Hawks. I've always liked them. I might give it a try and I'm wondering what Justice League Dark is about. The Red Lantern book seems like a odd choice but for some reason I'm curious about it and want to check it out.

[Werewolf]

Here's snippet from a Grant Morrison interview on the sexism in comics.

DC Women Kicking *** - Grant Morrison on sexism and comics

He seems conflicted. He seems to admits there has been a problem but he doesn't seem to think it was intentionally misogynistic. I don't know. It is interesting to see that even he had issues with some of it. In particular the many rapes.

I do agree with him on that and in this reboot I'd really like to see end of rape in DC comics.

[knight errant00]

Interesting points here: http://thehud.com/2011/08/dcs-desper...#disqus_thread

Like this:

"Imagine if every few years, instead of publishing as they do now, companies like Random House, Scribner, etc. decided to hire writers to re-write a few of their most popularly selling books and release them as if they were new material. How fast would traditional book publishing then become a thing of the past?"

[Earth 2 Chris]

Just Imagine...

"Dracula" by Stephanie Meyer

"A Tale of Two Cities" by Danielle Steele

The mind boggles...

Chris

[samurainoir]

Interesting points here: http://thehud.com/2011/08/dcs-desper...#disqus_thread

Like this:

"Imagine if every few years, instead of publishing as they do now, companies like Random House, Scribner, etc. decided to hire writers to re-write a few of their most popularly selling books and release them as if they were new material. How fast would traditional book publishing then become a thing of the past?"

Well, if the "post modern" stuff like Wicked, and Sense and Sensibilty and Seamonsters count, we're already at that phase.

I don't think the book analogy works though unless we go back to the era of Charles Dickens, and even then there was a finite end to the story serialization.

Soap Operas on TV might be the closest comparative thing to the decades long ongoing serialization of superhero comics. Even they have been known to reboot every now and again with mixed results for their aging viewership.

I think CTC/Don has made the very good point often that superhero comics do in fact traditionally reboot every few years (with little fanfare) back when they were considered merely children's entertainment and the audience turned over every few years anyways. It's only within the latest decades that continuity has been so crucial. Since probably the fan turned pro era immediately following Stan and Jack... Roy Thomas and co who were really obsessed with continuity to a fault.

[knight errant00]

Although I get that, Samurai, I think the point is really that the companies don't introdruce new characters hardly at all any more. Firestorm for example, was a new and exciting character in 1978 when they introduced him into DC's continuity and one that stuck (and yes, for every Firestorm there's a hundred Claws and Kongs), but they keep re-booting and altering him -- why not create a new character? One with potential to last? What if Stan Lee had limited himself to re-branding old Timely characters -- No Spidey, No FF, no Thor. I think that's the issue here: that instead of creating the next Spider-Man, the companies and creators seem completely afraid of introducing new characters.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^I think it's the creator-owned thing. Creators know they CAN take their best ideas and self-publish, or publish through a company that won't retain rights. While DC and Marvel allow character participation in creations that make it to other media, or sell over a certain amount of comics, those characters are still owned by DC and Marvel.

Chris