Today, Marks The Start Of The New Universe.

[MEMEGO]

WELL, YA ALL, TODAY MARKS THE START/BIRTH OF THE NEW DC UNIVERSE, ALSO KNOWN AS THE 52. LET US ALL HAVE A MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR THE REAL DC UNIVERSE. .
I wished DC and the unholy 3 would have not done this to our beloved heroes.
I hate the new looks and some of the ideas the Unholy Trinity have decided to create for our heroes.
(I THINK, I HAVE COINED ,A NEW NAME FOR DIDIO,LEE AND GEOFF).

[Earth 2 Chris]

I've been pretty vocal about my distaste for this, but you know what, my DCU lives on in my own collection, and DC has a really great program of reprinting various stories in TPBs, so I can just ignore this and go on until cool heads prevail and someone dials things back to a more coherent sense of normalcy.

My only concern is the influence this new look will have on toys and other media. And if DC were to decide they wanted to sever all ties with their history and NOT reprint the classic tales, well that would just bite.

Chris

[samurainoir]

I caught the preview of Flashpoint with the Big Twist reveal and it definitely doesn't have that AHA! Moment where it's really obvious the moment where things changed (like Age of Apocalypse or JLA the Nail). It's more Butterfly Effect I guess... Which I assume is how they kinda sorta "fix" things and give it that kind of Star Trek reboot continuity where they can start over and cherry pick.

[johnmiic]

This whole thing is going to fail. Probably by next summer they will have a whole summer cross-over event to bring back the continuity they jettisoned. They have to feel the sting of the failure before they learn.

[The Bat]

I have plenty of reservations about this, but I gotta admit I'm kinda excited about as well and intend to approach it with an open mind. You guys constantly comparing it to the 90's comics only adds to my excitement, as that was a GREAT times for Comics! Jim Lee was drawing one my favorite comics: X-Men...it doesn't get any better than that!

So naturally...Justice League is the one I'm looking forward to the most.

[MIB41]

The stock is down at Time Warner (TMX)

[The Toyroom]

I check things out this weekend...I'm certainly not going to rush to the LCS this evening only to be siappointed. And I think it's only 2 books today: Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1

[The Bat]

I think it's only 2 books today: Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1

Correct...those are the only 2 DC books shipping today. Can't wait to read them.

[samurainoir]

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. It will undoubtably cause a big sales boost... Which means lots and lots of sampling of new product. Not a bad thing if they can have enough books of sustaining quality to keep this new potential readership.

In the comic shops, it's not so much all the top tier DC material currently being headlined by Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison which is consistently at below the 100k range in monthly sales, particularly after event sales spikes. It's all the mid-list books that hover around the 30k mark that are constantly threatened with the cancellation/relaunch rotation cycle over the past dozen years.

It's actually the day-of digital side that we will all be keeping our eyes on. This was the big impetus for the relaunch. If it does help find a new audience of comics reader, then this will turn out to be a good thing and I will happily step aside with the rest of the dinosaurs.

If I were Marvel, I would be dropping down a ridiculous ton of books this week to try and capitalize in the lull before they get the hammer of having to compete with a constant stream of #1 relaunch promotions over the next few months.

[boynightwing]

I finished work at 12:30 last night so I didn't get to the comic store. At the same time I don't think he took part in midnight madness anyway.

I'm so torn on getting Justice League #1. My main reason is Superman. I'm afraid that if I buy anything with Superman in it that I'm supporting the split between DC and the Siegel/Shuster families and that this version of "Superman" is okay. It's not okay. I feel like I'm turning my back on a friend I guess. If one can call a fictional character a friend...

I hope they do well with their move to digital. When I can afford a tablet, I'm pretty sure I'll be going digital. I'll still buy some paper books but it will save so much space in my house with digital.

[Bruce Banner]

*sigh*. I already miss the real DC Universe.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^The whole Siegel/Shuster thing is still just hypothesis. DC is still using elements that the Siegel estate would be able to claim as partially theirs, including Jor-El, Krypton, etc. Morrison is even harkening back to the "Defender of the oppressed" angle that S&S originally conceived Superman as. So if there is going to be a split between the DC Superman and the Siegel/Shuster Superman, it's not in THIS reboot anyway.

Chris

[boynightwing]

Okay, good to know. I'll feel a little better giving this a try then.

[thunderbolt]

I have plenty of reservations about this, but I gotta admit I'm kinda excited about as well and intend to approach it with an open mind. You guys constantly comparing it to the 90's comics only adds to my excitement, as that was a GREAT times for Comics! Jim Lee was drawing one my favorite comics: X-Men...it doesn't get any better than that!

So naturally...Justice League is the one I'm looking forward to the most.

The 90's drove me away from a lot of comics including the xmen and the Batman books. The events and the nonstop barrage of spinoffs really did it for me. Not to mention all the Image wannabes working on the art.

[knight errant00]

Intriguing . . .

Don't Call It a Reboot

I hadn't come across this comment before:

And by the way, let me just reiterate this point: this is the launch of the New DCU. It is not a “reboot.” I think you will soon discover why that is.

So now I'm wondering: Have they built in a New Coke-style escape by, for the first time in a long time, adding a new Earth to their continuity?

Since they undid Crisis, that seems an obvious move. And frankly one I wrote about and suggested back in the 90s -- that every 20 years or so they spin the comics off into a new Earth continuity, but keep the other earth continuities going (ala the silver/bronze age JLA/JSA Earth 1/Earth 2 division). I remember even, with all the 90s crap, coming up with the idea of a new "Justice Force" to take the place of the JLA the way the JLA took the place of the JSA.

So, is it that DCs not rebooting so much as creating a new continuity where they can still go back to cross over with the other continuities? Or shift back focus if it doesn't work?