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And here I thought we were done with "52" as a concept. Yet here we are, gearing up for a clean sweep of the DC Universe and a reintroduction of the line with fifty-two new series.
Now, as an historian of the DC Universe I'm going to be more than a little disappointed if everything gets wiped out. But you know what? I think I'll get over it. There is far too much potential in a restart of this sort.
Even if some of my favorite characters get wiped out in this reboot I'll be okay with that. If Cassandra Cain goes away forever, well... I'll deal. Honestly, the idea that Barbara Gordon might come back as Batgirl is more than a bit appealing to me.
Perhaps we can purge Nightwing entirely; I'll certainly miss Tim Drake, but making Dick Grayson Robin again would go a long way to returning the DC to a state where it is at its most recognizable.
I think that the DC animated universe is the best example for this. In order to make things palatable to a mass audience everything got stripped down to the core of what made it work. And it was enormously successful.
Will they go this route? I don't really know. My biggest fear is that in making the DCU "younger" and "fresher" it will start to look too much like Marvel. That has never worked in the past and it won't work now. But if they go back to the core of the characters, then we may see something stupendous.
Back from the long weekend and... Woo boy. Today is turning out to be one of the biggest days in a long time as far as DC Comics goes.
I'm sure a lot of people are going to have a lot to say about the immense reboot that DC seems to be undertaken. I'm not going to be one of those people, at least not today. There's too much to process and too little real information for me to be able to say what I feel about this right now.
All I know is that I'm going to be sad losing the history built up in the high numbering on Action and Detective. But that's a cosmetic thing, and doesn't really mean much in the long wrong.
Also cosmetic -- but potentially more worrying -- are the new Jim Lee costume designs. I've never been a big fan of his costume designs and I'm particularly wary about the new look of Superman. It just doesn't feel right.
But that's cosmetic, as I've said. And I'm sure people felt that the current Superman costume -- a far cry from the original 1938 version in a lot of ways -- didn't feel "right" either. Change is sometimes necessary. We'll see if this change works... And sticks.
Consider: the title of this post on the Source is "It's Man vs. Machine on the Cover of Action Comics #899." And here's the thing... Neither of the characters on the cover is a machine.
While certain former iterations of Braniac have been robots or androids in some form or another, this Geoff Johns' retooled "Ultimate Braniac" is not a machine at all. He's from Colu and is much flesh and blood as Luthor. Perhaps this may be some sort of reference to the fact that Braniac employs a lot of machines, but any way you slice it it's just not accurate.
It's true that I'm splitting hairs somewhat. But this all comes down to the fact that there's some pretty sloppy stuff going on at the Source from day to day. Don't get me wrong; I love the site and it's one of my most frequent destinations during the day. But things don't seem particularly tight over there these days.
I remember last week or so when a preview for an issue of Zatanna showed up. I was a bit surprised, as I was pretty sure I'd read that before. And I had. Because this was a preview from August. There's also a tendency to get the names of artists or writers wrong.
And don't get me started on "Flashpoint Fridays." When I heard about that I figured we'd be getting some tantalizing peeks at the story to close out our working weeks. But what did we get last week? As short interview with Andy Kubert. That's nice and all, but one interview does not a "Flashpoint Friday" make. The Action Preview doesn't make Tuesday "Action Comics Tuesdays" after all. You need more than a little thing to make a day of it.
I say this all out of love. I want the Source to be the best it can be. I want to get a lot out of the site regarding the characters and concepts that I love so much. Step up your game, DC web jockeys! And when it comes to "Flashpoint Fridays" at least let us see some art.
The Comics Code is dead.
In ancient days the Comics Code almost killed comic books. But it seems that in the the end comic books have emerged from the dust as the victor.
The comics code has been pretty toothless and irrelevant since 2001, when Marvel decided to stop putting it on their books. But it carried on -- albeit in a limited form -- as long as DC (and to a lesser extent Archie) continued to use it.
Earlier this week DC announced that they would stop putting the stamp on their comics. Archie followed suit today. DC is instituting its own ratings system and Archie never really needed such a system in the first place.
What does this all mean? Honestly not a whole lot. In all honesty, the death of the Comics Code will make it easier for people to decide what comics to pick up from a company like DC. The Code had become so toothless and nebulous that there was no way to really tell what its being on the cover boded for the inside of the book.
Still, finding the Comics Code stamp on the cover of your comics was an iconic part of reading for around fifty years. Heck, there have even been Comic Code t-shirts. But in the long run, I'm not sure many of us will miss it. Or even notice that it's gone.
Well, apparently the big news today is that Bob Harras has been named Editor-in-Chief of DC Comics.
Honestly, I have no idea what this means for the company or its comics. I imagine Dan DiDio is still going to have a pretty big hand in things on the publishing side of DC Entertainment, so I"m not sure how much will really change.
And while Bob Harras seems to be a known quantity within the world of comics, he's not much of a known quantity for me. I know that he worked for Marvel in the late 90's. But as you all know I don't read any Marvel stuff. Plus, I didn't even get into comics until 2001.
Yeah, I'll give that shocking fact a second to sink in.
Anyway, I'm sure this will affect some changes in the way things are done at DC, but I don't know what they'll be. All I know is that I thought Breach. was pretty good. So there's that.
Well, the big in comics today is DC's big restructuring. Everything except the comics part of "DC Entertainment" is moving west to California. The question becomes: how will this effect our favorite comic books? In the long run, probably not much at all.
Since the thing I care about most is the comics -- and that's not changing locations -- I imagine the DC restructuring won't effect my weekly Wednesday habit. On the other side of things there may be a bigger shift. Comics as a serial medium is really important to me, but so are the characters in those stories. And if the move of the non-publishing stuff to California will give us better stewardship of DC's characters to film, television, and other media then I applaud the change.
That's not to say there aren't going to be any significant changes on the publishing side. We've already seen some of that, with the elimination of the Wildstorm and Zuda imprints. But here again this isn't necessarily a bad thing. I know there are fans out there of the Wildstorm stuff but in the long run I think it's important for DC to focus their super-hero energies on the DC Universe. Undoubtedly we'll see the Wildstorm characters again after a hiatus and they may end up being better for it.
Outside of super-heroes, there's not reason why it shouldn't all (with the exception of Vertigo) be folded under the DC banner. In some ways Wildstorm had transformed into a side imprint for licensed comics while the Wildstorm Universe became an afterthought. Since the idea is to create a stronger DC brand, having all the comics (again, with the exception of Vertigo) under the DC bullet is a smart thing to do.
These are just my ideas, of course. It could turn out that the whole restructuring is a terrible mess or just a waste of time. We'll just have to wait and see how things turn out.
I'm actually kind of excited about the really random "The Music of DC Comics" CD that they're putting out.
A lot of those are songs I've heard; but a lot of them I haven't. And regardless, most of them are tunes I've wanted to listen to at one point or another. But you can't really do that when you only have them in videos.
I'm one of those people who likes to have background music for a lot of things. Reading my comics is one of them. Usually I have to just select music from my collection that I think feels appropriate at any given time. But soon enough my music will really fit.
I'm annoyed at DC these days. Not because they're putting out bad stuff, mind you. I'm annoyed because there is too much good stuff. At least stuff that's good for me.
Normally such a thing wouldn't be a problem. But right now it is because I'm desperately trying to pare down my pull list because I'm not making the kind of money I used to. When it comes down to food or comics, well, I'll take comics. But I still can't get everything.
As such I look at all the new books coming out and get very annoyed. Will I purchase the new Birds of Prey? Likely. How about Zatanna? All signs point to "yes." Batman Beyond? I already said I would.
So I think you can all see my predicament. There is too much goodness out there these days. But then, I can't be too annoyed. After all, itis the fool who curses the sky for the rain...
It should come as no surprise that I'm pretty happy about the news about DC's new team. I may not be a big fan of Dan DiDio's writing, but with a few exceptions I've been very happy about his stewardship of DC comics.
And Geoff Johns in charge of what Geoff Johns' is in charge of? That's like... A match made in heaven. Here's a guy who gets the iconic things about DC's characters. The idea that he may have influence on future DC movies, TV shows, etc. is a big deal.
Other than that? I'm not sure that a whole lot is going to change. Obviously we're going to get a new DCU Editor-in-Chief. But I don't imagine that will change the direction of things all that much.
All in all, like most people I doubt this will change much on the comic side of things. But it could have an effect on other media. Those are the things to watch.
It seems that there's a chance that DC might publish more comics set in the Watchmen universe. Honestly, that doesn't bother me all that much. Watchmen isn't as good as everybody thinks it is.
This, however, would be awesome.
I had a very awkward encounter yesterday.
It happened while I was walking to class in the morning. This is usually uneventful, and I'd say that yesterday more or less follows along with that. It's important as well for you to know how I dressed. As is occasionally the case, my clothes were largely comic inspired. I was wearing my Flash t-shirt and my Superman stocking cap. So I was rocking it DC hard.
As I walked I noticed another fellow coming at me from the opposite direction. He was also dressed in comic attire, namely and Avengers hooded sweatshirt. Now, this presented a conundrum. Obviously the pair of us were kindred spirits of a sort. After all, he was dressed in comic attire and he most certainly was not you typical average non-comic reading person who sometimes wears a Batman or Spider-Man shirt.
But as already mentioned, he was wearing a Marvel shirt. It would be like a Cubs fan and Cardinals fan passing each other on the street (actually, that's happened to me before too). We sort of glanced at each other but didn't say anything. We both seemed to be trying to avoid eye contact. It was obvious that something tied us together. But as much as that might have sparked a friendship there was something else -- something even more important -- that kept us a part.
We passed each other and I imagine I will never see that fellow again. What a weird experience.
Yesterday I talked a little about DC's propensity to launch new ongoings without any "trial balloons." In the process I mentioned the two Red Circle ongoings that have been announced.
I stand by what I said about the Red Circle books. That said, I think they have been doing an excellent job creating interest in the characters. The DCU Blog has been consistently promoting them, and I think the one-shots/mini-series that's coming out is a great way to kick off and gauge interest in the characters.
I'm also loving the Daily Planet articles that they'v been using a ads. They're a very clever way to create additonal interest in the characters and their one-shots.
That said, I'm still disappointed in the decision to announce ongoings without even waiting to see how the one-shots do. I think it's a problem because, well, they've decided to run the Red Circle books in the "co-feature stable of titles." That mean each book will have a main feature (the bulk of the story) and a co-feature (a smaller back-up story).
Why decide that now? After all, they don't know which characters will be particularly well received. Right now the books are slated to be The Web/Hangman and The Shield/Inferno. But here's the problem: I've found the Web to be pretty uninteresting. Hangman, on the other hand, fascinates me. What if other readers feel the same way? What if Inferno turns out to be the breakout star of the entire Red Circle? Will they be able to rearrange things? Or will they be stuck with something that doesn't work and have to cancel it all?
This is the problem with launching ongoings without gauging interest. Maybe DC knows something I don't. Maybe they know exactly why they're organizing the Red Circle line in that way. I just wish they'd tell us what they're thinking...
A logical extension of this leads to one question: where is the "co-feature" for Doctor Polaris?
If tinpot dictators like Captain "Monarch" Atom and whiny brats like Rose "Whiny Brat" Wilson are getting "back-ups" then there must be room for the mighty Doctor Polaris. Perhaps as one of the pre-eminent villains of the DCU a "back-up" in Justice Leage of America would be appropriate. Or perhaps I could take up residence in the last few pages of Action Comics.
Still, my favorite option is this: move well-known idiot Hal "Jackass" Jordan to a "co-feature" and change the title of Green Lantern to Doctor Polaris.
That should make everyone happy.
There's been a bit of back and forth in the comics world ever since DC announced that they were adding Blue Beetle and Ravager backups to a couple of books -- and raising the price.
I think everybody (including me) knew that price hikes were coming. It's inevitable, what with inflation and this economy. But what I didn't expect was to actually get something for that extra dollar.
It's a calculated risk, of course. But it's one that really has to be taken. As much as I love monthly floppies I worry sometimes that they've been stagnating. Not in the sense that "everybody will just read trades." I don't think you can do that with comics -- at least not the kind of comics I like. The serlialized nature of the medium is one of the big pluses for me. I'll never give up the weekly grind if I have anything to say about it.
But $2.99 for twenty-two pages has been a forced industry standard for far too long. There's no reason why the page count can't go up (along with the price). I think the people who read comics these days are certainly different from those who used to. By and large, comic readers (and we're talking mostly about superheroes here) are not kids with just a little pocket money. They are adults -- people with jobs and disposable income.
Now, they're going to make choices about what the spend their money on, no question. It'll come down to going to a movie versus picking up a comic book. But I wouldn't imagine that a higher price -- as long as you're getting something for that price -- is going to drive down sales a huge amount.
Indeed, the extra content may even bring some people aboard who might otherwise stay away. Clearly DC has noted Blue Beetle and Ravager as popular characters -- though perhaps not characters popular enough to hold solo titles. So they receive backups that could entice fans of those characters to pick up Booster Gold and Teen Titans.
In the end, we're going to have to wait for sales figures to see what happens. Will the backups quickly disappear and the prices drop? Or will bigger, more expensive books be the wave of the future for superhero comics? Time will tell...
I have a bone to pick with "geek icon" Joss Whedon. I read this article where Mr. Whedon talks about why he thinks that DC hasn't been more succesful at getting their characters to the screen. And I have to say that he's dead wrong.
He claims that the reason the characters aren't making it to the big screen is because they're "gods" and not "real people." Whedon doesn't know what he's talking about. The fact that the dials go up to eleven in the DCU is irrelevant. The main reason why DC characters have hit so many roadblocks on their way to the big screen is simple: DC Comics has no control over DC movies. Marvel has near complete control over their movie properties. DC Comics has none.
But that's all a story for another day. This isn't about Joss Whedon's mischaracterization or misunderstanding of DC's characters. I want to talk about this little snippet:
" Their characters didn't living (sic) in mythical cities, they lived in New York. They absolutely were a part of the world."This really burns me up. I hate it when Marvel people declare that somehow Marvel is more "realistic" because it's set in the "real" universe.
Marvel comics isn't set in the real universe. It's not even set in a universe. It's set in New York. Spider-Man lives in New York. Daredevil lives in New York. The Avengers are based out of New York and I'm pretty sure Tony Stark was from New York. I know Captain America grew up in New York.
My point is that almost every character is built up around a single city. It's a real city, sure. But you know what? It's no more real to me than Metropolis or Gotham. I've never been to New York City. But I've been to Chicago. And with DC I can imagine that Gotham is like Chicago. And thus it becomes more real to me than Marvel's New York has ever been.
The other glorious thing about DC's fictionopolises is this: they allow the universe to breathe. There is an individuality that reflects their heroes that you can't get from sticking the hero in New York. Look at James Robinson's Starman. It is widely considered a masterpiece. Would the comic have worked it if had been set in New York City? Or Los Angeles? Or Seattle?
Can you imagine a world where Batman fights crime in Central Park or a Metropolis without that beautiful Daily Planet planet? These cities are individuals like the characters that live in them. These cities aren't simply landscape. And they are not handicaps for DC; they are among their comics' greatest strengths.
Joss Whedon may be a popular guy, but it's clear that he doesn't really get DC comics. And I guess that's okay. But whatever he says I would much rather spend my time in the amazing, larger than life cities of the DCU than the real life mundanity of a New York City...
I said a little bit about Final Crisis #7, but I wanted to go a little more in depth on my thoughts about the series as a whole. There were some questions about my declaration that I "liked" issue number seven. Well I did like issue seven. But I also didn't like it.
The final issue had a lot to like. It had President Superman, Wacky Japanese Guy, Aquaman, the Zoo Crew, Flash Facts, and 50 Supermen. Those were the panels that made me smile. But those were just a few pieces of one part of the series. As a whole? Final Crisis was a bit of a mess.
It seemed to have a lot of those Grant Morrison "let's throw crazy shit in and see how people flip out" moments. But by and large, it didn't make a lot of sense. Or it makes sense, but only to the fevered brain of one deranged Scotsman. And that's okay. Those are the kind of stories he wants to write and there is a place for them.
But are those the sorts of stories we need in our big blockbuster crossovers? (if we need big blockbuster crossovers at all!) As much as I am loathe to compare my beloved DC to their competition I'm afraid must. Because sometimes you have to give some tough love.
Let's compare some of Marvel and DC's recent crossovers. Now we're not going to compare the minutiae because for these purposes those things aren't important. Civil War may have been a mess as well, but the point I want to make here is about ease of transmission. To the casual reader (if he or she exists), to the lapsed fan, and to the outside world. Consider these sentences:
Civil War tells the story of two factions who fight over the right of the government to regulate super-heroes.
Infinite Crisis tells the story of a number of refugees from a twenty year-old series, two of whom are alternate universe Supermen who along with an alternate universe Lex Luthor decide that our world's heroes are corrupt because they let magic get out of control, chaos erupt on a distant planet, villains unite, and Batman builds a crazy satellite.
You see how complicated that is? I haven't even scratched the surface of Infinite Crisis there. You cannot describe it in one sentence. The title doesn't really mean anything. Civil War -- much to my chagrin -- does a better job of telling you exactly what it is in once sentence. And in a single two word title.
Next up:
Secret Invasion tells the story of a secret invasion of Earth by shapeshifting aliens.
Final Crisis tells the story of a war among the gods which leads to the universe falling apart and... I got nothing. I can't do it. Maybe if I threw in the word "metatextual" it would make sense...
This is the problem with what DC has been doing with its crossovers. They are far to insular. They cannot be understood without being steeped in years of DC history. I won't pretend that I don't like that stuff sometimes. I'm one of a select number (probably including all you reading this) who do know that DC history. But a casual reader couldn't pick up Final Crisis and keep his head on straight. He or she could pick up Secret Invasion and know what it's about simply by reading the cover.
Now, this whole thing has very little bearing on the actual quality of the stories. Final Crisis wasn't my cup of tea, but I thought Infinite Crisis was a rollicking good yarn. And I understand that Civil War was as much of a mess in the eyes of some as Final Crisis turned out to be. But again, you can pick it up and know what it's about by reading the cover.
If DC wants to recover some of that market share that Marvel dominates they need to reevaluate the way they do big crossovers. Maybe Blackest Night is a step in the right direction. After all, "Blackest Night tells the story of dead super-heroes rising from their graves to take revenge upon the living" is both concise and kickass.
