For the past few months there have been rumors floating around that DC Comics would reboot its entire title line after their big summer crossover event “Flashpoint.”
A few days ago, those rumors were confirmed after they released a press release signaling that 52 of their titles would relaunch in August-September, the first one being Justice League and then the other 51 titles in their plan. Now the degrees of the reboot will vary. Some characters will be getting minor tweaks and/or costume changes. Others will be getting the full reboot treatment, new origins and all that. DC’s plan is to make their line more ‘modernized and accessible to new fans.’ In short they want to be more like Marvel. Plus, they finally plan to get in the digital comics game and release these on the same days as the physical copies.
The full press release is here.
The general reaction from most comic fans has been very negative, many swearing off DC forever and ever and ever as many comic fans do when massive revamps occur.
My thoughts? Meh.
But I’m primarily a Marvel Comics fan. On one hand, I think its a very bold and brave idea to do such a massive revamp. One of my issues with the DC Universe is that while their big events are epic and cosmic, many of its characters (aside from say Batman and his underlings) feel very two-dimensional and just plain dull. Its probably one of the reasons why the JLA comic keeps failing. Other than the Big Three or Big Seven (if you include Flash, GL, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter), why should anyone care about these other D-List heroes?
Some of those lower-tier DC Universe characters really do need a more modern take, but most importantly a reason to care about their journeys. For them, I could see this working out perfectly.
But for the Big Three? It would be disastrous. We already had another Superman origin reboot in Secret Origin last year, so it would be just plain dumb to give Supes yet another new origin. He is, however, getting a new costume. Personally I’m a fan of superman’s classic costume. Its worked for over 70 years. Why change it?
As for Batman, a revamp would also be ill-advised. With all the history and back story they’ve built up, especially with the expansion of the Batman family, why change anything?
And then there’s Wonder Woman. If they had not done a weird retcon completely with a 90’s Image Comics costume change, I’d say go for it. Wonder Woman’s origin is actually quite cool. But my opinion as to why Wonder Woman has never reached the icon-status of Superman or Batman is because of her rogues gallery. It sucks. A hero is only as interesting as their arch rival(s). Her arch foes are lame. This is the second strongest hero in the DC Universe after Superman. Give the woman someone interesting to spar with that is a physical and psychological challenge.
Another big issue to consider is price. This is not the 1980s or 1990s where comics were $1.25 on the average. $2.99 is a high price to pay for some funny pages nowadays, hence why even the hardcore comic buyers are waiting for the TPBs. if DC Comics really wants to make this work and attract new fans, the prices need to drop dramatically. I think $1.99 is fair, non?
But most importantly, there are the fans. Many who have spent so much time and money with these characters feel insulted by yet another DC reboot. And I don’t blame them. After the many Crisis events, fans are reboot averse. Unless this is done right, in DC’s attempt to reel in new fans, they will totally alienate their core fanbase. Never a good thing.
But again, this is just my opinion as a longtime comic fan. But I will give this a look come August and reserve further judgement for after the first few months of the DC revamp.
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