Poll: So DC say its time for a reboot. What do you think [POLL]

[iebilish]

So DC are have said that from August 31 they will start ?a historic renumbering? with 52 new comics that "promised to offer a ?contemporary take? on Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Wonder Woman and Aquaman." DC say that there will be things like rededigned costumed and more relevant and current plot lines to these comics. And that they would put them out on-line and in paper on the same day.

Any way the point of this is I'm not 100% sure about this reboot and I wondered what my fellow Escapist think about it?


edit: more info

"First out of the gate is Justice League #1, helmed by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. It comes out on August 31st, to coincide with the final issue of DC?s bigtime summer event, Flashpoint.

USA Today reports that the Justice League lineup will include Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Wonder Woman and Aquaman, but there?s no mention of Martian Manhunter. The JLA ? or is it just the JL now? ? will also get redesigned costumes courtesy of Lee."

source: http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2011/05/31/time-for-a-reboot-dc-comics/
http://geeks.thedailywh.at/2011/05/31/dc-comics-announcement-of-the-day/

 

[Mechanical Cat Fish]

Reboots haven't always served them well in the past (Case in point; Crisis on Infinite Earths) but if well executed it could work out favourably for them. Of course, if they're doing this to get rid of backlogs of past history and new readers, they'll just have to do it again in a decade or so... All in all I'm kind of indifferent.

 

[C117]

I think it's a bit of a gamble.

Sure, readers who are pretty new to the series will probably welcome it since then they don't have to go through all the previous backstory to get everything.

But on the other hand, who DOESN'T know the backstory of Superman, Batman and Wonderwoman? Also, what's with "making the threats more contemporary"? I've recently read the whole "The Dark Knight Returns"-saga, and I think that the stuff they bring up there are still contemporary.

 

[cameron196789]

Does this mean they are just re-doing some origins, or are they going to completely scrap all comics (including currents) and start over?

 

[iebilish]

Does this mean they are just re-doing some origins, or are they going to completely scrap all comics (including currents) and start over?

I think I've seen some were that they were planing on finishing all running comics by the date of this new reboot. Witch in its self could be a bad thing because I think they will have to rush some off there longer plot lines out to hit that date.

 

[mexicola]

I wonder if they have the balls to drastically change the likes of Superman and Batman. I don't follow DC comics so I'm not sure on how good this will turn out to be - I voted "not so sure". They are obviously aiming at increased sales and making the comics more accessible to a wider audience which is sure to make an outrage among comic book fans if they have anything in common with gamers. All in all it's a ballsy move I wish them luck.

 

[matell]

It's an interesting move, but I'm not really sure about the new directions the characters will take, since many people already have a firm image about them even if they don't read comics. We'll wait and see, and the only reason I'm not reluctant about this is Geoff Johns handling it.
The man knows how to create great stories.

 

[Frotality]

...Of course, if they're doing this to get rid of backlogs of past history and new readers, they'll just have to do it again in a decade or so...

this is my main problem...marvel had the same idea with the ultimate universe, and thats already backed up with tons of backstory now. they created a new universe, went wild with alternate character origins and interpretations, then realized they had written themselves into the same problem ultimate tried to solve...and came up with ultimatum to shake things up again, which i believe didnt go over so well.

DC might fall into the same trap; getting exited over shedding decades of history and being able to write all new stories, writing too much new too fast and alienating new fans anyway, then having to reboot again. they might try an in-universe reboot, screwing over all the history theyve built, alienating their current fans just after theyve lost their new ones.

i guess what im saying is that reboots breed a sense of unimportance to the portrayal of character history, so that when theyve built up history in their new universe, they dont know how to handle it and end up with horribly criticized attempts to make things fresh again. having a long, detailed history is just the nature of comics; of releasing new stories every week for years. its part of the appeal, and few comics with lasting appeal can escape alienating new readers: its like trying to make a movie appeal to various intervals of people arriving late to the theatre.

 

[Evil Top Hat]

DC lore is so vast and complicated that it's almost impossible to get into, simply because there's just so much damn stuff. A reboot is very much what both DC and Marvel need if they want to draw in any new fans, both franchises are too inaccessible to new readers otherwise.

 

[iebilish]

DC lore is so vast and complicated that it's almost impossible to get into, simply because there's just so much damn stuff. A reboot is very much what both DC and Marvel need if they want to draw in any new fans, both franchises are too inaccessible to new readers otherwise.

I can see the point in this. When I started reading properly about 2 years ago I had to look up so much of the lore so I had an idea of what was going on. I had some ideas, but most of it was new to me.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Not sure one way or ther other. I've recently spent a lot of time and effort gathering up a lot of the Batman comics, and so I think it'd be a shame if all that effort was essentially wasted.

However, at the same time, gathering up all those comics has made me realise how convuluted and annoying the backstory of comics can get. When I was considering getting back into comics, I didn't even look at Marvel, because in forty odd years they don't seem to have rebooted once (except for the Ultimate Universe thing, which was terrible).

So I can seen both sides, on the one hand I actually quite like where the comics are now. The new Question, the new Batwoman, the new Batgirl, they're all fine as far as I'm concerned. But the big names, like Batman, Superman, seem to be a little bit too messed up to keep track of.

I guess I would most like to see some sort of DC Ultimate Universe, only with decent writers and plotting. Don't reboot the main universe, but start a separate set of books aimed at retelling all the best stories from the last seventy/eighty years, condensed.

I bought Superman: Earth One recently, and found it to be really fun and interesting enough to make me curious about the character, who'd I'd previously always thought of as boring. But the history of Superman is near impossible to collect, and there are so many offshoots and one offs that it almost seems like there isn't a continuity. If the Earth One character was continued in his own separate story, I'd read and buy it religiously, but I don't want to have to basically throw out all of the work that the 52 team put in, for example. Or Greg Rucka and his excellent work on Gotham Central and The Question.

 

[Scarim Coral]

It's inevitable that another reboot would of happen at some point in this case it's soon. I mean that what DC comic is sort of well known for. It wouldn't suprise me that another reboot will happen again in another ten to twenty years or so.

 

[Anachronism]

It could go one of two ways. It could simplify things for new readers, which, on balance, is a good thing, because the DCU is a nightmarish cluster(EFF!) of continuity. On the other hand, when the writers try to undo the reboot, as they've done with the various Crises to date, it could lead to things getting even more confusing, which is generally what's happened in the past. I don't really follow the main universe anyway, but it'll still be interesting to see how this pans out.

It does somewhat confuse me, though. The purpose of this reboot seems almost identical to that of the Earth One graphic novels, so where do they fit in with this, if at all? I hope they don't get cancelled; I, for one, was looking forward to the Superman: Earth One sequel.

 

[iebilish]

Not sure one way or ther other. I've recently spent a lot of time and effort gathering up a lot of the Batman comics, and so I think it'd be a shame if all that effort was essentially wasted.

On this point I can say that they will be rounding off batman to some form of an end. So this does stop your collection from having to grow more. So its not a total waste of effort at all but a chance to start over again.