DC to Relaunch and Reboot EVERY BOOK!!!

[Typhon]

DC just announced that they will relaunch every book they currently publish.  SOme characters will now have new "variations in appearance, origin and age."  More to come. 

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=32563

[Ironghost]

Somewhere the foil-covered, overhyped comics of yesteryear laugh manically knowing their revenge is complete.

I can't imagine this will sit well with the DC fanguys.

[IMJ]

This is actually my excuse to drop the DC books that I read.  Now I'm down to maybe 3 or four Marvel titles, and two or three Independent books, 3 of which I'm dropping with the next order.

[Ironghost]

Anyone got a clue if the Court Settlement Superman will be part of this?  I heard somewhere (via the uber-reliable Internet) that the court agreement cut his origin apart badly.

[Typhon]

This is actually my excuse to drop the DC books that I read. 

I was thinking the same thing.  I am currently loving the new Batgirl book with Stephanie Brown as Batgirl, and if they replace her with a now wheelchair-less Barbra Gordon, I will drop all my DC books in protest.  I currently read Batgirl, Batman & Robin, Zatanna, and the 3 Green Lantern books. 

[Roger A Ott II]

No big deal to me, since I read my last DC stuff about a year ago.  I've tried to get into DC heroes, and for brief periods, they work for me, but overall, I just can't stay with them.  Green Lantern and Flash I will come back to from time to time, but they just never seem to keep the momentum long enough.  I'll probably give a peek at their new lineup and see what's what.

One big move that shows DC is forward-thinking is that they will release print and digital comics on the same day, starting with the relaunched Justice League.

[IMJ]

One big move that shows DC is forward-thinking is that they will release print and digital comics on the same day, starting with the relaunched Justice League.

You gonna buy the relaunches, Rog? What about digitally, considering you seem to have become a proponent of that shift?

[Roger A Ott II]

I'll probably give a few of them a try.  And since they are going to offer day-and-date release of new books digitally, I'll give that a whirl.  I have no idea how DC's digital venue works, so I guess that will be an experiment, too.

It's an overall bold move on DC's part, though. No doubt about that.  Part of me wonders if this line-wide reboot will be successful or simply drive away a fanbase that's already dwindling.  Remember when Marvel attempted something like this with Spider-Man about a decade ago, and it was lost and forgotten within a couple years?

[SirReef]

Personally, I think it's a smart move.

Comics are too caught up in their own history and it becomes a task to keep it straight.  As long as the talent keeps the stories hot - it should be a bonus for new readers.

The issue is the long time faithful ... but it's like crack.  They'll come back.  

If I were head editor - I'd start the whole thing off with a timeline.  I'd make sure that characters couldn't be in two places at once.  I'd ensure crossover events actually made sense to the stories.  I would ensure that historic events remained a permanent record.  

Finally, I'd say no to any double or triple mags for the same character.  

[SirReef]

I read the comment's section of ScreenRant - and it further solidified my opinion.

I think making a move like this would be good for both Marvel and DC.  It is just my belief that all these crazy crossovers and histories and bad stories have weighed characters down.  Each character has had reboots and sometimes the reboots take hold, sometimes not.  Then they feel beholden to the older storyline to incorporate stories and concepts.  It makes it very clumsy.

Sure, the "history" of Iron Man would be forever altered - but does it really matter?  You can go back and re-read those stories if you wish.  It's like James Bond.  I can go watch any of his older movies whenever I want, but to deny that the reboot didn't update the stale series (that had become a parody of itself) and make a better Bond-experience would be a lie.  The same can be said of the Star Trek series. 

I really wish that Marvel would do the same thing and do everything in their power to try to create a cohesive story.  Each comic would come with where something took place within the timeline.  Characters would only be able to be in one place at a time.  Stories would have to be mapped out WAY in advance rather than simply thrust into the storyline and disrupting the narrative. 

Ultimates was a great idea, but Marvel allowed that universe to get poor creative teams and collapsed under terrible storytelling.  Further, new readers didn't understand the difference between Ultimate Spider and Amazing Spidey. 

[IMJ]

I was thinking the same thing.  I am currently loving the new Batgirl book with Stephanie Brown as Batgirl, and if they replace her with a now wheelchair-less Barbra Gordon, I will drop all my DC books in protest.  I currently read Batgirl, Batman & Robin, Zatanna, and the 3 Green Lantern books.

A coworker of mine reads most of the bat line, but he's dropping all of his DC books too.  He says the new Batgirl book has been great too - I get my Batman fix from my convos with him about each title... lol! 

I'd imagine this hurts most for the readers who've been following 'Tec and Action Comics for years now.  It doesn't matter much though - they'll confuse people even more by using legacy numbering somewhere down the road.

[SirReef]

It doesn't matter much though - they'll confuse people even more by using legacy numbering somewhere down the road.

You KNOW this is true.

All of a sudden a 600th issue deal will come (combining both volumes) and BANG ... issue 600. 

So stupid.

[Roger A Ott II]

Isn't Action Comics now in the 900-issue range?  Why screw with that?  Let that be the first American comic book to reach issue #1000 legitimately.  If they renumber, then renumber again later, it cheapens the whole thing.

Renumbering makes my stomach churn.

[SirReef]

Isn't Action Comics now in the 900-issue range?  Why screw with that?  Let that be the first American comic book to reach issue #1000 legitimately.  If they renumber, then renumber again later, it cheapens the whole thing.

Renumbering makes my stomach churn.

Personally, Action and Detective comics are what kept me from ever reading Superman and Batman.  I didn't know how it all fit together.  What should I read?  It was not user-friendly to say the least.

I think numbers should matter very little - it's the story that should matter.  If they reset the numbers and tell a good story that is accessible to an entirely new fanbase than I think it is a good idea.

Unfortunately, they'll muck it all up with the same stuff the mucked it up last time. 

[The IronJedi]

I'm thinking Flashpoint = Onslaught and this whole renumbering bit will be a Heroes Reborn type event.