Well, we are over a year into the latest DC reboot and it's a mixed bag. While I am in favor or reintegrating the Vertigo properties that started out in the mainstream DCU and characters like Amethyst, I... Vampire, Resurrection Man, and yes even Vibe getting another shot, there are also a lot of drawbacks to the new direction. There are still too many characters that I loved either missing completely or altered too dramatically for my tastes, and the costume redesigns are about 10% hit and 90% miss in my book. If the reboot was meant to clear up continuity, it failed there as well. I think the desire to start fresh but also retain current Batman and Green Lantern storylines resulted in a half-hearted reboot. I still think they would have been better served by starting completely new, de-aging all the original sidekicks, and eventually finding new roles for later legacy characters like Kyle Rayner, Tim Drake, Cassandra Sandsmark and so on. Or they should have just looked at DC's animated division which has done a perfect job of streamlining the continuity while retaining the classic looks and core personalities of the characters.
Dave sez,
ReplyDeleteThere were very few things broken with the DCU, before The New 52. Maybe a few things had run their natural course; but from what I've seen of some of the concepts - like the Teen Titans, I'll stick with my pre-The New 52 Titans thank you.
I miss Donna Troy and Wally West.
Economically, I had to pick one book to try. That was Aquaman. Right now I have plenty of back issues in my collection to revisit, since I'm no longer DC's target demo.
Proof that Rama-Tut was a DC fan: Kang goes back to the 90s to prevent the New 52 from happening.
ReplyDelete@Dave: You're right on target.
ReplyDeleteAs a longtime fan of the early Vertigo titles (it'll be 20 years as of New Year's) I can remember countless old cranks who would turn inside out when they saw a nipple or a four-letter word once in a blue moon. And yet, the characters' personalities and backstory were never THAT much different from their pre-Crisis incarnations. The characters have been far more radically changed since bringing them BACK with this latest reboot. And this calculated "shake-up" business of taking one character from every group and shoe-horning them into any other group at random just feels terribly hokey. The team-ups here (or in today's case, conflict) always seem a hell of a lot more natural.
If Kang is is going back to re-boot the pre-crisis universe...I'm all for it. But he might need help from the Time Trapper and The Lord of Time (his DC universe equivalent). I admi t I haven't picked up a DC book since Supes was wearing a mullet (yechhh!, so maybe if this were an actual book I'd be willing to fork over some hard earned cash. Too many crises has kinda spoiled my taste for these once timeless characters.
ReplyDeleteI'd go along with rebooting to the Pre-Crisis Multiverse, or something very like it.
ReplyDeleteIf DC wants to have one central universe with a few established side-worlds, I'd rather see at least one (either the new main universe, or a significant side one) where everything has progressed naturally and in real time since World War II. For example, Bruce Wayne was murdered in the 60s (as the Earth-Two Batman was), Dick Grayson took over and is now retired, and now Tim Drake is Batman, with Damian Wayne as the current Robin and Jason Todd as a nigh-out-of-control Nightwing.
Everything I've seen about the New 52 indicates to me that not only would I agree with you if I were actively reading comics, but you and I are part of the consensus.
Wow, that scenario you put forth sounds intriguing. I'll buy that for a dollar. If only DC had the guts to try something that bold. Oh, and by the way, the Golden Age Batman died in the 1970's when they revived the JSA. Man was that a good run. Almost as good as Robinson's run. I guess you can't go home again.
ReplyDeleteMy mistake... 70s, not 60s. (I only remembered it was part of an annual JLA/JSA crossover.)
ReplyDeleteWholeheartedly agree about the 70s JSA, Issac.
ReplyDeleteThe Kang concept is great. I would love to see Kang face off against the 70s Legion, too.