So what are you looking for post-Flashpoint?
June 6th, 2011 by Esther Inglis-Arkell |
I was initially very unimpressed with Flashpoint. Not the many different worlds; I liked that. The Azzarello Batman: Knight of Vengeance hit the Miller imagery harder than Miller has in the last twenty years, and that’s okay, because it makes for a fun few issues. I like sampling the various variations. The main story isn’t splashing over into the books I regularly read. For a big summer event, I liked it.
No, the thing that left me initially unimpressed was the idea that the entire DC universe gets rebooted at the end of it. Yes, when I hit the ground in comics, I hit the ground running. And yes, I have thirteen boxes full of comics to prove that. And yes, I just gave away an entire shortbox full of kids comics to my mom to cut it down to thirteen boxes. But – I haven’t been reading that long in the grand scheme of things. And in that time, the entire DCU has been rebooted at least twice. The idea of another reboot just left me feeling tired.
But, true to form, just when I thought I was out, comics pulled me back in. This re-boot is going to be a little re-bootier than usual. It seems that DC, conscious of new readers being too intimidated by the mountains of continuity to pick up a single title, is going back to issue one, and trying for an iconic version of DC.
This means one of two things. Either this one will stick a little more than usual, or it will be gone in a blink, leaving only even more confusing continuity in its wake.
I hope for the former. The last few decades of ultra-grim continuity have left me feeling a little poorly towards comics in general. A clean slate, free of tragedy and its attendant moping, might be nice. I feel like it would be good to step into a DC universe where not every single character has violently lost a child. (Batman, Superman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Arsenal, Wonder Girl . . . I’m sure there are more, but I can’t take thinking about it.)
So here’s what I am scanning the headlines for:
1. What happens to the Batfamily in general?
Well, of course I am. I’m still me, aren’t I? And I like most of the Batfamily the way it is. I like Jason Todd (shut up) and Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown, and Damian (as a side character), so I’m hoping DC won’t lose them completely. And yes, I saw that Barbara is Batgirl and written by Gail Simone. I’ve gone on record with my opinions on Babs returning to Batgirl before – but I’ll do it again. It’s a terrible idea, a regression for the character, and eliminating one of the most original characters in the DCU. And I love it. It’s Babs, and Babs is my favorite character, and I love Batgirl too, and I don’t care about anything else.
2. What about the Blue Beetle?
It hadn’t occurred to me that anything would happen with either Blue Beetle – neither right now seems like a big enough character to be messed with. I’d love it if they were both back, but I’m the ‘more is more’ persuasion of fan. Which is why I have thirteen boxes of comics in my house.
3. Lian Harper must live!
It was a creepy story and depressingly generic turn for the Arsenal character to kill off his kid and have him turn ‘dark’. The overall story was so distasteful that it put me off reading comics in general for weeks. A big re-set for the universe would be a good way to erase that.
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I’m down for the new Batgirl title. Sorry, Esther, but I ride with Gail Simone. And if Lian gets brought back from something anywhere near as dumb as Superman-2 punching reality, then I ask Ryan Choi get brought back as well.
The first USA Today interview had DiDio saying that Jaime is going o be sticking around, so that’s good.
That Red Hood and the Outlaws book has a pretty young looking Roy (Both arms), I don’t see a Lian in his future.
Unless they give me a fantastic Jaime Blue Beetle book, I’m not buying monthlies from DC anymore in September, and it’s because they’re getting rid of Oracle. I’m just done.
The only other comics that have piqued my interest are Red Hood and the Outlaws (and yes, I’m also hoping Lian is alive), and probably Batwoman. But I can wait for trades at the library for those.
I will have to buy Batwoman — hell, it’s really pre-boot anyway, thanks to all the delays. And seeing my favorite character drawn by Cliff Chiang and written by Brian Azzarello will be so potentially odd that I’ll have to check out Wonder Woman. Morrison on Superman, right? Will have to check that out. I can’t think of anything else I’m gonna want to read, and I’ve always been a mostly DC guy.
I assume no Lian in this younger universe. But a world in which she wasn’t murdered is the next best thing to a world in which she still exists. If you get my meaning.
DC. They kill little kids. They dismember Superfriends sidekicks. They reboot Oracle out of existence. They apparently give no book to Brian Q. Miller. They think anyone gives a damn about Barry Allen. They have a Lantern color for everything but good taste.
The potential lack of anything for Stephanie Brown worries me. Which is kind of a big deal since the current Batgirl is the only DC title I’m reading on a reliable basis. I’d be willing to not care so much about Barbara taking the Batgirl title back if they were willing to let Bryan keep writing her in something or other.
@Guy Smiley: I’m not quite so bothered about the existence of the wide variety of lantern colors for two reasons: 1) I generally don’t pay much attention to DC and 2) I think Larfleeze the Orange Lantern is one of the best new characters to come out of comics in the past few years.
I’m looking forward to not reading superhero comics for a while, if ever again.
Also, it appears clear from the announcement of five(!) war comics one-shots in September that a huge chunk of those 52 #1s are not intended to have a #2.
DC may in fact be paring their line down to core character books, and couching it in a way that pleases fans of their B- or C-list.
Hey how about “Tim Drake: Oracle”. Although it might be a crass move to fans, it makes sense on a corporate level: Tim was no longer an easily differentiable product and if you cripple him you can fill the Babs handicap space occupied. BAM! Problem solved and I can still hit the golf course by five.
(Sorry, turned into Ari from Entourage halfway thru that)
The biggest mistake in the revamp has been regressing Barbara back to Batgirl.
In fact, DC still contniues to show signs of not getting the meaning of “new”.
The Image style Extreme Teen Titans
The bevy of artists being named as writers, even if unproven
Scott Lobdell on a number of books, ( 4) the most of any writer.
The lack of recent new writers that appear to not be in the revamp fold.
( Chris Roberson, Bryan Q. Miller, Brian Cleveger)
The lack of diversity in terms of creators. ( Is Gail Simone the only female writer on one of the 52 books? And where are Nicola Scott and Amanda Conner?)
Those are more so observations than strikes against DC.
I’m really interested in a fair amount of books. ( Swamp Thing, Demon Knights, GL: The New Guardians, Wonder Woman, Static Shock, Batwing, Aquaman)
I just think better creative decisions could have been made. Decisions that could have paid off finacially as well.
Dc will lose me when they regress Babs as Batgirl. I don’t want her to be Batgirl. It’s fine in the cartoons, because that’s a different character and in the comics, that was a different era.
And by Era, I mean, things that were okay for women back then, are not okay anymore for women today. Being the “-Girl” to another superhero name might’ve been seen as cute or an honor in the 60’s.
Today…WOMAN, YOU BETTER GET YOUR OWN NAME, OTHERWISE, YOU’RE A COPYCAT AND UNORIGINAL. DIDN’T ANYONE TELL YOU, YOU’RE GOOD ENOUGH TO BE YOUR OWN PERSON NOW???
For heaven sakes, why doesn’t anyone get that Barbara is A GODDAMN WOMAN, she’s not A GIRL. Bad enough, they’re getting rid of one of the only/few disabled heroes (A HUGE BEEF I got with DC right now), and that there already is another Batwoman (who might be the same age or younger…i hope not)…but now they’re making Babs a lady who’s taking the name of a guy that she’s not married to, not related to, and not a sidekick to.
I get Cass and Steph being in the Batgirl roles because they were young and they were proteges of the Bat family. But Barbara Gordon isn’t any of the above or ever really was in the past either.
In 2011, for a character as smart, experienced and independent as her…it’s outdated and ridiculous.
If DC MUST make Babs anything, it should be Batwoman. Make Kate Kane, Batgirl instead. OH? that’s a step down for Kate Kane? FUNNY. and yet its perfectly alright for Oracle whose been around longer and has more experience, and intelligence enough to rival Batman?
riiiiiiiiiiight.