Reader's Guide to the New DC Universe

I've been working on this all summer, over at Tor.com, but I've neglected to mention it here on the blog. Please forgive me for the oversight.

Basically, it's my 800 words on each and every new DC title launching in September, based on the interviews and solicitations and the previous work of the creative team(s). All 52 of them. Plus an overview about the whole thing and the digital distribution angle. It's the most comprehensive look at the DC relaunch that you're likely to see, because I was crazy enough to write about all of these series with so many damned words.

I'll probably end up being right about 85% of it all, too. Enjoy!

READ: TOR.COM READER'S GUIDE TO THE NEW DC UNIVERSE, by me!

The DC Relaunch and Reasonable Readers of all Types

I wrote this week's piece for Tor.com mostly because Ron Marz and a random fan were debating how much to freak out about DC's relaunch. The fan (or fans -- maybe it was more than one) seemed to think everything in the past would cease to exist, and all his DC comics would be meaningless now. Marz didn't agree. At all.

Of course, now we know that Marz is part of the DC relaunch (which I'm happy about, because he's a good guy and a hard-working writer), but I don't think that's really all that significant in the debate. What's important is...the two fundamentally different way people read comics. And that's what I wrote about.

Go, read: "What Does it Matter? Stories and Comic Book Readers" at Tor.com.

DC Speculation: The Play-at-Home Version

I've been hearing that DC will relaunch all of it's comics with new #1 issues and slightly modified (streamlined) continuity after "Flashpoint" for a few months now, and DC has confirmed the rumors today.

The day-and-date digital announcement is actually more surprising, and it's a bold move. I imagine the conference room in which that decision was made featured an oversized dry erase board with the words "day and date digital" on one side and a gigantic question mark on the other side.

At least it's SOMETHING. Though, unless the digital prices drop substantially, here's what I imagine will happen. Readers with iPads will slowly start to wean themselves off weekly comic shop visits, and then they will realize there's no real hurry to buy comics day-and-date on their mobile devices, since there's no way any of the digital content will be out of stock, so they'll wait for a sale. Then they'll lose interest. Then realize that life without comics isn't that big of a deal. Maybe they'll read Chris Ware hardcovers once a year, and that will be enough.

But until that happens, DC will kick of FIFTY TWO new monthly series in September. The "monthly" designation doesn't necessarily mean ongoing, I'll point out. I'm guessing maybe 30 firm ongoing series and 22 miniseries. 52 ongoing series would be waaay more than they have now, in the DCU. It could happen, though. We'll see.

Here are some of my gut feelings about what we might see (and even though I have some contact with some of these creators, I have not yet asked them about any of this -- it's pure guesswork on my part):

• Scott Snyder writing two big ongoings -- probably a Superman book (to complement the supposed Morrison Superman series) and the Batman main title.
• Jeff Lemire writing a "Smallville" series and maybe...Nightwing and the Outsiders.
• Paul Cornell writing Flash.
• Sterling Gates writing two ongoings. I'm thinking the Kid Flash series announced a few years back might finally show up, in a new form. Maybe he'll be on the Multi-Colored Lanterns series. Or, no. He'll write the Cyborg solo ongoing.
• James Robinson will surely do more than just Hawkman. Don't be surprised to see him on an Atom series as well. Or, if the New Gods are in play, something from that pile of toys.
• Judd Winick will write a Red Hood ongoing.
• I think they must have courted Brian Azzarello for something. I wouldn't be shocked to see an Azz-written Suicide Squad comic. That would be a good fit.
• I also expect a resurrection of some other classic titles, with new versions of the characters. Like the Secret Society of Super-Villains, perhaps, based more on the JLU interpretation. Or World's Finest, with a youngish Superman and Batman teaming up.

Overall, I'm looking forward to the relaunches. Besides the current DCU work of Morrison, Snyder, and Lemire, and an occasional Johns or Cornell book, the DC Universe is stale and uninspiring right now. I just hope the relaunched series pair some superior artists with the good writers. The thought of, say, Eddy Barrows on a Grant Morrison comic doesn't encourage enthusiasm.

DC and Marvel via Brian Reed

Brian Reed had a great line at WizardWorld Chicago, at the "Bendis vs. Johns" panel. He said that anything can happen in the DC Universe, but the Marvel Universe has a different set of rules: "Wonder Woman can come home and have gorillas in her living room and people are like, 'that's cool.' If Professor X came home and there were gorillas, fans would be like, 'that doesn't make sense.'"

That sounds exactly right to me, but what is it about the Marvel Universe that doesn't allow random gorillas?

And does such mentality destroy any chance of success for the upcoming Marvel Apes mega-crossover?

Six Years Later

I've been buying comics ever week since I was in middle school, and unlike most fans I know, I've never taken a break from comics, and I've always had a general feeling that my comic book buying habits have been relatively consistent, although I know I spend a bit more on comics now than I used to (frankly, because I just have more money now than I used to). Earlier today I was searching for something on the CBR website and I came across a list of January 2002 releases from DC Comics. Curious about my buying habits a scant six years ago, I read through the list. Now the "Power Company" stuff messes up the data, probably (because WHO BOUGHT THAT?), but out of the 60+ comics listed, I only bought 9 of them. Nine DC Comics for the entire month of January, 2002. And most of those were for some Batman crossover that I tried out since they suckered me in with the 10-Cent Adventure. So, if it weren't for that bit of shrewd marketing on their part, I would have only bought four DC books for that entire month.

Now, in 2008, I buy about 12 DC comics per WEEK. That's like a 1000% 433.33% increase in my comics buying (Chad, I'm sure you'll check my math on this one), and I didn't think I bought THAT many more comics than I did six years ago.

Looking back on that 2002 list, the only thing I really wish I had bought was some of the Superman stuff. I totally missed that Casey/Kelly/Shultz Superman era, and I kind of wished I read it. I don't have much desire to track down the back issues, but I would have liked to have read that stuff at some point. Since 2002, I have picked up all the JSA and Giffen Suicide Squad back issues, and I have the Johns Flash stuff in trades, but, really? I only bought about four* DC comics per month back then?

Are DC comics that much better now?

I think they are, although DC hasn't done much to impress me lately, and the Countdown effect has definitely soured me toward much of their output in recent months. Still, looking at that list from 2002 didn't make me feel like that stuff back then was any good, either. Over the past few years I made a conscious decision to immerse myself in Marvel and DC's superhero universes in a way that I never had before. Before, I bought comics exclusively based on the creators. Now, I buy comics because I am immersed in the complex intertextuality of shared superhero continuity. I think that's how most fans start off. Most fans start off buying a variety of comics and then narrow it down to a few creators they follow. I started with a few creators and now I read pretty much everything. I did it backwards, I guess. But I didn't realize how little I bought just a few years ago.

How about you? Do you buy more or less comics now than you did six years ago? Why do you think that is?


*Not including the "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?" stuff I picked up (and I normally wouldn't have bought those titles), in January of 2002 I purchased Catwoman #3, The Dark Knight Strikes Again #2 (although did that REALLY come out that month--probably not, right?), Green Arrow #12, and Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #2. That's it.

EDITED TO ADD: Out of curiosity, I just checked the Marvel solicitations for January 2002. I bought 10 Marvel titles that month, out of 50 or so choices. Half of those were Ultimate titles or X-Men related (Morrison was doing New X-Men and Milligan and Cooke[!] were on X-Factor). Still 14 comics for the whole month--19 if you count the Batman crossover stuff, is less than what I buy in an average week now. Although this little exercise goes to show that even if I think of myself as a "DC guy," which I do, I have been buying (and enjoying) more Marvel titles than DC ones for quite a while.