DC reborn?

Big news on the comics web this week, of course, is that DC is "re-booting" its entire franchise, starting everything fresh with more than 50 "first issues" of old and new superhero properties. Other genres: war, horror, etc., are also promised.

As part of this, digital versions of the comics will be offered the same day paper versions are released: Both versions priced at $3.99, with the digital version dropping to $2.99 after it's been out a week.

I figure most folks who find this blog are a little like me: Old. I grew up in the Bronze Age and have seen a re-boot or two. They all seem to have the same trajectory:

• Big event, big hype and excitement: A new beginning! Everything changes! New readers will jump on board.
• Big sales, mainly due to curiosity, speculation and those who have fallen for the hype.
• Enui sets in.
• Aging fans gripe about the changes.
• Publisher backtracks: Dropped continuity is restored, issue numbering is restored, new titles and characters are dropped. Few, if any, new comic book readers are created.
• Everyone waits for the next big event.

It's ok, publisher's need to try new stuff to jazz up their lines. Fans needs to see new approaches. But the underlying promise is unfulfilled: The changes don't work to revitalize the comics market, they don't revitalize the medium and characters. They stir the pot a little, but everything remains the same.

DC's new move is a bit bigger and more radical the previous events and reboots, but I don't hold out much hope that it will change things for the better. Or change things much at all. See previews of the comics makes me even more depressed: Images that look pretty much the same in the mostly lackluster titles the publisher puts on the stand today. In fact, having grunge-era, fanboy darling Jim Lee as the artistic driver of all this seems like a bad way to do something "new." All the preview art I've seen looks inspired by him and his former Image cronies: Over-rendered and over-muscled, stiff, characters all sporting the same, menacing expression.  The new Aquaman looks like a jack-booted thug on his way to kick down your door in the middle of the night and put you on a train to someplace unpleasant.

I could be wrong. This could be the one re-boot that really changes things and sticks. But history informs me that this is highly unlikely.

Right now, I read views from fans and retailers who are worried about this. They're worried about their favorite characters changing, they're worried the current audience will go away.


Do these folks have memories? The current fans will buy this stuff, because they buy anything. Nobody new will buy it. But the existing audience isn't going away. If the new books are bad, they'll change back into being pretty much the old books. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the issue numbering reverts, too.
The digital factor is interesting. We'll see how it plays out. My sense is that fans my age don't want to read comics on a screen and younger fans would rather see images that move (and that they can shoot) when they fire up their gadgets.

I guess my eternal hope when I hear publishers promise to shake things up like this is that they'll really shake things up:

• Focus on putting innovative, imaginative artists on titles and revitalize titles that way. Don't stick them with generic stories and art.
• Re-think comics distribution and format. How can we get superheroes on more magazine stands? A commitment to a larger format? Should everything go to graphic novel format? How to you get titles where new, young fans will see them while not killing off the comic book shops?
• Really start everything fresh. Do first issues that truly make it seem like this is the first time you're seeing Batman, Superman, etc. Wipe away all old continuity and create new stories. Focus on making every issue somebody's first -- so new readers who spot a comic someplace they actually go (i.e. not the comics shop), can pick it up, read it and get hooked without getting confused.
• Make a commitment to other genres beyond the superhero world.

DC's obviously not going that far. We'll soon learn if they've gone far enough to change anything beyond the numbers on their comic book covers.