News:

Rings of Reznor!

Main Menu

DC Comics Reboot

Started by B A D, August 10, 2011, 04:50:53 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Tomato

While I agree with almost everything in that article, I wouldn't even be generous about DC pleasing even the "straight white male who reads comics," even if that IS their intent. Benton and I both fall under that umbrella, and while we're very different in terms of our comic preferences, both of us have stopped reading DC comics because of the whole "no character is married in DC" thing. At this point, it's more like "nerds who never leave their parent's basement" demographic, and that is very, VERY short sighted.

Cyber Burn

Yeah, I've been with my wife for 18 years, married for 15 of them, family is important to me. I find it extremely difficult to support a company that isn't going to support family values such as marriage.

DrMike2000

Oops. Sorry, Tomato. Great rant from YOU.

Yeah, I'm another member of their supposed core audience. I've been reading superhero comics for 30-odd years and I'm not digging this move at all.

The "no marriage" rule shows very flawed logic.

I agree with the starting point. One of the most exciting parts of modern life is falling in love - its the last adventure left to us in a world where we're generally not starving or fighting for survival. And it makes sense for fiction to focus on that aspect rather than the relative stability that follows. Take the Spiderman movies by Sam Raimi - the first two form a perfect whole of Peter and MJ's rocky road to getting together. The third movie has them arguing in a restaurant about who's career is more popular or something. (This doesn't mean you can't write a married couple well, but you have less easy material to mine.)

Anyway, DC seem to then go on and say "if our most popular characters are young and single, lets make ALL our characters young and single."
This is the dumb part of their argument. First off, it doesn't work. You know what made Wally West look young? Hanging out with grey-templed Jay Garrick and getting advice off him on being a superhero, or whether he should marry Linda. Ralph and Sue Dibny made Booster Gold and Beetle look more like a pair of likely lads by contrast. Reed and Sue provide contrast to Thing and Torch. etc.

Imagine if DC applied this logic to other groups.
All our most popular characters are male, lets phase out all females.
All our most popular characters are white, so phase out any black or Asian characters.

I've always favoured diversity. That applies to age and marital status too.
Stranger Than Fiction:
The Strangers, Tales of the Navigator and Freedom Force X
www.fundamentzero.com

daglob

#543
Check out the old "Thin Man" series. It shows that married couples can have adventures and be in love years after marriage (although Nora did get ditzier as the series went on). I know I've read a Clive Cussler book about married treasure hunters where their relationship was quite enteraining as they went through various adventures.

It's not the situations, it's whether or not the writer is good enough or creative enough to handle it.

Maybe lack of expierience?

Starman

Ralph and Sue Dibny were inspired by the Thin Man. DC managed to handle their relationship quite well until Identity Crisis...

I always though Alan Moore's Swamp Thing and Grant Morrison's Animal Man handled married protagonists really well ...

Tomato


bearded

Arthur was even married to Mera on Smallville, the show in which they youthenized everyone. Hmm. I think Dido is just wrong. I think him saying that is something writers are just going to ignore. I mean, it was said out of story, it is not like the horrid thing that happened to spidermans family.

Glitch Girl

#547
the door revolves again

From CBR

QuoteDuring the Las Vegas Comic Expo's Superman panel this weekend, writer Scott Lobdell announced he had been released from his duties as writer of "Teen Titans" by way of text message.

While I did not read Teen Titans, nor am I huge Lobdell fan, being fired via text message still seems kind of tacky.

EDIT: See below
-Glitch Girl

"Cynicism is not maturity, do not mistake the one for the other. If you truly cannot accept a story where someone does the right thing because it's the right thing to do, that says far more about who you are than these characters." - Greg Rucka

BentonGrey

It also seems to be a trend.  How ridiculously unprofessional is it to fire someone via text?  E-mail is bad enough.
God Bless
"If God came down upon me and gave me a wish again, I'd wish to be like Aquaman, 'cause Aquaman can take the pain..." -Ballad of Aquaman
Check out mymods and blog!
https://bentongrey.wordpress.com/

Glitch Girl

Edit: It was a joke
QuoteUPDATE 9/30/2013 8:45 AM PT: Scott Lobdell has clarified his comments at Las Vegas Comic Expo after being contacted by CBR, stating he was joking during his response to the question. Lobdell is still writing "Teen Titans" and has not been fired from the book via text message or otherwise.
-Glitch Girl

"Cynicism is not maturity, do not mistake the one for the other. If you truly cannot accept a story where someone does the right thing because it's the right thing to do, that says far more about who you are than these characters." - Greg Rucka

Tomato

I'm reminded of what someone was saying with regards to the Harley Quinn incident... when you have fostered an environment where you can say something that, in any other situation, would be recognised as a joke, and people instantly believe it, you are doing something wrong.

BentonGrey

God Bless
"If God came down upon me and gave me a wish again, I'd wish to be like Aquaman, 'cause Aquaman can take the pain..." -Ballad of Aquaman
Check out mymods and blog!
https://bentongrey.wordpress.com/

bat1987

At first I hated the idea of updated Batman origin but maaan couple of issues in its been really great.

The latest issue (Batman#24) reminded me why I love comics
Spoiler

It has everything. The original first appearance cover tribute, updated Bob Kane costume, first Burton movie refference, another possible but still vague Joker origin, great art, the issue was packed! And its a double sized one so that was a nice surprise too.

Tomato

So I finally got around to reading JLA #23.

I know I know. I made this whole big deal out of not reading DC Comics after the stunt they pulled with Aquaman. And really, I still see this as more an obligation then an actual desire to read these books, in the same way I feel obligated to re-read Countdown for a CSA review on that whole abomination of nature sometime down the line. That having been said... while I won't say the story is GREAT (I haven't read the whole trinity war to actually be invested in that EVENT book, and again, reading this out of obligation more than desire) but I DID see something that made me very happy.



This panel right here. Now, I'm gonna be honest, if this design were around when I did that whole "CSA Aquaman" contest thingie, I wouldn't have bothered. Sure, it's not orange and green (though that'd just take a quick palette swap) but the design is very well done for a character who will apparently only ever be in a few panels in this continuity. It's a nice call back to the 90s costume (which works better as an EEEVVVVIIILLL version anyway), with enough new elements that give the "Sea King" his own unique flair. THIS is a CSA Aquaman I can get behind, unlike certain other abominations I could point out. It helps that this actually looks like a frelling AQUAMAN counterpart.

As for the actual event... I've still got a LOOOOT of comics to review before we get there, but so far... it's ok. They seem to be giving a legitimate reason behind the limited number of CSA members (which is nevertheless annoying since it cuts off potential story options of CSA Green Arrow meeting his counterpart but whatever) but the characters are well written in issue 23 and I like what's been done with Power Ring so far. I still won't forgive DC for mishandling of Aquaman's marriage, but I'm engaged enough to finish reading the event, at least.

Podmark

It was cool when this CSA Aquaman walked out. It's a decent design. I was disappointed when he written out almost immediately. However I understand that the character appears in Phantom Stranger afterwards in some capacity.
Get my skins at:
HeroForce
my Google page

Glitch Girl

So... apparently Supergirl is going to be a Red Lantern

What.  The.  Hell?

This essay sums up my feelings about this pretty well.  I know I've given up on DC comics in general, but seriously guys, are you trying to make me actively hate you?  Do the creators at DC have such miserable real life lives that it must spill over into the DCU, making it a joyless and grim place?  Share the misery, so to speak?
-Glitch Girl

"Cynicism is not maturity, do not mistake the one for the other. If you truly cannot accept a story where someone does the right thing because it's the right thing to do, that says far more about who you are than these characters." - Greg Rucka

Kenn

Hmm.  What are the odds, that the the counter at HasDCDoneSomethingStupid.com has gone back to zero?


Is there anyone out there who is still actually reading DC Universe titles?   I get "Batman '66" and "Astro City" but I gave up the main DCU titles when I finally gave up "Aquaman".
My Amazing Woman - A Romantic Comedy of Super Heroic Proportions.

Also what Lightning Man and Kenn-X have been doing lately.

bat1987

#557
Quote from: Kenn on November 12, 2013, 05:53:35 PM
Is there anyone out there who is still actually reading DC Universe titles?   I get "Batman '66" and "Astro City" but I gave up the main DCU titles when I finally gave up "Aquaman".

I'm reading some stuff. Batman line of books is fun for the most part. Swamp Thing and Animal Man too. Wonder Woman is also pretty good. Justice league line of books I follow depending on the story. Some things they do are good some are bad...

Tbh I rarely post in this topic because the negativity has gotten way out of hand. Which is fine and all, everyone has a right to voice their opinion, just not my thing.

Podmark

I read Scott Synder's Batman, as well as Geoff Johns' Justice League, JLA, and Forever Evil. I also get Grant Morrison's Batman Incorporated in trade format (just one more left).

Batman is a very good title, though I'm not huge on the current Zero Year story arc. The Joker and Owl stories were great though.
I became a big fan of Morrison's Batman run over time, and I'm very excited to see the ending (though I've heard mixed things).
I would recommend both series.

The Justice League books are a mixed bag. I liked Trinity War for the most part, and Forever Evil is okay so far. Johns has been pretty good at keeping me intrigued on JLA and Forever Evil.


Quote from: bat1987 on November 12, 2013, 06:29:19 PM
Tbh I rarely post in this topic because the negativity has gotten way out of hand. Which is fine and all, everyone has a right to voice their opinion, just not my thing.

I suspected this might be the case. This disappoints me. I like discussing my weekly comics.

Get my skins at:
HeroForce
my Google page

BentonGrey

I'd be interested in hearing more of your thoughts on Justice League, Pod.  I dropped the book after Throne of Atlantis, so I haven't read a lot of the later stuff, but I was increasingly disappointed with it.  I just found that I didn't particularly like any of the League as Johns portrayed them, and I didn't find their stories terribly interesting.  It's weird, because I thought that the pieces of the book, the ideas of the plot and the basics of the characters, were all really interesting.  I just didn't much care for how they came together.  Part of the trouble is all of the books just feel so darn short.  It's got to be really challenging to tell meaty stories given the multiple constraints DC writers face: limited page counts, pressure towards a trade-centric style, and a profusion of (admittedly beautiful) splash pages. 
God Bless
"If God came down upon me and gave me a wish again, I'd wish to be like Aquaman, 'cause Aquaman can take the pain..." -Ballad of Aquaman
Check out mymods and blog!
https://bentongrey.wordpress.com/

Podmark

I meant to say that about Supergirl as a Red Lantern I don't really have any opinion without knowing what the story is.

Good question Benton. First off the art is always great, but that's no surprise it is the flagship book.
Generally I find the book is just okay. The conflicts always feel epic, but there's not all that much going on with the characters. That lack of character development would be my biggest problem, my other problem would be that the League rarely feel like a true team, and I think that's because they skipped to 5 years later and they spend half their time arguing with each other. The most interesting and relatable character for me was Steve Trevor, he just had more going on with his relationship with WW and being on the out with the team. Most of the other characters who were just there. Not surprising since so many of them belonged to other books. I did feel the book was getting better as it went on. The new additions (Firestorm, Element Woman, and Atom) helped keep me interested and the Shazam backups were pretty good, I found myself getting into Billy and Freddie's story.

I like JLA a more. The characters seemed to have more going on and there was a lot of intrigue around the Secret Society and the characters motivations.

Neither are my favorite books. To say more I'd probably have to go pull out my issues and refresh my memory.

Get my skins at:
HeroForce
my Google page

Silver Shocker

#561
So I've been meaning to come in here and give my thoughts on some of the comics I've been reading too.

Batman: Scott Synder's a excellent writer, and I am routinely impressed by his Batman book. However, I find it hard to get excited for it between issues. It's just a really solid, sometimes very impressive Batman solo book. Now I'll admit Death of the Family I thoroughly enjoyed, Capullo's art is great and Synder does seem to give Bruce at least one "Hell Yeah" moment every issue or so. I also find Harper Row interesting, I'd want to read more about her. I'm also not sure if I'll want to follow Batman Eternity as it comes out. I'd definitely read it in trade form but I don't know if I've got it in me to read that much Batman regularly; it'd be a real time sink and drain my wallet.

Justice League: The current book of Justice League I didn't really enjoy that much until the rookie characters showed up. I used to buy the Meltzer, McDuffie, and Robinson runs of JLA and always found the younger, less established characters more interesting since the writers were more free to actually DO stuff with them.  I've found that to be true here.  The art's great. Some of the trust issues between the characters get a little grating (why does Batman change his mind about Booster Gold's JLI?) though I got a big laugh at Batman spying on Superman and Wonder Woman's relationship because of how on the nose and typical paranoid-Batman it was. I call him the Bat-Voyeur.

Trinity War: I actually enjoyed the Trinity War. I found it started strong, got a bit dull in the middle, but had a pretty cool ending, even if it was a blatant lead in to Forever Evil. 

Forever Evil: I'm enjoying reading the mean book, and the Justice League tie-ins to it have been decent. my biggest interest in FE is seeing what's gonna happen with Nightwing, and finding out the answers to the big mysteries in the book
Spoiler
("Who's the hooded guy" and "What threat ravaged the CSA's world?).
I'm also enjoying Luthor's role in the story, as well as the Rogue's, and the guest appearances by the Teen Titans (though I seem to recall having issues with how they were written/drawn)

JLA: I liked this more than Justice League, but not during FE. The tie in storyline in JLA is a weird, kinda dull filler-ish storyline, with poorer art than the book had before. I'll actually kinda awaiting the end of it so the book can get more interesting. I do marginally enjoy reading the origin of Stargirl though. I liked this version of the character.
"Now you know what you're worth? Then go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers, saying you're not where you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that, and THAT AIN'T YOU. YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!"
~Rocky Balboa

bat1987

#562
Looking forward to Batman: Eternal. But only gonna get that in trade, since its weekly series.
I like Forever Evil for the most part but it feels a bit dragged out IMO. Justice league tie in is really good, especially Ultraman and Owlman's origins.




Tomato

I agree with FE being dragged out, but I think a huge part of that is that the writers are having so much fun with the change of pace that they're in no real rush to go back immediately.

Me personally though, I'm in geek heaven. I've dedicated an entire blog to the Crime Syndicate, and while my devotion will always be to the Morrison rendition (JLA: Omega notwithstanding) DC has been doing some really great work with the Crime Syndicate, and this entire crossover has been extremely well done. It's clear they put thought and effort into this whole event, and that this was planned out far enough in advance that they ironed out all the kinks before having to do retcons less than a year in.

Yes, I'm being a bit sarcastic, but if the entire N52 had been this well made, I'd still be as excited about it as I was in the beginning. I'll certainly be buying the trades of both the main book and justice league, though I'm going to wait for the inevitable "event" torrent to decide if I'm interested in anything else. The one I'd be most likely to get would be Aquaman, but I still haven't forgiven Didio for his nonsense, so I dunno. I'll wait to read it first.

bat1987

Picked up 'tec 27 and I gotta say it was better than I expected. Although the story I was looking forward the most ended up being my least favorite (case of the crime syndicate) its a really nice collection.

Gothopia seems like its going to be fun, and Snyder's futuristic story I liked a lot, would make a cool canon future for Bruce.

Podmark

Hey so Wally is coming back...that's good...hopefully...maybe....

Honestly I'm happy DC is using the character again but I have to reserve any further comment until I see the context.
Get my skins at:
HeroForce
my Google page

AfghanAnt

Quote from: Podmark on January 14, 2014, 05:38:37 AM
Hey so Wally is coming back...that's good...hopefully...maybe....

Honestly I'm happy DC is using the character again but I have to reserve any further comment until I see the context.

Oddly enough he looks like Pollux which I'm not really happy with...gosh I miss the old DCU especially Connor Kent.

Cyber Burn

Quote from: Podmark on January 14, 2014, 05:38:37 AM
Hey so Wally is coming back...that's good...hopefully...maybe....

Honestly I'm happy DC is using the character again but I have to reserve any further comment until I see the context.

For me, Wally West IS The Flash. He was The Flash that I grew up with, and I am very glad to know that he's coming back. Of course, I couldn't tell you the last time that I actually picked up a new comic book, so I probably won't be picking this one up either.

As for his costume, I have no problem with seeing a blue Flash, but this design is just too much, way overdone. DC needs to tone it down...a lot.

Tomato

So I finally sat down and read through the Earth 2 books tonight... and just wow. I know I was in the camp that was kinda blah about Earth 2 originally... but this has been a fun ride.

deano_ue

#569
Quote from: Tomato on January 26, 2014, 07:41:40 AM
So I finally sat down and read through the Earth 2 books tonight... and just wow. I know I was in the camp that was kinda blah about Earth 2 originally... but this has been a fun ride.

shame they spoiled the whole who is the new batman mystery with the announcement of the earth 2 toyline