Roger’s Comic Rambling: DC’s New 52
Roger Ash
by Roger Ash
There’s been a lot of talk around the Interwebs about DC renumbering all their DC Universe books to #1 and the changes that will happen to the characters. We’ve even talked about it on the Westfield blog and on our Facebook page. I figured I’d join in with a few thoughts of my own.
Something I find interesting is how many people have decided the comics are going to suck without reading a single word of them. Their opinion is based solely on what they think is going to happen or rumors that they’ve read. And here’s the sad fact about that – for them, the comics will suck. The reason I say this is because I’ve found if you go into a situation expecting to hate it, you will because you’re so focused on the bad you’re blinded to the good.
I have no problem with someone saying, “I’m not going to read that book because I don’t like what the writer or artist has done in the past.” That’s a valid point based on experience. However, basing your opinion of a book on little more than rumors and hearsay strikes me as silly.
Superman #1
Along with fellow Westfielder Josh Crawley, I went to the DC Roadshow in Rosemont, a Chicago suburb, this past Monday. The point of the show was to speak with retailers about “The New 52.” (I think that was the phrase they used. Even if they didn’t, it’s what I’m going to use because I like it.) I was curious about what they would say as I had some trepidation about the relaunch since real facts about it seemed sparse.
The meeting was run by DC’s Dan DiDio, Bob Wayne, and John Rood. They presented information about the books, some retailer specific information, and answered a lot of questions. I’m not going to go over things piece by piece, but here’s what I thought about what was said.
A quick note: None of this is what any of the people from DC actually said. I didn’t record it or take that extensive of notes. These are my paraphrases and interpretations of what we were told.
Justice League Dark #1
I don’t think most of the changes will be as radical as people believe they will be. I’m sure there will be some big changes, but for the most part those are going to come from books and characters that are not first-stringers. We were told that books that are selling well, such as Batman and Green Lantern, wouldn’t be changing much.
The biggest change that I could discern would be a change in storytelling. “Writing for the trade” will be discouraged as they think that has been detrimental to sales. Picking up the second issue in a six issue story felt like you were coming in on page 23 and completely missing what had happened previously. This is deadly to the casual reader. They are very much championing a storytelling style where you can pick up any issue of a comic and know everything you need to enjoy that issue and it will be a dynamic, exciting story. That is how things worked in the past and worked well for collectors as well as casual readers. And bringing back the casual reader is vital to the health of the comic market.
They may “plan for a trade,” in that they may still collect six issues, but it could be two single issues stories and a four-issue story, two three-issue stories, one six-issue story, or whatever.
DC is very dedicated to what they are doing. They know they are taking a big chance and want to do it right. They put together creators on books that they are excited about. They will continue to promote “The New 52” actively up till September and beyond. And there are still secrets. DC is intentionally holding back some information that will be revealed as September draws closer.
Coming out of the meeting, I’m cautiously optimistic about “The New 52.” I think there are going to be some great comics to come out of this. Yes, there will be some dogs too, but that’s bound to happen. Not every comic released is a hit.
Resurrection Man #1
What am I looking forward to? George Perez working on Superman tops my list. I love George’s work and look forward to him working his magic on the Man of Steel. The members of Justice League Dark intrigue me and the fact that it’s written by Peter Milligan is the icing on the cake. I’m not that familiar with Resurrection Man, but I’ll give it a try based solely on the fact that I like Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s writing. I’ll also be giving Suicide Squad, Justice League, Action Comics, Swamp Thing, and a few others a read.
I’ve been reading comics since the late 70s. I’ve heard a lot of interesting phrases over that time. Things like:
“Who’s this Alan Moore guy and who cares what he does with Swamp Thing?”
“I liked Miller’s Daredevil, but couldn’t stand Ronin. His Batman book will probably stink too.”
“Who the hell is that in Thor’s costume? Beta Ray Bill? This’ll never fly.”
“John Byrne on Superman? It’ll never work. He’s a Marvel guy.”
“Sandman? The old Kirby character? Who is this Neil Gaiman anyway?”
“Starman’s a tired old property. No one can breathe life into him.”
Now, I’m not saying that “The New 52” is going to produce the next Dark Knight Returns or Sandman, but it could and you’ll never find out if you dismiss them out of hand.
Me? I’m going to go along for the ride and see what happens. This could be fun.
Now, go read a comic!
July 2nd, 2011 at 7:45 pm
I have found over the years that just about every comic is worth a read -after all yesterdays crappy old comic is todays masterpiece -lighten up a bit folks -its a comic thats all that matters.
July 3rd, 2011 at 11:04 am
I personally think DC is in panic mode. Their books have gotten progressively worse over the last couple of years. Every book these days seems to be part of a company-wide crossover (This is just as true for Marvel.) and I refuse to be forced into reading books I don’t like just to read a complete story so I’ve just dropped books I read that have become muddled/included into another convulted mess of a storyline. Westfield’s Wayne Markley says DC claims they’re doing this to bring excitement to comics. Funny, better writers and decent artists could have done that as well. I may sample George Perez’s Superman and Jim Lee’s Justice League because they’re two of the last true superstars, along with John Byrne, left in comics.
July 4th, 2011 at 8:03 am
So unless we’ve read and disliked previous work by the creative team, it’s “silly” to use the solicits, interviews and other promotional material in order to make a choice, as a consumer, about which books we’re going to read?
How does that make any sense at all?
Isn’t the point of all this promotional material to give potential readers information and help them assess which books they’re going to enjoy? Am I somehow obliged, as a comic book fan, to purchase and read every single new DC book because it’s impossible to judge whether there’s a chance I will dislike them before having read them?
I think you’re the one who’s being silly here. Of course we can’t talk about the quality of these books until they’ve come out. But we definitely can assess whether the direction they are going in is likely to be of interest to us. When a writer like Judd Winick does an interview about his Catwoman book and the only thing he seems to have to say about her is that she’s sexy, sexy, sexy, and all the PR about the book points to the same thing, I think it’s a pretty safe bet that this book is not going to be to everyone’s liking. It says something about the direction and the approach, if not about the quality. And that’s the kind of thing most comments I’ve read about the New 52 have focused on. It’s perfectly legitimate.
The whole idea that we’re forbidden to say anything negative about anything until we’ve read it is ridiculous. The new costumes for the Teen Titans are bloody awful, and I don’t care how great the story might end up being – that book is dead to me because there’s no way I can pay money for this kind of awful 90s-retro garbage. I have not read the book, but I can tell you right now that I would not like it if I did. And I don’t see what’s silly about it, since it’s based on the information and art that DC has provided in order for me to evaluate the book.
Having said that, there are some books that I think have a lot of potential, and I’m looking forward to them. Again, based on the info and art provided. Is that also considered silly, or is it okay to speculate as long as it’s positive?
July 4th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
“So unless we’ve read and disliked previous work by the creative team, it’s “silly” to use the solicits, interviews and other promotional material in order to make a choice, as a consumer, about which books we’re going to read?”
Nope. That’s not what I wrote. What I said was “basing your opinion of a book on little more than rumors and hearsay strikes me as silly.”
Those are two very different statements.
July 5th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
But nobody does that (as far as I can see). It’s not “little more than rumors and hearsay.” There are solicits, artwork, interviews, etc. There’s been a lot of promotional material pumped out by DC since the relaunch was announced, and that’s what people react to.
Who are these people dismissing books based on rumours? A few random paranoid fans on message board? Why even pay any attention to them?
The blogs I read and the comic fans I talk to are reacting to the stuff that DC is putting out there, not rumours and hearsay. And yet people (mostly straight white males who happen to fit the ONLY demographic DC is actively courting) still dismiss their concerns with “But you haven’t read the books yet!”
You’re conveniently phrasing your accusation in a way that makes it impossible to refute. But since you’re not pointing the finger at anyone in particular, it’s kind of empty and meaningless. So it has the benefit of making you sound right, supporting the idea that to criticize the books before they come out is silly, while in fact there are plenty of perfectly valid reasons to be concerned about some of the books, none of which you address directly.