Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Great DC Comics Reboot of 2011

The majority of the titles for this crazy reboot thing have been announced now, with only the Superman books remaining.  Honestly, I think there is a lot to like about what has been announced.  There isn't anything particularly earth shattering, but for the most part there doesn't appear to be to many egregious mis-steps.

I like that the line has some diversity to it now.  There are supernatural/fantasy titles, action oriented titles, westerns titles, even the superhero titles appear to be quite diverse in tone.  The creative teams also seem quite diverse with several indie creators making the jump to mainstream titles.  We'll see how long all this lasts, I'm guessing some of the more interesting titles (Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE, Firestorm, Stormwatch) will get canceled after not too long due to low sales.  But maybe going digital will help save some of the more marginal books.  We'll see.

I don't particularly care for the influx of 90's era Marvel talent.  Scott Lobdell isn't the worst writer in the world, but I'm not sure why he got the call and Bryan Q. Miller and especially Brian Wood didn't.  Its a little strange that a writer who hasn't contributed to a Marvel or DC book in about 10 years is now in charge of three titles, but I suppose it could work out decently enough.  I really have no idea what could be motivating DC to put Rob Liefeld on a book in 2011 though.  I know there is an increasing nostalgia for 90's comics, and I'm all for a diverse comics line... but seriously?

Anyway, I like a lot more than I dislike about the revamped DC comics.  At least for now, it looks like they are making a genuine effort to cater to range of different fans.  I don't particularly care for some of the choices they've made, but not all of DC Comics' output is meant to appeal to me.  I'll probably be reading more DC books after the reboot than I am now which bodes well for the success of this whole thing I think.

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