With Comic-Con finally wrapped, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I would’ve handled the DC Reboot situation, were I the Man in Charge.
Since the initial announcements, there’s been some moments of brilliance – starting with the fact that doing something as drastic as restarting and expanding all the properties has people paying a lot of attention to DC Comics. So from that perspective, mission accomplished.
But a lot of moves since then have been a little baffling. There WILL be current readers who throw up their hands, say “Fuck it!” and stop buying in frustration, after hearing that the Lois-Clark marriage is being erased, or trying to make statements like, “Oh yeah all the major events of the last 25 years totally happened” jibe with “Also, the Justice League is only five years old and they were the first superheroes. Except Batman’s been operating for 10.” DC’s hope that they’ll somehow manage to gain more readers than they lose is a huge question mark.
(Also: When readers hear Dan Didio explain – with a straight face – that what they really think is a great idea for Superman is to make him a lonely, isolated figure who’s exploring his alien side; and this is a wonderful idea, for a character called MARTIAN MANHUNTER.)
And of course, they’re putting a lot of time and effort behind books that seem like obvious nonstarters (I can see the crossover appeal drawing some Vampire Diaries/True Blood/Twilight fans to “I, Vampyre,” but there are, straight-up, only about 5 people who give a shit about Captain Atom).
Point is, they’re doing it the way they think is best, but from the outside, it looks…risky.
But here’s how I would have done it, and once I started thinking about it, I was surprised just how far in the opposite direction I would’ve gone – to generate excitement while minimizing risk.
Idea 1. CUT THE LINE.
See what I mean? Read more »
