DC UNIVERSE Reboots in September, Same Day Digital Linewide

[The Valeyard]

This is hitting the newswire as I type. It's popping up on every comic site I read.

DC UNIVERSE Reboots in September, Same Day Digital Linewide
By Lucas Siegel, Newsarama Editor
posted: 31 May 2011 04:32 pm ET



New Jim Lee Justice League,
courtesy DC Comics, USA Today


A fully revamped DC Universe for a "more modern and diverse 21st century", over 50 new #1 issues, a Geoff Johns-Jim Lee Justice League, and the first of the major comic book publishers to fully embrace "same-day" digital distribution...

That is the breaking news DC Entertainment Tuesday afternoon, finally and officially breaking their silence about their post-Flashpoint plans for their flagship line of comic book titles.

The center of intense rumor and speculation for months now, DC confirmed today that the fictional shared universe of Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Lanterm and more will undergo a revamp of their oft-rewritten 76 year-plus history of shared continuity.

Geoff Johns promised USA Today "a focus on the interpersonal relationships within DC's trademark superteam." "What's the human aspect behind all these costumes?" he tells the publication. "That's what I wanted to explore."

The revamp will reportedly involve "introducing readers to stories that are grounded in each character's specific legend but also reflect today's real-world themes and events."

Jim Lee reportedly "spearheaded" the redesign of more than 50 costumes to make characters "more identifiable and accessible to comic fans new and old."

"We looked at what was going on in the marketplace and felt we really want to inject new life in our characters and line," added co-publisher Dan DiDio. "This was a chance to start, not at the beginning, but at a point where our characters are younger and the stories are being told for today's audience."

Along with the revamp, and sure to cause uproar among those who buy comic books as collectibles, all DC Universe titles will also be renumbered with new #1 issues, including the industry's two longest-running titles - Action Comics, the birthplace of Superman - and Detective Comics, the home of Batman and namesake of the publisher - the former of which recently published its 900th issue, with the latter in the 880s.

The first officially announced title and creative team of the new era was revealed as well. DC Entertainment co-publisher Jim Lee and Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns will be teaming as artist and writer, respectively, on Justice League #1, launching August 31st and starring Batman, Superman,Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman.

Finally, DC also announced they plan to make all of their titles available for sale in digital format on the same day as their publlished counterparts, starting with Justice League #1. While the decision could probably be described as inevitable, the announcement will still likely be poorly received among some segments of "Direct Market" comic book retailers, whose stores account for the current backbone of monthly comic book sales.

DC has previously taken steps to ease the eventual move to fully same-day digital distribution, announcng in March a partnership with digital distributor comiXology allowing individual retailers to sell digital editions of DC comics through their websites, for a share of the online retail price.

The publisher also sent a letter directly to direct market retailers addressing their announcement. In it, SVP, Sales, DC Entertainment Bob Wayne told retailers, "DC Comics will support this initiative with an innovative mix of publicity, promotional efforts and retailer incentives designed to maximize your opportunity to increase your DC sales. We will discuss additional details of these incentives when we get closer to solicitation later in June."

"We're allowing people who have never bought a comic book in their lives to download them on portable media devices and take a look," Lee said. "Having the ability to give people access to these comics with one button click means we're going to get a lot of new readers."

Lee told USA Today what makes this plan so ambitious is that it's not just about changes in characters or costumes but setting the stage for how comic books will be consumed in the future.

"We're trying to set the table for the DC Universe's future success and health."

More information, including other creative teams, titles, and character changes, is expected with September 2011 solicitations, which should be released Monday June 13, 2011.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/DC-U...nt-110531.html

I love the idea of same day digital release but the rebooted universe feels like a punch in the gut. They banded this about 25 years ago after Crisis on Infinite Earths and it would have worked then. It just feels like a band-aid now. I don't know. It's a drastic move on DC's part. Maybe it'll work. I hope so. I kinda feel...left behind with this news.

Maybe I'm just too old for comics now. In 1986, I LOVED the new DCU. This news...It just leaves me cold. And sad.

[stingermck]

Ugh. Ive wanted a JLA from Johns, but i dont want a reboot...

[Navinabob]

Meh... in about 5 years they'll just consider this an "alternative" universe and go back. I'm not entirely convinced this is just a easy out to not pay creator licensing for properties now jumping to movies, video games & toys.

[fujishig]

Like I said in the general thread when this rumor first came out, I'm out of monthly collecting. Even if the series are good I can just wait for the trade, and this is just a really convenient way to get out of monthly collecting. Thanks DC!

Usually #1 issues come with a spike in sales, however, when you have 50+ of them, I'm not sure that's the case.

I was getting more into monthly reading too. The Justice League revamp looks to be an upgrade, with Johns and Lee instead of Robinson and Booth, but I'll avoid it anyway, despite slogging through the Robinson run. So I'm still a little confused, are all titles rebooting storyline-wise too? I mean, I realize that they revamped the costumes and are starting with #1, but they can't be throwing away stuff like Batman Inc. already, can they?

edited to add: You know who this really screws? The comic book retailers. 1st day digital downloads is like a slap in the face. Making them refactor orders for every single title in the line, after having gone through three or four months of dozens of miniseries is like a punch in the gut. The hope is that this will drum up enough lasting interest that people will venture into comic book stores... but why bother if you can get them online? And then there are customers like me who were collecting some series due to pure momentum that will now stop and reconsider. There's an easy jumping on point to trade sales instead, which I would think would benefit Amazon more. There are people that are going to be ticked that series that just started are being renumbered already. It brings focus to the reality that comic book universes change all the time, and that big events, like Darkest Night and Brightest Day are meaningless in terms of impact... it's something that we all know deep down in our hearts, but it brings it up to the forefront.

[JasonF]

Jim Lee drawing a rebooted version of a major publisher's flagship titles? I feel like I've seen this movie before...

Also, I just got my prefered LSH continuity back after 20 years without them, so screw you, DC.

[kgrogers1979]

Originally Posted by Navinabob

Meh... in about 5 years they'll just consider this an "alternative" universe and go back.

I agree. Action Comics will be at #1000 in 8 years. The comics will definitely revert back to original numbering by then.

They say they are making the characters younger for the younger generation. What kids today are even reading comics? Most comic readers today are older people in their 30s and 40s that grew up reading comics decades ago. Kids today would rather play video games than read a comic book. This sounds as bad as Spider-man's One More Day where Marvel got rid of the marriage in order to make him more appealing to the younger generation. I guess DC didn't learn anything from Marvel's mistake.

Also if all the characters are getting younger, what happens to all the characters that are already young like Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, the Teen Titans, etc. I guess they will become the Toddler Titans.

[Giantrobo]

Meh, fuck this DC. Start making DCU movies and catch up to MARVEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kgrogers1979]

Here is the full image. It looks like Cyborg may be replacing Martian Manhunter as a founding member of the new JLA. Odd choice if true.

[burnside986]

Jim Lee loves turtlenecks. This I know.

[The Valeyard]

Originally Posted by kgrogers1979

Here is the full image. It looks like Cyborg may be replacing Martian Manhunter as a founding member of the new JLA. Odd choice if true.

Not so odd. Johns has a major hard-on for the "Justice League" (Super Friends) he grew up with. Cyborg was a member of the "Super Powers/Galactic Guardians" version.

Tho the argument could be had that Cyborg has had plenty of mainstream media attention for quite awhile - Teen Titans & Smallville. This could be the next logical step for the character.

Funny - My biggest complaint (for the past 4 years) about DC has been that it felt like their entire universe was stuck trying to re-live the Silver Age/Bronze Age. Every writer/editor grew up with the Super Friends and Donner's Superman so the DCU became that in nature. This is such a radical change in the opposite direction. Well, I hope it works out for them.

[PhantomStranger]

Originally Posted by kgrogers1979

Here is the full image. It looks like Cyborg may be replacing Martian Manhunter as a founding member of the new JLA. Odd choice if true.

The new Justice League would be all-white without him. You can bet that is a strong factor in Cyborg's inclusion here.

As for the reboot, another cheap and desperate attention ploy by one of the big two comic publishers. I expect Marvel to pull these stunts, but DC had showed just a little more integrity up until this stunt. How long does the new numbering last? I give it about 2 years, unless sales tank even faster. This may be DC's attempt to backdoor their version of the Ultimate line on readers, without telling them. Say in two years, they keep this new, revamped continuity for the Ultimate readers and bring back the real DC continuity at the current numbering.

[stingermck]

After speaking with multiple sources throughout the industry on the condition of anonymity, CBR News has learned some of the salient details of DC's September roster, starting with the perhaps telling news that the publisher plans to launch a full 52 monthly titles with #1 issues across the month with 13 new titles shipping each week. The number holds some significance for longtime DC readers as 52 is the number of parallel earths making up DC's multiverse, and CBR has confirmed that the #1 launches will be accompanied by a major reboot of continuity with many pieces of DC's current status quo being rewritten and undone including character relationships and even the existence of some cast members.

Included in the 52 series will be:

A new title starring Superman written by Grant Morrison.

Birds of Prey #1 - This new ongoing series will not feature the work of longtime "BoP" writer Gail Simone. In fact, many tried and true approaches to books will be getting a second look at DC in September.

Teen Titans #1 - The new start for the teen team will be written by "Red Robin" scribe Fabian Nicieza.

Justice Society of America #1 - Only one of a number of current titles that will welcome a creative team shift, the future of the original superhero team will apparently not involve current writer Marc Guggenheim.

Wonder Woman #1 - Don't expect the recent changes from writer J. Michael Straczynski to stick when the Amazing Amazon sees another new #1 hit.

Green Lantern #1 - Even with a new #1, Green Lantern remains in Johns' hands, and readers can expect the effects of major crossovers like "Blackest Night" to stay in place moving forward.

Hawkman #1 - While fans have known a "Hawkman" series by James Robinson has been in the works since the writer mentioned it on a panel at New York Comic Con, Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston has been reporting the rumor that the book will be drawn by "Batman & Robin" and "Outsiders" artist Philip Tan.

Aquaman #1 - No surprises here. The already announced series featuring the sea king by Johns and Ivan Reis will be part of the relaunch wave.

The other seismic shakeup that remains unconfirmed is whether long-standing titles "Action Comics" and "Detective Comics" would also renumber with brand new first issues. However, at this time, CBR has found no confirmation one way or the other on the fate of those titles. DC Comics offered no comment on the above information.

I read somewhere else that JLA will have 12-14 members also.

[sinned]

Heh, I was just thinking the other week that I became a DC convert because they seemed to avoid the Marvel shenanigans of constantly renumbering their titles...... so what do they do? Renumber all of them!

I think it would be interesting though if they do "Ultimatize" the DC Universe, if this is really what they are planning to do.

I don't get the 52 new #1 issues though, there are maybe only 30 ongoing series tops so that means the rest would be mini-series and one-shots.

Quite surprised that Gail Simone is off Birds of Prey, when they relaunched the current BoP series she said that she would never let go of the series again. That lasted what - 14 issues?

Batman: The Dark Knight is only up to issue 3 isn't it? That would be a record for a reboot.

[fujishig]

Don't get me wrong... I give them credit for doing something so radical, because the numerous crossovers have resulted in nothing at all (what did Final Crisis really change, outside of the Bruce thing?) This also perhaps gives them some wiggle room with the Superman rihts. But they better hope that this garners them a ton of new readers, because as much as they always say that you can abuse the old readers because they'll always be there, this might be the final straw. I've been through multiple reboots of the Legion only to finally have it revert back, and this time if anything I'll just wait a few years for the final reversion. Maybe eventually we'll get someone as enamored with the Timmverse as Johns is with Donner's films and the Superfriends.

We'll see with June's sales how many people just completely abandon ship, either to wait for the reboot or just get out altogether.

If the rumors are true that Jim Lee has a few issues already drawn, then that JLA book, at least, looks like the flagship, which is what JLA should be, IMHO, so that's one silver lining.

[Paul_SD]

52 titles implies to me that DC wants to transition to a Netflix style-pay one price, enjoy as much as you want-subscription service as opposed to expecting to make money from people paying for 52 individual issues.

And while they may kick off with 52 hard copy print versions as well, they are going to be adjusting very quickly just how many different books the print market actually supports and segregating the rest to digital app-only availability.

Also, the costume overhauls are going to drive off old-schoolers like myself, but it is unfortunately necessary to court a newer generation of fickle, cynical, and narcissistic readers- most of whom will be afflicted with ADD via brains that have been weaned from birth to multi-task and to process a bombardment of stimuli. What my generation sees as the elegant simplicity of Superman's iconic costume, is going to be replaced with seams, pouches, ribbing, straps, bands, logos, and tons of needless filigree and detail- all so that Generation Z won't find it visually 'boring' and therefore 'dated'.

This new design paradigm is all going to spill over to other media as well, so everyone that just loves the extreme sports body armor and motor cycle bat helmet seen in TDK, is just going to love seeing all the characters in various media now embracing a needless, joyless, more is more literalism.

Yes, DC is going to try to remake it's universe in an 'Ultimates' image.

It's been a long time a-coming, but it looks like I'm going to finally have to grow up and put away childish things after all.

[davidh777]

Saw this on the top of USA Today this morning.

Not a fan of reboots, but then I'm an old codger who likes my Silver Age stuff. But I'm also a LSH fan who gets very confused by all their reboots.

A subscription model in a tablet world could do major damage to a LCS system that is already struggling.

What the heck is on WW's neck? A collar? Necklace? Choker?

[kgrogers1979]

Batman just got a costume redesign in Batman Inc, and now they are redesigning it again. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Wasn't the Earth One series supposed to basically be "Ultimate DC" with younger superheroes? What is the point of Earth One now? Did they cancel it and just not bother to tell anyone?

And if DC thinks they can alienate the older readers while trying to bring in new readers, that just proves they have learned nothing at all. The 90s was an epic failure because they catered to the "speculators" while alienating the long-term readers. The long-term readers began leaving in droves and then when the speculators got tired of it, there was nobody left and the comic book industry nearly crashed. DC apparently has learned nothing from this. I foresee another crash coming soon. I was one such person that got fed up with the "extreme" 90s and left, but I came back in the early 2000s. I am getting fed up with the industry again, and next time I won't be coming back. I am getting too old for this shit.

[fujishig]

Originally Posted by davidh777

Saw this on the top of USA Today this morning.

Not a fan of reboots, but then I'm an old codger who likes my Silver Age stuff. But I'm also a LSH fan who gets very confused by all their reboots.

A subscription model in a tablet world could do major damage to a LCS system that is already struggling.

What the heck is on WW's neck? A collar? Necklace? Choker?

It's so that she can have a v-neck too, which is apparently all the rage in new costumes these days (the underwear outside of your pants thing is out).

Normally the addition of Cyborg to the JLA would give me hope that that's Dick, Donna, and Wally there, but they apparently are going to de-age everyone anyway, so that wouldn't make much sense.

I don't know how they can afford a creative team on a book that they would sell digital-only.

At least they're not giving Superman to Liefeld. Oh wait, the new creative teams haven't been announced yet. But this does seem pretty familiar (singular hero gets pulled into an alternate universe where everything's changed, and he has to make things right! For a few months, we follow the new status quo in multiple mini series. At the end of it, several characters, or in this case all of them, get put into a new continuity filled with pouches and constantly late books drawn by ex-Image artists, with Jim Lee on the flagship title!)

[Paul_SD]

Jim can be a good draftsman- but he sucks as a futurist/industrial/fashion designer.
His design sense was forged in the late 80's early 90's and that's the well he still draws water from.

But I guess it doesn't matter as no matter how they re-design things today, they will end up being hopelessy outdated sooner rather than later. The underwear on the outside of the costume may seem silly to the grim and gritty literalist crowd, but it doesn't matter that it doesn't 'make sense. After 80+ years, the designs have transcended 'needing to make sense' and have become full on iconic.
Most of the new designs won't last 5 years before they have to change them again so as to remain au courant.

[madcougar]

Quit your bitching fanboys! Comic books are like crack rock to geeks like us! Look at me! Three years clean but jonesing for a hit now that it appears I can get in on the ground floor again. These stories are like your mother's warm, sweet milk and maybe not today, but soon you'll yearn to suckle it out of DC's teet. Don't come in here and tell me "I'm done with DC!" It's crap. Look at the shenanigans that Marvel has pulled with Spider-Man, yet he's still their flagship character. Clones? I forgive you! Mindwipe? Sure! Why not!

So shut your mouths and keep buying your books. You know in the end only the sweet embrace of death (real death not Sandman's sister you freakin' nerd!) will prevent you from plopping down your money for your funny books.

[The Valeyard]

Originally Posted by madcougar

Quit your bitching fanboys! Comic books are like crack rock to geeks like us! Look at me! Three years clean but jonesing for a hit now that it appears I can get in on the ground floor again. These stories are like your mother's warm, sweet milk and maybe not today, but soon you'll yearn to suckle it out of DC's teet. Don't come in here and tell me "I'm done with DC!" It's crap. Look at the shenanigans that Marvel has pulled with Spider-Man, yet he's still their flagship character. Clones? I forgive you! Mindwipe? Sure! Why not!

So shut your mouths and keep buying your books. You know in the end only the sweet embrace of death (real death not Sandman's sister you freakin' nerd!) will prevent you from plopping down your money for your funny books.

[flansered]

Originally Posted by fujishig

You know who this really screws? The comic book retailers. 1st day digital downloads is like a slap in the face.

I think that the digital versions are primarily for the people that normally don't go into the comic book shops. Most regular comic buyers will probably stick to buying the individual issues, because that's what they've always done. If jacking the prices up to $4 an issue wouldn't stop them from buying comics, I don't see the downloads hurting.

But honestly, this is all to try to get more people to read comics, but the best way to do that would probably be to lower prices and have more standalone stories, which they're not going to do.

[fujishig]

Originally Posted by madcougar

Quit your bitching fanboys! Comic books are like crack rock to geeks like us! Look at me! Three years clean but jonesing for a hit now that it appears I can get in on the ground floor again. These stories are like your mother's warm, sweet milk and maybe not today, but soon you'll yearn to suckle it out of DC's teet. Don't come in here and tell me "I'm done with DC!" It's crap. Look at the shenanigans that Marvel has pulled with Spider-Man, yet he's still their flagship character. Clones? I forgive you! Mindwipe? Sure! Why not!

So shut your mouths and keep buying your books. You know in the end only the sweet embrace of death (real death not Sandman's sister you freakin' nerd!) will prevent you from plopping down your money for your funny books.

Assuming this is tongue in cheek, I agree that they feel that they can abuse the fanbase adn go after new fans because the old fans will always be there. But there has been severe attrition even for their established fanbase... I think the last month of reported sales in particular were really dismal for them.

For the record, I stopped collecting Spider-man during the clone wars (after really enjoying the McFarlane, then Larsen, then Bagley runs). I picked up a huge hardcover of Ultimate Spiderman (that I think was a B&N exclusive) and I picked up the short Ringo/Dezago Spectacular run, but other than that I haven't read the character in his own title in years. I was a huge X-men fan, and I just can't make heads or tails of what's going on in those books these days. But you know what? All it takes is a great creative team and a great story to bring me back in. I know this because I hadn't collected a Superman title in a long time until All-Star Superman came around.

So this may be a good thing. There are two types of comics I usually collect: ones that are just great titles overall, and ones that I collect mainly because I like the characters and the history of the characters and want to see what's going to happen to them. Sometimes those intersect. I've long ago stopped collecting Marvel titles from the second pile, and this looks like a perfect time to drop that from DC. If this results in more great stories unencumbered by continuity, like All Star Superman, that's great. If it results in stories like All Star Batman, or if this becomes Ultimate DC and eventually collapses under the weight of trying to bring back all that continuity, hopefully I'll save some money.

[Paul_SD]

I was hoping DC and Marvel would go to a European style model and release regular 60+ page albums that told more or less complete stories and move away from monthly floppies.

Instead of 20 (or 52) titles a month, they could have put out eight or 10 albums. For the popular character like Batman, etc- they could cycle them quarterly- a new full story album every three months. For second and third tier characters, maybe one or two a year.
Moving to this kind of model would also allow creative teams to really concentrate on whole pieces- rather than getting worn down by the grind of having to meet a monthly deadline. And since each album is more or less self contained, you can switch creative teams from book to book.

[madcougar]

Originally Posted by fujishig

Assuming this is tongue in cheek, I agree that they feel that they can abuse the fanbase adn go after new fans because the old fans will always be there.

My comment was most definitely tounge in cheek. However, I firmly believe that the majority of people who are still reading these days will have a difficult time quiting. I know that I am still buying HC and TPB for my fix after three years of not buying floppys.

I think the people who are turned off to the point of not buying a book any longer are in the minority. If I was wrong, no way that these companies pull these type of stunts. Again, look at the way that Marvel has treated Spider-Man fans. First they try to tell us that the Peter Parker we'd known for more than 20 years was a clone! Sure they reversed it, but not before reader outcry. Then they go and undo the last 30 years or so of his history! Yet, Spider-Man continues to sell pretty well all things considered.

I was OBVIOUSLY kidding with my first post, but the point I was making is real. People will bitch all they want, but the majority of them will at the very least give the new DC books a look.

From a marketing standpoint it makes perfect sense. DC has a new distribution method and the best way to make a splash with it is by making a SPLASH! Had DC only announced the new distribution method, no way it's front page news in USA Today.