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DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

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DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Old 01-22-16, 12:33 PM
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DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

DC goes full Marvel by relaunching (not rebooting) their line with all new #1s in June with a twist toward television and the movies.

All left over New 52 books end in May with #52.


DC Comics To Relaunch Everything With #1s Again This Summer With A Film/TV Bent

Bleeding Cool has run a number of stories about upcoming changes expected after the publication of the issue 52s of the remaining New 52 launch titles from five years ago.

And it seems like it’s time to do the New 52 Relaunch all over again, in June.

Bleeding Cool broke the story on a spate of name change relaunches and certain books going bi-weekly at DC Comics this summer. But it seems this is only a part of it.

I understand that a top down change has filtered through the publisher which will see another relaunch for DC Comics with everything getting a new #1 in June – those that survive that is.

And the new line even more dominated with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn/Suicide Squad-related titles.

Anything tying in with a film and/or TV show like Flash, Green Arrow will be okay, anything that’s not is less so. I haven’t heard about Green Lantern...

But yes, this will mean another big issue 1 relaunch. Could this be All-New All-Different A-Bit-Like-The-TV-Shows DC Comics?

Developing…
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Old 01-22-16, 12:57 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Not a big surprise, I always figured they'd do something once titles like Batman or Superman reached issue 52.
Old 01-22-16, 12:57 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Cool, sounds good.

Que the nerd rage
Old 01-22-16, 01:02 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

I'm sure most will think this means that DC is rebooting again. Relaunching new #1s is, unfortunately, the norm now. I'm surprised DC waited this long.
Old 01-22-16, 01:03 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Yup, Marvel does it every year. Hell why even have numbers anymore? Just put a date on it.
Old 01-22-16, 01:36 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Originally Posted by stingermck
Yup, Marvel does it every year. Hell why even have numbers anymore? Just put a date on it.
Because #1 means it is worth more.
Old 01-22-16, 01:41 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

This may be my chance to finally quit reading comic books... maybe.
Old 01-22-16, 02:09 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Originally Posted by madcougar
This may be my chance to finally quit reading comic books... maybe.
Numbering gimmicks shouldn't have anything to do with your decision to quit reading comics. Now buying them is another thing.
Old 01-22-16, 02:11 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Originally Posted by Spiderbite
Because #1 means it is worth more.
Does that trick even work any more? Are suckers investors still buying multiple copies of every #1 as an investment?

If sales of #1 spike, I would imagine it would be because folks are seeing them as good jumping-on points. But continuities are so convoluted these days that I doubt it helps much.
Old 01-22-16, 02:13 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Originally Posted by madcougar
This may be my chance to finally quit reading comic books... maybe.
The key to happiness with superhero comics is to a) stop caring about continuity and b) read what you find enjoyable and drop anything you don't.

I gave up on DC when they implemented the "trucker cap" era, and if the way forward is to be more like the Snyder films, I will continue to enjoy not reading them.
Old 01-22-16, 02:23 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

I think most expected something like this to happen as New 52 sales were petering out.

In 2016, this is probably the best avenue for DC to take. The New 52 broke many older readers of their DC habit, so pandering to mainstream fans is left.

I think the idea of one shared universe or continuity across their entire line will look very quaint at Marvel and DC in ten years. As the fan bases fracture even more, you'll have smaller shared universes built around a couple of key books.
Old 01-22-16, 02:28 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Originally Posted by Preterite
Does that trick even work any more? Are suckers investors still buying multiple copies of every #1 as an investment?

If sales of #1 spike, I would imagine it would be because folks are seeing them as good jumping-on points. But continuities are so convoluted these days that I doubt it helps much.
Yes, Marvel sees a spike whenever they release a new #1. Stores will order more because of the reason you mention, readers see it as a jumping-on point. Tho that trick may not work too well anymore. Some stores are reporting a record number of people not picking up the new Marvel #1s. But that may be because the ending to Secret Wars was delayed and people were holding off.

So funny that during the Silver Age, new #1s were seen as a curse because people were afraid to try something new. If it wasn't nearing #100, people avoided it.
Old 01-22-16, 02:45 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Outrage! Now I can jump off the DC train!

Oh wait, I did that with the new 52. Though maybe I'll use the opportunity to drop my remaining monthly, Batgirl, since I'm sure they'll be changing it up soon enough.

According to Brian Hibbs, the recent Marvel relaunch has been a disaster in terms of sales, at least at his store.
Old 01-22-16, 03:20 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

I have been debating about not buying comics anymore so this seems like a good time/reason to shut my pull list down.
Old 01-22-16, 03:29 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Don't let this put you off buying comics, just let it put you off buying DC comics. There are so many great books out there not published by Marvel or DC.
Old 01-22-16, 04:05 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Company-wide continuity is becoming impossible. There's simply too much history involved now to fit everything into a single coherent timeline and still have characters that are "relevant with today's yoof".

DC tried to have their cake and eat it, too, by shoehorning the BatFamily's established history into a five-year timeframe - which means since 2010, Bruce has trained something like 17 Robins and Dick Grayson has operated as NightWing for almost as long as Bruce has been Batman.
Old 01-22-16, 04:28 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

DC had to shoehorn both the Batman and Green Lantern pre-Flashpoint continuities into the New 52 because of Morrison and Johns. They weren't done with their play time yet, even though someone somewhere decided it was time to reboot the universe. Plus they made such big changes and additions to those respective titles mythos that it's really hard to undo it. DC doesn't want to eliminate potential money makers like Red Hood (obviously pre-Morrison) and Damian. DC doesn't want to eliminate the whole color spectrum and the world of sales that opened up on the GL side of things.

They probably could have handled it a little better in terms of setting a new continuity, but it was always going to be a mess.

And now there really isn't a hard continuity anymore after Convergence. Like the new Lois and Clark book is allegedly set 9-years after Convergence but we all know that isn't going to stick, just like none of the pre-Convergence Future's End possible-alternative-futures are going to stick. Hitch's JLA isn't in any specific continuity. Other books still kind-of carry that New 52 continuity. It's loose and it's a mess.

The relaunch will probably temporarily spike sales because #1s look like a good jumping on point, but I wouldn't expect anything to change or make sense continuity wise.
Old 01-22-16, 05:02 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

I don't need continuity to be so strict that you can't do anything with the characters. I didn't mind Marvel's rolling continuity, or little things like Sharon Carter not being Peggy's sister anymore, etc. Because for the most part the characters were the same. That's where DC lost me, when they just completely rebooted and drastically changed stuff like the Titans and the JSA.
Old 01-22-16, 05:05 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

They really need to put the year on the covers if they keep insisting on restarting numbering. I imagine it will be a nightmare in a few years for someone trying to get issues to complete a story. If they need Batman #5 and go look and find there are multiple Batman #5's available. Unless he knows the cover art or can look inside for the print date, he's screwed.

Maybe I'm just weird but I'd rather have high #s on issues. Seems that would be a sign of quality of a book if it had survived to be in the hundreds. Now it just looks like a series failed and they are trying again.
Old 01-22-16, 05:28 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Honestly, if Comixology didn't put the (2014-2015) designations on their series listings, I'd be so lost.
Old 01-22-16, 07:12 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

I love the concept of a consistent company continuity spanning decades, but yeah, it really is impossible to make even a good chunk of a company's history 'work'.

So now I just trick my mind into selectively ignoring it or embracing it as I read certain runs.

Comics are just as awesome today as they were in my youth, it's just different now. Most of the really great stuff are books from Image or Dark Horse that are self-contained in their own universe, but I can still enjoy some Marvel and DC messes as well.
Old 01-22-16, 08:16 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Originally Posted by fujishig
According to Brian Hibbs, the recent Marvel relaunch has been a disaster in terms of sales, at least at his store.
This is true. Marvel has had one relaunch too many and people are tired of it. The bigger problem was that this reboot started in October as part of what happened during the Secret Wars event. Guess what? Marvel was halfway through that series when the relaunch came along instead of putting out the final issue like they planned to. That is biting them in the ass. Secret Wars 9 (of what was supposed to be an 8 issue miniseries, excluding issue 0) came out last week, 3 months after it was supposed to. Marvel is very lucky to have Star Wars now because that's what's mostly selling from their line of books. They are completely arrogant to everything else going in their company because they are still the sales leader in the industry.

As for DC Comics, they need to fire Didio, demote Geoff Johns and Jim Lee and simply stop having corporate (WB) trying to push decisions from above. WB doesn't know comic books. They don't like comic books. They treat comic books with a lot of disdain, similar as how they saw and treated WCW when it was part of their company. They have 2 options:

1- Sell the company and all their characters
2- Put someone in charge that has total control of the company, knows and respects their history and will not be given notes or mandates from corporate. I suggest that man to be Bruce Timm

Rebooting their line to any other thing that is not the Pre-Flashpoint DC Universe will completely backfire for them. Rebooting to sync with the Cinematic Universe will certainly be their worst decision ever. Their Cinematic Universe doesn't inspire any confidence among comic book readers, contrary to what Marvel has done. Man of Steel was a financial but a borderline critical success. If they continue the current path they are in, their long term success will be doubtful. Consumers can clearly see when a company is peddling a product to sell merchandise like toys and T-shirts and they won't fall for that shit. Examples of this are the Schumacher Batman films, Green Lantern, Jonah Hex and Superman Returns.

DC Comics has lost ground big time since the New 52 reboot. People simply don't like any of it except Batman. Justice League started actually selling after DC stop trying to push the "less words, more action" idea on the book. The company still salvageable if they get rid of the management who have put them in this position. Except for Didio and Johns, every other person involved over at DC Comics right now (Lee, Harras, Lobdell) are directly responsible for driving Marvel Comics to bankruptcy. Didio and Johns are simply 2 more additions to this inept group of people. And contrary to Marvel, DC Comics doesn't have a license like Star Wars that brings tons of revenue consistently to the company.
Old 01-22-16, 08:17 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Originally Posted by resinrats
Maybe I'm just weird but I'd rather have high #s on issues. Seems that would be a sign of quality of a book if it had survived to be in the hundreds. Now it just looks like a series failed and they are trying again.
I'd rather have high numbers as well. I don't know why these companies think they have to renumber their titles every couple years. No one had any trouble jumping into them before.
Old 01-22-16, 10:39 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

I think we lost the war on numbering years ago. It killed me when they ended decades of Action Comics and Detective Comics numbering.

Everything now is treated as an endless parade of mini-series that just so happen to feature the same characters.
Old 01-22-16, 11:35 PM
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re: DC Comics to relaunch everything with #1s in June 2016

Originally Posted by PhantomStranger
I think we lost the war on numbering years ago. It killed me when they ended decades of Action Comics and Detective Comics numbering.
I agree. When they revamped a lot of the titles in the early 70's they didn't re-number anything. Who are they trying to fool by starting at #1 yet again? Where readers more intelligent back then when they were marketing to 12 year olds and not some old dudes in their 40's and 50's still reading comic books.

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