52 thoughts about the new DC Comics universe

As you may have seen on the Web, DC Comics is revamping its entire line of superhero comics with a slate of new #1 issues, the first batch of which will appear in September. The full line will include 52 titles, some familar, some new. Some characters are being changed a little, some a lot. Everyone's speculating whether this is good or bad, etc. Here are some of my thoughts:

1. 52 titles?!! That's too many.
2. What's up with the silly collars on the slightly revamped costumes of Superman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, etc.?
3. From the preview images, I'm not excited about the art style of most of these new books. Seems mid-90s, Image-style generic to me. I'd rather see some more unique, diverse looks.
4. The new Aquaman looks like a Nazi storm trooper. Very grim'n'gritty.
5. The Wonder Woman TV series looks dead, but the pants costume has survived.
6. Meanwhile, Superman has lost his outside underwear. You don't step on Superman's cape. Also, bad idea to steal his shorts. The collar is one thing, but it's a bad idea to mess with iconic looks.
7. A new Firestorm title. I admit to picking up this title in it's original form -- great Al Milgrom art early on. But I'm baffled as to the ongoing fascination with the character. Maybe it's the flaming hair.
8. DC Presents: A new anthology series. I like those.
9. A new Action Comics #1? This seems a little sacriligious.
10. I wouldn't be surprised if DC reverts to the original numbering on some of these titles due to fan protests, or merely to cash in on big anniversary issues.
11. While I'm not crazy about a lot of his stuff, I enjoyed Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman. Will his stint on Action have the same sense of fun, wonder and whimsy? I hope so.
12. George Perez is writing and providing art breakdowns (at least on issue 1) of a new Superman title. I'd be more excited about full Perez pencils, but this may hold promise.
13. Bruce Wayne is back as Batman. Big surprise.
14. If this revamp is a new jumping-on point for new readers, why are people buying DC's Comics now?
15. I see a few interesting ideas here and there, and I like the idea of starting fresh, in a way. I want more people to be reading good comics. I want them to be more accessible. But I see little in this huge slate of comics that seems to offer this. Mostly, it seems about rolling back issues numbers to #1. We'll see.
16. There are too many Batman titles. 
17. Is keeping continuity under control part of this new initiative? How will DC achieve that with it's natural inclination to cross storylines over multiple books, put heroes in half a dozen different titles, and stage seemingly mandatory Big Events? I see a big, new mess in the making.
18. Of the Bat titles, I'll try Batman, penned by Scott Snyder, who's currently writing some compelling, spooky Bat-stories in Detective Comics.
19. Batwing: Batman of Africa. This title won't last.
20. Barbara Gordon is back as Batgirl! This is good. Alan Moore is stupid.
21. I don't have much use for Nightwing. Or Damien Wayne. Keep Batman solo.
22. The entire Bat cast is just too plain big.
23. Red Hood and the Outlaws. This is a series? 
24. Bloody Green Lantern fist on the cover of Green Lantern #1. I'll skip this. I perceive mass darkness and grim storylines in this new slate of series. Not the take I'd use if I was trying to reinvent the DC superhero line. I'd gear things toward younger kids and keep things relatively upbeat and heroic, not dark and conflicted.
25. Red Lanterns. This is a series?
26. Justice League Dark. See #24. Plus, what a weird lineup. I can understand Deadman, Zatanna and Madame Xanadu as a team, but Shade the Changing Man? Seems random, and these characters are better solo.
27. Swamp Thing by Scott Snyder. That could be good.
28. Still, I'm not terribly excited by the art on any of these titles.
29. Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. Seems like a funny, bizarre one-off. But as a series?
30. This whole slate of supernatural superhero comics -- Swamp Thing, I Vampire, Frankenstein, Demon Knights, Voodoo, etc. -- seems Vertigo, but not Vertigo, as that imprint is evidently continuing. It's weird.
31. If you're going to do horror, why not stick to anthology spook tales? 
32. Suicide Squad looks blechh.'
33. O.M.A.C. by Dan Didio. They shouldn't let this guy run a comics company, let alone try to write a Jack Kirby character.
34. Men of War, featuring an updated, modern Easy Company led by "Joe Rock." Ick. Give me Sgt. Rock, Joe Kubert and World War II. If Joe can't do new ones, just reprint the old ones every month. It would be better than this.
35. Teen Titans #1: Hideous Image-style art and costumes to match.
36. Hawk and Dove by Rob Leifeld?!! Is it 1993?
37. Paul Levitz still on Legion of Superheroes. I haven't tried his recent stint on the characters, but enjoyed his 1980s run. I may try it, although trying to figure out Legion continuity post Crisis makes my head hurt. Hopefully, the revamp will be a way to simplify all this.
38. Much has been made of the same-day digital distribution of these titles. The same day they are available in print, they'll also be available for digital download. While I just don't see myself migrating my comics reading to a screen, this idea makes sense. It's a way to perhaps get more new readers to try out comics, and some existing readers (namely younger ones than me) may be perfectly fine reading comics on a computer or iPad or whatever. For new readers, though, DC will need a strategy to advertise these comics in places they'll see. Gaming sites? Pop culture sites? It'll be interesting to see what sort of numbers are generated, both in print and digital sales.
39. I doubted I'd ever download music, too. But I do. Still like CDs (and LPs) more, though.
40. Think about how many cubic feet of my house would be free if I didn't have all those long boxes and bookshelves...
41. As much sense as the digital idea makes, I'd have liked to try DC do something new in regards to distributing it's print comics. Something radical that wouldn't hurt comics shops, but would get comics in front of more young, first-time readers. A different format? Maybe larger, magazine-size titles that could stand out on a newstand. Distribution deals to get comics in more book retailers, game shops, etc.? (I saw someplace that more DC Comics are turning up in Barnes and Noble stores -- albeit not in my community. Maybe this is part of the plan?)
42. I can't help feeling that, if the goal was to reinvent DC Comics and get more people reading them, the company isn't going nearly far enough. This move seems more at shaking up existing readers than earning new ones.
43. I'm curious whether storytelling styles will be different. Will plots still be padded out for collection in trades? Will DC be doing anything to excite readers enough to pick up titles every month instead of waiting for the collected version? Will single issues be easy enough to understand that new readers can jump on at any point?
44. Evidently there will be no appearances by the Justice Society for a while. The concept is "getting a rest." I'm ok with that. As a kid I loved the annual JSA-JLA summer team-ups and I loved seeing reprints of 1940s Justice Society adventures in those 80- and 100-page "giants." I liked Roy Thomas' All-Star Squadron, too. But Crisis, as it did with the Legion of Superheroes, really messed everything up, to the point I just didn't understand what the heck was going on anymore. Which, I don't think was the point. Anyway, good idea to put JSA appearances on hold for a while in order to figure out how the heck to use them in a way that makes sense.
45. Did anyone seriously have trouble understanding the whole "Earth 1" and "Earth 2" concept? It only became confusing, I think, when writers starting adding other "Earths" to the mix. But, on it's own, it was a pretty cool thing.
46. Will there be an Earth 2 in the new DCU? It would be cool to reintroduce the idea in the new JLA eventually. But keep it simple.
47. A key to success, in terms of new readers, will be to offer stories about character, with plots that make sense to people jumping on board. Too many superhero comics now are about writers just tinkering with continuity. Stripping things away. Bringing them back. Twisting things around. That, and the silly direct market distribution system, has alienated new readership.
48. It may likely turn out that this whole new DCU becomes nothing more than another continuity game -- as happened with Marvel's Heroes Reborn. I think that would really be the death knell. A sign that the comics companies really can't succeed in creating new generations of readership.
49. Watch DC try to shove this whole thing into a "pocket universe."
50. Anyone want to wager what percentage of these comics get canceled during the first year?
51. Why not -- out of 52 titles -- publish one that includes reprints of classic comics? Something that whets the appetite for DC's line of hardcover and Showcase reprints? I'd love to see something like that each month. They could call it 80-page Giant and reprint standalone stories from throughout DC's history. 
52. September will be interesting.