DC Comics – Post Flashpoint – What does it mean?
Today DC announced that post Flashpoint they would be revamping their universe. While there are a wide variety of rumors and complaints on-line, there are very few facts available on what this actually means.
The facts as we know them:
On August 31 they will ship two titles: Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1.
In September 51 additional books will ship with a #1 issue.
Jim Lee has redesigned a lot of costumes.
What those books are, who’s on them, and what the shape of the DC Universe will be is anyone’s guess. *I* sure don’t know, and I don’t really care to speculate.
26 years ago DC revamped their universe with Crisis on Infinite Earths. At that time I was still in college and was ordering my books through a mail order company (Westfield Comics). I was home on vacation when the first issue came out, and I couldn’t wait until my box came in the mail. I bought the first issue off the newstand and read it twice in one sitting. The tag line was, “Worlds will live, and worlds will die.” And I bought into it hook, line and sinker.
I loved, LOVED, L O V E D that book! In order to understand it you had to have a very thorough understanding of the history of the DC Universe. And I did. I’d been reading comics for around 15 years and DC was my favorite line of books. I knew who every character was and why they were important. I completely understood the multiverse, and loved every single bit of it. And that series featured all of it! I was in nerd heaven.
Now all of that isn’t to say that I liked all of the consequences of Crisis. I wasn’t as plugged into fandom back then as I am now, and information was harder to find in those pre-internet days. As I was reading the series I wasn’t expecting the lasting ramifications of it. I didn’t really know until later that the series was supposed to lead to a complete line wide revamp. Even if I had known, I don’t think it would have bothered me.
The revamp did occur, although not as originally planned. Over the next couple of years everything was slowly rebooted. A new Superman origin. A new Wonder Woman. Etc… Some of it was good, some of it wasn’t as good, but I enjoyed more than I disliked.
Flash forward to today’s announcement. I’m once again buying my comics through the mail (DCBS), but I’m a long way from being a student.
I really don’t know what to think, but I’m left with a bit of a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.
If they renumber Action Comics, Detective Comics, Superman, and/or Batman, I’m going to feel quite sad. Action Comics in particular is only 100 issues away from its 1000th issue. That’s never really been done before and it would be a shame to lose that for a short term sales boost. (Yes I’m aware that Four Color Comics reached that milestone, and so have a couple of foreign books. Four Color was just an umbrella title for a wide variety of series, and the foreign books are just that… foreign. Neither really count in my mind.)
If they reboot the Legion of Super-Heroes – again -, after FINALLY going back to the REAL team, I’m not going to be happy at all.
On the other hand the current Justice League book is just plain awful, as is Titans. I won’t miss either.
Mostly I feel slightly used and disappointed. I’m currently buying around 150 comics a month and spending way too much on them. 15 Bat-titles a month are not what I need. Big events are not what I crave anymore. Digital downloads don’t entice me.
What I want is simply.
Good stories. A known history. Heroes that act heroic.
Maybe that’s exactly what I’ll get out of the Post-Flashpoint universe.
I hope so.
But if I don’t… well the back-issue bins do seem to be getting cheaper, and the 30 to 50,000 books I’ve already got need rereading.
I’m a comic book fan. Comics were pretty much the first things I ever read and they’ve fascinated me ever since. They’ve entertained me, taught me right from wrong, and been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. When I’ve been out of work and out of money, I still found a way to buy comics.
