No, I'm not talking about some weird computer plug-in or DC's Earth 2 universe. I'm talking about the entirely new DC Universe that we'll be seeing by the end of this summer. According to this article over at IGN, Detective Comics (that's DC Comics for those of you who don't quite understand what the "C" stands for) will be, not relaunching, but rebooting their entire superhero lineup for a new generation of readers.
There's a lot of work going into this. Origins are being rewritten, personalities are being retooled, and while DC has promised to preserve many of the important defining elements of the character's histories, we'll probably lose a lot of the convolution. Which is a good thing, because the DC universe has been so damn cluttered with hell that it's impossible to figure out which Robin you're looking at.
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| Is that one of 'em? |
This whole relaunch plan could either work out really well, or really badly. I want to give DC the benefit of the doubt, especially considering how well their animated adaptations always seem to turn out when those creators are being given basically the same set of freedoms and limitations that all of the DC comics creators are now being given. This will also give DC the opportunity to tie-in some of the DC Animated specific characters and stories, as well as sneak a few of Warner Bros. more super-centric entities into the universe (such as Space Ghost). With fifty-two titles being launched this Summer, we're bound to see a couple of surprises show up.
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| The new JLA. |
The most daunting task facing the creators of this new universe will be redesigning the iconic costumes of some of the country's oldest super heroes. Some of these characters are so old, so engraved in our country's history that they're borderline folk heroes. Some aspects can be manipulated without causing too much of a fuss, such as changing Batman's spandex for some cool looking armor, but if anybody remembers the shitfest that came out of Wonder Woman's redesign, just imagine what will happen when Superman starts strutting around with a mullet.
To be totally honest, I am excited about this entire prospect. New readers won't have to trudge through eighty years of history to understand what's going on in Superman #1000, and creators will be given a lot of freedom. The amount of properties that could be reinvented, like Etrigan, is endless, and it's a great chance for some lesser characters to show themselves to a new breed of reader. So long as DC doesn't follow the path set by Marvel's Ultimate universe, this could be a pretty cool decade for comics.
