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Thoughts on DC's New 52
Apr. 2nd, 2013 10:05 pmWhile I was working out Sunday, I looked over to my bookcase and saw my copy of "The DC Comics Encyclopedia". It was a Christmas gift a few years back from my sister. I realized that the book is now outdated with DC's "New 52" reboot/revamp. I think it was right then that I came to the conclusion of why I dislike the "New 52."
The history of DC Comics is gone.
Comparing the "New 52" to the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" or "Infinite Crisis" events is not correct. They are apples and an orange. When the first "Crisis" redid the DC Universe, the history was modified, but largely was left intact. All past events still happened, even with a few rebooted characters like Wonder Woman. When it was "undone" by the Infinite Crisis some years later, the history was still relatively the same. The Jay Garrick Flash was still around, along with most of the heroes that were made famous in the 1940's.
In the 1960's, when the new generation of heroes of "Earth 1" were created, the past heroes of the JSA still existed. The JLA heroes were just added to the universe and eventually interacted with them. Lately I've been re-reading the "Crisis on Multiple Earth" trades, which compiles the Justice League/Justice Society team-ups from my youth and before. I'm anxiously awaiting Volume 6 in June.
However, in the "New 52" universe, these heroes just don't exist anymore. It's that simple. In one moment, everything changed, all history was removed and the comic book company just started at time zero. The Justice Society of the 1940's and all incarnations forward were no more. No JLA/JSA team-ups ever occurred. The stories I read about in the trades are not in the continuity. While the new DC is re-creating the JSA, they're all new too.
For someone brand new to comics, this might seem like no big deal. To a collector of comics of 35 years like me, it's amazingly disappointing.
I suspect the number of "new" comics that's being discontinued shows that a lot of readers aren't overly impressed by the changes either. I wonder how long this experiment is going to last.
The history of DC Comics is gone.
In the 1960's, when the new generation of heroes of "Earth 1" were created, the past heroes of the JSA still existed. The JLA heroes were just added to the universe and eventually interacted with them. Lately I've been re-reading the "Crisis on Multiple Earth" trades, which compiles the Justice League/Justice Society team-ups from my youth and before. I'm anxiously awaiting Volume 6 in June.
However, in the "New 52" universe, these heroes just don't exist anymore. It's that simple. In one moment, everything changed, all history was removed and the comic book company just started at time zero. The Justice Society of the 1940's and all incarnations forward were no more. No JLA/JSA team-ups ever occurred. The stories I read about in the trades are not in the continuity. While the new DC is re-creating the JSA, they're all new too.
For someone brand new to comics, this might seem like no big deal. To a collector of comics of 35 years like me, it's amazingly disappointing.
I suspect the number of "new" comics that's being discontinued shows that a lot of readers aren't overly impressed by the changes either. I wonder how long this experiment is going to last.
