Dan DiDio and Jim Lee Reflect On The New 52 and Tease The Future of The DC Universe
A massive interview with co-publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio covered all aspects of DC Comics. The two reminisced on the launch and missteps of the New 52 and discussed the publisher's future, revealing that Futures End and Earth 2: World's End are part of an "epic trilogy"...
IGN managed to score an interview with DC Comics co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee, who spoke about the past, present and future of the DC Universe. Looking back three years ago, to the beginning of the company's line-wide relaunch, Lee said he "consider[ed] the New 52 one of my career highlights, of all the cool things I've been involved in for the past 27 years." DiDio added that it was something that was talked about for years beforehand. "We launched really well and really strong," he said. "I'm very proud of what came out of that. When we see the new interpretation of Aquaman take hold and repositioning Animal Man and Swamp Thing at the start of the line, which was very important to us. Now, seeing Harley Quinn break out as a brand new character -- and we're proud that we try to challenge ourselves and grow. Challenge ourselves to tell new, bigger and better stories every month." The two also mentioned the success of Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang's new take on Wonder Woman, considered one of the strongest titles of the New 52.
But it hasn't all been smooth sailing, and DiDio admitted there have been mistakes made along the way. "We put so much energy into feeling fresh and new at the start because a lot of the stories had these big changes. Then after a year or so we started to fall back into old habits in our storytelling. We took shortcuts in regards to just re-introducing characters without really rethinking them all the way through with a fresh set of eyes for the fresh new universe that it was. So we made a couple of mistakes along the way," he continues, "and it happens, because it's hard to change that much momentum and that much heat. But more importantly, what we realize now is that we made some missteps, and we're actually spending time at this moment making a lot of course corrections." It's not very often that you hear major players in the industry admit to their missteps, so it is a positive to see that DC's co-publishers are aware of them. Make of those comments what you will.
Talk turned to Futures End, referring to the current weekly series and the big September event DC is currently publishing. Characters have mentioned a 'great war', known as the Earth War, but only through small hints and vague lines of dialogue. DiDio reveals that we will "get a chance to see the final battle between Earth 2 and Apokolips. The events of that appear to be the ones determining the future for Futures End. So there's a lot of story to be played out in the next few months. But that's something I don't want to give away just yet." The publisher also said that Booster Gold will play a big part in the future of the DCU, telling fans to keep an eye on his Futures End tie-in. "I've been pointing to the Booster Gold book as being probably one of the pivotal points in the DC Universe and being one of the biggest clues for what we have coming next year." The final battle between Earth 2 and Apokolips will seemingly be detailed in the upcoming weekly, Earth 2: World's End, which is heavily connected to Futures End and the rest of the Universe...
"I think if you love cosmic, epic storylines with some interesting time travel twists and turns, this is the story, and it really sets the stage for an epic storyline that runs through a trilogy of stories that culminate in 2015," Lee said, mentioning that "Every fan will have cause to rejoice and celebrate next year." DiDio added, "What's great about Worlds End and Futures End is that it brings out the true soul of the DC Universe and the Multiverse and the different interpretations of the characters and all the different worlds out there that we see in diversity. It's all one great history and one great continuity that could ultimately lead to one great story. The goal is that -- we actually think about DC having a long rich history with a long rich fanbase with so many different generations of fans, each with legendary interpretations of heroes over the years. Our goal is to make sure that they all feel satisfied and enjoy what we put out in DC Comics." These statements of a trilogy of stories and fans rejoicing in 2015 adds further fuel to the rumours of a new Crisis, which has been covered on CBM before. Obviously Futures End and Earth 2: World's End are parts one and two of that trilogy, and perhaps the rumoured Blood Moon will cap it off. What do you guys make of their statements? There's even more from Lee and DiDio on the IGN site, so check it out below.