Dan DiDio's departure from
DC Comics sent shock waves through the industry and the story continues to develop as fans and journalists alike attempt to discern what his absence means for
5G, aka
Generation 5. Most sites agree that 5G was set to be
a line-wide reboot that saw the publisher's most popular heroes (like Batman, Superman, Aquaman, etc.) aged up and replaced by a younger, more diverse group of heroes who assume their mantles.
Now,
Bleeding Cool is reporting that AT&T and Warner have given DC the mandate to reduce the original scope of 5G to, "
a smaller line of books that have already had a number of issues completed." Additionally, whereas
5G was going to attempt to chronicle and categorize all of DC's past history, it's now going to cover a much smaller breadth of time.
On the surface, it certainly sounds as if AT&T and Warner are backtracking on 5G, but with so much of the work already completed, they don't have any choice but to press forward. Yet strangely enough, DC's overseers are also said to be simultaneously intrigued by the prospect of direct-to-video feature films based on the new
5G heroes.
Of course, sales figures will be the deciding factor regarding whether 5G is ultimately expanded or quietly swept under the rug. It would certainly be interesting to see the reaction to 5G's launch (which is rumored to be in October) resulting in DC outselling Marvel.