Thoughts on DC comics

Thoughts on DC comics

An anlaysis on DC continuity, the New 52 and DC Rebirth.

Editorial Opinion
By Utopian8418 - Jul 03, 2016 03:07 PM EST
Filed Under: Comics
I only got into comics a few years ago and I found it disturbing how comicbook characters don't seem to age (I will adress retcons later) and the fictional universe in general doesn't really change or move foward. In this article I will write about what DC is doing both with characters and stories and what I think it should do.
 
CHARACTERS
It seems to me that DC has taken a step back with its characters. Bronze Age characters like Wally West, Kyle Rayner or Stephanie Brown are being pushed aside in favour of Silver Age characters like Barry Allen, Hal Jordan and Barbara Gordon. Geoff Johns seems to be responsible for this since he resurrected Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, two characters that had been dead for years. Even though I really like both the GL:Rebirth and Flash:Rebirth story arcs I don't think they were worth it. 


 
Hal Jordan's story was over and the awesome Geoff Johns run on GL could have been accomplished without him. Kyle Rayner could have had all that character development and he would be the main GL. With the Flash its even worse because after the New 52 they used Barry as if he was a new character, his story was really over. He should have gone back to the Speed Force in the Rebirth storyline and the Flashpoint could have been made with Wally as the protagonist. Now they seem to have regreted this so they are bringing Wally back. This means that there will be 2 flashes, which doesn't make sense. A similar thing happened with Batgirl. In the New 52, they made Barbara Gordon recover from her paralysis and she seems to be a teenager again for some reason, pushing Stephanie Brown aside. We all love the Silver Age heros but DC has to let go. We can still have comics about them in the same way that we still have JSA comics, I will later explain how to do this.

 
STORY/CONTINUITY/NEW 52/REBIRTH
I understand that the DC Universe (like Marvel) is a Retroactive Continuity. Origin stories are constantly retconned and modernized. But I feel that after nearly 80 years, infinite story arcs and reality itself being destroyed and reborn multiple times, simple retcons are not enough, a full reboot is needed. This is why I feel that the much controversial reboot 'The New 52' of 2011 was a really good idea. This was a reboot of all DC titles and an introduction of a brand new universe, Prime Earth.


 
Now some really good stuff came out of it, like Scott Snyder's Batman or Geoff John's Aquaman, but it was mainly a mess. Big plotholes, continuity problems, changes to iconic costumes (mainly Superman's) and most importantly, changes to iconic characters like the Teen Titans, Wally West, Kyle Rayner, Oracle, Tim Drake, the Amazons, the Booster Gold/Blue Beetle duo and many more. Now in DC Rebirth, it is revealed that the New 52 was some kind of villain plot created by Dr Manhattan I think. I think this is wrong in every level. I honestly don't even understand what DC Rebirth is but I have to say that I believe that DC continuity is a total clusterf*ck and Geoff Jhons is apparently insane (sorry).


 
When I started reading DC comics a few years ago it was really hard for me to get around all the massive reality/time-space shattering events like Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, Flash Rebirth and Flashpoint. This was all apparently over with the New 52 but then the other Earths were introduced in Trinity War and then Convergence/Divergence happened and now we have DC Rebirth. All this really contrasted with my experience with Marvel Comics. I wish DC stopped messing with time-space and just delivered good adventure stories.


 
I really like the idea of having Dr Manhattan as a villain though, but I really hope that he is alone and not with the rest of the Watchmen. I also hope that if they brought the pre-N52 Superman, they brought the old costume back, but it might be too late for that.
 
WHAT THEY SHOULD DO
So, like I said on the start of the article, I find it disturbing when characters don't age. Some characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman or Martian Manhunter could stay young for years and years. But others should die and pass their mantles like Green Lantern, Flash and yes, even Batman. I know this sounds insane but hear me out. Bruce Wayne has had 4 Robins now and it seems he recently recluted a fifth, but he still looks young. After the New 52, his 80 years of history were apparently crammed into just 10 years or something. Fine enough, but this cannot go on forever! What about the next 80 years? This is my proposal:
Have one main official universe that actually evolves. Specific dates for specific events. In this universe, characters die and mantles are passed. Give Bruce Wayne an 'official' proper death, the ultimate Batman story, and have him pass the mantle to Dick Grayson. Dick would lead the JL, Wally would be Flash, Kyle would be GL, Stephanie would be Batgirl, etc.
Then we could have parallel uiverses. One for the JSA and the Golden Age heroes, one for the classis JLA and the Silver Age heroes like Hal Jordan, Barry Allen and Bruce Wayne, etc. You can have all the Bruce Wayne adventures that you want, just keep him on an alternate universe.
 

 
Whaat are your thoughts on DC continuity? Sound off below!
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kong
kong - 7/3/2016, 8:57 PM
Ummmmmmm......no.

Your idea is much more confusing then what is currently going on in comics.

Rebirth is the shit, and we don't need another reinvention ANY time soon.
Utopian8418
Utopian8418 - 7/4/2016, 3:56 AM
@kong - If it was confusing it was probably because of my bad writing. English is not my first language. But all I thought about was how to simplify everything.

I don't expect a reinvention soon. In my mind this should have happened instead of the New 52 so I probably should have titled that section 'What They Should Have Done' instead of 'What they Should Do'.
huckfinnisher
huckfinnisher - 7/4/2016, 10:29 AM
I agree with this article for the most part, especially as pertain to Kyle Rayner and Wally West. These two characters are so great, and imo vastly superior to their "original" counterparts.
It seems funny to me to bring back the dead characters and retconn their origins so that they are more interesting characters then they were before, instead of just focusing on the new characters that actually are interesting without any tweaking.
Kyle was the last GL and the best at making constructs period.
Wally was funny and fun and the most powerful Flash by far.
Instead of just running with this they brought back the characters they killed and tried to make them interesting when imo both Hal and Barry are extremely bland characters.
Both are basically exactly what you would expect from the era in which they were created. Simple boy scout characters one dimensional af. Sure later writers introduced some interesting characteristics but it doesn't change the fact that neither of these characters are interesting and both seem extremely gimmicky.
Guy is super fast but is always late.
Guy who overcomes his fear of flying planes due to his dad's death and that makes him the best GL ever? This just doesn't make sense to me. Kyle Rayner being an artist with extremely high levels of creativity is a logical choice to wield a weapon that can create virtually anything the user imagines. When Kyle is GL we see fully formed nearly autonomous constructs of vivid detail, of a samurai or a monster of some kind.
Hal makes a big baseball glove. With the greatest weapon in the universe that can create virtually anything Hal constantly limits himself to actual objects he is familiar with. Just makes no sense that he can be the best with his utter lack of creativity.
Utopian8418
Utopian8418 - 7/4/2016, 4:09 PM
@huckfinnisher - I agree with every word. But Kyle at least had some good stories. Wally was plain disrespected. And I just can't believe people are OK with having 2 flashes.
FishyZombie
FishyZombie - 7/4/2016, 2:42 PM
eh, never did agree with the "Dick should replace Bruce" crowd. Never understood the appeal of Grayson anyway, his character is basically just "a happier version of Bruce Wayne." never got why people find that interesting.
Utopian8418
Utopian8418 - 7/4/2016, 4:01 PM
@FishyZombie - Oh I obviously prefere Bruce. Thats why I would keep Bruce Wayne comics coming out (in an alternate universe).

My point is that Bruce can't keep going on forever on 1 Universe. This is more a fact than an opinion. He has had too many sidekicks and stories. Its already hard to believe that all of his stories happened in 'just 10 years' like the N52 wants us to believe. But what about the next 80 years? Characters like Damian Wayne or Tim Drake will have to be eliminated from existance. He will have to be constantly rebooted.
huckfinnisher
huckfinnisher - 7/5/2016, 4:13 PM
@FishyZombie - I like when they go far to point out their differences. Like Dick is much more acrobatic than Bruce so his fighting style is incredibly different, as well as him being "happier" makes for an entirely different Batman. Was fun to see him take over the mantle briefly just so we saw how he would be as Batman. I think that was enough. I would never like to see anyone actually permanently take over as Batman in main continuity, but it is fun to play around with for a little while.
CA3000
CA3000 - 7/4/2016, 8:45 PM
This is an intriguing article with great ideas (For Example: The multiple universe idea is similar to Marvel with Earth-616 being Main Universe and Earth 1610 Ultimate Universe.). Although, for the most part I'm not a fan of "legacy" characters. I'd rather have Dick Grayson just be Nightwing than become Batman.
Utopian8418
Utopian8418 - 7/5/2016, 3:43 AM
@Anonymous3000 - Exactly. It would be like the Ultimate Universe, but instead of being totally different to the originals, it would stay really clos and be a tribute to the silver age.
RancidBane
RancidBane - 7/6/2016, 8:46 PM
Very well written article. But I am loving what DC is currently doing with their Rebirth titles. The reason the silver age characters are being brought back is, honestly, because they are better. Barry Allen is the Flash that most people know as the Flash. Wally being brought back as a Titans member is great for everyone.

This new world that Johns is creating is great. Keeping the good of 52 and ridding the world of the bad. (Gordon as Batman I'm looking at you.) The Aquaman title alone proves that DC Rebirth is great. The addition of the Watchmen has been an interesting plug that has gotten me looking forward to comics that normally I would pass on. Reading Action Comics and seeing the mysterious hooded figure watch over Clark has been fascinating and has me eager to see where it goes from here.

The addition of newer characters such as Clark and Louis' son John has been really interesting as well. The title that is coming later this year with Damien and John has me really interested to see what happens next.

Anyways great article and I loved reading your thoughts and opinions. These debates are part of what makes being a comic fan so fun. Almost all of the time us fans argue back and forth over who is the best character, who would kick who's ass, ect. And it brings us closer together as fans and sparks interesting conversations. Thanks for writing and hope to read more.
Utopian8418
Utopian8418 - 7/7/2016, 4:40 PM
@mcminnjb1990 - Thanks man you are great! But Wally is better.. haha. He would totally kick Barry's ass.

I grew up with JL The Animated Series and that was Wally, he is a hilarious lady's man and by far the fastest speedster and always brings a smile to your face. He was great in Young Justice too. Barry is just a bland normal guy and he was dead for 25 years. The whole story about his dead mother was invented after that (they could have invented something similar for Wally). I don't agree that Barry is who most people know as Flash, maybe after the TV series but that was after they ressurrected him in the comics.
And Kyle is better too! He was the last GL when all the others died and he is a really creative artist, making him perfect for a GL.

Bruce was back as Batman before Rebirth. Aquaman was great before Rebirth. I also like the idea of Dr Manhattan as a villain but all the other stuff is just weird. Pre-New 52 Clark coming to this universe feels weird to me and redundant because common citizens will think that he never died. He doesn't even have the red trunks! I also don't like that he has a son. The boy will always be overshadowed by his father. I am looking forward to his adventures with Damian though!
RancidBane
RancidBane - 7/7/2016, 4:57 PM
@ManMan -in my opinion the best Green Lantern is John Stewart. He is the militaristic strategist that helps the team stay in line. While Batman is the serious one he usually is a lone wolf and does his own thing. So the addition of Stewart helps everyone keep the plan in place.

On the Flash thing ask 20 people who the Flash is and I bet 80 percent tell you Barry Allen. I understand a lot of people like Wally, I am one of them, but he just isn't the same as Barry. Barry is the adult while Wally is the immature one that constantly has to be put in check by Batman, GL, and Wonder Woman. Barry fights for things that connect with most people today. Wally just wants to have fun and be a smart ass.

John won't be over shadowed by his father once he is put into the lineup of the Teen Titans. Everyone knew and loved Superboy while he was on the team. So I believe that John will be the same way once his stories start later this year. (October I believe)
Utopian8418
Utopian8418 - 7/7/2016, 6:58 PM
@mcminnjb1990 - I really like Stewart too, mainly because of JL TAS. And I hope you are right about Superboy! But I don't think we will ever agree about Flash, Wally is one of my top favourites ever haha.
RancidBane
RancidBane - 7/7/2016, 7:15 PM
@ManMan - yeah you're right lol but that's the fun of being a fan boy. Like I said earlier the constant conversations are what makes this community great.
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