DC Announces Complete Line Reboot In August

Last Updated on Tuesday, 31 May 2011 23:35 Written by John Tuesday, 31 May 2011 23:24

 

Today DC comics sent shock waves across the interwebs by announcing a full line reboot after the completion of Flashpoint in August.  The reboot involves 50 new number 1 issues, including a brand new Justice League by Geoff Johns And Jim Lee.  All relaunched titles will also be available digitally as well on day and date. More after the break......

 

Here is what is rumored:

·        Batman will be younger & more mysterious, less connected and trusted in the superhero community.    

·        Batman Inc. is wrapping up before the reboot and will not return after.  

·         Damian does not exist. Batman has not known Ra's al Gul and Talia long enough.  

·         Dick went off from Bruce's care only a few years ago to join the Titans.  

·         Almost nobody knows Batman’s secret identity.  

·        Wonder Woman now lives in New York and is part of a secret society of Amazons.  

·        Superman is no longer married to Lois Lane and has lost his Super Speed, and this power is now exclusive to the Flash; also he is in love with Lana Lang.  

·        Almost no one knows who Batman is and he isn't on good terms with any of the other heroes; Dick is back to

       being Robin, and supposedly Jason Todd never existed.  

·        Sinestro is back to being a Green Lantern and the Red Lanterns will be the corps main enemy.  

·        Aquaman has new powers.  

·        Ted Kord is still dead, but wasn't killed by Maxwell Lord, Justice League Internatioanl is also back.  

·        Dick Grayson and Wally West are members of the Titans, in roles similar to the Young Justice cartoon.  

·        No more Justice Society, Outsiders and Birds of Prey.  

·        The Legion will also be revamped, and the new future will be very dark

 

Here is what is somewhat confirmed:

·        A new title starring Superman written by Grant Morrison.

·        Birds of Prey #1 - This new ongoing series will not feature the work of longtime "BoP" writer Gail Simone. In fact, many tried and true approaches to books will be getting a second look at DC in September.

·        Teen Titans #1 - The new start for the teen team will be written by "Red Robin" scribe Fabian Nicieza.

·        Justice Society of America #1 - Only one of a number of current titles that will welcome a creative team shift, the future of the original superhero team will apparently not involve current writer Marc Guggenheim.

·        Wonder Woman #1 - Don't expect the recent changes from writer J. Michael Straczynski to stick when the Amazing Amazon sees another new #1 hit.

·        Green Lantern #1 - Even with a new #1, Green Lantern remains in Johns' hands, and readers can expect the effects of major crossovers like "Blackest Night" to stay in place moving forward.

·        Hawkman #1 - While fans have known a "Hawkman" series by James Robinson has been in the works since the writer mentioned it on a panel at New York Comic Con, Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston has been reporting the rumor that the book will be drawn by "Batman & Robin" and "Outsiders" artist Philip Tan.

·        Aquaman #1 - No surprises here. The already announced series featuring the sea king by Johns and Ivan Reis will be part of the relaunch wave.

Ok now take all this with a grain of salt. Some of this stuff might work, but to be honest, I don’t think it will.  We all remember what happened when they tried to reboot Wonder Woman with issue 600 and the back lash that came about; only to have DC revert back to the original costume with issue 612 and say the last 12 issues were some evil plan against Wonder Woman.

So what’s next? Are we going back to a pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC universe? Will we have another Crisis story arc when the titles get too out of hand? Also, Batman and most of the DC universe has been rocking pretty much since early 2001, so why frak with it now?

Here is what Dan DiDio had to say in a posting on FaceBook earlier this evening:

“Wish I could answer a bunch of these questions now, but there is so much news unfolding over the next few weeks I don't want to be the spoiler, least I get sent back to Face book Limbo. Couple of things I can say, Always look before you leap to conclusions, and criticism is fine, as long as its constructive and civil.

And by the way, never used the word "reboot."

Now excuse me while I look for a place to buy bags and boards for all my digital comics.

:) later!”

 

I for one am very anxious over these changes to the point where I might rethink my pull lists very seriously.  One of my associates has stated that she will no longer collect DC if what has been reported is as severe as they seem.  A friend of mine put it this way, “Why doesn’t DC just create a separate universe for the reboots like Marvel did with the Ultimate titles?”  So I say to anyone from DC who is reading this, why not have a DC Ultimate Universe?

More on this as news becomes available.