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DC's New 52 - Buy, Try or Fry?


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Old 30-08-2011, 23:39
Ed Sizzers
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So, tomorrow heralds the launch of DC's big 'soft' reboot (whatever that means) and over the next month we've got 52 new No.1's heading for the shelves. So what are on your definite list, which titles might you have a look at and which will you be avoiding (or possibly dropping, if you were reading their pre-Flashpoint incarnations)?

Here's my yes, no and maybe list...

Justice League - Nah. I've never been a big JLA fan anyway, and the new League ain't inspiring me. Plus, there's the potentially messy collabaration between largely unrebooted Bats, a very rebooted Supes and a who-knows-whats-happening-with-her-quite-frankly Diana.

Action Comics/Superman- I wasn't reading Supes before anyway, so presumably I'm one of the new readers DC wanted to attract with their new single, 'more alien' Superman. Needless to say, it hasn't worked.

Animal Man - Nope.

Batgirl - The only title in the 52 I'm avoiding on principle. Cos I'd normally love the idea of Gail writing Batgirl. But not at the expense of Stephanie Brown, and not by whatever means Barbara will have magically regained the use of her legs.

Batwing - Really? This gets its own series and Power Girl is ditched? Sigh.

Detective Comics/Batman and Robin//Batman/Batman: The Dark Knight - Too many Bats. No thanks.

Green Arrow - Nah. Doesn't look to have radically changed, but I wasn't reading before and so ain't gonna start now.

Hawk and Dove - No.

Justice League International - If Winick was still writing, this would have been a yes. Even with Bats sticking his cowl in. As it's been handed over to Jurgens, it's another one on the increasingly long 'no' list.

Men of War No
Omac Nope.
Static Shock Nah
Stormwatch Non
Swamp Thing Just... no.

Batwoman - Yes. At last. That's to say, at last a 'yes', not at last it's Batwoman 1. Although that would have been equally appropriate. At least now we know why it kept getting bumped. Still, the delay means Kate won't be effected by all this reboot nonsense and will hopefully stay pretty self-contained in her own book and out of the wider Batverse for a while anyway.

Deathstroke - No

Demon Knights - No

Frankenstein, Agent of Shade - Really? Sigh.

Green Lantern/Green Lantern Corps - Nope. And to save time, cos this is taking longer than a thought, it's big no for Grifter, Legion Lost, Mister Terrific, Red Lanterns, Suicide Squad and Superboy.

Resurrection Man - Yes! A big yes. Loved this title during it's original run and genuinely looking forward to seeing its resurrection!

Birds of Prey - Maaaaybe. The new birds look a mixed bag and Dinah looks like she's escaped from the 90's on the cover. I'll give it a look.

Blue Beetle - No.

Captain Atom - Nope.

Catwoman - Yep. Probably would have been a yes anyway, even moreso with Winnick on board. And good to see Selina in her own book again, GSC was OK, but Catwoman was too often the supporting character.

DC Universe Presents - No.

Legion of Super-Heroes - No

Nightwing - Nope

Red Hood and the Outlaws - No. And whilst we're here, allow me another rant. We've got Damian in Batman and Robin; Dick in Nightwing; Jason in this title and Tim in Teen Titans. Four Robins. Four. And yet, so far, there's no indication that we'll be seeing much of Cass or Steph' in the new DCU.

Supergirl - Maybe. I've really only just got used to Kara, given that 'my' Supergirl is Linda Danvers (Peter David's Supergirl remains one of my favourite comics of all time). So I don't know if I'm ready for yet another SG, much less one who has "none of her cousins affection for the people of earth".

Wonder Woman - Just think, a year ago, I thought it was bad enough when Diana was being rebooted. Who knew? As for the new, new, new WW, it's another maybe. Coming so soon after the last reinvention of the Wonder Woman, it's like she's losing any cohesion for me as a character now.

All-Star Western - No.

Aquaman - No.

Blackhawks, The Flash and The Fury of Firestorm - No, no and no.

Green Lantern: New Guardians - Maybe. Kyle's 'my' lantern, so I might just give this one a go.

I, Vampire - I'll stick with IZombie

Justice League Dark - Another maybe, simply cos of Zatanna's presence.

The Savage Hawkman - Nope

Teen Titans - No. And what the frik did they do with Cassie?

Voodoo - Maybe. I really liked Basri's work on Power Girl (sigh)



And that is that. From the look of things, DC's new 52 looks like being the perfect jumping off point for me, and I'll definitely be saving a fair few quid each month.

What about everyone else? Will you be buying more? less? Are you one of those new comic book readers that actually are being enticed by all these shiny new No.1's?
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Old 31-08-2011, 10:04
Mandark
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Will be checking all Superman and Batman related stuff as well as Justice League Dark, Demon Knights and All Star Western interest me too as they seem a bit different. But I can't help think that this whole reboot will do little to bring in new readers. Comics are the fun things of older readers.
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Old 31-08-2011, 10:14
tingramretro
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So far, I'm not optimistic about the reboot and not inspired to try much except Resurrection Man.I'm cautiously optimistic about the soon to be revived JSA, though they aren't part of the first 52 and I'm not happy with them apparently being relegated to Earth 2 again. All in all, as a longtime reader I just feel a bit betrayed by the whole thing and not very interested in investing financially or emotionally in an all-new continuity.
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Old 31-08-2011, 11:17
Teddybleads
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I'm afraid I'm going to use it as a good jumping-off point. I'm just too old for another reboot.
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Old 31-08-2011, 15:07
Mandark
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I think one hope they have is that they can appeal to the smartphone/ tablet generation who make impulse digital purchases. I think comics work well on these platforms. My only concern is the prices. I've been reading the main Flashpoint line and each of the 5 comics are/will be £2 for 40 or so pages. In an age where everyone wants apps or app related purchases for next to nothing, these comics look pricey. 50p would be better.
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Old 31-08-2011, 16:18
not_the_doctor
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I think one hope they have is that they can appeal to the smartphone/ tablet generation who make impulse digital purchases..
Impulse buying isn't going to help them. The stories will still be structured as long-running arcs, and in a few years' time, they will have the same continuity problems again. Assuming DC is still around in a few years.

I think comics work well on these platforms.
It just about works on tablets, but it's not at all a pleasant experience to try and read a digital comic book on a phone..

My only concern is the prices. I've been reading the main Flashpoint line and each of the 5 comics are/will be £2 for 40 or so pages.
Yes, it's never going to work at this price level. Price is also a problem for the paper versions.

Anyway, I won't be buying any of the DCnU titles.
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Old 31-08-2011, 17:11
JCR
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Impulse buying isn't going to help them. The stories will still be structured as long-running arcs, and in a few years' time, they will have the same continuity problems again. Assuming DC is still around in a few years.

It just about works on tablets, but it's not at all a pleasant experience to try and read a digital comic book on a phone..

Yes, it's never going to work at this price level. Price is also a problem for the paper versions.

Anyway, I won't be buying any of the DCnU titles.
DC will still be around, although I'd expect Action, Batman, Detective, and Superman will be back to their original numbering within a year.
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Old 31-08-2011, 17:50
DaveMusicCharts
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I'm getting fed up of the constan re-launching and 'tweeking' of the characters, stories etc. It's starting to P**s my off as I was really enjoying the original series of LSH.
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Old 31-08-2011, 19:14
FunkmasterT
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I've ordered quite a few, but I'm curious to try most of them.

Just bought Justice League #1 on comiXology on my iPad, let's see...
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Old 31-08-2011, 19:55
FunkmasterT
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Superman with no y-fronts is so strange! They should just be there. Looks like he has an Action Man crotch now.

The suit does look a bit more armoured, but nothing significant. I don't like the red seam at the wrists on the suit, or the collar.

I'll try not to spoil too much, but

Spoiler


I will be grabbing the second issue, hopefully we'll see the team start to form near the end of the second issue. The art is pretty good,
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Old 31-08-2011, 20:05
killthedirector
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will probably wait for some to be made into tpb
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Old 31-08-2011, 20:21
bigstunnerdude
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When do the new Batman and Superman Issue #1s hit the digital stores? I only see Justice League on there today.
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Old 31-08-2011, 20:23
not_the_doctor
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DC will still be around, although I'd expect Action, Batman, Detective, and Superman will be back to their original numbering within a year.
I'm sure DC will be around, I was just joking, but they do seem committed to the DCnU, so I can't see them going back to old numbering and pre-DCnU continuity within a year. I was never as emotionally invested in issue numbers as some people, so I wasn't bothered about missing out on the big milestones for Action, Detective, etc. My only problem with the reboot is that almost none of it interests me at all. The thing that interests me the most is how the new digital initiative is going to be received.

When do the new Batman and Superman Issue #1s hit the digital stores? I only see Justice League on there today.
I thought the plan was for all the other titles to hit at midnight tonight?
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Old 31-08-2011, 20:29
FunkmasterT
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Batman #1 is September 21st, Superman #1 is September 28th.
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Old 31-08-2011, 20:35
not_the_doctor
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Batman #1 is September 21st, Superman #1 is September 28th.
Heh, seriously? How do you say "half-arsed" in Krytonese?
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Old 31-08-2011, 20:42
bigstunnerdude
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Flip got to wait another month then for my comic collecting to start.
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Old 31-08-2011, 20:47
FunkmasterT
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Yep, it's a bit disappointing that Justice League #1 is the only one of the new 52 out this week.

Next week has Action Comics, Animal Man, Batgirl, Batwing, Detective Comics, Green Arrow, Hawk and Dove, Justice League International, Sgt Rock: Men of War, Static Shock, Stormwatch, and Swamp Thing.
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Old 31-08-2011, 20:56
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Oh, and for anyone hoping to get a read of digital Flashpoint #5, you'll have to either wait a few weeks or be naughty. They've got some time period in which each Flashpoint issue remains paper-only, even though JL #1 is available today.

I've already ordered #5 on paper, but I couldn't resist having a quick look at a naughty digital copy to see how the universe ends up as it does.

Spoiler
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Old 31-08-2011, 21:19
Mandark
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I've ordered quite a few, but I'm curious to try most of them.

Just bought Justice League #1 on comiXology on my iPad, let's see...
Been checking all day for it then it sneaks out when I'm not looking!! By the way £2.49 is hardly a great launch price to draw in new readers, especially kids.
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Old 31-08-2011, 21:28
bigstunnerdude
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Yeah very pricey put me off buying it for my iPod or Android phone. Its a bit like Kevin Smith's new Bionic Man Comic. Really want to read it but not at £2.99 an issue.
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Old 01-09-2011, 01:33
Matt D
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and not by whatever means Barbara will have magically regained the use of her legs.
WHAT?!

I ditched the DCU after No Man's Land, but still have my GNs/TPBs and some singles I like to re-read, so Barbara regaining the use of her legs is major news to me as I lost touch with DCU years ago.

But... WHAT?!
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Old 01-09-2011, 09:27
tingramretro
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I think one hope they have is that they can appeal to the smartphone/ tablet generation who make impulse digital purchases. I think comics work well on these platforms. My only concern is the prices. I've been reading the main Flashpoint line and each of the 5 comics are/will be £2 for 40 or so pages. In an age where everyone wants apps or app related purchases for next to nothing, these comics look pricey. 50p would be better.
It would also be financial suicide. Even if they were digital only, the books would still cost money to produce (writers and artists don't work for free). Selling the digital issues for 50p would not cover those costs, and nobody would buy the paper copies if the digital version was that cheap.
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Old 01-09-2011, 14:30
Mandark
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I don't know what the solution is. May be comics are no longer a mainstream thing. Existing fans will pay good money for well written/drawn comics but not many potential new fans will. They'd rather buy a game for their phone or put money towards games for their consoles.
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Old 01-09-2011, 14:56
not_the_doctor
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I don't know what the solution is. May be comics are no longer a mainstream thing. Existing fans will pay good money for well written/drawn comics but not many potential new fans will. They'd rather buy a game for their phone or put money towards games for their consoles.
Yep, comic books have been dying for a while, and I can't really see a solution. There isn't really much they can do to evolve the way games and movies have been able to. Motion comics have proven to be a complete failure, and I'm not sure 3D is going to be much help either.

One of the big problems is that they have lost the kids market, but I'm not sure that can be reclaimed, even by making comics more accessible. They're still going to too expensive, and there's still going to be increased competition from games, movies and the 800 TV channels aimed at children, which weren't a factor 20-odd years ago, when kids were swapping comic books in the street.
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Old 02-09-2011, 20:55
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It doesn't sound like the DCnU reboot is off to that great a start. Although the words "strong" and "brisk" have been used to describe the sales so far, some of the retailers prepared to cough up actual numbers are saying that sales have in fact been lower than several of Marvel's recent big events.
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