I was visiting Meltdown Comics earlier this week and the clerk noticed that I picked up the first two issues of Flashpoint. He asked, “Are you ready for all the changes coming to DC?” I replied, “I’m out of the loop. What’s going on?” He then explained it to me…and I’m still not sure I grasp it all.
Let’s start with Flashpoint. As you’ve probably discerned from the title, it’s a Flash story. It has Eobard Thawne (Professor Zoom, The Reverse Flash) mucking with time. Barry Allen finds himself in a world where he’s no longer The Flash, no longer married to Iris West, and Batman is a vigilante / casino owner (that’s not a typo). There are only three more issues of Flashpoint to go and I’m curious to see how it will wrap up. There seems like there’s too much to clean up. Unless…
…the entire DC Universe is just blown up! Yup, that’s what’s going to happen. At the end of August, all DC Universe titles will start over from issue #1. The clerk at Meltdown told me that some books — he used the Batman books as an example — won’t change too much, while others will change drastically. He mentioned that major changes are on the way for Superman. Flashpoint will conveniently make it so that Supes is younger, single, and only five years into his superhero career.
The general idea is to give characters a fresh start and modernize them. Adding to the freshness is renowned artist Jim Lee, who was tasked with redesigning more than 50 DC characters. The changes I’ve seen so far are mostly subtle. All the iconic symbols and colors are still there, but with an updated look. For example, it looks like the rebooted Wonder Woman understands that it’s much easier to fight crime in pants than in panties.
Other tidbits include Dick Grayson going back to being Nightwing and getting his own book. This made me happy. Unfortunately, Red Robin will be cancelled outright. This made me sad. I loved the issues of Red Robin that I read. It looks like I’ll have to stick with reading Teen Titans to keep up with Tim Drake’s adventures.
I’m sure there will be moments where the rebooted versions of the characters I’ve known decades make me sad. I’m also sure there will be moments where I’ll find characters more interesting than ever before. All of that pales into comparison to the relaunch of Justice League International! That book was my favorite of all time and I can’t wait for more “Bwahahahahahaha!!!” adventures!
Yeah i can't wait to see how things pan out. I'm suprised that this is such a short story arc especially with reboots galore coming. I figured it wouldve been a year long.
Will Aquaman do something else besides breathe under water and talk to fish?
He has superhuman strength, which is kind of required for living at Atlantis' depths. He also rules a kingdom, unlike anyone else in the Justice League.
Interesting. If they do this in conjunction with ebooks it could really entrench them with a new generation.
In fact I could be tempted to purchase eComics (TM) if they were cheap. Cheap as in under $10 per issue; 9.99 doesn't count though.
Then again it could just piss off the established fanboys who love the content by reading Wikipedia constantly.
The reboot is in conjunction with same-day electronic launches.
That is a very wise decision by them. I will check this out then.