This week's post will not contain any issue specific reviews, but will instead focus on the line-wide relaunch of the DC Universe referred to as "The New 52" or as the DCnU.
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I'm going to ask a simple question of those of my readers who have been following the New 52: Did this change anything for you? Before any major details of the relaunch had been publicly revealed, I was skeptical. But as I learned that the New 52 was acting as a sort of "soft-reboot", I made the decision to withhold all criticisms until after the first round of 52 issues had been released. Now that they have, I'm free to ask my question:
What was the point?
At it's core, the New 52 was designed to draw in new readers, and entice older readers to pick up new series outside of their regular comfort zone. I've taken the time to evaluate how this event has affect myself, and other members of the Next Level Staff.
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Prior to the New 52 Relaunch, I was reading 4 DC Comics titles: Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern Emerald Warriors, and The Flash. Heading into Week 1 of the New 52, my Pull List stood at 10 titles:
- Justice League
- Aquaman
- Flash
- Wonder Woman
- Captain Atom
- The Fury of Firestorm
- Green Lantern
- Green Lantern Corps
- Green Lantern New Guardians
- Red Lanterns
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I am proud fan of the Geoff Johns-inspired reinvention of the Green Lantern mythos over the last 7 years. While I enjoyed each of the four Green Lantern related books, they showed no sign of being affected in the slightest by the relaunch. If a new reader had picked up any one of these four books, it would have turned them off right way. Every element of each book was based on past experiences between characters, or plot elements established from Blackest Night.
I did not enjoy the Flash first issue, but I am willing to stick it out for at least the first arc. This issue was at least able to bring in new readers, and was far easier to understand with no preconceptions of the Flash. The Justice League issue was similarly insignificant. The issue was decent, but decompressed. I will be returning to these two issues next month however.
Wonder Woman and Captain Atom were the two largest failures of the DCnU to me. I'd always been interested in both of those characters in principle, and was waiting for a moment to jump onto them. However, each of their first issues were paper-thin, relying on extremely simplistic plot devices and clichés. I will not be picking up Wonder Woman next month, and I'm giving Captain Atom one more chance.
Aquaman and Firestorm represent two sides of the same dilemma: each character had serious issues to be dealt with as a result of Brightest Day. In Aquaman, the issues are side-stepped but approached in such a manner that we know they will be addressed shortly. In Firestorm, the consequences were far more serious, but also completely ignored. In the final issue of Brightest Day, it is revealed the Firestorm Matrix is damaged and will destroy the world in 90 days. In addition, Jason had just come to terms with the murder of his girlfriend at the hands of Ronnie, whom he must merge with to become Firestorm. In the new series, the two people dislike each other because of RACE ("Why don't you have Black friends?" "I have Black friends!"), and the impending destruction of the Matrix is completely ignored. Despite these shortcomings, I will be returning to Firestorm and Aquaman next month.
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Truthfully, my dear readers, I'm going to be picking up two books more than I had been in the previous month. For all the hype, I'm going to classify the New 52 as: MORE OF THE SAME.
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What do you think? Thoughts? Questions? Feedback is always welcome. Leave a comment or email nextlevelstaff@gmail.com
