In 2011, DC comics did a reboot, designed to bring in new readers, by giving them a fresh jumping on point. It was called "New 52". Despite a couple of decent comics, it is generally regarded as a failure. The new titles ironically ended up being confusing for new fans, and alienated many existing ones - the characteristics that had made the characters popular in the first place were written out of them. DC held 27% of the comic market (to Marvel's 40%).
It was supposed to galvanize the company’s dismal sales numbers and bring in new readers by modernizing characters and eliminating decades of backstory.
In the short run, it created a temporary increase in sales by encouraging existing DC Comics readers to buy more books. In the long run, it produced no appreciable increase in sales. It made sweeping changes that pissed off existing readers while simultaneously making continuity even more confusing for new ones.
In the short run, it created a temporary increase in sales by encouraging existing DC Comics readers to buy more books. In the long run, it produced no appreciable increase in sales. It made sweeping changes that pissed off existing readers while simultaneously making continuity even more confusing for new ones.
In 2016, they gave up and decided to simply do a 'soft reboot' wherein the continuity was preserved, but they would try to get back to the essentials of what made a hero popular. It was called "Rebirth". DC's market share completely flipped and improved to 44% (to Marvel's 34%). It was a hit. Not that numbers are everything, but it was a reflection of how people felt about Rebirth; it actually produced solid title after solid title.
DC is making better money than it has made in a long time based on a more diverse creative pool than the New 52, a more relaxed attitude towards allowing characters to guest in other books (creating that important superhero sense of being connected to a wider universe), as well as pushing a slew of interesting new characters into the spotlight and taking a back to basics approach when it comes to the classic ones who were most struggling.
Supergirl, Green Arrow, and Batgirl and the Birds of Prey have all received critical acclaim, but so have stories about lesser-known characters in titles like Deathstroke and Detective Comics. Sales leapt in title after title and the word of mouth has remained excellent.
Supergirl, Green Arrow, and Batgirl and the Birds of Prey have all received critical acclaim, but so have stories about lesser-known characters in titles like Deathstroke and Detective Comics. Sales leapt in title after title and the word of mouth has remained excellent.
What was their back to basics approach with the failing titles? Not that DSC is failing - it is allegedly very successful for CBS - but it has been... divisive amongst fans and critics. After the mistakes of New 52, DC just took a white board and listed the essential and most ideal Platonic form of each comic - to just begin afresh emotionally, without actually ditching continuity:
...once they had it mapped out, they realized they were missing the point. What they needed wasn’t a cosmic shakeup — they’d already done that, and look at where it had gotten them. Though they still wanted to execute an attention-grabbing event, they decided to start small. The tactic was to hit upon what Lee refers to as “the most Platonic, idealistic version of each of these characters.”
“We sat down in a room together, and one wall of windows looks out on Burbank and on the other wall is a big whiteboard,” he recalled. “Geoff’s like, ‘Alright, what are the greatest Green Arrow stories ever told?’” Percy gave his answers. Then Johns told him to list all the recurring motifs and plot devices that make Green Arrow unique. And all the most important supporting characters. And the villains. The whiteboard filled. “It starts as kind of a spider-web cluster, and we build out from there,” Percy said. “We figure out, ‘Okay, if you have that, what would be the greatest Green Arrow story line we could tell?’”
“We sat down in a room together, and one wall of windows looks out on Burbank and on the other wall is a big whiteboard,” he recalled. “Geoff’s like, ‘Alright, what are the greatest Green Arrow stories ever told?’” Percy gave his answers. Then Johns told him to list all the recurring motifs and plot devices that make Green Arrow unique. And all the most important supporting characters. And the villains. The whiteboard filled. “It starts as kind of a spider-web cluster, and we build out from there,” Percy said. “We figure out, ‘Okay, if you have that, what would be the greatest Green Arrow story line we could tell?’”
I'm not necessarily saying that DSC runs contrary to some Platonic ideal form of what Star Trek should be - nor does Star Trek need to be PG-rated - but in the show generally, perhaps what needs to be rediscovered is more of the fundamental appeal of Star Trek.
The problem strikes me as being akin to the problem Superman faced as a character - to quote one article "Superman is constantly criticized as a concept too old-fashioned for modern audiences" - but the fundamental appeal of Superman lies in the very thing that some people scorn without understanding him "the optimism and sense of moral duty at the core of his character ... scorned by people who don’t get that that’s the whole point". Superman's Rebirth comic was a turnaround success - from least popular to most popular.
What happens if we ask those same questions? What are the greatest Star Trek stories ever told? What would the recurring motifs and plot devices be? What then would be the greatest Star Trek story one could tell?
It strikes me that season one of Discovery resembled the New 52 reboot. It was perhaps a little too enamoured with 'prestige television'. It tried to upset ideals for the sake of change, believing perhaps too much in the public perception that Star Trek was just camp retrofuturism. But audiences and critics don't always get it. That is not to say that those core motifs can't be told in visceral 21st century ways. Marvel Studios has has consistently updated it's characters without altering their moral fundamentals, which is why they dominate the film industry. Perhaps DSC is in the early stages of a rebirth now - Ethan Peck's Spock re-presents many important aspects of Spock - one of the first mixed-race characters on television, a man of great pride, an outsider wherever he goes, who has wrapped himself in intellect to shield him from a world that judges too swiftly.
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