DC to REBOOT???

[theenglish]

Brett Booth has a more thoughtful follow-up that I found on Bleeding Cool but apparently was originally posted on his blog:

Don‘t you think it makes me cringe every time I see a really, really badly drawn dinosaur in a comic book? Or a dog with five joints in each leg? Do you think these people don‘t ‘care’ about their work? Do you think I contact the artist to tell them they need to look some stuff up? No: I know that not everybody is going to spend hours looking things up to make an accurate portrayal: I don‘t even have time to do that for some things, because I’m asked to tum it around too fast: And you know what? Most people don‘t notice anyways:
My wife has a background in illustration and design: Her degree is in illustration: The comic book industry absolutely appalls her because virtually ‘nobody’ uses reference, and it’s not even expected by an editor: Because most people ‘don‘t notice’ anyways:
​

Still doesn't fill me with assurance about DC's dedication to the new relaunch, but at least Booth comes across in a slightly better light.

 

[Broccoli]

Dennis, I am honestly surprised at your response given that you have, in the past, claimed that you have no respect for people who lose their cool when critiqued regardless of "critique intensity".

Brett Booth has a more thoughtful follow-up that I found on Bleeding Cool but apparently was originally posted on his blog:

Don‘t you think it makes me cringe every time I see a really, really badly drawn dinosaur in a comic book? Or a dog with five joints in each leg? Do you think these people don‘t ‘care’ about their work? Do you think I contact the artist to tell them they need to look some stuff up? No: I know that not everybody is going to spend hours looking things up to make an accurate portrayal: I don‘t even have time to do that for some things, because I’m asked to tum it around too fast: And you know what? Most people don‘t notice anyways:
My wife has a background in illustration and design: Her degree is in illustration: The comic book industry absolutely appalls her because virtually ‘nobody’ uses reference, and it’s not even expected by an editor: Because most people ‘don‘t notice’ anyways:
​

Still doesn't fill me with assurance about DC's dedication to the new relaunch, but at least Booth comes across in a slightly better light.

Yeah, that was a much more composed response, even if seemingly done as damage control. It has an understandable irritation to it, but still delivered in a professional manner.

However, I doubt it is any suggestion of a lack of dedication on DC's part. Of course they are going to be scrambling as they get down to the wire. This is a big push for them. Most companies who do things comparably on this level probably all have their "Shit! We still gotta get this part done!"

 

[theenglish]

^^^
But I would much prefer DC pouring real quality energy into say twenty monthly titles and really doing them well rather than the 52.

 

[JoeZhang]

Just as an aside - Over the course of this thread, we've talked a lot of general comic book concepts in particularly artists turning in stuff on time and the role of continuity... and the like. So anyho...

I'm reading the marvel Doc Savage comics from the 1970s, the first issue has a fill-in artist towards the end because the letter page notices that the artist was too busy with some personal stuff. Moreover, the first issue is an updating of the characters set in the 1970s. The letter column in the second notes that after thinking a bit more about it, they have decided that is a bad idea and that this issue is set in the original period of the characters the 1930s even though it's mid-story. In actual fact, the first three pages are clearly meant to the modern day and by the fourth page it's the 1930s!

 

[Myasishchev]

That's insane.

 

[OsmiumJohnnycake]

Insane but kind of amusing/fun, I'd say. Seems like you're reading the comic book equivalent of a pitch someone's still in the process of figuring out. I appreciate the fact that they're honest about it in the letter columns though. Otherwise you'd be waiting for an in-story explanation that would never appear.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Dennis, I am honestly surprised at your response given that you have, in the past, claimed that you have no respect for people who lose their cool when critiqued regardless of "critique intensity".

I usually don't lose mine. I can remember really being upset enough to lose my temper once about something posted on TrekBBS about me, but it was a personal insult rather than a remark about anything I'd created.

I understand someone "losing their cool" over a critique, though. Hell, Saint Harlan used to do it regularly. What I don't respect is someone who appears to think that criticism of their work is the same thing as an attack on them as a human being and who then responds as if someone has brought their mother into it.

In fact I've seen Internet posters earn warnings unnecessarily because they apparently felt that a put-down of some piece of writing or artwork on some forum required a personally insulting response and then being shocked that the board mods didn't treat the two posts as equivalent at all.

I don't read what Booth wrote as him having made that confusion. He was just annoyed with the guy's pomposity.

As to why I choose not to respond to negative criticism on the occasions that I think it unfair and emotionally hurtful, I've just learned the emotional economics of it: the more attention you pay someone like that, the longer you have to be (however slightly) unhappy because the longer the matter commands your attention. I'd bet Booth is a little sorry today for taking the time to write back to this guy because now the matter is a currently ongoing nuisance rather than a momentary one that's passed.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Good news for JSA (and Earth-2) fans from the Toronto Fan Expo today as DiDio revealed he's working on a JSA project. So they're not "being rested" after all.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/fan-expo-new-52-110827.html

Brian Azzarello reiterated that "Wonder Woman" is a horror book and that the character is not whom we've recognized before. It should be noted that "Wonder Woman #614 hinted at the coming changes and the relaunch and it would appear that Diana is on some small level due to her experiences in the Odyssey storyline is aware that something is happening (or it was Phil Hester's/JMS attempt at being meta about the relaunch foreshadowing it).

They pump the rest of the books. Actually it was a rather fan read for this panel. Not as preachy as some of the others have been

 

[OsmiumJohnnycake]

Some people already thought Wonder Woman was a horror book.

 

[theenglish]

<DELETED BY AUTHOR BECAUSE IT DIDN'T RELATE TO THREAD TOPIC.>

 

[Myasishchev]

Some people already thought Wonder Woman was a horror book.

 

[C_Miller]

Yes to JSA! No to Earth-2! Hell No to the possibility of it being based in WWII.

 

[Broccoli]

Yes to JSA! No to Earth-2! Hell No to the possibility of it being based in WWII.

I'm disappointed to learn that they are reviving the multiple Earths concept. I'm not opposed to a multiverse, but I prefer if the main characters the books focus on be based in the same universe. No real reason other than I like it better like that.

I might be let down if the characters are still tied to WWII when, being based on a parallel Earth, this is no reason to other than fan service (which DC is eschewing in order to craft new stories from new situations).

However, I can come around to a WWII setting if they craft a complete alternate history where the super heroes did actually influence the war and events unfolded differently. That could be a great concept as one thing I never understood with the JSA in the Post-Crisis era was that they were active during WWII and participated in the war effort, yet WWII still happened in the exact same way, suggesting the JSA was completely ineffectual in that effort.

 

[Admiral_Young]

It shouldn't be surprising at all. Isn't Earth-2 a Silver Age concept? I know I keep bringing this up but we have to start realizing who is driving the DC ship right now. It isn't a coincidence that Silver Age characters and concepts have been returning to the DC Universe in the last several years. Dan DiDio and Geoff Johns are admitted Silver Age fans and I believe have used their authority to push the concepts that they enjoyed in their youth in the reality of the DCU (much like a certain former Marvel EIC did about his childhood views on Spider-Man).

I'm not trying to be overly critical (I do realize though that I do have a biased opinion and am pretty much speculating lol) but simply attempting to point out that there is a possible reason and logical ones at that for the way things have been happening in DC. Feel free to disagree or agree. I still am a big Geoff Johns fan, Jim Lee I've kind of waned on over the last few years, and don't really have an opinion on Dan Didio. Rant over

 

[Myasishchev]

However, I can come around to a WWII setting if they craft a complete alternate history where the super heroes did actually influence the war and events unfolded differently. That could be a great concept as one thing I never understood with the JSA in the Post-Crisis era was that they were active during WWII and participated in the war effort, yet WWII still happened in the exact same way, suggesting the JSA was completely ineffectual in that effort.

This would be very awesome.

I mean, they've always dodged the issue before with Spears of Destinies and Parsifals and such. Fuck it, let's have Green Lantern (the one true) kill Hitler and Tojo by 1942. And, if that was so easy, why stop there?

Yes, it's sort of been done. But not as a period piece!

 

[Broccoli]

Roosevelt: Flash, can you go stop Hitler?
Flash: Su--
Flash runs to Germany, grabs Hitler, tosses him into a concrete wall at super-speed, and runs back.
Flash: --re.

WAR OVER!

 

[Professor Zoom]

Roosevelt: Flash, can you go stop Hitler?
Flash: Su--
Flash runs to Germany, grabs Hitler, tosses him into a concrete wall at super-speed, and runs back.
Flash: --re.

WAR OVER!

Or would it be! DUN DUN DUUUUUNN. (That's my scary music. You like?)

 

[C_Miller]

I just think Earth-2 is an extremely lazy concept. Obviously having everyone on one earth takes a lot more thinking, but in the end it worked out. All of the older WWII heroes are dead except for the ones who are explainable by their powers. The Flash ages slowly, Green Lantern was pure energy for the longest time, Wildcat technically can't die. And of course Rex Tyler but he was saved from time point. There is no real need for this and it just further complicates things.

 

[TemporalFlux]

If they're going back to the full-on alternate earth concept, then it's only a matter of time before they revisit the post-Crisis continuity (possibly calling it Earth 1 or maybe even still called New Earth). That's why Earth 1 and Earth 2 were created in the first place; a way for DC to revisit the abandoned Golden Age continuity without having to change the Silver Age continuity.

Give it a couple of years; we'll be seeing married Lois and Clark; Dick Grayson Batman; etc. again.

 

[the G-man]

Earth 2 was a fun and exciting concept...fifty years ago. Now, parallel universes are about as common in comic books as secret identities and mad scientists.