DC's New 52 Universe Two Years Later

[Mr Light]

It's been two years since DC revamped their continuity with "The New 52". What's your opinion on it now? Good idea? Bad idea? What was your initial impression?

My opinion hasn't changed. While I still enjoy some books, I don't like it. I don't like how they threw away years of great stories that I grew up on. I don't like the utter mass that the backstory of various characters has become.

I don't like how vast swathes of stories from only a few years ago have been wiped out of continuity. Great runs like Geoff Johns Teen Titans, hell any Teen Titans at all, Booster Gold, Secret Six, anything with Bane or Doomsday apparently. Not to mention the mess that the Robins have become. How Nightwing went from being the bonding factor with all of the DCU to just another Bat groupie.

I particularly dislike what they did to Superman. They completely erased his entire continuity! I understand the desire to make him younger/cooler/hipper/whatever but I liked him the way he is. I think he should be idealistic and Apple Pie. And of course this applies to Superboy and Supergirl as well, whose continuities were just completely thrown out. Same with Power Girl.

It just boggles my mind how some stories can still be in continuity when so many of these characters have disappeared into a black hole. What happened? What didn't? How did it happen differently?

That said, there's still some great stories going on. Snyder's Batman. The ending of Batman Inc (which was just a continuation of a pre-52 story of course). Occasionally, Justice League. The ending of Johns' Green Lantern (again, the ending of a pre-52 story that wasn't effected by it). Morrison's Action Comics run was interesting. People really enjoy the Wonder Woman run, though it's not my cup of tea personally.

So, I wish they hadn't done it, and they demolished so many great stories and made it all a confused mess, but I still enjoy some books.

 

[theenglish]

For what it's worth, I felt the same way back in the eighties after COIE and DC made the same mistake of rebooting some character while not rebooting others leaving a jumbled mess behind.

You are right on all your observations about the new 52, I think. Either reboot or don't. Morrision and Johns could easily have finished their stories outside of continuity. I liked incorporating the Wildstorm characters into the DC universe but think it is ridiculous to try to incorporate Vertigo, which is really a separate entity entirely. For me, the best thing about the new 52 is the costume redesigns for Superman and Batman, neither of which required the new 52 to have happen.

For my personally, other than reading the death and return of Superman storyline, I did not read comics for twenty years following COIE. I started picking them up again in 2006 with Infinite Crisis and bought trades for the next few years. I live overseas and would stock up when visiting the States or Canada.

I started buying comics with the new 52 because I could buy the digital versions internationally. Honestly, I would have started buying DC anyway just because of their new digital comics.

 

[Mr Light]

For me, the period surrounding Infinite Crisis was the high point of DC Comics. There were a lot of books I really liked then, and I really loved the way they managed to have a crossover organically touch on almost every book in a fundamental way by having such a multi-pronged story.

 

[Saga]

not a fan. after Trinity War is over i'm going to drop several books.

 

[Lucky]

I dislike it. And here's why. Superboy (Conner Kent) is my favorite character in all of comics, he is who got me started reading comics in the first place. Now all his history is gone, I don't feel as attached to the current Superboy, probably because they've changed so much of him it is hard for me to decide it he's even supposed to be the same character. If they'd just kept his half Superman/ half Lex origin intact I'd feel better. I hate not feeling as connected to him as I used to.

I still get Superboy, Supergirl, Batgirl, Green Lantern and Green Lantern: New Guardians. But I'm mostly getting Marvel stuff now.

 

[TemporalFlux]

I don't mind change. For the first 10 years of my life, I had pre-Crisis continuity and loved it; and I liked post Crisis continuity even more.

My problem with the new 52 is that it's pretty bland for the most part. It's generic costumes (most from the Jim Lee school); it's generic ideas. It's alot like the worst of 90's Marvel and Image; an attempt at flash with little substance.

Admittedly there have been good moments such as the Wonder Woman monthly, but I've mostly found it uninteresting and not engaging.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Some books I like. Some I don't. I don't really care about loss of the previous continuity or characters that no longer "exist". I'm not going to worry about how storyline X fits into the new continuity. Been there done that with COIE. If the art and story are to my liking I'll enjoy the book.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I dislike a lot of it. I'm really enjoying the books that I'm currently reading though and will continue to read books that interest me.

 

[Ovation]

I like it well enough (never been a continuity hound, so the changes don't bother me so much). I'd gone from collecting weekly to picking up trade paperbacks over the last decade but have started collecting again digitally (no nearby comics shop, so digital is great for that).

 

[Icemizer]

Overall I still like it. Some books are good, some are bad, but that has always been the case no matter what reboot has taken place. I agree with many of the above comments that it seems this reboot is a little blander and less well thought out than some of the others. I think it was a mistake to let one guy redesign the visual look of the entire universe as it limited the vision of what was possible but I think that will change as things move farther along.

So I am still reading the following

Action Comics
All Star Western
Animal Man
Aquaman
Batgirl
Batman
Batman/Superman
Batman & Robin
BatWoman
Constantine
Detective Comics
Earth 2
Flash
Green Lantern
Justice League
Justice League Dark
Justice League of America
Nightwing
Phantom Stranger
Suicide Squad
Superboy
Supergirl
Superman
Superman Unchained
SwampThing
Teen Titans
Vibe
Wonder Woman
Worlds Finest

 

[TheSeeker]

For what it's worth, I stopped reading comics in the late 90s and the New 52 got me curious enough that I decided to check it out and I'm still reading. The only Marvel I'm reading right now is Spider-Man.

They've done some stuff I really like, like Wonder Woman, The Flash, Supergirl and to a lesser extent, Superboy. I hated the Morrison run on Action comics and I wasn't too keen on the Perez run on Superman, but I am liking it right now, especially with the Kenneth Roccafort art. I do like this new version of Superman although I do feel they may have taken his brashness a little too far.

I recently read the first year of Green Arrow and it has got to be the crappiest comic book I have read in a long time. There were just no redeeming qualities to it at all. I guess I prefer the older, more seasoned Green Arrow that Mike Grell did years ago instead of the smart ass pretty boy.

I really enjoyed the early issues of Green Lantern but this new direction has me unsure if I will continue buying. It seems like Johns had put Hal and Carol on a solid footing in their relationship and then all of sudden things are crappy between them again.

Aquaman has been another pleasant surprise for me. I was never a big Aquaman fan but when Justice League crossed over with it I picked it up and enjoyed it so much I bought all the back issues.

All in all I would have to say that had I been continuously reading comics for the last 15 years I probably would have been irked by the New 52, but as someone returning to comics it was nice to get a fresh start like this. My vote goes to "I like it".

 

[Professor Zoom]

I would say: overall pretty bland. And I don't get the reason why, beyond, "hey we have to get some attention." Which, I suppose is all the reason you need.

Personally, it was a risk averse change. Which is sorta boring to me.
Sure, Batman is good, but... he's really not all that different.
Superman is pretty much Superman... We just don't know what stories from the past apply... which doesn't bother me.

The only books that I give a credit to are Wonder Woman and Earth 2. Both of them took risks and I think, for the most part, are paying off. Wonder Woman is hands down the best of the New 52, and I think Earth 2 is great. I loved loved loved the JSA so I was pretty horrified that they dumped it.

But, then E2 came out. And I loved it. New ideas, new versions. A new Earth.

But the rest... just straight down the line, no risk, no reward. Boring.

 

[kirk55555]

There are a few good books, like Wonder Woman, Batwoman, GL/Corps/New Guardians) and a few decent ones like Earth 2 (which is ok but nothing compared to the excellent JS), and World's Finest (which is ok but is pretty poorly written when it comes to Power Girl, who is my second favorite DC superhero after the original captain Marvel, who also got screwed over by the reboot). Bbut overall I really don't like the New 52. The biggest characters are usually written like jerks, everything Geoff Johns writes is basically a type of torture to read (and I used to like his stuff, his JSA/Justice Society runs are two of my favorite DC comics runs), and nothing with Superman or batman is readable. Wonder Woman's main book is great, but the writer doesn't care about what the rest of the new 52 is doing, which is the best thing he could have done. Is Johns writing a fanfiction like Superman/WW relationship? Good for him, but Wonder Woman's writer (rightly) just doesn't acknowledge it, and made atleast one good snarky comment about what he thinks of the relationship. So, while you can find some good in DC, there is a lot of horrible stuff, and the people in charge are just idiots who also seem to enjoy running off most good writers with their idiocy.

 

[Saga]

i will admit that without the reboot we wouldn't have got great books like Phantom Stranger and Sword of Sorcery (even though it was canceled). really doubt pre-Flashpoint DC would have even considered giving Amethyst another go. Earth 2 and Wonder Woman are great books. though part of me still misses pre-reboot JSA.

on the other hand i have completely gave up on The Flash. i've loved the character and book for years and have never quit reading...till recently.

 

[DarKush]

I've enjoyed the New 52 for the most part. Though I do agree with the sentiment that they should've had a straight, clean reboot of everything, including Batman and Green Lantern or not. I think perhaps they should've been more clear in using Flashpoint to create an alternate universe that could be the permanent reality, or gave them that backdoor to return to the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 continuity if necessary.

I'm enjoying DC more than Marvel right now. I really think Marvel has become too gimmicky while I've been more intrigued with the changes being wrought in the New 52. I've dropped a lot of books since it began though that's more for time, money, and storage reasons more than disliking many of the books.

The only ones I'm currently buying somewhat consistently are:

Batwing
Batwoman
Suicide Squad
Green Lantern Corps
Green Arrow

Occasionally I might buy Justice League of America, Talon, Aquaman, Supergirl, various Batman books, Batgirl, Green Lantern, Justice League, Katana

I haven't liked all of the changes though. Here are some that rankled me most:

-The confusing time jump in some of the books (ex. Action Comics for younger Superman man and Superman for the experienced guy).
-I also wish they had kept Stephanie Brown.
-Take Barbara Gordon out of the wheelchair. I really disliked this change at first but I don't dislike it so much now. I've just accepted it.
-Cleaned up the Robin situation.
-Not brought in Carrie Kelly. That's too much fan service and TDKR is still my favorite graphic novel and I liked Kelly's Robin a lot. It just feels too weird with her being in the contemporary Batman books.
-Not made Bronze Tiger (apparently) a werecat (that's what the drawings look like to me), -De-aged Black Lightning and eliminating his daughters Thunder and Lightning
-Put Cyborg on the Justice League (I think Black Lightning, Mr. Terrific, Vixen, Steel all could've been better fits). But especially don't put Cyborg on the Justice League, praise him in interviews, and still don't put in a solo book.
-Not including more Milestone characters either in solo books or as part of ensembles.
-Not doing a better job with the Static Shock and Mr. Terrific books. While I don't think those books were as bad as some might claim, there was definite room for improvement, with Static more so than Terrific.

 

[Mr Light]

I think Marvel is vastly better than DC at this point. I'm a hell of a lot more interested in Avengers than Justice League. Marvel manages to introduce drastic changes whilst remaining in continuity (Superior Spider-Man, the Marvel NOW relaunches).

 

[Nerys Myk]

The only Marvel books I buy are Uncanny Avengers, New Avengers, Avengers, the two FF books and Captain America. No real interest in the rest.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I was leaning towards Marvel back even prior to the relaunch, after heavily reading and enjoying a majority of DC books for several years. In fact probably Slott's Amazing Spider-Man (and Brand New Day before that) and Hickman's Fantastic Four were among the only two Marvel Comics I was reading. Now though it's completely reversed. My pulls are dominated by Marvel.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Other than Hawkeye, All-New X-Men and Uncanny, I feel Marvel dropped down a proverbial cliff after AvsX and NOW.

 

[Mr Light]

I got back into comics because of Sinestro Corps War and for a couple years I only got DC stuff, but I've been slowly gravitating towards Marvel as the years went on. I'd say the highpoint of DCU was the period leading up to Infinite Crisis through roughly Blackest Night. The big titles hit a natural high with Blackest Night, New Krypton, Batman Reborn, and things have just been petering down since.