So today I read a piece about DC Comics revamping their line.
It’s a mixed bag, but over all I don’t think it looks good. Prez, fergodssake! And it’s pretty much all rehashes and revivals of old superhero stuff; why is there nothing new, nothing where I say, “Hey, that sounds cool!” or “That looks like fun!”?
(Okay, I don’t know what Dark Universe or Mystic U or Doomed is, but I’ll bet they’re derived from some existing properties, and they all sound pretty grim.)
Wait, I looked it up — Dark Universe is just a revamp of Justice League Dark. Bleah.
Is there anything here that will draw in new readers? Anything that will appeal to kids? Not that I see.
At least there’s some humor, in Section Eight — at least, I hope that’s intended to be funny, since the characters originally appeared as comic relief in Hitman many years ago, a series that, despite the title, had many funny moments and was generally enjoyable. I confess I’m looking forward to seeing Dogwelder again. (And yes, his name is an accurate description.)
But mostly it’s spin-offs, yet more riffs on characters and concepts originating with Batman and Justice League, more grimdark. Why do they think we need more of that stuff?
I dunno, maybe it’s just me, maybe I’m missing something, but this all just looks like More of the Same. Pfui.
P.S. I see DC’s announcement says Bizarro, Bat-Mite, and Prez are intended to be humorous. They don’t mention Section Eight on that list. This does not encourage me.
I’d be happy to write an “Adventures of Jack and Miracle Girl” comic for ’em, but I don’t think they’d go for it.
I wish they would. It’d be better than a lot of this stuff.
Thanks.
“Jack and Miracle Girl” obviously wouldn’t make any sense in the DCU, of course, since it takes place in its own universe, but they could easily do something like it using their own characters and probably get a pretty interesting book out of it. It’d be nice to see them try out some different concepts like that.
It’s funny though how it’s now dark stuff, the focus is still on super-heroes. When I was a kid, DC Comics were my favorite, but their horror comics.
Weird War Tales, Weird Western Tales, The Unexpected, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Secrets of Haunted House, The Witching Hour, Ghosts, and probably a couple others.
I liked most of those; Ghosts always seemed the weak one of the lot. But I was always a fan of the superhero stuff, too.
The superhero stuff they’re doing these days, though, doesn’t grab me; there’s nothing to ground it.
Or maybe my tastes are finally changing — but I still love things like Astro City, or the Marvel movies, so I think it’s DC that’s changed.