Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Why Previous Reboots Failed

I agree that the constant game of sweeps has gotten old. More to the point, the constant game of the illusion of sweeps has gotten old. I'm certainly not one to jump in and buy every issue connected to every big over hyped event. I do think that an occasional real clearing of the field is needed, though. Every twenty to twenty five years strikes me as about right. Ideally, the events that are now being promoted should have occurred right after Final Crisis. From what I'm gleening from the internet, that was Didio's plan and it was scuttled largely by Levitz. Who knows if that is true. I generally have more respect for Levitz than Didio, but if the stories are true, Didio was right.

52, Final Crisis, and Countdown set up the feeling that major change was imminent. The multiverse was reintroduced, but then not effectively utilized. In the end, we were left with the status quo. I get the feeling that the events currently being promoted are the real deal. If so, that will be a welcome change.

The best part of an "event" is frequently the stories and new series that come after that event. There can be (and have been) fresh and creative approaches to characters. That hasn't occurred with the past few events, but it feels like we're getting there.

One of the main problems with DC over the past decade or so has been the overuse of Geoff Johns. I'm not one that views Johns as a god. Neither am I one that views him as the antichrist. He can write a solid story. In terms of sales, there is no argument that his stories have outsold everything else that DC has produced in recent years. That's lead to an over reliance on him, a sense of ego that is unseemly, and him getting to play with all the major characters at the expense of other writers and their ideas.

The good news with the launching of of 52 new titles is that Johns can't write all of them. Many of my favorite characters are going to launch into solo series with new creative teams -- as opposed to being packed into the next Johns event. That's a good thing. I'm looking forward to what the new teams are going to be able to produce. So, I'm cautiously optimistic. There's a real chance that we're going to see a creative surge.

Thanks Eryk Davis Ester! I haven't heard that lately.

I'm sure I'm not alone, a lot of people are still talking about comics without reading then anymore. This isn't the first reboot or company-wide event that's made people give up on comics.

I agree with Jerry that Crisis was a good reboot as far as the good things that came out of it, but it did fail in its stated goal, to simplify the history and the universe. It sorta did at first, but they didn't try very hard to really be consistent or fix the points that needed explaining. Though some writers tried, it only got worse as time went on.

And it looks like they're going to do it the same way this time, except I don't think they're saying they're going to simplify things, so at least it won't technically fail on that point this round.

Jerry, we will have to agree to disagree re: Crisis on Infinite Earths. (BTW, I'm not saying the tale itself was bad, mind you)

That said, Yes I have enjoyed many, many DC titles since COIE. Obviously. I'm still buying.

And THAT said, I am actually one of those rare DC fanboys who is actually looking forward to the sweeping changes and new titles coming. I was freaked out for about 12 hours, but since then I've been all about it. BRING IT ON, says I.

If I like it, I'll keep buying. If it sucks, it's dropped. No harm, no foul.

PS/ Anyone else read that a large chunk of this reboot stuff is a direct result of the SUPERMAN/Siegel family lawsuit?

I have not heard that.
Any details/links??

It was a theory I read... probably on Bleeding Cool or CBR... but with the internet ablaze with DC news, I can't find it now!

But the gist was DC is losing certain key elements of the DC mythos, and this relaunch/reboot/whatever it is a direct response to the ruling, and had actually been originally planned to take place following the 52 series...

Which leads credence to my personal theory that many of these titles will be taking place on the various 52 earths in the current DC multiverse.

I believe Marv Wolfman is credited with once saying, what DC is planning to do this Sept, is what they should have done right after CoIE: re-started everything from scratch.

I don't mind the reboots, they are almost inevitable in this industry. The main problem comes with sustaining creativity.

All these new #1s will definitely generate huge sales (especially with all the news coverage). But previous sales records of past reboots show that these huge starting numbers eventually dwindle back down to their pre-reboot numbers.

So if DC is expecting to generate new sales, new readers, can they sustain this new level of creativity to continue drawing in these new readers?

That's a huge task in today's market.