Comic book readers are a skittish bunch when it comes to change.
It’s nothing for them to find out their favourite character dies in a blaze of tragic glory one issue, but have them return due to some sort of head-scratching miracle five issues later.
But in June, DC Comics made an announcement that caused even the most hardened comic book fan to gasp.
They were starting over.
The release of “Justice League” #1 on Aug. 31 would mark the beginning of 52 new titles from DC Comics. Everything else previous, from “Superman” to the newly born “Batman Incorporated”, would be ending.
It was quite the shock, but as the summer continued so did the tantalizing bits of information that leaked from the DC homepage.
Pillars of the DC universe would continue, like the “Action Comics” series and “Green Lantern,” but begin at issue number one.
Meanwhile, legendary characters like “Swamp Thing” and “Animal Man,” who had been absent from comic pages for years, would be making (hopefully) triumphant returns in new monthly titles.
It was all very exciting, but it left many fans uneasy.
“I was very skeptical at first,” said fourth-year student Sam Kamras. A self-confessed “DC girl,” she questioned whether the universe-wide reboot was being done for the right reasons.
“A lot of people were arguing that it was happening strictly because of financial reasons,” she said.
However, with “The New 52,” as it’s been deemed on covers everywhere, comes new readers. Suddenly, people who wanted to begin reading comics but felt intimidated by the years of missed back stories have the opportunity to dive in fresh.
And with these new readers comes more money.
Lee Dunn, who works at the Fredericton Gamezilla, said sales for many of the new titles were so high, they had to have other stores in the Maritimes ship them more copies.
Dunn said the reboot is certainly a good business move for DC and it also has the substance to back it up.
Picking up a copy of “Action Comics,” he was quick to highlight the change in Superman’s appearance: brown work boots, worn jeans, a blue t-shirt marked with the trademark “S” and the red cape.
While some fans cried “gimmick” when images of the revision first surfaced, he argues that it’s a signal of DC’s efforts at bringing Superman down to ground level.
“I found that, for a long time, DC heroes weren’t relatable,” he said. “Superman especially. He was more like a god – nothing could touch him – whereas now he’s a young guy starting out and he can be hurt.”
It’s that fundamental change to the mythology of their heroes that’s making many of DC’s reboots work. There have certainly been some blunders – cough, cough, GREEN ARROW – but for the most part these changes have not only worked, but have exceeded many’s expectations.
What the last few months say about DC Comics is that it’s a publisher that’s not afraid to make some very big moves. It’s one of the things they’re known for. And as Kamras put it, that’s what makes comic books great.
“This is what I always tell people about comics. It’s not like in a novel where you sometimes have one bold idea and at the end of 300 pages that bold idea ends as well. In comics you have a bold choice that’s made and, as the series continues to develop, characters have to live with those choices. It’s forever in that universe and that’s what makes it exciting.”
