Don't Call It A Comeback. DC Spoilers

I was going to make a thread about final infinite identity super crisis, but I'm so confused by what is supposed to be going on here that I decided not to.

First they have the multiverse, then they get rid of it, then they bring it back, and now ... what is final crisis supposed to do? The nice thing about DC is that it makes look Marvel look a lot better, as usual, they're just stuck in the past.

I don't read much DC but didn't they pass "creatively bankrupt" without even slowing down back when they revived Jason Todd (Just kidding, it was Clayface!) and then REALLY revived him?

Are they still killing Bruce Wayne?

How silly of us.

To be fair, they pretty much intimated as much at the NYCC. What with all the buttons about someone else being Batman and such.

AND Re: Barry Allen returning. Honestly? I could not care less. He was better dead, I think, but I don't read Flash, or JLA, or really anything he'd be in, with the exception of Final Crisis (because Grant Morrison is writing, and everything Grant Morrison touches turns to awesome.), so it's not really going to matter to me. It'll matter to the fatbeards in charge at DC who want to ride his superfast cock, and that's about it. (I'M LOOKING AT YOU, MELTZER AND JOHNS!)

Those are some far-out fucking conclusions. And aren't comics sales in panic mode? How do they expect these gimmicks to boost sales if they don't tell us (the people who don't buy comics) about it? Didn't they tell us about Superman dying, Captain America dying, etc., all beforehand? In major newspapers and such?

Very true. And he was a better character as the deus ex machina. But again, it's hard to muster up any amount of caring about it.

My comic reading has shrunk to pretty much whatever Morrison does, whatever Warren Ellis does, Matt Fraction's Casanova, and some other random things here and there. The days of following everything Marvel & DC do are long gone for me.

That's not hype.

Barry Allen's initial debut as the Flash in a 1956 issue of Showcase is what showed DC and the other majors at the time that the Superhero is ready for a comeback. Plus, it was the key point where Julie Schwartz became a predominant voice at DC Editorial and started the building of the Silver Age as we came to know it.

Marvel, Fawcett and several other houses scrambled to compete and the Silver Age as we knew it was born.

Sure, it resulted in the 99% death of Horror, Western, Romance and outsider comics. But, Johns is pretty much right.

Barry Allen got the ball rolling to the overabundance of superhero comics today. Now, whether or not the return of Barry Allen is a good thing remains to be seen.


Wally West has always been my Flash and I stick by the character since it's the most fleshed out version of the Fastest Man Alive. But like Mark Waid alluded to, what's the point of bringing back a character that the DCU has fare well without for the last 22-23 years?

From what I understand, comic sales are steady, and better than they were around the turn of the century. Certainly not booming, but it's still a profitable industry.

Still, for all that, I'm glad that one of the publishers is finally telling a story for the 30+ year old comics fan. Those guys must feel so neglected most of the time.

Completely agreed on all points. Barry Allen is a bore, Wally West has been the most fleshed out version of the character exhibiting the fun and hyperactivity that seem to lend themselves so naturally to the character. As far as what Waid said, could not agree more and I like the DCU.

Batman R.I.P. = "Batman" dying. Bruce goes nuts and wanders the street as a homeless guy. This is a spoiler thread - so there ya go.

Kill them all, destroy all universes, reboot continuity, start over, no ifs, ands or buts.

The real fans want this. The casual fans will like this if the writing is sharp. Make it happen, DC.

It is good to see that Barry Allen has returned from the dead...maybe now DC could kill off that Flash in the pan...Wally West. While DC is at it, maybe they can allow Barbra Gordon to walk again and be Batgirl instead of her remaining crippled.

The rumor about Batman before 52 started was that after it was over Bruce Wayne would be in an Aylum and there would be someone else in the suit. I could see that before being a homeless guy. They'd have to jettison a lot of the Batman universe to have him homeless. Commit him to an asylum and there's nothing anyone can do.

After he goes nuts-o there's going to be an issue or two where Nightwing, Robin and the whole Bat-contingent are looking for him.

I can't believe at the start of this decade, I would follow this shit to the ends of the Earth. Now I really can't care.

Venom crackers? Sweet. Those'll go good with my Vulture milk.

Newsarama has the least stable servers of any "major" geek site. I have barely been able to get a page to load for the last two weeks.

This coming from the company that brought back the one character who they'd actually managed to leave dead.

I don't remember Eddie Brock being a brother.

Is he black? I kind of thought dark blue. And in any case this conversation is pretty nonsensical seeing how I doubt race relations existed wherever the fuck the symbiotes came from.

I'm going to be reading Final Crisis because it's Grant Morrison, and I'll read almost anything with his name on it (w/ the exception of 52, because shit tends to leave a great deal of stink on your hands), but the last several years have proven to be a difficult time to be a superhero fan / DCU devotee with standards.

When I got into DC in the 80's it was because I loved the boldness and history of their characters (not history in terms of continuity, but rather their place in the culture) and because I didn't really understand anything that was going in in Marvel universe, I mean I had zero fucking clue as to what the X-Men where supposed to be about.

Nowadays I can't read any of this shit, I still love the characters that I love, and I still appreciate the concept of the superhero, but I hardly read any ongoing, in continuity series, because the quality just isn't there. Even if it was, there's the certainty that due to some editorial mandate, whatever you're reading could be drafted into some lame crossover at any time.

I remain mystified as to how people keep falling for this silly shit. So Barry Allen was dead, so fucking what? I would say that no one under the age of thirty cares about Barry Allen, but hell, hardly anyone under the age of thirty reads superhero comics anyway.

I just read about a recent study on the demographics of the average mainstream U.S. comic book reader, which amount to "20-25 yrs old, male, video game player, disposable income".

Not a shock there, but yeah...an average age of 20-25 is ridiculous for this industry, and a bad sign for its future.

I disagree.

I can't really tell the difference between the different Flashes, they all seem like the same guy to me.

I got duped during Infinite Crisis and I'm not falling for it again. The story started out promisingly and then it devolved into this self referential mess by every possible cameo they could think of.

In Marvel they overdo characters like Wolverine and Venom appearing all over the place, in DC it's worse, they have a fascination with showing every possible variation and permutation of several characters over and over again (specially Superman).

Oh and 52 and Countdown were complete messes, I'm glad I dropped them after the 2nd and/or 3rd issues.

Read Scott Pilgrim instead.

On a side note, Bart Allen's death was a pretty solid issue.

Yeah, especially the way it was thrown at Guggenheim. Do 1 storyarc, plan a bunch more.

Next month. Kill the title's star and shitcan it time for the start of Countdown.

Thanks!

Love, Didio.


Got to love that shit. Also, 52 wasn't a mess. Countdown was cat shit.

Yup. 52 showed that a weekly series has the potential to be consistent, and not just in shipping. But, Countdown was fucked from the first issue.

I'm fairly obtuse about some stuff and I didn't get the reference with the lighting bolt. My very first thought, with all their focus on Mary Marvel and Black Adam lately, it had something to do with them. Lightening blots from the sky were always a Marvel family signature.

So I take my 8-yr-old to a comic shop a short time ago. There are racks upon racks upon racks of adult-themed stuff there, and only one little display for kid-friendly comics. Comics are a proven gateway to reading: why are Marvel and DC relinquishing their natural market to Captain Underpants?

My local comics shop must just plain suck, then. Looks like I'll have to drive a couple of extra miles to the next one over.

Wait until tomorrow, it's Free Comic Book Day. There will be tons of free books including many kid-friendly titles like Tiny Titans. That's your best bet.

Winner! And maybe the next comics shop over won't be so creepy.

Hahaha, oh, Frank...so innocent and hopeful.

Frank Cobretti, You could always order comics online. midtowncomics.com is a great site, as well as an excellent store in New York City one at 45th and Lexington and the other at 40th between Broadway and 8th. Diamond Comics has a comic store finder where if you supply your zip code, they will give you the address of all the stores in your area.

Or you can do mail order from my store! www.myspace.com/scificity.

/shameless plug