Wednesday, June 01, 2011

52 Reasons for a Universal Reboot

Well, now.

I have a new Heroclix map or two to share with you, and I have to finish up Supergirl versus the Gang, and I need to get current with the Shield's adventures---

but given DC's announcement this week of a universal reboot in September, those will all have to wait a bit. Apparently a REAL universal reboot, not just a 'housecleaning'.

For good or for ill, this is astonishing. As discussed in my previous post, nothing of this sort has really been done before (despite what anyone tells you). This is, potentially, the biggest deal in all of of DC's history, other than the Golden Age itself.

Whatever else, it is an enormous opportunity. In fact, I can think of, oh, let's say, 52 things, large and small, that this is the opportunity to fix:

  1. A Penguin who's not a punching bag.
  2. We can all be mind-wiped of Identity Crisis. Tegrof!
  3. Lex Luthor will no longer have been president.
  4. Removing NYC from the DCU. Because really... it's just in the way.
  5. The 'generation creep' that's caused a temporal pile-up of aging teen sidekicks bumping up against un-aging icons can go away.
  6. Pa Kent. Because, well, he's a better character alive than dead, basically.
  7. The Death of Aqua-baby -- the crack in the ice that led to our recent decades of darkness, death, and damage -- can be avoided.
  8. Jean Loring. Period.
  9. Detaching the JSA from WWII, which is the current ruination of a sliding timeline. They didn't actually fight in WWII, you know, despite what many of you think. They fought saboteurs and profiteers on the homefront; sometimes I wonder whether any of you have actually read a Golden Age JSA story!
  10. Martian Manhunter as a actual detective in Apex City. Oh, yes; embrace it now.
  11. Marv Wolfman's Teen Titans -- the crack in the ice that led to our recent decade of faux-Marvel whining, talky-talking, and adolescent drama. Avoiding that alone is worth a universal reboot.
  12. You want ADULT drama, instead? Golden Age Starman, folks. Golden Age Starman.
  13. Clayface as the mad movie actor he originally was, not a Marvel-style monster-villain with sci-fi powers.
  14. No more earth-based GLs other than Hal Jordan.
  15. Replace Washington DC with Federal City again, and make it Wonder Woman's fictionopolis. That will go a long way to putting her back on track.
  16. Making the Chief a good guy again.
  17. No more "Deathstroke the Terminator". Really, just do not go there at all.
  18. A JLA origin that doesn't involved the Appellaxians. Because, classic though it is, that story is really really stupid.
  19. An actual purpose for Wonder Woman.
  20. A version of Gotham City that doesn't make you wonder, "Why the heck does anyone live there?"
  21. Jimmy Olsen as a well-intentioned but hapless young nerd with heroic pretensions that geeky younger readers can identify with. I mean, one without spider-powers.
  22. Green Arrow back to his Golden Age glory. Glory being a relevant term, of course.
  23. Barbara Gordon = Batgirl.
  24. The return of Sensation Comics.
  25. Maybe an actual gay superhero; I mean, one with name that people might actually recognize, not junk-drawer
  26. The Catwoman as an actual villain, not a 'cat-burglar with a heart of gold'. A villain in a dress, goshdarnit.
  27. Etta Candy, baby. Real Etta Candy, fat 'n' sassy.
  28. Villains like Killer Moth can be reintroduced without the baggage of years of continuity treating them as laughingstocks. Okay, really, there are no villains quite like Killer Moth; but you know what I mean.
  29. Kal'durh as the original Aqualad, without the embarrassment of the Silver Age big-headed, purple-eyed freak who preceded him.
  30. The Riddler as a gore-free-Jigsaw-style, Xanatos-gambitin', big-time player, rather than a joke.
  31. A whole revamp of J'onn J'onnz's powers to make him easier to use. Just give him a few powers unique in the JLA like shape-change, phasing, telekinesis, and the ability to create ice cream cones with his mind.
  32. A series for the Phantom Stranger. And perhaps another for just his hat.
  33. A renaissance of the some of the "lesser" fictionpolises, like Opal City, Calvin City, Midway City, etc.
  34. Non-addict Speedy.
  35. Lois and Clark not married. NOT because I don't like them married. But because there was no build up to it. There was no real development of a relationship between the two that made you believe Clark and Lois fell in love and would marry, just a rush to match the plot of the silly Lois & Clark television show.
  36. A re-telling of the Case of the Penny Plunderer, with Joe Coyne as an obviously deranged lunatic. "PENNIES WILL BE MY CRIME SYMBOL!"
  37. No Doomsday!
  38. The chance to give Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter actual rogues' galleries of their own that don't embarrass them. As long as there is still the Human Flame.
  39. Potentially, a clear break to begin a new Comic Book Era. The Gilded Age...? The Platinum Age?
  40. No more attempts to make the Fourth World live on when its creator, who should have been the only person to handle the characters, does not.
  41. "Montevideo of Uruguay: LIVE!"
  42. A Golden Age style, sane Joker. Pure malevolent wickedness that scares the crap out of you and swims really really well. Not an irrational gibbering mountebank. Yeah, you go ahead and fight me on this one.
  43. Aquaman as a/the leader of the JLA. It would help define who he is, a lot, and it's really not a role one of the Big Three should ever have.
  44. The opportunity to apply the Dynastic Centerpiece model with a little forethought and diversity, rather than having a supporting cast of archetypes simply crop up like inevitable mytho-structural dandelions.
  45. Returning Plastic Man to his original role as a straight man around whom wackiness occurs, rather than his current one as a consistently unfunny comedian.
  46. The opportunity to focus on creating new stand-alone stories rather than merely extending continuity.
  47. Vibe. Alive, breakdancing, and living large. Shut up, you know you want it, too.
As for the last five, well...
this is the audience participation part.

What do you perceive as the top five opportunities in this Platinum age reboot that I've not listed?

67 comments:

Dwayne "the canoe guy" said...

1. A chance to give us a new character that we care about. Not a re-gendered re-ethniced re-sexed version of a previous character. Last original good character? Firestorm. (I'm talking about folks that started in their own book)

2. A chance to get rid of HEX

3. The Challengers of the Unknown that really tackle the Unknown

4. Ultra the Multi- Alien

Anonymous said...

1. Superman to be the 1st superhero again.
2. New series for Sgt Rock, Blackhawks & Doom Patrol

Ostrakos said...

I'm with you on all of those except Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. Oracle is way too unique of a character to lose. Sadly, it seems pretty certain you're getting your wish.

Scipio said...

True, but... anyone could be Oracle, really. Let Oracle exist but, as a new independent an original person, not a retooling of some other character that some write felt had been forgotten enough to be fair game for a dramatic maiming.

Bryan L said...

"Inevitable mytho-structural dandelions" is my new favorite phrase.

My list:
1. Ralph and Sue back. 'Nuff said.
2. While I'm at it, all dismemberments, decapitations, maimings, immolations, and ridiculously large mass murders (yes, I'm so with you on the Joker) reversed.
3. Make Aquaman into his Brave and Bold character. Well, maybe not completely, but enough to differentiate him from Namor.
4. Undo all that rainbow Green Lantern crap. Seriously, I can't think of a better example of fanboy obsessiveness (read: Geoff Johns) screwing up and massively overcomplicating a concept.
5. Do something cool with Hawkman. There's potential there -- keep him a reincarnated Egyptian prince/archeologist and WORK WITH IT.

Jeff R. said...

I can't completely agree with you on the JSA. To me, there's not any point to having that group in the first place if you can't have their confrontation with the HUAC. So I'll go instead with:

#1. A chance to introduce a brand new generation worth of legacy characters operating in the 60's-90's timeframe.

#2. Letting the Legion have it's load-bearing connections to the DCU, including Superboy as a member, and

#3. Supergirl, the original model, introduced early in the Superman mythos and able to date Brainiac 5

#4. Morgan Edge. Let him really be the secret boss of Intergang this time, with no 'he's a sweetie who happened to be possessed by Darkseid' business.

#5. Pete Ross and Lana Lang, without the President Luthor-related baggage destroying their characters. For that matter, just about the entire Superman supporting cast, from Cat Grant and Steve Lombard to Emil Hamilton and Vatrox have some story in modern continuity that makes them really problematic to use, and all that can go away now.

Elspeth said...

Two words: no Robin.

Roygbiv666 said...

Batman = World's Greatest Detective

Also, Ace the Bat-Hound.

SallyP said...

Gah! Don't mess with my Green Lanterns! That said, I want Mogo alive, and I really wouldn't mind getting rid of the crayon corps.

Ted Kord! Ralph and Sue! Scott and Barda! I wants my JLI, and I wants it now. And L-Ron, and Oberon and a non-evil Max Lord.

Get rid of that idiotic Winick re-boot of Ice's origin. Gah!

I don't even mind Vibe. But we must have Dale Gunn as well.

Roy as a human being again.

And Chunk. I want Chunk back again too.

Tony said...

You beat me to it, SallyP! Bring back Ralph and Sue, Ted Kord as the Blue Beetle, and go back to Maxwell Lord being a charming con man instead of a monomaniacal evildoer.

Dave said...

As tempting as a wacky, non-homicidal Joker and having Ralph and Sue back are, the remainder of it is too much.

Tell the banker "no deal."

Kevin Street said...

You've already touched on this with your #41, but to expounding on that a little:

1. A DC Universe that's a better place because it has heroes in it. The current DCU is much worse than the real world, with all those cities and countries destroyed by villains. Coast City, Montevideo, Blüdhaven, Bialya... Millions dead. The heroes have failed again and again when it really mattered. Change that.

2. I like your idea of streamlining the DCU a bit by replacing some real world cities. Metropolis instead of New York, Gotham instead of... I don't know, maybe Atlantic City or Baltimore. Coast City instead of LA, St. Roch instead of New Orleans. Not every city is replaced, though. Just the ones with top tier hero inhabitants.

3. 52 worlds in the multiverse, with the JSA on Earth 2, and the Justice League on Earth 1. Not necessarily a rehash of silver age continuity (as this relaunch is about looking forward and not backward), but instead a way to give each team more relevance. Each is now the premiere superhero team in its world.

4. You could get your golden age Joker and other characters on Earth 2, and the JSA could still be active in the 40s without ruining the sliding timeline on Earth 1. And a number of the younger legacy characters could live in Earth 2, like Infinity Incorporated and later creations like Damage. The key is to treat the JSA series and Earth 2 like they matter as much as Earth 1. Maybe they could give each universe a name instead of a number or something, to get away from the idea that 1 is "better" than 2.

5. The sidekick thing is tough to fix, but they can do it by making a continuity where Dick Grayson's generation is going off on their own (taking new identities like Nightwing and Arsenal) just as the Superboy and Impulse crowd are becoming teens. So Teen Titans generation two starts up just as generation one drifts away, and there's only about a five year difference in age between them.

Justin S. Davis said...

) "Bring 'Em Back Alive" -- I thought Blackest Night was the perfect opportunity to resurrect tons of nifty dead characters and/or concepts, but we only got those few in Brightest Day. Bring everyone back! (But I'm NOT saying we need 2 Captain Boomerangs, 3 Blue Beetles, 5 Clayfaces, etc.--just go with the concepts)

) A new Suicide Squad book (although I don't know how it'd work, as you really need established characters to give some "oomph" to the whole villains-get-a-pardon thing)

) A return of Dial H For HERO

) Fixing the Flash-family of books. Yeesh, they've been rough the last few years. Barry, Wally, Jay, John Fox...just pick someone, and do something interesting with it.

) Keeping the grossness of things like Cry For Justice and Arsenal's cat-fighting out of the DCU for good.

Anonymous said...

In fact, Oracle was anyone. When she first appeared in John Ostrander's books (those he wrote, not starred in), she was Amy Beddoes. Problem solved. Amy isn't Barbara, and everybody goes home happy.

On the other hand, with ubiquitous Internet access and easy research, is Oracle still relevant? She reminds me of the atomic-powered heroes of the fifties, the electric-powered Pulp heroes, the mesmeric Victorian heroes, and so forth. Cutting edge in its time, but now only nostalgically charming.

That said, the few things I'd like to see from the 2012 DCU appear to already be impossible.

1. You can't swing a dead superhero spouse (too soon?) without hitting someone with powers. Every bit player gets carried along endlessly, and it's time to bite the bullet and put them on the bread line. But 52 titles doesn't sound like this is getting streamlined.

2. From all the previews, it looks like the headliners are all white kids. DC keeps talking about how important diversity is, and writers and editors talk about how reboots are great times to introduce it, but...the JLA is a bunch of white boys and a token chick (and the Martian). Again.

Trevor Gentry-Birnbaum said...

1. A sense of passage of time that is uniform across all titles.

2. Actually publish comics for these alternate earths. I'm tired of hearing that The New Frontier takes place on Earth whatever and there's no on-going.

3. DONE IN ONES.

4. STOP WRITING FOR THE TRADE.

5. DEATH TO DECOMPRESSION.

CobraMisfit said...

1) The return of Ted Kord. I love the new Blue Beetle, but Ted relied completely on his smarts, not an alien suit or super powers. I like heroes that can outthink, rather than out punch, the bad guys. He doesn't need his own series, just get him back into the JLI.

2) A chance for Booster to shine. I know, I'm biased. But they've built him up as a Time Master, so why not give him some more oompf. Just keep the bwa-ha-ha.

3) Either non-evil Max Lord or just kill him outright. The man resurfaces as often as Luthor and we have Luthor for our meglomaniac evil business-man stuff anyway. I mean, come on. . . Wonder Woman snapped his neck and all.

4) ANYTHING with Green Arrow would be better than what we have now.

5) Seconded about Ralph and Sue and give them a series where they travel the world doing detective stuff. They were a unique pair that would do well with a lighter tone and some fun, campy stuff (a la their 90's mini-series in Berkraplitonia or wherever it was called. That was great).

6) Wonder Woman loses the jacket. Nothing says 1985 like her trying to fight crime in a jacket. It didn't work then, works less now.

Harvey Jerkwater said...

1. A shift away from "comics as immersion experience," where we're expected to enjoy the sheer act of hangin' with the heroes, towards "comics as stories," where we're expected to enjoy the comics because they contain gripping starts, middles, and ends. I can't afford the "immersion experience." It takes too many comics to work, and comics aren't good at it anyway. Think movies, not sitcoms.

2. Scale back on the bloodshed, including the villains. To maintain the superhero idea, it's important that the villains don't become so depraved and violent that they make the basic superhero idea and code of conduct seem absurd. Villains can kill, but perhaps back off the whole "Joker slaughters thousands again" style.

3. New characters, dammit. Probably none of them will stick -- the market's overloaded -- but it's worth a try. Not a legacy character or some half-assed reboot, but a batch of new heroes and villains.

4. The return of the Clever Hero. A throwback to the Silver Age, and probably impossible now, but I'd love to see it make a comeback. Particularly in the form of Scipio's longtime nemesis, Adam Strange. Adam Strange is the Cleverest Man Alive, and therefore incredibly dangerous. (Which could make for a fun time when he is tricked into conflict with Batman, courtesy of the machinations of Adam's hyper-brilliant and evil uncle, Doctor Hugo Strange.)

Harvey Jerkwater said...

Oh, and 5. Aquaman is NOT king of Atlantis. Screw Atlantis. It's boring and nobody likes it. Have it exist, have him be half-Atlantean, but he's not the dang king.

Anonymous said...

I am not sure whether to go with this, but: a return of distinct Earth-1 and Earth-2. I hesitate because a combined earth has been good for the Earth-2 heroes; back in the Silver and Bronze Ages they were lucky if they could get a backup story in "Adventure Comics". These days you can expect to see Wildcat in the JSA, or teaming up with Catwoman and/or Black Canary, or even showing up on the "Brave and Bold" cartoon. That said, trying to put everyone on the same earth screws up the character histories too much.

Someone (Siskoid, I think) once proposed a charming explanation of the JSA's longevity: at some point early in the JSA career, Johnny Thunder happened to exclaim: "Say you guys, this is so much fun, we should keep fighting bad guys and never stop!" And so the thunderbolt saw to it that the JSA remains able to keep fighting evil.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and a moratorium on killing characters. I don't care if you like Ray Palmer better than Ryan Choi, the DC Universe is big enough for the both of them (har har), neither one needs to die. If you need to demonstrate the badassitude of a villain, they can still injure a hero; I would not be disappointed if the phrase "he's lost a lot of blood but he should make a full recovery" got used a lot.

Resurrections are usually lame, but despite popular opinion, resurrections aren't the problem. Killing off the characters in the first place is the problem.

Beta Ray Steve said...

I'd say the chance to remake the DCU into the kind of place where Silver Age-style zaniness could happen and not be forgotten or ignored, as happens at Marvel. I wouldn't want the DCU to become like he Batman tv show, but a story where Batman isn't facing a life or death or mass murder situation could be just the thing every so often. The emotional range of DC stories can be broad, they should take advantage of all of it.

I just hope we're not in for a whole lot of 'year one' tedium.

r duncan said...

Scipio--Death of Aquababy. I agree 100%. Besides being a stupid story in the first place, seeing Black Manta essentially running free all over the DCU makes Aquaman look like a big loser. If AC Jr., is dead, Manta should be dead too, or else Aquaman should see to it that he never walks free again.

And OF COURSE, Vibe!

Anonymous said...

1. Manhunter! (Specifically, the Kate Spencer one)
2. Ralph & Sue - absolutely
3. Abandon the rule about absolute consistency of tone or continuity between books - crossover continuity is sizzle, not steak.
4. Let some of the aging heroes retire, still be alive, and be an occasional treat (a la Jack Knight)
5. Vibe should star in a remake of the Paula Abdul record vibeology

Anonymous said...

48. Fix Julie Schwartz's and Brad Meltzer's mistakes, and bring back the world's second greatest detective, Ralph Dibney, the world-famous Plastic Man, and his wife Sue.

49. Respect the Marvel Family. You know the Big Red Cheese belongs in the JLA.

50. Repeal point 23. Barbara Gordon is, and always will have been, Oracle. Do not mess with the Birds of Prey. We need her far more as a geek than as Yet Another Bat. She was hardly central to the mythos when she was Batgirl, and her Dynastic Cenerpiece role is ably filled by Batwoman now.

51. Respect Mr. Terrific. Given the choice between him and Batman, I know who I'd rather have on my team.

52. A DC Universe that doesn't revolve around Batman.

-- Jack of Spades

Mandrake said...

A Teen Titans that is actual training grounds for the next generation of superheroes, not the sidekick slaughterhouse. I expect the new DCU to be an adventurous, exciting place, instead of the dangerous place it's become recently.

Diabolu Frank said...

10. Middletown.

31. Marvel fans say "phasing." Specifically X-Men fans. Also, telepathy is non-negotiable.

38. The Martian Manhunter has a rogues gallery large enough to rate a top ten list.

44. I want to see Zook as Robin to Miss Martian's Batgirl at least once, with Captain Harding as Commissioner Gordon, Diane Meade as Montoya and Cameron Chase as Bullock.

45. I just wanted to back you up on Plastic Man, so as not to be a total pest. Aquaman leading the JLA is also pretty cool.

Anonymous said...

You know, it's a pity this reboot is coming right during the current Green Lantern renaissance, because after the Timm/Dini Justice League cartoon, I rather liked the idea that a generation would grow up thinking of Green Lantern as a black man.

It was an idea that it would've been nice to see migrate into the comics, only the big problem with that was that John Stewart was dull as paste. So are most non-Hal Jordan human Green Lanterns, really.

Ergo, I would've loved to see a rebooted Green Lantern series built around a protagonist who had Hal Jordan's personality, origin, supporting cast, and villains, but who also happened to be black.

Oh well.

Mudman said...

I have a goodly amount of ideas, but the ones I just have on the top of my head:

1. No more plot arcs. Single stories for single issues. Great Krypton, it's not that hard...you don't have to have Batman fight the same evil-Chinese-monk guy for seven or eight or twelve issues.

2. Continuity. Just...continuity. If a villain (for it seems to happen to villains more often than heroes) dies, he is dead. He cannot be used in later series just because you feel like it.

3. For that matter, no crappy deaths for villains. I don't care if you don't like Amos Fortune because he's a quaint fat man, and I don't care if you don't like the Fiddler because he wears a powdered wig; don't just take older villains and murder them just to use some red ink, or, worse yet, you need to make an example to show the readers, "These other villains are *evil*! They shot *the Human Squirrel*!"

4. The new Earth-2 is cool. Heck, they have the relatively obscure '80s "bumblebee suit" Doc Midnight in there. And the original Earth-Two had some kickass characters as well that I'm guessing are somewhere on Earth-2. SO BLOODY USE IT.

5. Trim the Multiverse. I like how we have a lot of Elseworlds in there, along with reboots of Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and even places like Earth-AD, but Countdown (which should be removed from all existence, including on our world and timestream) just threw in some bullshit ones like "Zod is Superman!" and "Um...Captain Atom is on this one!" On that note...EARTH-S NEVER HAD A GREEN LANTERN. Thank you, Arena.

Wow, I revealed a lot of feelings about this than I thought I had. Fascinating.

Super Davr said...

I would love to see some of the newer Flashes, Green Lanterns, Robins, and what have yous still make occasional appearances in DCU. However, these should be their pre-hero characters. Maybe they could be a supporting in other heroes books or just a cameo now and then. So when DC decides to make them become a hero(or not) it will be all the more satisfying.

Anonymous said...

Question: what should Lex Luthor's deal be? Should he be:

- Superboy's friend turned enemy after a botched firefighting incident?

- Evil businessman?

- Scientific genius who spent some time in Smallville and knows the Kents but not all that well?

I have this notion of Lex Luthor, Adventurer: imagine Lex doing a Doc Savage thing, to great public acclaim. Lex is a pretty good guy in general, but with two character flaws: vanity about his flowing red hair (which no man or woman can resist), and you are expected to understand he is the most amazing man you've ever seen. So when a certain Kryptonian shows up and unintentionally steals Lex's thunder (with genuine humility no less), well, the stress is enough to make Lex start losing his hair. And so it begins ...

Noah said...

48. Heroes should fight villains far less often and focus more on fighting each other. This generates "pathos," which is intrinsically better than "fun."
49. Heroes should talk more -- even to themselves, if they're not with anyone. "Excelsior!" Superman could muse to himself as he flew amongst the Metropolis skyscrapers. "I sure hope Ma Kent's fragile heart can make it through the week!"Again, pathos.
50.   Company-wide crossovers should be socially relevant, addressing the political issues of the day. Having everyone's beloved childhood heroes give long-winded speeches and take  sides on touchy, controversial subjects is not at all irritating and REALLY steps up the pathos. 
51. Characters should likewise be designed to be socially relevant, addressing such pressing modern-day concerns as civil liberties and social stigma against minorities. Each of these characters is a goddamn pathos factory. Put four or five of them on a team and they will form a self-sustaining  "pathos reactor".
52. Finally ditch Darkseid's corny name and start calling him "Thanos", which is an objectively better name because it sounds much more like "pathos".

Nacho said...

You had me at #41.

Ignacio
from Montevideo, Uruguay.

Scipio said...

Ignacio!?!?!

I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD?!?!

;-)

Scipio said...

Noah... heh heh.

48. Ballads beat uptunes...?

49. OR just use lots of thought-balloons weighted with self-doubt!


50. Oh, and they should name real-world people and situations, so that they become almost INSTANTLY dated!

51. "Pathos Reactor" is the new title starring Marv Wolfman's New Teen Titams.

52. Then we can start calling suchcharacters "thanetic!"

Redforce said...

The Metal Men, in all their wackiness. Except seven of them, for the seven alchemical metals. Using the symbol (so Lead won't be the odd man- er, robot out). Platinum is now Copper (which makes more sense anyway) but still loves Doc. The others are as before, except Mercury is more, well, mercurial and the cynic of the bunch. Silver (the 'new' metal) is a haughty, preening jackass who thinks he/she is Magnus' Gift To Robots.

Isaac said...

1) Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle. I love Ted, but Jaime and his supporting cast is pure distilled awesome.

2) A clearly defined role and cosmology for The Marvel Family, including Teth-Adam, Isis, and Osiris.

3) I *like* the Rainbow Lanterns, and they're clearly here to stay. If we're doing a universal reboot, establish the other corps as having been around for a bit, with shifting alliances between all of them.

4) To tie into the space adventures of the various Lantern corps, clean up the other sci-fi/cosmic characters. L.E.G.I.O.N. can be wiped away for all I care, but let's get a clear idea of who the big dogs are (Khunds? Dominators? Durlans? Someone new?), not only for current stories, but also to set the stage for the 31st Century Legion continuity.

5) Bring back TOMORROW WOMAN!

Accursed Interloper said...

Anonymous: "Someone (Siskoid, I think) once proposed a charming explanation of the JSA's longevity: at some point early in the JSA career, Johnny Thunder happened to exclaim: "Say you guys, this is so much fun, we should keep fighting bad guys and never stop!" And so the thunderbolt saw to it that the JSA remains able to keep fighting evil."

It was TotalToyz (sp?).

Jeff McGinley said...

No continuity. If you have a good Sandman like 72 issue story, go ahead. If you have a good done in one, go ahead. JSA story in 1940, great. JLA/JSA cross over as either students/mentors or equals from parallel worlds, cool. Characters should have some sort of "bible" to keep consistancy of the brand, but if they plow back into soap opera like tales and crossovers for the sake of themselves, Flashpoint 2: Speedster Boogaloo will be coming in a few years.

Nathan Hall said...

1. Am I the first to say, "No Lobo?" Guess so

2. Tommy Mongahan as a real hit-man who does the job heroes are too good for

3. References to the Dreaming being unaffected - or maybe the real cause of all the change

4.A single Hawkman with a coherent story. Make him Egyptian or Thangarian - I prefer Egyptian because there are already too many aliens with Superman, J'honn, Green Lantern sentinels, etc.

5. Tighter suits for the ladies. I'm talking Spider-Woman tight.

ralphdibny said...

I agree with the No Continuity bunch. The JLA writer shouldn't have to worry what the Superman writer is doing. Captain Marvel should inhabit a whimsical Fawcett City. Let the writers and artists tell the stories they want to tell, and let the fans argue about what "really" happened, what "really" counts.

Oh, and I should be travelling the world having Nick and Nora style adventures, solving mysteries with my beautiful wife, in a mod 60s world with few to no super-villains, drawn by Mike Norton.

Scipio said...

"1. Am I the first to say, "No Lobo?" Guess so"

Only because most of us just ASSUME "oh, heavens, of course NO LOBO!" LOL

Andrew said...

Let me double down on #5: No Teen Sidekicks. In fictional terms, we never see teen sidekicks fighting crime at their mentor's sides anymore. In metafictional terms, putting children in harm's way like that is tough to write or justify, especially now that we're long past the campy Silver Age. And none of the Teen Sidekicks are iconic. Get rid of them!

Okay, Robin gets grandfathered in, but he's the only one. Sayonara, Wonder Girl (both of 'em), Connor Kent, Kid Flash, Speedy, and so forth.

Scipio said...

So, just to clarify...
when you guys say "No continuity", I'm guessing you mean "no focus on adherence to common storylines across titles"?

Because an actual "no continuity" would be mean, say, there could be a different Robin every issue, or sometimes the Kents are alive and sometimes they aren't or sometimes GL is Hal Jordan and sometimes he's Ch'p. Because, well, as the old quote goes:

"But,no; that way lies madness."

Ticoman said...

Not adding stuff, just commenting on Scipio´s list because it´s late and screw it:

#7 - Oops, Geoff Johns is writing the new Aquaman. Life expectancy of Aquababy to be calculated in nanoseconds. Watch him get eaten or something as well.

#14 - well, we already saw Guy Gardner in the cover to JLI. Sorry

#31 - totally agree with this. It always bothered me that all martians were supposed to be this powerful, too. Maybe write new-J'onn as an enhanced Martian?

#34 oh dear god yes. And revive his daughter, please!

#36 - whoa for a split second I read it as "penises will be my crime symbol!!"

Jimmy said...

48. Bring back The Imaginary Tales Issue where "Justice Battalion" can be consigned.

49. Erase Infinity Inc. from existence or make characters based on them with new origins not tied to being kids of former heroes ala Huntress.

50. Do away with the Carol Ferris, bring back Golden Age Star Sapphire who has nothing to do with Zamaron.

51. Erase Alyx Florin and make Rose And Thorn a top Flash villain with no interest in Alan Scott.

52. Make Alan Scott young, sexy and single again.

There's more, but I have my limits.

Odkin said...

I don't keep up with current continuity at all, so maybe this is already done, but Captain Marvel needs to be put on his own Earth where he is consistently handled with wit, charm, fantasy, and adventure. Not as an anime, or wacky cartoon, or dark soap opera, or satire, or anything but the clear clean classic hero that kids can look up to, as depicted in so many of Otto Binder's stories. And GET RID OF THAT FUCKING JACKET FLAP. It's been nothing but a jinx for him, and Beck was right to ditch it after just a few appearances.

Oh and something unrelated: Scipio, can you PLEASE fix the aspect ratio of your logo. It's like watching my mother's TV with a 4:3 picture stretched to 16:9.

Steve Mitchell said...

I suffered a 1d3 SAN loss Saturday afternoon when I first found out about the September reboot (on a gaming site, actually).

I lost 1d6 more SAN later in the day after I had read some of the news releases and commentaries.

Then, in the evening, as my son and I were discussing the possiblle ramifications of a universal reboot, I blurted out, "Oh God, what will this do to the Legion?"

And lost 2d6 SAN.

I picked a hell of a week to go off my meds, that's for sure.

Siskoid said...

Thanks for the corrected credit Interloper. I sure WISH I'd thought of that, but no, it wasn't me.

Brainy Pirate said...

#40 -- Amen!!! Retire Darkseid and all his associated characters, and stop using Kirby's ugly design style--those are some of the most hideous costumes ever!

More diversity in NEW characters (not "can I borrow your name" characters). Both ethnic American and global -- let's visit Africa and South America and Asia more often!

No more underpants and tights on men -- redesign everyone with pants. For the women, pants too, but at the very least, no more g-string costumes--I don't need to see their butts and I don't need to worry how long it's been since they had a bikini wax.....

Let the supergroups acknowledge that there are other supergroups hanging around. Given all the craziness in the JSA and JLA, for instance, how come they never call in other heroes for help??? Keep the conflict proportional to the size of the team handling it. (Corollary: more guest spots in individual-hero titles.)

We have three interesting versions of the LSH -- can we not find ways to keep all three in play?

Scipio said...

Really? We couldn't manage 52 comments?

*sigh*

Gene Phillips said...

I didn't think the Penguin had been a punching bag since Denny O'Neil wrote him. But I haven't read a lot of recent stuff.

r duncan said...

I hope 52 is not the cut-off.

Can't we bring back Ultraa? (Yes, with 2 a's.)

Anonymous said...

More issue #1's for my collection! They're going to be worth so much money someday!

TotalToyz said...

So, let me get this straight. The entire history of the DC Universe will be rebooted? In other words, all of their heroes will be reborn?

Does Rob Liefeld have anything to do with this?

Citizen Scribbler said...

I just want Ted Kord alive again.

Plus an infinite number of worlds...

-Citizen Scribbler

Steve Mitchell said...

I was really thrilled to see that iconic Justice League founder and long-serving member Cyborg has replaced the green loser from Mars in the team's new line up.

I was also excited to see LaTroya in Justice League International. I can only hope that a former Team Titan is now embedded with every DC team.

Scipio said...

Yes, Steve, this obsession with forcing feeding us Cyborg as an A-level hero has never made any sense to me. But he obviously made an impression during the '80s New Teen Titans years on readers (and therefore, writers) of a certain generation.

I mean, geez, they're treating like he's Vibe or something...

Accursed Interloper said...

A Superman who has NOT been killed and resurrected.
A John Henry Irons who has NOT been killed and resurrected.
A Hal Jordan who has NOT been killed and resurrected.
A Kyle Raynor who has NOT been killed and resurrected.
A Wonder Diana who has NOT been killed and resurrected.
A Wonder Donna who has NOT been killed and resurrected.
A Wonder Hippolyta who who has NOT been killed and resurrected.
A Barry Allen who has NOT been killed and resurrected.
A Martian Manhunter who has NOT been killed and resurrected.
An Aquaman who has NOT been killed and resurrected.
A Green Arrow who has NOT been killed and resurrected.
A Carter & Shiera Hall who have NOT been killed and resurrected.
A Ray Palmer who has not been reteenagerized and then de-re-teenagerized (re-adulterated?)
A Rex Tyler who has NOT been killed and resurrected.
Probably another hundred characters worth of formerly dead villains.
... and so on and so forth.
My verification word is "shouten" but must we?

steve mitchell said...

"Does Rob Liefeld have anything to do with this?"

Well, he's the artist for the new Hawk and Dove series. Which means DC will have time to study the sales figures for #1 and cancel the title before he finishes drawing #2.

And my old pal the Martian Manhunter is now going to join Stormwatch with Apollo and the Midnighter. Is this his consolation prize for losing his place with the JLA to Cyborg?

Has anyone noticed yet how little DC is using outside of its own legacy characters and Wildstorm?
There's Captain Atom and Blue Beetle from Charlton, but they pretty far removed from the Ditko originals.

Nothing from Fawcett that I can see yet. No Captain Marvel in the, ah, new universe?

Nothing from Quality, except for a totally redone Blackhawk. I'd much rather read a new Freedom Fighters series than Red Hood and the Outlaws.

And nothing from the recent Red Circle books, which I thought were the best things DC had done in the last couple of years.

Scipio said...

DC doesn't own the rights to the Red Circle characters (as it does the Charlton and Quality gangs). They were kind of "on loan" from the Archieverse.

TotalToyz said...

All I meant by the Rob Liefeld comment is that this whole DC Reboot thing reminds me of Marvel's Heroes Reborn, which failed so spectacularly they had to backpedal on the whole thing. Fortunately, Marvel has a built-in exit strategy, e.g. Franklin Richards.

Ken said...

>>Lois and Clark not married. NOT because I don't like them married. But because there was no build up to it. There was no real development of a relationship between the two that made you believe Clark and Lois fell in love and would marry, just a rush to match the plot of the silly Lois & Clark television show.

boy did someone have this one backwards. it wasnt a rush to match teh wedding with that terrible show but rather the Comics wedding event was actually Delayed because 'they couldnt do it before the show did' (how did that take precedence?)so a years worth of stories to build op to the wedding had to be scrapped just to delay it so instead we got Doomsday. so in effect it was teh show 'Lois and Clark' that killed Superman in the comics

dan said...

Super-characters(heroes)-per-franchise should be limited.

1) The Superman franchise should consist of the adult-only Superman and Supergirl. Superboy and Krypto exist only in an alternate universe past. No other Super-characters of any kind.

Also, there will be only TWO monthly Superman titles: Action and Superman. All other Superman releases will be mini-series or one-shots. Monthly Supergirl and Superboy titles can be added if DC wants a four-week rotation each month.

2) The Batman franchise should consist of only Batman, Robin, and perhaps the BG-BG (Barbara Gordon Batgirl). No other costumed crimefighters of any kind in a Bat-related title unless it is a crossover with another franchise.

Also, there will be only TWO monthly Batman titles: Detective and Batman. All other Batman releases will be mini-series or one-shots. Monthly Robin and Batgirl titles can be added if DC wants a four-week rotation each month.

3) Aquaman should just be the SA Aquaman, Aqualad, and Mera. Aqualad will actually now be a grownup who is Aquaman's seneschal who rules Atlantis. Aquaman is head of the JLA. Mera appears occassionally because she is busy raising their newborn child.

4a) Hawkman is the Johns' version but is enjoying a new reincarnation where Hawkgirl wants their relationship. There will be no reincarnation until the next DCU continuity reboot (about 3-5 years). And this Hawkman will use a wide variety of cool pseudo-ancient devices like the wicked glove he used.

or

4b) Hawkman is the SA sci-fi version who actually uses the Absorbascon as a regular tool. This would make Hawkman one of the coolest characters in the DCU.

5) Wonder Woman needs a purpose beyond good-girl eye candy. She also doesn't work as an agent of the USA. However, the Perez run cannot be revisited or duplicated. WW should be a regular of the JLA to keep her relevant.

6) Ray Palmer is the one and only Atom, period. His stories will focus not on the gimmicks of shrinking, but on the advantages of shrinking. He can get inside of and retrieve objects from anywhere. He's the best JLA member for spy work. Use this.

7) Calm down the Green Lantern franchise. Hal Jordan seems to be just a guest star in his own franchise.

8) Undo the absurd "parent-murder" backstory of Barry Allen. This was stupid from day one. Barry never needed any motivation beyond just doing the right thing. This addition turns Barry into yet another modern cliche. His being an old cliche actually made him unique in this modern world.

dan said...

I agree 100% with everything Accursed Interloper said.

I just can't connect to the concept that everyone had died and been resurrected. I mostly just try to pretend none of that junk ever happened.

Scipio said...

THank you for making me look up the word "seneschal". That sort of thing doesn't happen to me often enough...!

Accursed Interloper said...

Wait, what ... EVERYTHING ?
I don't think THAT's ever happened before.

LissBirds said...

1. Ted Kord back.
2. Single-issue stories. (Not all the time, but more often than 8-month-ridiculously-long story arcs.)
3. J'onn J'onzz as "John Jones," detective first, superhero second (if at all.)
4. Carol Ferris's Star Sapphire's outfit = GONE.
5. Vic Sage, alive and well and sarcastic.