[Comics] DC's new 52 (Comics; Nick, help!)

figmentPez

Staff member
I'm surprised, but I almost agree with Kurtz on this one:
"I’m on board with Affleck as Batman only IF by Batman you mean Terry McGinnis. Eastwood as Bruce Wayne. Batman Beyond movie is past due."

Affleck is too old to play Terry, but I still like the idea of a Batman Beyond movie.
 
Has anyone read those new Dial H for Hero comics? They look interestingly horrifying.
No, but the Animal Man and Swamp Thing books are "interestingly horrifying". They intertwine quite a bit and I love the idea of the balance between the three life forces of the planet, The Red, The Green, and The Rot.
 
Has anyone read those new Dial H for Hero comics? They look interestingly horrifying.
I picked up the first trade while back. Read...most of it. I don't know. It wasn't bad, but it just didn't keep me engaged enough to finish it. The writing is honestly kinda sloppy at points, likely because it's China Mieville's first foray into writing comics. The transition from prose to comic script can't be easy.
 
Really, I have to give Kudos for the team on Animal Man, they have managed to pretty perfectly merge the Vertigo and Mainstream Animal Man into a cohesive character and didn't chuck any of the continuity, per se (the entire Grant Morrison run is a dream in the new continuity).

Speaking of which, what events actually happened in the new continuity? Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis, Countdown and Final Crisis. Did those happen or not?
 
I'm surprised, but I almost agree with Kurtz on this one:
"I’m on board with Affleck as Batman only IF by Batman you mean Terry McGinnis. Eastwood as Bruce Wayne. Batman Beyond movie is past due."

Affleck is too old to play Terry, but I still like the idea of a Batman Beyond movie.
Batman Beyond is supposedly back on the table right now and it might be the next Batman solo film. We'll see what happens with it.
 

Zappit

Staff member
Really, I have to give Kudos for the team on Animal Man, they have managed to pretty perfectly merge the Vertigo and Mainstream Animal Man into a cohesive character and didn't chuck any of the continuity, per se (the entire Grant Morrison run is a dream in the new continuity).

Speaking of which, what events actually happened in the new continuity? Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis, Countdown and Final Crisis. Did those happen or not?
I don't think any of those events happened in the new continuity, except maybe Green Lantern, since it was the only book to keep going as normal? DC probably has no clue, either, and more than likely doesn't care.

It's a damn shame, really. DC always seems to do themselves in. They have a far more original and fantastic setting than any other comic universe, but they bog it down in multiple Earths until it creates catastrophic continuity disasters resulting in stories impenetrable to even regular readers. They reset to one Earth, then make the same dang mistakes all over. They try to reach out to girls, but take take characters that genuinely appealed to them - like Starfire - and transformed them into dull sex dolls devoid of the personality and character that made them popular to begin with. New 52 was a giant middle finger to longtime readers, as it tossed aside everything that had come before. Currently, the editorial department is shredding scripts, bullying creators, and hacking finished books apart at the last seconds with changes the creators are not even informed of. DC needs to let those folks tell their stories, rather than dilute their product so badly that loyal readers will give up on them. They also need to recognize that women, I dunno...are people? The Batman movies cannot carry them forever. But the orders come down through multiple levels, books are edited by committee, and they get their asses handed to them by Marvel.

Marvel's got their own problems, but at least they seem to let their creators put the books out without fucking them over. Sure, some things have to be kept in line for the sake of the movies - Peter Parker should make his triumphant return by the time the new film debuts - but they've been kicking DC's butts up and down the street in terms of storytelling.
 
So, I'm through the Rotworld series on Animal Man and Swamp thing. Has anyone read Justice League Dark? That sounds pretty good in theory.
 
Starfire has always been a dull sex doll devoid of personality and character. Starfire has only ever been popular for two reasons, her bikini costume and general aversion to clothing, and the Teen Titans cartoon.
 
So, I'm through the Rotworld series on Animal Man and Swamp thing. Has anyone read Justice League Dark? That sounds pretty good in theory.
I haven't been reading it, but hear it starts out well enough but becomes less enjoyable as the team membership changes. I think that's what I heard.
 

figmentPez

Staff member
There's a huge difference between a sexually liberated character and one that is portrayed as a cum dumpster.
Damn straight. Having different standards of modesty and physical affection than those on Earth is one thing. It's another thing to completely forget about your friends when one of your defining characteristics was your love and caring.

Yes, Starfire was eyecandy, but that does not negate that she had characterization beyond that, especilally in the animates series. And don't try to give me bullshit that the animated series doesn't count, because Harley Quinn says that's laughable. Starfire had a lot of fans, both because of her part in the comics and in the animated series, and the new 52 throws out the major reasons for her devoted fans.
 
For the record, Countdown to Adventure was one of my favorite countdown titles, and Starfire is one of the reasons I loved it so much. If I loved her as a character for her dressing slutty, I sure as hell need to re-evaluate a few things about my life.[DOUBLEPOST=1377480566,1377480434][/DOUBLEPOST]Another example of a character who is largely portrayed as sexually liberated, but is also a really fleshed out character is She-Hulk. Sure she's banged half the Avengers, but she's also a kick ass woman who is as intelligent as she is busty.
 
I'd also like to point out that even though they may have toned her sexuality down for Teen Titans, the character from the cartoons is not that far off from the comic book version of Starfire once she sheds her "I'm a Tamaranian warrior princess who will kill you" side.[DOUBLEPOST=1377481163,1377480929][/DOUBLEPOST]On a completely unrelated note, can I just squeel with glee that they've already killed off Damien Wayne. Good F'n riddance.
 
Really? I didn't know his character well (and I say this as someone who's read so little DC) but I did read some of the comics where he was Robin to Dick Grayson's Batman (while Batman was time travelling Batman for some reason) and really liked the dynamic they had.
 
Yeah he wasn't the best Robin, but I still put him above Jason Todd. But seriously, did this really need to freakin' happen again? Can we PLEASE stop making Batman more tragic?!
 
FUCK YOU, GRANT MORRISON IS WRITING HIS STORY AND YOU WILL NOT UPSET HIS CREATIVE VISION!!!

Grant Morrison is a great writer who ego is his worst enemy. The Damian Wayne death was completely out of left field, had piss poor timing, and it's clear from the publishing of the Damian Wayne mini, and the fact that Retailers weren't made aware of this happening until the Monday before the books release (when the news was made public) That most of DC had no idea it was happening. Right after Death of the Family, which managed to tell a great story without a shocking death, only to have one happen a week later in a book that's been perpetually late by a writer that refuses to acknowledge the work of anyone else at the company.

I liked Damian, but always found it amusing that he had the most personality and complexity when someone other than Grant Morrison (like Peter J. Tomasi and Brian Q. Miller).
 
I didn't like the concept of Damian or, rather, how the character started, but it grew to be a very good character. Also, one that wasn't ruined by the new 52. His death I did not like. It was anticlimatic and poorly handled.
 
I think the first couple arcs in Batman & Robin in the new 52 did a lot for defining the character and his relationship with Bruce that he didn't really get the chance to have before (although him being Dick Grayson's Robin was a brilliant decision, see Grant Morrison is a brilliant writer sometimes). The best use of Damian has got to be the times he appeared in Batgirl and got to interact with Stephanie Brown.
 
I'm just glad that Damian is dead because it makes things less murky in the Batman Beyond timeline. According to that, Tim Drake is still Robin when the Joker dies and Damian Wayne NEVER showed up in any capacity (meaning he was ether dead or no canon with the series). Damian being dead means that Batman Beyond can still fit into the timeline.
 
Meh... You still need that:
- Tim Drake goes back to being Robin.
- They don't introduce a new Robin.
Depends on how well Red Robin takes as a character. The "sidekick upgrades always stick" rule was broken when they made Oracle into Batgirl again, so it's definitely possible.

Really, I'm just kinda sick of their stance on it. They clearly want to integrate the series into the main universe because they included shit like Batman Inc. in the canon of Batman Beyond. On the other hand, it seems like they just can't commit to it because they don't want to make an official "death" for one of their most important characters.
 
It also doesn't help that they're trying to mix the animated universe mythos with the comic book mythos, which are two very different things.
 
It also doesn't help that they're trying to mix the animated universe mythos with the comic book mythos, which are two very different things.
Except they've been doing it for years. Harley Quinn joined canon a long time ago and is a break-out character. Mr. Freeze's back story has been using the DCAU version since it was first introduced because it was simply better than his original one. Renee Montoya started as an inconsequential side character in the DCAU and was (for a time) a big name hero in her own right, both as herself and as The Question.

I will admit that integrating an entire show (even severed from the rest of the DCAU) is daunting. But it honestly doesn't have much effect on the scheme of things, except explicitly saying that the Joker will die.
 
And completely destroying Tim Drake as a character.
I actually like Tim Drake in Batman Beyond though. He's in his 50's and has basically done everything he can to pull himself away from a life that almost got him killed (or worse). In doing so, he has found the kind of life that Bruce never could: happily married, doing a job he enjoys. Quite literally, out of everyone in the Bat Family, the only ones with any kind of happiness in their life are Tim and possibly Barbara and that is because they got out of it. It's the positive message that heroes CAN stop if it becomes too much... that they aren't their hero identities.
 
That's why it's ridiculous to try to make the BB future the actual canon DC future. Tim Drake never has been and never will be the character in the DCAU. He's already differentiated himself tenfold from other Robins. He proved himself by actually using detective work to figure out who Batman was and tracking down the Batcave. The DCAU Tim Drake is simply an amalgamation of Jason Todd and young Dick Greyson.
 
Really, Tim Drake has always been my favorite Robin. He had to fight to become Robin in the first place, because Batman refused to take on another sidekick due to the "death" of Jason Todd. Also, we got to really get to know him and his relationship with his dad prior to Identity Crisis, so for the first time you actually understood the tragedy directly that Dick and Bruce went through when their parents died.
 
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