OK So I don't read DC. The last thing I read of DC was KnightFall/Quest/End and the Death/Funeral/Rebirth of Superman (which I loved) so I am as far as I can be from "well-versed" about the DC Universe. Its also worth mentioning that I rarely give the free give away comics from my local comic store (LCS), but this week was different!
In my pile of comics that I get every week, they took it upon themselves to throw in this week's free preview of the new 52 comics for DC coming this Fall, and out of shear boredom I decided to read it. Wow! Now I am a far cry from dropping Marvel and starting brand new with DC but after reading I have to be honest...I'M SORELY TEMPTED!
After about 5 pages of chasing and lights, I was hooked by one simple phrase..."Batman? You're real?" What? Its going down like that?! As a casual outside observer of DC, I have been incredibly skeptical of this entire reboot thing from the very moment I hear it. I much more a fan of Marvel's infamous ret-cons, where everything happened but you find out new details to make it all make sense, but if they are really erasing EVERYTHING and starting brand new from scratch then great! Now I know it said right off the (no pun intended) bat "5 Years Ago", but if what they are putting out is really a new beginning to everything then my curiosity is definitely piqued! Seeing the beginnings to the relationships of Superman and Batman or Clark Kent and Lois Lane, the way that everyone back in the 40's and 50's got to see them, will truly be a treat and a treasure to the people who are diehard fans and stuck reading back issues.
As I leafed through the rest of the book, which was just images and blurbs about all 52 of the new #1's, I noticed a familiar trend that had originally drawn me back to comics in the first place. After taking a few years off of collecting, I checked in with my old favorites to see what was going on and I noticed that most of what had been going on in the late 90's when I had stopped collecting at first was more or less erased and a lot of the 70's and 80's prominence was back in full effect! The Avengers consisting of Sersi, Crystal, teenage Tony Stark and the insect-ine Wasp were gone and back was Thor, Captain America, Wonder Man and Vision. The strangeness of Cecelia Reyes, "Joseph" and Maggot was a thing of the past and back was classic Nightcrawler, Angel, and Jean Grey dead all over again.
With most of what I know of DC coming from the aforementioned storylines plus a hefty collection of DC Universe trading cards (series I and II) and Smallville, it seemed like a lot of the new books and storylines were really going for not just a reboot, but also bringing back more classic stories and characters like a traditional Justice League line-up, Hawk and Dove, and Teen Titans with Tim Drake as Red Robin (giving a nod to more recent storylines).
Now I couldn't help but notice some familiar faces on the creative team as well! Rob Liefeld's art on Hawk and Dove brings me back to the early days of X-Force and at the very least I think I may pick up Justice League #1 on August 31st just to get a taste of Jim Lee, reminiscent of his late 80's X-men run not to mention Grant Morrison writing Action Comics.
I'm never afraid to say when I'm wrong, and there's a good chance that this reboot will provide a great jumping on point for new readers without just being ANOTHER reboot with a new slew of #1's...WELCOME TO THE NEW DC!
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