While I would keep the majority of the DC Universe the same, if I was in charge of the New Fifty Two, and this might be controversial, but I would remove Captain Marvel, Plastic Man, and The Freedom Fighters from continuity, because unlike (to a certain extent at least), the Charlton characters (Only Blue Beetle and The Question, really.), who I think, despite being originally published by a different company, have successfully integrated into the DCU, the Fawcett and Quality comics characters have not.
My version of the New Fifty Two Part Three
20. Raven (Rated T)
I'm essentially giving all of the original Titans members solo titles because for some odd reason that I myself don't know, I'm not going to have a Titans / Teen Titans comic book for my New Fifty Two, instead I'm going to divide it's members into Young Justice, and the Justice League, and if any Titans members are not included in these teams I will just simply put them in their own solo titles. Maybe I will have a grand story arc that will be associated with my New Fifty Two, sort of like the overall story of Rebirth, and at the finale of this story I will reunite the Titans. Written by Greg Weisman with Art by George Perez.
21. Nightwing (Rated M)
Since Dick Grayson is Owlman, (no longer Nightwing) , Cassandra Cain will take over the mantle of Nightwing, with a strong international vibe to this series. Written by Chuck Dixon and Art by Greg Land.
22. Batwoman (Rated T)
Barbara Gordon, due to New Gods technology is cured of her handicap. This series, while being relatively rooted in the Batman mythos, equally is a New Gods related title, and will also be heavily set in space. Written and Drawn by Bruce Timm.
23. The Red Hood (Rated M)
This Red Hood series will have more of a resemblance to his portrayal in the Grant Morrison issues of Batman & Robin than the controversial, infamous, Scott Lobdell penned,(though it must have some fans, if it's being still published to this day.) Red Hood and the Outlaws. Written by Judd Winnick Art by Guillem March.
26. All New Batgirl (Rated E)
This will essentially just be a continuation of the Stephanie Brown Batgirl comic published right before the New Fifty Two hit. Written by Brian Q Miller and Art by Francis Manapul.
27. Green Arrow. (Rated M)
Grittier and grimmer in tone than any Green Arrow run before, including Grell's. Deals with the aftermath of the destruction of Star City. Written by Jeff Lemire with Art by himself and Duncan Fegredo.
28. The Question (Rated M)
Starring Renee Montoya, fighting against a rennegade Kathy Kane, now leader of the Cult Religion of Crime. Written and Drawn by Matt Wagner.
29. Harley Quinn (Rated E)
I care little about this character, but she seems to be very popular. All I would wish for the direction of this theoretical series is for this Harley Quinn book to have the tone more resembling her appearances on BTAS than the New Fifty Two and Rebirth. Written and Drawn by Jill Thompson
30. Legion of Superheroes (Rated E)
Once again, I care little about this team, but it obviously has it's fans. Written by Jonathan Hickman with Art by Ethan Van Sciver.
Last edited by Timothy Hunter; 10-05-2017 at 10:21 PM.
Finish up that whole "New 52 Freedom Fighters" plot thread that was going on early in the New 52 history.
I agree with this to a point. My main beef about the DCU is that it often feels like too much of a patchwork due to its history of melting different publishers' characters into a single universe without taking the time and effort to properly integrate them into the DCU's history. It creates a jarring dissonance, like some characters don't "belong" even if they've been part of the DCU for decades.
I think if I wanted to pursue a Shonen Jump/manga demographic with DC properties, I'd want to include at least one big name franchise in each issue, and as much as we here hate it, I'd also rely on some synergy; throw a Harley chapter in when Suicide Squad hits theaters, or Black Lightning when his show gets going, etc. It doesnt need to go as deep as Marvel essentially copy-pasting the movies onto their comics, but why not take advantage of the "free" advertising? Especially for an anthology title being published in manga territory, which would sort of be breaking new ground.
"We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."
~ Black Panther.
Well...
If I was in charge...
First, I would see that, with the rise of digital and trade paperbacks, quantity is no longer as important as quality, as the fight for shelf space has been rendered moot.
If anything, there's more of a battle for retailers to afford to stock them all adequately.
So, I would drop the number of titles down to something that will re-new interest in following more titles.
'Marvel Zombies' and 'DC Fanboys' (for lack of better words) came about mostly because the readers in the '60s through the '80s were able to afford a large chunk of the main titles.
52 titles isn't a reasonable expectation for any one reader to keep up with.
So, I would break it up into three sub-lines:
A. All-Ages titles
1.Scooby Doo
2. Scooby Doo Team-Up
3. Justice League Action
4. Teen Titans Go!
5. Future Quest
6. Batman: Brave and the Bold
7. Superman, the Man of Steel
8. Gotham Academy
9. Legend of Wonder Woman
10. Power of Shazam!
11. Superhero Girls
12. Static Shock
B. Main DCU titles (allowed to cross over with one another, but not with the other lines, can be expanded to up to 24 or 25 titles)
1. Action Comics
2. Detective Comics
3. Batman
4. Superman
5. Wonder Woman
6. Justice League
7. New Titans
8. Flash
9. Green Lantern Corps
10. Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes
11. Aquaman
12. Hawkman
13. All-Star Justice Society
14. Green Arrow/Black Canary
15. DC Showcase
16. Global Guardians (previously JLI- Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Guy Gardner, Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Blue Devil, Power Girl, Crimson Fox, Dr. Light, Geo-Force)
17. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight
18. Superman Adventures
19. Young Justice
20. Birds of Prey
21. Gotham Knights (Batfamily title)
C. Mature titles (allowed to cross over with one another, but not with the other lines)
1. Jonah Hex
2. Warlord
3. Omega Men
4. Suicide Squad
5. Shadowpact (previously Justice League Dark, now more serious and more Vertigo-ish)
6. House of Mystery
7. Vigilante
8. The Question
9. Human Target
10. Checkmate!
11. Swamp Thing
12. Manhunter (Kate Spencer)
"There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.
If was head of constructing the New Fifty Two, in a Dan Didio/Geoff Johns position or whatever, I would not insert Vertigo and Wildstorm characters into the main DC universe like they so infamously did, but what I would do would be to publish every Vertigo and Wildstorm under the main DC label. I suspect that imprints are a burden when it comes to sales, and titles under Vertigo, Wildstorm, Young Animal imprints, for example, would sell a little bit better if they were DC titles.
For example:
Vertigo Swamp Thing Series 3 issue #1: 25,063
Vertigo Swamp Thing Series 4 issue #1: 33,382
DC New Fifty Two Swamp Thing issue #1: 54,757
The DC iteration of the first issue of Swamp Thing clearly sells the best. Obviously, this isn't solid evidence to reinforce what I'm theorizing, but it's just a theory, a Film The--
Last edited by Timothy Hunter; 09-14-2017 at 11:04 PM.
To the actual topic. If had been in charge of the reboot I would have probaly started with the staus quo, similar to what they had in the 80s. So basically The justice league is around for some time allready and is a little bit bigger than just the founders, and the first generation of side kicks (=the original Teen Titans) makes the transition to adult heros.
From this starting point I would basically let every thing go into new directions (so non of the post crisis events happened or will happen, including the big iconic stories), but I would slowly start to reintroduce popular charcters of the younger generation, but leave the "failed" ones.
And I would probably bring back some of the classic earth (Earth Two for the JSA, Earth 3 for the crime syndicate, and maybe earth S for Shazam), and then hand wave something like time is passing differently in different universes, or that the timelines of the different earth are some how shifted to explain how the JSA has started out in WWII and can still be around.
If I was in charge of the current comics:
- I would first try re-establish some sort of logical timeline, and soem sort of character bibles
- "sort" the different Titans generations back to their respective teams
- drop some of the books that are just not popular (Cyborg, Blue Beetle) and maybe try some characters that are popular with the general audience but were not used much in comics lately (Starfire, Raven ...)
- in case of the Batman franchise (the only one I'm really following) I would probably shrink the family down to just the "Robins" and "Batgirls" (and maybe Batwoman), change the tone of Batgirl back to pre Burnside, and give the "middle kids" more exposure (at the moment they are imo under used in comparison to Dick and Damian), and find a way that they can get some solo stories, if a solo title for each is to much either an anthology book, in back up stories or by rotating mini series.
What are the trade and digital sales like though?
Floppies might be the main source of revenue but they're not the only one anymore, and those other formats are gaining steady ground. For instance, Marvel keeps Ms. Marvel and Moon Girl around because they sell really, really well in those other formats, even though their floppy sales aren't very impressive.
And I suppose the licensing comes into play too these days. A comic might not sell well....but if it can be used as a launch pad for a movie? Guardians of the Galaxy (among others) proved it can happen.
And sometimes I think stuff gets published just for the sake of the art. This is an industry where business meets creativity head on, but once in a while art does win out. Mister Miracle likely wont sell a staggering number of copies, but if its a great, character-defining story? Sometimes value can't be measured in dollar amounts, even with the accountants breathing down your neck.
"We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."
~ Black Panther.
I don't think things like this happen very often, and when it does happen, the reason DC gives large amounts of creative freedom to the Geoff Johns, Frank Miller, Grant Morrison types is because those creators have proven time and time again their comics sell fantastically.
Also, from what I know, Mister Miracle's first issue sold very well.
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0ahUKEwjY 55jIvqjWAhVmzVQKHdjgDZgQFggzMAI&url=https%3A%2F%2F www.bleedingcool.com%2F2017%2F08%2F10%2Fmister-miracle-1-sells-diamond-ebay-20%2F&usg=AFQjCNFNDMGfVstNNgq1KvON56_hWDnJhg
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...EwV3uGcpK_wF9A
Last edited by Timothy Hunter; 10-06-2017 at 01:09 PM.