The 2000s were much worse for DC than the 90s. The former decade took all the problems of the latter and doubled down, while discarding the good ideas.
The Multiverse returning post 52 was pointless because of 99 percent of the comics all still taking place on one earth.
My controversial take on this is that every single fanboy who got excited by the return of the Multiverse did so by expecting entirely too damn much from it. Entire sub-imprints dedicated to their favorite alternate universe, Elseworlds, or previous main universes. I've said it before, and I'll say it again (and I'm sorry for those who are going to be offended by this): DC has never treated whatever multiverse it was using as anything except a library/ghetto system of organizing alternate continuities and the characters assigned to those AUs so that they wouldn't get in the way of whatever the "main" universe currently is. The closest they ever got to treating an AU with the same respect as the main universe was Earth-Two and Roy Thomas, and even then, DC had no problem breaking whatever promises made to Thomas about maintaining Earth-Two as it was in the wake of COIE.
Last edited by Timber Wolf-By-Night; 01-01-2024 at 02:16 AM.
I’ve never had a problem with them using the universe as a library.
They were never going to use for anything else. So it doesn’t hurt to
it. Besides someone might come along with a good idea for
Batman as a pirate. But DC’s problem is they smash everything together
and try to give everything to everyone and that never works
IC restoring the multiverse has kicked off twenty years of reuse (in other media) and re-litigation of COIE (by the crisis) to the point that it’s hollowed DC out at times
I think the Multiverse as it was prior to COIE was fine. Even if it was used as a library archive, it's not as if the characters relegated to those other Earths are big enough names that generate stories and sales consistent enough to rival the mainstream heroes that always exist on Earth-1/composite Earth who are always going to get the most attention. Even after the Earths merge, things are still sort of compartmentalized into the sub-franchises the way they were before. The JSA is the most prominent of the hero groups added to Earth Prime following COIE, and despite the lip service being paid to them being the guardians of legacy or whatever, they aren't really required for the JLA stories to work.
Captain Marvel is the biggest IP headliner, but his encounters with Superman were always more impactful pre-COIE because he was treated as Clark's equal and not an also-ran the way he is on Post-COIE Earth. His version of the Greek myth figures are also not compatible with the needs of the Wonder Woman franchise.
It's too late to really focus on the Multiverse now that it's probably been gone almost as long as it existed (or longer?), but both set ups have their drawbacks.
I think the idea of needing to have mega-crisis events in the multiverse is the real problem with it. DC needs to stop with those.
But how else are you going to show that new big bad means business if he can't wipe out few universes with a snap of his fingers?
Last edited by HsssH; 01-02-2024 at 07:28 AM.
Writing about comics https://bookofhsssh.blogspot.com
The main problem with most B and C list characters is that not enough time and effort was placed on developing their villains and supporting cast. The primary difference between someone like Green Lantern and someone like Cyborg or Zatanna is that multiple creators have made it a point to create a mythology around GL, and then the creators that came in afterwards actually stuck with most of the mythology that had been created. Superheroes once they have been around for a while tend to develop a status quo that they tend to stick to. It’s usually the villains that add the flavor to the stories. It’s no accident that the most consistently popular superheroes have big Rogue’s galleries. A large diverse rogue gallery ensures variety in terms of story and the kind of threats the hero faces.