What Would You Do If You Had Complete Control Over the DCU?

[king81992]

1.Put an end to killing characters for shock value.

2.Get rid of continuity. Writers only pay lip service to it anyways and do their own thing or use continuity as an excuse to justify rehashing old storylines. Each book takes place in its own universe.

3.Greatly reduce the number of events. They derail the storyline within the books and are usually end with a nonsensical development, characters dying for shock value or some combination of both.

4. Stop shafting characters. All the members of the Flash Family CAN coexist at the same time and have done so before. Tim and Damian's generations can exist at the same time. Current writers are either too lazy or incompetent to try or are following their own agendas at the cost of these characters.

5. Put an end to the 'Batman is a broken hero who can't save anyone,ruined the lives of his allies and made Gotham City worse' narrative. Even if Batman is 'broken' he should be able to help others and improve his city.

6. Bring back the JSA

7.Fix the Titans franchise. Sort out their history and relationships. Ideally there should be four books: one for Dick's generation, one for Tim's generation, one for Damian's generation(assuming they aren't shafted in the future)and one centered around teen antiheroes/villains.

8. Fix the Wonder Woman mythos. Diana has remained mostly the same but everything else about her background and supporting cast is constantly changing(sometimes everything inexplicably changes multiple times in the same run).

[LP22]

Never reboot in the first place,new 52 will be a relaunch

Either eliminate young justice or teen titans because I believe there should be only one teenagers team

Give Barry allen the flash and wally West the flash books maybe a third book that will have all the speedsters like a green lantern corps book

Have two or three lantern books with each book consists three green lantern if it was me it will be (kyle/John/hal)
(Baz/guy/Jessica)and adding couple of alien lanterns

Jason Todd will be Batman for awhile(one to three years)

Keep Jon Kent and give him and Damien solo books

[CRaymond]

Summon and harness the powers of gods known and forgotten in order to resurrect Darwyn Cooke. Then put him in charge.

[SixSpeedSamurai]

I'd go back to before One Year Later, start from there.

Dan Didio would be out. All books would be $2.99 and ship once a month with the same artist on every issues as much as possible.

No more "shock value deaths." And when someone dies, they stay dead. Barry still dead (the most meaningful death in comics).

Wonder Woman would go back to the clay origin, no brother either.

JSA existed before Superman, but is not tied to WWII, just "the War," so they are not aged too far.

[Lightning Rider]

To add to my earlier post, I'd definitely add an Elseworlds line.

[Photon Torme]

MORE G'nort!! G'nort would star in 6 books. 3 of them team books. There would be a G'nort Jr, A Kid G'Nort and also a G'Nort- Mite. AND I"D get G'nort back together with Mary Jane. I would work in more events, hero deaths and unexplained changes in character's personalities.

[caj]

1.Put an end to killing characters for shock value.

2.Get rid of continuity. Writers only pay lip service to it anyways and do their own thing or use continuity as an excuse to justify rehashing old storylines. Each book takes place in its own universe.

3.Greatly reduce the number of events. They derail the storyline within the books and are usually end with a nonsensical development, characters dying for shock value or some combination of both.

4. Stop shafting characters. All the members of the Flash Family CAN coexist at the same time and have done so before. Tim and Damian's generations can exist at the same time. Current writers are either too lazy or incompetent to try or are following their own agendas at the cost of these characters.

5. Put an end to the 'Batman is a broken hero who can't save anyone,ruined the lives of his allies and made Gotham City worse' narrative. Even if Batman is 'broken' he should be able to help others and improve his city.

6. Bring back the JSA

7.Fix the Titans franchise. Sort out their history and relationships. Ideally there should be four books: one for Dick's generation, one for Tim's generation, one for Damian's generation(assuming they aren't shafted in the future)and one centered around teen antiheroes/villains.

8. Fix the Wonder Woman mythos. Diana has remained mostly the same but everything else about her background and supporting cast is constantly changing(sometimes everything inexplicably changes multiple times in the same run).

Hey, no copying my paper. Seriously, you hit the nail on the head with just about everything here. Great post.

[DrNewGod]

Let things run as they are...for now, with the instructions that whatever you're cooking has to wrap in less than two years.

Begin taking solicitations from author/illustrator teams for a relaunch of all major titles with one main criteria: they have to be from scratch, but preserve the core brand elements of the character in a fresh, accessible way. First issues would be "five-years after" the heroes debut. Second month introduces the JL. Second year introduces the Teen Titans.

Begin taking solicitations from author/illustrator teams for an out-of-continuity title that basically Astro-Citizies the DCU. The format would assume Superman appeared in 1938, the JSA in 1940, Martian Manhunter, Barry-Flash, and Hal-GL in the late 1950s, and so on. Stories would be short arcs, and one-offs. Consistent editor, but rotating teams.

Begin taking solicitations from author/illustrator teams for an event to conclude (note: not obliterate) the current DCU.

[Clairaudient Freedom Soldier]

My ideas (Part 2)

1> Add a chatroom to DC's website: provide an official space for readers to discuss the titles and characters.

2> Restart the line of titles with a mini-series and release 9 titles:
* Infinite Blessing: No More Crises by Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, & Olivier Coipel, a new golden age begins, no more deaths (5-issue mini-series)!
* Super Family by Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, & Sara Pichelli, Kal-El is missing, so is this really a golden age?! The Kent boys--Chris, Conner, and Jon--search for the Man of Tomorrow with help from Power Girl, Super Chief, and Strange Visitor (6 issues per year)!
* Flash Family by Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, & Tony Harris, Wally West is working with Jay Garrick, Danica Williams, Bart Allen, and Tanaka Rei to stop a baffling new group of Rogues (6 issues per year)!
* Aqua Family by Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, & Francis Manapul, Atlantis must adapt to the challenges of a new world, and Aquaman is the linchpin of this evolution! Fortunately, he has the help of Mera, Koryak, Tula, and Tempest (6 issues per year)!

* Bat Family by Alan Moore, Ta-Nehesi Coates, & Alan Davis, Bruce Wayne is happily married to Catwoman! Meanwhile, the dynamic duos of Dick Grayson-Damian Wayne and Jean-Paul Valley-Stephanie Brown are fighting crime on a larger scale (6 issues per year)!
* Wonder Family by Alan Moore, Ta-Nehesi Coates, & Arthur Adams, new magical artifacts are appearing on earth, and Wonder Woman has to collect them before they fall into the wrong hands! The mystery surrounding these enchanted objects pulls in Artemis, Donna Troy, Cassie Sandsmark, and Nubia (6 issues per year)!
* Hawk Family by Alan Moore, Ta-Nehesi Coates, & Stuart Immonen, the balance between order and chaos is threatened by a third supernatural force! Only Carter Hall can save reality with the help of Zauriel, Kendra Saunders, Norda Cantrell, and Unity (Dr. Arsala) (6 issues per year)!

* Green Lanterns by Devin Grayson, Myisha Haynes, & Stjepan Šejić, Alan Scott has officially joined the Green Lantern Corps and patrols sector 2814 with John Stewart, Jessica Cruz, and Jade! However, the presence of fugitives from another dimension is warping the fabric of time, space, and emotion (6 issues per year)!
* Atom Family by Devin Grayson, Myisha Haynes, & Cliff Chiang, something aberrant has trapped Ryan Choi in the microverse, so Ray Palmer assembles Lady Quark, Grant Emerson, and Al Pratt to rescue his protégé (6 issues per year)!
* All-Star Western by Devin Grayson, Myisha Haynes, & Chris Sprouse, when Super Chief isn't with the Super Family, he has adventures in the Wild West with Nighthawk, Cinnamon, Johnny Thunder, Madame .44, Strong Bow, and Jonah Hex (6 issues per year)!

* After 1 year, release a 10th title, Legion of Super-Heroes, by Jonathan Hickman, Amy Wolfram, & Doc Shaner (phase 2 is focused on maintaining the high quality of the 9 previous titles and establishing the LOSH).

[WhipWhirlwind]

Do I have control of *everything* or just creative control over the publishing line? Because if I got to mess around with distribution models, production methods, marketing, pricing and everything else? We're looking at a top-bottom overhaul of the entire system.

But in any case, as far as creative decisions go, it starts with some serious market research (or looking at the research DC already does, if they do much to begin with) and taking a hard look at my talent pool then trimming the fat and then recruiting hard from outside the industry.

Now, if you're wondering what I'd do if my only concern here was my own enjoyment? Man, I don't think CBR could handle a post that big! I threw together a cheap little thought experiment about re-structuring the DCU and that bare-bones outline was over a dozen pages.

Link to said outline?

[Jon Clark]

1) Create a brain-trust. By default since it is MY take the brain trust are largely going to be people with my tastes. My first picks would be people from comics I like (not sure how many would accept the offer). They'd be more editors than artists/writers but they'd have the ability to take on one project of their own.

2)Set up 3-5 separate imprints.

A) Legacy: A new Earth-One/Two sort of world where Superman appeared in the 1930s along with Batman and the JSA. This line would be based as much as possible on the actual published DC comics from 1938-1986 but with some of the post-Crisis stuff as well. The stories would be set in any era but with the understanding that time actually passes here- so, for example, the original Bruce Wayne can't be Batman in 2019, but you can set a story in the 1940s or 50s if you really want to use him. The main books would be a Superman/Batman: Generations title, a JSA anthology book, a Wonder Woman title, and a book set in the present. These would be larger books and maybe cost a bit more- at least at the beginning.

B) DC: Basically just keep going with the current universe. I'd cut back the titles to those that are stong sellers for a few years. I'd leave the actual books at the current price/size (with adjustments for inflation) at first but with the possibility of going to the anthology size like Legacy at some point.

C) DC Now: A new Earth that would start out with no established heroes. Think the New 52, but with no 5 year jumps. We get Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, and Diana all arriving in 2020. Joining them would be a Flash maybe a young Jay Garrick or Barry Allen- but maybe a new hero with super-speed. Same with Green Lantern- the basic idea stays but the new creative team gets to decide whether or not the hero is a space cop, a guy who finds an old lantern with a mystic green flame, or something else. After that there would be maybe 5 new titles at the launch each a relaunch of a DC concept. The continuity would be loose at first between the titles but slowly build toward our Justice League book with the team formed from the characters that have the loudest fans.

D)DC Free: Basically Elseworlds, continuity lite-titles (Adventures of Superman, Legends of the Dark Knight, Teen Titans Go …) or stuff that just don't fit with an established imprint universe (Injustice, Morrisonesque Doom Patrol).

3) The imprints would adjust over time. If the Superman/Batman Generations book does well we might replace it with regular priced Superman and Batman titles. If the main JLA book sells but not the solo heroes I might make JLA larger and add in back up tales for the solo heroes in the team. The DC Now Batman might spin off a DC Now Robin title or Character X introduced in the DC Now "JLA" might get a solo book. The Wolfman/Perez Titans might be phased out of the main line and incorporated into the Legacy line (with a few tweaks like making Nightwing a later generation's Robin)

4) Let the market decide. By 2025 the imprints with the higher sales will be the ones still being published. Maybe in 2029 I'd launch a new DC Now to reboot the DCU again (as a separate imprint with no affect on the main line) with the idea that by 2035 the better selling would become the new main universe.

[byrd156]

I keep seeing people say no continuity, so do we not want things to make sense page to page?

But seriously why is everyone acting like it's a bad thing? To me the appeal of comics is the long form storytelling and connectiveness of it. If these stories don't have any impact on the character after it's done, why would I want to pick it up?

[CaptCleghorn]

I keep seeing people say no continuity, so do we not want things to make sense page to page?

But seriously why is everyone acting like it's a bad thing? To me the appeal of comics is the long form storytelling and connectiveness of it. If these stories don't have any impact on the character after it's done, why would I want to pick it up?

There's a lot of possibility between "no continuity" and having every book tie together in interlocking fashion". Most of us, I think, are somewhere between these two extreme cases.

[Jon Clark]

I keep seeing people say no continuity, so do we not want things to make sense page to page?

But seriously why is everyone acting like it's a bad thing? To me the appeal of comics is the long form storytelling and connectiveness of it. If these stories don't have any impact on the character after it's done, why would I want to pick it up?

I think most people's problem with continuity is two-fold.

They don't like having to deal with consequences. If I have a good unmarried Superman story to tell, why do I have to modify it (or worse not tell it) because of the Super-marriage? The classic example was the fact the Thinker had been killed in a Suicide Squad issue but later a different death was used in The Flash and it became an issue because of the continuity.


And too many writers start trying to fix things like that Flash issue creating stories where nothing really happens except a detailed explanation of how two seemingly incompatible things are both true. Or years of stories trying to explain just what Hawkman's history was in the Post-Crisis DCU.

[byrd156]

There's a lot of possibility between "no continuity" and having every book tie together in interlocking fashion". Most of us, I think, are somewhere between these two extreme cases.

Of course but it feels like people are blaming continuity for issues that are firmly placed with the handling by the writers and editors.

A story like All-Star Superman is an Elseworld that doesn't look or feel like your typically what if scenario that Elseworlds usually are. It's a celebration of Superman and his history while telling one of the best Superman stories of all time. (in my opinion) There's a couple references to Batman and other heroes, leaving those in or taking them out would have no basis on the quality of the story. Having continuity like this is basically icing on the cake. It's nice to have but you can have too much or could go without it. But continuity where the past stories have happened I think is needed, otherwise stories will fade into obscurity and no one will have any reason to seek them out. You don't need to reference every story and you are not limited by past stories because we are nowhere near out of stories to tell with these characters.