Generation Five (or 5G) No Longer Line Wide Relaunch

[Superlad93]

BC did NOT get the info from Newsarama, we transcribed directly from the panel. Newsarama missed that bit out. No misquote.

Then that's odd because you most certainly did use a quote similar to the Newsarama quote if not the quote itself when you had the article poking a bit of fun at Jim Lee saying he'd be here for 85 more years. There was no sign of the additions you are now showing in that article. You even cite that it was Newsarama in the article.

Obviously I'm not even remotely 'in-the-know' of how you or any other site does your thing, but if you were there too, then why didn't your first article about Lee's C2E2 comments use the version with your info? Did your 'guy-on-the-street' not get it back to you fast enough so you had to use a quote from Newsarama? If that's the case then why not cite in the new article that Bleedingcool got the full quote over everyone else who is perpetuating the apparently incomplete Newsarama quote?

It's just kind of confusing.

[jetengine]

I think it's still a mystery. Who knows.



I would lean to this if Jim Lee didn't outright say they weren't replacing the heroes. It's possible that was never in the cards but it's also possible these delays are them changing that.

I thought they scrapped them because Sejjic couldnt keep up art wise so they just said "lets not bother" and cut him off early.

[Digifiend]

No, the whole reason he couldn't keep up was because those issues had to be redrawn. The problem was that something in the writing was mandated to be changed - it must've contradicted Snyder's main JL book somehow.

[Frontier]

I don't think it'd be too hard to work it out.

Put a banner on the books with the generation logo front and center, like they've done with the New52 and Rebirth and whatever else. Past that, the art on the cover alone should be enough to tell you if a book is set in the past or not. Is the car Superman is smashing overhead a classic, or new?

Assuming any books are set in another era other than 5G, anyway. I myself have a hard time believing they put that much work into the timeline just for it to be background dressing. But who knows?

Maybe titles will try to tell stories from across the years? Issues could be flashback heavy, or single issues could focus on a particular era (like Rucka's Rebirth Wonder Woman) or maybe the year will change with different arcs. Who the hell knows?

Yeah, but that's line-wide branding. In this instance each and every book would have different branding depending on what Generation it fits in.

Not that I don't think it could work, just a thought I had in my head.

[Digifiend]

That's no different to how Superman books have the S shield and Batman books have the bat emblem though.

[Frontier]

That's no different to how Superman books have the S shield and Batman books have the bat emblem though.

That at least designates franchises, which is more recognizable then G1, G2, G3, etc.

[Ascended]

Yeah, but that's line-wide branding. In this instance each and every book would have different branding depending on what Generation it fits in.

Not that I don't think it could work, just a thought I had in my head.

Yeah, it's just a little extra effort. Even DC should be able to properly label their titles with what generation they happen in. Use some decade appropriate fonts for the title of each book and it should be easy to figure out what titles happen when.

If we get books in different generations, anyway. I'm not sure we will. But then, I'm not sure we won't either. With everything going on from Didio being fired to covid19 and Diamond stopping their distribution.....I don't think we'll be able to make even vague guesses until DC tells us what they're doing.

[Vordan]

Yeah, it's just a little extra effort. Even DC should be able to properly label their titles with what generation they happen in. Use some decade appropriate fonts for the title of each book and it should be easy to figure out what titles happen when.

If we get books in different generations, anyway. I'm not sure we will. But then, I'm not sure we won't either. With everything going on from Didio being fired to covid19 and Diamond stopping their distribution.....I don't think we'll be able to make even vague guesses until DC tells us what they're doing.

It seemed like the plan was to change 5G without totally abandoning it, but now that Diamond is closing shop, DC could totally just abandon 5G. Those comics they printed aren’t going out to retailers anymore, so they may end up simply abandoning the whole enterprise.

Right now is also possibly the worst possible time to replace your big guns with newbie legacy heroes. Everyone is going to be tightening their wallets, no one is going to be trying out a Luke Fox Batman or Jon Kent Superman title, and DC can’t get the stores to preorder now with variant covers. I suspect Marvel is going to have a major flop on their hands with Empyre. Nobody has the $ to waste on a million tie ins.

[Ascended]

Supposedly AT&T is still all in on 5G. I don't think they'll abandon the concept. Make changes yes, but not abandon entirely. I don't think.

I sort of hope they don't. Being able to publish stories set across a character's history and have each issue "matter" as a point of main continuity has a whole lot of potential. But we'll see what happens.

[Frontier]

Supposedly AT&T is still all in on 5G. I don't think they'll abandon the concept. Make changes yes, but not abandon entirely. I don't think.

I sort of hope they don't. Being able to publish stories set across a character's history and have each issue "matter" as a point of main continuity has a whole lot of potential. But we'll see what happens.

I question if that means stories will "matter" at all, but I guess that's how the Star Wars franchise has been handling it's outside movie media with all the different comics, novels, games, etc.

[Ascended]

I question if that means stories will "matter" at all, but I guess that's how the Star Wars franchise has been handling it's outside movie media with all the different comics, novels, games, etc.

Hard to say how the market will respond to 5G, even if we do get more "familiar" books to go along with the new characters.

But if this can get us away from the idea that a book has to "matter" that'll be a huge win. Books having to "matter" is strangling the industry. Much better to just tell good stories that can be enjoyed on their own merits without concern about setting up the next big Crisis or whatever.

[Frontier]

Hard to say how the market will respond to 5G, even if we do get more "familiar" books to go along with the new characters.

But if this can get us away from the idea that a book has to "matter" that'll be a huge win. Books having to "matter" is strangling the industry. Much better to just tell good stories that can be enjoyed on their own merits without concern about setting up the next big Crisis or whatever.

I mean, I'm down for less events for sure .

[Tzigone]

I mean, I'm down for less events for sure .

Definitely. I don't mind the occasional event, but now it seems like they are back to back (or more often overlapping). And it's not uncommon for them to derail books/characters for the event (especially with their fondness for either turning heroes evil or killing them off). Also ties into how every story must be "big."

But while it's not my preference, these stories have tend to sell better in the past (unsure if they still do). I mean, events and deaths (and reboots/relaunches?) and such.

[Ascended]

Events still seem to sell better than most books, but not as well as they did a few years ago. So hopefully we'll see less of them, but I doubt it. I think the industry will keep rolling that crap out as long as it sells above mid-range, and then probably a year or two longer while the publishers realize the gimmick isn't working anymore.

But if we're lucky these things wouldn't take over the whole line, like they do now. Like, if DC did a "Trigon takes over earth" Event set in generation 3, then titles set in the other generations should be able to just keep on doing their thing. Hopefully. Of course, a book could always change generations to tie in. A generation 1 Wonder Woman comic could take a few issues to do a story set in G3 for the Trigon Event, or a G5 Superman book could do a few flashback issues.

But what I suspect we'll get more often than not (if we get books in different generations at all) would be Events limited to a generation, but more events to make up the difference. So while G3 books are doing a Trigon event, G4 books might be doing a Darkseid event and G1 books might be doing a Vandal Savage event. And of course DC will do some big huge time travel thing where all the books get involved regardless of generations....but I'm hoping that's a serious, "once every few years" kind of rarity.

[Robanker]

Events still seem to sell better than most books, but not as well as they did a few years ago. So hopefully we'll see less of them, but I doubt it. I think the industry will keep rolling that crap out as long as it sells above mid-range, and then probably a year or two longer while the publishers realize the gimmick isn't working anymore.

But if we're lucky these things wouldn't take over the whole line, like they do now. Like, if DC did a "Trigon takes over earth" Event set in generation 3, then titles set in the other generations should be able to just keep on doing their thing. Hopefully. Of course, a book could always change generations to tie in. A generation 1 Wonder Woman comic could take a few issues to do a story set in G3 for the Trigon Event, or a G5 Superman book could do a few flashback issues.

But what I suspect we'll get more often than not (if we get books in different generations at all) would be Events limited to a generation, but more events to make up the difference. So while G3 books are doing a Trigon event, G4 books might be doing a Darkseid event and G1 books might be doing a Vandal Savage event. And of course DC will do some big huge time travel thing where all the books get involved regardless of generations....but I'm hoping that's a serious, "once every few years" kind of rarity.

The plethora of events is something I've been dreading with this whole generational aspect of the DCU. There are upsides to be sure, but all I'm thinking of is how we will have a Batman for every era and an event for them to star in. Ugh.