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

[Vakanai]

From what little I've heard, DC's basically just taking the broad strokes of continuity and the major developments, making adjustments to other stuff (like Bruce and Clark not being in the Golden Age), and leaving enough wiggle room for writers to insert new stuff. I think the new timeline is supposed to be about as tight as the Zero Hour timeline was and that wasn't every story and panel, just the big moments.

I don't see it as a problem anyway. Batman was in a full body cast in JL, losing his city to Bane in Batman, and doing whatever else in 'Tec, and nobody wonders how he finds the time for all this. Stories can always dance between the raindrops.



The fact that they've grown and evolved is the main reason they're still here, I think. Without being able to ebb and flow with the currents of society I don't think any of them would have survived.

Exactly, the characters evolve and change, but they're still here. Wanting them to go away entirely for new people makes no sense.

[Superlad93]

So what's your theory?

I'll PM you.

[Midnight_v]

When was it supposed to start?

I just kinda wonder will it be another year before anything changes one way or another.

[Vordan]

When was it supposed to start?

I just kinda wonder will it be another year before anything changes one way or another.

October apparently.

[Lee]

From what little I've heard, DC's basically just taking the broad strokes of continuity and the major developments, making adjustments to other stuff (like Bruce and Clark not being in the Golden Age), and leaving enough wiggle room for writers to insert new stuff. I think the new timeline is supposed to be about as tight as the Zero Hour timeline was and that wasn't every story and panel, just the big moments.

The Zero Hour timeline guide listed the big moments and how each series lined up, but the understanding was still that every issue of Teen Titans was in continuity, excepting any references to Wonder Woman. I'm sure the new timeline guide will only list the big moments, and not thousands of issues of DC Comics, but is the reader/writer understanding to be that everything surrounding those big moments is in continuity (like Zero Hour), or just the moments themselves? Would the entire "New Teen Titans" be in continuity, or just #1 and "The Judas Contract"? Is it truly "everything counts" or "only the highlights count"? And would readers want a new Generation 3 "New Teen Titans" ongoing series that contradicts and overwrites most of the original run?

[Robanker]

For what it's worth, retooling this to have less dates attached does seem more like "we want less nooses to hang ourselves with" as opposed to a full backpedal. They just don't want to tie themselves to too many wrinkles they'll have to keep retconning. Much like Captain America's ice bath just lasts a little longer every year we get further from WWII, I think they want the middle to slide in timescale while retaining WWII.

That may be all it is. Those rumored Black Label books may be converted to G4 so continuity buffs buy them, but 5G is still happening. It's all speculative, but I dunno, I'm not exactly more or less excited that this is getting reworked. I wish it wasn't happening, so I suppose I'm mildly pleased, but excited? It's just an exasperated sigh on my end, at least until we get concrete evidence.

[Ascended]

I expect how the minor elements of continuity are treated will mirror the bigger ones; it all "mostly" happened, but maybe not quite in the same way at the same time. So Death of Superman happened, but the League who fought Doomsday might not have been the League with Guy, Bloodwynd, and Ice. Knightfall happened, but maybe sooner in Bruce's career. The very basic, general shape of continuity will mostly reflect the actual publishing, but the closer you look the more differences you'll find.

DC has been fairly open about this not being the "exact" publishing history. Didio's said something about there being stories in G1 and 2 that no one has read before. Diana was the first hero. Bruce and Clark don't debut until the Silver Age. Plenty of changes already, and we know next to nothing about 5G. So I think it's safe to say the tentpole moments happened, and most of the rest probably did too, after a fashion, but maybe not exactly as it was originally published. Dead end and unpopular stories will likely be quietly dumped and never mentioned again (like Superman's Grounded).

So there'll be plenty of room to insert new stories, and they'll likely be more than free to bend events and history. But I expect they'll adhere to the general shape of things.

[Aahz]

Everything I heard about Sideways just made me think "this is New 52 Vibe". It's bewildering that they don't use Vibe anymore, even though he's been one of the core cast members on the Flash TV show for 6 years.

I think that to a degree due to the fact that some long time readers will still remember that the original Vibe was a pretty terrible character.

[Digifiend]

We know they made generation logos. The G2 one is based on the checkerboard header they used in the 1970s. The G4 one is based on the Rebirth branding.

[DragonPiece]

I genuinely don't believe the entire line was ever going to be just 5G, if that was the case, why would they introduce these other generations and tease new stories with them in the solicit for the generation one shots?

I think bleeding cool was just getting mixed information. The line(at least when Didio was in charge) was going to be comics set in each generation, but the comics getting the most coverage would likely be 5G.

[Digifiend]

Whereas now a lot more G4 books will probably exist.

[bat39]

They will probably move things up to the 90's for the silver age. This also throws out the advanced world idea and keeps characters in their 40's.

Probably will move Bruce's Birth up. While Kents discovering Kal El as well.

Guess it depends on how much they're going to age up the characters.

If you go by Didio's leaked timeline, Bruce would be around 55 in the 'present day'. Assuming he'd now be 55 in 2020 rather than 1998, I guess that would put the Silver Age/G2 in the late 80's and 90's (Didio's timeline had Bruce start out at the age of 20 rather than 25). G3 would be the 2000's and early 2010's, and G4 would be the mid-to-late 2010's.

[astro@work]

Exactly, the characters evolve and change, but they're still here. Wanting them to go away entirely for new people makes no sense.

100% agree.

By this logic we would have gotten a year of Superman in 1939 and that would have been the end of it.
Similarly it would also invalidate any complaining about the Sideways et al group of books only lasting 8-12 issues; by this argument that should have been a perfectly good run to be happy with.

But I WILL say I think DC has been shooting itself in the foot since nu52 by being TOO beholden to a status quo. With all the arbitrary rules about characters not being able to age, not being able to marry, etc...it's held back any forward movement on most of the characters...which ends up being boring. Example: what if anything has happened in Flash in the last 10 years other than the introduction of Wallace and Avery? Death of the Speed Force? (Okay, umm, we know that will be set back to status quo in short order). The only real change I've seen in the last ten years have been the birth of Jon, birth of Arthur/Mera's daughter last month, and "union" of Bruce & Selina. Anything else has just been re-introduction of past events like the Super-marriage.

I don't want all my favorites aged into obsolescence in a heartbeat, but forward momentum would be greatly appreciated.

[Rise]

100% agree.

By this logic we would have gotten a year of Superman in 1939 and that would have been the end of it.
Similarly it would also invalidate any complaining about the Sideways et al group of books only lasting 8-12 issues; by this argument that should have been a perfectly good run to be happy with.

That's a weird logic. Naruto went for 10 years with 700 chapters before he was replaced by his son.

Still, I don't think comparing superhero comics to mangas is fair because they work differently. I can't see anyone as Batman besides Bruce Wayne because the mantle (to me) means nothing without him. I actually dislike legacy in comics, but not aganist new characters or replacements and I just prefer for them to have their own different mantle.

[Ascended]

I think the 5G thing was meant to thread that needle. A nice long timeline where everyone's favorite stories can fit in somewhere, and progression seen through all the new replacements, but books (whether Black Label mini's or direct market main continuity stuff) for the classic characters. And I bet you anything the classic characters are meant to star in evergreen trades that can keep making DC money while the new faces make people think there's some kind of actual growth and evolution.