The DC Omniverse – Continuity Changes In 2021

[Noodle]

So basically the same thing they've been doing for the past year or so?

This makes Death Metal even more pointless.

Honestly, though, this is for the better. Continuity and shared universes have done way more harm than good since "Event Comics" and relaunches became the standard.

[staptik777]

[Flash Gordon]

Abandoning heavy continuity and just telling good stories is always the way to go. 'It happened' if it connects and enhances the story you're currently reading.

[Ra-El]

As long as each creative team keeps their own continuity things will be fine. They just have to not ignore their own stuff, but the next guy can do what they want, or what DC let them do.

[Frontier]

As long as each creative team keeps their own continuity things will be fine. They just have to not ignore their own stuff, but the next guy can do what they want, or what DC let them do.

Wouldn't that just drive away readers from the last creative team?

[Sacred Knight]

It sounds like everything I've wanted for a while now in approach. The question will remain though do they stay true to it in practice? Do they actually publish stuff that from one title to the next can indeed be quite different? Or do they just say that things can be different but in practice nothing actually is? If they actually go through with exactly how it sounds, if there are genuine options out there, this could be great. But I have to see it. I have to see that hey, this month there's a Superman book where he doesn't have a wife and kid. Look at this, a Batman story where Dick is still Robin. Holy ****, a GL story where Kyle Rayner is the only GL on Earth. Etc. Etc. Then the next week/month you can get stuff entirely different from that. If that's what actually happens? I'm in and the new regime will have impressed me with their first major move.

I would expect a decent amount of fandom to be at least verbally upset by this. There's still a lot of strict continuity fans. But I mean, on the other hand this has been the general way of business for over 30 years. Its not working anymore. Heck if we're being honest it only really worked for about 15 of those. Maybe this doesn't either. But I believe its more than worth a shot.

[Frontier]

It sounds like everything I've wanted for a while now in approach. The question will remain though do they stay true to it in practice? Do they actually publish stuff that from one title to the next can indeed be quite different? Or do they just say that things can be different but in practice nothing actually is? If they actually go through with exactly how it sounds, if there are genuine options out there, this could be great. It'll make a decent section of the fandom at the very least verbally upset, but I mean...they've done it strict continuity-wise for over 30 years. Its not working anymore.

I wouldn't say it's really been that strict, if it was things wouldn't have become as much of a mess as it is now.

I guess they've just given up trying to handle it competently.

[Sacred Knight]

Yeah I changed up my wording just a bit. Its a example on how ridiculous their structure has been for so long, but modern DC has been like....desperately clinging to continuity but at the same time not. They changed so much stuff and were just so oblivious with even trying to make said changes meld in any semi-cohesive manner that the continuity just collapsed on itself. But they still kept it, they still desired it. Even with the New 52 you saw the deep reluctance as they still kept stuff. Even though it made no sense to do it. It was just a weird general mindset that decayed the history badly to the point its now completely worthless.

All that said this is all based on interpretation of what they mean. Slogans are just that, you need to see the practical application of it. Like my first post, if that interpretation is in the ballpark then I think its interesting. Genuine disconnect outside of individual stories be they just one issue or a story arc comprising of a few issues so anyone has the chance to get something they might want later. But that interpretation could be wrong. If its a situation where they still want their strong line-wide interconnectivity and they just mean they're ignoring the past...well then that obviously ends up being a model not that drastically different than now anyway. Just likely without the constant events trying to fix the past. In that event, I'm far less enthused. But it would be better than wasting time every year to few years writing a big event trying to fix the past.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

It's really very simple. The continuity-driven monthly comics aimed at the hardcore market have been the dominant focus of DC for decades, with diminishing returns. Those kinds of comics aren't going anywhere, but they will no longer be the main focus of the line.

The focus moving forward seems to be to simply tell great stories with DC's superheroes and to let fans figure out how it all fits, which can be half the fun.

There's no creative or financial benefit for DC to continually try to get all these thousands of pieces to ever fit together nicely or to settle on one history that invalidates other huge chunks of their history. The Multiverse allows them to have their cake and eat it too. All the toys can exist together in the same toybox in a way that allows them to interact with each other or stay separate, depending upon the story being told.

Yes, some fans will be upset, but there has literally never been a time in the comics industry in which a segment of fandom hasn't been upset about something.

From my perspective, this is a long time coming. The long-running DCU history that I love so much isn't going anywhere, it's just embracing a more elastic nature, because its rigidity didn't lead to better stories.

[Killerbee911]

Honestly, DC is a good place for this approach stuff like JSA and Earth 2, Shazam, Wildstorm, Milestone, etc All work better as kind of their own thing, and a loose continuity works better. Something like JSA or even Titans doesn't work because of the hard approach to continuity trying to fit those concepts within a hard continuity were they as much possible trying to keep Superman and Batman evergreen doesn't work being able to go okay Titans is telling stories 6 years in the future AND these stories matter helps a lot.

I have always thought at some point DC has to come to the realization that it has two clear different fanbases, Now I always thought the solution they would go with is the Marvel Ultimate universe approach to please the two fanbases but this kind of way doing it as well.

[Vakanai]

DC probably believes their future lies in those stand-alones rather than in the monthly books, and it would be hard to claim that they're wrong in that conclusion.

This, this right here. The people complaining that a no or loose continuity approach is a terrible idea for a shared universe aren't wrong, but they're missing the point - the monthly comic shared ongoing universe is slowly coming to an end. Continuity doesn't matter. The monthly books are chump change, at this point they're only in existence to serve as an ip farm for other media. And OGNs and YA novels and out of continuity miniseries can do the same thing but also reach a larger and younger market.

[Vakanai]

It would blow apart the entire concept of the ongoing comic book narrative.

I think that's the point. They're looking at the ongoing comic book narrative and deciding it's no longer profitable enough to deal with.

[Frontier]

This, this right here. The people complaining that a no or loose continuity approach is a terrible idea for a shared universe aren't wrong, but they're missing the point - the monthly comic shared ongoing universe is slowly coming to an end. Continuity doesn't matter. The monthly books are chump change, at this point they're only in existence to serve as an ip farm for other media. And OGNs and YA novels and out of continuity miniseries can do the same thing but also reach a larger and younger market.

I think the ongoing comics are better IP farms than the OGN and YA novels, but that's just my take.

[Ra-El]

Wouldn't that just drive away readers from the last creative team?

I don't think so.

First because DC probably will keep a few books on a continuity heavy universe. They probably will do something like part of the line is in continuity and part of it are their won thing.

[Menacer]

Abandoning heavy continuity and just telling good stories is always the way to go. 'It happened' if it connects and enhances the story you're currently reading.

Any one that believes since 1985 coie onwards that dc has practiced anything but a loose continuity has been reading while on acid...

Its always been if it fits, if its referenced type continuity...

Its worked fine. I own books as far back as the 70s

Finding the dots that connect and ignoring what doesnt is the statis quo of dc and always has been...

Hard continuity advocates are a minority. Just so happens a bunch of them also frequent these boards.