Would you ever want DC Comics to go back to Pre-Crisis?

[caj]

Would you ever want DC Comics to go back to Pre-Crisis?

There are good and bad scenarios with doing this. The good is that there is a strong foundation of history to build on. The bad is that all the problems DC had before would still be there.

Yes or No?

[CaptCleghorn]

Pretty much my answer to any "going back" question is no. With DC, the multiverses change so much and so often (constantly now?) that it's expected that many would favor a previous version. However, I'm much more into watching the stories and characters change and grow. As much as I would love to see a DeMatteis/Giffen/Maguire JLI, an O'Neil Question, or a JSA on Earth-Two again, comics aren't like dinners. You can't return to the style of old days like you can return to a restaurant for their specialty dish.

And although anyone who has ventured into the plethora of JSA threads has seen about my desiring to see a JSA on their own Earth Two, I would not want to lose a lot of what was gained since COIE for them and their families.

[Vakanai]

No. That ended in 1985. That was before I was born. I don't want them to be straddled with taking a 36 year old continuity and trying to bring it into the present as the modern continuity. Every single writer who wasn't a child reading DC devotedly back then would have to forget 36 years of history and dig through very old issues and reprints wherever they can find them to begin to know what the hell they should be writing about. It's dead, and should be brought back only as a story, like a mini or arc or issue or special of OGN or whatever, but not as the new/old continuity.

[Holt]

No. A lot of my favorite DC characters were only introduced post-Crisis.

[DrNewGod]

DC should never have abandoned it's multiverse, but it did. Now it would be like trying to move back into a house you burned to the ground.

Nothing is impossible, but DC has not demonstrated the skill, or the will that resurrecting its Pre-Crisis multiverse today would require.

[John Venus]

They should keep moving forward not backwards. Maybe take inspiration from older stories but use it to cultivate new ideas.

[Vakanai]

DC should never have abandoned it's multiverse, but it did. Now it would be like trying to move back into a house you burned to the ground.

Nothing is impossible, but DC has not demonstrated the skill, or the will that resurrecting its Pre-Crisis multiverse today would require.

Just how many established universes did they lose, that we don't have a modern-ish/rebooted equivalent of now?

[Factor]

Only as a separate Earth/imprint, not as the main DCU. As with most iteractions of the DCU, I love that version too, but it would be really wrong to throw away all the later developments in favor of Pre-Crisis nostalgia.
Now if we're talking about a Pre-Crisis Earth where we get to follow the aventures of Pre-Crisis Superman, the Satellite League reuniting, more iconic Earth-2 crossovers etc, I'm all for it.
In my mind DC should publish an ongoing about every previous version of the Metaverse:

THE BRAVE & THE BOLD: Pre-Crisis.
EARTH LEGACY: Post-Crisis
SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN: New 52

[Babylon23]

I wouldn't want to see the entire company return to pre-Crisis, but I'd love an old-school Earth-2 Justice Society or All-Star Squadron book that included golden Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc.

[Restingvoice]

As long as they label the issues with which Earth yes, or just do what they did, which is mention in the narration that this story is an Earth whatever story, preferably with connection to the main Earth because otherwise I'd probably not interested.

[SiegePerilous02]

Not wholesale, no. They never should have done COIE, at least not the way they did, but too late now. And while I prefer pre-Crisis overall, a lot of good stuff and characters came out after that. They'd be pissing away a lot of money just to satisfy one set of fans.

If they would better utilize the "worlds of DC" and create an imprint of books set in a "What if COIE never happened?" reality, I'd be happy to try some out. I'd pick up some pre-Crisis Batman and Superman books in a heartbeat.

[ERON]

I respectfully disagree with the "never go back" sentiment. Going forward isn't a good idea if you're heading for a cliff. Sometimes you have to put the car in reverse to get yourself back on the right path.

I actually wouldn't mind if DC went back to either pre-Crisis or pre-Flashpoint, said "My bad," and went from there. It certainly wouldn't make things any more confusing than they already are. That is, as long as they stuck with it, which they probably wouldn't.

I feel the same way about a full-on reboot: I wouldn't be opposed to it at this point, as long as it was well thought out (unlike the New 52), and as long as they stuck with it, but I don't trust current DC to do either.

[cranger]

At this point that stuff is just people tossing blame around to avoid coming to terms with they just don't like modern writers takes on their favorite characters.

Someone who does not like Bendis is not going to like Bendis if he was writing pre-Crisis.

It also does not fix status quo issues.

Don't like what happened to a character? Nothing about any amount of reboots would have stopped something similar from happening.

Favorite character still in limbo? Going back is not going to convince DC to put them in a book.

[Jim Kelly]

Oh but of course. I don't even have to debate over it. But it's torture to speculate on such things, because we all know it's never going to happen. One just has to accept this sad world we're in and soldier on.

[bat39]

Pretty much everything DC is as a brand today, across media, is owed to the Post-Crisis DCU and everything that followed. The versions of Batman (and even Superman and Wonder Woman) that are widely popular today. Characters like Harley Quinn. Franchises like Birds of Prey and Suicide Squad. The 'legacy' aspect, with multiple generations of heroes on the same timeline (this got watered down during the New 52, but its now back, and has even had an impact on adaptations). Just the more 'grounded' and 'serious' approach to storytelling and characterizations.

Besides, in a functional sense, they've already restored a lot of Pre-Crisis stuff that had been eliminated or sidelined. Barry's the Flash again (or maybe not - I think Wally's back right now?) The Multiverse is back. Supergirl (as in Superman's cousin from Krypton) is back and a major franchise now. Superman today is a healthy blend of Pre and Post-Crisis stuff. So there's really no need to turn back the clock to a continuity (or rather, a configuration) that's nearly 40 years old, when all the relevant toys are available in the sandbox.

Last but not least, as already pointed out on this thread, a reboot or un-reboot is ultimately no substitute for the hard work and risks of a new creative direction...