DC Comics 2024 News/General Discussion

[Hypo]

https://twitter.com/jcbedgar/status/1779879853082222989

[M@Bowers2014]

Lookin forward to the plethora of titles of Batman, Joker, Harley Quinn, Batman/Joker, Joker/Batman, Batman/Harley Quinn, Harley Quinn/Batman, Joker/Harley Quinn, and Harley Quinn/Joker.

Exactly. This whole thing sounds like a hard pass for me. Not angry about it though. Going to save me a ton of money.

[Vordan]

Sounds like it's meant to be an in continuity version of All Star or Black Label, big names doing prestige type works that "matter".

…but that’s just Black Label! That’s what Black Label was meant to be! Creators doing their big prestige stories and if people enjoy ‘em enough then DC would canonize the stories. An “Ultimate DC” to me means a separate line of books that have a shared continuity and are set on the same Earth. This doesn’t sound like that, it sounds like another attempt at doing All-Star or Earth One where there’s no shared continuity and creators do their own thing. Which is fine but I don’t see why they’re making a new label for it if so.

[Hypo]

Lookin forward to the plethora of titles of Batman, Joker, Harley Quinn, Batman/Joker, Joker/Batman, Batman/Harley Quinn, Harley Quinn/Batman, Joker/Harley Quinn, and Harley Quinn/Joker.

You forgot Joker/Joker.

May have already been posted here and I missed but on his Word Balloon appearance a few weeks ago Mark Russell mentioned that he would like to do a Wonder Woman book with Mike Allred in the same vein as Superman: Space Age and Batman: Dark Age though nothing has been greenlit yet.

[Morgoth]

So, we have Black Label, Elseworlds and now this? I don't really get what they're trying to achieve here.

[Hypo]

…but that’s just Black Label! That’s what Black Label was meant to be! Creators doing their big prestige stories and if people enjoy ‘em enough then DC would canonize the stories. An “Ultimate DC” to me means a separate line of books that have a shared continuity and are set on the same Earth. This doesn’t sound like that, it sounds like another attempt at doing All-Star or Earth One where there’s no shared continuity and creators do their own thing. Which is fine but I don’t see why they’re making a new label for it if so.

Eh, I think whether Black Label stuff is in continuity is very much a gray area, sometimes they are, sometimes they're not - and when they are it's typically a writer saying I consider this to be in continuity with my past work rather than DC firmly referring to those stories as canon.

[Morgoth]

On the other hand, maybe Snyder will finally write his Dick as Batman story he wanted.

[Hypo]

So, we have Black Label, Elseworlds and now this? I don't really get what they're trying to achieve here.

Marketing. Keep in mind that readers that look at solicitations or talk about books on forums are in the vast minority, assuming the Bleeding Cool report is correct this sounds more in line with New Age of Heroes and whatnot, you see some books with big names and a banner on it and maybe you're tempted to pick up an additional book or two you otherwise wouldn't.

[Bruce Wayne]

Bleeding Cool understands, however, rather than some single central creator-focused line, or something with a major editorial driver such as Dan DiDio's New 52 or Geoff Johns' DC Rebirth, this is intended to be more of a hands-off affair on Snyder's part, with the creators being given more of a carte blanche to achieve results, closer to the All-Star line, with major A-list creators on board. Also rather than something separated from the main line like All-Star, the Ultimate Universe, or even Jim Shooter's New Universe back in the day, this will be something published in conjunction with the main line, part of a larger initiative that aims to spotlight DC's entire lineup. But there will not be a reboot or even a relaunch of the main line, that will remain intactand continuity (along with many creative teams) will continue on. Because the other name I have heard, of which Absolute Comics is a part, is DC All-In, the broader initiative Snyder and other creators have been working on. Make of that what you will. This is most definitely being seen as an attempt to do New 52 right, alongside a DC Rebirth with a more holistic approach. That the team on DC All-In are aiming to give fans something bold while leaving alone what's already working.

DC needs to stop trying to do their version of Ultimates. Other than All-Star Superman; 5G, Earth One and New 52 have all been busts.

[Last Son of Krypton]

Sounds cool, but will the ABSOLUTE initiative be comprised of stand-alone series, continuity-wise (a la All Star) or a separate universe of stories that exist in the same continuity (a la Ultimate). If the former, then how is that not just a re-skinned Black Label?

Rich Johnston: The latter, but with more of a bleed through to the main.
https://twitter.com/richjohnston/sta...80971455602861

Hold that thought, seems like Absolute DC is just a new line of mainline comics. As in, no new universe or continuity.

Rich Johnston: It is its own continuity/new universe. Researching how much that will bleed through.
https://twitter.com/richjohnston/sta...86094172962870

[Hypo]

Sounds cool, but will the ABSOLUTE initiative be comprised of stand-alone series, continuity-wise (a la All Star) or a separate universe of stories that exist in the same continuity (a la Ultimate). If the former, then how is that not just a re-skinned Black Label?

Rich Johnston: The latter, but with more of a bleed through to the main.
https://twitter.com/richjohnston/sta...80971455602861

Hold that thought, seems like Absolute DC is just a new line of mainline comics. As in, no new universe or continuity.

Rich Johnston: It is its own continuity/new universe. Researching how much that will bleed through.
https://twitter.com/richjohnston/sta...86094172962870

Really don't know how to square that with this from the article...also by Rich:

Also rather than something separated from the main line like All-Star, the Ultimate Universe, or even Jim Shooter's New Universe back in the day, this will be something published in conjunction with the main line, part of a larger initiative that aims to spotlight DC's entire lineup

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

DC needs to stop trying to do their version of Ultimates. Other than All-Star Superman; 5G, Earth One and New 52 have all been busts.

Fifth time is the charm.

Earth One was probably the best attempt so far as it felt like a clean break compared to the others.

[j9ac9k]

I do like the "part of a larger initiative that aims to spotlight DC's entire lineup." part. We'll see how far it will really go. If they give The Creeper a book we'll know they're serious.

…but that’s just Black Label! That’s what Black Label was meant to be! Creators doing their big prestige stories and if people enjoy ‘em enough then DC would canonize the stories. An “Ultimate DC” to me means a separate line of books that have a shared continuity and are set on the same Earth. This doesn’t sound like that, it sounds like another attempt at doing All-Star or Earth One where there’s no shared continuity and creators do their own thing. Which is fine but I don’t see why they’re making a new label for it if so.

That's my impression as well. Characters that aren't really doing much anyway, so test the waters with stories that may or may not end up in continuity depending on how well they're received.(which is kinda what happens anyway, but with this, it will officially exist in a "limbo" space of non-continuity until people decide if they like it or not and want to see more) Which is a fine way to do it, imo. It'll give creators an opportunity to maybe take characters in interesting new directions, but if it doesn't hit DC can say it was never canon anyway.

Obviously, the reason for it is that it's "new and exciting" which will provide a sales bump moreso than something marketed as Black Label, which I think to a lot of people means "stories that don't matter." Now we'll have "stories that might matter."

[Last Son of Krypton]

Really don't know how to square that with this from the article...also by Rich:

[Leancarp900]

Really don't know how to square that with this from the article...also by Rich:

Rich probably just fucked up the semantics. He probably meant that the new Absolute Universe will have some sort of connection to the mainline.