What's Going On in the Final Page of "Superman: Doomed"?

[Sirzechs]

No it won't. People are confused now because it's one big Cluster$%&* with what is in continuum and what isn't. They f'ed it up with COIE, made it worse with Infinite Crisis and really blew it out of the water with New 52. This keeps everything self contained and relevant.

So having 4 different Eras of Superman running around is any better?

[MikeMC005]

But that's not even entirely true. There is a linear chronology that leads from pre-Flashpoint to Flashpoint to New 52. Continuity wasn't erased because it exists in physical books and in our minds. Whether new readers like it or not there is a 70+ year history because fans exist and the companies want to make fans excited by referencing the past.

That 70+ year history ended with flashpoint... The things that happened prior to flashpoint have no effect in the new52 and therefore are no longer relevant pieces of information. Year One no longer matters because that was history of the pre-new52 batman who experienced the events that occurred in Zero Year rather than the ones he should have experienced in Year One. Pre-new52 did exist as a fixed period of time it had a fixed beginning and a fixed end. There is only one continuity that matters at this point and thats the one that has no ending and thats the New-52 continuity.

[Lexrules]

If that sort of thing worked, DC probably wouldn't have cancelled the Adventures of Superman digital-first book. People would have been falling all over themselves to get the non-new52 version of the character. Obviously they didn't.

In your scenario, what you'd end up with is one book that sold really well and three that didn't sell worth a crap. A company can't afford to make everybody happy.

Ahh AOS did very well actually. It was always set for a limited run. Know your facts before typing.

As for my scenario, you have zero proof it wouldn't work because it's never been tried before. Once again stop thinking newer is better and that everyone wants to read what is going on now. Please as many as possible to make the maximum amount of money out of a dead market..

[Barry Hollifield]

And the end of the New 52 has started...

I hope so!

[RobinFan4880]

I don't think it should go back but I do think there is room for all versions to be seen. There should be 4 Superman books out a month. 1. Golden Age, 2 Silver Age, 3. Byrne Superman, 4. New 52. Same should be done with all the books. Kill the books that make very little money and focus on the big guns in certain areas. Do Crossovers in those areas for continuum sack and once every blue moon cross over with each other for a major event.

Everyone wins and books sell like hotcakes. Problem solved.

Too confusing for casual readers. At best you would get an Earth 2 style book set in a previous continuity (maybe something along the lines of an entire family of books set in a particular world, like "Earth 2: Batman", Earth 2: Superman", "Earth 2 Justice Society", etc.).

If the model you proposed actually worked, then it would have been the standard by which comics are published today. It would be like getting your cake and eating it too.

Look at the Ultimate Line. Marvel had two concurrent continuities. Eventually, one will become dominant and the other will languish on the side.

[Brian from Canada]

If the internet was around in the 80's, then people would be complaining all to heck about how the Kents being alive ruins Superman and all the other things that were changed due to Crisis.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a fact you can count on. As someone who remembers reading Crisis On Infinite Earths when it first came out, and saw the backlash in readers attitudes, I can safely say that New 52's launch was not even as close to contentious. Every major hero underwent some major changes, and most of it regressed the heroes instead of progressing them.

There are definitely aspects that people would change about the New 52 but on the whole only a minority of people want to go back to the post-crisis universe.

Just as there were in the post-Crisis era as well.

BUT — and I do caution everyone here about this — it is important to remember that, a few years after Crisis On Infinite Earths, DC did a correction that helped fix some of the problems that the event caused. Once that happened, DC books were on a more solid foundation and a series of good books really helped push the company forward from that moment.

That is what I see happening now to New 52 as well: Futures End involves time travel, Booster Gold has it, Justice League 3000 will feature Ted Kord Blue Beetle and Booster Gold visiting… and we have the upcoming arrival of the Anti-Monitor as hinted by the end of "Forever Evil." Then add in that Grant Morrison's Multiversity cannot remain hyperaware no matter how much he wants it to (writers that follow aren't going to be able to handle that well), not to mention Multiversity technically contradicts Dial H. You have the recipe for a corrective moment.

My suspicion is that the crossover event in March will involve some collapsing of the timelines, in which the New 52 heroes interact with versions of the past. When the event is over, certain repairs will have been done to prevent "Futures End" from coming to pass that may fix a few things and give DC a more solid foundation with its core titles… something they have been working on more and more recently.

If you don't believe me on that last point, look at how Batman Eternal is bringing all the strings of Gotham together into a more coherent path. Then look at Johns' comments on "fixing" Superman, and the need for the Finches to bring Wonder Woman back to being more mainstream heroine. It's coming.

[Lexrules]

That 70+ year history ended with flashpoint... The things that happened prior to flashpoint have no effect in the new52 and therefore are no longer relevant pieces of information. Year One no longer matters because that was history of the pre-new52 batman who experienced the events that occurred in Zero Year rather than the ones he should have experienced in Year One. Pre-new52 did exist as a fixed period of time it had a fixed beginning and a fixed end. There is only one continuity that matters at this point and thats the one that has no ending and thats the New-52 continuity.

That's not true. Both Batman and Green Lantern still continued from the old Universe timeline. Elements of the Old Universe exist in The New 52 so that means the old Universe existed and happened. If they had just started completely over from scratch with Bruce and Dick as Batman and Robin and so on and so forth then that would be true what you say.

[Prime]

Is it the Multiverse though? Or freaking Hypertime?

[Lexrules]

Too confusing for casual readers. At best you would get an Earth 2 style book set in a previous continuity (maybe something along the lines of an entire family of books set in a particular world, like "Earth 2: Batman", Earth 2: Superman", "Earth 2 Justice Society", etc.).

If the model you proposed actually worked, then it would have been the standard by which comics are published today. It would be like getting your cake and eating it too.

In this dead market with no sign of ever having a revival maybe it's time to make the impossible possible. In other words having your cake and eating it to.

[RobinFan4880]

In this dead market with no sign of ever having a revival maybe it's time to make the impossible possible. In other words having your cake and eating it to.

The market is not dead. The market has split into three separate fields. Robert Kirkman even said that if you add up the sales from trades, floppies and digital, you pretty much get back to the sales figures we were seeing in the 90's. The problem is that we will never see the digital numbers and the sales for TPB's occurs over the course of years, so we are left with only the sales of comics sold through Diamond. Of course it is going to look like comics are a dead medium.

[Prime]

Just have Greg Pak be the ''Main'' Superman writer. Im not sure what Johns met by fixing. No Donnerman please.

[Lexrules]

So having 4 different Eras of Superman running around is any better?

If it is self contained and stay within it's own continuum of books, it should be quite simple to understand and follow.

[FishboneX]

That's not true. Both Batman and Green Lantern still continued from the old Universe timeline. Elements of the Old Universe exist in The New 52 so that means the old Universe existed and happened. If they had just started completely over from scratch with Bruce and Dick as Batman and Robin and so on and so forth then that would be true what you say.

No, this is not correct. In the comic-verse, both Batman and GL also rebooted, but it just so happens those characters timelines played out almost exactly like the old universe, with differences here and there (year zero being a MAJOR change form the old batman history).

In the comic-editorial-verse, those departments didnt need fixing, they were fine as is and thus little to no changes were necessary in the reboot.

[Lexrules]

No, this is not correct. In the comic-verse, both Batman and GL also rebooted, but it just so happens those characters timelines played out almost exactly like the old universe, with differences here and there (year zero being a MAJOR change form the old batman history).

In the comic-editorial-verse, those departments didnt need fixing, they were fine as is and thus little to no changes were necessary in the reboot.

That's a coop out and make no sense. Do you think it is a smart move to have done so? DC made it worse then better in confusing fans. My way brings everything back to scratch and makes things nice and neat like it should be.

Everyone gets what they want and you know have 4 different ways of enjoying your favorite character at any time instead of being stuck with one that is a shadow of what he or she was.

You have a choice.

[Buried Alien]

BUT — and I do caution everyone here about this — it is important to remember that, a few years after Crisis On Infinite Earths, DC did a correction that helped fix some of the problems that the event caused. Once that happened, DC books were on a more solid foundation and a series of good books really helped push the company forward from that moment.

What is this correction that you mention? Is it ZERO HOUR? ZERO HOUR didn't really help matters much, in my opinion.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)