What can Marvel learn from the DC reboots?

[The Overlord]

Since it looks like the Marvel Universe will be rebooted soon, what can Marvel learn from the various DC reboots over the decades?

[Wellman]

I would hope to NOT do reboots but it is looking more and more like we are heading down that path.

[Ascended]

First thing; knowing what you're doing, where its going, and how, before you even think about what titles and creative teams you want to run. DC's New52 had a lot of cracks in its story and big questions without answers when it started; did the Titans exist before, or were the kids we were reading about the very first? Did Superman die or not? Did Barry Allen? How did Batman fit five or six Robins into a five year period?

Marvel needs to know if Peter and MJ were ever married or not, which Nick Fury is running the show (classic or Ultimate) and whether he still has his old WWII history, and whether the mutants were created by the government or evolution. Don't leave gaps in the story to fill in later. Even if you dont reveal the answers immediately for the fans, at least know what the answers are going to be out of the gate.

And answer the continuity questions first anyway. Dont make the fans wait. Half of them are going to get wrapped up in figuring out what happened and what didnt and when and how and they'll get annoyed at the lack of answers rather than enjoying the quality of the story being told. So just explain what happened in the new timeline and get it out of the way. Maybe publish a "History of the Marvel Universe: Revised" miniseries so everyone can get answers and Marvel can take your money for it.

Be clear about what it really is. DC swore they were not rebooting, they were just cleaning up their history a little bit. If Marvel's really pulling changes on a scale large enough to be considered a reboot, they need to be upfront about it. Instead of downplaying about what is about to happen, be up front about it and help get the fans who are a little worried excited and on board. Get the fans to anticipate the changes instead of being wary of them.

DC's also been really good (at times) at finding the right tone for re-imagined properties over the years. For every mistake they've made, there's been a Booster Gold debut or a Lemire Animal Man, or an off-the-wall and doomed to fail project like Dial H that got its chance thanks to the extra attention. If Marvel's really going this far (and I have my doubts, given how they're prone to over-hype) make the most of it. Give Pixie her own ongoing. It'll never last, but the reboot will at least help it make it a year instead of eight months. Give the Punisher that radical make-over you haven't been able to justify before. Make Black Bolt black. Whatever you do, go big. Be bold, but smart, and you'll find a few major hits on your hands (as well as some broken eggs, but that's the price of business!).

[SickAlice]

Capitalize on it. First off DC should have had a huge story about time ending and did all the things they couldn't have done, had all the battles and plot lines concluded or at least as many as possible before going ahead to Flashpoint. That was a big opportunity for great stories wasted on their part. Marvel did something with Heroes Reborn as everything ended on a big note (the 12th and 13th issues). Likewise they seem to have learned this given the solicits for Secret Wars. Else? Follow Top Cows reboot instead. They were credited with " the right way to do a reboot " quote. Why follow the other who was not and is snubbed for it to date?

[Factor]

1) Don't do half-assed reboots.

[Powerboy]

Since it looks like the Marvel Universe will be rebooted soon, what can Marvel learn from the various DC reboots over the decades?

1. Don't do it at all. Having one major company repeatedly removing it's history is enough. We need an alternative.

2. If you simply insist upon going down that road, then do it all the way. When Marv Wolfman wrote the Crisis, he told them that they either needed to do it all the way or not at all but they were too timid to dare do it all the way. Either a clean slate with every character starting over as if they had never existed before and nobody knew anything about them or just don't even do it.

3. Make it matter. If you're just going to change a few piddly details that could have been done in the soft reboots that have been going on since the 1970s, then don't do it at all. If the differences won't amount to anything once you get past the origins, don't bother.

4. If it's just being done to turn the heroes into people who worry more about each other than about the villains, again, don't bother. We already have Batman over at DC.

So, complete reboot, update it drastically but don't base it around the heroes being jerks or at each others' throats. All of this, of course, setting aside the better choice of not doing it at all.

[Starfish]

Keep it easily accessible for new readers. They don't know anything about your continuity juggling, so they won't care for how different it is from your old stuff. What they need is a clear understanding of who's who and what's going on. If you need to crack open the guidebook to explain what the hell is happening in the story, chances are you've already lost them.

[skyvolt2000]

1) Don't screw with characters who are NOT messed up.

2) Establish everyone's history BEFORE the first issue, so you don't have to edit something later (see Teen Titans)

3) COMMUNICATE with your talent especially for guys with more than one book.

4) Avoid the Static Shock mess-which is a list on its own

EVERYBODY needs to know their place-if you write, you WRITE. If you draw, you DRAW. No running to an editor to take over a book.

If your talent does not understand or have no interest in doing the character-REMOVE them.

If your creative team has issues with preorder-tell them it's THEIR job to work TOGETHER to get more readers.

Do not insult fans if they choose not to support the book because of your actions.

5) I don't care if you hate a certain character with a PURE passion-it's not about YOU. It's about coming out fighting with every character that can make you money and beat DC.
Don't be like Dc where it's the whos who of fan favorites stuck in in limbo.

6) If a minority is getting a push-then give him a PUSH. Not him or her sitting in the background of a top selling book and getting overshadowed by everyone else.

7) No race changing. Looking at you Fantastic Four.

8) No teasing-no recolored versions of a character because you don't like the character-the Cassandra Cain rule.

9) If we are doing a reboot-then go all OUT-let the founders of Avengers be 3 white guys, 2 women, 2 blacks and 3 latinos and 1 LGBT. Go all out.

[Powerboy]

Keep it easily accessible for new readers. They don't know anything about your continuity juggling, so they won't care for how different it is from your old stuff. What they need is a clear understanding of who's who and what's going on. If you need to crack open the guidebook to explain what the hell is happening in the story, chances are you've already lost them.

Good point. One thing I disliked about the Superman reboot was that Morrison throws in about everything but the kitchen sink right away, things that developed over decades of the Superman mythology and with very little if any explanation of what some of the things are as if everybody already knows this stuff. I got most or all of it but a new reader would wander away from the information overload with no real explanation.

[Shaggy]

Good point. One thing I disliked about the Superman reboot was that Morrison throws in about everything but the kitchen sink right away, things that developed over decades of the Superman mythology and with very little if any explanation of what some of the things are as if everybody already knows this stuff. I got most or all of it but a new reader would wander away from the information overload with no real explanation.

That was me, haha. I started reading Action Comics when the New 52 launched and I think I gave up around issue 14.

[Blacksun]

Good point. One thing I disliked about the Superman reboot was that Morrison throws in about everything but the kitchen sink right away, things that developed over decades of the Superman mythology and with very little if any explanation of what some of the things are as if everybody already knows this stuff. I got most or all of it but a new reader would wander away from the information overload with no real explanation.

I was mostly a new reader and I was kind of lost, morrison action didn't made it for me.
More story, less meta.

That was me, haha. I started reading Action Comics when the New 52 launched and I think I gave up around issue 14.

I also gave up around 14-15.

1 Don screw with fan favorites: spider gwen, captain marvel, ms marvel ; Leave them alone, they are fine;
DC loves to screw with fan favorites like stephanie brown, wally west, cass cain

2 well this I think Marvel already do well: Diversity of books

3 Try to NOT erase all the characters stories; I always liked the legacy aspect of DC and that was gone. Keep what is needed like winter soldier story on captain america.

It's good that marvel is not shamed of their story or think the characters are broken.

[Zero Hunter]

1) Don't do half-assed reboots.

That in a nutshell has been the biggest problem DC has had with all their reboots. They want to keep this but lose that which never works and just leads to a mess. Go all in or don't do it at all. Start everything from scratch and build up from there. You also need to introduce new things as well as you go along.

[Expletive Deleted]

If you're going to do it, commit. The only thing worse than a reboot is a half-assed partial reboot. DC has never quite had the steel to take it all the way, but the reboots where they've gone farthest have been the most successful.

I'm not expecting Marvel to actually do a reboot after Secret Wars, but if they do, they need to be all in.

[Powerboy]

Try to NOT erase all the characters stories; I always liked the legacy aspect of DC and that was gone. Keep what is needed like winter soldier story on captain america.

It's good that marvel is not shamed of their story or think the characters are broken.

Back in the late 1980s, I remember someone sending in a letter asking if Marvel was ever planning to reboot their universe as DC had done. The editorial response was that Marvel doesn't need to do that because Marvel did it right to begin with.

[Venom2099]

i dont care...im down to only a few of their books anyhow now. they stopped getting a ton of money from me a few months ago when i decided i like image better....but i cant give up my spider books....