Outlandish choices throughout DC History that made you scratch your head

[JLange]

I agree. I was all on board for a cosmic DC title... and when Rann/Thanagar War ended I was surprised that there was absolutely nothing to go to from it.
And Hawkman, the one book that was already going, shifted gears to something totally different.

Me too! I was excited that even if we didn't get an Adam Strange, or a LEGION title, they'd do SOMETHING: Rayner in space, Omega Men, or The Hawks in space. Oh well...would have been great.

[Bruce Wayne]

Me too! I was excited that even if we didn't get an Adam Strange, or a LEGION title, they'd do SOMETHING: Rayner in space, Omega Men, or The Hawks in space. Oh well...would have been great.

But they did those things. Post-RTW they had an Omega Man mini , a Captain Comet title and an Ion mini. And they all did badly sales wise. The same for Adam Strange that lead into Rann Thanagar. This is why it didn't get an ongoing in the first place (plus the fact that Pasquel Ferry left for Marvel).

[Rod G]

Making Lex Luthor President of the U.S. as opposed to George W. Bush.

Say what you will about Bush, but the fact remains , he WAS the president.

[C_Miller]

But fictional Presidents are typically the norm in fictional stories. Sure Lex Luthor as President was certainly outlandish, but I don't think making George Bush would have been the better alternative.

[Lee Stone]

But they did those things. Post-RTW they had an Omega Man mini , a Captain Comet title and an Ion mini. And they all did badly sales wise. The same for Adam Strange that lead into Rann Thanagar. This is why it didn't get an ongoing in the first place (plus the fact that Pasquel Ferry left for Marvel).

Omega Men didn't start until a year after Rann/Thanagar War.
Ion started six months after Rann/Thanagar War, and the month after Hawkman became Hawkgirl.

I picked up the first issue of Ion but lost interest when Hawkman switched to Hawkgirl... so I was gone before Omega Men ever appeared.

[Lightning Rider]

I thought Luthor as president made some sense. We don't always want the stories stuck in a fixed time period. It was a bold move, but also one that highlighted Luthor's prowess and it created new complications for the heroes.

[Bruce Wayne]

Omega Men didn't start until a year after Rann/Thanagar War.
Ion started six months after Rann/Thanagar War

No.
Rann Thanagar War Infinite Crisis Special: Feb 2006
First issue of Ion: Around May 2006
First issue of Omega Men: October 2006

[Lee Stone]

No.
Rann Thanagar War Infinite Crisis Special: Feb 2006
First issue of Ion: June 2006
First issue of Omega Men: October 2006

Hmmm... I coulda sworn Omega Men was December.
Anyway, With Hawkman switching to Hawkgirl and Ion not exciting me (since I was really more interested in Hawkman and Adam Strange), I had already gone to something else by the time Omega Men came out.

And I think my avoiding 52 because of the cost had a hand in my losing interest, also, since that's where Adam Strange ended up at.

[Jon Clark]

But fictional Presidents are typically the norm in fictional stories. Sure Lex Luthor as President was certainly outlandish, but I don't think making George Bush would have been the better alternative.

I think it's a matter of why they are using a president in a story. Post Crisis we had Reagan shown as President during Legends. And Bill Clinton showed up during Superman's funeral and again when he met the Cyborg-Superman. The fictional presidents tend to show up more when you need someone to play the villain or otherwise act in a way DC doesn't want tied to a specific person. Having Bush cut a deal with Darkseid or Obama authorizing a Suicide Squad mission might be seen as an attack on a real person in a way that having President Knight or President Luthor doesn't.

[GlennSimpson]

I think it's a matter of why they are using a president in a story. Post Crisis we had Reagan shown as President during Legends. And Bill Clinton showed up during Superman's funeral and again when he met the Cyborg-Superman. The fictional presidents tend to show up more when you need someone to play the villain or otherwise act in a way DC doesn't want tied to a specific person. Having Bush cut a deal with Darkseid or Obama authorizing a Suicide Squad mission might be seen as an attack on a real person in a way that having President Knight or President Luthor doesn't.

It's also the case that even if a real president was used, given the sliding timeline eventually a later real president would have to have been involved, even if that doesn't really make sense (such as replacing Reagan with Clinton).

[AdamFTF]

My choice is . . . the tonal shift between Gail Simone's run and Jeff Lemire's run on All New Atom. When the series began, Simone set the tone as being this weird, quirky and somewhat funny book starring the world's most exuberant science fan. And it worked. Of the comics launched at that time, it was one of the few that actually found an audience. But then, Jeff Lemire starts writing the book and everything goes dark as hell. On top of that, Lemire throws in a retcon that Ryan Choi and Ray Palmer were never actually penpals at all and that Ryan was tricked into being the Atom by Chronos. Now, I'm not delusional here. I'm not going to say the series would have lasted longer if the tone had stayed the same. After all, it's an Atom book. But it would have been nice to ride it to the end as the fun book it started as.

[Bruce Wayne]

Are you confusing Lemire with Rick Remender? Remender took over after Simone. Lemire only wrote a one shot and I think backups (that happened after the editors on Titans killed off Ryan).

[Ascended]

My choice is . . . the tonal shift between Gail Simone's run and Jeff Lemire's run on All New Atom. When the series began, Simone set the tone as being this weird, quirky and somewhat funny book starring the world's most exuberant science fan. And it worked. Of the comics launched at that time, it was one of the few that actually found an audience. But then, Jeff Lemire starts writing the book and everything goes dark as hell. On top of that, Lemire throws in a retcon that Ryan Choi and Ray Palmer were never actually penpals at all and that Ryan was tricked into being the Atom by Chronos. Now, I'm not delusional here. I'm not going to say the series would have lasted longer if the tone had stayed the same. After all, it's an Atom book. But it would have been nice to ride it to the end as the fun book it started as.

Don't forget that All New Atom also featured the single greatest romance in all of comics' history; Ryan Choi and Giganta.

Forget Lois and Clark, Wally and Linda, or Kartar and Shayera.....the Atom and Giganta were the best romance ever, in either fiction or reality. One is a hero who shrinks, the other is a villain who grows.....and they're in love! The comedy writes itself!

Okay, maybe Im over selling it slightly, but for reals, the idea of those two trying to make a relationship work was amazing.

There was an issue of Wonder Woman during Simone's run where Diana and Giganta stop fighting to "complain about men". Now, Im not a fan of the idea that a woman's life revolves around her man (thats just dumb), but that one scene got more character growth and depth out of Giganta than the last twenty years of WW comics had (which doesnt say much for her treatment during those two decades, but still, improvement is improvement).

[Lee Stone]

Don't forget that All New Atom also featured the single greatest romance in all of comics' history; Ryan Choi and Giganta.

Forget Lois and Clark, Wally and Linda, or Kartar and Shayera.....the Atom and Giganta were the best romance ever, in either fiction or reality. One is a hero who shrinks, the other is a villain who grows.....and they're in love! The comedy writes itself!

It's only funny 'til someone turns up missing...

[AdamFTF]

Are you confusing Lemire with Rick Remender? Remender took over after Simone. Lemire only wrote a one shot and I think backups (that happened after the editors on Titans killed off Ryan).

I might be. I dashed this post off quickly without doing any research. I can't even look in my own collection because I got rid of the issues of All New Atom I didn't like.