Five years wasted

[colonyofcells]

What rebirth is bringing back seems to be classic elements and these can go back to the silver age and bronze age such as Wonder Woman hooking up with Steve Trevor. Wonder Woman hooking up with Steve Trevor is as old as the golden age. With some properties, the pre flashpoint versions are favored over the classic versions.

[Maxi]

All stories are imaginary stories and they all have some value.

(Comic Book Guy has just noticed a new comic store that has opened up across the street.)
Comic Book Guy: Philip K Dick! It can't be! It's as if Superman moved to Gotham City!
Martin: Which he did, in World's Finest Comics #94. (Points to the comic.) See?
Comic Book Guy: That was an imaginary story, dreamt by Jimmy Olsen after he was kicked in the head by Supergirl's horse, Comet. It never really happened.
Bart: None of these things ever really happened.
Comic Book Guy: Get out of my store.

[Dataweaver]

There's a fan theory over on the Superman board that Superdad isn't actually the pre-Flashpoint Superman, but more of a “Superman of all ages” whose personal history incorporates the “greatest hits” of the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, the pre-Zero Hour DCU, the pre-IC DCU, and the pre-Flashpoint DCU — he just doesn't realize the full extent of what he is yet. This theory also holds that the so-called “Nuperman” will end up making a brief return during a moment of crisis in Superdad's life and will end up merging with him, connecting this “greatest hits” Superman to the post-Flashpoint reality.

At that point, the last five years of Superman stories will live on in the combined Superman's memories, as he'll be as much the N52 Superman as he is any other age's Superman. So the last five years won't have been wasted, either.

And Wonder Woman? The last five years of N52 stuff still happened. What it means is getting retconned; but the events themselves are still sticking around, and are still generating consequences.

If anything from the last five years is being left out the cold, it's the New 52's Teen Titans. And for the most part, I'm fine with that — though I really hope to see a return of Young Justice at some point, with the YJ Rebirth team being a hybrid of the YJ4 and the cartoon's first season. That said, I'm not expecting it to happen at this point. Maybe if YJ season 3 does well, that might change; or maybe their return will be part of the conclusion of Rebirth, possibly as late as 2018. But even then, the last five years of Teen Titans will have been “wasted” (albeit in the sense that there's not much there worth salvaging).

[Lhynn]

There's a fan theory over on the Superman board that Superdad isn't actually the pre-Flashpoint Superman, but more of a “Superman of all ages” whose personal history incorporates the “greatest hits” of the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, the pre-Zero Hour DCU, the pre-IC DCU, and the pre-Flashpoint DCU — he just doesn't realize the full extent of what he is yet. This theory also holds that the so-called “Nuperman” will end up making a brief return during a moment of crisis in Superdad's life and will end up merging with him, connecting this “greatest hits” Superman to the post-Flashpoint reality.

Wouldnt that make him absurdly powerful tho? far more than it has been depicted.

[Dataweaver]

Not necessarily. Superman's power levels have fluctuated throughout the ages; and his current power levels don't have to be anywhere near where they were at the peak of the Silver Age. Although the potential to reach those levels once more would be there, given the right conditions.

[Phoenixx9]

I had heard when the Nu-52 was coming out that it would only last 2 to 5 years max.

After year 2 DC was still going strong with it, but I was cautious to not get too involved because I knew it would not last.

It is a shame for people who spent a lot of money on getting all the books. Although, if they enjoyed the characters and the stories, then there is no loss. Those characters can still live on in that form within those stories whenever they read them.

[Dataweaver]

…except it's still going. Rebirth isn't undoing New 52, and the stories of the past five years aren't being “decanonized”. Most of them are remaining in continuity, fully intact. What Rebirth is doing is adding back in things that New52 cut out; but it's doing so by adding to the New 52 continuity rather than by rewriting said continuity.

[Sacred Knight]

Some stuff will be erased by the time this is all over though. You can bet on that. There's going to be New 52 stuff they don't want, we're already seeing that in play especially with the Superman and Wonder Woman directions, thus once the timeline is solidified via the restored ten years, that's their chance to outright erase, replace, and add certain things. Which is par for course with how DC operates when they do broken timeline/restoring timeline storylines. The end result still isn't ever exactly the same.

[TheCape]

Some stuff will be erased by the time this is all over though. You can bet on that. There's going to be New 52 stuff they don't want, we're already seeing that in play especially with the Superman and Wonder Woman directions, thus once the timeline is solidified via the restored ten years, that's their chance to outright erase, replace, and add certain things. Which is par for course with how DC operates when they do broken timeline/restoring timeline storylines. The end result still isn't ever exactly the same.

So they are doing what they always have been doing since Zero Hour, shocker.

[Dataweaver]

Some stuff will be erased by the time this is all over though. You can bet on that. There's going to be New 52 stuff they don't want, we're already seeing that in play especially with the Superman and Wonder Woman directions, thus once the timeline is solidified via the restored ten years, that's their chance to outright erase, replace, and add certain things. Which is par for course with how DC operates when they do broken timeline/restoring timeline storylines. The end result still isn't ever exactly the same.

It's still too early to say for certain what will happen next; but thus far, neither Superman nor Wonder Woman has had any New 52 history erased. It's all still there. Even the Teen Titans stuff is technically still there; they're just ignoring it. And that's as close to erasure as they've gotten.

[TheCape]

There's a fan theory over on the Superman board that Superdad isn't actually the pre-Flashpoint Superman, but more of a “Superman of all ages” whose personal history incorporates the “greatest hits” of the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, the pre-Zero Hour DCU, the pre-IC DCU, and the pre-Flashpoint DCU — he just doesn't realize the full extent of what he is yet. This theory also holds that the so-called “Nuperman” will end up making a brief return during a moment of crisis in Superdad's life and will end up merging with him, connecting this “greatest hits” Superman to the post-Flashpoint reality.

At that point, the last five years of Superman stories will live on in the combined Superman's memories, as he'll be as much the N52 Superman as he is any other age's Superman. So the last five years won't have been wasted, either.

Well considering that after Infinite Crisis, Superman kinda sorta started to became that before the reboot, with the reinegration of many Silver Age elements and maybe some Bronze Age ones, if they mantain all the good stuff from all the eras, i'm down for that.

[Dataweaver]

Well considering that after Infinite Crisis, Superman kinda sorta started to became that before the reboot, with the reinegration of many Silver Age elements and maybe some Bronze Age ones, if they mantain all the good stuff from all the eras, i'm down for that.

Yeah, it's definitely the best resolution to Mr. Oz's “you're not what you think you are” statement that I can think of.

[TheCape]

Yeah, it's definitely the best resolution to Mr. Oz's “you're not what you think you are” statement that I can think of.

The most crazy theory is that Post-Crisis Superman is actually Doctor Manhattan, somehow, but that doesn't really make sense and would piss a lot of people (me included).

[Sacred Knight]

It's still too early to say for certain what will happen next; but thus far, neither Superman nor Wonder Woman has had any New 52 history erased. It's all still there. Even the Teen Titans stuff is technically still there; they're just ignoring it. And that's as close to erasure as they've gotten.

Although nothing is gone yet, in Superman's case, the new direction demands stuff be changed. Perhaps not so much WW, they can just keep that "lies" stuff canon, but Superman canon cannot go on with a foundation that the current Superman is actually the second Superman his surroundings know of and the first one died. Retcons to the timeline have to take place on some level to make him the one and only. Its the only way forward if you don't they don't want a Marvel-like continuity, and I pray to god they don't. Superman turning into Jean Gray would be devastating.

[RobinFan4880]

Nope, I started to read Synder's run digitally but gave up. I think he's great at making comics, just not the kind of Batman comics that I enjoy. I'm reading Tom King's BATMAN now and dig it, I'd like to see what he would do with a newer origin but alas. I think King walks this really fine line between the superheroic globetrotting/James Bond influenced Batman and the grim Gothic dude that people tend to be into. I think it works really well. A mixture of the overblown intensity of Synder and the Denny O'Neil stuff that influenced Morrison.

Zero Year not really worth it, in your opinion?

It is an enjoyable adventure that feels like a mix of today's sensibilities with some silver age fun.