So, I've been reading the Batman-Shadow miniseries and it's been a lot of fun.
And it got me to thinking, and I've got a couple silly questions for the community.
Note that none of these questions are meant to be taken seriously; this is mostly just for fun.
First, a really stupid, conspiracy-theory type question (not to be taken seriously): What do you think the odds are of DC renting some of their IP's out to other publishers? Not sole publishing rights of course.
Is it really that hard to imagine DC allowing IDW to publish a Superman miniseries, especially given how DC has been doing these crossovers so much lately? Is that the next logical step from these "Batman-Shadow" and "Green Lantern-Star Trek" mini's we've been seeing? There's no way DC would ever relinquish control or sell the IP's, but DC would still make some money for no effort on their part and the smaller publisher (IDW or BOOM or whoever) would see sales higher than anything they're used to, with (restricted, partial) access to the big names in comics. Seems like smart business to me, though I dont have access to the kind of accounting data I'd need to know for sure.
Next question, and really the heart of the threat: Who else do you want to see cross over between the DC heroes and the old school pulp guys? Do we need a Wonder Woman/The Phantom miniseries? Doc Savage/Superman? Flash/The Spirit? Blue Beetle/Green Hornet? Do we need a Justice League/Justice Inc/Justice Society mega-story?
And last ridiculous question: Would these pulp heroes like Zorro and Green Hornet and Shadow work with regular interactions and/or inclusion in the DCU? Would you like to see the Green Hornet as the League's undercover "crime boss" (a role we've seen others, including J'onn and Black Lightning, fill on occasion)? Would you want to see the Shadow and Batman trying to out-lurk each other during League meetings? I know that this won't happen, but its just a fun thought.
Again, none of these questions are meant to be taken seriously. We dont need to discuss how unlikely any of it is, because I think we all know these questions are highly unlikely to happen. This is just a thought exercise for those who, like myself, have a soft spot for the pulp heroes of the pre-Golden Age of comics.