The Hard Reboot

As anyone who knows me can attest, I am a huge comic book geek, specifically loving The Green Lantern, but also the entire DC Universe.  Since I was a kid first discovering "The Superfriends," I felt like I had discovered a world that would take me places.  Superheroes challenged my creativity and helped me to imagine worlds that didn't already exist.  And comic books made me believe. In heroes.

And now, the DC Universe is going through a relaunch.  As a technology geek too, I'd refer to it as a hard reboot.  As a gamer, a reset.  Whatever you call it, they are calling a "do-over" and starting from scratch.  Reinventing every character.  Some have different story lines, costumes have been tweaked and they get to make things up all over again.  How many  times have I wished I could do this in my own life?  Start with a clean slate.

Wednesday, the relaunch started with the release of Justice League #1. I picked it up, in print, to see what DC and Geoff Johns would do with a clean slate.

"NOT-SO-MUCH-OF-A-SPOILER" ALERT: I'm sure anyone who truly cares has already read this, but I hate when people ruin things for me so...

One thing I love is that the slate truly is clean.  You enter the DC Universe with the local law enforcement pursuing Batman.  Super beings are not seen as "heroes" and even better, they do not know each other.  In this issue, Green Lantern comes to investigate the disturbance in Gotham, discovers Batman, the madman who has no actual superpowers (but can steal the ring right off of his finger) and sets off with his questionable new ally to find the alien Superman who must have ties to the alien villain in Gotham.  Distrust lurks in every cell of this book.

Justice League #1 oozes with the old familiar superhero-as-distrusted-outcast flavor that is the basic foundation of all things X-Men.  But introducing characters that have to build the trust of others accomplishes two goals. First, it helps build that characterization from the beginning, not only letting you get to know the character from the start, but helping you to identify with the characters on your own.  So many readers look for something to identify with when they read and this is a way to do so. Second, DC really allows readers to enter not only a storyline, but also a universe without any need for background.  What a great way to entice new readers.  In a world where the comic industry seems to be losing readers by the minute, introducing a new "old" title can get new folks reading both new and old issues.

Now, costume redesign can be HUGE to some purists, including cosplayers who have to make entirely new outfits. I've been to ComicCon.  I understand. When the WonderWoman pilot was being shot for NBC and Adrianne Palicki appeared in jeggings, it was nearly the fall of Themyscira for sure. Some net pics had WW in pants on the cover of JL#1 but thankfully, she's dons something a little more classic.  Sure, the gold has turned to silver, she has an armband and a choker, but she's still the chesty Amazon princess I fell in love with as a kid.  As for the others, they're all mostly the same with minor tweaks and a little more of an "armor" appearance.  In fact, I don't even know if I'd have noticed the "collars" and "kneepads" were it not for this funny YouTube video I saw a few weeks ago.

The artwork is actually pretty great.  Although I'm not an expert at line work by any means, I know what I like and what I don't.  When I look at comic art, I judge it by how "tat-worthy" it is.  Is it good enough to commit to my skin forever?  While it may not be etched in skin yet, Jim Lee does a great job with characters he has been working with for awhile. We shall see.  I might be convinced.  Another exciting element of this issue, I saw Scott Williams doing a demo at ComicCon where he inked one of the cells from this book.  An AMAZING and arduous process for sure.

I have neglected my collection and have stacks of back issues to read, but I'm going  to commit myself to updates on the New 52 (no, not all, just the ones I read) and other current releases (along with my opinions on anything I like tv, movie, comic, and sci-fi related).

I know you're dying to hear my thoughts on digital v. print comics and the every expensive cost of this hobby. I spend more on comics than I did when I was smoking.  I'm also looking forward to a new series from DC called Stormwatch including some characters brought up from the minors.  Altogether, I'm hopeful for what's to come.

And when Jim Lee pens Star Sapphire, I'll let you know if he's truly a tat-worthy artist. We already know Ivan Reis is.