Oh no, not again.
Jun. 11th, 2011 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreI assume that all of you who care about such things have heard about DC Comics' big upcoming reboot of their titles?
Here's why I don't care, and pretty much gave up on comics years ago. Nothing is going to change. Oh, they'll update the character stories and change some costumes, but the big comic companies will never allow character development. Or anything but the most minor of changes that are inevitably ret-conned a few years later. Ignoring all the other failings of the superhero genre, why bother if the main characters are locked into a Kafka-esque cycle of repetitive stories?
Take Green Lantern, for example. Simple enough concept.. Hal Jordan is brought to the side of a dying Abin Sur who tell Jordan that he is heir to Sur's position as a Green Lantern. Jordan gets a ring that gives him power limited only by his imagination and strength of will. The ring needs to be recharged on a regular basis. Series goes on for a few decades, with Jordan stepping aside as the Lantern once or twice. Then he goes crazy, becomes a being called Parralax, tries to destroy the sun, is defeated, becomes uncrazy, and dies. Dies. Dead. We have the body. Open casket funeral. Jordan's spirit becomes The Spectre, a major magical being on the DC universe. Pretty cool, huh? We had a new Green Lantern, An established hero had gone on to become one of the most powerful beings in existence, and other characters had to deal with the aftermath of all this happening.
Until DC changed everything back.
Same thing happened in Iron Man. Tony Stark was shot by a deranged lover and left paralyzed from the waist down. Wow, what a chance for story telling! Tony's an addictive personality.. a known alcoholic and sex addict. How is he going to react to being confined to a wheelchair when he has a suit of armor that allows him to walk? How does such a powerful man deal with sudden disability? Stark has always been one of the more interesting people in Marvel's stable. This could have been great. Instead we have Tony implant a chip in his spine that bypasses the damaged sections. (As an aside.. why wasn't this ever marketed?) That causes further problems, and Tony dies, leaving everything to his long-time aide James Rhodes. Wow, another great story opportunity! Except of course they wimped out and revealed that Tony had faked his death. Small side note. This story took place in California. It is illegal to fake your own death here. Also, once the will went through probate Rhodes still owned everything. But everything went back to the status quo.
So how would I do it? I'd let characters age, change, die, retire, and move on. .
Batman first appeared in May, 1939. Let's say that he was 27 at this time. That would have made him around eight when his parents were killed. Plenty of time to train obsessively and build an arsenal of weaponry. Robin first appears a year later as a boy of 10 or 11 years. Being completely insane, we'll give Bruce a 25 year career as the Batman before he realizes that time is catching up to him. Bruce Wayne is still a very spry 52, and Dick Wayne would be in his mid-thirties and ready to take over as Bats. But after that?
Well, since Bruce Wayne had suffered seeing his parents die at his feet, he was well-known for his philanthropy when it came to the needs of orphans and other children in need. The Wayne Orphanage (est. 1943) was hailed as one of the best facilities of its type. Later becoming the Wayne Fund for Children, Bruce was a vocal advocate for extending a helping hand to the kiddies. That, and he was looking to train his eventual successor. By the time that Bruce hangs up his cowl in the mid-60s, his team (and he'd need one) has become very good at selecting and training promising candidates and instilling in them the vigilante mindset. Even the ones not selected to be Robin would be more likely to wander off and set up shop as a street level hero. In my universe, Oliver Queen was an angry kid who found a home at the Wayne program and an outlet for his anger in archery... At the worst, Wayne has an corps of trained reconnaissance agents on the streets. At the best, the kids stop minor crimes in the way they were taught.. quickly, quietly, and without being seen. Most of these actions are attributed to Batman, only increasing his legend. The kids who are recruited tend to earn scholarships to prestigious universities and fund jobs waiting for them at Wayne Enterprises.
Today we're on our fifth Batman. The people of Gotham are aware that ever so often there's a new person filling the role, but they don't care. The various parts of the Wayne legacy are run by Dick Grayson, although he's turning over more and more of the day-to-day operations over to younger executives. Industry watchers have noted how insular Wayne Enterprises (and the Wayne Family Trust) is, with very few executives coming from outside the corporation. Wayne Manor is the headquarter for the Trust and the charitable activities, and is also where Bruce Wayne is buried. A good number of people suspect that the Wayne empire and the Batman are closely linked, only only a select few ever learn the whole truth. Even the recruited kids are led to believe that the Wayne family worked with the original Batman. When a new Robin is selected, he gets told the whole truth. Retired Batmen serve as advisers to the new guy.
Obviously, my immortal Joker will plague all the Bat-folk.
What do y'all think? Nice thing is you can get years of stories out of each iteration of the main characters, and bring different points of view to the book with each change, as well as having a ready-made springboard for new characters.
Here's why I don't care, and pretty much gave up on comics years ago. Nothing is going to change. Oh, they'll update the character stories and change some costumes, but the big comic companies will never allow character development. Or anything but the most minor of changes that are inevitably ret-conned a few years later. Ignoring all the other failings of the superhero genre, why bother if the main characters are locked into a Kafka-esque cycle of repetitive stories?
Take Green Lantern, for example. Simple enough concept.. Hal Jordan is brought to the side of a dying Abin Sur who tell Jordan that he is heir to Sur's position as a Green Lantern. Jordan gets a ring that gives him power limited only by his imagination and strength of will. The ring needs to be recharged on a regular basis. Series goes on for a few decades, with Jordan stepping aside as the Lantern once or twice. Then he goes crazy, becomes a being called Parralax, tries to destroy the sun, is defeated, becomes uncrazy, and dies. Dies. Dead. We have the body. Open casket funeral. Jordan's spirit becomes The Spectre, a major magical being on the DC universe. Pretty cool, huh? We had a new Green Lantern, An established hero had gone on to become one of the most powerful beings in existence, and other characters had to deal with the aftermath of all this happening.
Until DC changed everything back.
Same thing happened in Iron Man. Tony Stark was shot by a deranged lover and left paralyzed from the waist down. Wow, what a chance for story telling! Tony's an addictive personality.. a known alcoholic and sex addict. How is he going to react to being confined to a wheelchair when he has a suit of armor that allows him to walk? How does such a powerful man deal with sudden disability? Stark has always been one of the more interesting people in Marvel's stable. This could have been great. Instead we have Tony implant a chip in his spine that bypasses the damaged sections. (As an aside.. why wasn't this ever marketed?) That causes further problems, and Tony dies, leaving everything to his long-time aide James Rhodes. Wow, another great story opportunity! Except of course they wimped out and revealed that Tony had faked his death. Small side note. This story took place in California. It is illegal to fake your own death here. Also, once the will went through probate Rhodes still owned everything. But everything went back to the status quo.
So how would I do it? I'd let characters age, change, die, retire, and move on. .
Batman first appeared in May, 1939. Let's say that he was 27 at this time. That would have made him around eight when his parents were killed. Plenty of time to train obsessively and build an arsenal of weaponry. Robin first appears a year later as a boy of 10 or 11 years. Being completely insane, we'll give Bruce a 25 year career as the Batman before he realizes that time is catching up to him. Bruce Wayne is still a very spry 52, and Dick Wayne would be in his mid-thirties and ready to take over as Bats. But after that?
Well, since Bruce Wayne had suffered seeing his parents die at his feet, he was well-known for his philanthropy when it came to the needs of orphans and other children in need. The Wayne Orphanage (est. 1943) was hailed as one of the best facilities of its type. Later becoming the Wayne Fund for Children, Bruce was a vocal advocate for extending a helping hand to the kiddies. That, and he was looking to train his eventual successor. By the time that Bruce hangs up his cowl in the mid-60s, his team (and he'd need one) has become very good at selecting and training promising candidates and instilling in them the vigilante mindset. Even the ones not selected to be Robin would be more likely to wander off and set up shop as a street level hero. In my universe, Oliver Queen was an angry kid who found a home at the Wayne program and an outlet for his anger in archery... At the worst, Wayne has an corps of trained reconnaissance agents on the streets. At the best, the kids stop minor crimes in the way they were taught.. quickly, quietly, and without being seen. Most of these actions are attributed to Batman, only increasing his legend. The kids who are recruited tend to earn scholarships to prestigious universities and fund jobs waiting for them at Wayne Enterprises.
Today we're on our fifth Batman. The people of Gotham are aware that ever so often there's a new person filling the role, but they don't care. The various parts of the Wayne legacy are run by Dick Grayson, although he's turning over more and more of the day-to-day operations over to younger executives. Industry watchers have noted how insular Wayne Enterprises (and the Wayne Family Trust) is, with very few executives coming from outside the corporation. Wayne Manor is the headquarter for the Trust and the charitable activities, and is also where Bruce Wayne is buried. A good number of people suspect that the Wayne empire and the Batman are closely linked, only only a select few ever learn the whole truth. Even the recruited kids are led to believe that the Wayne family worked with the original Batman. When a new Robin is selected, he gets told the whole truth. Retired Batmen serve as advisers to the new guy.
Obviously, my immortal Joker will plague all the Bat-folk.
What do y'all think? Nice thing is you can get years of stories out of each iteration of the main characters, and bring different points of view to the book with each change, as well as having a ready-made springboard for new characters.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 12 Jun 2011 03:29 (UTC)However, in the Marvel world, I think you might like the Ultimate universe that they've created. Dead is dead (mostly) and it happens to important characters. It's much more realistic and they use the opportunity to tell some great stories.
no subject
Date: 12 Jun 2011 04:00 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12 Jun 2011 05:12 (UTC)Once it gets made "sane" a lot of stuff will change. Trademark power will still be there, but frankly no longer having the copyright will weaken some of that. Likely enough to make something like Doug's suggestion possible/practical.
no subject
Date: 12 Jun 2011 03:36 (UTC)However, if DC wants to keep the original Bruce, as long as Ra's al Ghul is roaming around and wants to continue their rivalry, IMO he will figure out ways to dip Bruce in a Lazarus Pit and that can easily solve the aging issue.
no subject
Date: 12 Jun 2011 03:36 (UTC)Actually, I don't do cartoons either. I feel really stupid watching Simpsons, SouthPark or Adult Swim.
But what you suggest is as good as anything, I reckon..
no subject
Date: 12 Jun 2011 05:00 (UTC)Lisa said that she watched a movie with a certain super-hero, and the movie made it clear why he never died: He was the fifth generation of the family to be that particular hero!
no subject
Date: 12 Jun 2011 05:49 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12 Jun 2011 05:55 (UTC)Joker Theory
Date: 12 Jun 2011 05:08 (UTC)Short version-he's an Eldrich Abomination that...fixates on a target and that target is Batman. It's a big joke, so that's all he can be-a joke, a clown, a Joker.
Why can't Batman kill the Joker? Because anybody that kills the Joker becomes the Joker-which explains the personality shifts. Any time he's just the "clown prince of crime", the human that took over has the sort of will power that makes stone look soft.
no subject
Date: 12 Jun 2011 05:19 (UTC)It also toned Supes's powers *way* down. No more pushing around planets and the like.
Alas, it didn't last, but the reasons were better than most.
no subject
Date: 12 Jun 2011 05:39 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12 Jun 2011 06:24 (UTC)I think I stopped sometime when the X-Men died, again, and were reborn. Might've been the Outback thing at that time.
Nowadays I do read superhero comics from time to time. I like the Powers series, it feels like it's telling a story from beginning to end, somehow. At least the characters change and die - and new ones are born.
no subject
Date: 12 Jun 2011 15:15 (UTC)This period of DC Comics multiple continuity ended in 1985 with the "Crisis on Infinite Earths," becoming the first catalogue-wide retcon/reboot in comics history. Not too long after that, the serious branding business started, which changed the dynamic of what storytelling was going to be for decades.
I wish I could like comic books the way I used to do. I wish I was surprised by this move. I honestly wish I didn't feel surprised that DC has outright lied in doing this, broken their word that they were done with the "Crises" nonsense of the past 10 years. Every two years, a Crisis. I'm sure they tell themselves this doesn't count so long as they don't use "crisis" anywhere, but it's a total reboot no matter what you call it. They call it a chance to let new readers join in, that decades of material (Detective Comics was about to reach issue 900) was intimidating. BS; I started reading the Amazing Spider-Man as a child and picked it up without any trouble. (shrug) They're an industry catering to an obsessive, aging adult fanbase. They want a fresh audience. Yeah, so did the cigarette industry.