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High Hopes in ‘08 for a Crisis Critic

Instead of doing my graduate work I was browsing over at Newsaram this morning and read three articles with Dan Didio regarding DC Comics in 2008. (one, two, three)

Before I share my opinion and speculation of DC Comics in 2008, let me share my opinion on the recent “big projects” of the DCU.

Infinite CrisisInfinite Crisis was met with mixed reviews, while I am not a big fan of giant crossovers I do enjoy reading them. The problem with company wide crossovers is that many times it breaks up the flow of the company’s regular issues. Infinite Crisis did not interfere with the the regulart titles too much, meaning that you had to read Infintie Crisis to understand what was going on in Superman’s regular title, or vice versa. After Infinite Crisis I was a big fan of the One Year Later (OYL) concept. One Year Later gave the writers a fresh start with continuity without giving up continuity. Some OYL titles were a huge improvement/success such as the Superman and Nightwing along with the great new characters and series such as the new Atom and Blue Beetle.

52While the new series that came out of Infinite Crisis were very good the best byproduct was DC’s weekly series appropriately titled “52.” 52 proved to me that a comic publisher can have a huge universe wide event that did not interfere (for the most part) with the monthly titles. The success of 52 led DC to being a new weekly series almost immediately after its end, the Countdown to Final Crisis was not received as strong as its predecessor.

Countdown to Final Crisis is a comic that I have enjoyed, but I can easily say that it is not on par with 52’s writing, art, and appeal. Where Countdown went wrong was not the writing, art, or even appeal instead it was the fact that unlike 52 it directly tied into many of the regular ongoing monthly books. The direct tie broke the flow of the normal monthly books sometimes causing a story that seemed forced and out of place.

Looking into 2008’s future…

Blue BeetleIt seemes inevitable that DC will begin a new weekly sereies, and it has been reported that Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley will be helming the project. Possibly learning from DC’s sucess with 52 and the mistake of Countdown Dan Didio confirmed that the new weekly book, titled “Trinity”, will not be a direct link to the monthly titles but instead a stand alone book.

Didio also discussed another book, DC Universe #0, and dropped hints of what to expect from Final Crisis. DC Universe is a bridge that will take readers from Countdown and the monthly comics directly into the event that is Final Crisis. DC Universe, according to Didio, will not just connect Countdown to Final Crisis it will also lay hints to where the montly books will take readers. Atom

It has been rumored that Batman will die, some even thought he would become a God, Braniac and the Legion of Super-Heroes will play a larger role in the DCU. I have to say that even if I am against a company wide crossover, I seem to be magnetically drawn to them no matter how horrid I think they are, i.e. Civil War.

Lightning SagaI know that I will be purchasing, reading, and ranting about Final Crisis, yet I do not think they will be too negative. I have renewed faith based off what has happened, and seems to be still happening, with the Superman and the Justice League’s Legion of Super-Heroes storyline. It seems that DC has learned to write great individual stories and arcs for monthly books that tie into the larger picture.

Didio and DC bring on the Final Crisis I am looking forward to it with high hopes, I am tired of being a Crisis Critic.

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Posted by Fred, on 02/10/08 8:41 PM Bookmark this post Digg Reddit Blogg-Buzz StumbleUpon