Is It Wednesday Yet?

Last week's awful Flashpoint issue, which I didn't even have the strength to review, combined with the sheer idiocy of the reveal at the end of issue #2 of Knight of Vengeance, convinced me to stop buying anything that had the word "Flashpoint" printed on the cover. Even though I was semi-enjoying at least a few of those mini-series and was vaguely curious about where the whole thing would lead and how it would flow into the New 52 in September, I finally realized that there's a reason so many people hate these comic book events. They suck!

And yet in spite of having dropped Booster Gold and that Frankenstein tie-in, I still end up with a gigantic list this week. (See below.) Going over-budget again.

Fill-in artists and unsolicited creative team changes on DC books

Yesterday I got into a bit of an argument with Gail Simone on Twitter after I made a cynical remark about not having faith in DC's ability to hold stable creative teams on the new books for more than a couple of issues. I understand why she was upset about it and how, from her perspective, it might seem like all I do is complain, but honestly I feel like my cynicism over this is 100% justified, given DC's recent track record with this issue and given that it's only going to get worse, based on DC's insistence that books will now ship on schedule and that artists will be replaced if they can't deliver the books on time. It's not like I'm making any of this up. It's coming straight from the horse's mouth. I think when a publisher who already has a rampant problem with art consistency on their books announced that they are going to have even more fill-in artists after a big line-wide relaunch, there's ample reason for me to say: "Fuck this. I'm not spending any money on these books until they come out in collections."

More than any other factor, it's the issue of inconsistent art that has convinced me to stop buying monthly books from DC in September. And let's be clear: I have no problem with occasional fill-in artists on a series. I understand that doing a monthly book must be incredibly demanding for a single artist, especially given the level of detail and craft that's expected of modern comic book artists. But there's a way to plan it so that the fill-in art feels organic to the story, rather than a last-minute patch-up job. A perfect example of this is Scott Snyder's current Detective Comics run, which has been alternating between art by Jock and Francesco Francavilla, both of whom are immensely talented artists who bring their own style and unique contribution to the story. This is the kind of model that I would like to see more books at DC adopt, but unfortunately there is no indication that the editors are learning anything from the critical success of this book.

Another book that I think manages to handle the art teams fairly well is Amazing Spider-Man. The art team is constantly shifting, but it doesn't bother me that much because I don't feel like I'm being lied to by the solicitations. The book ships twice a month, so it would pretty much be impossible for an artist to draw every issue for an extended period of time anyway, so the rotating artists are part of the plan. Some of them I like more than others, but the important thing is there are no nasty surprises when I pick up a book expecting Artist-so-and-so-who-was-listed-in-the-solicitation and instead find a name on the cover that I've never even seen before. If Marvel editors can get their shit together on a book that ships twice a month, why can't editors at DC get it right on a monthly book like Birds of Prey?

So that was the root of my pseudo-argument with Gail Simone yesterday, though I'm not sure I really managed to get any of my points across very clearly. I'm disappointed that she thinks I'm just being silly and cynical, but I guess part of that comes from our different perspective on the issue. When I brought up Jesus Saiz, who was announced as the new regular artist in BOP to much fanfare and who only worked on a single issue before a fill-in artist was brought it, she justified it by saying that editors wanted him to get a head start on the September books instead, as if that was supposed to make it better. In fact, it makes it worse! Because it proves that the inconsistent art teams on BOP weren't the result of unforeseen accidents or incompetence on the part of the artists, but poor planning by the editors. They decided to pull their brand new "regular" artist off the book after a single issue, even though he was listed in the solicitations as doing the next issue, even though the previous 12 issues of the series had already suffered tremendously from this revolving door approach to art. I rest my case.

Comics posi-vibes on Twitter!

On the other hand, I hate being a cynic. It's not like I want to be right about that stuff. I want the DC relaunch to be successful. I want DC to finally get it right. I want to be proven wrong about a lot of the concerns I have about what's going to happen to those books in September and beyond.

I think as a self-appointed comic book blogger, it's easy to slip into the habit of spending more time and energy pointing out the things that are wrong (or that we perceive as wrong) than talking about the things we feel good about.

And there are plenty of comics I'm very excited about. I wouldn't have 13 books on my pull list this week if I wasn't super-excited about the state of comics! So to tip the balance back in a positive direction, I've taken it upon myself to focus on the positive for the rest of the week. I'm going to be using the tag #comicsposivibes to stuff I read and enjoy and stuff I'm looking forward to.

I don't think I have enough followers to get that topic trending, but feel free to use the tag and spread the love.

New comics this week!

• Batgirl #23 (DC)
• Detective Comics #879 (DC)
• Teen Titans #97 (DC)
• American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #2 (of 5) (Vertigo)
• Northlanders #42 (Vertigo)
• Hellboy: The Fury #2 (of 3) (Dark Horse)
• Godzilla: Gangsters & Goliaths #2 (of 5) (IDW)
• Gladstone's School for World Conquerors #3 (Image)
• Red Wing #1 (of 6) (Image)
• Amazing Spider-Man #665 (Marvel)
• FF #6 (Marvel)
• Journey into Mystery #652 (Marvel)
• Loose Ends #1 (of 4) (12 Gauge)

I want to point out that there's a new epic story arc starting in Northlanders. It's going to be the final story, with the book concluding at issue #50. Like all stories in Northlanders, it's completely standalone, so you even if you've never picked up an issue before, you can jump right in. I highly recommend that you do, because it's one of the best titles at Vertigo - or any publisher, as far as I'm concerned.

Red Wing is a new mini-series by Jonathan Hickman.

Loose Ends is something that was completely off my radar until I heard Kelly Thompson's enthusiastic endorsement on this week's Three Chicks Review Comics podcast. I'm not sure they'll have it at my store, but if so I'll probably pick up a copy.

Is It Wednesday Yet?

I don't really have time for much commentary/ranting this week, so I'm just going to leave my pull list here.

• Flashpoint #3 (DC)
• Jonah Hex #69 (DC)
• Superboy #9 (DC)
• Sweet Tooth #23 (Vertigo)
• Astonishing Thor #5 (Marvel)

It's so tempting to just drop Flashpoint at this point, since I'm not really interested in the relaunch and it's pretty obvious that this event is not going to be a self-contained story at all, but merely a set-up for whatever comes next.

Jonah Hex is a comic book I've never read in my life, although I keep hearing very good things about it. This month I am finally picking it up because it features art by Jeff Lemire, who has a big week with Superboy and Sweet Tooth also hitting the shelves. Isn't it kind of weird that DC stacks all of his books on the same week like that? Wouldn't it make more sense to spread though across the month, so his fans have a reason to go to the store more than once?

Astonishing Thor is the last part in a mini-series that started like ten months ago. I really hate these bi-monthlies. It's way too long to wait between issues.

Quick reviews: Amazing Spider-Man, American Vampire, Project Superman

Amazing Spider-Man #663-664
Written by Dan Slott; pencils by Giuseppe Camuncoli; inks by Klaus Janson; colours by Matt Hollingsworth; Marvel.

After a thankfully brief but very mediocre Avengers Academy crossover, Amazing Spider-Man is back on track. I enjoy Dan Slott's pacing in this series. He finds a good balance between advancing the various subplots in small increments to tell an overarching story, while keeping things interesting with the more immediate action with the villain of the month (in this case, Negative Man). The art by Camuncoli and Janson is very functional, not overly flashy or spectacular, but getting the job done quite well. All of which adds to a pretty solid and reliable comic.

GOOD

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American Vampire #16
Written by Scott Snyder; art by Rafael Albuquerque; colours by Dave McCaig; Vertigo.

I'm loving this, though I don't really have much to add. Every issue in this arc has been very good, so this is just more of the same, though I mean that as a compliment. Albuquerque's art is a bit difficult to follow in one of the scenes here, and I'm not entirely sure if it was intentional or not, but in any case it's not a big enough deal for me to take points away from this issue. Between this and the Survival of the Fittest mini-series with Sean Murphy, American Vampire has turned out to be a surprising hit for me, considering I don't really have any interest in vampires otherwise.

VERY GOOD

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Flashpoint: Project Superman #1
Plot by Scott Snyder and Lowell Francis; script by Lowell Francis; art by Gene Ha; colour by Art Lyon; DC.

This wasn't really what I expected. I thought it was going to be about Superman being held captive by the military and experimented upon, but he doesn't even show up in this book until the very last page. It takes place 30 years before the events of Flashpoint and is about Neil Sinclair, a man who's getting turned into a super-soldier for a secret military project, presumably using Kryptonian DNA? As he gets more and more powerful, he also becomes more disconnected and inhuman. I was reminded a bit of A God Somewhere, a graphic novel about a dude who acquires God-like powers and flips out, although Neil doesn't become as violent and amoral as the character in that story did. There's some speculation that this character is going to turn out to be Apollo (the Wildstorm character) in DC's relaunch of Stormwatch in September. This comic left me pretty cold. Neil Sinclair doesn't have much depth as a character, because don't know much about his life before he enters this project and he doesn't seem to have a personality. The supporting cast is even more flat. The story is by-the-numbers. The art is okay.

WEAK

Quick reviews: Children's Crusade, Detective Comics, Xombi

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #6 (of 9)
Written by Allan Heinberg; pencils by Jim Cheung; Inks by Mark Morales, John Livesay, Dave Meikis; colours by Justin Ponsor; Marvel.

So for several issues now the Avengers have been in pursuit of the Young Avengers, who disobeyed their orders and set off on a quest to find and rescue Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch. Halfway through this issue, there's a scene where all the big guns, including Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine and a bunch of other very important and powerful and angry characters, are shown rushing toward the scene where Wanda and the Young Avengers are. Tony tells Hawkeye, who's there with the Witch and the kids, to "Make sure they stay there, you hear me? No one leaves the compound. Do whatever you have to do." You'd think this was all leading to some big confrontation, right? But no. Two pages later, we're in a completely different location, an unspecified amount of time has passed, and we have no idea how any of the characters got there, why Hawkey let them leave, or what happened when the Avengers showed up and realized they'd rushed there for no reason. Absolutely zero pay off for all that build-up.

Why am I reading this book? It's an incredibly convoluted story that relies heavily on the reader's knowledge of Marvel continuity over the past decade or so, referencing stories like Avengers Disassembled, House of M, and God knows what else, none of which I've read. I seem to have picked the worst possible series for a total Marvel noob to pick up. As a result, this barely makes any sense to me and it's very difficult for me to care about what happens. The art is very pretty, so that helps a little, but I'm having a very hard time justifying why I've stuck with it for six issues (over 12 months). It almost seems silly for me to drop it after having gotten that far, but whatever. This is obviously not written for me.

DROP

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Detective Comics #878
Written by Scott Snyder; art by Jock; Colours by David Baron; DC.

I couldn't help but think of the old Adam West TV series as I was reading the opening scene of this comic. Batman is hanging upside down over a very angry killer whale, while the villains soliloquy about why they do what they do and what's going to happen to Batman now that he's tried to interfere with their plans. Classic (and a little ridiculous) superhero tropes, but thanks to Synder and Jock's perfect pacing and tone, it feels fresh and exciting. After the action-packed opener, which occupies the first 11 pages of the comic, we get a brief and quiet scene with James Gordon, then a visit to Sonia Branch (aka Zucco), and finally a two-page shocker that will send chills down your spine. I have to give a shout-out to colourist David Baron, who really captures the changing light as the day progresses - from the bright white backgrounds of the opening scene, to the warm sunset tones during Dick's meeting with James, to the purple night skies for the rooftop scene with Sonia - it really helps to show the passage of time, as well as to give each scene a distinct look and feel.

VERY GOOD

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Xombi #4
Written by John Rozum; art by Frazer Irving; DC.

This whole issue, up until the last few pages, is one big exposition dump. Maybe this is the comic Dan DiDio and company had in mind when they said that starting in September DC Comics would not feature any talking heads going on for page after page. (And John Irving literally draws them as floating disembodied talking heads!) I certainly hope not, because this is still a damn good comic. We've just had three issues of pretty crazy action, and this slower paced issue where the characters actually all sit together and have bagels and talk about what just happened and what they're going to do next feels exactly right. Rozum keeps the dialogue interesting with his weird sense of humour and throwaway high concepts that make you stop and think about all the stories that could be written about them ("pearls of wisdom collected from oysters grown in the Sea of Tears"), while Irving  pretty much blows your mind on every page with his expressive faces and unconventional use of colours. This is the best comic book that DC is publishing right now and I'm incredibly sad that it's apparently getting cancelled after only six issues to make way for DC's relaunch. Xombi hasn't been solicited as one of the 52 books coming out in September. When I asked Frazer Irving if there was a chance of the book coming back at a later date, he said he couldn't comment, which I took as a hopeful maybe. Fingers crossed.

AWESOME

Is It Wednesday Yet?

Back issue frenzy

I bought a few fills for my collection of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight back issues last weekend. I've been trying to roughly the first half of the series - skipping over the Knightsquest/Knightsend crossover issues (#59-63) and stopping just before No Man's Land (#116). That's a total of 110 issues, of which I already have more than half. Most of these back issues are relatively easy to find and they tend to go for pretty cheap. The nice thing about this series is that the stories are all pretty much stand-alone and by different creative teams, so as long as you have complete stories you don't really need to read it in sequence. Over the next few weeks, I plan to read all the full stories that I have so far and review them here. I expect that there'll probably be some stinkers in there, but hopefully there will also be a few gems.

Those are not the only back issues I need to read. Since I got kind of fed up with Tim Drake as a character after reading Fabian Nicieza's take on him in Red Robin, I've put my Tim Drake from the Beginning series on hiatus, but I still have the first 100 issues of Robin in a short box waiting for me. I'll get to them eventually.

And something else I'm collecting: Walter Simonson's 26-issue Orion series. Those issues are somewhat more difficult to find, but I'm pretty sure I'll get a complete set sooner or later. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve, including the Montreal convention in September.

DC no longer "writing for the trade"

Among the many confusing and sometimes contradictory bits and pieces of info trickling down to the common folk from DC's retailer roadshow, one interesting message is that DC writers will no longer be asked to "write for the trade". I had an interesting conversation about it with Darryl Ayo on Twitter a couple of days ago, at the end of which I realized that I didn't fully understand what the expression means in the comics world. It also highlighted just how disconnected I am from the majority of mainstream comics fans.

To me, "writing for the trade" sounds like a good thing, almost a no-brainer, since it's obvious that trade collections have a longer shelf-life than single issues in today's market. They also have the potential to reach a much wider audience, since they end up on Amazon and in bookstores. Keeping in mind that a story is going to get collected in a single book and be sold as a separate, more or less standalone entity, just seems like good practice.

When DC talks about wanting to attract new readers, I find it very hard to imagine that those new readers are going to jump right into monthly comics. Honestly, the likelihood of that happening seems almost nil to me. Readers need to be eased into that market, and as I see it there are two potential "gateway drugs" to achieve this: trade paperbacks and (cheap) digital comics. I got into it through the former, but more and more I suspect that people will get into it through the latter.

But when non-regular comic readers pick up a trade paperback at a bookstore, they don't necessarily see it as a random collection of single issues from an ongoing series. They tend to think of it as a "graphic novel," so they expect a story that has a beginning and an end. The last thing you want to do is make that book so impenetrable that your potential new readers will be turned off by it and give up rather than keep reading (and buying) your comics. And that's why I think it makes sense to "write for the trade."

But as Darryl pointed out to me on Twitter (and as covered in the Robot 6 piece I linked to earlier), this is not what "writing for the trade" usually implies. Readers usually think of it as stretching out stories that could be told in 3 issues to fill a 6-issue arc. As such, "writing for the trade" is tied to the notion of "decompression," and under this light I can see why the news that DC is abandoning this practice would be received with cheers from fans.

Obviously, padding out stories with boring dialogue to fill a trade paperback sounds like a terrible idea. Still, I can't help but feel that DC is approaching the issue from the wrong angle. They stubbornly cling to the idea that the monthly comic book is the most important aspect of their business and that this is the area where they need to bring those hypothetical new readers. There must be some economical reasons behind this business strategy that I don't fully grasp, because it doesn't make much sense to me.

New comics this week! 

• American Vampire #16 (Vertigo)
• Batman Inc #7 (DC)
• Detective Comics #878 (DC)
• Flashpoint: Project Superman #1 (DC)
• Xombi #4 (DC)
• Butcher Baker #4 (Image)
• Super Dinosaur #3 (Image)
• Amazing Spider-Man #644 (Marvel)
• Avengers: Children's Crusade #6 (Mavel)
• FF #5 (Marvel)

 Those are the items on my pull list this week. A bit on the heavy side. I'm most excited for Xombi and 'Tec.

One-paragraph reviews: All Nighter, Flashpoint tie-ins, Gatest of Gotham, Silver Surfer

All Nighter #1 (of 5)
Created, written and drawn by David Hahn; Image.

This is the first thing I've ever read by David Hahn. It was completely off my radar until I saw a link to the free PDF download of the first issue of this mini-series on Hahn's website. I downloaded it and only read a few pages before I knew this was something I wanted to get. The best comparison I can think of is Love and Rockets, or at least what I imagine Love and Rockets to be, since I've never actually read it. Instead of reading this review, you should probably just go download it and check it out yourself.

GOOD

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Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #1 (of 3)
Written by Sterling Gates; pencils by Oliver Nome; inks by Trevor Scott; colours by Brian Buccellato; DC.

Kid Flash wakes up in a Matrix-style virtual reality prison in a nightmare futuristic version of Metropolis. He's lost his access to the speed force and needs to figure out what's going on and how to get back to the right timeline. There's not a whole lot to this, but it's enjoyable because Bart Allen is a character that I like and Sterling Gates writes him really well. Oliver Nome's style is functional more than it is impressive, but I really like the way he draws Bart's face (and especially his cute little button nose). I'm going to keep reading this, even if I'm not all that interested in Flashpoint anymore.

OKAY

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Flashpoint: The Outsider #1 (of 3)
Written by James Robinson; art by Javi Fernandez; colours by The Hories; DC.

As far as I can tell, The Outsider is one of the few totally new characters in Flashpoint. His name suggests a connection to the team formerly known as the Outsiders, but I really don't know enough about them to see any connection beyond that. Like with the Kid Flash issue, there's not a lot to go on in this issue. It mostly just establishes the character and his origin within the Flashpoint universe, then there's a fight that goes on for several pages. But it works because I like the character and want to find out more about him. James Robinson seems to have found the right voice for him and I can see how, outside the confines of a major comic book event tie-in, he could take him to some really interesting places. I hope this character will survive Flashpoint and that there's an ongoing by Robinson that has yet to be announced post-relaunch, as some have been speculating, because it's something that I would definitely read (in trades, probably).

OKAY

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Batman: Gates of Gotham #2 (of 5)
Story by Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins; written by Kyle Higgins; art by Trevor McCarthy; colours by Guy Major; DC.

I liked this more than the first issue. Either the art has improved or I'm starting to warm up to McCarthy's style. But what really won me over was the way Kyle Higgins writes the scenes between the different bat kids. He nailed the interaction between Cassandra Cain and Damian Wayne. Damian tries to prove his superiority while pretending not to be impressed by Cass, but really it's clear that he's a little bit in awe of her or he wouldn't be so desperate for her approval. It's basically the same dynamic he had with Dick before they became BFFs, except that Cass is even more unfazed by him than Dick was. But while these two were my favourite, I just love the way Higgins has them all working together as a team. He writes these characters so well that it makes me wish he was working on a Bat Family title instead of Nightwing solo book in September. Although, based on this interview, it sounds like there'll be lots of guest appearances by the other kids in that book, so I'm hopeful. It's a shame that everyone's going to have super-ugly 90s retro costumes, though. Blargh.

GOOD

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Silver Surfer #5 (of 5)
Written by Greg Pak; pencils by Harvey Tolibao; inks by Sandu Florea; colours by Wil Quintana; Marvel.

This was a good, satisfying conclusion to a story that I've enjoyed tremendously, in spite of what I consider to be very ugly art. It's not technically incompetent art. It's just a style that I personally really dislike - way too busy for my tastes - and part of that might come from the colouring as well. Still worth reading for the story, though.

AWESOME (script) / POOR (art)

If I'd been in charge of the DC relaunch...

I've seen quite a few posts from bloggers trying to imagine what they would have done differently if they had been in charge of relaunching the entire DC line of books. In most of them, the author propose 52 titles they'd like to read (or think would sell well) with their dream creative teams.

I've give this a lot of thought myself, and I'd like to suggest something different. Had I been in charge of this relaunch, I wouldn't have done 52 new ongoings. Here's what I would have done:

1. Cancel every book except Action and Detective!

I still think it was a big mistake to renumber these two books. The appeal of these two classic titles is that they are a part of comic book history. There's something kind of magical about the fact that the book that featured the first-ever appearance of a superhero back in 1938 was still coming out on a monthly basis. The numbers approaching 1,000 was proof of that and a pretty big deal. The new #1s might boost the sales briefly, but not for long. In the end, it just doesn't seem worth it.

I would have kept Scott Snyder on Detective Comics. Snyder's current run is critically acclaimed and has just started, so it had the potential to build into an epic and classic run. I think he's actually the first writer to find the right tone for Dick as Batman, and his collaboration with artists Jock and Francesco Francavilla seemed like a match made in heaven, so I basically wouldn't have changed anything. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

And I would have gone with team of Morrison and Morales on Action Comics. If they have a bold new vision for the character, then let them go for it. I don't believe that the number on the cover makes that much of a difference - not with this creative team. People would've gone for it anyway.

2. Launch all the other new books as mini-series!

That's right. Every single new book would be a mini-series. With a beginning and an end. Similar to the way Hellboy or Atomic Robo get published. Hellboy doesn't follow any real pattern. Every issue is either a one-shot or a short mini-series. So new readers always know exactly where they can start picking it up. That's how I got on board. Atomic Robo does it a little differently. Each six-issue series is considered a "volume." You could also call it a "season" or whatever. Again, there's a sense of continuity from one mini-series to the next, but also a clear sense of where a story begins and ends, so new readers are always invited to come onboard.

The obvious advantage of this is the clear jump-on point for new readers, but the other more subtle advantage is that DC would NEVER HAVE TO CANCEL A BOOK AGAIN! If a series sells well, then they do another one with the same creative team or the same characters or whatever. If it doesn't sell, then they it just ends as planned and nobody ever speaks of it again. Cancelling books is bad publicity. It says: "We failed." It pisses off the fans who were buying it, because they feel like they made a commitment to a book that didn't go anywhere. None of this is even a consideration with mini-series.

3. Promise to stick to the same creative team for the duration of each mini-series!

There have been several reports that DC intends to keep the books on schedule and if necessary they plan to crack down on writers and artists who don't meet deadlines. THAT'S THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT I WANT TO HEAR! I know that late books are a pain in the ass. That's true for retailers and it's true for readers. But there's a very simple way to avoid delays: Give your creative teams enough lead time to get several issues in the can before you launch it.

This is another reason why the mini-series format makes sense, because for continuing books, it allows the team to take a break between "seasons." For example, if you solicit a six-issue mini-series, you simply wait for however many issues to be completed before it's safe to start putting them out monthly. Meanwhile, you either have the next creative team already planning the next mini-series, or you take a break after it's done until you have something ready for the next one. With enough mini-series being launched each month on a rotating basis, you'd always have enough books coming out. Everything would be on schedule and you wouldn't have to rely on fill-in artists.

Collecting these min-series in trades would also make more sense. People would know exactly which issues will end up in which collection. And in the end, you'd have collected books featuring self-contained stories, done by a single creative team, and which you can put in a bookstore for non-regular comics readers to pick up and feel like they're buying a "graphic novel." (Which is what most people think they're getting when they walk into a non-specialized comics store and head over to the "graphic novel" section.)

4. Don't launch 52 new title at the same time!

Yeah, I know it's a magic number in the DCU and it sounds impressive and radical and bold and important to launch all those books in the same month. But by doing so, DC is just setting up all the "little guys" to fail. It's great that characters like Mister Terrific and Static Shock are getting their own titles. A lot of us have been asking for this kind of diversity, and these are two characters who probably have enough of a fan following for a successful run. But when you're launching them in the same month as new Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Justice League #1's, these books have no chance of winning. Most readers - new and old - will go for the big titles, especially since those tend to be the ones that feature superstar artists and writers, and the rest will get cancelled due to disappointing sales. And then the next time someone asks, "Why don't you have more black superhero solo books?" DC will say, "Well, we tried, but nobody bought them." Stupid.

5. Fuck continuity!

You want to have a new Batgirl title with Barbara Gordon? Fine. Have one. It's only a mini-series, right? Just set it in the pre-Killing Joke days. Have it be self-contained. With Gail Simone writing it, fans of Barbara Gordon would have been ALL OVER THAT SHIT. Nobody would have felt like Oracle was being shelved. Everybody wins.

There's no reason why every series that comes out needs to be set in the present. We already have the Batman Beyond books that are set in the near future, and the Legion of Super-Hero books that are set in the distant future. Why not also have a line of books set in the recent past? Instead of replacing legacy heroes with the originals, why not just put out books that are set in the past and that feature the original characters? Are comic book fans so obsessed with the current status quo that they would refuse to buy books because they're set in a different time period? (Don't answer that. I don't want to know.)

*

I'm sure there are a million reasons why those suggestions don't make sense for DC's marketing point of view. Maybe none of my suggestions make any sense because they know something about the market that I don't know. Maybe I have too much faith in comic book fans in assuming that they'd be open to this different way of doing things.

I'd like to know what others think.