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Would just like to point out that the GREEN ARROW title is virtually the opposite of ARROW right now. GA was most closely aligned with the TV show when Guggenheim wrote an arc a few years back, but they dropped him pretty quick. The aim with this is literally to get it back to the goatee-rocking left-wing Black Canary-loving GA who disappeared after Flashpoint.

@Kris I think you mean Andrew Kreisberg not Guggenheim,

Todd keeps pointing out the thematic return of things if not thier physical (for want of a better word), I’m curious if that’s such a bad thing? Maybe it comes down to how you read the DC Universe Rebirth issue, I read that as a meta apology-promise by Johns promising a better DC future as he jetted off towards hopefully fixing the DCEU. The actual mechanical way in which you “fix” the DCU though is well comic book macguffery, it dosen’t reaaaly matter how so much as the intent and the story being told with it. Comic Book macguffery is a too cherished at times, look at the Cap Steve Rogers stuff people splitting hairs on what is or isn’t “mind control” or someother plot device to the detrement of a pair of really good issues looking at how hatred is built up an weaponized.

Green Arrow has a lot of problems with it. It comes across as self-important and narcissistic, eager to announce to the world that it’s tackling political issues without actually putting forth the work. It also tries too hard to resemble the old Green Arrow without any of the humor or charm from the 2000 series.

Batman was absolutely stellar, arguably the best of the Rebirth books, really. It successfully created a high-tension sequence that used action and spoken dialogue to subtly bring its theme up to the forefront. Detective Comics, on the other hand, feels like a heavily decompressed X-Men book.

Superman could be very interesting, as it follows the growth of Jon Kent as a hero. That’s actually more interesting than the Mr. Oz mystery.

[…] — from A Fix-Up, Not a Reboot: One Month into DC’s Rebirth […]

[…] http://www.comicsbeat.com/a-fix-up-not-a-reboot-one-month-into-dcs-rebirth/ […]

Todd, wait for Dogwelder…

With all that’s happened to the DCU, I think one of the biggest problems in it is a sense of consistency. A lot of people complained about the writing, which I’ll admit was not great. However that’s not a problem that can’t be fixed. Instead, it felt like they would throw in an event that would “change” the universe again. Between the New 52, Forever Evil, Trinity Wars, Convergence, it’s all very confusing. I also believed that they drop series that had a lot of potential. Stormwatch, Static Shock, Voodoo just to name a few. Now, while they weren’t continued for one reason or another I thought these characters were kind of interesting. Not only that, but how many other characters has DC acquired over the years that have been tossed aside without a second thought. Milestone and Wildstorm are names that most people don’t even remember, yet the individuals born into these universes had so much substance and character they would have been a welcome addition and a great contrast to those of the DCU. DC “tried” to integrate these elements in the beginning, with few actually making the cut. But I digress, if DC really wants to become something great again, that’s where they need to start, in my opinion. How can they expect us to care, if they can’t show the same effort?

I want a true ‘identity crisis’ wherein every DC character suddenly “remembers” their pasts in every continuity –a Batman who remembers the TV show and the New 52 and 1938, a Wonder Woman who remembers fighting in WWII and yet also *not* fighting in WWII, a Superman who remembers all the contradictory Kryptons, all the contradictory Legions. I want a crisis that leaves us with *everybody* remembering *everything* despite the contradictions –infinite continuities all converging into one universe where all the heroes remember all their pasts– and then take it from there.

If everyone remembered all their past continuities, who would they be now?

If they could choose/discover their own identities, who would they choose?

Existential Crisis

I feel a lot of the complaints were, “DC’s publishing of trades sucks” more than anything else. If you’re a trade waiter and then jump into reading floppies, then yeah, there are going to be some confusing elements. I don’t understand why the author of the post was complaining so much about that. I do share the annoyance of the Bat-titles being dragged into a crossover with just their second arc.

DC does have a draconian publishing schedule for their trades though. It’s absurd that it takes six months for a trade to come to market. It’s part of being a “book publisher” instead of a “comic publisher.”

Personally, the new Superman titles have been an absolute blast. Having a Superman who isn’t mopey (we already have that in the film version, which a lot do not care for) and cocky. I felt DC had maybe two or three good arcs with New 52 Superman that were ok and the rest were not worth purchasing. There is no mention of how the past Superman died because Tomasi and Gleason said they only wanted this to be about one Superman.

Rebirth was a breath of fresh air, especially with Marvel’s faltering of late. I am so sick of events that are merely rehashes of past events. Secret Wars was good because that was the culmination of Hickman’s run. But Civil War II? Can they do something besides have heroes fighting heroes? DC Rebirth is coming at a great time for me and I’m spending more dollars on DC than Marvel right now. Image is close behind DC.

Don’t hold your breath, Mike. Not only is that idea unfeasible and complicated, it also requires way too much work from this modern era of work-for-hire writers. We’re still living in the Age of Bendis, so don’t expect too much in the way of something like Morrison’s Batman.

Well, that sucks. Abnett was a good writer of Marvel’s cosmic stuff.

Well its not like he was getting any good projects for Marvel’s cosmic stuff and his latest stuff (Guardians of Infinity) feels a bit like those two miniseries after Thanos Imperative – Dan just going thru motions.

Guardians of Infinity and the latest Hercules series have been pretty bad. Hercules is the first comic in a long time I’ve quit reading mid-issue. (Some god of technology showed up and he spoke like a text message and that was the last straw.)

I assume that this Exclusive contract means like always “do not work for Marvel” and that Abnett will continue his 2000AD work.

Anyone have the address for this? I’d love a check signed by Geoff Johns.

Yeah, you might as well buy two and have a commemorative check to go inside that bagged and boarded one.

Heh, maybe Johns’ checks will go for more than they’re worth on eBay. Seems like the speculator market is vibrant enough nowadays that I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this.

This’ll probably work:

DC Entertainment c/o Geoff Johns, 4000 Warner Blvd, Burbank, CA 91522

https://www.google.com/maps/place/DC+Entertainment/@34.1486546,-118.3387185,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x7516bcee916567b4!8m2!3d34.1486546!4d-118.3387185

Brian K. Vaughan made this offer with Y The Last Man when it first came out. I think he got one issue returned, torn in half.

is there a way to get my money back if I didn’t pay for it? Read it on the internet and I still feel ripped off.

Brian Bendis also made a similar offer when he started on Avengers with Disassembled.

He reimbursed customers as well as sent a charitable contribution to the American Red Cross in the customer’s name.

“is there a way to get my money back if I didn’t pay for it? Read it on the internet and I still feel ripped off.”

Your poor precious fanboy feelings . . .

I predict the main book launching at around 80k copies, and steadily dropping. Jim Lee will draw even fewer issues than he is currently planning to do, and the book will quickly slip to around 30k. The one-shots will sell around 25-35k each, with 35k being an absolute max.

@Zach

I predict you had your nose pointed to the heavens the entire time you typed that prediction.

WOW SOUNDS LIKE SOME COOL ANTI-SEMITISM, ELDER

Ongoing as in maybe three issues total! Over a period of about 5 years. Yay!

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The more serious they try to make Batman and Superman’s costumes, the sillier they look.

Nothing says “stuck in the past” to me like people hung up on wanting to bring back briefs. But then, I’ve also always been a “no cape” person even before The Incredibles.

Is it sad that today’s superhero fan can make exception for superpowers but can’t get past the red undies or a cape?

‘Realism’ is a fickle thing.

I think it’s still worth noting that Golden Age superheroes wore trunks over tights like acrobats or circus performers. Not wearing the trunks would be… very revealing for a man. I guess we’re now so far from Superman’s original cultural context that most people are incapable of seeing his old costume as anything but “underwear on the outside.”

For what it’s worth, I think Derenick’s turnaround here looks a lot better than the cover by Janin released previously. Maybe it’s just that he used a lot more ink for shading, so the overall impression isn’t such a blue onesie.

I agree with Tim. Whenever anyone tries to “fix” Superman, they tend to break him even more.

Superman, to me, is a cartoon character, and changing his costume so drastically is kind of like getting rid of Bugs Bunny’s ears. Bugs has had many designs over the years but nobody has ditched the ears.

Superman is an old-fashioned character – he’s the guy superheroes are named after! – so his costume should have an old-hat feel. And Kate it’s not about being “hung up” on it – the red trunks aren’t going to make me read the lousy Super-books either way. But the traditional costume had a very simple red-blue-yellow rhythm that worked well and endured for decades, and tinkering with it, uh, has *not* resulted in any kind of successful, enduring looks.

Could maybe Jim Lee not design the new costumes on any iconic characters? Seriously, they just look cheesy as hell.

I can believe a man can fly before I can believe a man in American society would wear the trunks. It’s not about science, it’s about what the trunks look like to an observer. Arguably, he could have one of those frilly Victorian collars, since what he wears apparently doesn’t matter, right?

“Arguably, he could have one of those frilly Victorian collars, since what he wears apparently doesn’t matter, right?”

It does matter. He’s an icon. What he wears is practically synonymous with who he is. More people wear Superman merchandise than have ever read a comic book.

If red underoos don’t look realistic, then don’t fucking draw him in a realistic style. Pretty simple.

Red boots
Red boots
Red boots

Speaking as a lifelong Micronauts fan, I have to ask, WHAT CARTOON? What the hell is Scott even talking about?

Micronauts never once had a cartoon, it was from before the boom of Reagan-era toy-cartoon tie-ins. It had a comic adaptation with Marvel and that was it. The Japanese Microman line it was based on got a reboot in 1999 and an anime then, but neither ever made it to Western shores.

Kinda curious about how this is different from what they were already doing, which was selling Image comics on their Web site. Does this allow for the 12-issue pre-pay like a traditional magazine subscription?

“Practical”?

The fact of the matter is that paying for staff and rent and utilities and licenses and fees and everything else we do makes a major publisher pushing a deep discount as their thing kind of unpalatable.

-B

Much as I like seeing Felicity be more than the girlfriend/IT gal, I can’t help thinking it would be harder for the writers to work her into the episodes if she’s not on Team Arrow. Team Arrow has been fairly even with Felicity, Thea, and Laurel representing women and Ollie and Diggle representing men. If you swap out Felicity for Curtis, the dynamic swings back to the guys. So I have mixed feelings about this, though I do want Curtis to become Mr. Terrific sooner rather than later.

On the one hand, I like Kellums’s Curtis Holt, so seeing more of him on the show is a good thing.

On the other hand – I assume given last week’s episode this means more “relationship problems” for the show – this time between Holt and his husband. Which, frankly, this show does not need. At all.

On the gripping hand – this might mean that they fridge his husband in order to give him something horrible to happen in his life. Which also this show does not need.

What this show needs more of is superheroes defeating robot bees with trick arrows.

“As I said above, I don’t think this is a failure of a creative team by any means. ”

but it is. Azzarello delivered a good run pretty easy to follow up, and Finches can’t deliver a good story. the pace is awful, art is awful too. This is pure crap and is unnaceptable for a wonder woman book

Why are the Finches still getting work? Who’s buying this fecal matter?

Point-of-fact: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is an ABC show, not on NBC.

[…] From The Beat:  […]

Note, that Mignola didn’t reveal anything new about Hellboy appearing in B.P.R.D. but it’s actually a series that has been coming out since I think late 2014. The series each get titled after the year they take place in, so first there was Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1952 and coming out now is Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1953.

So basically Mignola has a gap of time between the 1950’s to the 1990’s when the Hellboy comic first started to fill in new stories with the character.

Looks like the product of a company that has just given up.

“It resembles something that would have been the standard for the industry in the 1970’s.”

The industry standard in the ’70s looked a helluva lot better than this. Even the second-tier artists like Herb Trimpe, Don Heck and Sal Buscema were above the level of this stuff. This looks like a high school kid’s sketches.

FWIW, Parallax is’t necessarily decades older than modern Hal, although he might be 10 years older. I’m sure the differences between the specific timing of the pre-Flashpoint universe (Parallax is from) and the post-Flashpoint universe (Hal is from) are not something DC wants to get in to. But the main thing is, the effect of having the Parallax entity inside older Hal was that his temples became white.

But it’s probably fair to say that the comic could have explained that in some way.

[…] The Beat – Green Lantern #50 […]

While TBG is pretty a routine joke-a-minute sitcom– that is, standing or falling on how good the jokes are–I don’t get why it would be opposed to the interests of nerds. I just saw one of the reruns that had the characters mocking superhero fans, but the prevalent targets belong to NY hipster cultures.

What’s the significance of pointing out that it’s a “multi-cam” show? I presume that if the term appeared on TBG, Max would assume it referred to Something Else.

I think her response on the focal points of the comic are indicative that she’s actually trying to do something worth reading. Now, if she spoke like some celebrity who wanted to do a cook book or children’s book…I’d totally blow it off. Let’s see what she’s got.

[…] Beat – Que Spit-take: Two Broke Girls lead actress Beth Behrs Launches Comic – And she’ll remain […]

“The comic is written by Geoff Johns (Justice League) with art from Ethan Van Sciver (Green Lantern: Rebirth), Ivan Reis (Aquaman), Gary Frank (Batman: Earth One) and Phil Jimenez (Wonder Woman) ”

Doesn’t sound like a fresh start to me….

Superman kills someone. Oh, wait, they already did that in Injustice.
A lone wolf goes on a mass-shooting spree, killing a supporting character.
(Cue the “purple skins” scene from Green Lantern #76.)

Meh. I’m not sure DC can go in another direction with hype like this. The real news is the creative assignments. Admittedly, this big one shot doesn’t sound particularly new or different to me, either. Fingers crossed, and for cryin out loud, let’s see who the creators are already!

It’s Geoff Johns, so I’m gonna take a wild guess and assume someone gets an arm ripped off.

It seems there will be some sort of amalgam of past continuity in DC’s “Rebirth”. With that in mind, I’ve jotted down the top ten possibilities on what that “controversial scene” might be:

#10 – Superman uses his magical eye vision from Superman IV and builds a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

#9 – Bruce Wayne finally comes out of the closet and wears his Rainbow Batman costume from the 1950’s.

#8 – Wonder Woman brings her Lasso of Truth out of mothballs and uses it on candidates in the Presidential debates (all fail.)

#7 – Mighty Isis is detained by airport security for, well — being called Mighty Isis.

#6 – The Vigilante becomes a right-wing radio talk show host.

#5 – The Red Lanterns are discovered to be running a brothel in Amsterdam.

#4 – The Teen Titans are shut down by Child Protective Services,

#3 – A supporting female character from past continuity is NOT revived for the sole purpose of being raped, beaten or shot in the spine.

#2 – In order to complete All Star Batman and Robin — Rip Hunter, the Infinite Man, Clock King, Tick Tock Tyler The Hour-man, Chronos and the Time Trapper lock Jim Lee and Frank Miller into the Legion of Super-Heroes time bubble — give them all the time in the world — and they still can’t finish it.

And finally — the #1 possible “controversial scene” will be —

The Flash’s Mopee is blamed for the New 52.

A return to the pre-flashpoint DCU would be nice. keep what worked from Nu52, but incorporate it into the previous canon. And just bring back the old costumes for characters like Superman. going tacticool LINESLINESLINES and no underwear was cool at first, but it’s gotten old.

They’re going to show us that Uncle Ben is alive and served as an assassin for the Soviet Union.

He’s gonna kill Bruce Wayne, because he is a failure and needs a legacy. Douche.

I know – Max Lord will shoot Blue Beetle in the head.

No wait – Wonder Woman will strangle Max Lord with her magic lasso.

Oh I’ve got it – how about having Dr Light turn out to be a rapist?

Or maybe they can have Superboy beat the Golden Age Superman to death with his bare hands.

I guess to be fair to DC – they were selling a lot more books back when they were pulling cynical stunts like that than they are now, so I can see why they would be looking to recapture the “magic.”

I was very excited for DC Rebirth – it gives me Hope – which I haven’t had since… 2010? I haven’t been excited by a DC Comics announcement since 2010.

But then Dan says something abominably stupid like this. I’m still excited and hopeful, but less so than before this asinine comment.

Let’s hope it doesn’t involve any rape or dismemberment! but the track record suggests otherwise… ugh. :(

Sounds a bit strange to award same person for same work second time. Are there really nobody else who deserved it? I think it would be more beneficial to promote multiple “diversity” writers than one.

Well, Magruder won it last year during the inaugural awards, so I’m not quite sure what the other diversity award you’re referring to is.

[…] by Amy Reeder, Brandon Montclare and Natacha Bustos; and Zana, by Jean Barker and Joey Granger. The Beat has Wilson’s acceptance video. [Long Beach Comic […]

[…] And The Beat, including the Thank-you video from G. Willow Wilson: http://www.comicsbeat.com/exclusive-video-g-willow-wilson-accepts-the-second-annual-dwayne-mcduffie-… […]

[…] Wilson thanked Ms. Marvel’s fans for keeping the book alive “when no-one thought it would make it past issue seven.” Now, Kamala Khan has become a mainstay of the Marvel Universe and one of its most beloved characters. Congrats from us here at Nerdist to G. Willow Wilson and the entire Ms. Marvel creative team. [Comics Beat] […]

I wonder…
What if DC offered a discount to retailers…

Order the same amount of copies for the first six issues of a title (which would be a complete story arc, ready for bundling), and DC will add a higher discount.

AND… DC will also set variant ratios lower for these “subscribers”… maybe 1:20 instead of 1:25.

There was no messaging compliance agreement. Feel free to ask me directly next time — I’m always available and willing to talk!

On Prez: Looks like there will be a second miniseries after all, in September:
https://twitter.com/Manruss/status/700488890986070016?s=09

The all-at-once approach was the biggest missed opportunity of the New 52. When I first heard the sketchiest outline of that initiative, I thought it was brilliant… because I misunderstood what they were doing.

What I thought they were doing – and they should have done – was to roll out those 52 new #1’s one per week, for a year: Action Comics #1 the first week, Detective Comics #1 the second week, Sensation #1 the third week, and so on. This would give the new DCU a chance to grow slowly, more like the original did in its early years, starting with Supes, Bats, and Wondy as the founders. At this rate, readers could afford the time and money to pick up every single new series (or at least the ones that looked interesting to them), and give them a try. It would also be more manageable for editorial, compared to trying (unsuccessfully) to build an entire universe in a few months (in secret).

Meanwhile, for the sake of cashflow and customer retention, they would continue publishing the old series, but end one of them per week. A few would have to come to a hasty conclusion, but others would have anywhere from 2 to 12 months to tell one last story featuring the old-version characters, with all the stops pulled out. Think Crisis but without the crossover series. These would be the “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow”s of the current generation, and every fan who cared about the characters would want to stick around for them… and hopefully get drawn into the new DCU that they see dawning on the racks alongside them.

For retailers it would be less of a crapshoot ordering the new titles, because by the time the first dozen were out, they’d have actual sales history to base their orders on. And if DC was to market the new universe properly to new readers (for a change), retailers would have a year in which they’d have both old customers and new customers coming into their shops, each with something written for them. Some of the old-timers would probably leave when the last of “their” series ended (inevitable with a reboot), but – if the new creators did their job right launching the new series – not most of them, and not nearly as many as they would gain over a year of organically building a new universe and a new/renewed audience for them.

At least that’s how it all played out in my head, before I found out that The New 52 meant 52 #1’s all shipping the same month, and my heart sank.

P.S. I’m willing to move to L.A. to oversee this plan. ;)

Once creative teams are announced, that will be that. I can’t think of a better selling point than creative teams to retailers. Knowing WHAT you’re selling makes hand selling work.

The problem I had as a reader that with only a few exceptions, Lemire’s Green Arrow and Snyder’s Superheavy, none of these stories would have had much of a problem at all being adapted to the Pre-Flashpoint DC Universe. Instead of feeling like stories were adding, it felt much more like things were being taken away. My favorite character, J’onn J’onzz was no longer a founding member of the Justice League. Wally West is not the same character. It was baffling that a company that had spent decades telling me to invest in something and then pretty much irrevocably altered it without so much as trying to look like they care.

Now then, I continued to pick up anything written by Geoff Johns and Scott Snyder, but after awhile they were the only DC comics I was picking up besides Doctor Fate. I truly feel that Harras has really damaged the trust between fans and company, much like he did while at Marvel. The books where you can tell creators were allowed freedom from editorial interference, like Lemire’s Green Arrow, Snyder on Batman, Grant Morrison, Batgirl and Geoff Johns, were the best books on the stands. I’m hoping, really hoping that Geoff Johns is the key. Everything in his address really feels like he has been in editor-in-chief for the relaunch, which means letter creators do the books how they want. DC has one more chance to stick the landing and I really hope they do.

I love Afterlife, but can’t get past the art on Sabrina. Fans of Sabrina, tell me, is it a good read despite that??

@Al@ Well I actually DO enjoy the art on Sabrina but I also think the story is killer. This is easily in my top three monthlies. Glad to hear these books are getting back on track and I hope they STAY there!

So glad to hear Sabrina is back. I have been waiting for ages for issue 5. Let’s just make it a bimonthly title and then we will have a regular flow. My retaile rnever received issue #3 so resolliciting the previous ones would also be a nice move.

From an article published in May 2015

““I could give you a dozen excuses, and none of them are really good. We really really wanted to launch the book at New York Comic-Con because it was close to Halloween. In retrospect, we should’ve delayed the launch to get a few issues in the can,” says Aguirre-Sacasa. “there’s no excuse, and there will never be a delay like there was been between Sabrina 1 and 2. Like, never. We are very, very lucky that we have an incredibly passionate and understanding fan base that is eager for the book.

So, in May, the creator says “there’s no excuse, and there will never be a delay like there was been between Sabrina 1 and 2. Like, never. ” And the next issue came out in June/July last year, and we have seen nothing since.

NOW, the creator says “It’s been a humbling — and busy — few months. I’ve been working on our soon-to-be filmed television pilot Riverdale, which will bring our favorite characters to life for the first time in … decades, maybe? Again, that’s not an excuse, just something that’s been taking up a lot of time and energy..”

So, last time we had the ‘excuse and apology’. This time we have the ‘no excuses just an apolgy’.

He then goes on to say that the fans are the best. Are we? If this is how ‘the best’ fans are treated, I’d hate to see how everyone else is treated.

And if we are ‘the best’, why do we get treated like this from a creator/a company that claims to want our business ?

As much as I like both series, I don’t think I can support a book/title/company that doesn’t seem to care about its fans at all. There has been ZERO word from the company on their Facebook page about what was going on, despite MONTHS of people writing and asking.

Sad customer service all around.

Lost interest a long time ago. Timeliness counts!

I read things when they come out, so I’ll enjoy these when they come out. No big deal!