The DC3: The Future of The Dark

While all of us at Multiversity are fans of a wide spectrum of comics, there are a few of us that tend to self-identify as “DC guys.” We’ve cried for justice; we’ve been through the blackest nights and the brightest days. And now, we’ve been culled together for a new column to focus on some of the bigger goings on in the world of Detective Comics Comics. If you’re wondering who is going to stand up and discuss what is happening at DC – don’t worry:

In all of last week’s DC books, in place of the hilarious “Channel 52” segment, we were instead greeted by this Howard Porter image, featuring the phrase “Abandon all hope…and enter in the Dark.” We wanted to give a short roundup of our reactions to the teaser – we succeeded on all counts except the brevity.

Brian: Welcome to a slapdash edition of DC3 – this week, we are looking at a teaser appearing in all of last week’s DC Comics, focusing on the Dark line and the characters associated with it.

Before we discuss the image proper, let’s quickly establish our bottom line – how invested are you in the Dark line? Are you currently reading any of the titles? If so, which ones and, if not, why have you dropped off?

Zach: If you had asked me that question a year ago, my investment would have been quite high. However, cancellations (“I, Vampire,” “Frankenstein”), disappointing crossovers (‘Rotworld,’ ‘Forever Evil: Blight’), lackluster creative shifts (“Justice League Dark”) and the glut of uninspired tie-in fodder (“Phantom Stranger,” “Pandora”) have collectively squashed nearly all my enthusiasm for the Dark line.

Although I dropped off the book after ‘Rotworld,’ I will say that Lemire’s “Animal Man” looks amazing since Rafael Albuquerque came on board. I very much look forward to picking up those issues in trade form.

Vince: Well, Zach, you and I are one in the same here. “Animal Man” is the lone survivor from the Dark crop of titles for me – and that ends soon too! I finished out my runs on the terrific “Frankenstein” and “I, Vampire” titles and actively dropped everything else. I think Soule’s “Swamp Thing” is probably still good (I dropped it after two issues in one of my twice-annual pull list cullings), but I found myself uninvested. It was probably an extension of my bad feelings toward the company whose characters I love so well. Though the art is terrific and the story is ramping up in some compelling ways, I feel like I just saw the end coming for “Animal Man” and am collecting it to be a completist.

So why have I dropped everything else? Well, for starters, no offense to the great J.M. DeMatteis – who has a lot of great comic book runs under his belt – but he hasn’t written a book that’s kept my interest in over a decade. “Pandora” remains completely inexplicable to me as a DC fan as a paradox of someone that the company feels is so important yet puts so little into actually establishing.

But the biggest reason of all is something that happened while Jeff Lemire was writing “Justice League Dark” (and again, I’m a big fan of Lemire’s comic bookery): The ‘Dark’ line has gone from a weird mashup of genre books to having to tie-in far too much with what our traditional cape books were doing, without the Vertigo-esque benefit of putting an imaginative spin on the cape characters. Basically, the “JL” was rubbing off more on the “JLD” than the other way around.

And anytime Steve Trevor shows up in a ‘New 52’ book, you can be sure that he’s going to cock everything up. His appearance in a title registers with me like a fart in church. If this is what DC wants his role to be, then he is inherently going to suck the fun out of any book. His meddling in the ‘Dark’ line probably felt more oppresive and omnipresent than it actually was, but it was more than enough for me – and more than enough to get me to cash out of those titles.

Brian: I wish I could come in here and shame you guys for your distasteful lack of respect for the Dark line, but that just ain’t my game. I, too, have dropped off of just about all of the Dark books. “Swamp Thing” has continued to be good, and “Animal Man” is its own…wait for it…animal (rimshot). Along with the aforementioned “Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.” and “I, Vampire,” the Dark line is basically just a way for DC to retcon themselves out of existence.

The two “Trinity of Sin” books are, in my opinion, just ways to bring things about where the public eye isn’t really on them. That’s why so many characters “debut” in those books – because weird shit can happen and no one really cares.

“Justice League Dark” has its charms, mainly artist Mikel Janin, but has been dull for quite some time now as well.

Ok, so now that we’ve established our position, tell me boys, what the hell is this teaser all about?

Vince: You know, for being the DC3, we sure don’t read a lot of their books…

Brian: But we WANT to, Vincey!

Vince: That’s true – which is why I’m hoping this is yet another weekly title. I love the idea of a weekly title and I think these oddball characters would be better served by it.

Brian: With the two weekly titles announced, as well as the rumored weekly Earth 2 book, could DC really be throwing down the gauntlet and doing four weekly books?

And if so, would that be it for the Dark line? Would the other titles still exist, or would they all fold into the weekly Dark title?

Zach: I have a hard time believing that DC could sustain, or even thinks it could sustain, up to four weekly titles. A weekly Dark title, on top of the glut of Dark related books already being published, seems a tad overkill.

However, I would much prefer a dedicated weekly book over the “weekly crossover” approach employed by ‘Forever Evil: Blight.” With the right creative team, a weekly Dark title could go a long way towards streamlining the line, and highlighting some of the things that made it cool in the first place.

Mostly, I’m just excited to see Socks the cat featured in the teaser.

Vince: I agree that the more weekly books you put out, the tougher a sell that idea is, but let me be devil’s advocate for one second here:

What is DC Comics currently doing with low-selling titles? Cancelling them after 8-12 issues and essentially treating them as impromtu miniseries. I imagine that the sales on those books are okay in their first few issues and then dwindle to the point where they have to axe them. Let’s apply that same logic to a weekly title (I realize that it may not work this way in practice, but allow me to spitball here).

Say “DC Dark Weekly” is announced. Preorders have to be in a couple months in advance. 4 issues in one month means, I think, you’re more likely to get people to pre-order 4 right up front than anything less than that. I know as a collector, I’d have to order all of them from the first month if I were going to order any at all. For those that go to the shop and pick up comics on the fly, I think the collector mentality still applies in some way. Folks will drop a book, but they might give it a few more issues than they otherwise would, knowing that they can expect the title to be back right away next week. Maybe DC is going for broke? What’s the difference if sales on a weekly dwindle after one big month, when a lot of DC’s titles have been almost dying on arrival? Add to that the fact that a big, important title is going to sell better than just any old issue of “Pandora” or “Phantom Stranger”, and a weekly title starts looking like a better prospect. You just know that fans will stick with this kind of book at least a little longer than they will with an uninspired, unimportant solo title. I think it’s a worthwhile experiment and hope DC tries it. Unlike Marvel right now, who has the better creative talent right now on the whole, DC could use a boost from a collaborative effort, I think. Am I crazy? (You can tell me, if I am.)

But we’re also getting ahead of ourselves, since this might not even be a weekly. After you tell me how crazy I am, let’s talk about the content of the teaser itself. Zach mentioned Socks. Anything else out of the ordinary or out of place? Aquaman is drowning. Let’s talk about that.

Brian: I promise I’ll comment on the actual teaser in a second, but since we’re advocating for Satan, let me run this by you:

What if this was a digital weekly?

Same basic rules of DC’s digital work applies: $.99 a pop, released weekly, featuring all the Dark line characters while, for all intents and purposes, canceling the Dark books. Sure, maybe you keep “Swamp Thing” and, maybe, “Justice League Dark,” but you absorb those into a different line (if anyone but the three of us even think about lines anymore), and you work on a catch phrase that is punny and not all that funny, and you roll the dice that way. Because, ultimately, I really can’t see DC expecting people to give enough fucks about these low-selling books to quadruple their purchasing. I can see them saying “for 3.96” a month, you get the adventures of this gigantic batch of characters.

Vince: Yeah, your idea is better.

Brian: To be fair, I don’t think that is their plan. It makes too much sense.

Ok, so onto actual teaser business. Aquaman drowning is almost as weird as Larfleeze being involved – those are both considerably not “Dark” characters. Although there is some creator crossover, I don’t see a logical opportunity, but it would be fun to see how DC would tie in an intergalactic thief and the king of the seas into this line.

Other than that? This is sort of the island of cancelled/soon to be cancelled books, right? Especially by brining in Amethyst and the “Demon Knights” crew, this really looks like a weird amalgam of poor DC decisions.* I almost expect to see Sgt. Rock and Static Shock hanging around somewhere.

(*I liked a lot of those cancelled books – poor decisions do not necessarily equal poor work)

Zach: Brian, I think you just solved it; this is a new volume of Cancelled Comic Cavalcade!

Speaking of Larfleeze, the “Abandon All Hope” tag line seems perfect for a story involving Saint Walker and the future of the Blue Lantern Corps. Again, that doesn’t seem like the kind of story you’d expect the Trinity of Sin or the JLD to show up in.

I really can’t make heads or tails of this.

Zach: It’s been brought to my attention that the cat in the teaser is most likely not Socks, the wonderful Totem of the Red from “Animal Man,” as it is the wrong color. However, a possibility that is even more exciting is that it is none other than Teekl, the familiar of one Klarion the Witch Boy. That’s a character we haven’t seen since Bryan Q. Miller’s pre-New 52 “Batgirl” series, and one that would make a very interesting addition to the Dark line of characters.

As we begin to wrap things up, I’ve got a question for you all. Based on what we can glean from the teaser, regardless of whether it’s another weekly series or a sort of crossover, what would you guys most like to see come out of this?

I for one, would like a strong, clear focus on the Trinity of Sin. These three characters are brimming with potential, but have languished since their official introduction in 2011’s FCBD offering. If this story were to finally give them a sense of direction, I would chalk it up as a major win.

If I were to get extremely wishful, I’d love to see DC take some big chances, creatively. For instance, Tim Seeley seems increasingly chummy with DC these days and would be a perfect match for a project like this. Travel Foreman hasn’t had a steady project since he left “Animal Man,” and has been sorely missed. Likewise, I’d love the “Dial H” team of China Mieville, Mateus Santolouco, and Alberto Ponticelli “get the band back together.”

Brian: I just want some stories that are fun. Look at that teaser: we’ve got magicians, dragons, spirits of vengeance, A FUCKING FRANKENSTEIN, and yet all DC has done with these characters is make a giant snooze train, zzzzzzing down the countryside.

Do I want the stories to matter? Sure, of course I do. But more than anything else, I want to smile when reading comics. Is that too much to ask?

Vince: I want “fun”, like Brian said. I want China Mieville, like Zach said. But most of all I want whatever this dark “event” is going to be to set this corner apart from everything else that’s going on. I’ll be happy with a hodgepodge of dark characters and even a little bit of up-and-down quality (see Marvel’s ‘Revolutionary War’: an event that is hugely hit-and-miss, but that I’m enjoying in spite of everything), as long as I don’t have to have the JLA coming in and cocking everything up. Just let this corner be, and let it be weird.