On August 31, 2011, DC Comics published “Justice League” #1, the first of the “New 52,” a publishing initiative that would re-cast the DC Universe in a more streamlined, approachable way, targeted at new fans and lapsed fans alike. On August 28th, 2012, the first year of the “New 52” wraps up, with the final batch of twelfth issues of the non-cancelled series being released, as well as a few annuals, sure to set the tone for year two.
But what of the first year of this initiative? Did DC accomplish its goals? Did new readers jump on? Did old readers depart? We polled our crack staff at Multiversity Comics to get their take on the New 52, one year later.
How many DC books (approximately) were you buying before the New 52 launched?
Editor in Chief Matthew Meylikhov:
According to my DCBS order from June of 2011, I bought 20 DC comic books in August right before the relaunch. I’m not entirely sure how accurate that is because back then DC had plenty of books that were delayed (so they wouldn’t have been on my pre-order) and I’m always known to pick things up in store, but I guess for the sake of argument let’s just say 20something.
Our answers on this ran from zero (Ned Perkins), to between twenty and thirty (Matt Meylikhov and Brian Salvatore), but most of our staff was reading between five and fifteen monthly DC books pre-Flashpoint.
Contributor Drew Bradley:
One, and that was just a “Flashpoint” mini (“Batman: Knight of Vengeance”) Before that, I hadn’t bought any DC books since “The Mighty” ended….what, three years ago?
How many DC books are you buying now?
Podcaster Brandon Burpee:
As it stands now I am buying 14. I started with more and then the bastards cancelled books like “O.M.A.C.” and “Justice League International.”
Again, we have a staff that reads all sorts of stuff, but this number runs from 0 (David Harper) to nearly 30 (yours truly). Even the aforementioned Mr. Harper admitted to giving a number of series a shot, perhaps more than they would have pre-New 52. Most people report that the New 52, despite the general curmudgeonry around it, has actually increased the number of books that they are reading.
Contributor Ned Perkins:
Only three New 52 titles from the monthlies (“Animal Man,” “Batman,” “Swamp Thing”), and I trade-wait for another two (“Aquaman” and “Batwoman”). The New 52 happened to come along just when I started making enough money to justify buying comics monthly (instead of just getting trades and graphic novels), so the New 52 wasn’t really the cause of my jump in monthlies, so much as a conviently-timed jumping on point. It did get me to try out a bunch of titles I normally wouldn’t bother with, but I have only kept reading the titles I probably would have bought anyway.
What book has been the most pleasant surprise of the New 52?
Staff Writer Matthew Boren:
Probably the return of “Animal Man.” I’ve had a soft spot for the character for years, and it is nice to see Buddy Baker in such a top-notch book.
Associate Editor Brian Salvatore:
“The Flash” has been one of the more consistent books and, although Marcus To has filled in on art for an arc, having Francis Manapul creating vivid layouts and making the book practically exhibit motion should always be celebrated. Plus – who knew that he and Brian Buccellato could write?
Podcaster Mike Romeo:
Definitely “I, Vampire.” I was skeptical of the title in the run up to the relaunch, but ‘Echoes’ was awesome, so I decided it deserved a fair shake. I’m glad I did!
The staff tends to have similar thoughts on what turned out to be better than expected: “Wonder Woman,” “I, Vampire,” “Supergirl,” “Animal Man” and “Swamp Thing” all got multiple votes.
Staff Writer Chad Bowers:
Continued below“Wonder Woman,” I guess. Mainly because it feels like it finally has a unique voice in the DC Universe, and of all the big character books, it feels the most different. Probably because it’s a smaller story, and not someone trying to do Wonder Woman epic right out of the gate. It’s been pretty low key, but sort of a negative, I guess, is that it’s felt more about the people around Wonder Woman than her. So while I like it and think both the art and story have been really strong, I’d like to see more Wonder Woman in “Wonder Woman”, y’know?
What books have been exactly what you expected?
Editor in Chief, Matthew Meylikhov:
I’d say most of them. It’s hard to pin-point it all, honestly. Books I expected not to like, I didn’t; books I expected to enjoy, I did. I mentioned Supergirl as a surprise, but really, I had planned to check out the first issue regardless due to some kind of weird loyalty to the franchise, so that wasn’t a huge surprise, right? I expected “Justice League” to be a trainwreck, and it was/is. I expected Lemire and Snyder to do good work that crosses over, and look how that worked out. The DCnU has met my expectations pretty much universally across the board, for better or worse.
Many people seemed to be able to gauge, either from solicitations or past experiences, which books they would like and which they wouldn’t. People all seemed to think “Justice League” would be the popcorn-film of comics, that Snyder’s “Batman” would be great, and that “Superman” would be problematic. None of them were wrong.
Social Media Relations Staffer Vince Ostrowski:
The “Dark” line of books have been some of the best DC books, IMO, and I sort of expected them to be when they were announced. In general, I think these writers are given more creative freedom and more chances to be weird. And “weird” has always been a good quality of comic books.
Staff Writer Chad Bowers:
Sadly, “Superman.” Here was an opportunity for DC to just completely shake things up, and what do they do? The put out a comic with about the Man of Tomorrow that looks just like it did in 1993. I love Jurgens’ run on the book when I was a kid, and same goes for Perez, but no kidding, you could put one of those Jurgens issues beside any issue of “Superman” he did in the 90s and the only thing different is the costume. Such a shame.
Oh, and “Suicide Squad.” I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but that one was exactly what it looked like right out of the shoot.
What book has been the biggest disappointment?
Associate Editor David Harper:
Sure, Geoff Johns and Jim Lee toeing the company line and trying to do a movie-like version of “Justice League” is conceptually frustrating, but we’re talking about two of the most gifted guys in comics over the past…what…three decades? There is no reason why that book should have been anything less than good. It’s putrid. It’s the creatively bankrupt and doesn’t deserve the title on its cover.
Podcaster Mike Romeo:
I’m gonna say “Batwoman.” The art is incredible, but I feel that without Rucka the book has lost some of it’s cohesion.
The staff shows lots of vitriol towards “Justice League,” as well as most of the “Superman” line. “Red Lanterns” and “Batwoman” also got a little flack, mainly for not living up to the standards of prior incarnations of those characters.
Staff Writer Matthew Boren:
This is a tough one. I’d probably say any of the redone Wildstorm titles, or “The Savage Hawkman.” I had high hopes when they were orginially announced, and then they all lost my readership within one-three issues.
Podcaster Brandon Burpee:
“Superboy”
Associate Editor Brian Salvatore:
Continued belowThe Young Justice line has been a real let down. The two “Legion” books, in particular, had a chance to open up their universe to new readers, and managed to shut the door even tighter.
What are your general thoughts on the strength of the DC line a year into this new initiative?
Contributor Drew Bradley:
I think the biggest thing going for DC right now is the lack of giant crossovers. Aside from occasional crossovers between two titles, the biggest things have still been contained within families, like ‘Night of the Owls’ or the upcoming ‘Third Army’ in “Green Lantern”.
Most people seem to feel that the line is in a stronger place than it was pre-New 52, but that it still isn’t in great shape.
Contributor Ned Perkins:
I think the New 52 was really good for the B-listers–“Aquaman,” “Animal Man,” “Batwoman,” etc. There have been some great creative teams on a lot of these books, and some really interesting, original stories. I’m really happy to have “Swamp Thing” and “Animal Man” back in the monthly list, and I’m stoked that they have been more successful than I had predicted. Those two are my favorite DC characters, although I’m biased since I’m a huge Vertigo fan. The A-listers aren’t doing much for me (except for “Batman”), and it seems like the heavy editorial oversight is going to harm creative freedom on those books (coughPerezcough”Superman”cough). As for the C-listers, this new tactic of regularly cancelling and substituting titles in waves might give them a higher number of chances to catch on, but it doesn’t give them much time to do so if they don’t perform right from the get-go.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being total failure and 10 being a total success, where do you rank the New 52?
Social Media Relations Staffer Vince Ostrowski:
7 – there is some stuff I miss from the old days, but good creative teams make good stories. No matter what “world” you’re in or what “counts” in the canon, you still have a roster of talent that ranges from good to bad, and good stories will come out of it.
I knock DC a few points for relying a bit too much on past-prime talents (creators that peaked in the 80’s and 90’s – I won’t name names) and for allowing a couple creators to have far too much control of certain corners of the New 52. They whiffed on “Superman” with the perfect chance to finally turn things around.
I give them points for having the cahones to do this in the first place, regardless of outcome, for sticking to pricing and quality standards that are consistent and make some sense, and for making efforts to listen to readership through surveys and whatnot.
With one glaring exception (EIC Matt’s 2), everyone on staff rated the New 52 between a 5 and a 7.5, and averaged a 5.75 in the process. However, if you remove the highest and lowest score and average it, you get a 6.
Associate Editor David Harper:
5. Sales went up for a bit. Excitement skyrocketed too. Ultimately, the books weren’t that great. I still say that if they went with a smaller number – say 30 – they could have maximized their creators and had a bigger success. They went with 52 though and it spread them too thin and made the whole exercise significantly weaker, which is a shame.
What hopes/wishes/fears do you have for year 2 of the New 52?
Podcaster Mike Romeo:
My hope: more one and done stories! I’d love to see a REAL departure from writing for the trade.
Associate Editor Brian Salvatore:
Hopes and wishes: Continued influx of new talent, pruning of some of the Bat books, more creative team stability, a Superman-line that knows what it’s doing and making good on the promise that fan favorite characters were “coming back.” Fears: More Scott Lobdell and more books following the chickenshit path of “Justice League.”
Staff Writer Chad Bowers:
Continued belowHopes:
-Stability of creative teams.
-More mini-series instead of ongoings that’re just get cancelled. Seriously, instead of announcing an ongoing then cancelling it months later, how about this: “Hey, people really like this new Lobo mini-series by Chad Bowers and Dan McDaid! Let’s make it an ongoing!”
-Lobo by Chad Bowers.
Fears:
More of the same. 🙁
Social Media Relations Staffer Vince Ostrowski:
I hope that DC continues to see what unconventional Indie talent brings to their New 52. See: Scott Snyder & Jeff Lemire. I think they realize it, because they’re hiring guys like Justin Jordan and John Layman to do work for them.
I hope they continue to try weird genre stuff, even if they eventually fail the sales test. I’d love to see one book like “Dial H” pop up during every new cancellation wave.
I fear that DC is going to succumb to the “big event” nonsense again. While events are not bad “as a rule”, even the best ones can burn you out if they go on for too long and incorporate too many of the books that you’re buying. Marvel suffers from this, in my opinion, and thankfully DC has purposely stayed away from this. I fear that “Trinity War” will rope us back in to a never-ending event cycle.
I fear that they will continue to let editorial drive creative a little too much. We’ve already heard tales of conflict behind-the-scenes in books like Static Shock and Superman. Interrupting books with editorial mandates can be necessary for things that don’t make sense or aren’t appropriate, but I hate to see writers get hired and then handcuffed.
Most of all, I hope that they come up with something good to counter Marvel NOW! And then I hope that Marvel comes up with something good to counter that. And then I hope DC comes back and counters that! Because competition like this is only going to benefit the mainstream superhero comics that we unabashedly love right alongside our indie gems and underground comix.
Contributor Ned Perkins:
I hope that creators will be given more creative freedom, and not worry have to worry about fitting in to some neat little box. I wish they would do right by Harley Quinn for a change. I fear that this temporary success of the New 52 initiative will lead to MORE reboots and crossovers and other short-term money-grabs (November has 7 crossovers involving 25 titles in the New 52? Good grief!).
Podcaster Brandon Burpee:
I hope for new talent to be brought in. Some fresh voices and not a carousel of old familiar faces would be great. If DC really wants to appeal to a new generation they need to bring in new creators with new ideas.
Contributor Drew Bradley:
I hope they continue to avoid a company-wide crossover. I wish they’d bring back Simon Dark. I fear the Bat-family getting bigger at the expense of other, more diverse titles.
Staff Writer Matthew Boren:
Fear: Mainly that everything is going to change again- that DC will ReFlashPoint 2, Multiversal Boogaloo, and everything will go back to the way it was. That would be extremely dissatisfying for those of us who have bought into the relaunch thus far.
Editor in Chief Matthew Meylikhov:
Continued belowMy one hope, honestly and truly, is that DC will make an effort to seem like they at least give a damn. I’m getting tired of every week on Bleeding Cool featuring headlines nodding to editorial interference and general apathy from the publisher and/or its employees, and that’s not even considering that DC as a company doesn’t seem to care about their fans anymore, with really poorly formed press releases and a lack of conversation between creatives and higher ups (at least, not to the extent folks like Marvel are always in social networking or Image’s Eric Stephenson is always writing his thoughts online to share about why he loves the medium and his hope for the future). DC just generally seems like a closed-door facility where they’re only interested in what they’re interested in, and if a few good comics sneak out between the cracks then us fans should be so lucky to receive then! So, in Year 2, just put on a nicer front I guess. I think asking for better comics would be a bit much, but at least this way when the books aren’t good it’ll at least seem like someone besides jilted fans cares about the various properties anymore.
Associate Editor David Harper:
Wally West. That’s how you’ll get me back DC. Let’s do this.
