Sunday, June 5, 2011

Let's Try This Again...

So, let's try this again. I started this blog with a plan to keep active, but that's the opposite of what I've done. In fact, I only did make that first post...

Again, this blog is about anything geek/movie/comic/news/blah blah blah. I feel that this has to be discussed because of it's impact on comic book history. Come this August, this will be your new Justice League team.


At first glance, this seems perfectly normal, besides the sore thumb that is Cyborg: as he's rarely considered in the same line of thought as the JLA. But look closer and you'll see it's a little more weird than that. Although Cyborg is immediately identifiable to anyone who's seen the Teen Titans cartoon or walked into a comic book store recently, there are noticeable differences between the one we know and the one that's shown. He looks slightly more stylized, he has some weird little wings on his shoulders, and his chin is noticeably more macho.

The rest of the team looks different, albeit only slightly, except of course for Wonder Woman. Her costume is the most drastic modernization. No longer having her star-spangled banner look, she only shares a remnant of her former costume. The one thing that it seems all the heroes share now is that they all seem at least 10 years younger.

But wait a minute, who's that hiding in the back? Could it be Superman? Of course it is, but the more you look at him the more you realize something's different. Something's wrong. Ah, no wonder he was hiding in the shadows, or rather, no wonder Jim Lee drew him as such. He's saving the full impact of the heroes changes for later. But we can see what's up from here. He's A) noticeably darker, B) his S shield is less curved and sharper, C) he's popped his collar a little more like the Green Lantern and D) ...he lost the tights! (or at least the red ones). The outline is there, but painted in blue...

Now, what's this all about again? Well, DC has decided it's time to bring new life into their comics AND their heroes. They've chosen it's time for 52 of their titles to be rebooted and brought back to issues #1, including a reported 50 new costume changes. This is something even M. Night Shyamalan would call a "twist". So why the changes?! And what will the repercussions be for the comic book community?

Well, DC's been second in market share to MARVEL ever since 2002 (the year Spider-Man came to theaters near you). So naturally, they want to boost their profits. Start anew. BUT unfortunately, comic sales have been going down as comic prices have been going up, up and too much. Sooo, they feel that before the company goes under they'll try something new. By going back to issue #1 with EVERYTHING and ruining a few good costumes they believe they'll usher in a new age of readers.

Repercussions: THEY MESSED WITH SUPERMAN'S COSTUME! The one hero who's never had a costume change in 73 years of existence. The first superhero. THE superhero. But, I digress. I've had a few days to settle into this whole "thing." What do I think?

Geoff Johns/Jim Lee/ and the rest of the DC team are being very brave. However sacrilegious their actions may be, who knows if this will be the only way Superman will live to see another 73 years? And I'm purely singling out Superman here because lets face it, of all the superheroes throughout the years, there has never been one as symbolic and iconic as he, and a thousand years from now kids will certainly know who's S that belongs to... I'm scared for the future of DC. But I want to see what they'll do with it. Many longtime readers are upset and threaten that this is where DC will lose them as readers. Surely this is a risk that the writers at DC knew they were taking, but they could seriously bring comics out of the shadows again and into the hands of a new crowd. Many feel that this is DC saying "Thanks for your money, but we want new readers." And maybe, for some, this is the case, but only if the reader allows themselves to think that way.

Oh and about the costume. Personally, I don't mind the collar bit. But change the S back. It's not any cooler. And about the tights. Yes, we know, almost every other hero has already lost the tights, but once again, Superman started the trend. And there was a reason to him wearing the red tights: it broke up the blue on his costume. Blue all the way down wouldn't have looked nearly as iconic. We'll see what they have in store for us though... Stay tuned.

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