What series/characters do you read?

[positronic]

In a way, I prefer it because they feel like evolved versions of the actual characters. I understand it may be Damian Wayne under the cowl and I think that's interesting. I would have KILLED for Bruce Wayne to stay dead because his death forced changes in the Batman family...

But he DID stay dead... on Earth 2. As radical a revamp as this looks to be, I could probably accept it if they explained it as "Well, a LOT has happened on Earth 2 between 1986 (when last seen) and 2012" (pretty much ignoring the post-CoIE incarnation of the JSA)... But unless the current Power Girl (former Supergirl) and Huntress (former Robin) are revealed to be third-generation heroes (which doesn't seem likely) following in the footsteps of the original Earth 2 Power Girl and Huntress, I'm unlikely to purchase these books (in any format), although curiosity will force me to read the first couple of issues in the store. Kind of a shame, since I usually enjoy Levitz and Robinson's writing, and Nicola Scott, Kevin Maguire, and George Perez' artwork. Incidentally, I think you're correct that it's Damian Wayne under the cowl of Batman-2.

By far the biggest disappointment to me about DC's New 52 is the way they've destroyed the legacy aspect (JSA to JLA to Titans to Young Justice to Teen Titans again) of characters like Flash, Green Arrow, Teen Titans, etc. Batman and Green Lantern still retain a fair chunk of their histories and continuities, but the rest of the DCU was decimated. Some of my favorite characters like Wally West and Donna Troy got bulldozed over in the renovation.

[tony ingram]

Basically, the characters in the Batman and Green Lantern books got off without a reboot because a) they were selling particularly well by comparison to the rest of the line and b) Geoff Johns likes Green Lantern. To me, it all just smacks of desperation, and if they had to destroy their entire history, it would have been fairer if Batman and GL hadn't been spared the indignity, either. I also find it telling that they've now closed down the DC message boards, leaving no 'official' forum for fans to air their views, and that the option of emailing DC directly no longer exists on their revamped website. The attitude seems to me to be "we don't care what you think, just shut up and buy our books".

[positronic]

I can't find it in me to blame Geoff Johns for the New 52 reboot, though. If you look at his career at DC from 1999 to present, he was the go-to "Mr. Fixit" of the DCU who made older poor selling characters and concepts popular again, from JSA, to Teen Titans, to Hal Jordan, to Hawkman, to Brainiac and the Legion of Super-Heroes, to the DC multiverse, to Booster Gold, to Barry Allen, to Superman: Secret Origin... and he did it while respecting the work of those who'd come before him. I suspect this reboot was largely masterminded by Dan Didio and Jim Lee in order to impress their new corporate bosses. While patting Johns on the back, giving him a new title and a raise, they also deconstructed 90% of his work (sparing only Green Lantern) from the last decade or so.

[Guest]

...and if they had to destroy their entire history...

The way I understood it, it wasn't all of it. The problem I have there is that I can't be bothered to figure out which parts were retained.

Depending what interviews you were reading, apparently Dick Grayson WAS Batman for a while. But the various crisisisises never happened. So...what happened to Bruce Wayne during that time? At the end of the day, my answer was "who cares?".

So going back to Positronic's post to me, the Earth-2 stuff sounds like a complete reboot, not a partial one. So if they're going to start from scratch, I don't mind hopping on.

[Ghornet2]

I was looking forward to the Earth2 /JSA stuff but after having seen the new look for Jay Garrick I'm very scared. I'm trying to stay positive but . . .

[Guest]

Is jungle girl good? I was thinking of picked up the first volume hoping it would be like a female Phantom.

I have all 5 Dynamo 5 trades and it might be my favorite series (sorry Dynamite)

[Guest]

Okay, THAT I hadn't seen.

More like Jay Garish.

[positronic]

I'm just gonna call the new Earth 2 the evil dopplegangers (think Crime Syndicate) of the old Earth 2 and let it go at that. This doesn't look like anywhere I want to spend 15 minutes a month.

[Red Bryan]

Is jungle girl good? I was thinking of picked up the first volume hoping it would be like a female Phantom.

I have all 5 Dynamo 5 trades and it might be my favorite series (sorry Dynamite)

No, Jungle Girl is more a female Tarzan. I like it very much, but the Volumes end with a cliffhanger each and there is no conclusion, yet. But it is very much fun reading it. I recommend the omnibus, published in a few months.

[Ghornet2]

I was looking forward to the Earth2 /JSA stuff but after having seen the new look for Jay Garrick I'm very scared. I'm trying to stay positive but . . .

My first reaction was that it was nice that he's in a sewer because that's where the costume belongs. But really other than the helmet and over done lightening bold on the leg it's not that bad.

[Guest]

Unlike most fans I am giving the new 52 a chance. My anger is not that they rebooted DC but that Batman and GL who were the characters with the most need for a reboot/revamp didn't get it. This could have been a chance to undo Batman incorporated, the rainbow lanterns etc. they should have gone back to a classic Batman and Robin (grayson) and 1 Green Lantern on earth. AS much as I like Nightwing and Oracle I would be happy to lose them if it meant losing Guy Gardner, the Rainbow Lanterns, Damian Wayne, batman incorporated, Batwoman, and all the other lame attempts to cash in.

[positronic]

BatHobbit, the Batman and Green Lantern titles were the only titles that were selling well before the reboot (and are still selling well after the reboot - in fact, even better). A hard reboot for these characters would have been a huge gamble, as opposed to Superman, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Teen Titans, and practically everything else, where the sales were already weak to begin with. And in the latter cases, that reboot definitely paid off. Personally, Green Lantern is one of only about a half-dozen DC titles left that I read. I can guarantee you I'd have quit if they'd rebooted it. And the only Batman titles I was reading were Incorporated and Batwoman.

[tony ingram]

Unlike most fans I am giving the new 52 a chance. My anger is not that they rebooted DC but that Batman and GL who were the characters with the most need for a reboot/revamp didn't get it. This could have been a chance to undo Batman incorporated, the rainbow lanterns etc. they should have gone back to a classic Batman and Robin (grayson) and 1 Green Lantern on earth. AS much as I like Nightwing and Oracle I would be happy to lose them if it meant losing Guy Gardner, the Rainbow Lanterns, Damian Wayne, batman incorporated, Batwoman, and all the other lame attempts to cash in.

What's wrong with Guy Gardner? He's not a lame attempt to cash in on anything; he's a character who's been around since 1968 and has had a sizeable fan base since his return in 1985. I was one of them, in fact-though since the reboot, I've sadly parted company with him and every other DC character.

[chrisdw]

None any more...

Well a couple of years ago I was a Stargate but not a comic fan and started buying the Stargate comics, so there I was a new customer waiting to be hooked and wham the series used to draw me in disappears.

Chris D-W

[IrishX]

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