![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
On the Reboot
Jun. 8th, 2011 09:02 pmSo I can get away from it mucking up my [URL="http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=201718"]other thread with a similar theme[/URL], I am here to talk about the DC Reboot. I am not pleased.
Why am I not pleased? Because even Crisis on Infinite Earths allowed us to still enjoy our old stories without being told they [i]never happened.[/i] Why do I say this?
Flash of Two Earths? Still happened, except that instead of being on Earth-Two, Jay Garrick was displaced in reality, his city vibrating at another speed than Barry Allen's city.
Krona's return? Instead of Alan Scott coming to Earth-One, he just went to California. The stories all still happened. They just got tweaked.
This isn't condensing a multiverse, or trying to make sense out of Donna Troy and Hawkman, or finally bringing a decent end to the New Gods. This is, pure and simple, a grab for money, like Heroes Reborn was for Marvel. And if we all remember, Heroes Return was to counter Heroes Reborn.
Why can't we still get new, exciting stories without deleting the old ones? We know it can work. And before anyone says “but not with stories that span so long,” might I remind you all of another franchise (and the only one to consistently remain on my pull list): Doctor Who, which started in 1963 and, while only existing as books for a long while and one badly placed Fox made-for-TV-Pilot-Movie, still is going strong today, and every part of it is continuity. Davison wearing celery? Still there. The origin of K-9? Still there. The dark Seventh Doctor, the eighth Doctor in the Fox movie, the ninth's violent streak, the Tenth's evolution from that darkness to a certain light to a near arrogance? All still there in the backstory.
Yes, other series have done well with reboots. But the problem is, unlike Transformers, Battlestar Gallactica, Thundercats or He-Man, DC Comics wasn't dead yet. It wasn't even ready to die yet. It didn't need a reboot. This is just someone wanting their money, and wanting it now.
This would be like making an all new series of Doctor Who where the Doctor we knew didn't exist, but we had an all new Doctor to follow.
This would be like making an all new Order of the Stick, with an all new Roy, Haley, Durkon, V, Belkar and Elan. All fighting a different Xykon.
And while other people can go spend their money on these, I don't want replacements. Alternates, maybe. But when I think Doctor Who, I want to know it's all back there, the stories my mom and grandmum watched. When I read comics, it makes me happy to know that behind it are the stories my Dad and Grandad read. To know those aren't behind them anymore, I don't see the legacy of entertainment there anymore. These aren't my characters, or my father's or my grandfather's. We all had a Green Lantern, John Stewart and Kyle Rayner for me, or Hal Jordan for my dad or Alan Scott for Grandpa. We all read the same Batman and Superman. We knew one had a magic ring, another was avenging his parents, the third was fighting for truth, justice and the American Way. But before, I knew their stories had impact on mine, and mine would have impact on my son's or daughter's, and that was part of my love for these characters. Now the legacy is dead.
I'll just keep reading Doctor Who and Invincible. If I stick to new stuff, it doesn't sting as much.
Why am I not pleased? Because even Crisis on Infinite Earths allowed us to still enjoy our old stories without being told they [i]never happened.[/i] Why do I say this?
Flash of Two Earths? Still happened, except that instead of being on Earth-Two, Jay Garrick was displaced in reality, his city vibrating at another speed than Barry Allen's city.
Krona's return? Instead of Alan Scott coming to Earth-One, he just went to California. The stories all still happened. They just got tweaked.
This isn't condensing a multiverse, or trying to make sense out of Donna Troy and Hawkman, or finally bringing a decent end to the New Gods. This is, pure and simple, a grab for money, like Heroes Reborn was for Marvel. And if we all remember, Heroes Return was to counter Heroes Reborn.
Why can't we still get new, exciting stories without deleting the old ones? We know it can work. And before anyone says “but not with stories that span so long,” might I remind you all of another franchise (and the only one to consistently remain on my pull list): Doctor Who, which started in 1963 and, while only existing as books for a long while and one badly placed Fox made-for-TV-Pilot-Movie, still is going strong today, and every part of it is continuity. Davison wearing celery? Still there. The origin of K-9? Still there. The dark Seventh Doctor, the eighth Doctor in the Fox movie, the ninth's violent streak, the Tenth's evolution from that darkness to a certain light to a near arrogance? All still there in the backstory.
Yes, other series have done well with reboots. But the problem is, unlike Transformers, Battlestar Gallactica, Thundercats or He-Man, DC Comics wasn't dead yet. It wasn't even ready to die yet. It didn't need a reboot. This is just someone wanting their money, and wanting it now.
This would be like making an all new series of Doctor Who where the Doctor we knew didn't exist, but we had an all new Doctor to follow.
This would be like making an all new Order of the Stick, with an all new Roy, Haley, Durkon, V, Belkar and Elan. All fighting a different Xykon.
And while other people can go spend their money on these, I don't want replacements. Alternates, maybe. But when I think Doctor Who, I want to know it's all back there, the stories my mom and grandmum watched. When I read comics, it makes me happy to know that behind it are the stories my Dad and Grandad read. To know those aren't behind them anymore, I don't see the legacy of entertainment there anymore. These aren't my characters, or my father's or my grandfather's. We all had a Green Lantern, John Stewart and Kyle Rayner for me, or Hal Jordan for my dad or Alan Scott for Grandpa. We all read the same Batman and Superman. We knew one had a magic ring, another was avenging his parents, the third was fighting for truth, justice and the American Way. But before, I knew their stories had impact on mine, and mine would have impact on my son's or daughter's, and that was part of my love for these characters. Now the legacy is dead.
I'll just keep reading Doctor Who and Invincible. If I stick to new stuff, it doesn't sting as much.
