There's No Stopping Them Now...Again (DC's renumbering)

[KevinP]

Personally, I'm hoping (but not expecting, sadly) that Mr. Terrific as a star will "fix" superheroes.  Trying not to ramble, something terrible that the '80s and '90s did was set up this bizarre notion that "the good guys" needed to be intimidating and violent.

It's not their fault, since there's been a similar shift in society--those of us in older age brackets remember cops as friendly people in powder-blue shirts walking the downtown areas and being nice to people.  Today, they sit in their cars in black paramilitary riot gear who you do NOT interrupt.

So, I'm hoping that Mr. Terrific will be a throwback to the kinds of heroes who kids (and adults) can look up to.

Granted, I'm not betting on it.  There are too many other stars who are described as thieves, killers, and so forth, plus the assorted outright villains. 

I agree 100%, but when I look at other New DC titles like THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN, RED LANTERNS (who do the violent work for the Corps) , and the Blackhawks as a Blackwater-type paramilitary organization, I am saddened.

[John C]

I agree 100%, but when I look at other New DC titles like THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN, RED LANTERNS (who do the violent work for the Corps) , and the Blackhawks as a Blackwater-type paramilitary organization, I am saddened.

Going a bit deeper than the surface, though, Hawkman and the Blackhawks could both work.  The former doesn't need to be gory to be "savage" (Doc Savage, Steve Savage, Savage She-Hulk all come to mind), and the Blackhawks could work to fight the trend of the Blackwater era.  I'm not saying it'll work, but it could.

Wonder Woman worries me more, actually.  Apparently, nobody at DC can envision her as anything but the "warrior woman," which is by far the least interesting part of the character.

And Red Lanterns, though...who the heck green-lit that!?  Did Image buy out DC when I wasn't looking?  It would explain why everybody's wearing armor.  Maybe Superman will get a bandolier.

[KevinP]

Did Image buy out DC when I wasn't looking?  It would explain why everybody's wearing armor.  Maybe Superman will get a bandolier.

No, but Jim Lee is behind a lot of the redesigns.

Your ideas for Hawkman and Blackhawk are good, but it doesn't seem like that's DC's intent.  Even before the relaunch Hawkman has been exhibiting a "kill/maim first, ask questions later" mindset, and the tag line for the new Blackhawks is "kill the bad guys before they kill us."