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DC Relaunch

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KevinP:
You know, this is not how you reboot a universe or attract new readers. Bear in mind that these #1s are supposed to be FIRST ISSUES, and look at what you have as the so-called start of a new series: a guy who used to be a swamp thing, a guy who’s been kicked out of the Green Lantern Corps, a Legion that’s been “decimated by the worst disaster in its history” (WHAT HISTORY?? This is supposed to be the first issue!), a couple guys who used to be Robin, a woman who used to be Batgirl and Oracle, a Batman who’s dealing with legal ramifications of his Batman International outfit, etc etc. TEEN TITANS looks more like a reboot, but it has one of the ex-Robins and two other characters (Are Starfire and Arsenal established characters in this universe; if so, were there previous incarnations of the Teen Titans team?)  The Silver Age was successful because DC created all-new versions of GA heroes whom new readers could follow from the beginning.

KevinP:
Now, that said, I decided to give the DCnU a chance and come at it with a clean slate, instead of comparing it to what I knew.  You have to understand that I'm a dinosaur who started reading GA when he was a backup in ADVENTURE COMICS.  Gotta admit I liked GREEN ARROW #1.  Unlike a lot of the DCnU titles, it's a clean relaunch.  This Ollver Queen has NO ties to his past incarnations.  The idea of an industrialist concerned about doing good as well as making profit has always intrigued me; unrealistic as it is (comics are fantasy after all).  I even compared Tony Stark to Siddhartha on my blog ( http://storiesaresignposts.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html ). This Queen seems more involved with his corporation than Bruce Wayne, and I hope the bits with Emerson aren't a setup for a hostile takeover and a return to streetwise Ollie.  Everything Ollie says about what he is doing and why the villains, er, punks, er, losers are bad reflects my own beliefs of what heroes should be like, without becoming the Dudley Do-Rights the 50s/60s heroes could be (which I still enjoy, but is not going to attract new readers).  Best example is his line to Jax, "I wanted someone designing my weapons who didn't find enjoyment in discovering new ways to hurt people."  Unfortunately that describes too many of today's superheroes.  In a line that includes savage Hawkman, warrior Wonder Woman, Blackwater Blackhawks and bloodyhanded Red Lanterns, GREEN ARROW strikes just the right balance between the Boy Scouts of the Silver Age and the heroes of today.

narfstar:
A clean relaunch and your recommendation means I may give GA a try.

John C:
I don't necessarily think that a clean slate is necessary (there's a lot to be said for a "lived in" universe with a history), but I think there's a huge problem that the history of the universe is...pretty much what it was in January, except for the parts they're rewriting.  Which...what's the point, really?

I haven't looked at Green Arrow, and hadn't planned to, since I can't stand the character (Batman clone, smelly Hippie, killer vigilante, gigolo...none of those are appealing), but this sounds actually different.  If they can keep him and Black Canary (who I like even less) apart, this might be a winner.

John C:
Just to follow up, I spent the afternoon catching up on some of the new books.

Green Arrow, I'm ashamed to say, I approve.  I'm not fond of the in-your-face Apple comparison trying to pose as hipness, and the new costume...eh, but I like the character for the first time, and I get a kick out of his past reincarnations (the whiny liberal and the pissy avenger) working as his interns.

Mister Terrific...it'd be great if it didn't seem to overlap so much with Green Arrow, and I could have done without "look at these integers," which was probably a typo.  But that aside, it's fast-paced and packed with weird ideas, which I haven't seen in a comic in a long time.

Action Comics?  Granted, I had low expectations with Grant Morrison running things, but this is what Superman should've been like for a long time.  The artwork is seriously muddy and I'm sick to death of the "heat vision eyes," but this Superman is "edgy" enough to bring the kids (and Alan Moore-worshipping adults) in without sacrificing Superman as a hero and nice guy.  I hope it's to stay, and the little bit of Jimmy and Lois I see looks promising.  New Luthor, though, stinks.

(However...he's still a newspaper guy?  Seriously?  Is that even really a job anymore...?  I thought everybody just reprinted the AP and Reuters feeds.)

Hawk and Dove is weird.  Bland story and apparently everything's still in continuity for them, but it's got good characterization that's surprisingly true to the Kesels' series, I think.  Then there's Liefeld's art.  It's ugly.  Very, very ugly.  Unspeakably ugly.  But, it's also solidly done.  Everybody may look like they're on steroids and have motorcycle helmets for skulls and bad facelifts, but the craft side of it, the storytelling aspects, are probably the best I've seen of the "new 52" so far, and a million times better than anything I've seen Liefeld do.

And the last I had time for today was Static Shock.  I don't have any familiarity with the character, but I think I like it, for the most part.  The story's straightforward enough to jump right in (and like Mister Terrific, started right in the action), but the dialogue...Scott McDaniel needs to meet some black people, I think, rather than, say, trying to guess what they might sound like by watching Robin Williams pretend to be black.

So, Justice League aside, and granting that I'm only looking at a handful of issues, the revamp actually looks surprisingly good, so far.

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