Comics: DC Comics' The New 52: One Year Later

Perhaps the single biggest thing to happen to the world of comics since 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC Comics completely rebooted its entire line, nearly one year ago. August 31, 2011, saw the launch of Justice League #1 as the first of the line of 52 new titles. The New 52 not only restarted the shared DC Universe, updated the design and history of many beloved characters such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, absorbed the characters from the Wildstorm imprint into the main universe, but also changed the way comics are sold. Previously, comics were sold in print format on news stands and comic shops, then later in digital format for viewing on a computer, tablet or smartphone. DC Comics now publishes all titles for same-day release in both physical and digital formats. Not only that, but DC wanted the new numbering format to attract new readers, who may have been too timid to jump into a pre-existing title.

A Little History Lesson...

If you're not terribly familiar with the world of DC Comics (shame on you!), then here's a bit of history of the DC Universe leading up to the New 52. Even the uninitiated know that Superman first showed up in Action Comics #1 back in 1938 and Batman has been around since his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 nearly a year later. Many characters came and went over the years, and many more (52, actually) parallel universes (known as the Multiverse) had come about. So, in 1985, DC Comics ran a universe-wide crossover in the 12 issue maxi-series, Crisis on Infinite Earths, in order to realign and make sense of all the characters and bloated story lines. The status quo that emerged "Post-Crisis" remained mainly the same for many years until the Infinite Crisis (2005) event, followed a few years later to Final Crisis (2008) which saw the "death" of Batman, each sparking universe-wide changes. The following year, 2009, gave us the Blackest Night crossover which brought the character Green Lantern to the forefront of the universe, and also brought many previously "dead" characters back from the grave. Next up was the biweekly series Brightest Day which is another Lantern-centric universe-wide crossover following the newly resurrected characters; a great series, but sort of falls apart at the end. But if you're looking for a specific story line to lead you into the New 52, the you'd be looking for 2011's Flashpoint and War of the Green Lanterns, both of which have a direct impact to the newly rebooted universe. Ultimately, none of these are required reads to get yourself into the New 52, but as a comics fan, I would highly recommend any and all of these.

The Dawn of a New Age, Growing Pains

DC Comics hyped up the New 52 for months leading up to last August, and there was much debate as to whether or not which titles were actually going to be affected by this company-wide relaunch. Most specifically, there was much debate as to whether Action Comics and Detective Comics were going to be affected, both titles had retained their original numbering since the 1930s. It's been an industry wide feeling that you do not touch those titles. They're the ones that essentially started the comic book industry as we've known it for the last nearly 80 years. Well, even those were relaunched with a brand new #1 issue. And at first, there was some confusion in the overall shared universe: some titles picked up directly where they left off pre-relaunch (Green Lantern), others (Justice League, Superman, Flash) that take place much earlier, and others ignore much of the canon from the last 20 years.

Many critics complained about how some characters - more specifically female characters - were either dropped, downgraded or oversexualized. It took the editorial teams some time to realign the timeline to be more cohesive, and to reintroduce other characters that were overlooked with the first wave of titles.

One Year Later

It was always understood by the heads of DC that not every title was going to make it through the first year, so some titles were cancelled withing a few issues to make room for others. As it stands now, there have been two waves of new titles, with a third coming in September. Six have already been canceled, and four more will be dropped to make room for the new titles coming with wave three. The plan has always been to maintain a title count of 52.

Now, I can't personally comment on every title that's come and gone over the last year, as I never really planned to read them all. I didn't read every title prior to the reboot, and I probably won't be picking up all of the newest wave. Not every character or team clicks with me, as it won't for most. I also didn't buy every #1 issue from the initial launch. I'm sure most comic fans who remember the early '90s know that a #1 issue doesn't have the same value as it used to in days gone by.

But, from the titles that I have read, and continue to read, I've been pleased by the stories the relaunch provided. I also feel that the relaunch was widely unnecessary, but I come from the school of thought that I don't need an issue #1 to jump into an existing title. It's been said that every comic book is someone's first comic book. There have been some really great stories since the relaunch, but was it really needed? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below.

Entertainment: Green Lantern Review

NOTE: There are no spoilers in this review. If you haven't seen it, don't be afraid to read on!
 
I had the fortune yesterday of taking in a advance screening of Green Lantern two days before it's official release tomorrow.

I have to say, that with my fanboy tendencies towards this character, and the Green Lantern Corps in general, I counted myself as one of those who needed to be awed. And I was. Mostly.

The screening I saw was in 3D, and while it wowed me in a lot of ways, in others, not so much. That being said, unlike a movie like Avatar, I don't think that Green Lantern was designed for 3D, and as a result, some visual effects fall short. I'll be taking the flick in again in a week or so in the good, old 2D, and I'm predicting that the few things I didn't like before will end up blowing me away.

Yeah, I know a few things
about Green Lantern.

Staying true to the source material, the story follows the general comic book origin story, where a cocky test pilot is given a green power ring from a dying purple alien, who crash landed not too far from where said cocky test pilot happens to be. That was no spoiler, that's just general knowledge. The only way you wouldn't know that bit, is if you lived under a rock. You don't live under a rock, do you?

The next little while follows Hal Jordan, the first human to be inducted into the Green Lantern Corps, and his training to use the awesome power he now wields.

Ryan Reynolds was perfect for the role of Hal Jordan, due to his own natural wit and cockiness that meshes perfectly with the character. Peter Sarsgaard and Mark Strong also are wonderfully cast in the roles of Hector Hammond and Sinestro, respectively. All in all, the whole film was cast to perfection. I had my druthers going into this with Blake Lively as Carol Ferris, but she pulled if off nicely, and yes, I spent a fair bit of time imagining her in the tight, skimpy, pink Star Sapphire suit.

A Gatling gun made out of light? Awesome.

There were a few divergences from the source material, but nothing that would make this fanboy jump up and cry fail. But the trouble is, with movies like this, you're never going to please everybody, but you can do an honest, and entertaining piece of film making that hopefully a lot of people will like. Director Martin Campbell has done a beautiful job balancing this tightrope, and made a highly entertaining flick that will hopefully open the doors to more of DC Comics' properties in the future.

Ultimately, I give Green Lantern a 4/5 power rings.

Comics: DC to Relaunch Their ENTIRE Line!

(JUSTICE LEAGUE #1;
Art by Jim Lee and Scott Williams;
Colors by Alex Sinclair;
Copyright: DC Comics)

Coming to a Newstand/Smartphone near you, this September... DC Comics has announced plans to relaunch their ENTIRE line, spanning across the entire DC Universe, giving us 52 issue #1s and will feature "younger" and cosmetically redesigned versions of the heroes of the DC Universe.

Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Jim Lee, Justice League will be the first of the more than 50 titles to debut in September, each of which will go on sale with same day digital releases via DC's various mobile applications and Web store. The initiative is designed explicitly to make the DC Universe more palatable for new readers and, in the words of DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio, "today's audience."

Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Wonder Woman and Aquaman are among the DC Comics characters who will be "injected with new life," according to Dan DiDio, who spoke with USA Today.

In September, more than 50 more first issues will debut, introducing readers to stories that are grounded in each character's specific legend but also reflect today's real-world themes and events. [Jim] Lee spearheaded the redesign of more than 50 costumes to make characters more identifiable and accessible to comic fans new and old.

"We looked at what was going on in the marketplace and felt we really want to inject new life in our characters and line," says Dan DiDio, who co-publishes DC with Lee. "This was a chance to start, not at the beginning, but at a point where our characters are younger and the stories are being told for today's audience."

DiDio's remarks would seem to indicate that existing DC readers are going to see major changes in the status quo and continuities of their favorite characters and titles. while not entirely throwing out the existing histories of these iconic characters.

There's no conceivable reason to mess with high-selling moneymakers like Batman Incorporated, Green Lantern, Batman: The Dark Knight and, well, other Batman titles, and to do so would be a huge mistake, especially since Grant Morrison's major Leviathan uber-arc is, alongside Geoff Johns's Green Lantern, the only major DC title with ongoing stories continuing past August. The Superman and Wonder Woman franchises, on the other hand, are in desperate need of a shake-up. J. Michael Straczynski absolutely murdered any narrative momentum those books may have had before.

Unfortunately, while DC is unquestionably making a bold risk, it could blow up in their face just as easily as it could drag comics publishing kicking, screaming and tantruming into the twenty-first century. DC isn't launching a manageable line of high-class titles that they can slowly expand; they are flooding the market with fifty-two new series. Fifty-two. I'm not sure there are fifty-two exemplary creative teams in all of comics. Inevitably, a large number of these books are going to be a complete bust, and the new casual digital fan they're courting with this initiative won't have any idea which those will be. This has the potential to cause a big problem in the comics world, akin the the crash in the early 90s, when similar relaunches occurred.

Make no mistake, this entire endeavor is focused on the digital market. DC isn't dumb. They know print is dying. They know they have no chance at beating Marvel in the print market, as years and years of examples have proven. Rejuvenating the characters (literally) and providing a fresh start all across the line isn't about a quick sales bump in the direct market. In fact, it isn't about the direct market at all. It's all so that people logging into comiXology can check out these digital DC comics they've heard about don't see an issue number in the 900s after Action Comics and throw up their hands. This being said, there has been no statement about whether Action Comics, or Detective Comics - two of the longest running titles in comics ever - will get a new set of issue numbers, or if they will remain untouched.

A thing of the past?

And what about those struggling retailers that, as Brian Michael Bendis so bluntly put it, are getting "fucked in the ass" by this decision? If your shop is a small-town glorified UPS depot that makes its living off of pull lists, you're probably not going to make it. If you've built a loyal clientele, are savvy enough to get to know your customers' tastes and hand-sell them titles, and maintain a consistent backlist of high-selling, high-quality trade paperbacks and hardcovers, then chances are you have nothing to worry about.

But what if it goes wrong? DC is burning a lot of bridges in the interest of building this new one, and if both the direct market and digital consumers don't come to this in sufficient enough droves, this is going to be an incredibly difficult, if not impossible, car to turn around. They're risking losing the support of both their existing retail partners and their hardcore fanbase in the interest of drawing an entirely new readership. While this is exactly the sort of drastic action digital comics proponents have been praying for for years, make no mistake, if this blows up, DC is completely screwed.

Entertainment: Ryan Reynolds - King of the Comic Book Movie

It would very much appear that Ryan Reynolds is the unofficial king of the comic book movie genre. Not so much that he's starred in a super successful film franchise (although, we'll see what comes out of Green Lantern later this summer), but he is very much interspersed throughout the genre, appearing in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as Wade Wilson, which has led to a green light for a solo Deadpool flick, where Reynolds will reprise his role as Wilson/Deadpool, due out in 2014 - according to latest updates.

He's starring as Hal Jordan in this summer's Green Lantern, and has been in other super-hero related projects over the years, such as Paper Man (if you haven't seen it, DO IT!) and a voice actor for the short-lived, animated series, Zeroman, alongside the late, great Leslie Nielson.

All this aside, Reynolds is also starring in the upcoming R.I.P.D. (Rest In Police Department), based on Dark Horse Comics' limited run series by Peter Lenkov.that ran from October 1999 to January 2000. Ryan plays a deceased cop, killed in the line of duty, while still in the prime of his life. He is then recruited to join the Rest In Police Department, the ghost world police force. He signs up for 100 years duty in exchange for the chance to find his killer.


His co-star in this tale is non other than Jeff Bridges, who will play his ghost police partner, an old pro who's been on the beat since the 1800's.

Entertainment: Deadpool, Batman, Superman and Other Comic Movie News

It's no surprise that I'm a huge fan of comic-book flicks, so I was happy with the news on a few of the upcoming projects in the works.

20th Century Fox has tapped VFX expert, Tim Miller, to direct the upcoming X-Men Origins: Deadpool which will be his directorial debut. Fox has also closed a producing deal with Ryan Reynolds, who will reprise his role as the Merc with a Mouth from X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Josh Pence has been cast as a young Ra's Al Ghul for scenes rumored to take place 30 years prior to the present story line in Christopher Nolan's new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are all returning to lead the cast, which also includes Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, Tom Hardy as Bane, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Alberto Falcone, and Marion Cotillard.

The story line has been kept locked up tight, but for those wanting to read between the lines, Pence's casting throws a few crumbs to follow. Ra's Al Ghul was played by Liam Neeson in 2005's Batman Begins, paving the way for a possible return of the supposedly dead character. Also, while the studio has never confirmed Cotillard's character, it has been rumored to be Talia Al Ghul, the daughter of Batman's mentor-turned-enemy, and once love interest of Bruce Wayne in the comics.

Although it was previously rumored that Viggo Mortenson would play the role of General Zod in Superman: Man of Steel, that role has actually found its way into the hands of Michael Shannon, who received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for Revolutionary.


"Zod is not only one of Superman's most formidable enemies, but one of the most significant because he has insights into Superman that others don't. Michael is a powerful actor who can project both the intelligence and the malice of the character, making him perfect for the role," Snyder said.

Zod, like Superman, is from Krypton, where he commanded its armed forces. The character appeared in both 1978’s Superman and its 1980 sequel Superman II, where he was played by actor Terence Stamp who is also the disembodied voice of Jor-El in Smallville, which ends it's 10-year run this spring.

And while Green Lantern hasn't even hit theatres yet,  the writing team is already at work on a sequel to the highly anticipated epic. Blake Lively, who plays Hal Jordan's love interest, Carol Ferris has this to say: "There are lots of winks toward the audience, you know, if people like this movie then we will do more and, you know, my character Carol Ferris turns into a villain that challenges and fights Hal Jordan... with some CRAZY costumes."

In a recent interview for Green Larntern, Ryan Reynolds raved that this wasn't an Earth-bound super hero flick. When asked on the Justice League movie answered: "That’s a whole other conversation. That’s a whole business model and nothing to do with me at all," he said. "No one has ever approached me about doing a 'Justice League' movie. We’ll see if they do it in the long run."

But it seems he may have been lying, as his publicist has released a new statement that says: "Justice League is a continuation of the Green Lantern franchise, but will not feature Green Lantern on the team until after Green Lantern's sequel."

This maybe a little premature having any talk of a Justice League movie, but DC does have to compete with Marvel's Avengers rumor mill. And after all, Marvel needs all that Avenger hype, because what in the hell was Marvel thinking of when they made Thor?!

Entertainment: In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night

Okay, so many may already be aware that I am a HUGE comic book fan. No, not huge like the Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons, but I never grew out of them as I became a *gasp* adult. One of my favourite characters, of course is Green Lantern. Granted, I wasn't too interested in the character (or characters, if you want to get technical about it) until around the time of the Final Crisis/Blackest Night series from DC Comics in 2008/2009. I quickly found myself drawn to Hal Jordan, the major GL in the DCU, and he became one of my all-time faves.

So, it stands to reason that I was excited to hear they were finally making a full-length feature staring Ryan Reynolds as Jordan, Blake Lively as love interest Carol Ferris, Mark Strong as Sinestro and Peter Saarsgard as Dr. Hector Hammond.

The first trailer for this flick first appeared in November, 2010, before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, pt 1 and quickly spread across the internet. Last week, Warner Bros. debuted nine minutes of footage from the upcoming film at WonderCon, in San Fransisco, CA. The footage wowed the audience, and withing a few days, a four minute cut of the WonderCon footage was released online, much to the excitement of many a fanboy (yours truly, included). And yes, Ryan Reynolds does recite the infamous Oath.

Here is the WonderCon clip, so sit back and enjoy!

Green Lantern opens in 3D everywhere on June 17, 2011, which happens to be my birthday. Thanks for the Birthday present, Warner Bros!