*No criticism intended, Mr. Byrne.

I haven't followed the character long enough to know any more, but I think the example is sufficient. Or let's take a look at Batman and Green Lantern - characters whose books and origins DIDN'T change during COIE, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, etc. - or if they did change, I never noticed it.

But I will never again read a book with the Legion of Super Pets, or Earth-2, or Captain Strong or Vartox, etc.... too much has changed to go back to any of these. (Yeah, I know there was an Earth-2 comic in the Pu52, but I have no idea what's going on now. But I won't see Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, or Carter Hall team up with Barry Allen, Aquaman-1, or Ray Palmer every summer.)

Should I "let go"? Truth be told, whether I do or not, I will never see what I want again... except in reprints or my collection, and you can just BET I work those hard.

I absolutely agree with Mr. Hague and his discourse on Crises. The first one shoved DC continuity to the edge of the slippery slope... and then Zero Hour (IIRC) set it crashing over the precipice. It cannot be fixed. Continuity has been Humpty Dumptied. This... is an ex-continuity.

Mr. Collins noted that old white guys (Hi everybody!) are the ones raising a fuss at any change. Perhaps so, but I don't do so personally any more save to shake my head and wonder who the hell is running this railroad? They don't seem to have any idea about a comic company. Then again, what do I know about it?

But I know that you can't make everybody happy, and while I believe there are changes that will alienate a great portion of the readership, there aren't a lot that will attract them the same way. If a change is favorable to, say, 25% of the readers, and it alienates 25% of the readers, I think that's a net loss... over time. That part of the readers who get what they ask for probably aren't gonna stick around very long anyhow - after all, they KNOW what they're going to get... they asked for it.

Stan was right... give them what they want, not what they think they want. Because even readers who don't have a specific "want" will still be entertained by the surprises and changes and stories.

But again... that's all past. There are a pretty large number of us, I think, who will never go back to DC or Marvel... and they shouldn't be courting us. They need new readers... but it doesn't work if those new readers look at the books and wonder, "Oh, when are they changing Spider-Man again? When is DC's next crisis that will change the relationship between Superman, Supergirl, and Superboy? Who founded the Avengers?" Who wants to stick around for yet ANOTHER change in history, past or current?

Sadly, almost three years after REBIRTH #1, most people in the DCU don't remember everything that they used to remember. And at times it's very unclear what they do remember. Like, do they remember the 1980s New Teen Titans or not? Sometimes it seems the answer is yes, sometimes not. And there are still plenty of unanswered questions -- is Tim Drake's dad dead or not? (That one strikes me as kind of important.)

I don't necessarily mind DC writers going "meta" on the reboots. I just want the reboots to stop happening!! If details need to change because of the passage of time, just make them -- but I despise the "lets change everything for the sake of changing everything" mentality.

--

Stuff like that makes me never want to invest time in reading DC comics. Why bother getting involved in a story if it's just going to be completely nullified in a few years?

Turns out, yes. Yes, they can.

Coming soon. I'm sure of it.

Marc

Rebirth is now 60-odd issues old - some comics, such as Batman, have included the new 52 era into their continuity, some have not. But running in the background is a massively delayed crossover that they set 12 months ahead,  but will not be finished within those 12 months, that has major continuity implications to the whole line.

Stolen time/memories, changed history, heroes vanished - all part of the current continuity, with a sense that many of the monthly writers have not been fully briefed on what is what.

Of course this is not as complicated as things were in the 1980’s. No sir.