That's what Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams did with Batman so many years ago.  They didn't set out to rock fandom with wild changes, they wanted to get back to the core of the character and do the best Batman stories they could.

Next up: "What if Alfred died?"

It occurs to me that there are two types of stories one can tell with a character; stories that have the character in them, and stories actually about the character and his basics.

I'll take Spider-Man as an example. There are stories with Spider-Man fighting some villain or stopping some disaster. Then there are stories that actually change the character himself; his parents were spies. Aunt May died. Mary Jane has always known Peter is Spider-Man. Peter didn't get his powers accidentally from a radioactively charged spider, but from a long predicted destiny (and Lord Chaos and Master Order, I'm lookin' at you two too!) Spider-Man is Iron Man's apprentice and runs a company.

To me, it's like cars. The basic remains for a while - four wheels, two or four doors, I.C. engine that runs on gasoline, etc. Then, instead of coming up with modifications to that model, the model itself changed. Five doors, diesel or electrically powered, engine in the rear instead of the front, three wheels only, etc. Some good ideas, some horrid ideas.

Changes about and around the character are what comic books are about. Changing the basic model... that's kinda chancy.

This occurred to me as a problem with the Charlie's Angels and recent Bond movies. They weren't just stories with the characters in them - they are actually stories ABOUT the characters. That can work in comics - I'm thinking of Deadman or the New Teen Titans - but you have to have a master writer who can blend the two seamlessly.

Marc

They used to have a whole series about "What If?" and they were able to tell them in single issue stories.

Now it's a two year story arc with specials and cross overs to tell essentially the same story.

Heaven help us if Bendis and Claremont ever team up on a project. (And if they already have, I don't want to know.)

Their writing styles have NOTHING in common.

Put Rucka in charge of the Superman titles and I'll be a happy boy. He'll find a way to undo Bendis's damage -- or at least he has the ability to do so.