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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134709
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| Posted: 10 November 2005 at 8:54am | IP Logged | 1
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First thing we don't do is "fix" it with a story! If Marvel or DC really wanted to get everything back on some kind of track, and restore the characters to how they were when they were their most successful (discounting the Speculator Boom), it would have to be done as an editorial fiat. "As of January, all the books go back to this point." And this is not a "rewind" as such. If, for instance, DC decided the books were best circa 1960, the characters would not be sent literally back to that year. Rather, we would look at how the casts were set up -- Barry as The Flash and Wally as a very young Kid Flash, for instance -- and reestablish that status quo.And then, of course, it would be necessary for everyone -- Pros and Fans alike -- to remember what messed things up in the first place, and not immediately start charging off down the same path. Which means that everyone would have to play the same game by the same rules. Which, alas, given so many people working in comics these days, would be impossible. The egos are just too much in the way of the professionalism.
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Alex Violette
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 January 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 20
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| Posted: 10 November 2005 at 8:56am | IP Logged | 2
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Now we all know why I prefer to use ConnorFan instead of my real name. :P I cant really help my last name, now can I?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134709
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| Posted: 10 November 2005 at 9:11am | IP Logged | 3
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Jack Kirby and Stan Lee might disagree, Alex.
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Alex Violette
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 January 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 20
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| Posted: 10 November 2005 at 9:18am | IP Logged | 4
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They might disagree but they havent met my family. Unless i become the next Jack Kirby or Stan Lee changing that flowery last name is not an option.
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Jim O'Neill
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2005
Posts: 336
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| Posted: 10 November 2005 at 9:23am | IP Logged | 5
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...Oh, you mean Stanley Lieber & Jack Kurtzberg?
Good morning, btw...
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John Hays
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 October 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 20
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| Posted: 10 November 2005 at 9:31am | IP Logged | 6
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First thing we don't do is "fix" it with a
story! If Marvel or DC really wanted to get everything back on some
kind of track, and restore the characters to how they were when they
were their most successful (discounting the Speculator Boom), it would
have to be done as an editorial fiat. "As of January, all the books go back to this
point." And this is not a "rewind" as such. If, for instance, DC
decided the books were best circa 1960, the characters would not be
sent literally back to that year. Rather, we would look at how the
casts were set up -- Barry as The Flash and Wally as a very young Kid
Flash, for instance -- and reestablish that status quo.And
then, of course, it would be necessary for everyone -- Pros and Fans
alike -- to remember what messed things up in the first place, and not
immediately start charging off down the same path. Which means that everyone
would have to play the same game by the same rules. Which, alas, given
so many people working in comics these days, would be impossible. The
egos are just too much in the way of the professionalism.
*******************
WARNING - Infinite Crisis Possible Spoiler (just this first sentence)
A bit ironic that this seems to be the theme of Infinite Crisis, the Earth 2 Superman trying to change things back to the way they were. ;)
END SPOILER
However, in real world terms I find myself on the other side of the fence. When things change in comics, I want it done in a story so that it makes sense and maintains some type of continuity. I'm gathering that from what you're saying that continuity isn't really of interest to you, which is perfectly valid.
To be honest, I wouldn't mind going back in at least some form to the original Byrne run of Superman, since those were great stories with really cool villains like Skyhook, etc...
As a side note, I asked Bob Wayne to broadly go over the high and low points in DC over the years, and he said right now is possibly the highest point for DC. Of course, a VP of Sales is going to say that, but I do think DC is really kicking on all cylinders right now and doesn't really need to reboot back to a decade or two ago.
Would that really work at all? So many readers of today have grown up with the replacement characters and storylines, Kyle Raynor, Linda Danvers, Wally as Flash, etc...and DC is having a hard enough time convincing people that bringing people like Hal back isn't totally destroying folks like Kyle.
I could see backup stories, flashback stories, or even a special flashback series to highlight those great old stories, but I don't think a total reboot would work.
Edited by John Hays on 10 November 2005 at 10:06am
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Jeff Stockwell
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1610
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| Posted: 10 November 2005 at 9:53am | IP Logged | 7
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I don't understand how DC can be at its highest point when readership is
(likely) at an all-time low.
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Bill Dowling
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2182
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| Posted: 10 November 2005 at 10:05am | IP Logged | 8
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John Hays: That first sentence of yours is a bit of a spoiler, don't you think? And
was I the only one that got a sense of dread at the thought of the
Earth-2 Superman (with presumably pre-Crisis levels of power) out to
destroy us all?
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John Hays
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 October 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 20
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| Posted: 10 November 2005 at 10:07am | IP Logged | 9
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Bill
Excellent point, thanks. I edited it to include a spoiler warning.
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Jim O'Neill
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2005
Posts: 336
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| Posted: 10 November 2005 at 11:38am | IP Logged | 10
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"However, I would have to say Barry Allen is definitely legacy because both pre and post Crisis, he grew up reading Flash comics, so that when he received his powers he chose to carry on that mantle, thus being a
legacy character just as Wally is."
**********************
John, I hate to be a hair-splitting, oligarchical stickler, but in Showcase #4, Jay Garrick is clearly not a real person. He's a fiction within a fiction.
So, we could argue that if I happened to one day have an origin which resulted in my gaining super-speed just like Barry Allen, I wouldn't be inheriting a legacy so much as using this fictional character as my inspiration.
Which (to me) isn't the same thing.
(The first thing I'd do, btw, is toss a plate of french fries in the air, and then watch them settle slowwwly to the ground. Just to make sure.)
Edited by Jim O'Neill on 10 November 2005 at 11:38am
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Jeremy Nichols
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 May 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 634
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| Posted: 10 November 2005 at 11:49am | IP Logged | 11
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Jim, if you becamea real-life Flash, using the comic Flash as
your inspiration, do you think DC would sue?
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Eric Kleefeld
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4422
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| Posted: 10 November 2005 at 11:54am | IP Logged | 12
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That's the one Multiverse-era story I would have loved to see. I enjoyed
Barry encountering the Julie Schwartz of Earth-Prime, but I would have also
enjoyed seeing Barry being tormented by the Julie Schwartz of Earth-1 and
his lawyers.
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Topic Closed)
