Rebooting the DC Universe

DC Comics will relaunch its universe in August, a move that has many fans threatening to jump ship.

What do comic fans treasure the most? For many, the answer is continuity. That’s why DC Comics is taking a huge risk by upsetting its readers with the relaunch of its entire universe at the end of August.

You read that correctly. DC is not simply restarting one character – Superman or Batman or Wonder Woman – as it has done before. It’s beginning again, at square one, with its entire roster of superheroes.

This means the clock will be reset across the board: The adventures of all of those heroes will start over. Personal histories will begin anew. Origins will be retold.

In a letter to retailers, DC executive Bob Wayne said, “Our characters are always being updated; however, this is the first time all of our characters will be presented in a new way all at once.”

DC is billing the monumental change as a way to bring its imaginative universe into closer alignment with today’s sensibilities – which is not an idle concern, considering heroes like Superman and Batman predate the Second World War.

The result will be “a more modern, diverse DC Universe,” Wayne promised.

Crossover stories involving multiple characters that span several titles are not new in comics. Marvel Entertainment, DC’s biggest competitor, has made such publishing “events” a perpetual staple of its own monthly offerings. That said, no comic company has tried as wide-ranging a reboot as this before.

The fan reaction has been mixed, so it’s easy to find online forums peppered with negative comments about the company’s new initiative. “DC is now all about making whatever moves for the sake of sales, even if it cripples the story for sake of quantity,” grumbled one reader on the site Comic Book Resources. Another added:

The more I see, the less I like. I hate to say it, but it’s true. Now, the writing may be good, and I haven't obviously read any of the new series yet. But the new costumes and concepts have me filled with foreboding for all my favourite characters.

“They've certainly lost me as a reader,” threatened a third.

These fans are put off because the reboot is a heavy-handed breach of established continuity.

Both the Marvel and DC universes are based on the idea that their heroes inhabit the same milieu, and that each single issue is part of a larger shared history – as in the real world. That’s the key to making continuity work.

To make matters worse, DC has done this kind of thing before. In 1987, for instance, Batman’s origin story was rewritten in the Year One story arc. But that was just one character.

DC has also reset its universe before, albeit on a less grand scale. The most obvious example is the 1985 series Crisis on Infinite Earths, which was supposed to streamline and consolidate continuity by merging all of DC’s parallel storylines into a single thread.

Many DC readers are tired of being told that the latest update is the definitive one, only to have that universe be revised again a few years down the road. Having to remember which version of DC history is the operative one becomes a confusing burden for fans who just want evocative art and compelling storytelling.

This is why, last August, when I attended a panel discussion staged by DC Comics at Toronto’s Fan Expo gathering of comic enthusiasts, I risked embarrassing myself in front of a packed room.

Participants were being encouraged to ask questions of the DC editors, writers, and artists who were on hand to promote the company’s books. One fan posed a straightforward question: “In the comics industry, who has the toughest job?” Before an answer could be offered, I yelled out: “The reader!” Uncomfortable laughter ensued.

I was trying to make a joke, but my point was a serious one: Both the DC and Marvel universes are in danger of being crushed under the accumulated weight of decades of “retcons” – changes that are made to continuity in retrospect. What this is ultimately leading to is anyone’s guess, but my bet is that the concept of comics continuity as it’s understood today will eventually have to be thrown out the window.

What will replace it? Maybe a more nuanced continuity like the one seen on television, on such programs as The Simpsons. Or maybe the Hollywood model will take over, in which entire new continuities replace old ones at an ever-increasing pace.