Some would argue that the DCU reboots more than a frustrated 10-year old playing Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Many DC readers L-O-V-E the New 52 books, while some purists stopped reading with the beginning of Flashpoint and subsequent announcements that the DC Universe would be retconned... again.* Personally, the New 52 books are hit and miss for me, but it has little to do with a new storyworld and more to do with the fact that some writers/creative teams/editorial directions are good while others are more nonsensical than Ambush Bug on meth.
Since there is a possibility than Convergence means that a significant number of New 52 titles and characters will soon cease to exist, I wanted to explore the New 52 using Kenneth Burke's Pentad of Dramatism. The image below (left) explains what this mamma-jamma is all about. The pentad is explored in depth in Burke's 1945 book, A Grammar of Motives, published by the University of California.
First, the act. DC "resets" its continuity, redefining some characters while picking up on others at significant moments in the original DCU's history.
The scene would include all affected DC (and DC/Vertigo [Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Hellblazer] and Wildstorm) titles which have been incorporated into the New 52 storyworld. This does not include titles set outside of previous or current continuity, like the totally autonomous Injustice or Arkham game-based titles, or the creator-owned DC/Vertigo titles.
The agent would be all DC creative personnel involved, with the possible exception of the original New 52 Stormwatch creative team, which kinda sorta ignored what everyone else was doing. One could also argue that comic book readers advocating for change are responsible for the New 52. OR! If one ignores creator involvement, one might hold the Reverse Flash or Pandora or some other suspect as responsible for the brave new world.
The agency is again dependent upon how one interprets the agent. Professor Zoom/Reverse Flash's means of initiating this world were the events of Flashpoint, while comic readers who were dissatisfied with post-Final Crisis events used more rhetorical methods, writing, emailing, and talking to creators at shows about what they liked and disliked about the direction of DC. The means for each book is contingent on the creative team, as some writers opted for complete reboots while others did not.
The purpose here is dependent upon what camp you fall in. Optimists accept DC's stated purpose that the New 52 was meant to revitalize characters while giving storytellers new opportunities. The more cynical perceive the purpose as being to increase the market share using hyper-sexualized versions of female characters and ultra-violent male characters in order to appeal to a younger, video game-playing demographic. If one examines the New 52 from WITHIN the storyworld, the purpose is open to interpretation depending upon the character used as the focus.
The result of the act is completely subjective from reader to reader, but by understanding the reasons and actors involved in the New 52, one can make a more critical, less impetuous decision about how effective the result is.
*=Though, Legion of Super Heroes fans get f***ed over by continuity even when there isn't a metaplot-shaking crossover "event."
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