DC comics took a bold step on August 31st 2011. The New 52 was their big gambit to gain new readers. Restarting or Rebooting their books to have 52 no.1 issues to give prospective new readers a clear starting point to start reading their books. Due to this reboot, certain sacrifices had to be made. Many years of lore and history have been erased, characters have been switched or replaced and there is an overall different configuration to the DC Universe.

One of the more personal loses of theses changes was the cancellation of Secret Six, a book that is responsible for why I read DC Comics today.

Let me take you back in time to early 2011. A slightly younger version of myself is very much a die hard Marvel comics fan. I had read some DC comics but overall I have never had the same connection to DC characters than I had with Marvel characters.

Around that time I was given the recommendation of reading Secret Six. I’ve always enjoyed books that have characters with distinct character defects that lead to weird gritty grey areas and overall weirdness. Combine that with my enjoyment of reading books that delve into the lower classes of super heroes and villains and their daily plight. So this book seemed pretty perfect for me, and as it turned out, it was.

The duo of Deadshot and Catman alone was enough to keep me reading. But what Secret Six did was give me an incentive to dig deeper into the underbelly of the DC universe. I went back and read the teams origin in Villains United, which in turn introduced me to characters such as Deathstroke and Black Adam. This lead to a continued tumble down the rabbit hole of reading other DC books.

My point here is that thanks to one particular book I found the books and characters from DC Comics that I enjoyed, and not through a specific promotion or deal, or reboot. I was recommended a book, read said book, took what I enjoyed about that book (Writers, Characters, story lines etc) and looked for other books to read because of that. A level of quality and trusted recommendation goes a long way.

Granted I was already pretty OK with reading comics in the first place so getting me to read more comics may not be the biggest of struggles. But up until that point I was pretty adamant of my distaste for DC Comics. It just took the right book to change my mind.

The New 52 did a good job of saying “This is where you can jump on” but watered down their message with the range of book they put in the “New 52” Now I understand that Batman is DC’s most recognisable character and a certain series of films has made them a substantial amount of money. That being said having four different books with Batman in the title is overkill mixed with market confusion.

The problem of continuity has always haunted DC and it hasn’t stopped with the New 52, if anything they may have made things worse. The New 52’s mishmash of new continuity and stories that have carried over from before the reboot make for a complicated mess of rebooted and unchanged characters.

One the books that I feel gave a good chance of grabbing the attention of new readers was Justice League. As it dealt with the first meeting and formation of the team it introduced each character with their own spotlight.It gave the right amount of attention and characterisation for the reader to get the character straight away. From these introductions the reader can then make the decision of which character’s solo book they want to read.

Overall the New 52 reboot has been somewhat successful, albeit with problems, as mentioned above. Of course it would be impossible for every book of the 52 to be successful. As such DC Comics has announced that six books will be cancelled, along with six replacements. Their so called “Second Wave”.

The cancelled books (Men of War, Mister Terrific, O.M.A.C, Hawk and Dove, Blackhawks, Static Shock) were all books that weren’t heavy hitters like Batman and Superman. Some of the books success was marred because of creative team shifts, Static Shock had changes and Mister Terrific’s team changed issue to issue. With titles such as Blackhawks and Hawk and Dove, I feel DC overestimated these titles because of the nostalgia surrounding them. As they are characters/teams that have not been front and centre of DC’s catalogue for a long time.

The replacement books I have mixed feelings for. G.I. Combat and Dial H appear to be filling the void that Blackhawks and Hawk and Dove existed in. The old title that has been brought back. G.I. Combat being a war themed book with classic stories such as The War That Time Forgot and Unknown Soldier and The Haunted Tank. Which if maybe handled better could stay around longer than the cancelled titles, but I wonder if the market for these titles actually exists.

Other announced titles included two titles from a parallel universe. Earth 2 stars the Justice Society as they threats that put them on course with colliding with another universe. While World’s Finest Stars Huntress and Power Girl as they try to return to Earth-2. Once again DC decides to immediately make their world and continuity more fuzzy after trying to unify it.

Overall these new titles are interesting and it’s good to see characters like Power Girl and members of the Justice Society return, but there is nothing more confusing to a new reader than parallel universes.

At the end of it all DC’s reboot has been a success, but I feel it is a short term fix that they can only do every once in a while. DC’s attempt to gain new readers is completely honest and has well intentions but it feels incredibly clumsy in it’s execution. They need to find a good balance of stories that are welcoming enough to grab new readers but still maintain the quality that their books can reach. The Comic industry is heading in to uncertain times with the rise of digital distribution and DC need to adjust to the times.

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