It’s been a pretty wild week in the world of DC Comics. Strap yourselves in, because this is a doozy.
The constantly developing story of the new Supergirl ongoing got some concrete information via a press release on IGN. Here’s the deal: Adventures of Supergirl is going to be a 13 issue, biweekly digital first publication written by Sterling Gates, a name you might recognize from the pre-New 52 Supergirl ongoing, and including a revolving roster of artists such as Bengal, Jonboy Meyers, Emanuela Lupacchino, and Emma Vieceli.
The book is set to be released on Mondays starting January 25th, 2016, but will not be directly related to any episodes or story arcs specifically from the show. Fair enough. That all sounds like pretty good news, right? And it is. As far as resolutions go to the problem at hand (that problem being Kara’s lack of a comic book presence), this seems like a decent solution.
It is, however, still a bit anxiety making to realize the timeline of this book (our first confirmation that it was happening at all was a little under a month ago) in addition to its bi-weekly publication status basically has “RUSH JOB” written all over it in giant strobing letters. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything about the quality of the book, after all, pressure can turn coal into diamonds and what not, but it’s not hard to tell that this entire thing wasn’t really planned for in advance.
Which leaves one question begging to be asked: Why?
Did DC really have so little faith in a female driven show and female consumers that Supergirl’s success and the outcry about Kara’s lack of a book genuinely came as a surprise? We can’t say for sure, obviously, but from an outsider prospective it’s difficult to slice it any other way. Which, quite frankly, is really really shitty.
And to continue on with the trend of absolutely baffling TV/Comics tie-in decisions, the official announcement for a new Legends of Tomorrow book was made this week. Perfect timing, right? The new show is going to be airing early next year, the hype is pretty strong for it, why not learn from this Supergirl blunder and start working on a tie-in book in advance to capitalize on it?
Well, unfortunately, in utter defiance of all logic, the new Legends of Tomorrow book has… absolutely nothing to do with Legends of Tomorrow the TV show.
The new Legends of Tomorrow comic is an anthology book featuring smaller self contained stories of some slightly lesser known heroes. With the exception of Firestorm (Jason Rausch, Ronnie Raymond, and Dr. Stein), not a single one of them exist in the new TV show. In addition to him, we’re getting Metamorpho, Metal Men, and Sugar & Spike.
Personally? I’m excited for Metamorpho. But even my excitement for him doesn’t really mitigate my utter confusion. I’m left to ask again: Why?
Why use the title “Legends of Tomorrow” so hot on the heels of a big TV show premiere of the same name and expect anything but confusion? Why not make a genuine Legends of Tomorrow show tie-in and name this anthology series something unique? Why include Firestorm and only Firestorm in a roster of other characters who have nothing to do with the show?
Maybe if both of these frankly bizarre choices weren’t happening in such close quarters with one another I’d be feeling less totally lost at finding the logic in them, but as it stands it’s hard to not feel like DC’s communication and workflow between it’s comic and TV development branches are… kind of a total mess. And that’s pretty scary.
And to keep the anxiety train rolling, this week also saw the release of March 2016’s solicits which included a whole roster of big, important issue #50s for a whole laundry list of the New 52’s heavy hitting titles like Batman and Superman.
I mention those two specifically because they’re both characters who have spent the greater part of this year undergoing some major changes and both characters that have issue 50 solicits promising that those changes will be undone.
For Batman, which has seen Bruce Wayne as an amnesiac and Jim Gordon dawning the cape and cowl since issue 41:
Batman has returned to Gotham City! In this extra-sized conclusion to Snyder and Capullo’s epic story “Superheavy,” Bruce Wayne returns to the cape and cowl to battle Mr. Bloom alongside Jim Gordon for the fate of the city they both love.
And for Superman, which has seen Clark Kent’s identity made public and the Man of Steel depowered to almost civilian status since around issue 41 as well:
Superman returns in all his glory in this very special issue that sees the Man of Steel back to full power as he faces his greatest enemy and also comes face to face with the pre-Flashpoint Kal-El! At last, it’s the meeting of the Supermen you’ve been waiting for!
So… Two major changes to two major characters lasting under 10 issues. Under a full year. Now I know comics as an industry aren’t exactly know for their ability to maintain change or any shifts in the status quo but I can’t help but feel like the windows in which things are allowed to deviate from the norm is getting smaller and smaller.
The reason I bring this up at all is because this giant push to get “back to basics” in March of next year could spell out some bad things for the more progressive DCYou titles that were created during, or reliant on, the shift in status quo for their own stories. Books like We Are Robin, Grayson, Midnighter, Gotham Academy, etc are all now put into a position where their futures are uncertain.
And in addition to that, the ever closing window of “experimentation” time in heavy hitting books is a pretty bleak sign for any major changes taking place in the way the comic book industry at large operates. How can we expect to see the results of major pushes for things like diversity and representation when we can’t even let the status quo of our stories be disrupted for a full year?
It doesn’t really inspire a ton of confidence.
I guess we’ll just have to wait for April 2016’s solicits before we can really start to make any calls on what the post-issue 50 future will hold.
