DC's Never-Ending Story

In the wake of Brightest Day and Justice League: Generation Lost, and as Flashpoint begins, there's been some Internet grumbling about the function of DC's never-ending stream of crossover events. Graig at Second Printing has questioned whether each series was worth us buying 24 issues if their only point was relaunching a few titles (JLI, Swamp Thing, Aquaman... although the latter could have been relaunched straight out of Blackest Night). I don't know if I agree with the premise of his argument, but I don't know that I exactly disagree either.

While I've been chomping at the bit for Aquaman's return, he hasn't been a consistent seller for DC Comics. Restarting him in a high profile crossover event may attract readers of that event to his new #1 issue, perhaps ensuring a healthier and longer run. Could not the same be true of the Flash or the Legion or Booster Gold, all spun out of similar events in the past four years? The comics we (and by we, I mean the blogging pundits) love often seem to flounder at the cash register - Blue Beetle, Manhunter, Tiny Titans, to name only a few from DC's stable - but what if a crossover event took the time to set them up properly and to a wider audience. Though I completely agree that both Brightest Day and Gen Lost often spun their wheels in the mud, and in BD's case ended on dull exposition, one thing they did well was allow us to know various characters in their new status quo and give us a glimpse of what their solo books might feel like. I expect more people to get into Aquaman thanks to BD than if they'd just launched his series cold.

Yes, it's been one damn thing after another since at least 52. And yes, all these series rarely offer closure, preferring instead to spin off its dangling plot threads into Aftermath mini-series or the next line wide event. They do offer a story however, and whether you like it (52) or hate it (Countdown), it's not like the point of them is launching the next event or random new books, any more than any other title's point is to get to its final issue. Continuing series are normally open-ended, and we don't grumble at that fact. And it's how I've come to think of DC's continuous stream of events. To me, despite the title changes, it's all one (usually weekly) comic that chronicles the big events of the DCU and the characters it most affects (as opposed to always the same character or team). It's DC Universe: The Series. (More accurately, it's a family of titles, like the Batman books or Superman books, because there are always side-minis and specials.) The book used to be called 52, then it was called Countdown and Final Crisis and Blackest Night, and soon it'll be called Flashpoint. If all these stories starred the Justice League of America and were published in the pages of their mag, we wouldn't bat an eyelid. Yes, of course there's a financial issue, but somehow, these series tend to sell way better than that isolated book you love.

If we're going to have a DCU series (and a corresponding Marvel U series as well, you know the one currently titled Fear Itself), I do want it to have good creators, interesting characters and to have an impact on the DCU (just as I expect a Superman book to have an impact on Superman's life). I want less shock and gore, and more characterization and humor. I want fewer gratuitous spin-off specials and minis that cash in, but don't add anything of value. I want a certain sense of closure to various arcs and don't want to feel like editorial mandates are in the way of common sense. And I want it to put less strain on readers' wallets so they CAN then get into those new launches rather than spend everything on "must-read" event books.

Sometimes they even get it right. And when they don't, I'm free to drop the book, just as I can any other book. Don't worry, I'm sure they'll recap the important bits in the books you do follow.