Doomsday is coming August 31st, 2011 to the DC Universe! It’s the end of the universe as we know it! Sorry this isn’t the character named Doomsday, but this is a reboot of many of the franchises out there. How many you ask? Try 52 brand spanking new series! Okay so many of them are from the same franchise like Batman (Batman, Detective Comics, Batman: The Dark Knight, and Batman and Robin just to name a few). But you do have a name like Jim Lee as co-publisher! Likewise some folks get new shiny costumes!
Yes those are blue tights on the bottom, not red.
But what does this really mean though I’m not quite certain. Does this destroy 70 years worth of lore and streamlined to newer folks, or perhaps a different way of retelling a story without having to dig through priceless comic books that can’t be opened to retain its sell value? I can’t help but reflect what Marvel tried around mid 90s by rebooting various comics like the Fantastic 4 and the Avengers after Onslaught.. the idea was scrapped of course and any mention of it was considered an alternative reality. Perhaps the same may occur if it doesn’t do well and we’ll consider it Earth 3 or something.
Rebooting isn’t technically anything new, folks die one day and then resurrect the next time following (Jason Todd comes to mind), but a whole universe is another story! Some may find some form of success like the “Ultimate” series from Marvel, others may not. Smallville seemed successful (to some extent, but that was TV). It does raise questions about the current storyline that exist right now, do they continue or just a dream and filler for the reboot. Is Dick Grayson back to being Robin or does he continue on as Nightwing? Which Green Lantern is coming back first, Hal Jordan or John Stewart or do they both represent different sectors of the Green Lantern corp? In the end I can’t help but think of a computer when something goes wrong, the first question that comes to mind from any technician was, did you try restarting? Was it really broke in the first place? Guess time will tell.
For more information go to DC’s 52 Page