DC Implosion II: DC Comics in 2020 and Beyond

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/when-dc-com-used-to-be-the-url-for-the-crappy-american-car-page/

Thx. "It is estimated," ok

"No you don't understand, this is as coherent as we can make it"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Crisis

“The heroes disapprove of this”

Did not know they officially changed the title to "Dark Crisis ON INFINITE EARTHS"

The original was a lighthearted romp, needed a gritty reboot.

This Wikipedia summary reads like it’s written by one of those AIs that you feed a few lines for inspiration.

Well it doesn't help that the contributor doesn't understand basic sentence structure. But maybe that's just what the attempt to summarize modern-day DC does to the language center of one's brain.

DC continues its unbroken run of absolute chaos since, what, 2009?

I think Flashpoint (2011) was when the freefall began. I was still reading and enjoying like a dozen DC titles up to that point and noped out when that mess began. Still, eleven years of chaos is a very impressive run.

I think I tapped out during Blackest Night, except to finish Morrison’s Batman run.

The period from Gotham Central to Final Crisis was probably DC/Vertigo’s best period since the early 90s imo. Lots of absolute shit, too, but isn’t there always?

Who knew Countdown would turn out to be such a blueprint for the next decade-plus? Depressing

Remind me what Countdown did. That was the their lead-in to Flashpoint after 52, right?

I think DiDio famously said that Countdown was 52 done right. Everything Morrison touched in that period marked the apex of DC's 21st Century output. Leave it to ol' Dan to fail to recognize that. Wotta choad.

Countdown was a New Gods-centric multiverse Crisis weekly that never cohered Into an actual story, but featured a lot of pointlessly nasty character deaths in the Geoff Johns/2007-era bad prestige TV style that was “popular” back then. I think a bunch of Legion characters get eaten by rats or something? It’s bad and non-fun. Every event since then seems to have been some violent & incoherent cosmic epic thing and all DC stories seemed to become boring meta stories about themselves

Brian Hibbs on why 'Distributor discounts are making it harder and harder to carry DC periodical comics':

https://www.comicsbeat.com/dc-periodical-comics-distributor-problems/?fbclid=IwAR1DcIu34qy9AVY-78ZhtkMRVa39LCO0mNjH1fldmRu-dKWRW94JUhJoIo4

If it’s of any diminishing interest to anyone, Mark Waid’s new Batman v Robin is good fun, in a 2000s kid of way, the sort of fun and forgettable thing I always want DC to publish but never do

Obviously in my head the mid-2000s we’re just a couple of years ago but never mind that

Has anyone tried DC Infinite's new "ultra" level?

I tried the trial and read The Nice House at the Lake (starts well, ends hopeless) and some 1990-era triangle Superman (which still holds up, pleasingly). Ultra includes collected editions (which are less fiddly) plus most of Vertigo, and the print-to-digital window is only a month.

It's £85/year which is... a lot, but tempting. Anyone else tried it?

Not a bad price. Maybe this is finally the year I abandon floppies again... if I could get DCUI and Marvel Unlimited for $50 each (that's the typical annual MU deal that pops up) I would probably just pull the trigger, LCS be damned

Right now it's USD $120 per year vs Marvel's $69 annual (but that's with the 3 month delay which tbh there are so few comics I buy and read within that time)

I finished book one of Nice House and while it succumbs to a lot of Tynion's worst impulses, I will certainly read the next volume
it is SCREAMING to be an HBO series

Ha, yes, I will still read the next volume.

I haven't read enough Tynion to understand his worst impulses - my sense was that his restlessness at changing the status quo every other issue (and not in a graceful way like, say, DEATH NOTE) eventually worked against the larger storyline, which is to say, by issue 10 I couldn't figure out WTF was happening or who to care about.

And the characters aren't very exciting. HBO might fix that.

(Sorry ignore my oblique references to Vol 2, which I just spotted that you haven't read!)

oh i read the first 12 issues, which i assumed was "book one"
you do seem to understand his worst impulses btw

Anything in this “Dawn of DC” era worth checking out? I’ve been sort of DC-curious lately, but have no clue where anything stands now.

Yes, every time I take a look at new DC releases they’re all bannered with some impenetrable crossover dressing and it’s extremely offputting. Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths! Knight Terrors! lazarus Planet! Interest lost!

Much like Future State I like the concept and effort, but geez sooo many books that I won't bother.

Hope that The Golden Age/JSA revival turns out well, will check it out in trade

I don't follow regular DC but if anyone here likes the Batman family or "one last job" comics and hasn't read Catwoman: Lonely City by Cliff Chiang, rectify that.

have been checking the library catalogue once a month and no go

Not DC but this month’s Fantastic Four 10 is a great one-off if you dig that sort of thing

Another month, another Fantastic Four #10

it's good. the North run's been pretty decent imo

Has anyone read these Teen Titans books? I guess they're meant for the YA crowd, but they look kinda appealing to me: https://kamigarcia.com/books/teen-titans/beast-boy-loves-raven/

don't let that stop you from trying them! lots of great stuff in the YA space nowadays

^I did end up buying the set, have read two of the three... they're good

Yeah, really good (just finished Book 3, and ordered the next one – Robin). I like the tone better than most of the Marvel stuff I've read lately... not so aggressively jokey. These characters obv have some miles on them, but this feels like a genuinely fresh take.

Read another recent-ish, YA-ish book that I enjoyed a great deal – Supergirl: Being Super, by Mariko Tamaki. Her dialogue is particular strong; some of the best I've seen in a Big 2 comic. It's a Kara origin story, of sorts; though I don't think it's "canonical" or connects with anything in the mainstream continuity (...although the way DC changes it up, who knows).

Btw – I didn't know that Kara goes by "Kara Danvers" these days... as more of a Marvel reader, that's kind of funny, given similarly-named (and -powered) hero on that side of the fence.

Seeing a lot of talk about a new Supergirl one-shot special, also by Tamaki. Anyone here read it? Seems to be generating a (strongly) mixed response.