I used to be a big comic book collector. At one point, I had a collection that numbered in the 10's of thousands. I had great stuff like Amazing Fantasy #15, Silver Surfer Vol. 1 #1, Uncanny X-Men #14 and tons of others. Even though I love the characters, the universe they inhabit, etc. I decided to stop collecting back around 2008. There were numerous reasons including not liking the direction they were taking the characters, giant every-year relaunch castastrophic epidemic events, mini series running for 52 issues and crossovers that bounced back and forth into titles you had no interest in...but felt forced into buying to follow the story.
I've seen a lot of stupid stuff get pulled. Killing characters has become a time-honored tradition. Well, actually it's a milk-the-$hit out of fans for a big, glossy, one-shot special for $9.99. But now I see what DC is doing with their "big three" and I sit here scratching my head.
Superman. The man of steel. His "S" symbol as iconic as his red & blue uniform complete with flowing cape. DC's big idea to "update" the character? Let's put him in tight hipster jeans and a t-shirt.
Wonder Woman. Not as big a problem with her and in all honesty, running around in a bikini was kinda ludicrous. But what is with the Assassin's Creed gauntlet blades?
Batman. Oh, poor, poor Batman. More than any other DC hero, this guy has been put through the ringer. It was all good until they decided to break his back and introduce Azrael as the new Batman in a giant, foil-embossed Joe Quesada covered special issue that lured you in with it's beautiful cover and left you weeping with ass art inside. Batman has continued from that point to be DC's whipping boy. Darkseid even blasted his face off, killing him. But...did he
really die? No...he was thrust back through time in an atrocious, money-grab storyline that I refused to read. Caveman Batman anyone???
Now...we have Chappie Batman on the way. As if hipster jeans and Assassin Creed blades weren't bad enough, we are getting Batman in an armored suit with little ear wingie-dingie things that looks like it's straight out of Blomkamp's new film.
Thoughts?