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Welcome to Earth-1, please enjoy your stay.
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Well uh
holy shit they're actually doing Ultimate DC
holy shit they're actually doing Ultimate DC
That major publishing event we mentioned earlier today? Well, here it is.
Original stories featuring Batman and Superman in graphic novel form from the biggest creators out there. But these aren’t one-offs. We’re talking ongoing series of OGNs in a new continuity, on a new Earth.
Sound appealing?
Starting next year, DC Comics will unveil SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE and BATMAN: EARTH ONE, two graphic novels spotlighting the most powerful heroes of the DC Universe, with their first years and earliest moments retold in a standalone, original graphic novel format, on a new earth with an all-new continuity.
Return to Smallville and experience the journey of Earth’s greatest adopted son, as he grows from boy to Superman in SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE by J. Michael Straczynski and artist Shane Davis.
Watch from the darkest corners of Crime Alley as a young boy is struck by unbelievable tragedy that will forge the greatest crime-fighter to ever stalk the rooftops of Gotham City in BATMAN: EARTH ONE, by writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank.
What does JMS have to say? Well, here’s a snippet from his first interview on the subject:
“What I’m trying to do is to dig in to the character and look at him through modern eyes. If you were to create the Superman story today, for the first time, but keep intact all that works, what would it look like?”
“It is monumental for us as comic readers to see Superman birthed for the first time,” Davis said. “It’s a privilege to realize that you’re the artist that gets to draw it, better yet having the luxury to do it in an original graphic novel. This is going to be epic!”
What about Geoff Johns? Well, we happen to have a bit from his first interview as well:
“BATMAN: EARTH ONE allows Gary and I to break the restraints of any continuity and focus on two things: character and story.”
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It's not like we are running out of space
I like the batsuit and Alfred looks bad ass, but I kind of wish they had gone somewhere with Superman's suit. It never changes.
It's just, again, why? What DC is basically saying is "Hey, you know the Superman Definitive Origin book out right now? The one that we think is better than the two well written origins that came before it? It's not new reader friendly, so ignore that and check out another origin, where you have to build up another character, etc." On top of this, DC had the One Year Later jump to make Superman new reader friendly.
The Ultimate line worked at the time because there was a gap between comics and the yet to bust through glut of comic movies, coupled with bad stories in the main universe (Spider-Man was bad, and X-Men completely dropped the ball when the movie came out). They're trying to copy it and you can't on something like this.
And it's not like Batman and Superman are hard to follow right now, especially Batman.
And again, a projected 2 OGN's a year? I think it might actually be longer than that because the artists will slag off with greater leeway.
I'm just skeptical because DC has basically given up with what they are currently trying to do with their big two characters right now in the main universe (and it's not really that hard to follow).
And Geoff Johns doesn't write a good Batman.
This is basically my opinion. How many Superman Origin stories do we really need? For that matter, how many Superman continuities do we need?
Honestly, is Superman really that reader-unfriendly that they need to have yet another re-start? All this smells like a bad idea. Mind you, some interesting comics might come out of it, but a bad idea is a bad idea.
The All-Star Books are essentially elseworlds. They are there to show the 'idealized' version of the character in the hands of one of the best writers/artists of the character. They are not a brand new universe that is rebooting continuity for a new generation.
It's like saying Ultimate Spider-Man is unneccesary because we have Marvel Adventures Spider-Man.
No, it's like DC is saying "How many books can we sell using the same characters?"
And, yeah- I thought Marvel's Ultimate universe to be pretty silly too.
This is a brand new blank slate of a universe. They are completely different.
Which is the same thing being introduced with Earth-One, and the same thing Marvel did with the Ultimates.
I'm not sure what you don't understand about that.
And the nice thing about Birthright is that it complemented Man of Steel, so that both could stand on their own or together be the "complete" origin. The story about Superman first appearing in Metropolis saving the space shuttle, that was still intact.
Everyone knows Superman's origins. If they don't, it is their fault. James Bond movies aren't hard to follow, we all know he's a British spy.
If DC wants JMS on a Superman book, put him on a title after the current New Krypton stuff.
Really, I just have no need for more Batman and Superman stories, set outside mainstream continuity, as told by these particular creative teams. A big part of the appeal of the All-Star books, or something like the Joker OGN or Wednesday Comics, was seeing creators who don't produce a lot of work show their takes on the characters.
Maybe these will be fantastic stories, and if I hear as much following their release, I'll certainly pick them up. But for now I'm not all that enthused to read books by creators whose work I regularly see, about characters who have a constant presence on the stands.
Now get Geoff Johns and Gary Frank to do Earth-1 Beefeater, and my morbid curiosity may just compel me to check it out.
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Anyhow, I hope these deviate enough from the mainstream universe to make them worthwhile. Not just a retelling, but an actual different story.
Also, after all previous uses of Batman by Johns, I dread seeing how he handles him in a book all by himself.
Also, I really like aspects of the Ultimate Marvel universe. I actually prefer some of the Ultimate characters to their 616 characters. I think there's room for this in DC as long as they keep it small and controlled and different. If they're just gonna retell stories that have already been told, then there's not much point. But if they plan on giving us a slightly different spin on some of the characters, then I'm all for it.
Of course, I already have too many books on my pull list, and I will most likely trade-wait any Earth-1 books.
Original graphic novel.
Basically, a TPB consisting of material not previously published in a serial/monthly format.
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Only once these are collected into 1,000 page, leather-bound tomes will I buy them.
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From the Aint It Cool News interview announcing Earth-One. I like how it amounts to the same reasoning behind every other Superman origin retelling. If it's popular, we'll use it in continuity. If not, we got your money anyways. Same premise behind Birthright and Secret Origin. Birthright, in particular, was in continuity for all of 5 minutes before they started contradicting it and moving on towards a new one.
i hate the multiverse
Just keep it like ultimate is kept seperate and then we'll talk.
I think a lot of people spent a lot of money on 52, COuntdown, Final Crisis, etc and are a little miffed that the multiverse isnt used for anything. Then, a project comes along that is perfect for it and named after a multiverse, yet isnt a part of the official multiverse. It's not something that stops them from buying it or alters the quality of it, but it is disconcerting to most.
"here, we're going to use a familiar naming convention for this brand new take on old characters, and this naming convention will be exactly the same as this OTHER thing we use to tell brand new takes on old characters, but they'll all have nothing to do with each other."
it's stupid and overly confusing for no good reason
Well, that's exactly what Secret Origin #3 was!
I wonder if JMS actually knew about SO when he was penning this. It sounds like he's not going to take any risks here or change anything up at all, and I imagine Johns will have him beat in terms of the classic, ideal Superman origin. So I have to say I don't have much interest in the first volume of Superman: Earth One
Edit:
That was also a major part of Secret Origins. Hmm...
Johns' Batman looks like it's going to be more brave with Riddler being Bruce's first major supervillain and a revised Alfred.
But of course what makes it fantastic is that when the books come out they'll be available in complete form. I'm really digging that.
If they started the whole Earth One thing with some other DC characters. Maybe New Gods, The Flash, or Teen Titans. I just feel like Superman and Batman origins are common knowledge at this point. My mom knows Batman's origin.
You want to know Green Lanterns origin, go watch the animated movie. Don't like that one, wait for the live action GL movie. Same for Batman, Superman and Wonderwoman.
I doubt I'll give the JMS book a shot, given my general disinterest in his non-creator-owned work. I'll buy the Johns/Frank book just because I like that creative team. Hopefully we'll get lucky and Johns will get the origin stuff out of the way as quickly as possible.
The Big Two will always be icebreakers for DC.
Now let's see if Hawkman, Wonder Woman, or Green Arrow can ever get a title.
They need to pick a theme and stick with it. Gail Simone is driving me crazy with this whole game she's playing with is Diana gonna stick to her Greek roots or not. I mean, she swore fealty to Pele or some crap, which is an Aztec god. She abandoned her sisters and Themyscriya only to return like 2 issues later. The whole thing is just a mess.
I say reboot her in Earth One, give her a new costume that more closely resembles amazon battle armor. Give her a sword or axe as a permanent fixture and not just a random weapon for every now and again, and change her star spangled image to be more of a world-hero instead of strictly an American hero.