Pajiba

The re-launch is simply about money. The kids buy up the number ones like crazy because they naively think a number one will be worth money someday. It wont because they make 200k-500k of them and people bag em, board em, and save em. They will never be worth big money. All DC is doing is creating hype to sell more comics. Look Pajiba just gave them free advertising.

I think the 200K number is also inflated by the fact that (I think) DC only put out TWO comics this week. That's almost guaranteed to free up cash from regular comics readers who just want to check out the new direction of DC. When they flood the market with 51 other comics, there's just no way that's sustainable.

I've been peeking around the internet to see if the mythical "new reader" has any interest in this. From comments on other sites, I don't see a lot of evidence of that. On EW.com, there was, I think, ONE comment in three pages from someone who said they'd give DC a try for the first time. A few more said they were lapsed comics fans who would check it out. Otherwise, I haven't seen much evidence that this reboot has created the hobby mentality that following comics seems to require.

Finally, on a comics news site (either Newsarama or CBR) one comics retailer mentioned that a brand-new customer came in and bought 3 copies of Justice League #1. That, to me, spells speculator mentality, the long-falsified belief that #1s have resell value. It also doesn't bode well for that customer buying #2 (or even worse, #10.)

Like SLW, I only collect trade paperbacks and try only to get the good ones. The last time I bought individual comics was back in 1992, so it's been a while. That said, I still buy a ton of trades and reallly enjoy them. Comics are like everything else, movies, television, music, etc.: The vast majority of what's out there is crap, but the worthwhile stuff is fantastic.

The only DC Comic I've followed in years is "Secret Six." Outside of reading a few of the bigger event storied, ("Crisis on Infinite Earths" and "Identity Crisis") and reading some of the more classic Batman story arcs ("Dark Knight Returns", "Hush", "Year One", "Long October" and a few others), the only series I ever collected was a short run of "Hawk & Dove" and the entire run of "Suicie Squad." In fact, my favorite DC character for years has been Deadshot and I've followed him around over time.

"Suicide Squad" is part of the re-boot and Deadshot is back on the team. I am not thrilled with his re-designed outfit, since I loved the original look. But given my love for the character and the "Squad" and Harley Quinn's presence, I'll get the first trade when it comes out.

Beyond that, I don't have much interest in anything else. I am interested to see how they pull this off, even if it does render my awesome and huge "DC Enclopedia" completely moot.

I'm a lapsed comic fan and I will be checking out a few of the new titles (not sure where I'll get them, since Atomic Comics just closed) like Batwoman and Batgirl. (I know there are a lot of people upset about that last one, but I LOVE BARBARA and I won't apologize for it.) But there's no way I'll be sinking sixty bucks a month into getting every Bat-title, or suddenly getting into Green Lantern when I never cared about him before.

That said, I do hope this is ultimately successful, because the comic industry does need a shake-up.

C'mon this is just a cash grab. Lots of folks will run out and buy these #1's in the hope that they will be worth something someday, they wont, and DC will generate a little new interest and get some free publicity. Ultimately in two months it will be business as usual.

If I made a comic EVERY issue would be numbered 1. People buy them.

I am the mythical new reader. I was never into comics and have only bought a handful in my entire life, generally specialty comics like Firefly.

A big issue (Har!) is that it seemed like an exclusive club with different storylines and mythologies and alternate universes, etc., and that jumping in would be too daunting and confusing.

Now I'm old and have a spiffy iPad which seems like it was made for comics and I can start at the ground floor - Justice League #1 - and hopefully not feel lost.

The comic book store owner just told me that the JLA #1 was pretty good. But his job is to sell comics so...

I'll never understand he cynism that always accompanies these relaunches.

Marvel went through it with their Ultimates line – which was brilliant, until Jeph Loeb cam along – and now DC gets hammered by fans for their new relaunch.

The thing that escapes fanboys, and their hipster-esque "I was a fan before…" attitudes, is that these changes attract new readers, which gives new creative teams someone to write for, and gives fans new stories about their favorite characters.

Let's face it: Superman has been boring for years. There's not much you can do with a god-like character who already has a long and involved backstory to be confined within.

Now we get new writers and artists to tackle the Man of Steel, and entertain a new generation of readers. My fifteen-year-old sin, for example is very excited about Stormwatch, Action Comics, and Justice League, whereas before, he couldn't care less.

Embrace the change, and know that your favorite characters will get a new lease on life, or piss and moan about it, like my aunt did when Southern Bell stopped offering rotary phones – it was to easy to push the wrong button on the touch tones – it's up to you.