A Year Into the New 52

Have you followed any of the New 52?

Yes! And I love what I've read!	33.9%	[ 21 ]
Yes, but they're not what I expected.	22.6%	[ 14 ]
No, not really.	29.0%	[ 18 ]
Other...will respond in a reply..	14.5%	[ 9 ]
Total Votes:			[ 62 ]

[ajsnoopy]

So how does everyone feel about the new 52? Now that it's been just over a year since the first issues came out, I was wondering how other DC fans felt about the characters and stories and how they've been developed over the months. Feel free to comment, share, or what have you!

[EmptyxNamine]

{• ◊ Sweet dreams that ♥ won't come true... ◊ • }

Well, I've only been keeping up with the Birds of Prey comics.
I mainly picked it up because I wanted to read more comics with Black Canary and because the idea of Poison Ivy being on the team intrigued me.

As with most comics, there have been things I've liked and things I've disliked about the series. There have been several issues where things just seem to drag on and nothing happens and then there have also been events mentioned that I have no idea what they're talking about and am left confused. Some things have been sort of explained, but others I'm left thinking "if this is a reboot, issue x, why am I feeling so lost?" It almost seems like a continuation of an already-in-progress series, at times, than something new.

I do like some of the new characters, like Starling, but then I also find myself missing old ones like Oracle (Babs is Batgirl in this series, and she just seems to...I don't know, pop up sporadically) and Huntress (who seems to have been erased from existence--I miss the Huntress/Canary dynamic). I feel like the villains are lacking in depth (unless you still want to count Ivy as a villain--I did rather like how she was being written, although her redesign still feels weird to me).

Overall, I feel like it's pretty forgettable. I'm not in love with it as a whole, but I'll probably keep reading because I've come this far and to just see where things go. :/

- - - ________________ { I leave them all for you } ________________ - - -

[ajsnoopy]

EmptyxNamine

I was wondering if Huntress, Oracle, and Canary were still acting as the Birds of Prey, but your reply summed it up for me nicely smile .

Man...I was hoping some of the other series were really kicking off. Only own one or two stories from BoP from a few years back and was unsure about picking up the reboot set. Can definitely see Ivy making for an interesting character for the series, that's for sure! I always go between loving and disliking her for some odd reason. I suppose it's because of the writing and how she's being portrayed in each storyline. ;D

In regards to Babs, I do miss her as Oracle :l. Her back as Batgirl after healing (is that what happened? :la) seems a little weird. And now she's involved with the Death of the Family series; too early to tell about that move. But, as you indicated earlier about including information from other series, Babs goes back to focusing on what happened during The Killing Joke way back when.

Back to BoP; has Ollie popped up at all? I do love the BC/GA dynamic at times xD. Or does the reboot take place after their fall out? Half the time I'm confused in regards as to when in the DCU these stories take place, not going to lie.

After reading Detective Comics 1 and seeing what Joker had done to his face, I immediately shied away from the New 52. Guess I was turned off by how much they had changed his demeanor, how they made him not so vain or egocentric as I'm used to seeing. Whatevs, I got over it and picked up Batman 13 to get back into the Death of the Family series.

Had heard that DC was going to try to stay away from doing insanely large crossovers, but I guess that doesn't seem to be the case. The DotF is up to at least five different comic book lines. So I guess it's going to be another R.I.P. *shrug*. It is good to hear the opinion of another, though, so thank you! I've heard both positive and negative things about the New 52.

P.S.: loving the photo in your signature biggrin
P.P.S.: You have one heck of an avatar! Very well done!

[EmptyxNamine]

{• ◊ Sweet dreams that ♥ won't come true... ◊ • }

Glad to be of some service!

And yes, my feels on certain characters have also varied with writers/different portrayals of them. I think that’s a natural thing.

I don’t think it was even addressed in BoP how Babs went back to being Batgirl, but I think I remember reading somewhere online that Babs went through experimental surgery/physical rehabilitation to get back to where she was. I’m sure it’s addressed in the new Batgirl series, but I haven’t looked into that.

BC and GA do have an interesting dynamic, don't they? But Dinah’s relationship with Ollie seems to have been retconned out of existence for the new 52. There has been no mention of him at all. I know what you mean about being confused as to when these stories take place—with BoP, it’s even more confusing, because the new 52 version is told with a fractured storyline. At the beginning you learn Dinah’s on the run, wanted for a murder, and you’re left feeling like you missed something really important (or at least I felt that way--who died? what? when?). If I remember correctly, they’ve only just started getting around to explaining what that’s all about and who it even was she’s supposedly killed.

Haa, I feel you on the Joker thing. I’ve avoided Suicide Squad specifically because of what they’ve done with Harley. I hear they’ve gotten her hidden intelligence down pretty well, but then there have been sooo many other things (and I mean more than just the weird redesign of her) I’ve heard terrible things about (like that thing with Deadshot. … just, no) I really want nothing to do with it. Which is sad, because Harley is one of my favorite characters (x).

How do you feel about the Death of the Family series so far? I haven’t read it yet, but I saw an issue (the one with Joker sitting with all those television sets) at my local comic book store and the image kind of drew me in. I was wondering if I should give it a shot or not.

Also: thanks for the compliments. n.n My bestie and I like to think of ourselves as Harley&Ivy in real life,
so we made avatars and costumes to match, haha.
And you’ve done a nice job with your Mr. J avatar, yourself. :]

- - - ________________ { I leave them all for you } ________________ - - -

[ajsnoopy]

Methinks you're right about Babs and her being back on her feet. In the Batgirl 14, she thinks back to the night she was paralyzed, but then some of her thought/dialogue is a little confusing about healing and how she doesn't feel helpless and...it kind of trails off, like those dots.

So no Ollie whatsoever then :l. Well dang. I just love their back and forth banter, both before and after they got married haha. So Dinah's on the run from killing some mysterious person at the beginning of the reboot...? I sure hope, after a year, the writers go into the why, who, how, and when soon. Is that affecting her relationship with the other girls on the team at all? Do they know who she bumped off? So many questions, lo siento.

Seems like I have found a kindred spirit in regards to how Harley is being portrayed in this new set. The thing with Deadshot completely threw me off. Why would she...how could she develop feelings for someone other than the Joker? Tis baffling...But I do suggest you read (not necessarily pick up since you're not a fan) the latest Suicide Squad. It involves the DotF story, and surprise surprise! Joker knew about her and Deadshot. You can only guess how that goes...Even when she sees Mr. J after a year of him being absent, her response is pretty lackluster. Usually we'd expect her going bonkers and crying for joy in seeing him.

I don't get the daisy dukes and tied up shirt, either. I know it's a bit retro, but I miss the harlequin suit. Hell, they could have modernized it a bit and blended it with her Arkham City look. Still look badass and be the lovable HQ we know and love. And while she may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, she could be pretty smart at times. She did get closer to killing Batman than Joker ever had, after all. (I do love the little gif you added in there xd )

So far the Death of the Family story is pretty interesting. Joker returns and he wants Batman all for himself again *gasp!*. He feels Batman isn't up to snuff because he's always relying on the Batkids these days. So Joker is going to do what Joker does best: **** up Batman's/Bruce's life as best as possible in harming those around the caped crusader. The whole face removal thing still baffles me, and I I still can't figure out why he would do such a thing. I guess it'll conclude in February or March, so I'm excited to see where it will go. More than likely DC will come out with a TPB of the series, so if you don't want to pick up individual issues, you can always wait for the collection.

Awwww! Well you and your bestie look wonderful in your outfits ;D. Harley and Ivy are amazing together, hands down. Does she look out for you like Red does Harley? :3 Do you two hit up the convention scene in your outfits, as well?
And thank you! Did some TekTeks a ways back of the Clown and decided to go with his KJ look. When it comes to Phx Comicon, though, it was all about BTAS and DCU Online Joker wink .

[Winniwyn]

I've dropped a couple of titles since the New52 started and one of the series I was reading was dropped by DC. Still, I'm reading quite a few titles and I'm liking my current pull list. Batman, Wonder Woman, Animal Man, and Batwoman are among my favorites. And I'm actually thinking of picking up Catwoman now that Winick is of the title!

That being said, I'm still not happy with DC's editorial nonsense. I want Wally West back, but I am especially bothered by the crap they've been pulling with Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain. I don't see how labeling the characters as 'toxic' is profitable to anyone.

[EmptyxNamine]

{• ◊ Sweet dreams that ♥ won't come true... ◊ • }

Whoops! I wasn’t quoted, so I didn’t see your post ‘til now. Sorry about that. Haha, questions are fine (and understandable). It’s been a while since I read it, but as I recall, Canary told them she didn’t want to go into it. The other members of the team aren’t too bothered by it; they’ve been very supportive of her. And the other girls kind of have their own pasts/issues anyway, so even if Canary did kill someone not like they could really judge. ^^;

Thanks for the tip about the latest Suicide Squad. I’ve found a lot of people are pretty upset about that version of Harley. I don’t know if it’s so much that Harley had feelings for Deadshot as they just sort of had a fling? But I could be wrong. I can’t believe she wouldn’t have a strong reaction to seeing J again, though.

I miss Harley’s old suit a lot, too. I really have no idea what is going on with these redesigns. I feel like they’re getting progressively worse. O_o; For example, in that new Injustice Gods Among Us game, her costume is presently this.

Oohh Joker did that to his face himself? I guess I just assumed someone else had, or he’d gone through some kind of…well, I’m baffled now, also haha. I was thinking I might just wait for the collection, seems easiest.

And thanks again. n.n Red is pretty amazing. We try to look out for eachother, for sure. We haven’t actually been to a convention in our outfits yet, only around town/her university close to Halloween (both this year and last…although last Halloween we had a bigger group of Batman villains gallivanting around with us). We always get a great reaction with our costumes, though. Last year we went to my sister’s band finals (the crowd thought we were going to be part of the halftime show xD) and to Olive Garden for dinner, and our servers were actually comic book lovers so they knew to call us by our “work” names, haha. We are planning to go to a con in our costumes come December, though.

I don't think you can go wrong with a B:tas cosplay. x] And ooh, DCU Online, huh? I really want to make Harl’s war costume. I think that is my dream cosplay right there.

- - - ________________ { I leave them all for you } ________________ - - -

[ajsnoopy]

Jackie-senpai

Which title was recently dropped by DC that you had picked up during the reboot? I know they're going to end Stormwatch soon, but I wasn't aware of other titles being dropped. Also, what titles are currently in your pull box? (aside from the ones you listed ^_^) I would highly suggest picking up Catwoman 13 and 14 if you're following the latest story for the Bat family ;D. So far so good!

I've noticed that not much of the modern Flash titles involve Wally West whatsoever. They always seem to focus on Barry Allen these days :l. Jay Garrick fan myself, but I can stick to Earth 2 and JSA titles for him. When/how have Stephanie and Cassandra been labeled as "toxic"? I haven't read any titles involving either of the characters sweatdrop .

[ajsnoopy]

EmptyxNamine

That's my fault for not quoting you that time! haha, my bad sweatdrop . But that's pretty nice/cool of her team mates not to pressure her about what happened in the past. And as you pointed out, they all have done things they're not proud of, so they understand.

No problem! After reading a few pages in the store of the first issue, I haven't picked up any Suicide Squad until yesterday. The whole Harley/Deadshot thing was a turnoff. But I suppose things will pick up now that her puddin' is back in Gotham. Her outfits...I don't understand the shorts with the corset and half cape. The cape itself reminds me of Ezio in Assassin's Creed, lol. Checked out the link you posted and I, too, am baffled. What is even going on...it's like she's wearing half a renaissance costume :la. We want old school Harley! Come on now!

In regards to the face thing with Joker, he had Dollmaker remove his face in Detective Comics 1. I guess it threw me off because Mr. J is turned off by physical contact on that level most of the time. But he is predictably unpredictable.

So it sounds like both you and Red have had a blast dressing up and attending various places and events! Oh man, to see you both at an exhibition/competition...I would probably be thinking the same about you being part of a rival band's show xD. That's how we band kids roll. And for the servers at a restaurant to understand who both of you were and address you "in character"...Amazing. They get all of the kudos, as well. I do hope you have a blast at the convention next month, yessir! Take lots of pictures and plan things out ahead of time! From one convention goer to another, it's always good to have some sort of plan going into it xD.

Ament to that! BTAS for the win! It was a blast dressing up as him, that's for sure. Not five minutes into the exhibition room and I was being stopped for photo ops lol. Went all the way with dying my hair green and such (not going to happen any time soon again, mind you) and did my best with building a bazooka from PVC piping. The vest (DCU) took the longest to put together, but was worth it in the end! I have faith that you'll be able to do Harley's war costume sometime soon. You shall! And you can find so much to use for her costume at army surplus stores and even secondhand stores like Goodwill and Savers ^_^. The helmet itself is worthy of all the praise.

[Winniwyn]

ajsnoopy

Jackie-senpai

Which title was recently dropped by DC that you had picked up during the reboot? I know they're going to end Stormwatch soon, but I wasn't aware of other titles being dropped. Also, what titles are currently in your pull box? (aside from the ones you listed ^_^) I would highly suggest picking up Catwoman 13 and 14 if you're following the latest story for the Bat family ;D. So far so good!

I've noticed that not much of the modern Flash titles involve Wally West whatsoever. They always seem to focus on Barry Allen these days :l. Jay Garrick fan myself, but I can stick to Earth 2 and JSA titles for him. When/how have Stephanie and Cassandra been labeled as "toxic"? I haven't read any titles involving either of the characters sweatdrop .

Justice League International was the one that ended. It wasn't really that great but it was kind of my mindlessly-fun-actiony title that I was picking up so I'll miss that...plus, no more Booster.

Other than what I listed I think all I'm picking up is Batgirl and Birds of Prey. However, I've also been reading Demon Knights which my brother in-law has been getting.

Wally currently doesn't exist in the New 52. The guy that's been writing and doing the art for the Flash has mentioned that he wants to work with the character but so far DC hasn't allowed him to do this.

And that's kind of the point with Cass and Steph being "toxic", they haven't been seen at all in the New 52. Even though there's been a large fan outcry over this and several writers have pitched books to bring them back into the fold, including some of their top writers. While I'm not a huge Grant Morrison fan, I can't deny that his books sell well, yet even he isn't allowed to do anything with them.

As far as I know that's where the bullshit ends with Cass Cain, but Steph...There have been two separate instances where they've given her cameos in out of continuity titles, only to have them altered in some way. For the Smallville comic she was supposed to appear as Nightwing, however the book's team was told to use someone else so they changed her into Barbara Gordon. Please note that they were not asked to change it to Babs specifically, they were just told that it couldn't be Stephanie Brown. More recently, in the Lil' Gotham digital comic there was a trick-or-treater dressed as the Stephanie Brown version of Batgirl. She looked exactly like Steph right down to the blonde hair...that is until DC told the artist to change her hair color. Mind you, this was a TINY cameo appearance, and one of many on that page. You can find a more detailed account with actual evidence here.

I've never even actually read a comic with Stephanie Brown and this kind of crap still upsets me. It doesn't help that I got interested in the character RIGHT BEFORE the New 52 came out and part of her run of comics as Batgirl is already out of print, even though its only been out for a year. rolleyes

[ajsnoopy]

Jackie-senpai

Aw man...I thought JLI would be one title that would hold out a little longer. Is that the only title Booster is featured in? I didn't know if he had a self title set this time around or not. While frustrating at times, he can be quite fun to read XD.

How is Demon Knights turning out? Have thought about picking up an issue, but can never make up my mind when I'm in the store. Etrigan has been an on and off character for me in the Bat series, but sometimes he can be pretty endearing.

Since Wally may still come about in the future, perhaps they'll do a storyline with Barry traveling through time via the Speed Force. *shrug* Love when the Flashes team up, so maybe something will happen to where the two meet up. Or switch places somehow.

Checked out the article you linked, and now I understand your frustration. It's confusing as to why they're bouncing Stephanie all over the place. Why not have her pop in as Spoiler once in a while to help out like she did back in the day? Or the writers could have her take on a completely different identity this time around. The possibilities are just about endless: It's a REBOOT for a reason, DC. Get your crap together.

Sadly, I only have one issue where Cassandra is Batgirl (DC 1st: Batgirl vs Joker). I would love to read more with her as Batgirl or even have her introduced as...wait no. That won't work :l. This whole thing with Barbara having the ability to walk once more has pretty much kicked Cassandra to the curb. If anything, I'd like to see how that changes the dynamic between the two since Barbara was training Cassandra when she was still Oracle. Gah, the questions and confusion!

[Winniwyn]

ajsnoopy

Jackie-senpai

Aw man...I thought JLI would be one title that would hold out a little longer. Is that the only title Booster is featured in? I didn't know if he had a self title set this time around or not. While frustrating at times, he can be quite fun to read XD.

How is Demon Knights turning out? Have thought about picking up an issue, but can never make up my mind when I'm in the store. Etrigan has been an on and off character for me in the Bat series, but sometimes he can be pretty endearing.

Since Wally may still come about in the future, perhaps they'll do a storyline with Barry traveling through time via the Speed Force. *shrug* Love when the Flashes team up, so maybe something will happen to where the two meet up. Or switch places somehow.

Checked out the article you linked, and now I understand your frustration. It's confusing as to why they're bouncing Stephanie all over the place. Why not have her pop in as Spoiler once in a while to help out like she did back in the day? Or the writers could have her take on a completely different identity this time around. The possibilities are just about endless: It's a REBOOT for a reason, DC. Get your crap together.

Sadly, I only have one issue where Cassandra is Batgirl (DC 1st: Batgirl vs Joker). I would love to read more with her as Batgirl or even have her introduced as...wait no. That won't work :l. This whole thing with Barbara having the ability to walk once more has pretty much kicked Cassandra to the curb. If anything, I'd like to see how that changes the dynamic between the two since Barbara was training Cassandra when she was still Oracle. Gah, the questions and confusion!

Yeah, I think JLI has been over with for at least a month now and yes, as far as I know, it was the only series to feature Booster.

Demon Knights is excellent. I wish I'd decided to pick that one up myself! Etrigan is....Well, he's okay in the book, but I feel that its the supporting cast that really makes it shine. Personal favorites are Exoristos, Vandal Savage, and Shining Knight!

I could be wrong but personally I don't think they're going to bring Wally into the New 52 anytime soon. They've got Bart so there's already a Kid Flash, and that doesn't leave too much room for Wally in the Flash Family. I'm also somewhat miffed that Barry is wearing Wally's costume now. I know its not much different from the original and that its a small detail, but it still bothers me. Same with the new/old Huntress!

Yeah, and like I said I'm not even a Steph fan yet, I'm only interested in the character. I can't even imagine how her fans must be feeling right now!

I just don't see why Cass can't just be Black Bat like she was in Batman Inc. before the reboot. Why is it that there can only have been one Batgirl but three different Robins is okay?! It was mentioned that Babs was paralyzed for three years, why can't they just say that Cass took over during that time and now she's Black Bat?

[ajsnoopy]

Jackie-senpai

Aside from Booster, who else is on the team? Thinking of picking up an issue or two in the next week when hitting up the new releases...

Thinking you might purchase the collection when/if one is released of Demon Knights? biggrin Wait...Vandal Savage?! Hot dang. With him and Etrigan working together, that has to be pretty insane at times.

Man...I do hope you're wrong about Wally not appearing later on in one of the series. Do you think they'd have him show up in one of the JLA titles? It's just hard for me to believe that DC would go through a reboot without Wally. Especially since Bart is even featured in one of the comics. And now there's a different Huntress? I sure am behind on the times when it comes to the other titles; my apologies sweatdrop .

Also, I had completely forgotten that Cassandra moved on to being the Black Bat (I really do need to get more titles featuring her DX ). Maybe after the DotF is done and over, they'll expand more on the Batfamily itself and DC will decide to discuss what Steph and Cass are up to these days while Bruce and Co. are busy doing their thing.

[Winniwyn]

ajsnoopy

Jackie-senpai

Aside from Booster, who else is on the team? Thinking of picking up an issue or two in the next week when hitting up the new releases...

Thinking you might purchase the collection when/if one is released of Demon Knights? biggrin Wait...Vandal Savage?! Hot dang. With him and Etrigan working together, that has to be pretty insane at times.

Man...I do hope you're wrong about Wally not appearing later on in one of the series. Do you think they'd have him show up in one of the JLA titles? It's just hard for me to believe that DC would go through a reboot without Wally. Especially since Bart is even featured in one of the comics. And now there's a different Huntress? I sure am behind on the times when it comes to the other titles; my apologies sweatdrop .

Also, I had completely forgotten that Cassandra moved on to being the Black Bat (I really do need to get more titles featuring her DX ). Maybe after the DotF is done and over, they'll expand more on the Batfamily itself and DC will decide to discuss what Steph and Cass are up to these days while Bruce and Co. are busy doing their thing.

Uhh...there are a lot of characters in JLI so I'd probably forget some of them if I tried to list them all...Off the top of my head? Fire, Ice, Guy Gardner, Vixen, Godiva, August General in Iron, Batman, Batwing, uhhhh....that's where I start drawing a blank. Honestly, there were way too many characters to do any of them justice.

Yeah, Vandal is easily the funnest character in Demon Knights! And I dunno about the collections...probably eventually but there are other TPB's that have priority at the moment since I have easy access to Demon Knights right now.

I doubt Wally will show up in JLA at all. Like I said, he doesn't seem to exist at the moment. But yeah, they've gone back to using the original Huntress, Helena Wayne.

As for the Cass and Steph issue? I dunno, I get the feeling that there MIGHT be hope for Cassandra since they haven't pulled the same amount of bullshit with her, but Steph? Even one of her creators seems to think that someone at DC has a vendetta against her. Source.

[ajsnoopy]

Jackie-senpai

All in all, the JLI is a sizable team to say the least. Rock on wink .

Looks like you have convinced me to pick up an issue of each to see what each is about. Haven't been the biggest Vandal fan, but I'm excited to see what he brings to the table.

Thanks for the article link, btdubs! Now I understand what you mean about these characters. It's almost as if DC wants to forget these select characters ever existed. I think keeping Steph as Nightwing would have been hella awesome. Since she's back and well, why not write her back into the comics? And now Clark and Lois aren't an 'item' and will probably never be?