Whoa. Via Newsarama:

The center of intense rumor and speculation for months now, DC confirmed today that the fictional shared universe of Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Lantern and more will undergo a revamp of their oft-rewritten 76 year-plus history of shared continuity….

“We looked at what was going on in the marketplace and felt we really want to inject new life in our characters and line,” added co-publisher Dan DiDio. “This was a chance to start, not at the beginning, but at a point where our characters are younger and the stories are being told for today’s audience.”

Along with the revamp, and sure to cause uproar among those who buy comic books as collectibles, all DC Universe titles will also be renumbered with new #1 issues.

More importantly, there’s this:

DC also announced they plan to make all of their titles available for sale in digital format on the same day as their published counterparts, starting with Justice League #1. While the decision could probably be described as inevitable, the announcement will still likely be poorly received among some segments of “Direct Market” comic book retailers, whose stores account for the current backbone of monthly comic book sales.

Things are changing. Even more than they already were.

With honor and distinction, Erik Henriksen served as the executive editor of the Portland Mercury from 2004 to 2020. He can now be found at henriksenactual.com.

7 replies on “DC Comics to Reboot Everything. And Embrace Digital Distribution. Hard.”

  2. This is just rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic. No one is buying monthlies; everyone is just getting TPBs off of Amazon for half the price of the brick’n’mortars.

  6. This move is less about DC and more about Warner. I’m sure some comic types at DC still care about local retailers. And they know their current sales come from the Grahams mailing money to Seattle or dorks like me picking up issues on Wednesdays.

    But Time Warner has long wanted a crack at middle Americans hopped up on Iron Man 2 and Thor and iPads but highly unlikely to step into The Android’s Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop. Hey Mr. McMansion, why not download Batman #1 while you’re waiting for your table at PF Chang’s? Kindle owners, these are your peers.

    So someone at Time Warner along with Diane Nelson held a one-way meeting with Dan DiDio explaining how this was going to work, with Dan speaking directly to the unwashed hordes.

    Warner’s corporate policy has long been to champion e-books, hoping to cut out pesky local middlemen and pocket the difference. Dazzle the natives with a shiny toy that siphons money out of communities.

    But maybe it doesn’t matter. Unless you rely on local advertisers or like to keep your money in the community or prefer the intrinsic investment in a physical item or are a budding comic writer trying to get a title off the ground, you probably don’t need a local shop.

  7. As a comics reader I’m used to these reboots. I don’t really care about continuity as long as I can read a good story with good artwork. Sadly those are things all but a very few of DC’s books have been providing me recently. Hopefully they can wrangle up some better writers. Grant Morrison and Greg Ruka shouldn’t have to carry all the water.

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