Bastard's Notebook

The fact that Copper now has a book release is very relevant to my interests, and should be to some of you as well. Love this comic, as well as Amulet, and some of the other stuff that Kazu Kibuishi does. Go follow the links, it's worth it.

So, yes, when I planned for this week, I had some targets topics set up in advance. And after having thrown a good number of paychecks down this particular toilet, I feel I'm allowed to at least speak on the subject.

Specifically, the concept of the re-boot. We've seen it with comic-book movies, offshoots, and in the comics themselves, mostly because no story is really intended to stay as a static entity for decades. You can't truly let the characters evolve- if Batman ever really came to grips with the death of his family, he'd lose his motivation. If Jesus Christ Superman could ever truly be defeated, we'd lose faith in his ability as the savior of all mankind. And readers would lose their happy Wednesday evening pablum of the identical stories they'd grown up on since childhood. The Crisis books and similar are just extensions of it- it may look like the universe of the comic has been shaken up, but in reality, a few months later, it's back to the usual status quo. Yes, I realize that things have shaken up some with the actual death of Batman, but at the same time, there's still going to be a Batman after this.

Now, here's what I'd like to see. (DC execs? if you're somehow reading this, feel free to steal it. Seriously. I'd pay to read this. You don't have to owe me a fucking cent.) It's a bit of a ballsy move, especially from the standpoint of the industry these days, where even the big companies aren't exactly raking it in. Anyways, here it goes- stop publishing. Just for a month. Don't give any warning to the customers, don't accept payments from retailers for that period, do whatever you have to, but no new comics for an entire month. The beginning of the next month, ship one single comic. Call it: "No More Heroes," volume one. Just a simple cover design- solid black with white type. (Invert it! Sell an alternate cover version just to appease the 1990's collectors!) Inside? 108 pages of story. Start with the team of archaeologists sent into the Fortress of Solitude. Cut to the spelunkers exploring what's left of the Batcave. The wreckage team sifting the remains of the JLA space station after it crashed in the Amazon Rainforest. Allude in dialog towards the "disappearance," but give away no details whatsoever. If a threat comes up, regular human beings defeat it. With their own determination, tools, and skills.

As issues continue the stories of these groups, we see the occasional new hero pop up. Nothing as overpowered as old Supes, but nonetheless, heroes. With superpowers. These characters ultimately get their own books, as they build followings from the readers of No More Heroes. But still, DC- you've got essentially a new universe- don't fuck it up. No gigantic crossovers. No Crisis. And no superhero that can save all of us without even hardly trying. Try stressing the fact that supers, despite their capabilities, are still people. And people are what fucking saves the day. Not tights or capes, or the ability to launch supersonic farts that can split asteroids.


discuss.