DC Heads to the Chopping Block Again

I was all set to start on another week’s books but after looking online at some stuff, I was surprised how many books are being cancelled in the coming months. I don’t remember books being cycled through this quickly before Flashpoint.

A few titles are just being replaced. Justice League of America is being relaunched as Justice League United, keeping half the team and adding a few new members including Adam Strange. Teen Titans is being rebooted pretty much as it is. Red Robin, Wonder Girl, Raven (Is she still going to be evil?), Bunker, and a green Beast Boy (I wonder how that’s going to happen.) are going to stick together it seems. Not sure why they are doing that other than for another new #1. After the events of Forever Evil, Nightwing is becoming Grayson as he becomes some sort of secret agent. Suicide Squad is changing to the New Suicide Squad. (Not sure how much it’s really changing or why the relaunch.)

The books I’ve seen that are just getting the axe (or already have recently) are Stromwatch (Finally, since the higher ups thought it was cancelled already.), Superman Unchained, Green Team, Batman: the Dark Knight, Talon, Vibe, and Katana. Given that the New 52 started with 52 titles and each cancellation was replaced with a new one, DC is falling well below the 52 count now. Star-Spangled War Stories featuring G.I. Zombie (Really?!?) is one of the few new titles. Do we really have to ride on the zombie coat tails? I’m actually surprised that they are taking out some superman and Batman titles. I guess they finally hit a level of over-saturation.

Prior to Flashback, DC had a lot of good solid titles. Ever since New 52 started, it seems like they are throwing stuff at a wall to see what will stick. Sadly, too much of it isn’t sticking. I miss the days of titles with issues numbered into multiple hundreds. These new series just don’t seem to have the staying power or the writing and storytelling levels of the old books. With rising prices, it’s no surprise that fewer and fewer people are into comics nowadays.