"5G" -- DC main characters to be "replaced," including Hal

[Andrew NDB]

Apparently word coming from NYCC is Jon will be aged up further to an adult and will replace Clark as Superman!

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/10...man-dc-comics/

...And apparently, this is what the whole of "5G" is about..replacing all of the veteran heroes with new legacy characters

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/10...dc-comics-5gt/

Wonder Woman will be the first title relaunched under the new 5G era in either January 2021 or November 2020, with further relaucnhes occuring each month, each title replacing the veteran hero with an unexpected legacy

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/10...-dc-comics-5g/

[Trey Strain]

You folks know the definition of insanity, right?

Oh wait. I bet they'll hold out for as long as they possibly can, then bring back the originals in a huge event that will sell a zillion zillion copies to speculators. Meanwhile the writers can enrich themselves by writing about the own creations, and the "diversity" of the new characters will signal DC's virtue to any SJWs who are still paying attention to comic books.

It'll be a win-win-win!

Even though Dan DiDio just said they were going to stop the gimmicks. Apparently he said that to fake us out.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Trey Strain

You folks know the definition of insanity, right?

Oh wait. I bet they'll hold out for as long as they possibly can, then bring back the originals in a huge event that will sell a zillion zillion copies to speculators. Meanwhile the writers can enrich themselves by writing about the own creations, and the "diversity" of the new characters will signal DC's virtue to any SJWs who are still paying attention to comic books.

It'll be a win-win-win!

Even though Dan DiDio just said they were going to stop the gimmicks. Apparently he said that to fake us out.

It's probably a sticky note from their overlords at WB, to be fair.

[Mister Ed]

You'd think that the more sane approach to this would be to try it out with one hero and see how it goes, not plan out in advance to replace all the icons over a short time frame. Unless it IS just a gimmick that will be reversed in some huge event.

If it does stick, though, and if the GL replacement dumps ALL the older GLs in favor of Jessica and Simon, or some completely new GL created for the purpose (or worse, some other non-GL DC character repurposed for the role), it'll make a good jumping off point for comics for me. I'm already not thrilled about the darker, grittier direction (or more "mature" as some would call it) that things seem to be headed in general. If they really decide to wholesale replace all the big characters, what would keep me around?

[Trey Strain]

They've wanted for a long time to chase away all the tiresome, cranky, elderly farts who dominate the message boards and who get hysterical any time their precious childhoods from sixty years ago get "ruined.''

And I can understand DCs wanting to do that. Those people suck.

But they're assuming that there's a younger audience out there that's just waiting for a reason to run to the comics shops and spend four dollars a pop on funny books that have protagonists they can "relate to."

You know, the same idea DC got 25 years ago when it introduced the "younger and hipper" Kyle Rayner. Except that Kyle was a white male, which is now out.

But that rumored market is in the same category as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny -- there's no such thing. The only people who will pay four dollars for a funny book are those obnoxious old farts who dominate the message boards, and the even more obnoxious speculators.

[HalFingJordan]

Well this I can't condone. What in heavens are they thinking? And you're correct, I remember DC promising no more gimmicks like this just a bit ago.

[Hypo]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Apparently word coming from NYCC is Jon will be aged up further to an adult and will replace Clark as Superman!

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/10...man-dc-comics/

...And apparently, this is what the whole of "5G" is about..replacing all of the veteran heroes with new legacy characters

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/10...dc-comics-5gt/

Wonder Woman will be the first title relaunched under the new 5G era in either January 2021 or November 2020, with further relaucnhes occuring each month, each title replacing the veteran hero with an unexpected legacy

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/10...-dc-comics-5g/

The Beat reported that they've been hearing the same rumors so that lends an additional layer of credibility to this, depending on what you may or may not think of Bleeding Cool. They also add that this will be preceded by a crisis type/hypertime related event.

On one hand I give DC a little bit of credit since they're not repeating the same mistake from the New 52, which was trying to make things accessible by getting rid of previous continuity but at the same time this is clearly not the answer since Marvel just tried to do this with All New All Different Marvel and it bombed.

Like Trey said the flaw in this approach is that it assumes that there's an untapped audience out there willing to buy monthly comics but intimated by the years of continuity and I just don't think there is, or rather there isn't one big enough to offset the amount of long term readers something like this will alienate.

I'd much rather DC continue to invest in the kids/YA graphic novel market since we have actual proof that there's a large appetite for that kind of stuff (see this and this), doing that would have a much larger positive impact long term than something like this in my opinion.

[Michael Heide]

If an author wants to replace a character with another face for a while, let them. But an editorial mandate to do it line wide seems counterproductive.

[IonFan]

oh this is a great idea......................... if you want to turn the people who really buy your comics away that is

[Bob Sachs]

Originally Posted by IonFan

oh this is a great idea......................... if you want to turn the people who really buy your comics away that is

Comic sales aren't up to CEO greedy expectations. They are willing to play BINGO with the fanbase. They are loaded already after all. They can afford to take a few risks. Hasn't risks paid off for DC always in the past?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by bOB spelled backwards

Comic sales aren't up to CEO greedy expectations. They are willing to play BINGO with the fanbase. They are loaded already after all. They can afford to take a few risks. Hasn't risks paid off for DC always in the past?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If all of these reports are true then you can only be absolutely correct. Sadly.

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to" and all.

[Parrylakks]

It actually makes a bit of sense with some of the characters. I mean, we're within the final 20 years before Superman and Batman enter the public domain, and most of the other main DC heroes follow year by year thereafter, save Barry and Hal. It would be wise to get well ahead of it by introducing and establishing new characters in their iconic roles if they can.

Of course, thats probably not the reason they're doing this, but if it were, it would be smart. Instead this feels more like a repeat of the 90's, except instead of some characters getting revamped while others are replaced, they're all just getting replaced.

[Michael Heide]

The stories in Action Comics #1 and Detective Comics #27 will enter the public domain, but won't DC still hold the trademark for Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne?

[Parrylakks]

No, the characters as established therein will enter the public domain. So Superman at DC will have a bunch of abilities that aren't public domain, and both characters at DC will have a bunch of backstories that aren't public domain, but the characters themselves will be public domain. Then as each year passes, more and more of their backstories and powers and villains will enter the public domain, as well.

[Trey Strain]

Does that mean Mickey Mouse will enter the public domain in nine years? It was supposed to happen in 2003, but Disney is very rich and powerful.

[Space Cop]

Originally Posted by Trey Strain

Does that mean Mickey Mouse will enter the public domain in nine years? It was supposed to happen in 2003, but Disney is very rich and powerful.

[Ωmega Man]

I asked Google 'bout the Public Domain thing...

In general, works published after 1977 will not fall into the public domain until 70 years after the death of author, or, for corporate works, anonymous works, or works for hire, 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever expires first.

WB/DC will likely go for the 120 year mark and by then the laws will likely have been changed. Pretty sure Disney was one of the reasons for Trademark and Copyright laws being changed several years back, no reason to think it couldn't happen again.

[Andrew NDB]

Certainly they will fight tooth and nail to ensure that.

[Michael Heide]

Originally Posted by Ωmega Man

95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever expires first.

WB/DC will likely go for the 120 year mark and by then the laws will likely have been changed.

Will nobody remind them of the "whichever expires first" part?

[Trey Strain]

I think it's safe to assume that if Republicans control Congress as that deadline approaches, they'll extend it again.

[Trey Strain]

BTW, twenty years is a long time. If DC is already preparing for the transition, they're jumping the gun by fifteen years. A lot can change in that much time.

Of course though if Geoff is going to write the transition, he had better start now so he can finish it by then.

[Space Cop]

Originally Posted by Trey Strain

I think it's safe to assume that if Republicans control Congress as that deadline approaches, they'll extend it again.

I wouldn’t depend on a Democrat-led congress to oppose such extensions either.

[Trey Strain]

Originally Posted by Space Cop

I wouldn’t depend on a Democrat-led congress to oppose such extensions either.

They might not. But Republicans would certainly extend it. Any congressman who votes to extend it would receive lots and lots of campaign contributions from the companies who an extension would further enrich.

And of course that would involve "no quid pro quo," would it?

[Trey Strain]

Of course there'll be a huge blowback on the message boards from the same people who threw outraged tantrums for years over the New 52, but DC won't be cowed by that this time because those are the very people who they're hoping to chase away.

And the company will make an obscene amount of money off the speculators.

Long-term though, I don't think this will work out well. Superman is not just anyone who you put into a Superman costume and call Superman, and to this day the comics companies still haven't figured that out.

We'll see.

[Space Cop]

Originally Posted by Trey Strain

... Superman is not just anyone who you put into a Superman costume and call Superman, and to this day the comics companies still haven't figured that out...

I think that probably applies for Bats, and (to a lesser extent) Wonder Woman as well. Sure there was the run where Dick was Bats and a few similar attempts, but I think even where those were popular it was because readers essentially knew Bruce was waiting in the wings.