Proving the point I quoted in my last post ("Fan fiction is a way of the culture repairing the damage done in a system where contemporary myths are owned by corporations instead of by the folk."), DC comics, the home of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, etc., has announced that in September all of their titles will start again with new first issues, and apparently with all existing continuity thrown out the window. Again.
This happens periodically with both major comic book companies, because the continuity becomes too convoluted over time (and too impenetrable to new readers, and too different from what's in the movies). So, for example, it appears that Hal Jordan will be back as Green Lantern, as he was in the movie, despite the fact that (I think) Hal has been dead for a while now in the comics.
So, the Batgirl whose adventures I've been enjoying so much (Stephanie Brown) will apparently cease to exist, and the original Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) will be back. And, most upsettingly, Secret Six will apparently cease to exist in any form. Feh.
Amusingly, Wonder Woman, who was just rebooted last year, with all previous continuity thrown out, is being rebooted again as part of the general reboot. One big change last year was finally allowing her to wear pants. Now, based on the ad I've seen, she's back to her original look ("I'm a fierce Amazon warrior princess, and I've come to fight evil in Man's World. Wearing a one-piece bathing suit.").
And, of course, all of the new continuity will be temporary, just as it is when a major character dies. Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, is dead at the moment, I believe. His teammates are mourning him, so apparently they're the only ones who haven't figured out how temporary this will be. Colossus was dead (absolutely, definitely) in the comics until Joss Whedon, superstar writer, indicated that he'd like to write an X-men book and bring Colossus back. Suddenly, the big guy wasn't so absolutely, definitely dead after all.
So, am I going to go out and write fan fiction about Stephanie Brown's Batgrl, or the Secret Six? No, I have better things to do. But I do understand the urge.
Speaking of the better things I have to do, once again I'm working on two projects at once (as recommended on the excellent blog Maggie Madly Writing – it was nice to find out that I'm not the only one who works this way).
The mystery stories are mostly done, for now, but there are a few things still to be added (a couple of floor plans, an epilogue), plus rewrites and a possible book. However, right now I'm working on the second draft (I think of it as the second first draft) of Throwing Stones. I'm already getting some really good feedback from a great group of readers.
One reader is lagging behind a bit, however, but she's got very good reasons. In addition to having a novel to finish, which I knew about in advance, she's also got a book contract! So, everybody should go visit Sonje Jones and congratulate her on this wonderful news. I can't wait to read On the Chase.
Hey, thanks for the props!
To your other points, that’s interesting about comic books “rebooting.” I didn’t know they did that, although I guess it makes sense for the reasons you listed above. I’ve never been that into to comic books (or at all, really) but I have recently been delving into graphic novels. I read Osamu Tezuka’s 8 volume BUDDHA series and have since read other graphic novels that have been quite interesting and quite good. Jason’s HEY WAIT comes to mind as well. But actual super hero comic books? Not so much.
We did just get the 2009 Wonder Woman movie, so I have a tiny bit of interest in the Wonder Woman comics now, although I wish she was still able to wear pants. The idea that the story will start from the beginning is part of my interest. See? It’s working. They might be getting a newbie, although I can understand that it would be frustrating to have a series end that you were interested in. Do they draw the stories to a conclusion of some sort? Or do they just end it mid-stream?
I’m not sure if they’re closing out the stories or not. I hope so, but I guess we’ll find out in August. This was announced a month or two ago but I resisted finding out about it then because these things always annoy me. This week I figured I’d better get the handout so I wouldn’t be caught totally by surprise. So, I’ve been going through it and deciding which series I’m going to try.