Time to refine DC

To say that DC hasn't been "new reader friendly" would not be an unfair statement. Since the countdown to Infinite Crisis started back in 2005, there have been few "jumping on points" for those not quite familiar with the DCU. One Year Later's novelty depended on you knowing what had been before and therefore familiar with the references to how things had changed over the missing year. Before and past that point has been crossover, crossover, crossover. DC's plan seems to be to get readers to buy as many obscure titles as possible. The punishment for not doing so? You miss an important chuck of any ongoing story.

But last week, I saw a vision of hope for DC in the form of Trinity. I don't read reviews outside of Paul O'Brien's X-Axis, so I have no idea what the fanboys are saying about it, but I really enjoyed the first issue. New readers might be able to as well - all you need to know is who Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman are, that they are close friends, and that Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne are the secret identities of Superman and Batman. Everything else is explained. It's pretty easy to assume that anyone interested in a DC comic will know these simple matters.

This is what DC needs - a point to take a break and let the universe catch its breath. Give a couple months without the crossovers, the mega-events and the endless tie-in mini-series and let the characters redefine themselves. As it is now, it's hard to tell what's going on with whom, as the characters are jumping around event to event at every turn - and with two consecutive weekly mini-series wrapped up, there have been a lot of places to jump.

Marvel's starting to show signs of this as well by linking Civil War to Secret Invasion, but I'll hold my judgment until after the event ends. More refined, the X-Men have been going full-tilt since Endangered Species started, but with Uncanny #500, the book hits its defining issue and moves forward.

But DC needs to do something badly after Final Crisis that lets the DCU become more reader-friendly. It's the entire reason Crisis on Infinite Earths was done to begin with.

Trinity

Over the weekend, DC officially announced that Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley would be working on a new weekly title called "Trinity," and this book would feature the big 3 of DC: Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. The first 12 pages of each issue would be done by Busiek and Bagley, and the last 10 pages done by other creative teams, and will somehow tie into the story. Here are some of my opinions on questions that might be coming to mind.

Why put Superman and Batman in another book? This brings up the complaint of over-saturization. Superman is currently an active member in 4 books, and Batman is regularly active in 4-7 books. Add that Wonder Woman is in 2 books, and that does bring up the question, 'why do we need these characters in another book.?' The answer to that is, 'why not?' Why not put characters in another book if someone has what is believed to be a good story to tell? Someone with a good story to tell should not be told no, based on how many books are already out. Would you have told Jeph Loeb not to do The Long Halloween because there were already enough books with Batman in them?

Where does this fit in continuity? Right now, who cares? People care way too much about continuity. The more important thing is the quality of the story. I would rather read a good story that I have no idea how it fits into the rest of the universe, than a bad story that I know where it fits in. Just enjoy the story.

Why another weekly title? This, I do not really have an answer for. It all depends on the quality and purpose of the backup stories. If the backup stories are poor, and pointless, then the case can be made that this book could really be a bi-weekly book, with just Busiek and Bagley's work. However, that is a judgment that cannot, and should not be made until after the book launches in June.

I am sure there are more questions running through people's minds, but those are the one's that I can think of at the moment. In summary, everything depends on the quality of the book. If it is a good book, people will enjoy it, and not question the frivilous details about it. If it is a bad book, then questions and doubts will flow forth. People will pay for a good story, regardless if it comes out every week, or every couple of months. Sure, they may complain, but the book will still be bought.