The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC cancelled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new series in September 2011. Among the renumbered series were Action Comics and Detective Comics, which had retained their original numbering since the 1930s.
The relaunch included changes to the publishing format; for example, print and digital comics began to be released on the same day. New titles were released to bring the number of ongoing monthly series to 52. Various changes were also made to DC's fictional universe to entice new readers, including changes to DC's internal continuity to make characters more modern and accessible. In addition, characters from the Wildstorm and Vertigo imprints were absorbed into the DC Universe.
The New 52 branding ended after the completion of the "Convergence" storyline in May 2015, although its continuity continued. In June 2015, 24 new titles were launched, alongside 25 returning titles, with several of those receiving new creative teams. In February 2016, DC announced the New 52's successor, Rebirth, which reset the continuity to its prior status quo, and "synchronized" it with the New 52 continuity. The Rebirth branding was launched with the release of an 80-page one-shot on May 25, 2016.
Publication history
Launch and Second Wave
Following the conclusion of the Flashpoint limited series, DC cancelled and relaunched all titles set in the DC Universe with new #1 issues. The new continuity features new outfits and backstories for many of DC's long-established heroes and villains. An interview with DC Comics executive editor Eddie Berganza and editor-in-chief Bob Harras revealed that the new continuity did not constitute a full reboot of the DC Universe but rather a "soft reboot". While many characters underwent a reboot or revamp, much of the DC Universe's history remained intact. Many major storylines such as "War of the Green Lanterns", "Batman: A Death in the Family" and Batman: The Killing Joke remained part of the new continuity, while others have been lost in part or in whole. DC editorial constructed a timeline that details the new history and which storylines to keep or ignore.
On August 31, 2011, Midtown Comics Times Square held a midnight event at which they began selling Justice League #1 and Flashpoint #5. On hand to sign the books were DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, who was the writer of both titles, and co-publisher and writer/artist
Changes to the DC Universe
In June 2011, DC co-publisher Jim Lee revealed that he and DC Art Director Mark Chiarello had enlisted artist Cully Hamner to help spearhead the redesign of characters for the relaunch of the DC Universe.
In late July 2011, DC released The New 52, a free preview book giving solicitations and previews of all of the new titles launching from August 31, 2011. Notable continuity changes shown included Superman's two new looks: one which consists of jeans, a blue T-shirt with the "S" logo and a cape, the other consisting of Kryptonian battle armor that resembles his classic costume. Other notable changes included the integration of the WildStorm imprint's characters into DC continuity, with Martian Manhunter as a part of the new Stormwatch team in the relaunched Stormwatch series.
Justice League was the first book of the relaunch, with the first issue released on August 31, 2011. The first story arc takes place five years in the past, detailing the first meeting of the Justice League members and the formation of the team.
The initial run of first issues show a universe in which superheroes have only appeared within the last five years and are viewed with suspicion and hostility, with Superman and Batman being pursued by the police five years ago at the start of their careers.
Publications
Imprint titles
The imprint titles are divided into seven families of titles, revolving around central characters or themes. By the release of the October 2013 solicitations, DC was no longer grouping the titles by these families. Instead they began releasing one larger solicit, titled "The New 52 Group". However, titles that were not participating in an event for the month, such as "Forever Evil", were still grouped together in the larger solicit by the previous family headings.
- "Justice League" – These titles featured characters related to the Justice League.
- "Batman" – These titles featured Batman and the "Batman Family" of characters.
- "Superman" – These titles featured Superman and the "Superman Family" of characters.
- "Green Lantern" – These titles featured the members of the Green Lantern Corps and the other Lantern Corps of the emotional spectrum.
- "Young Justice" – These titles featured teenaged characters and superhero teams.
Reception
Sales
Pre-orders for Justice League #1 exceeded 200,000 copies. Justice League #1 has been sent back to press at least four times and all of The New 52's first issue titles sold out by September 24, 2011. For the month of September 2011, DC had eight of the top ten comic books, in spite of Marvel's heavily publicized replacement Ultimate Spider-Man, Miles Morales debuting in that title the same month. Justice League #1 was the top selling comic book in 2011.
Writer Warren Ellis was unimpressed with the relaunch's sales, stating that it garnered DC a half-point lead in dollar share and a five-point lead in units sold over Marvel Comics. Ellis also pointed out that the units DC sold were returnable.
Columnist Heidi MacDonald stated that, while the market share comparisons were correct, the sales figures for single issue books did not take into account the fact that returnable comics were downgraded by approximately 10%, and that DC's sales were about that amount lower than the actual sales, in order to allow for potential returns. MacDonald opined that while the sellouts and reprintings made returns unlikely, the sales would remain 10% lower throughout the period in which the books could be returned, which lasted through December 2011, and that actual sales would be adjusted for this factor in Diamond Comic Distributors' end of year figures.
Writer and ComicMix columnist
Criticism
Lack of female creators
The launch of the New 52 was criticized for the lack of female creators, which had dropped from 12% to 1%, the latter figure represented by writer Gail Simone and Amy Reeder, an alternating artist on Batwoman who would not debut on that title until issue #6. This led to a tense interaction between fans and DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio at the 2011 San Diego Comic Con, where DiDio was asked by a fan about the drop in female creators from 12% to 1%. DiDio responded by saying, "What do those numbers mean to you? What do they mean to you? Who should we be hiring? Tell me right now. Who should we be hiring right now? Tell me."
In an editorial responding to DiDio, ComicsAlliance editor-in-chief Laura Hudson wrote, "Women are half of the world, and a significant percentage of the DC Comics character stable, and yet only 1% of their creators. And the way that you treat and represent half of the people in your world—and by extension, half of the people in the real world who might potentially buy your books—should be more than a marginal concern."
On July 29, 2011, DC released a letter addressing the lack of female creators on their official blog, highlighting notable female creators currently being published by them and promising more in the future. Hudson called the letter "an enormous and very positive departure from how DC Comics has dealt with controversies about gender and race in the past, which was almost uniformly not to comment", adding, "While it remains to be seen what sort of meaningful changes in either attitudes or hiring practices will follow, it certainly leaves me feeling more optimistic than I have in some time, or maybe ever."
In other media
- In the video games Batman: Arkham Origins, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, and Batman: Arkham Knight, skins based on Batman's New 52 costume design and the Batman of Earth 2's New 52 design, are available to be unlocked, as well as a metallic version in Origins and suits for Nightwing and Robin in Knight.
- In the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us, three alternate costumes based on The New 52 designs of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman were packaged with the Collector's Edition of the game. "The New 52" skin pack was later released as DLC, alongside an "Earth 2" skin pack, featuring Solomon Grundy, the Flash and Hawkgirl's designs from the Earth 2 series. Alternate costumes based on The New 52 designs of Nightwing, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Shazam are also unlockable in the game. In the PlayStation 4 edition of the game, a skin based on The New 52 Black Adam is available.
- The 2014 direct-to-video animated film, Justice League: War, is based on the first New 52 Justice League storyline, "Origin". Aquaman's New 52 origin is examined in the DC Universe animated film Justice League: Throne of Atlantis
See also
- "Flashpoint", the storyline that leads directly into The New 52
- DC Rebirth, the initiative that follows The New 52
- DC Implosion, a 1978 event in which DC cancelled or reformatted many of its titles, although not for the purposes of rebooting the fictional universe
- "Crisis on Infinite Earths", a similar 1985 storyline, used to simplify and reboot concepts in the DC Universe
- "Infinite Crisis", the 2005–2006 sequel storyline to Crisis on Infinite Earths
External links
References
- Yehl, Joshua (February 6, 2015). "DC Comics Is Ending The New 52". IGN.^
- Convergence Vol 1 #0 (June 2015). DC Comics.^
- Convergence Vol. 1 #7 (July 2015). DC Comics.^