Superman, your days are re-numbered! DC Comics today announced that it will begin new numbering for its superhero comics this summer, as well as begin releasing digital editions on the same day print editions are available in stores. The renumbering effort for the publisher’s 52 “DC Universe” titles (i.e., its core superhero business) will start August 31 with Justice League No. 1, which marks the debut of superstar creative team Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. It coincides with the conclusion of its highly-touted “Flashpoint” storyline starring The Flash, an epic mystery concerning an apparent timeline reboot. While it’s not uncommon for publishers to renumber a title (usually in tandem with a creative reboot designed to goose sales), it’s believed that DC’s initiative marks the first time a publisher has renumbered all of its books at once. DC will begin offering day-and-date digital distribution of its titles on August 31 as well.
May 31
2011
06:07 PM ET
'Batman' publisher DC Comics to renumber all comics, offer day-and-date digital distribution
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Um, this is a slightly (read: WAY) bigger deal than you are making it sound Jeff.
If true that it is ‘all’, I really dislike this idea. As a fanboy, I’ve been looking forward to Action Comics #1000 in the next few years, but now I’ll get a new #1? And a new Detective Comics #27 in three years? And just last year the Wonder Woman fans convinced DC to reestablish her numbering to the original series.
These numbers mean something for the fans. Their longevity is a symbol of our own and our lifelong appreciation of the characters. Most of us know the first issue we ever bought by the number, not the story. I hope this is just marketing and the original numbers return eventually.
Eric, I absolutely agree with you 100%. This renumbering/reboot is very disappointing.
I just wanna know what this means for titles I like, like Batgirl. Does this mean Stephanie’s losing her book?
DC hasn’t revealed specifics, but most likely, yes, Stephanie will no longer be Batgirl. Depending on how much they’re rebooting, there may not even be a Tim Drake.
Oh no! I love Stephanie!~ I’m really worried about my other favorite characters too! And I was SO looking forward to Booster Gold #50!
If they’re getting rid of my favourite characters, it’s goodbye DC for me!
Ten bucks says it’s Barbara.
And with Jim Lee on Justice League, when the hell are we ever going to see the conclusion of All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder??
Tell em Flip. He produces a book like every six months and fan boys still drool all over him. He is the Kevin Smith of artists and one of the reasons I think comics are in the crapper
I love his art, that’s why I want to see All-Star Batman completed.
You wont Dc said ages ago that AS batman and robin wouldnt be done(Jim lee who in my opinion is over rated as an artist) was too busy and botched it. I am not buying ANY book with his name on it as it will be crappy steroid looking character art, and that within a yr or 2 they will dump it and go back to the “original” universe. This is bad and could well put DC into bankruptcy or at least kill their status as a comicbook company
Comics hooked in the mainstream media again. If you don’t think DC will change this back in time for Action #1000, and all the publicity that will bring, you’re nutz.
Surely this is only temporary, like when Marvel went back to issue 1 with Captain America, Fantastic Four, Iron Man and… was it Thor? after Onslaught. That lasted…what…one year?
This sucks. THis is also the third reboot from them in 25 years. Do it right or don’t do it at all.
Yes, Marvel did this with a few titles, like Daredevil, for a while, but it went back to the old numbering system eventually. I agree with another post here; long-term comic readers like seeing the longevity of a comic that is numbered in the 600s, like Amazing Spiderman is now.
As a long time comic book fan, I’m excited to hear about the same day digital additions, although nothing compares to holding a real comic book in your hands. As for the numbering, couldn’t they have a system that shows the new numbering while noting the old, consecutive number? And as for reboots, while comic books require the suspension of belief to enjoy them, without Bats and co. would be dead from old age.
If they use the “dual numbering” system, at least for Action and Detective, then that’s fine. But if they start from scratch that’ll be my queue to stop buying DC. Ironically, it was the last major reboot around the time of Infinite Crisis that made my start buying comics again.
NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!
For those who are wondering why they are doing these blame the family that is sueing DC saying they own Superman Batman and wonder woman
I don’t care about numbering but the digital screws the shops once again. Ask dealers how they felt when Archie did this, and now its their number 2 publisher!
No more spending my money on DC product then!
Remember, this is following a time-line reboot in the story itself, the conclusion of the Flash epic going on. Perhaps new Justice League #1 and the other 51 #1s are really “sideways” stories and we’ll return to the correct numbering when those sideways stories are resolved (or everyone ascends).
This also means “Flashpoint” isn’t just some random “event” but will have reprecussions to come, making it a “must-buy” for some fans.
It is a pretty big deal. Yes, they did much the same with “Crisis on Infinite Earths” but that was needed to fix an out-of-control DC Universe and worked reasonably well (the reboots of Superman and Wonder Woman especially). But even then, they kept the numbering for “Detective” and “Action” so this is pretty big. As long as it’s not just a stunt and we get good books out of it, it might pay off. If there’s one thing I’ve learned with DC, it’s that Geoff Johns knows how to work a plan involving their history well.
The reboot of superman sucked from my perspective. They made him weak gutless and bland. His fortress was gone supergirl was out. the city on kandor didnt get restored for YEARS. And wonderwoman took till after infinite crisis to get some classic quality back to her as well. Epic fail fire didio and lee make paul levity EIC and let him write . send didio back to soap operas and lee can scribble on milk cartons.
I heard the Superman reboot sucked. For one thing, they hired the guy who wrote the worst Spider-man material of all time. Some called Amazing #545 the ‘worst comicbook issue ever’ and they were right. He took his name off it, but it had been bad for quite a while with worthless promises of big stories. I can never read Amazing Spider-man ever again because of that. Trust me I tried. No doubt this reboot will be better, because it can’t possibly be as bad. I’ll check some of this stuff out.