I only got into comics a few years ago and I found it disturbing how comicbook characters don't seem to age (I will adress retcons later) and the fictional universe in general doesn't really change or move foward. In this article I will write about what DC is doing both with characters and stories and what I think it should do.
CHARACTERS
It seems to me that DC has taken a step back with its characters. Bronze Age characters like Wally West, Kyle Rayner or Stephanie Brown are being pushed aside in favour of Silver Age characters like Barry Allen, Hal Jordan and Barbara Gordon. Geoff Johns seems to be responsible for this since he resurrected Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, two characters that had been dead for years. Even though I really like both the GL:Rebirth and Flash:Rebirth story arcs I don't think they were worth it.
Hal Jordan's story was over and the awesome Geoff Johns run on GL could have been accomplished without him. Kyle Rayner could have had all that character development and he would be the main GL. With the Flash its even worse because after the New 52 they used Barry as if he was a new character, his story was really over. He should have gone back to the Speed Force in the Rebirth storyline and the Flashpoint could have been made with Wally as the protagonist. Now they seem to have regreted this so they are bringing Wally back. This means that there will be 2 flashes, which doesn't make sense. A similar thing happened with Batgirl. In the New 52, they made Barbara Gordon recover from her paralysis and she seems to be a teenager again for some reason, pushing Stephanie Brown aside. We all love the Silver Age heros but DC has to let go. We can still have comics about them in the same way that we still have JSA comics, I will later explain how to do this.
STORY/CONTINUITY/NEW 52/REBIRTH
I understand that the DC Universe (like Marvel) is a Retroactive Continuity. Origin stories are constantly retconned and modernized. But I feel that after nearly 80 years, infinite story arcs and reality itself being destroyed and reborn multiple times, simple retcons are not enough, a full reboot is needed. This is why I feel that the much controversial reboot 'The New 52' of 2011 was a really good idea. This was a reboot of all DC titles and an introduction of a brand new universe, Prime Earth.
Now some really good stuff came out of it, like Scott Snyder's Batman or Geoff John's Aquaman, but it was mainly a mess. Big plotholes, continuity problems, changes to iconic costumes (mainly Superman's) and most importantly, changes to iconic characters like the Teen Titans, Wally West, Kyle Rayner, Oracle, Tim Drake, the Amazons, the Booster Gold/Blue Beetle duo and many more. Now in DC Rebirth, it is revealed that the New 52 was some kind of villain plot created by Dr Manhattan I think. I think this is wrong in every level. I honestly don't even understand what DC Rebirth is but I have to say that I believe that DC continuity is a total clusterf*ck and Geoff Jhons is apparently insane (sorry).
When I started reading DC comics a few years ago it was really hard for me to get around all the massive reality/time-space shattering events like Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, Flash Rebirth and Flashpoint. This was all apparently over with the New 52 but then the other Earths were introduced in Trinity War and then Convergence/Divergence happened and now we have DC Rebirth. All this really contrasted with my experience with Marvel Comics. I wish DC stopped messing with time-space and just delivered good adventure stories.
I really like the idea of having Dr Manhattan as a villain though, but I really hope that he is alone and not with the rest of the Watchmen. I also hope that if they brought the pre-N52 Superman, they brought the old costume back, but it might be too late for that.
WHAT THEY SHOULD DO
So, like I said on the start of the article, I find it disturbing when characters don't age. Some characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman or Martian Manhunter could stay young for years and years. But others should die and pass their mantles like Green Lantern, Flash and yes, even Batman. I know this sounds insane but hear me out. Bruce Wayne has had 4 Robins now and it seems he recently recluted a fifth, but he still looks young. After the New 52, his 80 years of history were apparently crammed into just 10 years or something. Fine enough, but this cannot go on forever! What about the next 80 years? This is my proposal:
Have one main official universe that actually evolves. Specific dates for specific events. In this universe, characters die and mantles are passed. Give Bruce Wayne an 'official' proper death, the ultimate Batman story, and have him pass the mantle to Dick Grayson. Dick would lead the JL, Wally would be Flash, Kyle would be GL, Stephanie would be Batgirl, etc.
Then we could have parallel uiverses. One for the JSA and the Golden Age heroes, one for the classis JLA and the Silver Age heroes like Hal Jordan, Barry Allen and Bruce Wayne, etc. You can have all the Bruce Wayne adventures that you want, just keep him on an alternate universe.
Whaat are your thoughts on DC continuity? Sound off below!