Now that most of the first arcs within the New 52 books are done with, I was thinking that I can finally pinpoint the things that I don't like in the New 52:
1. The condensed timeline
I have to admit, I actually liked my DC heroes being a bit older. Unlike Marvel, DC actually had their characters age and develop experience that came along with it. I liked how Batman, Superman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, the Flash, Roy Harper, and other heroes got married, had children, and aged to where they were clearly in their late thirties or early forties.
But you know what, I'm willing to let that slide. DC was kinda pushing themselves into a wall because it was getting to the point where their heroes were getting too old. I'm willing to accept the rebooted continuities for almost all of the heroes. I'm even willing to accept that DC has set their universe at a 5 year mark.
But what is absolutely ******ed is how DC decided not to reboot some of their heroes like Green Lantern and Batman and condense their timelines to the point where it absolutely makes no sense. I'm sorry, but you just can't cram everything into such a short period of time! If you're going to reboot some of your universe, you should reboot it all!
2. The Re-Designs
Now some of the re-designs do actually work. Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and a few others got designs that were pretty damn good. Others just simply look bad like Cyborg and Nightwing. Quite a few though, look absolutely horrendous. Why does Superman need to wear armor? Why does Deathstroke look better when Rob Liefeld is drawing him? Why does Harley Quinn look like a ****? Why did they mess with the Martian Manhunter's perfect redesign from Brightest Day (all he really needed were some pants)? Red Robin is flat out ugly.
3. Green Arrow
To get this out of the way, I actually do like the concept of Q-Core and Ollie running an Apple/Google-esque tech company. And I like his new costume too. The problem is that they pretty much threw away everything else that made Green Arrow awesome. Gone is the leftist ideology that he espoused. Gone is him being much older than the rest of the Justice League. Gone is his Errol Flynn beard. But most of all, gone is Star City. Considering that Star City was always treated as a part of the San Fransisco Bay area, Green Arrow being based in Star City would make far more sense with Q-Core than freaking SEATTLE!
4. Teen Titans
I think I've made it pretty clear on how much I hate this incarnation of the Teen Titans. ****ing Lobdell
5. The Tale of Two Batmen
What I've kinda noticed in the post-Flashpoint DCU is that we're getting a somewhat inconsistent portrayal of Batman. On one hand, we have a more compassionate and kinder Batman led by Scott Snyder in books like Batman, Batman & Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood & the Outlaws, and Justice League International. And on the other hand, we have the more grim, gritty, and somewhat prickish Batman led by Tony Daniel that we're seeing in books like Detective Comics, Batman: The Dark Knight, Catwoman, and Justice League. DC should stick with one take on Batman in their universe (the correct one being Snyder's).
6. Superman (volume 3)
Why isn't this book being treated as an A-list title the way Action Comics is? It feels more like this book is out simply to have a Superman book set in the present day and nothing's being done with it as a result. This title needs some direction.
7. Why no Captain Atom in the JLI?
Seriously, why doesn't the United States have proper representation in the JLI? And why isn't Captain Atom in this book. With Rocket Red and August General in Iron, Captain Atom, a staple of the JLI, would be perfect for this book.
8. The Edge
What's the point of this line of books? All the other lines have purposes: the Batman, Green Lantern, and Superman lines deal with the characters related to those franchises. Justice League deals with solo heroes outside of the Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern lines. The Dark deals with the Vertigo-esque supernatural. And Young Justice deals with teenaged superheroes.
But what the hell is the Edge? We have Westerns, War books, O.M.A.C., WildStorm, etc. There's just no identity to this line.
9. Rob Liefeld
You know, I've never been one of Liefeld's critics*. Sure, I'm not a fan of his art line the vast majority of us are, but I understand why he was popular at the time and if he hops on a book that I'm already getting, I'm not going to automatically drop it. But how the hell is he getting this much work, it's not like Liefeld is that popular nowadays.
*I just paid $50 for a Liefeld variant cover
10. Scott Lobdell
**** you Lobdell
