As much as I love New 52 and Rebirth, I almost think it is time for DC Comics to do a “Clean Slate” reboot of their comic book universe. Right now, and for the past 15 years or so, there have been way too many Robins and the “Bat-Family” has grown way outside of where I envision it to be. I am of the opinion that Batman stories are better when there is just Alfred, one Robin, one Nightwing, one Batgirl. Maybe add Lucius. If you get beyond that, it gets crazy. It gets to the point where this dark depressed loner vigilante having 6 different Robins, and like 5 different teams he is a part of, just isn’t realistic anymore. Plus the continuity/timeline has gotten all wacky with Batman. How long has he been Batman? How could he have had time to train all of these different Robins and the 4-5 teams he has? And I’m not a huge fan of the whole “Superman has a son,” or “Batman has a son” stories. And while it was clever how they brought back Wally West in Rebirth, I feel that a total “Clean Slate” reboot would have been much simpler. Like the reboot they did with Crisis in the 1980s. Just start completely new for the 21st Century. They could start with Batman stories 2 years before he takes Dick Grayson under his wings, make it like the Tim Burton 1989 film. They could start Superman just as he is leaving Smallville for Metropolis. What do you guys think? If they did a “Clean Slate” reboot, what would you like to see them do with your favorite characters?
DC’s strength has always been its legacy characters. A clean slate would be a worse insult to long time fans than the new 52 was. I’ve read and followed these characters for decades because I love them all. Every Robin is unique and a great character. Some of them are more interesting than Batman.
My question is: who are you appealing to with this Clean Slate? I just don’t think you’re going to make money, and as the Ultimate Universe proved, you can have the cleanest of origins, but in just a couple of years, you’ve got just as much continuity.
A clean slate would wipe out the continuity of some great storylines-we’ve seen the problems in the last 3 or 5 reboots. There’s just no way to do it perfectly. It’s too complicated.
I agree with wallywestfan27. The legacy characters in DC add so much rich mythos. I don’t need a clean and streamlined universe. The multiple Robins is one of my favorite aspects of Batman. Further, it may well be My Big Fat Bat Family, but each member of that family has something to offer fans. It was super-cool when Mon-El starred in Action Comics and Detective Comics featured Batwoman. Perhaps there’s room for a DC version of Ultimate Comics. Maybe, the Earth One titles fit the bill here for a cleaned up continuity?
No thanks
First of all the reboot after Crisis was anything but “clean”. There were those, Marv Wolfman among them, that wanted to start everything over at #1 and even change the name of DC Comics as a publisher. Obviously it did not happen and the staggered “reboots” of character in the ensuing months and years after Crisis made a mess of much of the continuity. Legion of Superheroes without being inspired by a Superboy because he never existed? Wonder Woman not a founder of the Justice League? Don’t even get me started on Hawkman. Eventually they did try a much cleaner reboot with New 52 and discovered that they just got rid the one thing about the DC Universe which was so unique and that most fans loved; LEGACY! Others have said as much here, so I doubt they will make the mistake of trying any sort of reboot again. At least no time soon. The good thing is with Black Label they can tell any kinds of stories they want. That includes Batman stories without the large cast of supporting characters and if a title sells well, you better believe they will go back to it. Earth One stories fit this criteria as well as General.Zod mentioned So as I always say, buy and support the titles you like, and don’t support what you don’t like.
I’m against the clean slate idea. If writers want to tell a story, outside of continuity, Black Label provides that opportunity. Clean slates can also add to lazy writing - these are comics - fans appreciation of history and continuity is what makes them feel attached to the characters.
I say leave continuity alone. No more reboots. Rebirth restored things that new 52 tried to remove. Balance is restored. Leave it that way.
Actually, the New 52 Series were trying to do was similar to what you’re saying. They tried to give the characters new personality and new origin stories. Obviously, people don’t buy it, which is why we’ve got Rebirth now.