What I’d Do With New 52 – Part 01: The Gang’s All Here

A while ago, a poll was posted by DC Comics on their Facebook page asking fans what they would do/what they wanted seen done with the New 52. One of the options was to reset back to the old DCU in a Crisis on Infinite Earths-type storyline. Now, I personally didn’t vote for that, but I’m unsurprised that most fans did. In fact, it was kinda overwhelming just how many voted for it.

Shortly afterwards, like MAYBE a day after it was opened, the poll was closed, like it never existed. My own theory on that is that DC didn’t like how the poll was going and decided to axe it. Kind of a dick move, DC. And frankly, if you didn’t wanna undo the DCnU, you shouldn’t have made that an option. Then this whole thing wouldn’t have happened.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want the DCnU undone. Sure, there’s been a bit of bad, at times REALLY bad, but with the bad came the good. The Court of Owls storyline emerged in the DCnU. Hal Jordan and Sinestro‘s badass war emerged. Talon is becoming a new book. And yeah, while I wish Stephanie Brown‘s book was still around, I love Gail Simone‘s Batgirl title too. So I don’t want the DCnU undone, and that’s why I didn’t vote for that option. What I want is for some of the bad to be fixed.

So for the next little while, I’m gonna be discussing some of the changes that I would make to the DCnU if I had the chance. And to start off, following up on my rant regarding Stephanie Brown, let’s talk about some of the old heroes I would bring back.

Related articles

• What About Steph? The Superheroes That Apparently Never Were (jygersrant.wordpress.com)

Wally West, AKA The Flash

Why: Now, I don’t personally take issue with Barry Allen, but I know of a lot of people that do in that they find him to be boring, and I do have a personal preference to Wally West. He was wisecracking, intelligent, and often-times represented heart of whatever team he was on, be it the Titans of the Justice League, and for a time both simultaneously.

How: This one would be tricky since he obtained his powers when was introduced to Barry by his aunt Iris, who was romantically linked to Barry and would later marry, except that in the DCnU they were never involved. They are still friends though, so that would be a means to bring him in. If he did get his powers again, that would create a new issue of what to call him since Kid Flash is taken by Bart Allen (weird that he exists since originally he was Barry and Iris’ grandson, but whatev), but then that does leave the alias of Impulse unclaimed.

Stephanie Brown, AKA Batgirl

Why: Read my previous posts regarding the character. Otherwise, she would especially be a welcome addition to the Bat Family now, given all the really horrific, bleak, and dire storylines that have gone on as of late.

How: I’m thinking she would have to be Spoiler again, though I think I’d want to redesign her costume a bit. Maybe as a hybrid of her Spoiler, Robin, and Batgirl costumes. Aside from that, I’d have her be either a Titan, a supporting character in Batman Inc., or a partner to Batgirl.

Donna Troy

Why: Donna Troy was one of the original members of the Titans, she was at one point a stand-in as Wonder Woman, and she even later became a member of the Justice League. She was kind, compassionate, sisterly, and even motherly, although if you ever got on her bad side she knocked the shit out of you.

How: Here’s the thing, I’m guessing that Donna Troy was dropped because her backstory had become so freaking complicated that no one knew how to make it work in the newest reboot. However, there is one comic where she would work and be a welcome addition: Earth 2. Have her appear as the sister to Earth 2’s Wonder Woman who was hidden away and then have her join the JSA as the new Wonder Woman.

Cassandra Cain, AKA Black Bat

Why: First off, I’d just like to point out how much it’s bothering me that a lot of these are women. Just sayin’. Anyway, Cassandra Cain was probably the most unique and, dare I say it, most badass of the Batgirls. She’s not my favourite, but I still like her. Her character kinda got put through the ringer with the heel turn from hell that made NO sense when you actually think about it, but they did manage to restore some dignity to her by making her Hong Kong’s representative for Batman Inc. as Black Bat.

How: This is actually the easiest one, and that’s showing her doing pretty much what she was just prior to the relaunch: Operating as Batman Inc.’s representative in Hong Kong. Heck, I think they’re kinda hinting that at some point we’re gonna see a massive all out brawl involving Batman Inc. vs Leviathan, so even just showing in a few panels being badass would be sweet. The other option I had in mind is that World’s Finest are currently hanging out in Japan, which ain’t that far from her. She could cameo.

Ralph Dibny, AKA The Elongated Man

Why: Ralph Dibny was a prominent member of the Justice League that clearly everyone on the team had a lot of care for, along with his wife Sue. They were both killed off and essentially made into ghost detectives (which is actually kinda awesome sounding now that I think about it). However, given that Identity Crisis is no longer canon, it would be safe to assume that both could still be considered as alive and active in the DCnU.

How: Well, the Justice League is currently down a member (possibly two, I’m not sure), so why not bring Ralph in to fill the empty slot? Or heck, have him and Sue exist on Earth 2 and join the JSA.

Anyway, that’s enough for now. Next time, I’m gonna talk about the actual line-up of comics currently in the New 52 and what changes I would make, either as far as changing some titles, or swapping out current titles for new ones.