Rise of the Reboots - DC's New 52 and Marvel Now!

Pictured Above: Average Comic Fan Response to Change

Avid comic fans know it. The hardest thing about being a dedicated comic reader is having to deal with comic publishers who make seemingly bone-headed decisions and alter their fictional universes on a whim, destroying years of continuity to make things fresh and draw new readers.  Often the backlash can be brutal (nothing rages like a pack of dedicated comic book geeks and yes, I speak from experience).

Number of Times Peter Parker Held a Gun to a Villain's Head: 0
Pictured Above: Not Peter Parker

Most recently, Marvel has seen criticism from their controversial questionable ill-advised downright stupid decision to turn The Amazing Spider-man on its head.  For those of you who aren't following Spider-man, Marvel decided to cut off The Amazing Spider-man at issue 700.  And they ended in spectacular fashion: by killing Peter Parker.  The icing on the cake is that now Dr. Octopus, one of Spider-man's signature villains, arguably second only to the Green Goblin, is now inhabiting Peter Parker's body and living his life as the Superior Spider-man.  Yes, Spider-man fans now get to watch one of his greatest villains - a character they've been trained to hate - play hero on a monthly basis.  This has been going on for about seven months.  I'm fairly certain the flow of death threats mailed/tweeted to Marvel's offices and/or writer Dan Slott has tapered off.

While The Superior Spider-man represents a reboot facing serious criticism, not every reboot is a bad idea. Both Marvel and DC Comics, two of the largest comic publishers in the US, launched large scale reboots of their publications within the last two years.  In 2011, DC launched the New 52 in a series of "waves" as they restarted numbering on all of their popular series at 1.  Marvel followed a similar path in 2012 with its Marvel Now line the restarted several popular storylines, though not every publication that they produce.

While everything has good and bad to it, I've personally found a fair amount to be happy with in both series of reboots.  One of the biggest positives (in my opinion) is the convenient jumping on point that these reboots provide for potential readers.  It's overwhelming to jump into a story that literally has decades of convoluted backstory.  The reboots offer friendly starts for people that don't have the detailed background of a die-hard fan.  And really, at the end of the day, writers and artists want their work to be accessible.  If potential readers are turned off by something, consideration should be made as to how to grow readership.  It can be done while maintaining the integrity of the underlying story.  DC, in my opinion, has done a great job of maintaining the integrity of their characters while going into the rebooted titles (this time around, at least).

Pictured Above: Not maintaining the Integrity of a Character

But now it's time to turn the question on you - what do you think of the concept of the reboot?  Is it acceptable to occasionally "reset" reality to avoid making work inaccessible?  Or does it cheapen the overall integrity of the art/story?

Coming soon: more discussion of specific titles in the New 52 and Marvel Now and that review of Daredevil: End of Days that I promised you about a week ago.  Really.  I promise.