I agree with you Operator. I didn’t read Flashpoint, but from what I’ve heard, this whole reboot is taking place in another parallel universe, which is the perfect set up for an Ultimates style second series of books. It’s of little consequence to me, since I’ve never read much DC, so I’m jumping on the bandwagon here, but it seems like what they really should have done is paired down their existing line to just the best sellers, and then done a parallel universe series of just the big names. I applaud their effort in putting out 52 “brand new” series’ but I can’t imagine more than 30 of these will survive past 12 issues, so why not keep the best of both universes going?
As far as what Mystery Brother said about Justice League #1, that seems to be the consensus, and I partly feel the same way. As a Justice League book, it’s good, but as a #1 book it’s pretty weak. There’s very little explaination, and not even a mention of a “Justice League,” and we’re only introduced to two characters, with Superman showing up on the last page or two. I’ve been around comic books long enough to not be too bothered by this, but if they’re trying to bring in new readers, they’re going to be completely lost, especially because this didn’t just launch Justice League, but the entire DC Universe reboot.
Still, having said all that, I’m still on board. Like I said, I’ve been around comics long enough that I can fill in the blanks utilizing the internet or podcasts or whatever, and I don’t mind doing so. For me, it just adds to the fun of getting started in this brand new universe of characters that I’ve hardly explored, but that’s coming from a comic book veteran reading DC for the firs time. I think someone coming in off the street after watching the DC movies, and totally green to comic books, is going to have their head spinning in confusion from this whole launch, probably just as much as if they just wanted to start reading DC books without the relaunch happening. At least if they didn’t do this reboot, the store owners could sell them a couple TPBs to get them started. Now, they can still sell them some origin story trades, but they gotta say, “this is the Batman origin story, but it doesn’t really count towards the new books coming out because the new stuff is happening in a parallel universe, and I’ll stop talking because you’ve gone crosseyed.”