Time Masters: Vanishing Point

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Looks like a time-travel story involving the search for Batman. Is there anyone her reading this title? (Issue #2 shipped today.) Is it any good?

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"In this new era of storytelling, story will trump continuity as we continue to empower creators to tell the best stories".

Hmm… interesting.

"We'll have a core line of about 25 books that will have that internal consistency, that will consist of our best-selling books. But then the rest of the line, about 24 titles, will be allowed to really shake things up a little bit."

Sounds a bit like the “Image” model.

[Detective 445]

I just recently finished up with Grant Morrison's Multiversity and I'm wondering why they aren't doing more with those concepts.  Several of those one-shots really interested me and I would love to see more.  It seems like a lot of thought and planning went into it and now...nothing.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I agree.

[Philip Portelli]

DC would never allow Grant Morrison to dictate the entire DC product! That's Geoff Johns' job!

[Jeff of Earth-J]

An interesting thought occurred to me yesterday while watching the news...

What If... Billy Bush is Booster Gold?

[Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man]

I thought this was a pretty fun mini-series, honestly. In all of the modern hubbub of coolness, I thought it was pretty neat seeing some good old-fashioned Dan Jurgens art in the midst of it all.

[Figserello]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

"In this new era of storytelling, story will trump continuity as we continue to empower creators to tell the best stories".

Hmm… interesting.

"We'll have a core line of about 25 books that will have that internal consistency, that will consist of our best-selling books. But then the rest of the line, about 24 titles, will be allowed to really shake things up a little bit."

Sounds a bit like the “Image” model.

I wonder how long this brave new era of creator -driven continuity-light storytelling lasted?

[Detective 445]

Figserello said:

I wonder how long this brave new era of creator -driven continuity-light storytelling lasted?

Good question. The Rebirth books (at least the ones I've read) all seem to be occurring in a pretty tight continuity. And you wouldn't expect the other stuff like Batman 66, Bombshells, the Young Animal imprint or Hanna Barbera to be included anyway.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Well that's the thing: Those books are about a third of what DC publishes. When you don't count superhero books like Batman 66,Bombshells, Cave Carson, or Mother Panic, you're kind of saying the only books that can count in whether DC is largely continuity driven are the ones that prove it is.You're defining DC books by the DCU continuity. 

DC didn't used to have an imprint for out-of-continuity books like Warlord or Claw or Sonic Disruptors. They just existed, and you took them for what they were -- and the were eventually incorporated into the DCU (as Warlord was) or not. Now there's Young Animal, using DCU concepts throughout, but loosely. And there are the HB books, which actually don't have their own imprint. We know which ones they are, but they just say DC on the cover. If Young Animal doesn't count because of its imprint, then Flintstones should count because of its lack of one. Heck, Future Quest even has super heroes.

Of the obviously DCU books DC is publishing now -- the Rebirth stuff -- it mostly seems in continuity, but some is looser than others. Hellblazer seems largely off on its own. Harley Quinn is a different person in Suicide Squad than she is in her own book. But those comics are largely the heart and soul of the DCU -- there isn't a great continuity burden on Green Arrow, and the book seems to have its own style and personality, but it still operates within the universe. 

The quote, I think, was about DC You -- so the books it was referring to would be things like Bat-Mite, Bizarro, and Prez. And to a lesser extent, Starfire and Dr. Fate. Dr. Fate lasted up through November, so that was a good 18 months. 

[TheBastard]

I know the original 1990s Time Masters series was really good. Made me a fan of Rip Hunter and Vandal Savage immediately

[Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man]

This is one of those books (the TPB) that I found in pristine condition for $5.00 at my LCS, along with a TPB of Gil Kane's run on Sword of the Atom. I just remember buying them at the same time a few years ago, put them on my shelf, and thought, "Can't wait to read these!"

They're still sitting there. I hope to get some time to read them over Christmas break.

TheBastard said:

I know the original 1990s Time Masters series was really good. Made me a fan of Rip Hunter and Vandal Savage immediately

[Detective 445]

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

Well that's the thing: Those books are about a third of what DC publishes. When you don't count superhero books like Batman 66,Bombshells, Cave Carson, or Mother Panic, you're kind of saying the only books that can count in whether DC is largely continuity driven are the ones that prove it is.You're defining DC books by the DCU continuity. 

True enough. But It's tough to see how the current setup is any different from the way things have always been. In the past we had Vertigo books and some of those were tangentially related to the main continuity. Then we had Elseworlds books or Cartoon Network titles or All-Star titles which were outside continuity. And there were various other imprints as well.

I don't have a problem with any of it but it doesn't really seem like there's a new approach being pursued.