What's the state of the First Wave ?

Travis Herrick (Modular Mod) March 30, 2011 at 9:05pm

I believe the miniseries has concluded, and the rest of the line has been canceled. That it the problem of launching a line before the first mini has finished to see how the sales were.

Emerkeith Davyjack March 30, 2011 at 9:12pm

...Thank you , Travis , hopefully there'll be some more comment.........

Philip Portelli March 30, 2011 at 9:38pm

I'll be sorry to see them go!

Figserello March 30, 2011 at 10:36pm

This was an interesting idea, but there were things in it that turned me cold early on.

Like Mr Silver Age, I don't seem to be a typical reader, but perhaps the things I didn't like turned off other readers too?

We've touched on this with the Green Hornet and other discussions, but in the 21st century it hurts this project that virtually all the heroes are white men, mostly rich ones at that! Given the materials they were using it's hard to get around this and still respect the sources. The cast being all-white is one thing, but here it's that all the do-gooding, morally superior characters are white! It's a bit odd in a 21st century story.

I think I remembered in some of the advanced publicity that you could see that the Jungle Girl character's ethnicity was added as a mere after-thought. You could see her background scribbled out and revised in the sketches!

Speaking of 21st century, I hated the way this was a mish-mash of 30's and present day. They should have had either a good handle on the period, or make the series address the current obsessions and fears of OUR time, as all fine works of art and literature do. The way they did it just falls between the stools.

I'd personally be against using Batman as a gun-user, but can see why it could be justified. Still, it does beg the question of why they didn't just use a new character?

Launching the whole line was probably a mistake before the mini-series had allowed them to guage interest. There must have been some justification for the marketing model they used, though.

Given the properties they brought together, this should have been a bigger deal than it was.

It says on wiki that this takes place on an alternative Earth within the DCU multiverse, so we might see this world again someday.

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) March 31, 2011 at 12:36am

I actually liked the 30s/modern mishmash. It didn't seem confusing to me at all -- modern tech, but with 1930s styling. It really appealed to me.

Travis is right that the books have been canceled, but the final issues haven't been solicited yet, so we don't know precisely when they've been canceled. Also, according to DC's website apparently there's a special one-shot starring the Avenger that's coming out next week:

» View Larger Image
Written by JASON STARR; Art by PHIL WINSLADE; Cover by J.G. JONES; 1:10 Variant cover by GENE HA

New York kingpin Shonder Zeev isn't scared of going to war against the ruthless Central American cartels – but he is terrified of one man: Richard Benson, The Avenger! The mastermind behind Justice Inc. has decided it's time for Zeev to fall – so why are Doc Savage and The Bat Man trying to prop him up? It's a 30-page epic from Jason Starr, writer of the JUSTICE INC. co-feature, and artist Phil Winslade!
DC Universe 40pg. Color $3.99 US
On Sale April 6, 2011

Doc Savage and The Spirit have both been solicited through June (issue 15), and neither solicit says "Final Issue." That issue will be the third part of JG Jones' Doc Savage 6-parter; it remains to be seen how that will play out.

Hopefully they'll find a home for those Spirit 8-pagers. Be a shame to let them sit in a drawer, though.

Lumbering Jack (M'odd-R8-Tr) March 31, 2011 at 8:49am

I was more than a little heart-broken to find out about the modern/1930s hybrid. I'm dying for some good pulp-era comics and have found very few titles that have the solid art and storytelling that DC could provide.

ClarkKent_DC March 31, 2011 at 8:57am

The '30s/modern mishmash worked to fine effect in Paul Dini's Adventures of Batman and Robin animated series. I don't think that was necessarily a great problem here; after all, The First Wave is (was) being sold on being the same but different.

Travis Herrick (Modular Mod) March 31, 2011 at 10:45am

I didn't mind the '30s/modern hybrid myself. I just found that initial mini kind of boring and it took nearly a year to wrap it up. Although it might have finished with a bang, I didn't bother with the last issue. I had given up on it at that point. So, that first bad taste in my mouth didn't really excite me to pick up a new line of comics.

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) March 31, 2011 at 10:56am

I read it to the end. It was a fun mini, a nice "gathering of the team" story, even though the team were a bunch of loosely affiliated heroes. Had it come out monthly and Doc Savage & Spirit series been launched right afterward, I'd have been interested in both. (Gotta reiterate, though -- the Hine & Moritat's Spirit comics are a lot of fun!)

One thing that I'm not sure is taken into account about how DC botched the timing of the launch -- I think those mistakes are really *all* on the timing of the opening miniseries. It might have been nice to wait longer to launch The Spirit and Doc Savage, but they're licensed characters, and presumably DC has the licenses only for a limited time. When the main series started blowing its deadlines, holding off on the other two might not have been an option.

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What's the state of the First Wave ?

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