DC's 2005: Yay or Nay?

[CURSD BLADE]

So, now that we are almost a month out of 2005, its as good a time as any to look back and make a judgment of the year as a whole.

With all the new releases, new creative teams, different aproaches, and a line-wide crossover, what did you think of the year for DC? Yay or nay?

[Shellhead]

Yay: Waid/Kitson's Legion, All-Star Superman #1, Y the Last Man, Justice and most of all, Seven Soldiers.

Nay: the overall drop in quality in JSA (except for those great Keith Champagne-written issues), All-Star Batman & Robin, and the positively greedy amount of Infinite Crisis tie-ins, minis and crossovers.

[Lex]

DC over-all in 2005: Meh.

The main things of interest were Seven Soldiers, All-Star Superman, Justice, Jonah Hex, SOLO, Plastic Man, Justice League Unlimited and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Plus there were some surprisingly good stuff like the Gail Simone/John Byrne Action Comics run. And there were a few DC books that remained good despite some tie-ins to Infintie Crisis. Those books being Birds of Prey, Manhunter and Firestorm.

Also, the beginning of the year had some gems like the Deadshot mini and the last half of the awesome Adam Strange mini. Not to mention some fun surprises like the second arc in JSA Classified, Matt Wagner's Batman and the Monster Men, and Brubaker's temporary return to Gotham Central.

So, looking back on the year, there were many things I enjoyed at DC.

[Kid Kamikaze10]

Definitely Yay!

Infinite Crisis (and everything that came with it), Justice, Jonah Hex, the All-Star line, JSA, Seven Soldiers, Solo, BOP, and more!


This was DC's year!

[The Wayner]

I thought it was definitely a great year! You'll hear no complaints from me.

[sonofagun]

Well it was the year that got me to start reading DC after a decade

[shyguy]

I'd say yay, overall. The missteps were annoying, but there weren't that many of them. Off the top of my head, I think they dropped the ball on Max Lord being evil and not a robot, The Return of Donna Troy, Power Girl's Classified arc, All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder (and in that case I wouldn't have minded it had they just told us what kind of book it was going to be so I didn't waste money on the first issue), the crapiness of The OMAC project and Rann/Thanagar War, and the continued shafting of the JLI.

Frankly, Seven Soldiers and All-Star Superman #1 make up for all of that. Day of Vengeance, Villains United, Verheiden's Superman, Simone's Action Comics, Waids Legion of Super-Heroes, the Heinberg/Johns JLA story, Jonah Hex, and the launch of the Showcase Presents line aren't anything to sneeze at either.

[The Humanist Hero]

Definitely a thumb's up from me.

[trickster]

Definitely yay. Never mind the whiners. Times change.

[Adem]

I'll go with Yay. Some things I enjoyed which made the year great were Seven Soldiers, All-Star Superman, Jonah Hex, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Gail Simone/John Byrne Action Comics run, Villians United, Birds of Prey, and Mike Allred's SOLO issue. I hope 2006 will be as good if not better.

[handOFfate]

Yay for sure. This was the year that turned me from a Marvel guy to a DC guy. Infinite Crisis has been a fascinating story, and the majority of the crossovers aren't necessary, so I don't see the big deal in them. We had two great new comics, All-Star Superman and JSA: Classified, debut. DC has also done a good job of bringing back old characters out of limbo, from the Max Lord JLA to about every relevant space character ever. The Green Lanterns had their most significant year in quite some time with the return of both Hal Jordan and the corps. Villains United was great and the other three minis had their moments.

That's not to say there weren't negatives. This was an awful year for Judd Winnick. Batman, Outsiders, and Green Arrow were all lousy this year. I dropped Batman and GA somewhere around March. JSA, by far my favorite DC comics, was a tad inconsistent, though that looks to be fixed now. Geoff Johns left The Flash, which was too bad.

[hoopoe]

Definitely a YAY.

I've been away from DC for over 10 years and this year my DC pull list is crushing Marvel. Amazing storytelling. I wish like hell that HBO would have filmed a documentary about the planning of this year's epic criss-crossing storytelling. Those meetings at DC must have been incredible - I imagine a gigantic computer screen (like in the Batcave) that they had to use to track the timing and storylines of every character in their universe. Any creative person who has ever collaborated on anything knows that what DC has done in the past year is an incredible feat both artistically and commercially.

[Calybos]

Positive overall. They did a lot of great stuff that got my interest: the prequels to Infinite Crisis, for example (which I bought two of), Infinite Crisis itself, and Power Girl's origin in JSA Classified. Some of the "Seven Soldiers" stories.

But... I notice that just about everything I'm getting from DC, good though it is, is temporary. Limited series only. I haven't been spurred to pick up any more ongoing titles as a result of all this.

So I may sum it up as more of a "good hair day" for DC, rather than a true renaissance in their business.

[Gingold]

I thought it was a very good year overall. I enjoyed Infinite Crisis, All Star Batman and Robin, All Star Superman, Seven Soldiers, Villains United, Action Comics, Superman/Batman, Green Lantern, Legion of Superheroes, Hawkman, Birds of Prey, JSA, Dark Detective, Gotham Central and Wonder Woman. We also got the advent of the Showcase Presents books, which were a long time in coming but well worth the wait. Plenty of great creators got locked into contracts with the company, which bodes well for the coming years.

There's seemed to be a greater cohesion across the whole line, and a clear direction towards where everything is going. We've seen many of the more obscure properties with great potential finally getting shined up and used in the pages of Seven Soldiers and Day of Venegeance, while also attempting to clarify and simplify some of the more complicated characters like Supergirl and Hal Jordan.

I have been disapointed with the send offs being given to some of the flagship titles- Flash and JLA have been particularly bad over the last several months, and while Wonder Woman had a great year overall, the last issue was terrible and the upcoming final issue has every indication of being worse. The Batbooks have been spotty on the whole, with all the War Games/Crimes stuff getting in the way of any progress in the books. I wasn't too fond of the send offs personal favorites Ted Kord, Dmitri Pushkin and Max Lord got, but that's more a question of personal taste than a lack of quality in the books.

They did a lot more right than wrong in 2005, probably the company's best year in about a decade.

[bosshog7169]

Yay to the highest power. I hardly read DC at all before 2005 aside from Superman and Identity Crisis, and now I have dropped a bunch of Marvel books so I can pick up all the stuff DC has done this year. Its also prompted me to study DC's history further and pick up some back issues to fill in the gap.

I have been converted. I guess whether or not I shift back towards Marvel this year will depend on the finale of infinite Crisis and the quality of one year later...

[Lex]

Gingold, good call on Dark Detective and the Showcase Presents stuff. Forgot about those.

[Chiasm]

Got to give it a Yay!

Outside of Flash and Y-The Last Man I hadn't read anything DC / Vertigo since the reboot of JLA and I quit that around issue 40. I picked up Identity Crisis which led to a lot of the Infinite Crisis stuff. Now I'm seriously considering dropping some Marvel books for DC ones when the year later stuff starts.

[The Humanist Hero]

Gingold, good call on Dark Detective and the Showcase Presents stuff. Forgot about those.
Yes, very good call on the Showcase Presents.

[CoreyB]

Aside from the overdone Infinite Crisis lead-ins and tie-ins and whatever-ins, I'd say it was a 'yay'.

[Citizen V]

Yay:With Bendis and Joe Q runing the Marvel Universe,i left for DC early in the year.I have to say that it was good move,i caught alot of good DC events and catched up on comics i havent read in years.

Identity Crisis was a huge event.It crushed Dissembled,and DC gave me the feeling of a good comic,and had me looking foreward to the next issue.I havent felt that with Marvel in a long time now.

This really was DC`s Year.

[d newton]

Max Lord being evil and not a robot.
How did DC drop the ball with this?

The Return of Donna Troy.
This was better than RT War! ;)

The crapiness of The OMAC Project and Rann/Thanagar War
Okay, I'll give you the latter mini but not the former.

[Babylon23]

Definitely a big Yay from me. I'm now reading more DC books than I have since CoIE, and that number will increase even more come OYL.

I loved GOtham Central, Batman: Dark Detective, JSA, the Classified books, JLA: Crisis of Conscience, Action, Birds of Prey, The Flash, Green Lantern and GLC, the All-star books, and Legion. Wildstorm is also developing nicely, and now has some diverse and interesting titles.

What impressed me the most was the way that DC developed a clear direction for their company and their titles. They've planned long and hard to make IC the best event they could. I respect the effort they've put into this.

They've also given focus to some of my favourite characters (Zatanna, Donna Troy, Hal Jordan), another trend that looks to continue in 06 with Booster Gold and the Question.

[Suzanne]

Yay for me

[TommyV]

Best year DC's had since 1985. Hands down. Outdid Marvel, outdid themselves. I honestly don't see how anyone could say differently.....

[The Shadow]

Aside from the overdone Infinite Crisis lead-ins and tie-ins and whatever-ins, I'd say it was a 'yay'.
What he said.

[The Shadow]

This really was DC`s Year.
Except in sales and market share. Marvel was the leader... again.