The much ballyhood "return to the Silver Age" isn't happening, as far as I can see.

[Buried Alien]

Those who loved and hoped for the return of a Silver Age-like DC Universe and those who feared and loathed the idea expected DC to turn in that direction with the end of INFINITE CRISIS. Despite a few cosmetic continuity adjustments and return of characters to classic roles, however, that doesn't seem to be the case at all. Six months after INFINITE CRISIS wrapped up, the DCU still feels more like it did in 2000 than it did in 1960 or 1970 (or even 1980). It's true that the extreme angst that characterized the two or three years immediately preceding INFINITE CRISIS has been dialed down, but I don't see the full-scale reversion to Silver Age conventions and values that most were hoping for/fearing.



Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Jack Zodiac]

Nope, not really. There are some books out there with decidedly Silver Age style writing, like All-Star Superman, Superman Confidential, Batman/Superman, recently Action Comics and more generally Batman and Superman, the title books. For the most part, though, the rest of the DCU's still being written very similarly to the days before the last Crisis, with maybe a little less death and plot-pointing.

[DoctorDoom]

Nope, not really. There are some books out there with decidedly Silver Age style writing, like All-Star Superman, Superman Confidential, Batman/Superman, recently Action Comics and more generally Batman and Superman, the title books. For the most part, though, the rest of the DCU's still being written very similarly to the days before the last Crisis, with maybe a little less death and plot-pointing.
Eh, I'm still more of a Marvel guy, but I noticed the new style in Action Comics(which has drawn me in). I'm Liking it, and so is my girlfriend.

[Jolly Mon]

Those who loved and hoped for the return of a Silver Age-like DC Universe and those who feared and loathed the idea expected DC to turn in that direction with the end of INFINITE CRISIS. Despite a few cosmetic continuity adjustments and return of characters to classic roles, however, that doesn't seem to be the case at all. Six months after INFINITE CRISIS wrapped up, the DCU still feels more like it did in 2000 than it did in 1960 or 1970 (or even 1980). It's true that the extreme angst that characterized the two or three years immediately preceding INFINITE CRISIS has been dialed down, but I don't see the full-scale reversion to Silver Age conventions and values that most were hoping for/fearing.



Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

I think you're right, but I also think the hope/fear of a wholesale reversion back to Silver Age stories and sensibilities was never really reasonable. Too much would have had to be changed, scrapped, etc. I think the best/worst we could've hoped/feared was for the angst to be dialed down and Batman pulling the stick out of his butt. Hopefully less rapes and "hero-on-hero" decapitations & amputations too.

[shanejayell]

Most of the "return to Silver" rumors started from a Mark Waid quote, anyway. Wasn't Dido who said it....

[Powerboy]

I thought it was said that the "Silver Age" thing would just be a return to the idea that the heroes more or less like each other again. And yes, maybe a bit less of the heroes killing people outright or being paranoid about each other. I don't follow Batman in his own comics but in "52" he supposedly got all the bitterness and darkness taken out of him so I am curious to see exactly what that means.

[LtMarvel]

I'm not sure what the criteria for "return to the silver age" is, but there is a lot of excitement at DC lately. Just look at this week's batch of books:

Dini's Batman: Robin vs the Joker. Great story, includes a look at the history of the Joker and the Bat family training in that one year off.

Justice Society of America: more revelations from the year off. Introduction of new characters and new roster of the team. And a brilliant last page that I hope will become the industry standard.

Oustiders: That's right...this book. This book shows a golden age character is the major cause of all of nearly all of the Outsiders' troubles, right from #1. I know I have a soft spot for Captain Marvel villians, but seeing two of them spotlighted in this issue...

Superman/Batman Confidential: Both books, as stated, have an "old style" feel to them, much like the early Batman: the Animated Series.

Throw in the latest reprints (Spirit Archives and Showcase Presents: Shazam!), this week's books (at least the ones I bought) definitely remind me of another exciting era of my youth.

[Jack Zodiac]

Aside from Outsiders, I'd say all of those are pretty good examples of Silver Age storytelling. Maybe not Batman Confidential so much as Superman Confidential, but definitely the "coming up in the future of" Justice Society of America, and the stuff Dini's been pumping out for the Batfamily.

[AaronJ]

I don't see that a return to the 1960's was ever promoted. And I think those that believe it was were simply hearing what they wanted to hear.

But more alarmingly, who would want a return to stories from 40 or 30 years ago? If you are unhappy with the stories we have had in the past five years, then why not forge a way *FORWARD*? Why not do something NEW? Why not look to something CREATIVE?

I don't understand the desire to have comics return to some decades-old formula and ethos. It seems as though an artistic endeavor, like comics, would be the last place one would want reactionary forces to actually win.

I just don't get it.

[Gozwald73]

What's a "ballyhood"?

[Jack Zodiac]

Pretty sure he meant "ballyhooed."

[Kid Kamikaze10]

Those who loved and hoped for the return of a Silver Age-like DC Universe and those who feared and loathed the idea expected DC to turn in that direction with the end of INFINITE CRISIS. Despite a few cosmetic continuity adjustments and return of characters to classic roles, however, that doesn't seem to be the case at all. Six months after INFINITE CRISIS wrapped up, the DCU still feels more like it did in 2000 than it did in 1960 or 1970 (or even 1980). It's true that the extreme angst that characterized the two or three years immediately preceding INFINITE CRISIS has been dialed down, but I don't see the full-scale reversion to Silver Age conventions and values that most were hoping for/fearing.



Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Just wait until much-foreshadowed "New Earth" (Earth-2?) starts being shown......

[Gozwald73]

Pretty sure he meant "ballyhooed."

oookaaay... so what's "ballyhooed"?

[Buried Alien]

oookaaay... so what's "ballyhooed"?

It means something like, "discussed with a great deal of fuss."


Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Suzanne]

I knew that DC woudn't revert back to the sunshine & lollipops aspect of the silver age. That would be too much. However, I'm glad that certain elements are returning, such as the Big Three being founding members of the JLA. Those early League stories are back in print, so it's sensible to align that with today's comic.

[Shellhead]

DC appears to making an effort to get away from the rape and gore stuff of recent years, but the progress is mixed. Meltzar seems to be keeping it clean in JLA, and Johns has made it clear that the JSA are to be the moral compass of the DC heroes. On the other hand, the latest issue of 52 featured mass torture, to the point of death, followed by zombification. That was bad enough, but showing all these people having their torsos splayed open was brutal, and then there was that hero who was skinned alive. We get to see him before and after said skinning, without even some discrete shadows to soften the blow.

[Gozwald73]

It means something like, "discussed with a great deal of fuss."


Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

ahhh... ok. Thanks!:)