Many of us have judged a comic by it's cover, or perhaps by it's name before. Why, I even remember seeing a comic in the stores years ago, and thinking, "They think they're gonna sell that comic just because it has such a weird cover and it's `suggested for mature readers'?" That comic, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, went on to become quite a success, and I (much to my own dismay) never gave it much of a chance. In fact, when I collected comics, I never gave much of any DC title a chance. Out of the few hundred comics I owned, only about ten of them were DC. Why? Because everybody thought that DC's comics barely ever went up in price and most of them were all cheesy (except Batman of course).
But years later after selling almost all my old comics, I found out something very surprising.
I had heard all about DC "killing" off Superman and breaking Batman's back, but all that did was made me think that DC was getting desperate, and needed sales. After all, it wasn't even Lex Luthor that killed Superman, it was this big monster that came out of nowhere. Ditto with Batman. I'd even heard that they made the Green Lantern a lunatic. So why did my opinion change?
I'm an avid fan of Role-Playing Games. And one fateful day I started playing the Batman Role- Playing Game, which was basically a variation of the main DC Heroes Role-Playing Game. I hardly knew any of DC's past stories and I felt obligated to buy a few DC comics. I started with Superman. I figured I'd have to shatter the first and best known myth, that of Superman being a campy, corny character. I was blown away by the Death of Superman, Funeral For A Friend, and Reign of The Supermen stories. What I thought would never happen, happened. I went from collecting the well known mutant team of some other comic company, to collecting Superman - and liking it!
After Superman, I picked up the Flash. The recent Flash stories such as Dead Heat, and Race Against Time had me stunned. And then I realized something. Every major DC character has undergone some sort of major change or event. Superman has died and come back, and proved to be not as invulnerable everyone would believe. Batman had his back broken and the "Mantle of the Bat" taken from him. The Hal Jordan Green Lantern lost all of his senses and killed all the Green Lantern Corps. And then the new Kyle Rayner Green Lantern was created. Wonder Woman had her title as ambassador of the Amazons taken from her. The Flash had surpassed the shadow of the previous Flash's death and increased his power. The Green Arrow has died and his son has taken his place. And Aquaman - probably the hardest character change to believe - has become gritty and dark, has lost his wife, infant son, kingdom, and even his stinking hand!
Many believe just as I did, that DC has done these things just to get more attention and sales. But unfortunately DC Comics does seem to have to scream out at you, in order for some of us to buy their comics. And whether in the long run it is DC's outlook to get better sales, than more power to them, because it's been one of the most entertaining schemes I have ever been a part of. Too many people are only into collecting comics for the investment part of it, and they don't even bother caring about good entertaining stories.
Well now DC has cult classics under their wing such as The Sandman, Starman, and more. So some of you DC fans may think that other DC characters are campy. But the same opened mindedness needs to be applied when a fan of DC looks into another DC title. DC has risen to become the best story oriented comic company out there, so be on the lookout for more great DC titles, and stories. And go tell your friends about it.