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I would be horribly remiss in not posting anything about this topic (but what else would be new, there?), so here goes. Dan DiDio, co-publisher of DC Comics broke the news to USA Today they are rebooting the DC Universe and relaunching some 50 titles at issue #1.

I have relatively mixed feelings on this. One is I am insanely behind (going on five and a half months worth of comics) reading my comics, so this news lights a fire under my butt to get caught up and get the existing comics collection sorted before the reboot. The other is knowing that this could either go really well and be really good or turn out completely horribly and my favorite comics publisher will suffer and I won’t get to read the stories I love so much (not that I’ve been keeping up even though the pile we have is growing) anymore.

Reboots are not uncommon in comics and least of all for DC. Recently, however, DC has been King of the Crisis. Crisis on Infinite Earths, Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, Countdown to the Final Crisis, Final Crisis . . . Every two years there was another freaking crisis. Seriously? Having a crisis so often really cheapens the impact of those that came before it and numbs fans to the whole idea. After every crisis is some flavor of reboot.

I’m unsure on the idea of resetting comics numbering back to #1. For some titles like Justice League of America, Green Lantern, and Birds of Prey (the first is confirmed to be in the 50, the latter two I’m sincerely hoping will be among the chosen) have been reset to #1 a couple of times now. JLA most recently in 2006. Whereas Superman, Batman, and Detective Comics all number in the 600+; having runs continuing from the 30s and 40s.

50 titles may seem like a lot, but it certainly doesn’t comprise the entirety of the current DC comics catalog. A lot of the titles in the current catalog are duplicate titles. There are mulitple comics featuring Batman and the adventures of the various Green Lanterns in the DCU. Most of Batman’s former sidekicks and associates have branched off and have their own titles (Robin, Red Robin, Batgirl, and formerly Nightwing). Are all these extra titles really necessary? Fans of them will argue that yes, indeed they are necessary. But if we include all those bonus comics which are really an excuse to have Batman cameos and Batman villain cameos, we don’t get to have the unique, different titles like Secret Six or Birds of Prey, instead. It’s probably a difficult choice figuring out who makes the cut and I’m girding myself for some disappointment on that front, already.

Mostly, I’m cautiously optimistic that DC’s bold new direction doesn’t blow up in their faces. I have a vivid memory from Comic-Con last year of J. Michael Straczynski asking DC fans to “give him one story arc” in regards last year’s Wonder Woman reboot and he left the book after 6 issues without even finishing the arc we’d promised to give him. So, you’ll excuse me if I’m a wee bit gunshy on this one, folks. That being said, I need Gail Simone’s name on my comics to be a happy comic nerd. So much

The bigger news that I have more concrete feelings about is the same day digital sales of their titles. That comment is: YAY. I admit to not yet consuming my comics in digital form, but without a doubt, this move of DC’s has much stronger staying power and a more lasting positive impact on reaching readers in a much broader way. I will continue to support local comics shops, but I can’t possibly see same-day digital sales as anything short of exemplary.

UPDATE: Also THIS. So much this. This to infinity.

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or “How after 12 years I came closer to completing my oldest collection and won the con at the same time”.

I started collecting Sandman comics around 1998 or so. This was back in the days when huge swaths of the San Diego Comic-Con floor was nothing but booth after booth of comic books. I would plop down with a box of $1 comics and a list written down on notebook paper and carefully pluck out the little treasures.

As we all know, SDCC is nothing like those halcyon days any more. Where there were once 10-15 booths of cheap back issues of non-superhero comics, there are now 2. Walking into Baltimore Comic-Con was like coming home. Comic shop owners dominated the floor. $1 comics. $5 graphic novels. Action figures, artists, independent comics publishers, and web comics. It was beautiful. My nerd heart wept.

We stopped in many booths looking for a comic that has eluded us since July: Blackhawk #133, the first appearance of Lady Blackhawk. (Still haven’t found it) In one booth, I started flipping through a box of comics entitled “Misc. Vertigo”. In it, I found the Death Mini Comic, “Death Talks About Life”. A 6-page pamphlet distributed in the 90s informing people about safe sex, STDs, and condoms with a guest appearance from John Constantine. I kept flipping through the box and Trey and I opted to split up so he could keep looking for Blackhawk. This booth wasn’t done with me, yet.

I found the Sandman back issues and the front of the stack had issue #3. My eyes got big as saucers. The front part of my collection was the most naked. The first 8 issues of Sandman were always out of my price range as a young’un. I am now a grown up with a scandalous amount of disposable income. I stumbled upon the box of comic book treasures. Literally. I pulled all the low number issues missing from my list rather gleefully.

Tucked in the wrong place, out of order, was Sandman #8 — the first appearance of Death. My breath caught in my chest. I stared at in disbelief for a few seconds. I had found it. My first thought was, “Trey is NEVER going to believe this!” My second thought was, “He missed me finding it! Sad! I wish he was here.” No matter what else happened, though, I could go home happy.

I purchased my huge stack of Sandman back issues and asked the booth owner if he had copies of Sandman #1 and #2. He stepped down to a box of comics on the floor and plucked issue #1 effortlessly from the box and handed it to me. His asking price was half what I was used to seeing when I started my collection, it was a no-brainer. I had successfully found the mini-comic, the first appearances of Death and Dream in one place. Full on triple nerdgasm, all the way, across the con. (To borrow a SUPER tired meme)

Out of a 75-issue run of a seminal series of comics, I am only missing 4 issues. I am on nerdy cloud 9.

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I saw yesterday’s PVP and it was like Scott Kurtz was inside my mind! (It’s incredibly important you view that comic before continuing. Go on ahead and look. I’ll wait.)

Did you read it? Good. (If you didn’t, go do so, but we’re not waiting for any stragglers. Keep up with the rest of the class!)

Explanation of Scott Kurtz’s mind-reading powers: I suck at losing. Which is a big problem for me, because I lose a lot. Munchkin? Settlers of Catan? Halo? (OMG am I terrible at Halo) Super Mario Brothers for the Wii? (There was much stress from badly losing the game)

The way it works for me is a series of if/then/else statements. If everyone has the same experience level then I am generally fine with losing. If I am the only one new to the game then I probably won’t play. My chances of winning are low and I won’t learn by continually being beaten. If I am the one with the most experience then I will play confident that I will win. When I lose, it is infuriating.

Wherever possible, I prefer cooperative play. Best-case scenario is playing a game where I am my only opponent. Example: DJ Hero. There are no goombas, orcs, flying-turtles, or spike deathtraps for me to blame for my failure. DJ Hero is learning music in easy mode. If I mess up a mix, I know I’ll do better next time and get five stars to boot. DJ Hero was the tincture that soothed the Super Mario Bros rage-beast (See Dex-Starr above for example of rage-beasts).

Now I have Starcraft II. Trey and I played each other last night and the first match, he crushed me. I got irritated, knew I couldn’t win and just surrendered. It made me grouchy. He gave me some pointers on how to do that role better and we played again. I won the next match, but he went a little easy on me so as not to upset the marital household. After last night, the PVP comic was just perfectly timed.

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Theoretically, I should really do a post about different events and chunks of the honeymoon. Likelihood of that? Slim to none. I may surprise myself and do something about the different snippets of awesome that comprised my honeymoon in San Diego.

Thursday was a travel day and can be summed up with a headache from pre-flight beer and high altitudes with a dash of cramped airline seats on Continental. If you are tall, flying Continental may not be a good choice for you. Research, research, research. (Yes, I know I am short, I can fit on any plane, my husband, not so much. His comfort is a priority of mine considering he already hates to fly)

Friday was a con day for us. We met some really nice people who work for Hasbro on the walk from our hotel to the con. They gave us the 411 on some really neat things to find on the con floor, like the actual Bumblebee car next to the transformed Bumblebee in the Hasbro booth. We picked up the majority of our free stuff from con that morning (as can be seen in the pic above). It was also the day we stood in line to get Gail Simone’s autograph on a comic and confess to her that we were at Comic-Con on our Honeymoon. She asked if we were nuts. We said we were.

Saturday was our second and last con day. We spent the day looking for some hard to find single issues and completing a few trade paperback collections. We were thwarted in finding Blackhawk #133, the first appearance of Lady Blackhawk, Zinda Blake. I was also unsuccessful linking up for The Guild panel after lunch, but got to see the DC Showcase with Trey instead. Thomas Jane spent the whole panel eating a sandwich and fries. He was a trip. I got horrible pictures of him, sadly. We ended our Saturday with the Fables panel, amiably hosted by Bill Willingham. It was amazing.

Sunday, we went to the World Famous San Diego Zoo. We spent all day there. Quite seriously. It was wonderful, as always. Trey had never been, so it was pretty important to me that he get to it this time around. Many aminals were seen and just as many photos were taken. They can be seen on my Picasa page.

Monday was a very slow day with checking out of the hotel and me losing my passport amongst all our crap and blaming its disappearance on the housekeeping staff. More than slightly embarrassed by that, but at least I found my passport. I really should have apologized all over myself to the housekeeping and hotel folks a ton more than I did. I will instead sing the praises of the Sheraton Suites at Symphony Hall in San Diego lots. It was a great hotel and a wondrous home base for our Comic-Con adventures. I highly recommend it.

That’s really the highlights. It was a really good time. We had a lot of fun and were really sad that the con had to end. Super nerdy honeymoon FTW.