I sure hope this'll be better...
Longtime DC Comics official Paul Levitz, one of the few members of DC Comics' staff to still be working for them ever since beginning his career in his teens, gets an interview in the NY Times (registration required).
(You'll also note that, in the paragraph I highlighted at least, they forgot to mention that the Huntress was at that time the daughter of the Bat and Cat on Earth-TWO, when the alternate earths concept was still in full-swing.)
Now with that, there's two more things here I'm gonna comment on. First:
On Wednesday, comic book fans who buy the new issue of "JSA," a superhero book published by Time Warner's DC Comics division, will be in for a rare event. The book is written by Paul Levitz, the comics company's president and publisher.I seem to recall that even Geoff Johns revisited that whole storyline about a year ago. And frankly, I'm hoping that whatever Levitz does here is better than what Johns let the title sink into last year, when he prostrated himself to the whole Identity/Infinite Crisis catastrophe.
Mr. Levitz, 49, last wrote about the Justice Society of America regularly in 1979. He's committed to writing six issues of the comic, now titled simply "JSA," this year, returning to some of the characters who helped make his reputation as a gifted writer of superhero team books.
The new stories tie into a series called "Infinite Crisis" that involves nearly every DC character, from Aquaman to Wonder Woman. The plot for the "JSA" issue released this week hinges on a notebook written in "secret code," which an older character soon realizes is actually shorthand. Handling the illustrations for the first issue and the covers for all six will be George Pérez, a celebrated industry artist.
DC icons like Superman and Batman, despite their origins in 1938 and 1939, respectively, exist eternally in the present. The Justice Society, considered the comics' first superhero team, was founded in 1940, and its tales spin out closer to real time, with heroes who age, retire, even die. During his tenure writing the book in the 1970's, Mr. Levitz introduced the Huntress, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. In another tale, he revealed that, in the 1950's, the Society chose to disband rather than reveal members' identities to the House Un-American Activities Committee in Washington. The new series picks up that storyline again.
(You'll also note that, in the paragraph I highlighted at least, they forgot to mention that the Huntress was at that time the daughter of the Bat and Cat on Earth-TWO, when the alternate earths concept was still in full-swing.)
Now with that, there's two more things here I'm gonna comment on. First:
Last year, the comic book industry generated about $250 million in sales from graphic novels or trade paperback collections of individual comics. In total, the industry surpassed $500 million in sales, said Milton Griepp, the publisher of ICv2, an online trade publication that covers pop culture for retailers.Interesting. Sounds to me like as if they're acknowledging the fact that trade paperbacks are what really do well for comics, not monthly pamphlet issues, sadly. I wish that they'd do more for the monthlies, but that doesn't seem to come into focus here, unfortunately.
Like the industry, comics fandom has changed as well. Thanks to the Internet, fanzines have become news sites, rumor columns and blogs. This visceral connection with fans also points to the continuing appeal of the characters. "It's pretty hard to think about anything else from the culture of 1940 that we still care about today," Mr. Levitz said. "There's as many kids today who love our characters as there ever were."Well yes, but then, while I have much more respect for Levitz than I do for Dan DiDio, isn't that why you should make them a really pleasant experience for both the old and the new, which Geoff Johns certainly didn't do when he guested Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew in Teen Titans two months ago? Food for thought.
Labels: dc comics, Justice Society of America
