So the New 52 was six years ago and I miss it. For those who don’t know, I haven’t been reading comics all my life. I only got into comics due to the New 52 along with Marvel NOW! Which I’ll talk about on a later date. Anyway, the New 52 for me was my “era” of comics. Before I became a bit “jaded” in my comic choices. I used to pick up everything from the New 52, even titles I had no interest in reading. Comics is a very addictive medium, like once you get one good story or issue, you crave more. That was me during the New 52 era, I would pick up and support any comic because that’s what I was taught. Well I shouldn’t say taught but following artist and writers whose work I enjoyed. It seemed like the best way to support them was to pick up the series or issue. In some cases it was like “how much do I love this character?” Before deciding to pick up this new series.
The New 52 was an era that showed me that I wouldn’t like everything a company puts out. They’re some series that weren’t meant for my taste and I had to learn to be fine with it because the reality was that DC Comics didn’t care about me. They cared if I bought their product but they didn’t care about what XBen3000 wanted to see when it came to his favorite heroes and villains. For the negativity the New 52 did for older fans, it helped and a few of my friends become comic readers. So I will always have a soft spot for that era of DC Comics.
Some of my favorites from that era was Justice League by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. Also, Aquaman by those two and the rest of that creative team involved. They had a way of getting me to care about Arthur Curry, Mera, and his whole world. I think my all time favorite was Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo on the main Batman series. Those two got me invested in Batman and the Bat-Family as a whole and for that I thank them. Finally, We Are Robin, I don’t know if its still considered to be under the New 52 brand but man that book resonated with me on so many levels and my hope is for it to return someday.
For all the older fans the New 52 ran out, you have to admit that it did bring some new readers in for those first few months. I don’t know what DC Comics used to measure the success of a relaunch but in my books I would consider it a win on some scale. You showed the comics world that you can do a comics reboot and it can help the industry. Which the comics industry as a whole needs to improve it will eventually die out but until then. I’m XBen3000 and I love the New 52.
