Of the 52, not many seem popular

Over at Comic Book Resources they did a poll to see what fans thought of the 52 titles in the DC reboot. Even though I openly stated that I thought many of these books were destined to fail, I thought there would be more fan support for some of the titles.
If the results of the poll are any indication, fans aren't too keen on this reboot. Frankly the results are actually a lot more negative that I was about the DCnU, as it's being called. I think there were over 10,000 responses and although I'm sure many net dwellers responded multiple times (because they've just gotta do stuff like that), it still seems like the response is overwhelmingly negative.

I'm not against the reboot, or DCnU, but I'm also not falsely optimistic about books that just don't seem to have any staying power. Even though some of those books star characters I really like. I'm a realist and I know that many of the characters I dearly enjoy, just don't appeal to that many fans. No matter how much I prefer to read about Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Firestorm, the Atom, Captain Marvel or Captain Atom, they will never sell as much as the 100 Batman books that come out each month. That's why their titles just don't last as long, if they are lucky enough to get their own title. That's also why those characters get shot in the head, sent to another universe, or have other terrible things happen to them as they get swept under the run and forgotten for a while.

I've already done a quick book by book analysis(even though it was probably one of my longest posts) so I won't do it again here. What I am going to do is share the books I intend to pick up. Which really isn't that many.

I'm definitely getting: (*note the items in bold are books where I've already paid my yearly subscription so I'm getting them in the mail until at least January regardless of the reboot)

1. Blue Beetle
2. Capt. Atom
3. The Flash
4. The Fury of Firestorm
5. Justice League
6. Justice League International
7. Legion of Superheroes
8. Legion Lost
   
9. Mister Terrific
10. Wonder Woman
11. Nightwing
12. Green Lantern
13. Green Lantern Corps
14. Green Lantern: The New Guardians
15. Superman
16. Action Comics
17. Superboy
18. Animal Man

I might try:  

1. Batgirl
2. The Savage Hawkman
3. Justice League Dark
4. DC Universe Presents
5. Grifter
6. Red Lanterns
7. Stormwatch 

As I've stated before I'm not a big Batman fan, but even I can be drawn in by the buzz. So I may give the two core Batman books a try. I definitely won't be buying any of the extra books like The Dark Knight, Batwing or Catwoman.

So I ended up with a list of 18 definite buys and 7 possibilities for a total of 25 of the initial 52. I'm willing to give about half of the books a chance. Of those 25 I'm betting only 1/2 will make it too far beyond the 1 year mark, if they last that long. Of course DC editors have already stated that the initial 52 are just the beginning. Other titles are on the way in the upcoming months. They aren't stupid. They know many of the initial 52 titles will fail.

Now I will resume purchasing Batman Beyond, which is supposed to be a relaunched later. I'll also buy the rumored Justice League Beyond book that I've heard mentioned if/when it comes out. Other than the ones I mentioned I don't plan on touching any of the other titles. Some just because I can't stand the characters (Aquaman) others because they just don't appeal to me (Sgt. Rock). It's a good thing I'm not a big fan of  Marvel books or I may have taken this opportunity to cut my DC purchases and pick up more Marvel. I wonder how many fans may end up doing just that?

There is one thing I am curious about regarding the reboot. I know that Green Ronin has been running pretty far behind schedule on the DC Adventures RPG. Could it be because DC is requiring them to take the DCnU into account? I haven't seen anything about it, yet, on the Mutants & Masterminds message boards (Atomic Think Tank). As a matter of fact I've hardly seen anyone discussing the reboot on those boards.

Now you can find tons of threads and posts about the reboot over at the CBR boards, the Paizo boards, and of course the DC message boards. I'm sure there are tons of other boards and blogs discussing the topic, but those are the ones I frequent the most.

Gotta love Foxtrot

The comic Foxtrot is one of my favorites and I think it is funny that such a geek oriented strip makes it into my local paper. Now if only they'd add Spider-man, Full Frontal Nerdity, Flare and the Phantom.

A little bit of everything

Lately I've been focusing all of my attention on strictly RPGs, and most of that has been focused on Pathfinder or WotC/D&D. So today I've decided to do a post that touches on multiple topics.

RPGs & other games

• I don't know exactly why,but according to RPGNow this is the last month you can buy pdfs of the Cortex system's Battlestar Galactica and Serenity RPGs. Whatever the reason, the pdfs for these games as well as other Cortex games, are on sale. I really like the Cortex system so I grabbed a copy of Six-Shooters and Spaceships for $4.99. The core rules for BSG and Serenity can be yours for $9.99.
• Troll Lord Games is also running a sale on RPGNow for its Castles & Crusades products. If you've been thinking about trying this game, now would be a good time.
• I've honestly never played Runequest, although I've heard good things about it. With pdfs for Runequest II on sale at RPGNow, I may finally give it a try.
• The new Villains and Vigilantes adventure, Infinity Lounge, is now available for free at RPGNow. While you're at it check out the interview with V&V creators Jeff Dee and Jack Herman over at Ain't it Cool News.
• If you haven't played Heroclix in a while, check out some of the cool new stuff coming out from Wizkids.
• I played a few games of Dragon Dice back when TSR released the game in the 90's. I lost track of the game and thought it had disappeared until I recently heard that the game was making a comeback and is currently being produced by SFR. 
• Speaking of dice games, Cthulhu dice by Steve Jackson games is a simple, but fun little game I picked up a few months ago. Zombie Dice is also a lot of fun.

Comic Books

• In response to fan's complaints about the price of comic books and the reported decline in sales DC comics' Drawing the Line at $2.99 goes into effect this month. Nearly all of the monthly comics released by DC are supposed to hold the $2.99 price for the foreseeable future. In response Marvel is reportedly dropping many of its monthly books to the $2.99 price as well. Since I primarily read DC I am happy very happy about this. Of course the 4 - 5 Marvel books I read will probably be the ones that don't see the price drop, but the lower DC prices should make up for it.
• In case you didn't know new issues, as well as back issues of Heroic Publishing's books can be found on Drive-thru Comics or you can order print versions of the books from the company's website. Personally I usually read Flare and Champions, but the other books are pretty good too. 
• I just recently found out that Drive-thru Comics also has a lot of Top Cow books available on their site. 
• While I'm on the Drive-thru Comics kick I recommend picking up the issues of Shi and 2000 AD that are available to download. 
• DC comics is dropping the Comics Code for their own rating system. It's about time.

Movies

• I had some reservations about Seth Rogen playing the Green Hornet, but after seeing the movie this past weekend I have to admit he did a good job. The movie was a lot of fun and Jay Chou kicked ass as Kato. I saw it at an IMAX 3-D theater and even though I'm not a fan of 3-D, I can't deny it was pretty cool. 
• Images of Chris Evans in full Captain America costume have been released. As a life long Cap fan, I can't wait to see this movie.
• The preview for Thor was playing when I went to see Green Hornet and it looks awesome!
• Apparently Bane and Catwoman will be the villains in the next Batman movie. I'm not too keen on the actors chosen for the parts,but everyone said Michael Keaton would suck as Batman and I thought he did a great job.
• After X3 I didn't really care about seeing X-Men: First Class but it is beginning to look promising.
• Jon Favreau apparently won't be directing Iron Man 3. 
• I'm sure everyone knows about the Spider-man movie reboot and while Garfield seems to wear the suit well, I'm just not ready for a reboot.

TV

• I don't know what everyone else thought, but in my opinion the new NBC series The Cape sucked. It definitely showed potential and it could have been an amazing faux Batman tv show, but alas it was a complete disappointment.
• I haven't had the chance to watch them yet but I've heard good things about both The Avengers and Young Justice cartoons.

Will Wonder Woman ever really be as iconic as Superman & Batman?

While I am a WW fan, most people can't relate to the characters. She's just too foreign and few creators "get" her.
Superman may be an alien, but he is a messianic figure, who embodies hope. He had an American, midwestern upbringing and even to non-christians his values are familiar. He is a man out of place, who lost a family/people that he never got to know, and who seeks to connect to his heritage. He is also alone even though he has people who care for him. These are all things that most people can relate to on some level.
Batman is the very embodiment of loss, tragedy, alienation, the battle with inner demons and the desire for vengeance.
Both characters are fantastical representations of the "masks" that most people have to wear. Everyone must be different in different situations. They are also both representations of mankind's desire to make their environment safe and to have the power to fight those that are more powerful.
Wonder Woman has very little of that.
First she is a woman and unfortunately many people, including women, are prone to see strong women as a threat, not role-models. Most societies on this planet are patriarchal and while views are still evolving and maturing, the image of a powerful woman is still not as desirable as a powerful male savior. Secondly, she has little that the audience, mostly men, can relate to on a personal level. She's clay, given life by greek gods. Even among the non-religious this concept is someone "foreign" in many cultures where the Abrahamic religions are prominent.
Lastly, with the exception of the current storyline, WW is a princess, who regularly chats it up with gods, she has a "family" that loves her and she isn't out for vengeance. She is trying to assume a messianic role as a peace ambassador, but even that is not something most males(the majority of readers) can relate to. She does have the battle between her warrior nature and her desire for peace, but that's about as close as she gets to seeming human and sometimes that seems forced. She's just a little too perfect.
Batman, Superman, Spider-man, Capt. America, Iron Man, Hulk, and countless other characters all have very human inner and outer battles. Money, love, loss, rejection, desire and isolation are all traits shared by the more popular (Iconic) characters. That's why people can relate to them.
If you ask the average non-comic book reader to tell you about Superman, Batman, Spider-man and Hulk (Thanks to the movies and cartoons you could possibly add Wolverine, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Blade and Green Lantern) they will hit on many of the very human traits that have helped these characters survive for so long. The traits and fears they will hit upon are are almost universally shared by all people.
Now if you ask them to do the same thing with Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Thor or the Flash you will get completely different answers. Wonder Woman will likely be associated with being sexy/wearing a sexy outfit, magic lassos, and invisible planes. With Aquaman you'll get swims, talks to fish and maybe the color of his costume. With Thor you might be lucky to get someone to mention his hammer and with Flash you'll get "he runs fast" and maybe the color red.
There is a reason characters like Wonder Woman are not as successful outside of the realm of comics. Even in comics Wonder Woman is the only one of DC's trinity that doesn't have more than one title. I could be wrong, but I think that she barely sells enough to support even that one.
I'm not bashing her. Hell, she's one of my favorites, but honestly most little girls would rather grow up to be Supergirl than Wonder Woman.
If her current storyline had been her origin or were to become the definitive WW, then this might change. As much as people may dislike the costume change, the current direction of her book has made her much more human than before. I for one hope it continues. It could be exactly what she needs to truly be the icon she is supposed to be.