This is so stupid.

They expect us to get all hot and bothered over something like killing Batman while in the meantime, they'll have two or three alternate titles is which he's doing just fine. This is why I have such a hard time keeping an interest in comics.

I don't think I ever need to read another take on Superman's or Batman's origin ever again for the rest of my life. Big sigh.

I think that All-Star got quickly repurposed as sort of a creator-driven alternative to the mainstream universe, which is why Adam Hughes' oft-rumoured All-Star WW never came about - it was probably too "straight" a take on the format.

I don't know if I like either of the writer choices on this one; JMS already pretty much took his pass on the Superman origin in Supreme Power, while Johns... well, I've always hated his take on Batman, although part of that is because he was writing Mary Sue Jordan as his lead most of those times.

Also... isn't Johns already re-doing Superman's origin? Why the hell do we need another version? If these were positioned strictly for Barnes and Noble and the like, I could see the reasoning behind them - as gateway books - but that doesn't sound like the intent.

Really odd choice. Can't believe I'm saying this about books with art by Shane Davis and Gary Frank, but I'll probably pass.

Stracynzki, huh? So we can expect that Superman is part of some kind of totem god thing and will later gain all new powers after hibernating, only to have it, his marriage, and the revelation of his identity all whisked away when he makes a deal with the devil (I guess Blue Devil?) to save Martha Kent?

I like the look of Gary Frank's design on Batman's costume, but really they could just use that in the regular DCU. I don't see much point for these graphic novels...

If they keep it controlled, it could work. But then it would just be Smallville again pretty much.

I don't see what makes these special. And Earth One already exists, pre-crisis.

Oh, good lord. How many different origin stories has Superman had in the last ten years? Seriously? And they just get retconned over and over and over again. I honestly can't work up the least bit of interest anymore. Work up an origin that lasts more than ten years and I'll check it out then. Yeesh.

I enjoy Johns' writing, so I will remain apprehensive but optimistic.

Rob, the news here is at least as much about the format as it is about the content. "Ultimate DC" is interesting, but doing a pair of ongoing shared-universe superhero series starring the company's flagship characters in OGN format is really interesting.

This is why I DONT read comics anymore (Gasp!)

Earth One? I thought the "dead" batman was on earth one already? Why do you need to tell me a story about his origin when its been done to death!?

Why is there so many superman(men?) around? You got a regular supes, an older grey haired one from another earth...kingdom come supes (why!) and lets not even get started on all his cousins, sisters, refugees from krypton and animals that all have the same powers!

What makes Superman special is there is ONE. ONE guy who can close a volcano.
ONE guy who can freeze something with a whisper.
ONE guy who has the weight of responsibility of those powers. Just one fucking Superman. jeez!

Now we have yet another Batman and Superman? How long till these guys get folded into "regular" continuity?

How does DC expect to get new readers? Its insane....

sorry for ranting.

They have no new stories to tell. So, Batman Begins, Superman Begins, are looking to be the norm for every retread of these franchises...

Daniel Craig + Jersey Shore guido + dash of Twilight vampire = 'Adult Bruce Wayne' sketch

As long as emo-looking Bruce doesn't sparkle in the sun, I'm cool.
JMS writing 'Supes is a bit unsettling, though.

Ohhhh! An origins story! We need more origin stories! You know what? Lets go ahead and redo Green Lantern too, I want to see how he his ring.

This could be exciting...if it works. A few years ago this would have pissed me off something fierce,but Superboy-Prime pretty much punched the crap out of my love of the DC Universe proper. Like an abused housewife I keep wandering back,only to be hurt again and again. The key to this will be having editors who actually ride herd on the creators(which is where the All-Star line went wrong) and having the balls to make things different. The Ultiate Marvel 'verse was great when it was all fresh and new,but after a few years they just started re-treading stories from the 616 universe.

I would love to see a version of the Riddler that was more along the lines of Jigsaw...and the scary,psycho Joker has been done to death so why not give us a funny,charming Ceaser Romero version....who turns into Pennywise when we least expect it. Years ago I believe Wizard magazine had a piece with their version of the Ultimate DC Universe and they had a drawing of Commissioner Gordon who looked like Morgan Freemans charatcer from SEVEN...do some shit like that and mix it up a bit and I'll be there with bells on....as long as they keep it from turning into the adventures of the Goddamn Batman!!!

I think there's a big point that a LOT of the websites, and particularly us the fans, are missing out on with this announcement. That point is that these books aren't necessarily "for" us. Sure, they want us to be able to pick them up, read them, and enjoy them...but that by itself isn't the ultimate goal. The goal is, that when your buddy, who has just watched The Dark Knight for the fifteenth time but has never read a comic book in his life, FINALLY asks you where a good place to start reading Batman would be, you've got a very definite, very specific starting point that you can hand him and say "here". Yes, it is its own shared continuity, and yes, it's basically "Ultimate DC", but how many new or lapsed fans came to Marvel when they launched their own shedding of continuity? And doing it in direct to TPb form is a really good idea. As much as I'm a proponent of floppies, this again isn't "for" me. It's for the guy who's new to comics, and might actually just sit down and read a whole story if he doesn't have to wait for the next part. Comics is shifting towards trades anyway, and this puts them ahead of the curve, if you ask me. I would also not be surprised AT ALL if they were to turn around and serialize the GNs as digital content. That way the people that want the floppies have that option, but it's not going to cost them extra production plus it tests those particular waters. I know we all think of these as "our" characters, but it is time we shared them with more of the world, and this feels like a really good way to actually do that. You can bet these won't be the end, either. Superman and Batman are the most well known, so they get to be first. But how dumb would it be for them not to do one of these for Green Lantern for them to release right before the new movie? Maybe with a Wonder Woman one to back it up? Next could maybe be Flash and Aquaman. After that? Who knows?! Maybe even a Justice League! Let's not forget that these could also be really spiffy platforms on which to hang their movies and tie some movie-type continuity together.

Heh heh ... Crime Alley. That always killed me.

Thomas: What a wonderful night at the theatre!

Martha: The car is SO far away, dear, is there no relief?

Thomas: Don't worry. I know a short cut. We'll go down CRIME ALLEY. What could possibly go wrong in CRIME ALLEY,

Thomas Wayne = the first winner of the Darwin Award.

The problem with these kinds of comics is two-fold:

1) Do we need ANOTHER re-telling of Superman's origin story? Is there really anyone who doesn't know how he came from Krypton, etc?

2) These may be "gateway" comics, but it won't last very long. Within a year, these versions of Superman and Batman will have stories just as convoluted as the "regular universe" versions.

I think publishers are doing fans a dis-service when they view 30 years (or even 10 years) of history as "baggage" or "obstacles for new readers".
Shouldn't the fun of comics include discovering that back issue where a character is introduced? Or has that fun been replaced by the speculation-market which drove the first appearance of Cable to $80, which makes impossible for the average reader to get the issue?

Plus, I thought DC's annual "Crisis" events were supposed to be a good "jumping on" point. Then again, if they have to do another "Crisis" event every-other-year, then what does that say about their ability to write easy-to-follow-stories?

Erg...it's ridiculous, I know, but Batman's costume looks TERRIBLE without the boxer shorts. He looks like a super-janitor, not a super-hero.

When pressed for comment DC Comics' editor-in-chief said "Seriously? I don't even know what fucking Earth our current continuity takes place on anymore..."

Poor, poor Wonder Woman, can't get a Wonder break. I say the path that needs to be taken with her is to really focus on magical side of her. If I were working for DC I'd pitch it like this. Superman protects Earth from sciency threats, Batman protects Gotham from his small army of enemies. Wonder Woman should protect Earth from Hades, Ares, and oh what the hell Dionysus (he wants to turn the oceans to wine!) I think really cranking up the Magical factor, she doesn't really worry about stopping crooks when the River Styx starts unloading it's bevvy of souls in her back yard. We could also throw in Wonder Women from other pantheons, imagine Vunder Frau from the Norse pantheon! or a Wonder Woman from India! The India one would be way more interesting than Vunder Frau but hey, it's just an idea.

this shows dc is trying to milk their two biggest guns to dryness and it could be they are doing their version of marvel ulitmate line now. as for all star wonder woman dan Diedo said that adam wanted a few issues done and in the can before dc ever relises it. for wonder woman is still the same its donna troy aka wonder girl one who is so screwed up not even alan moore could fix her

Cons: Retelling a story that everyone knows, ignoring characters who really need a fix-up, probably not going to attract new readers anyway
Pros: Young Bruce is really cute

. . . The Pros have it! As a nerd girl, I support this reboot.

Quite frankly, a continuity reboot is exactly what the core DC titles need. Superhero books in general tend to be too weighed down by decades of twisted continuity and DC titles may be the worst of them on that front. None of DC's attempts to bring order to the universe have worked. This may just be what the doctor ordered.

My primary reservation is that they've given Batman to Geoff Johns. Greg Rucka would have been a much better choice. He's already proven his ability to write Bat titles better than just about anyone out there. Johns, on the other hand, is responsible for the abortion that is Blackest Night. DC probably chose Johns because his titles move. The problem is that they sell to fanboys and fanboys alone. Rucka writes comics in a way that can bring in new readers. Isn't that the point of this whole exercise?

As for Wonder Woman, my bet is that they'll give her an Earth One book if the Bat and the Boy Scout do well. Wonder Woman is a character with tons of potential. She's just tethered to a colossally convoluted backstory that has been tugged back and forth by some of the most turbulent years of Western gender relations and editorial's read on what sort of woman the market will buy. Diana needs a clean slate and I hope they give it to her with Earth One.

I'm confused. Is that the american version of the japanese batman or the japanese version of the american batman?

Im willing to read them both mostly becouse the Batman comic looks kind of old school. Im also willing to give the Superman story ashoot becouse it being wrighten by JMS ... the man who did Babylon 5, Midnight Nation and so many other good comic book stories. I think we should give them a chance the most we will do is hate them and tell DC to go F theselves.

Hmm. The interesting thing, and one big note that makes if different from Marvel's Ultimate line is that these are going to be full graphic novels, not single issues of comics.

Also, as for Batman Earth One, the Batman designs are fine, but Alfred looks almost too badass. I can see toughing him up a bit, but he looks almost like a war weary Green Arrow.

And yeah, poor Wonder Woman or any other DC character. Hopefully if this works we'll see them get a shot. Then again we already have Superman getting a new origin in Superman Secret Origins mini as did Green Lantern in the same titled series within his series. Green Arrow, Black Lighting, Huntress, and some others got a Year One titled mini series.

Meanwhile the creative means on these do sound good, so I think I will check them out.

if this is coming , then why geoff johns is making superman secret origin? and what about batman confidential, many histories are fron batman early years, so ... what's DC excuse?

I think it's pretty telling that Wonder Woman isn't joining Bats and Supers on this little endeavor, since her character is so screwed up no one knows what to do with her even if you start from scratch.

Spoken like someone who hasn't read Gail Simone's amazing run on Wonder Woman.

I think it's pretty telling that Wonder Woman isn't joining Bats and Supers on this little endeavor, since her character is so screwed up no one knows what to do with her even if you start from scratch.

Spoken like someone who hasn't read Gail Simone's amazing run on Wonder Woman.

Dude I had this idea like five years ago. Plus there was a kickass article in Wizard about what DC would be like if it pulled an 'Ultimate Marvel'. http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=151634

Just keep Frank Miller the fuck away from Batman, FOREVER!

Ah, this is good news for me. I never got into the DC comics. After Dark Knight, i thought to myself: Give it a chance. Read some of it. Dropped it. Even Joker HC was fucking shite. The art was fantastic, but the writing/story was horrible. It made the sympathetic, anarchistic Joker you know from the movie into a murdering, raping, drug-using psychopath. This was boring shit, he's just another fucked up psychopath with a cut up face and no depth in his character. Not funny, not smart, not anything. While Bermejo tried a realistic look on the characters and the city, Azzarello simply fucked up by showing us a mad man running around randomly killing people. That really made me question Batman himself.

So yeah, this is good news for me. Let's hope the Earth One Joker is more like the one we know from the Movie.