Detective Comics 1000 is coming out! This revelation should be one of the most celebrated things in comics. However, just like Action Comics 1000, which came out in April of 2018, there’s something about the book that doesn’t #movetheneedle for me. Why aren’t these milestones more exciting. Is it because SJW’s have infiltrated the hobby to the point where I didn’t trust that I can get a fun story? Yeah, that’s probably part of it. However, I am able to trace my apathy back to one simple decision by DC Comics, The New 52!
The New 52 faced both praise and derision by the fan base. Some people loved the reboot and the new edginess of the characters. Other fans saw these stories as departures from the character archetypes. The New 52 did accomplish something that no other Crisis could, it renumbered Action Comics and Detective Comics. This renumbering started in 2011 as a way to entice new fans to jump on. The strategy worked in the short term and the company did sell a bunch of new number 1’s. However, a drop off in sales did follow. In 2016 the big wigs noticed that Action and Detective Comics were heading to a new tent pole number, 1000. By renumbering again they could get huge sales for issue 1000 in less than 3 years.
When DC Comics announced issue 1000’s creative teams, I’m sure it helped push those numbers even higher.
- Kevin Smith and Jim Lee
- Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev
- Warren Ellis and Becky Cloonan
- Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen
- Denny O’Neil and Steve Epting
(a sequel to O’Neil’s 1976 DETECTIVE COMICS story “There’s No Hope in Crime Alley”) - Christopher Priest and Neal Adams
- Geoff Johns and Kelley Jones
- Tom King, Tony Daniel and Joëlle Jones
- Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo
- James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez
Don’t get me wrong, I bought a copy of Action Comics 1000, and I’ll pick up a copy of Detective Comics 1000. It just doesn’t seem as fun as it should be. Maybe it’s just me.
Knowing that the numbering system was massaged by DC Comics takes away a lot of the mysticism that surrounds the comic and it sort of feels like DC cheated to get these numbers, even though logically I know the current numbers are what they should have been. So this March when Detective Comics 1000 hits the shelves I’ll be there. I even have my cover all picked out (the Frank Miller variant). Part of me though, that part that wakes me up at 4 a.m wondering if the oven is still on, will remind me that this isn’t really Detective Comics #1000.
Guess I’ll have to make due.
