The implication Johns all but spells out is that something has been terribly wrong with the tone of comics for decades, but that it can be fixed by strong, centralized control; that if the pre-1985 ideal of superhero stories as innocent, uncomplicated fun doesn't work anymore (this concept is represented by an alternate version of Superboy going on a murderous rampage -- don't ask), then neither does the darkening moral fog of the post-"Watchmen," post-"Dark Knight," post-"Crisis on Infinite Earths" mainstream; that the only solution is to return, somehow, to these characters' points of origin, and let history repeat itself with slight variations, for an audience of (some of) the same people who bought it the first time.

# posted by Gerry Canavan @ 1:29 PM  |