UPDATE: Jim Lee Redesigns Every Major DC Character in Mass Reboot

The digital news is what I'm most excited about. If they are cheaper than the paper books, I might just go digital for DC.

About time Wonder Woman put some pants back on. 
 
I don't read DC, so I can't say that I'm uber-familiar with the characters, thought I do follow what goes on in the DCU, but I just want to point out a few reasons why I don't read DC and why I think that this change could be a good thing. 
 

1. Origins: they are sooooooooooo complicated. Earth-1, Earth-2, Crisis on Infinite Earths, New-Earth-----WHY DOES IT NEED TO BE SO? Can't they just have ONE origin instead of five?
2. WAY TOO PATRIOTIC (JLAmerica, JSAmerica, Truth, Justice and the American Way?) sometimes you just want it to be a bit more rugged and less old fashioned.
3. Same power sets (Green Lanterns, Kryptonians) most of DC has tons and tons of characters with the same general power set (Superhuman w flight) and after a while you get kinda bored of the whole thing. That's why Marvel's mutant idea is such a great one, because often times, the writers of Marvel will come up with a mutant with some crazy nobody-would've-thought-of-this-power. I think that DC could take a leaf out of their book.

Wonder Woman looks hot, but then, Jim Lee does draw beautiful people. Batman looks totally normal.

This is going to be a big gamble on DC's part. I've always been a Marvel fan, but do to friends' recommendations, I've gotten into Zatanna, and later Power Girl. I have liked both of these titles due to the fact that they are a little different from most comics. I like serious stuff like Kyle and Yost's X-Force, but Zatanna and Power Girl have just been fun reads. I fear both of them are coming to an end though soon :(  
 
I've thought for years that Superman needed somewhat of a redo of his costume, mainly to remove the red underwear. I'm glad to see Jim Lee doing this. I don't know how I feel about the characters getting younger though. I've wanted to get into more DC for awhile, but have been waiting for a good time to do it. I was thinking of doing it after Flashpoint. The whole thing about the storied being for "younger audiences" concerns me though. I'm ok with fun comics or with darker comics. Like I said, I like Power Girl and X-Force, which are totally different, but both have had good writing. I do not like stories for younger audiences though, because usually they are just plain bad. 
 
So I think this reboot will do a few things: 
 
Some people, like me, will give some more DC titles a shot, since this will be a good place to start.  
 
Some long time DC fans will get annoyed by this, if it is a major change, and possibly even shift to Marvel.   
    
With 50 new titles or reboots, some are never going to have a chance. Everyone is going to pick up Superman/Batman/Green Lantern  and the major heroes all at once. By the time they're done with this, they may not have money for the lesser known heroes. I'm not saying people even have to read or like those characters, but from a marketing standpoint, I think it's too much too soon. The lesser heroes will have lower sales because they're flooding the market with new issue #1's, and not everyone can afford every reboot, thus some will get cancelled without ever really having a chance.

And thus, I think it's time to say good bye to the current versions of DC's lesser known series. Unfortunately, series like Zatanna will most likely be casualties of this reboot. It's not an epic story like Blackest Night, or a tough gritty story like some of Batman's comics, but I do hate that EVERY title gets rebooted or cancelled all at once. It may not be the best thing ever written, but it's been a fun read, and I wish they could just do that for a few titles that need it, and not reset everything.

For the most part I like the costumes and for a long time have said that Superman and Wonder Woman both need new costumes, but this is the biggest gamble I've ever seen in comics. Fans are loving this new mythology that is going on in the Green Lantern books, and from what I've heard from the Batman fans they're liking Dick Grayson as Bats and Damian as Robin as well as most of the Batman Inc stuff, and there are so many other series such as the upcoming Justice League International that have been in building up to for years, so could this revamp totally change things for that? If all they're doing is just changing the outfits and their ages a little and maybe a handful of stories, then hey that's fine, but if I pick up a book and Dick Grayson is Robin again and Hal Jordan is the only Green Lantern, well I think DC may have ended up shooting themselves in the foot.
 
And also, just have to point this out, but DC lately has had a horrible track record for big changes. Green Lantern is doing fine, but Barry Allen as the Flash didn't please most of the audience, JMS working on Superman and Wonder Woman didn't go as planned, heck I can keep going with the mistakes that have happened lately, so the more I think about it the more concerned I become.

Is this necessary? They don't really look all that different. Not saying that is a bad thing though.

I'm simultaneously super excited and a little hesitant to see what happens with the universe, which characters will be written for, and how they'll be changed.
 
For those most part, however, I think I'm just really, really curious.
 
The creators I like are still going to be writing and drawing new stories for these characters so I don't see any way that this can be all bad. Basically September just got really interesting for me.

so if DC REBOOTS THEIR STORIES HOW MUCH WILL BE CUT FROM THE BOOKS, WILL THIS MEAN THAT THE STORIES WE THE READERS WITNESS AND ENDURED DISAPPEAR

@Babs said:

UPDATED with a picture of the ALL NEW JUSTICE LEAGUE!

Badass

PASS! 
 
This is a terrible idea. Lee is waaaay past his prime (good) days.

Not sure what to make of this.

Wow..Cyborg's rolling with the big boys.  I'm guessing some of the things from Flashpoint are staying then.  

Wait!?!! WHAT!?! WHAT IS GOING ON!?!?

The digital thing? Good idea. Not so sure about the rest.  Younger more modern takes on all the characters can't work for everyone.  

And doesn't this make Superman Earth-One pointless?
 
 
@jumpstart55 said:

Yes finally Superman ditches the underwear on the outside look!!!!

I don't get what the big deal is. How come no one every complains about Batman's outside undies?

Wouldn't it have been simpler to just start an Ultimate line?

@DMC said:

The digital thing? Good idea. Not so sure about the rest.  Younger more modern takes on all the characters can't work for everyone.  

And doesn't this make Superman Earth-One pointless?
 
 
@jumpstart55 said:

Yes finally Superman ditches the underwear on the outside look!!!!

I don't get what the big deal is. How come no one every complains about Batman's outside undies?

Well its not really a big deal but it is good to see Superman receive a costume update ,its been what 60 years since his last costume update.

http://www.comicvine.com/myvine/jordanstine/wish-dc-would-focus-on-storytelling-rather-than-rebooting/87-69645/  My little blog.  Storytelling is what makes these characters tick for the last 70 years, not rebooting them.

@Kal'smahboi said:

@Primmaster64: This has no purpose. How will this draw younger readers? Short answer: it won't. All it's going to do it throw out years of history that these characters have built up and confuse the people who already read and love them. A reboot is not what they need. If anything, they will lose readers over this. Some people will get fed up with classic characters who are getting superficial makeovers. Others will have their favorite (and possibly only) DC books, like Secret Six, Birds of Prey, etc, cancelled.Also, I promise you: In a few years the same people that did this will reboot the Universe again in a lame attempt to bring the characters "back to their roots" or some bulls#!t.

Now that I think about it, shouldn't the movies, video games and cartoons be more affective in bringing in new readers? I'm sure it's worked on some level for Marvel and DC. But DC clearly needs to do a better job with the movies.

Where is Martian Manhunter,the one character who was always present in the justice league. He better make it into the reboot. Because as is replacing him out of the blue with cyborg seems like adding a token black teammate. Martian Manhunter deserves better and cyborg deserves to be added on his own merits instead of being tact on because of race. I hope that isn't the case and they both find a way in and are used well. 

can't wait for the remake

@Jordanstine said:

http://www.comicvine.com/myvine/jordanstine/wish-dc-would-focus-on-storytelling-rather-than-rebooting/87-69645/  My little blog.  Storytelling is what makes these characters tick for the last 70 years, not rebooting them.

I agree 100%

Hal reminds me a bit of Codpiece in that pic...

So does anyone like when characters are supposed to reach out to the "modern audience" or "younger readers"? Usually this is a bad sign, and involves bad stories... Does anyone like it? DC should know that kind of stuff usually isn't well received and doesn't sell well.  

You don't have to be too dark, but comics focusing on a"modern audience" often give us stuff like the late 90's early 2000s garbage comics. Surely they'll realize this, and not go back in time... surely >_>

I always found Cyborg to be pretty lame, hope they figured a way to make him cool.
 
I'd be worried about Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, Batman looks a lot younger and if he has de-aged as much as Superman and Wonder Woman then what need would he have for a Robin unless they get rid of Dick and Tim completely and just had a young Damian. Looks a bit foreboding for all the sidekicks really.

ive really come to dislike jim lees line work over the years.

I think this is simply the aftermath of Flashpoint, not a whole new universe. For instance, Batman's costume looks pretty similar to the Inc costume, although with some changes. I do expect that Inc will continue, although Superman and Wonder Woman are in a mess. War of the Green Lanterns has to wrap up as well. This could also be a temporary thing a la Heroes Reborn, and I think the status quo will return soon enough. (By the way, I like DC's status quo, at least with GL and Batman.)

This is them trying to do some kind of "Ultimate DC" move, and for now (cuz you KNOW they can't just drop the old iterations) have that be it?  I dunno, Something tells me this is gonna turn into more of a Heroes Reborn sorta deal where they quickly backpedal.  I wouldn't mind a solid, ongoing alternative telling of the DC universe though.  Definitely the hardest of the two worlds to crack into (aside from Batman).

Well its not really a big deal but it is good to see Superman receive a costume update ,its been what 60 years since his last costume update.

Are they redoing every single DC hero?  And if so, will we get pictures?

Comicvine called it. Props to the whole team and specifically the one who posted the article. Congratulations to DC for pulling a Marvel. Marvel relaunched their heroes in Heroes Reborn and DC is relaunching every title. Good bye to Detective 1,000. How long will this run last. I collect 13 titles from DC and throwing the gauntlet down to Dido and the rest of DC I will walk after 33 years of collecting, cataloging who died, (way too much time on my hands), and keeping up with decades of continuity. Marvel changed up their characters to such a degree I sold 15 long boxes dated from the 1980's through 2007 of many of their major characters for $20 dollars just to get rid of it. It made me physically sick to own them. DC have your reboot and eliminate 75 + years of stories. I can just imagine the adults my age or older telling their kids or grandkids that never happened during all my runs of Batman, Superma, Wonder Woman, or Green Lantern.

@jumpstart55 said:

Well its not really a big deal but it is good to see Superman receive a costume update ,its been what 60 years since his last costume update.

There have been a lot of costume updates over the years and none of them did well so they reverted back to the classic.

Comicvine called it. Props to the whole team and specifically the one who posted the article. Congratulations to DC for pulling a Marvel. Marvel relaunched their heroes in Heroes Reborn and DC is relaunching every title. Good bye to Detective 1,000. How long will this run last. I collect 13 titles from DC and throwing the gauntlet down to Dido and the rest of DC I will walk after 33 years of collecting, cataloging who died, (way too much time on my hands), and keeping up with decades of continuity. Marvel changed up their characters to such a degree I sold 15 long boxes dated from the 1980's through 2007 of many of their major characters for $20 dollars just to get rid of it. It made me physically sick to own them. DC have your reboot and eliminate 75 + years of stories. I can just imagine the adults my age or older telling their kids or grandkids that never happened during all my runs of Batman, Superma, Wonder Woman, or Green Lantern.

Where is Martian Manhunter,the one character who was always present in the justice league. He better make it into the reboot. Because as is replacing him out of the blue with cyborg seems like adding a token black teammate. Martian Manhunter deserves better and cyborg deserves to be added on his own merits instead of being tact on because of race. I hope that isn't the case and they both find a way in and are used well. 

I just hope that they don't make Dick Grayson Robin again and that other characters like Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake, and Kyle Rayner do not simply disappear.

UPDATE!
 
Post Flashpoint, everything will change...rumor has it Wonder Woman and Superman will be getting together. Check out the bottom of the article.

Green Lantern looks excited.

wait a minute!!  isn't there supposed to be a Red Lantern series launching soon?  why launch a brand new series only to have it canceled with the reboot?
 
something doesn't feel right

UPDATE!  Post Flashpoint, everything will change...rumor has it Wonder Woman and Superman will be getting together. Check out the bottom of the article.

.......  .......  As expected as it was, that's crap. Nothing against Jim Lee and Geoff Johns but do we really need modernizations? The modern age sucks. Sucks hard. I don't want to read about a Superman who is hip and young and has stupid emo bitch problems with his powers. I want to read about a Superman who carries great weight and resonates as an established authority for DC's superheroes. I want a Superman who showed up in 1938. Who fought in World War II and has at least aged so damn slow that he can pass of as at least 30.  I'm half expecting this reboot to be like Ultimate Marvel, nothing against that either but a lot of the characters are so unlikeable (such as the Ultimates). I don't want a gritty realistic take on these characters or a realistic cynical take on them. I don't want the Justice League to be a task force formed by the government. Modernizing an entire universe removes the element of fun and excitment that comics used to have. I'm not even talking about Golden and Silver age stuff, I just mean since 2000 comics have just gone haywire in terms of giving bullshit explanations for superpowers, i.e. the metagene. It's not enough to just be struck by lightning and have superspeed; oh no we can't accept that because it's just not realistic. Boo hoo, it's not about trying to apply this to real life science it's about enjoyment. It is distracting us comic fans from the sad truth that we're going to die one day; sad and alone, wondering where it all went wrong.  A modernization is just worthless, because these characters will still be around in a hundred damn years - we'll go through ten more modernizations to try and make these characters 'accesible' to new readers; readers who shouldn't want to see their heroes deal with real life issues; nothing against that either it's cool to...try, but whatever real life issues they try to deal with they will just piss a lot of people off, like Superman did recently when he got involved into a real world issue, that he shouldn't have poked his damn nose into.  It's just stupid, 10 years from now they'll repeat this. They shouldn't ignore their 75 years of history, they should include it. They should build up from it not break it all apart and try to knot it all together with turn of the century tape. Their continuity doesn't have to be this iron wall that new readers can't penetrate.  Redesigning their costumes is fine, even though they'll just go for the traditional costumes in a few years. But modernizing it; just a shitty fucking idea.

Is it just me or does it look like Superman lost the red underwear?

wait a minute!!  isn't there supposed to be a Red Lantern series launching soon?  why launch a brand new series only to have it canceled with the reboot?  something doesn't feel right

I don't really know why people are upset.  None of it ever "really happened".  You won't be looking back in ten years and completely forlorn because today's stories "never really happened".   If you do, then you have had a break from reality and should be diagnosed/medicated.
 
It's all fiction.  Perfect continuity should not be a concern.  The only universe that maintains perfect continuity is the real one.  And in case no one noticed, things are generally rebooted every ten to fifteen years anyway.
 
Also, who really cares about issue numbers?  Is it that big of a deal?
 
As long as the basic themes, ideas, and motifs of the major characters are maintained, I'm very in favor of a bit of change.