Are people who want pre-N52 really that naive that they think it will effect the quality of the book in anyway?
At least in my case, the answer is "No!" It's never been about the quality of the books. Quality before the reboot and after the reboot both waxed and waned. And it wouldn't have been too different without the reboot. And it will continue to be about the same whether New 52 continuity continues after this, previous continuity is restored, or another reboot occurs.
It has always been about principle. With the onset of the New 52, numerous ongoing plotlines were abandoned to make way for this catastrophic nightmare. Even the titles that didn't have many ongoing plotlines would have continued to be great under a skilled writer. However DC discarding all their ongoing plotlines to usher in a new continuity has always been on poor principles.
The Flash Family book spinning out of Flash: Rebirth never materialized thanks to the New 52.
The Deathstroke book had been promised before the inception of the idea of the New 52. It was supposed to spin out of the Titans Villains for Hire series.
The story of Black Adam, Isis, and Osiris had been told through arcs in several series ever since 52 and continued to be ripe for plucking, but the New 52 happened.
JLI was supposed to spin out of JL: Generation Lost. The assembled team of Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Captain Atom, Jaime Reyes, Rocket Red Gavril Ivonovich, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Power Girl were supposed to hunt down Maxwell Lord. This series would have been awesome. Instead we got subpar mediocrity because the setup had been discarded.
Think of all the series that were supposed to spin out of Brightest Day. Firestorm. Aquaman. Hawkman. Swamp Thing. Yes. All these characters still got series at the beginning of the New 52. But once again, the setup had been discarded. Without that Firestorm and Hawkman floundered. Aquaman and Swamp Thing were smashing successes. However, I'm gonna talk about Aquaman here and I think it's safe to assume Swamp Thing was not in a dissimilar boat. Geoff Johns had given at least one interview about what he was going to do with Aquaman. And what materialized out of the New 52 was a very different story. Yes, a good story. But does it not irk you that the original story will now most likely never be told? It sure does me.
Though the REBELS series had been cancelled a couple years earlier, that awesome series had set up a lot of great stuff that could happen in future series. And I'm sure that's not the only similar occurrence that was out there.
Even the series that did have fitting endings such as Action Comics and JSA were ripe for the picking.
And nothing ever came of the Red Robin and the Outsiders tease from Batman Incorporated.
Like I said, the arrival of the New 52 inevitably led to the abandonment of all previous plotlines, which was just awful in principle. Therefore I, and others like myself, hold out hope that one day pre-Flashpoint continuity will be restored so that these plotlines can be picked back up.
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