Since at least 2004-ish, both the Marvel and DC Universes have been shrouded in relative misery. At Marvel, it started with the dissolution of the Avengers, leading to a Civil War within the superhero community, a Skrull invasion and a power play by Norman Osborne. Across town at DC, the Justice League was torn apart by controversy, there were two Crises, Batman died and the dead rose from their graves. But within the last month or so, both publishers have announced their upcoming plans, and are again paralleling one another, but on the opposite side of the spectrum, as both companies are headed in a more optimistic direction.
At Marvel, their new direction comes in the form of The Heroic Age, which they claim will reinvigorate hope and optimism throughout their books. That's already being evidenced by the recent teasers revealing the members of the latest incarnation of the Avengers (Marvel Revealing New Avengers Team). Thus far, we've been shown Captain America (Bucky Barnes version), Iron Man, Hawkeye, Spider-Woman, and Thor. It's fresh in terms of recent years, but it's very much a classic line-up for the team.
At DC, the bi-weekly, year-long Brightest Day series is poised to tackle a similar rekindling of hope throughout the DCU. Though much less has been revealed about the ramifications of Brightest Day, I think the name and teaser released generally implies that optimism is on its way back to the DC Universe.
So what does this mean for us as comic fans? Judging by the responses we've gotten from various readers, it's quite interesting to see how your opinions vary. Many of the older, long time readers seem to be itching for superhero comics to get back to their roots in straight up superheroics without being bogged down in the "realistic" drama of the universe. Younger or more recently hooked readers seem to enjoy these characters being dragged through the mud, time and time again.
For me personally, though I'm a long time reader, I love watching these characters get their asses handed to them. I love the epic darkness, the utter despair of my favorite characters being pushed to their breaking points. Maybe I'm a sadist - I'm not really sure. However, I also realize that, occasionally, they have to come up for air once in a while. If there was no portrayal of hope or optimism for either of these universes, when the time came to drag them back down to Hell, there would be much less impact.
It's important to establish something for these characters to lose, otherwise all the misery is meaningless. Comics are unique in that most of these characters have a history dating back to decades before any of us were even born, which means that the medium itself is cyclical, both in success and in storytelling. It's the only way to keep things fresh. In the end, things always revert back to what made the characters a success in the first place. The Avengers are Marvel's mightiest heroes. Bruce Wayne is Batman. Superman is the last son of Krypton. All of these things will be back in the status quo, and I think that's what both companies are headed towards come their respective "new directions".
Of course it's impossible to satisfy everyone when it comes to comic fans; they are the most fickle humans on the planet. But, those of us that like seeing our heroes stripped of their will have had it good these past few years, so I'm happy letting the rest of you have your enjoyment. For now.
