DC All In Looks to Be Another Reboot Failure With Multiverses, The Same Writers, And Superman Rumored "Pansexual"

Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson announced DC All In yesterday, but they seem to be making the same mistake as the comic industry always has.

Yesterday, DC Comics revealed its new initiative called DC All In. This initiative, spearheaded by writers Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson, is supposed to be a soft reset for DC Comics, spinning out of the summer event Absolute Power. However, with the reveals it appears as if DC Comics is simply All In on more of the same content that's set their sales into a spiral for the last several years. 

The meat of the initiative looks to be a mess from the start. It immediately begins with a multiverse concept, a red flag for those who have been following along with convoluted storylines in comics and film over the last decade, creating two separate realities of the main DC Universe, one inspired by Superman and the Absolute DC Universe, one inspired by Darkseid. 

The implication is that Absolute DC will be a darker, edgier version of the DC Universe. This parallels what Jonathan Hickman's done with his current iteration of the Ultimate Marvel Universe, as DC wants to cash in on the sales Ultimate Spider-Man has generated. However, they're missing the point as the dark, edgy world isn't what draws people to the book. It's the fan service of giving Peter Parker a stable relationship with Mary Jane, culminating in children that has fans enamored. 

In the DC Official video featuring writers Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson, they talk further about the initiative, explaining that every DC Comics book in October will be a jumping-on point for new readers. This means every book will start with a new storyline or an all-new #1 issue, depending on the story. It echoes several past DC Initiatives where failing titles received #1 issues as a way to try to bolster sales. 

Both creators appeared to have little enthusiasm in the video despite trying to hype the product. It seems obvious to a viewer that DC has rebooted and reset the clock so many times that it's messy continuity to the point where a reader doesn't have a clear sense of who a character is, what world it's on, nor whether any of these stories will matter or be removed from continuity in the future. The lack of continuity is a major problem for DC Comics. 

Scott Snyder echoed that this initiative isn't born from positivity but from desperation on his X feed yesterday, too. He says Joshua Williamson and him were "frustrated" at "the narrative" regarding superhero comics failing. This post was odd in promoting a new event, so why highlight how negative things have gone at DC lately?

And they've gone extremely negative. Retailers report to Fandom Pulse that the summer event Absolute Power by Mark Waid and Dan Mora is a sales dud. In recent months, Waid has done all he could to turn off customers by attacking fan-favorite writers like Mark Millar, threatening to burn down the comic industry if it doesn't remain politically pure, and cheering for the assassination attempt on President Trump. With a politically charged storyline full of exposition, Mark Waid couldn't create an event to bring people in.

This is a major problem for DC Comics as part of DC All In, Scott Snyder's Absolute DC Universe line. The lead-in event isn't selling, which doesn't bode well for the following titles. He also announced a DC All In special flip book that will show the new universe initiatives to start this off, talking more about the multiverse concept that will muddy this initiative on a story level. 

A DC Insider also told Fandom Pulse the comic company intends to double down on identity politics. A large part of DC Comics' poor sales has been because they've been "turned into the comic book equivalent of a gay bar," according to YouTuber Richard C. Meyer. Over the last several years, they've made Robin bisexual, Jonathan Kent Superman bisexual, Alan Scott Green Lantern into a prostitute frequenting homosexual Hawkgirl gay, and tried to push a transexual hero in The Dreamer. Audiences have largely tuned out because they don't want this content.

The rumor is that this new Absolute Superman will come out as "pansexual" in the new line, which bodes ill for the company. Images of the new Superman make him look like a gay emo kid from 2008, showing the company's being out of touch with its design choices, a

Absolute Batman looks no better, as he's been compared to Rob Liefeld's infamous "Cap Tits." The character seems to have been on steroids with a ridiculous-sized chest and tiny head, and the Batman logo has been changed into some black blob. It looks ugly, to say the least. 

With all these problems at the forefront, DC All In looks like another dud that Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson are failing to get audiences excited about. They've also recruited writers Jason Aaron and Ram V for the initiative, which gives DC Comics the same crop of writers who got them in the mess. Will the comics industry make changes before it's too late, or will we just get more of the same?

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