The DC Comics Universe Reboot
Audacious. That is the best way to describe the recent DC Comics announcement that it was renumbering its entire DC Universe line of comics: by September 52 series will have begun anew, each with an issue No. 1.
Though comic book publishers resort to these restarts regularly, many collectors continue to snap up No. 1 copies in a belief that they, like the legendary Action Comics No. 1, which introduced Superman, will go up in value. Beginning a series at No. 1 is also a chance to grab new readers, who may be turned off by trying a comic book that has had, say, 543 previous installments. In the past many of these restarts still built on what had come before. But by starting fresh, DC means to signal that a degree in comic book lore is not necessary to understand these stories: it will be like experiencing Superman for the first time.