The Source, the DCU blog has just announced a new initiative next year to reboot the Superman and Batman franchises with a series of ongoing original graphic novels. The two new OGN series will be titled Superman: Earth One and Batman: Earth One, and will be new takes on the characters without the burden of long-standing continuity. Superman: Earth One will be written by J. Michael Straczynski, with art from Shane Davis, while Batman: Earth One will be by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank.
This appears to be the first real attempt to branch out ongoing titles with major DC characters in the same fashion Marvel Comics did with the Ultimate and Ultimate Comics lines, updating the characters and settings for the first time since Man of Steel appeared in 1986. In one preview image from the Blog, Alfred Pennyworth's military background, seemed to be emphasized much more than it usually is.
Also important to note is that DC is appearing to abandon the monthly model for this initiative. It's been speculated for years that monthly comics are going to fail as a revenue stream in the next decade or so, and super-hero comics will transition to an ongoing graphic novel model like this one. DC seems to be testing the waters with these OGN series to see if they can stay afloat on their own.
This announcement is just one of several planned by DC on The Source over the next week to build anticipation for 2010 and send 2009 out with a bang. Check back here often for updates.
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