AUGUST 30, 2011 — Meltdown Comics hosted an amazingly geek-worthy night in honor of the relaunching of all of the DC Universe titles with a party including talks by DC comics writers, a costume contest, prizes for fans, and the midnight release of Flashpoint #5 (the last in the alternate-reality DC universe Flashpoint series) and Justice League #1, the first of the 52 rebooted DC comics that will be debuting this month.
Justice League #1 cover (Don't worry, they de-pants-ed Wonder Woman in the final version)
Before we get to the event, here’s a little back story on this historic DC Comics reboot:
In a bold move, DC (their most commonly known characters being Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and The Flash) is revamping all of their current titles, and renumbering them, starting over again from number one. The “New 52″, as it’s being called, begins the stories of all of the DCU (Detective Comics Universe) from the start, in an attempt to remove the confusion of the past 50 or so years of continuity and give a fresh start so that the story lines and characters are more accessible to the modern reader. That’s right, now readers like us who have lapsed in our comic collecting (most common problem: We’re not sure what the hell is going on anymore!) have a chance to enter the comic universe again without worrying about that pesky back story! Some of the major changes include:
- Superman and Lois aren’t married anymore! Gasp!
- Younger characters revamped and some new ones added, and hey! Tim Drake’s Red Robin costume is pretty sweet looking! Go Teen Titans!
- Detective Comics, for which the company is named goes back to #1 again, too!
- Dick Grayson is back as Nightwing
- Barbara Gordon, is back as Batgirl, and no longer bound to a wheelchair acting in the superhero world as The Oracle.
- Wonder Woman’s costume had pants for a split second before DC got all confused with themselves and got it changed back to No-pants Land.
- But alas, Superman doesn’t have outside-red-briefs anymore! Pants-land for Supes! Oh and he’s wearing some sort of turtle-necked leotard, too.
If you’d like to learn more about the relaunch itself, here are some good summaries of the major changes happening in the New 52:
8 Questions About the DC Reboot
DC Comics Relaunch Roundup
List of the New 52 titles, cover art, and release dates
Okay! Now let’s get to the event recap!
This awesome Wonder Woman cosplayer says, "Come Hither!"
Photos and event recap after the jump!
At 10:30pm, the party opened up to tons of comic fans gathering to celebrate the release!
Bubble Punch's Chubby Bunny made a quick Wonder Woman outfit for the event.
The night started out with a comedic set by Tom Franck of Comics and Comics.
The back event space was pretty packed!
Then, guests in costume were invited up to the stage to show off their garb for a chance to win ALL 52 titles!!
- In Flashpoint: Batman – Knight of Vengeance, Batman is Thomas Wayne, Bruce’s father, and he owns a casino! To promote Flashpoint at their booth at San Diego Comiccon this year, DC Comics gave away these Wayne Casino poker chips, and were kind enough to supply Meltdown with a stack to give away to costumed fans during the night!
Left: Tom Franck. Right: A kickass Zatanna!
Sorry guys, but this bro is the WINNER in our minds! Check out that 'stache! Green Arrow and Black Canary!
Ruby Rocket as Batgirl! Someone from the crowd shouted "WHERE'S YOUR WHEELCHAIR?" She responded by making this snarky face and saying "IT'S A REBOOT, BITCH!" Haha. We love her.
A Burton-esque Catwoman! She was dedicated.. and even did the severe white makeup thing!
After the contest, it was almost midnight so everyone rushed back out to the front of the store to line up to buy Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1!
A huge line of awesome ensued.
After fans got their purchases wrapped up (Meltdown was even having a 20% off of all DC products sale this night!), they returned to the back room for a Q&A with Scott Lobdell (writer of Teen Titans, Superboy) and Kyle Higgins (writer of Nightwing, Deathstroke). Unfortunately, we don’t have any photos of the talk, but we found this great fan video recap of the night, so take a look below to experience some of the geeky action!
Feeling inspired? Well get on out to your local comic store and go buy some of the New 52 this month!
Thanks to Meltdown for hosting such an awesome night! As always, you can see more photos from the night on our Flickr!
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