http://www.newsarama.com/comics/red-...rs-101215.html
No surprises here, really. The article got me thinking about how often this kind of thing happens at DC...
1. DC acquires rights/ownership of classic fan-favorite characters drifting in limbo.
2. DC lets us know just how important those characters are to comic history, activates hooplah-generator, taps big names to spearhead their revival.
3. Over the next couple of years, DC does practically nothing with the characters; readers' attention shifts to other things.
4. Characters revert to license holders, and/or they return to limbo.
They've done it with Fawcett (Captain Marvel, Ibis, Bulletman, and others), IPC (Albion, Thunderbolt Jaxxon, Battler Briton), Charlton (aside from the Question & Blue Beetle, and no, Watchmen doesn't count), Milestone, the THUNDER Agents (archives-only over the last decade, 2000 series axed, and I'm not expecting much from this recent series), etc....
While I know that the Red Circle characters aren't at the top of many folks' lists of favorites, I like them. Back in the early '80s, I read quite a few of their comics, so I'd love to see some reprints going all the way back to the Golden Age. Perhaps that would have helped folks get into them, rather than shoving updated versions down our throats right out of the gate... show us why these characters are so important, rather than jettisoning everything about them and starting over. What's crazy is, DC already tackled these characters in the '90s with their !mpact Comics imprint, and it didn't stick then, either.
In the article, the creators sound completely oblivious as to why the books failed, even flippant, like it was all part of the plan. It makes them look stupid. In retrospect, the fact that JMS was initially involved is a big red flag.
