Open Source Animation Dawns and RIP DC You, Meet DC Rebirth

Within the last couple months, two major announcements were made in the comics and animation industry. One, Studio Ghibli's animation software will become open source. The other is that DC's DC You initiative ends to be replaced by Rebirth. Just recently, DC released some teasers pertaining to its Rebirth event.


The announcement that Studio Ghibli's animation software becoming open source is major news. You can read an article discussing the news announcement here. Granted, there a premium version of Toonz will be marketed towards professionals. However, I believe an open source version of Toonz will be great for animation, animation studios, and aspiring animators. More people will be able try their hands at animation and develop their craft. Small studios can operate on lower overhead. More animators and more studios equates to more creators producing more animation. A brand new era of animation may be upon us.


Meanwhile a month ago, DC announced that it is ending its DC You publishing initiative and replaces it with the line-wide Rebirth. You can read the initial coverage here. I absolutely love that the price point will once again be $2.99. Lack of consistency in price points did cause headaches from a sticker shock point of view. Plus is a Superman comic really worth a dollar more than a Hellblazer comic?


While we don't know who the creators will be, the diverse nature of the Rebirth line pales in comparison of DC You. Heck, the New 52 line wide event blows the offerings of Rebirth out of the water. Rebirth seems confined to the Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Justice League, and Titans mythos. Earth 2, Blue Beetle, Suicide Squad and John Constantine are the only titles that break that hold. Perhaps only Justice League and Titans titles made DC's market requirements? I don't know. I am reminded of the DC Explosion and DC Implosion market occurrence. So I am saddened by that. I certainly have plenty of fodder for my Cancelled/On the Bubble feature as every title but Action Comics and Detective Comics is being restarted - and thus ending. I do like how both Action and Detective resume their original numbering. That tickles my nostalgia and historic fancy.


The Rebirth one-shot debuting in May reminds me of the Countdown one shot that pre-saged Infinite Crisis. Remains to be seen whether Rebirth will match that endeavor. Will certainly purchase that along with each of the Rebirth one-shots. I hope that the creative teams match with the creative teams of the respective on-goings. One reason I jumped on the DC You bandwagon was the 8-pages stories that provided a sample of the feel of the new offerings. Would be nice if the Rebirth one-shots matches that endeavor. Speaking of the DC You sample stories, I never got around to reviewing them as I simply couldn't match the pace. By the time I was ready to review the sample stories, the actual comics had hit the stands! So that's something I may remedy in the future.


I'm rather lukewarm to twice-a-month shipping titles. Monthly titles are almost too frequent for me to keep up with. By the time DC You ended, I had started collecting all the New 52 Justice Leaguer solo titles sans Cyborg. Since all of those titles will now ship two times a month, I may end that collecting endeavor. I will probably gravitate towards the once-a-month books. Then again, who knows? I bought much more Marvel ANAD titles than I thought I would.


Recently, DC released nine-second teaser trailers for Rebirth - go here if you want to watch them and read the explanations. Not going to lie if CBR hadn't provided stills the trailer moves too fast for me to see the characters. I am rather excited that DC found a way to incorporate the Bob Haney Super-Sons concept into mainstream continuity. Haven't kept up with Johns's Justice League so the Power Ring revelation as a GL doesn't excite me one or the other. With the upcoming Suicide Squad movie, the Harley Quinn and Killer Croc teaser seems a given. So one 'yay', a maybe, and a 'meh'.

A new category for my blog: Cancelled/On the Bubble Comics

Alas, I knew it was going to happen and it did. When Marvel released its All-New All-Different (ANAD) initiative, sixty new titles seemed way too much in too small a time-frame. The market and publisher would not support all those titles. Cancellations would occur.


One cancellation has.


Recently, I discovered to my chagrin that Marvel is cancelling Black Knight as of issue five. Way back when I was to doing my 'buy, maybe, pass' bit on new ANAD titles, Black Knight was among the definite 'buy' list. Needless to say, I am disappointed by this news. I learned about the cancellation as the preface of a list of titles that are on the bubble, thus in danger of cancellation.


An occasional feature that appeared it the now defunct Comic's Buyer's Guide was Cancelled Comics Cavalcade. CCC would as the title suggests discuss several recently cancelled comics and their respective strengths, weaknesses, and reason for cancellation. As luck would have it, many titles that I read or collect are comics that get cancelled. Devoting a section of my blog towards cancelled comics is neat from a historical perspective. Many of my favorite comics were those that were cut short. However, advocating titles that others may gloss over is also a desire. One of the reasons I hyped the ANAD titles was so that titles that may not receive attention had some attention directed their way. So instead of just discussing cancelled comics, titles that hover on the bubble will receive some extra attention. Thus, a new category: Cancelled/On the Bubble.


In the wake of Black Knight issue 4 debuting this week, I'll wait until issue five arrives before featuring my discussion on Black Knight.