Four Questions About The New DC

First question: When do you think DC will announce the next round of cancellations? You can choose a month, or what issue number you think will be the last for the titles on the chopping block.

My guess is December will be the last issue for several books. That should get all of the remaining original 52 titles to 16 issues, and the second wave will be at 8 issues that month, which is how far they let books get when the axe fell the first time. It's a little strange, given that trades are usually 6 issues a pop rather than 8, but it could work. Use the end of the year to wrap up certain titles, start fresh with some new ones in 2013.

Second question: How many books will get cut in the second attempt? Will they stick with six, cut more, cut fewer?

I assume they'll want to keep the total number at 52 titles, so I guess it's a matter of how many new series they have ready to fill the gaps. I'll predict they stick with six. I'm sure there are people pitching at least that many ideas to them that can get approval.

Third question: Of the books that get canceled, do you think any of the Second Wave would be included? I'm not asking you to pick one of the six to be a sacrificial lamb, more a question of how much patience you think DC will have with them?

They announced their first round of cuts when the books were in the process of releasing their fifth issues. That's probably about how far along Dial H, Earth-2, and the rest would be if I'm right about December being the point when the next cuts take effect (they'd have to announce it for solicit purposes a couple of months ahead of time). Would they give those titles more time, focus on culling more weak sellers from the original 52, or will the Second Wave be fair game as well? I'm going to guess there are enough options amongst titles from the original relaunch that the more recent group will be safe for awhile longer.

Fourth question: How long before I should stop referring to it as "DCnu", "new DC", or the relaunched DC, or whatever? At some point, should it just be the DC Universe? Given the differences, I'm inclined to maintain the distinction, the way people refer to pre-Crisis and post-Crisis DC. Current Amanda Waller is not the same as she was prior to the relaunch, you know?

Beyond that, I guess I still doubt the thing will last. I expect that at some point, Barry Allen's screwups will be "fixed", and the universe will be set right. Which would really be another relaunch, since it's unlikely they honchos at DC would simply revert everything back to how it was pre-Flashpoint, or pre-Final Crisis, or pre-whatever reset button event you prefer. The result would be another mishmash of older versions of characters (Ray Palmer as the Atom?), plus whatever came out of the relaunch they liked (maybe the current version of OMAC, or the new Ray), plus some other new stuff (another ugly new costume for Superman!) So I don't attach much permanence to the current set-up. But at some point, if it lasts long enough, I may have to revise that opinion. So maybe the fourth question is really, how long do you think this will last?

Chime in with your predictions in the comments, if you'd like.