Eskana posted on Nov. 6, 2020 at 12:00 PM
I kinda am on the fence on this issue. I like the idea that we can get original stuff from different artists and new concepts, or even conclude stories (*gasp*) for once, without having to worry about how it affects the universe overall. That way we could get interesting takes like King's "Mr. Miracle" without having to think about what this long term does for or says about the character.
On the other hand, it basically does stop meaningful character development as you said. But, Booster (and most characters) are at that point already if they don't have their own books. Every time Booster appears, he has to re-introduce himself AND what he really does, but they always also quickly throw in character traits like "mention social media" and "mess up at least once." He's only there for 1 or 2 issues, then gone again before he does it again. IMO, that's a problem mainly of someone without their own title. The last time BG had his own title, he went from being the overconfident and underappreciated (somewhat) media-hound to being the greatest hero you've never heard of. Even out-of-continuity, I'd love to see what someone could do in a return to a booster-centered series.

Bob posted on Nov. 6, 2020 at 5:48 PM
I agree with you Boosterific. Continuity is important.

Bea posted on Nov. 7, 2020 at 3:26 PM
I think this approach is probably a bigger threat to the writers than artists. It takes a skilled writer to take a creation from another book and keep the core of that character the same in a different setting. If you don't need to worry about that you can spend the salary budget on the artist and just hire someone to put words in the bubbles.

Also seems a little short sighted given the traditional DC marketing plan. How are they going to have a big money spinning multi-issue mini-series crisis with multiple glossy special covers at inflated prices event every 5-10 years if you have no continuity to throw out and start again?!?!

I agree with you that continuity matters for character growth. It shouldn't be so rigid that it prevents storytelling but it is needed to ground a character in something so you can follow them on their emotional journey and that whatever book you pick up you can recognise them for who they are rather than just by the colour of their cape and booties. Not that DC has done a great job of that recently in continuity with recent Booster depictions.

Time will tell I guess whether this is another great idea that they will have to reboot/forget about in 2025. It feels like they probably will have to.