Dan Didio is an evil genius:

I mean it. Seriously. The man is a marketing genius. Whether you like or hate what DC's doing with the Crisis/OYL stuff, it's a brilliant decision for sales.

First, you have the Crisis, and the chance to (yet again) attempt to simplify and streamline certain aspects of the DCU. Whether it ends up successful or not, it will be an exciting story, and streamlining is always a good thing when it comes to newer fans. Mr. Didio's indicated that the world will return to a single universe, and one can probably assume it'll be close to the current DCU, considering the solicits still sound like roughly the same universe, and bad guys aren't supposed to win in comics anyway.

The particular advantage here is that it seems like a lot of the planning for the Post-2nd Crisis universe is in the hands of relatively "new school" writers like Mr. Johns and Mr. Morrison. While I mean no offense to the veterans of the trade, having much of the creative planning in the hands of the relatively "newer generation" of writers will probably enable the Post-Post-Crisis (*why* are they both Crises?!) Universe to develop its own feel and tone faster. And the OYL stuff means that unlike, say, Zero Hour, there won't be as much return to the status quo. (The quick resuming of every other comic line I think helped the impression that Zero Hour didn't do what it was supposed to do. There wasn't any time or reflective change).

OYL's a brilliant decision too, a lot of would-be-comic fans balk at jumping in at the hundredth or so issue of a series. Back issues are nice and all, but that's a lot of hunting if you can't find Trades. With the success of Batman Begins and the upcoming Superman and Wonder Woman movies, DC has to be anticipating new fans. With the OYL, a lot of series will end, a lot will start again, and the ones that continue will at least have to wrap up a lot of their more complex plots in order to start from a fresh point a year later. Thus, the new fans can start with the OYL stuff, where they might only have to catch up on 1-5 previous issues to understand the plot, rather than god knows how many.

Let's look at Countdown and Ted Kord. Ted Kord's a funny character that almost everyone liked, but no one really paid attention too. He's got legacy and impact, and played a major role in the first Crisis, but since then was mismanaged in his own series, was fun in JLA/JLI/JLE until they went with the less comic/more dramatic current batch, and had fun bit parts in Birds of Prey and certain other nostalgia type stuff like Formerly Known As The Justice League. Ted didn't have the momentum to front a book anymore, even if he is, as most DCU people are, more than complex and interesting enough to make for a good book under the right writers.

I'm sure there were other reasons why Ted was the one picked for the death in Countdown, but from a fan's perspective, he was perfect. Countdown highlighted all the aspects of Ted's character that would be perfect in his own series, emphasized his humanity and connection with the fans (he's much easier to identify with than Batman or Superman for example)...and really seemed to hint to me that at some point, in some form, he'll be back. (I think all the pros who say otherwise are either lying, or just haven't found the right time, sales wise to bring him back in one form or another. I think that about every dead character: I'm just cynical that way. :-))

But I'm definitely going to give Reyes a chance as the Blue Beetle. Countdown and Crisis has pretty much ensured BB #1 will sell well. Then it's up to Jaime Reyes to carry the series. If he doesn't carry it, if sales drop, well, they've got another possibility in the wings...and that would *definitely* sell, at least long enough for the writers to get their footing. And if Reyes can carry a series under Giffen's pen, then Ted'll probably be back eventually some other way: a ghost, a confused computer program, a hallucination, a zombie, whatever. Someday, someone will bring him back. And that'll sell books too.

It's genius really.

And from a more out-of-comics standpoint, let's look at Mr. Frank Miller and All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder. Many people love his work, many people hate it. I know, personally, I liked Sin City well enough, but his Batman isn't my Batman. But he sells books. Can't deny that.

So DC gives him one. AS:BARTBW or whatever acronym you choose to use. It's perfect, really. Out of canon, so Mr. Miller can play with the characters as much as he likes without making us more...traditional?...Batman fans cringe and go "That's not how it happened! I hate this retcon!!1!"

But see, this is perfect. Some of us hate All Star: Batman, some of love it, but most of us are talking about it in some form or another.

And you know, publishing those scripts was genius too. All Star Batman's cheesy, tawdry cheesecake objectification (few folks can deny it)...but with those scripts, well, *clearly* it's not DC or Mr. Lee's instigation. Mr. Didio's managed to very subtly shift all the credit/blame onto Mr. Miller's shoulders. "Hey, it wasn't our idea," it implies, "This is all his."

Very very clever. Evilly, diabolically clever. I'm not sure whether I'm in love with Mr. Didio or if I just want to *be* Mr. Didio someday. Either way, color me Impressed.