Drop the 'verse, step away from the 'verse...
Remember my no-spoiler policy? Well, now there's going to be a great big exception to that rule, because of DC Comics and Infinite Crisis.
This Infinite Crisis thing has me wondering how much longer I'm going to read the DCU comics. At all. doeeyedbunny once told me that she stopped reading X-Men when the continuity just got too snarled and messed up to follow anymore. I'm feeling like I'm going to hit the same wall with the DCU, that once IC hits, I'm going to throw up my hands and give up trying to pull coherent character arcs out of the chaos.
It's the rumors that tipped me off. None of them may end up being true. It's very likely none of them are true, but it's giving me a taste of what sort of animal Infinite Crisis will be for the batfamily.
There's one rumor that's fantastic and if it turns out to be true, I will read avidly, because, wow, it's a good one.
There are two rumors that would make me drop the universe like a hot potato. One is so patently ridiculous it's not worth worrying about. The other may also be just as ludicrous, except DC has already done something just as bad in my view. I'd already stopped reading the main Batman books when it happened, but if I hadn't, maybe it would have driven me away. I don't know. It's something that clashes badly with my understanding of how these characters and universe worked up to that point, and the only way I can keep reading the sidekick books is to stick my fingers in my ears and go "lalalalala!" After Infinite Crisis, the din may grow so loud I have to get out.
I've only been reading comics since 1996 or so. I can only imagine how someone who's been reading this stuff for 30 years or so might feel. But even if I've only been reading for about 10 years, the actual span of the books I've read is about 20. (Well, really it's 50, if you count the reprint I read, but for real character and story-arc reading, it's 20.)
It's just an odd feeling. The idea of getting off the train and simply rereading all the issues I already have is very appealing right now. But we'll see, I'm not making a fannish ultimatum, just speculating.
Be wary of spoilers in the comments, there may be discussion of rumors.