I didn't say that there wasn't bad stuff before the reboot, there was, and DC DID need to do something major. I just feel like they've thrown the baby out with the bathwater here.

1) I don't mind the reboot at all. I think it could have been really good and that they missed an opportunity here. Instead of picking up 5 years after superheroes started appearing, and have some past continuity stay (Green Lantern, Batman) and some go (just about everything else from what I've seen), they should have just wiped the slate clean and started from day 1. Having some of the past be continuity and some not is arguably part of the reason they've gotten into trouble before.

2) "The New 52" just seems gimmicky to me. Restarting everything at #1, redesigning classic costumes and making them needlessly complicated, it all just seems hollow. I just don't feel the humanity in the characters like in the past. It's all about the visual flash with no attention to good story telling and character development. There are some exceptions here and there I'm sure, but overall it just feels like another "big event."

3) Re: Wonder Woman/comics not for kids; I don't think comics need to be written exclusively, or even primarily for kids, I just think they should be accessible to them. Not something that parents need to worry about their kids seeing. Those are two different things. Flagship books like Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Justice League, etc. should always be all ages appropriate. That doesn't mean they have to always read like something out of the 60s, just not have anything too objectionable. Nothing you wouldn't see on primetime TV for instance. Now I haven't read the new Wonder Woman to have any idea what might be inappropriate for the little girl I mentioned, but I don't think it was just a case of an overprotective father. He asked the store owner about the book.

4) When I asked if the reboot was a success, a failure, or something in-between, I meant to you personally. Sales-wise it's obviously successful (like any big "event" I'm sure), and you can always find critics who will go one way or another, but I'm interested in personal opinions. To those who have added and stuck with DC books because of this, it's obviously a success. To people like me who have been loyal to DC for years, and are now ready to drop (or who have already dropped) most of their books for one reason or another, then it's obviously a failure. I used the example of the little girl and Wonder Woman because it was one of DC's goals to capture new readership. Is a 5-6 year old likely to be a monthly reader anythime soon? No, but everyone has to start somewhere, and maybe she would buy again in the future. Scarring off the parents of these potential buyers isn't going to help.

I gave the reboot a chance, perhaps longer than I should have. When I read a book and find myself getting angry at what has been done, then I know it's time to drop it. I hate that because DC was and is my first comic book love. This just isn't the DC I fell in love with anymore.

-Eric