What I loved about the Batwoman story is that it sounds like it has zeitgeisty significance -- unless you actually read comics and know Batwoman is not the adult version of Batgirl (a character people actually know) but a revamp of an obscure character even comic nerds like me and Fraser can barely remember.

It's like Marvel's recent announcement that Spider-Man is black, sort of. Okay, he's just black in "the ultimate universe" which is where Marvel plays out their imaginary stories, but it sounded enough like news that the "new Spider-man" rode all the news cycles.

Inside the pants of steel

For longtime comic readers, new and vanishing multiverses are rarely that shocking. I don't doubt that with this new relaunch old characters are being reimagined in fascinating new ways by exciting new creative teams -- and I'm looking forward to reading a few books about characters I haven't cared about in years -- but I'm used to seeing these characters and their histories retrofitted and re-envisioned every time a hot new writer and artist takes over a series.

I've checked out the preview of the new 52 and as far as I can tell the single most radical shift is that Superman's underwear is now inside his pants, which means thousands of stand-up comics will have to lose yet another dated joke from their acts.

There's also a drawing where Superman appears to be wearing jeans and a Lululemon tank top -- which makes it tough to tell whether he's dressing for yard work or yoga.

The relaunch kicked off with Justice League of America number one -- which might be upsetting to old-time fans unless, like me, you're old enough to remember the last Justice League number one and the Justice League number one before that and the Martian Manhunter led Justice League featuring such unforgettable all-star heroes as Vixen and Vibe -- a.k.a. Paco Ramone, a Hispanic superhero whose powers consisted of the ability to cause shock waves, apparently by looking ridiculous in a disco outfit with a canary yellow V-neck cut down to his navel. He was the first JLA member killed in the line of duty because, I assume, writers and artists found the character embarrassing to write and draw.

Writer Will Pascoe, who is currently shooting a documentary about Canadian superheroes, told me his response to the relaunch is, "it's about goddamned time. Time to reboot and retool it. There are too many good characters that have faded a bit who could use a rediscovery by new audiences."

Comics 2.0

My personal comic book pushers at the Comicshop on Fourth Avenue in Vancouver are optimistic because new readers are requesting the revamped DCs and most DC diehards seem about as likely to walk away from their heroes as all those hockey fans who vowed they'd never watch another game after the strike.

So, other than the fact that I may have a tough time selling my back issues of Detective because it'll never hit issue 1,000, unless it re-relaunched again at the old numbers next year, the real significance of DC's new 52 is that it pushes every series into the iPad age... and those Justice League panels rendered on an iPad look pretty darn cinematic, which is high praise since the most expensive movies in the world are blowing most of their budgets aspiring to look just like comic books.