Defining drama in the DC universe

I talked to DC Comics executive editor Dan DiDio today for the story I’m doing on religion in comics. I took the opportunity to also ask him about the DC universe following the big “Infinite Crisis” miniseries that ends soon.

There had been talk that the DC universe would be a brighter, happier one after the dark days of “Infinite Crisis” and the earlier “Identity Crisis.” And as DC’s books have jumped a year ahead in time with the big One Year Later event, there does seem to be a bit brighter tone. Batman, for example, is a lot less prickly.

DiDio, though, says there was never any intent to make the DCU a sunnier one. The goal of “Infinite Crisis” was to put DC’s heroes through their darkest day and have them emerge triumphant. But happy? Nope.

Happy, content characters don’t make for interesting stories, DiDio says. “You need that level of conflict, you need that level of exploration.”