Scans_Daily

Well, I'm not suggesting things like eliminating the sliding timescale (though wouldn't that be interesting?), so much as starting new continuities. Ones that are not between 50 and 70 years old.

If they started a new continuity today, at this very moment, a reader coming in to the hobby in 2027 would only have ten years of continuity to catch up on.

A lot of "superhero novels" are usually grounded in some sort of inciting event that happens in the novel or shortly before it. It shows the world coming to terms with superpowered beings. It avoids tropes like "Reed Richards is Useless" or "BatGod" by either eliminating them (There are smart people, but not "smarter than advanced aliens" smart) or by virtue of the fact that, since the characters are new, there is no character that the audience is so invested in that they cannot lose or change (like Batman).

There has actually be some success with this before, but the universes failed for one reason or another. Marvel's "New Universe" failed because it was the brainchild of Jim Shooter, who everybody hated by the time he left, so they killed his project when he was gone. Consider the Ultimate universe: Ultimate Spider-Man not only took advantage of the movies, but provided newer, fresher, spider-man stories! The Ultimates were a mixed bag, because they were trying so hard to be The Authority (a 180 degree shift in tone from Ult SM), and they let Jeph Loeb take the reins without having read any of the material (Shakespearean Thor diction?)

Hell, Wildstorm was hugely popular for years, to the point that, when it folded, many characters were integrated into DC proper. New continuities -can- work.