DC Comics have become No-Fun Land

So a day later and a dollar short DC honcho Dan DiDio  insists that the editorial stance against Batwoman being able to marry her girlfriend isn't beause DC are homophobic, goodness no, but because superheros just cant have nice things.

Heroes shouldn’t have happy personal lives. They are committed to being that person and committed to defending others at the sacrifice of their own personal interests.

That’s very important and something we reinforced. People in the Bat family their personal lives basically suck. Dick Grayson, rest in peace—oops shouldn’t have said that,—Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon and Kathy Kane. It’s wonderful that they try to establish personal lives, but it’s equally important that they set them aside. That is our mandate, that is our edict and that is our stand.

So mark me down as one male longtime comic geek who isn't going to try to defend this bullshit. Even taking DiDio's argument at face value, its an appalling argument.

Superheros are wish fulfillment power fantasy - what does it say that DC's brain trust believe that what their readers are really looking for in their wish fulfillment fantasy is endless lives of misery and loneliness. I'm not suggesting that realistic narrative, challenge and conflict aren't good things to strive for even in a corporate owned costumed wish fulfillment fantasy character but Didio's clarification crystallizes for me why I've been drifting away from DC for my heroic fantasy needs.

Ironically, in the main Batman book, writer Grant Morrison had recently been going in a completely different direction, a Batman happier, more functional and connected to a larger world than the character had been in years. Now that he's disengaged from the Batman universe over the last year new writers have quickly returned the character to the devastated emotional cripple with rage issues putting on tights and going out at night to beat people up.

The DC universe has become a bleak landscape littered with desperate attempts to slow a meteoric sales collapse marked by hologram covers, creative teams leaving in disgust and art contests where young new artists looking for their first break are asked to draw a major female character committing suicide - 'but make it funny!  And naked.'

Superhero comics are supposed to be fun, does any of this sound fun?