DC Relaunching Everything? - Part 3

[Phatman]

Target demographic is men ages '18 to 34'.

Idiots.

And this is why the relaunch will fail. That demographic is still TOO OLD to sell comics like hotcakes. This is their idea of younger reader?

The Target demographic for comics shouold be 8-18. That's who Shonen Jump targets, with their TPBs and that's who Scholastic targets with YA books. Those are the Hot markets, where the money really is.

 

[Phatman]

In my opinion they could easily leave out the gore and rape without compromising the story. Sometimes it feels like they use gore for shock and because there is no PG rating to stop them. I dont know why there is everywhere else but not in comics.

I think it would help their sales a lot more that dressing up their female heroes in pants.

The gore is a turn-off. As a comic fan, I just can't bring myself to recommend a comic today to people because the violence has gotten so graphic. Some of this stuff in comics these days is SICK even compared to the EC comics back in the 50's.

Seriously, I would love to see the Comics Code come back. It kept comics clean and kid-friendly and reigned in some of the craziness.

 

[Kurosawa]

The gore is a turn-off. As a comic fan, I just can't bring myself to recommend a comic today to people because the violence has gotten so graphic. Some of this stuff in comics these days is SICK even compared to the EC comics back in the 50's.

Seriously, I would love to see the Comics Code come back. It kept comics clean and kid-friendly and reigned in some of the craziness.

No responsible parent would let their child read a book like Identity Crisis. This idiotic target demo they have set is just more proof that they don't get it. As was stated before, 8-18 is the demo they need. The Harry Potter series should be their model. Characters you can care about, stories that are page turners. Harry Potter is a Silver/Bronze Age comic.

 

[Phatman]

No responsible parent would let their child read a book like Identity Crisis. This idiotic target demo they have set is just more proof that they don't get it. As was stated before, 8-18 is the demo they need. The Harry Potter series should be their model. Characters you can care about, stories that are page turners. Harry Potter is a Silver/Bronze Age comic.

I was disgusted by Identity Crisis and I'm 37. Flipped through the TPB in B&N and I found the entire storyline disturbing. I'm still wondering how someone in editorial approved this story for publication.

I'll agree with you HP is what a comic should be. Fast paced action, humor and characters that you care about. 8-18 is what's selling millions of HP books and those are the demographics are where go for if I sold comics.

 

[X Knight]

sooo........if DC is relaunching everything in September, why should we care about the remaining issues that are coming out in the intervening months?

I mean.......are those stories just going to stop?

 

[Tron Bonne]

Well, you should care about it for the same reason you care about it now; it's good. Just because the canon is changing, doesn't mean those stories can't still be good and enjoyable. Did Pre-Crisis comics become any less so than Post-Crisis? No. And it's the same situation here.

Now, on the other hand, if it's bad I guess you shouldn't care. But if it's bad, and you've been with it this long, that's a different beast all together yo.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Some will continue unbroken. The Green Lantern line and at least some of the Batman line, for example (as evidenced by Batman, Inc. still being around and the new Nightwing writer assuring everyone Dick will have been Batman and his return to Nightwing will be explained).

 

[Anubis]

I really don't see whats to explain. You had to always know he was going back to Nightwing eventually. This woulda happened reboot or no. It's like all those people butt hurt over Stevesie taking the mantel of Cap back. You brought this on yourself by thinking that the status quo wont come back to taffy what you love.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Comic fans slip into denial pretty easily, I think. Might be that's part of what allows them to be comic fans in the first place. Lord knows I get jaded enough by some of the s*** the publishers pull to actually consider dropping everything and giving up sometimes.

 

[Anubis]

I've reached the other side of that. After F**kin' Barry came back, I think it killed all hope of progress in the Superhero medium. I'm jaded to the point where I just don't even care anymore. Wanna make Dick Robin again? Sure why not. Sue and Reed no longer married because they gambled their love away to the Grandmaster? Yeah, whatevs.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I feel the same way. It's still a bit annoying to actually see that kind of thing happen, but it never surprises me anymore. When Bucky got killed, I laughed. When the massive DC relaunch news broke, I groaned because I knew it'd be months or years of everyone scrambling to figure out how everything fits together again, just like after OYL, but I wasn't especially upset that they were resetting a lot of their s***. I'm also not especially interested, which is why I won't be reading the lion's share of it.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Well, you know, I actually kind of think it's better than Dick went back to being Nightwing sooner rather than later. Mainly because, though he was getting go treatment now, it seems pretty inevitable to me that eventually (and also probably sooner rather than later) Bruce would have take up prominence again. He was already the star of the top two selling Batbooks, and I just don't really see them having the Batman share the spotlight so much with his replacement for a whole lot longer.

 

[Anubis]

I feel the same way. It's still a bit annoying to actually see that kind of thing happen, but it never surprises me anymore. When Bucky got killed, I laughed. When the massive DC relaunch news broke, I groaned because I knew it'd be months or years of everyone scrambling to figure out how everything fits together again, just like after OYL, but I wasn't especially upset that they were resetting a lot of their s***. I'm also not especially interested, which is why I won't be reading the lion's share of it.

Haha, me too.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It didn't help that his death involved Sin ripping off his arm and knocking him half a block away with it, either.

Well, you know, I actually kind of think it's better than Dick went back to being Nightwing sooner rather than later. Mainly because, though he was getting go treatment now, it seems pretty inevitable to me that eventually (and also probably sooner rather than later) Bruce would have take up prominence again. He was already the star of the top two selling Batbooks, and I just don't really see them having the Batman share the spotlight so much with his replacement for a whole lot longer.

Bruce coming back as Batman was him taking over the prominent position again, wasn't it? I certainly thought it was. I immediately started thinking of Dick as "the other Batman" when Bruce came back.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Bruce coming back as Batman was him taking over the prominent position again, wasn't it? I certainly thought it was. I immediately started thinking of Dick as "the other Batman" when Bruce came back.

Well, yeah, bad wording on my part. He did definitely come back to prominence, but Dick still had a pretty good share of the limelight. He wasn't in the main title, or the main selling titles, but he was still in three Batman titles and had several guest appearances in other books even when Bruce was back. What I meant was, I think eventually, even that would have faltered, and the character would have basically been in that uncomfortable of purely being "the other Batman" to basically everyone and would have become a lot more flux-y.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I think the final straw would've been as soon as they paired Bruce up with Damian. The Dick and Damian duo was intriguing enough because of their vast differences that they could be engaging on their own terms, Bruce be damned. But once you take Damian away from Dick, he really has no reason whatsoever to still call himself Batman. He doesn't even want that role; he's much more comfortable as Nightwing.

 

[Kurosawa]

I feel the same way. It's still a bit annoying to actually see that kind of thing happen, but it never surprises me anymore. When Bucky got killed, I laughed. When the massive DC relaunch news broke, I groaned because I knew it'd be months or years of everyone scrambling to figure out how everything fits together again, just like after OYL, but I wasn't especially upset that they were resetting a lot of their s***. I'm also not especially interested, which is why I won't be reading the lion's share of it.

If Bucky is actually dead and this reboot sucks as much as I expect, then I'm out of comics again.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Sin shoved her magic hammer through his chest. Seems pretty clear that he's dead. But he'll be back in a couple years at most, don't worry.

 

[Anubis]

I don't know man.....Buck was "dead" for like 50 years. He could just as easily end up that way again.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That was when he was dead because Marvel had a firm no-sidekicks policy. Now he's dead after having had a fantastic story of redemption resulting in his becoming his own man who's as interesting as Cap himself. Just wait, either Brubaker is going to bring him back because that was part of the plan all along or someone else at Marvel will bring him back because they're inevitably going to cover the Winter Soldier story in one of the Cap movies.

 

[Mystirious]

I really hope that you are right Corp and that Bucky isnt really dead. It would be such a waste if they killed him off after all the time and effort Brubaker spent making him a hero

The gore is a turn-off. As a comic fan, I just can't bring myself to recommend a comic today to people because the violence has gotten so graphic. Some of this stuff in comics these days is SICK even compared to the EC comics back in the 50's.

Seriously, I would love to see the Comics Code come back. It kept comics clean and kid-friendly and reigned in some of the craziness.

Personally I do not ever want the comics code back and i am glad it wont ever be coming back

 

[Saint]

Bucky's death was ******ed and unacceptable. I still hope it was a swerve and that he'll be okay (it's comics; getting a hammer through your chest isn't really a big deal); but if it's legit? Well, go to hell, Matt Fraction.

Bucky appears, runs into to battle, does nothing, and gets murdered--doing absolutely nothing to serve the largely non-existent plot (three issues in, and we've established this: hammers makes people into villains--or even bigger villains--and nothing else). Basically, Bucky died because Fraction wanted to establish the credibility of his lame villain.

It's frustrating, because Fraction can write better stories. But Fear Itself is just crap, and Bucky's death was crap.

 

[Mystirious]

Yep Fear Itself has so far been utterly pointless. The villain of the piece is bland and uninteresting and the entire plot of the story and its tie ins can be summed up as

Dbags with magic hanmers start causing trouble. Heroes fight them. Lots of characters get killed off

And Bucky's death scene was just embarassing

 

[Pyro Man]

When Bucky got killed, I laughed. it.

Haha, me too.

Bucky's death was ******ed and unacceptable.

Oh come on you guys Bucky's death was super heroic and Fear Itself is a terrific comic that doesn't do cheap **** for shock value or anything like that

I think the final straw would've been as soon as they paired Bruce up with Damian. The Dick and Damian duo was intriguing enough because of their vast differences that they could be engaging on their own terms, Bruce be damned. But once you take Damian away from Dick, he really has no reason whatsoever to still call himself Batman. He doesn't even want that role; he's much more comfortable as Nightwing.

That's a good point. When Bruce came back Dick was all ready to go back to being Nightwing and really only stayed on as Bats cause Bruce didn't have time to mentor Damian while trying to set up Batman Inc but now with it mostly set up and in the most recent issue of Inc having Bruce be back in Gotham and with the relaunch him apparently spending more time there it would stretch the credibility if Dick stayed as Batman.

I still am a tad bummed that the Dick and Damian team is pretty much done but I've gotten to where I can let go of that since DC has seemed content to let Batman and Robin's first volume more or less peter out with rotating creative teams that vary greatly in quality ever since Morrison left.

 

[Pyro Man]

Dbags with magic hanmers start causing trouble. Heroes fight them. Lots of characters get killed off.

Heh, that's almost exactly how I described it word for word to my non-comic reading friend when he saw a copy lying around.

And Bucky's death scene was just embarassing

Bucky's death frankly felt like Fraction was like "Oh crap its been 3 issues and nothing worth while has happened and the villains don't feel like a real threat. Quick! Get Ed on the phone and tell him I'm offing Bucky and to go **** himself if he doesn't like it."