Is the DC relaunch the big event of the new decade?

[Lord]

I couldn't stop noticing that since the 90s that the comic book industry launches every decade a new begining for new readers to get into comics

During the 90s it was the begining of Image comics expecially with Spawn, in the 21th century it was the Ultimate Marvel Imprint, now it's DC with their reboot.

Opinions?

 

[redhawk23]

That is yet to be seen, if this falls flat and they start to bring in more of the prior continuity this will ultimately be meaningless. As someone else said, it could end up as the comics equivalent of "New Coke."

That said I hope it is successful in its aim to allow for new stories to be written and for things to branch out in different ways.

P.S. just so you know your avvy is my favorite gif of all time.

 

[Lord]

That is yet to be seen, if this falls flat and they start to bring in more of the prior continuity this will ultimately be meaningless. As someone else said, it could end up as the comics equivalent of "New Coke."

That said I hope it is successful in its aim to allow for new stories to be written and for things to branch out in different ways.

P.S. just so you know your avvy is my favorite gif of all time.

Hurray!!!!!

 

[RoughNTumble]

They've kept all the stuff that works, so if the stuff that doesn't work continues to not work, I can't see them going back to the stuff that wasn't working before.

If you get what I mean.

 

[loveless1]

If the goal was to get more people buying comics, it worked on at least one person (Me).

I can't imagine I'm the only person that is OCD and can't own something unless they own it from the start (and when it says #1 on it I can trick myself into thinking that nothing else existed before it).

 

[loveless1]

“Overall, this has been one of the best [weeks] for us in our 28-year history. The seeming lack of titles on the shelf due to DC only putting out two books [last week] and Marvel responding with a rather light shipment did nothing to curb our usual sales and instead surpassed them.”
—
-Stephen Mayer, assistant manager of Acme Comics in Greensboro, N.C.

Just saw this while paroozing the internets and avoiding work, apparently it's working so far.

 

[darkstarone]

The relaunch will begin roaring like a lion but in the end will go quietly like a sheep.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

“Overall, this has been one of the best [weeks] for us in our 28-year history. The seeming lack of titles on the shelf due to DC only putting out two books [last week] and Marvel responding with a rather light shipment did nothing to curb our usual sales and instead surpassed them.”
—
-Stephen Mayer, assistant manager of Acme Comics in Greensboro, N.C.

Just saw this while paroozing the internets and avoiding work, apparently it's working so far.

Weird. I would've thought just the opposite. But I guess it's nice that comic readers will apparently try new things when the market isn't flooded with Marvel and DC.

 

[TruerToTheCore]

Sales won't go up in the mid-run and quality won't either.

 

[November Rain]

as a consumer, i think i'm more interested in reading more complete stories, three paperback stories max.

have characters actually go through arcs, reach conclusions and grow.

I have a feeling that this is the way the market is going. something more akin to the film making industry which will provide a better synergy between the two and help boost the sales of both.

having long standing characters that are unable to evolve due to fan pressure just does nothing to me.

 

[Phatman]

Doubt it. It's more like DC throwing crap at a wall and hoping something sticks.

 

[Phatman]

“Overall, this has been one of the best [weeks] for us in our 28-year history. The seeming lack of titles on the shelf due to DC only putting out two books [last week] and Marvel responding with a rather light shipment did nothing to curb our usual sales and instead surpassed them.”
—
-Stephen Mayer, assistant manager of Acme Comics in Greensboro, N.C.

Just saw this while paroozing the internets and avoiding work, apparently it's working so far.

Don't believe the hype. By issue #3 the new 52 will be the old 26 By issue #6 the old 26 will be the stale 13. As sales decline back to their old levels around issue #8 the readers will jump off, and by issue #12 sales have totally declined lower than before. By next year the old DCU will be back in place and Didio and Lee will be collecting unemployment.

This cycle has come and gone around. Big surge, drop off then back to declining.

 

[loveless1]

This is the part that you offer an alternative.

Comic book sales have been going down consistently, the people at DC are doing something that they hope will give comic book sales a shot in the arm.

It's easy to sit back and go "THEYS ARE STUPID TROLL TROLL DIE IN A FIRE I HOPE YOU LOSE YOUR JOB TROLL TROLL".

You obviously care about the comic book industry enough to have a 12 issue plan on how this will fail, why don't you put as much energy into creating a 12 issue success plan and then email it to them?

 

[TruerToTheCore]

Doubt it. It's more like DC throwing crap at a wall and hoping something sticks.

Business as usual.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

as a consumer, i think i'm more interested in reading more complete stories, three paperback stories max.

have characters actually go through arcs, reach conclusions and grow.

I have a feeling that this is the way the market is going. something more akin to the film making industry which will provide a better synergy between the two and help boost the sales of both.

having long standing characters that are unable to evolve due to fan pressure just does nothing to me.

But the reboot is 100% counter to that. It's a pretty clear message that characters can't grow meaningfully, at least with any kind of permanence. Something'll come along to pull their universe out from under them and hit the reset.

 

[Phatman]

This is the part that you offer an alternative.

Comic book sales have been going down consistently, the people at DC are doing something that they hope will give comic book sales a shot in the arm.

It's easy to sit back and go "THEYS ARE STUPID TROLL TROLL DIE IN A FIRE I HOPE YOU LOSE YOUR JOB TROLL TROLL".

You obviously care about the comic book industry enough to have a 12 issue plan on how this will fail, why don't you put as much energy into creating a 12 issue success plan and then email it to them?

DC doesn't accept unsolicited material. Anything you send to them will either be sent back to you or dumped in the trash. Not that Didio and Lee will listen to me if they did accept unsolicited business plans.

I wrote a whole plan on how to fix the industry on my blog a month ago. There is no one magic bullet to fix the problems plaguing the comic book industry. A relaunch alone won't cut it.

It's gonna take a comprehensive plan that focuses on all the issues such as content, distribution and forming a relationship with today's customers, especailly the moms and casual buyers who are turned off by the gore, sexual content and profanity. Many non comic fans or people who used to read comics when they were younger are disgusted by stories like Identity Crisis, Cry For Justice or the Professor Pyg Character in Batman & Robin. These aren't the kinds of comics people want to share with their kids to get them into the hobby.

Editorial is really going to have to focus on developing an all-ages product to get the casuals back, and there'd really be a need to focus on Independent readers ages 7 and up. Something in the style of Batman: TAS, STAS, JLU and Batman Brave and the Bold. Content for characters is going to have to be one-and done issues and two-three issue story arcs to hook the casuals and younger readers.

And prices are going to have to come down if the industry wants to reach the 20million plus kids coming up in the baby boom that's going on. Comics have to be priced competively if they're going to survive in a world of eBooks, dollar games, itunes and redbox DVDs. A 32-page comic or eComic should not cost more than a movie rental or three songs on itunes. It's not competitive.

Marvel and DC are going to have to give Diamond the boot and sign up with Hatchette, The Hudson Group or some distributor who can get them back in retail outlets like supermarkets, drug stores and big box stores like Wal-mart, Kmart, and mom and pop shops where comics can be seen. They're going to have to offer returnability on their comics to these retailers. And as a goodwill gesture, they might have to buy back all those crappy 90's comics many a mom and pop shop, supermarket or newsstand are still stuck with today.

A turnaround can be done, but it's going to require a lot of planning, organizing and a lot of pain.

 

[SuperFerret]

as a consumer, i think i'm more interested in reading more complete stories, three paperback stories max.

have characters actually go through arcs, reach conclusions and grow.

I have a feeling that this is the way the market is going. something more akin to the film making industry which will provide a better synergy between the two and help boost the sales of both.

having long standing characters that are unable to evolve due to fan pressure just does nothing to me.

I think that having characters that are pretty much done growing is pretty cool. Let's you explore the characters and follow them as if they were real people.