Rumblings of DC Properties Being Sold Off By AT&T

[Flint Marko]

Sounds like your typical MCU fanboy (or DC fanboy who hopes to see their movies turn into MCU clones) making sh*t up for his own excitement.

Couldn't care less about Feige.

Such bull**** and wishful thinking from MCU suckups.

You alright?

 

[-JKR-]

Yeah. Seems like I'm coherent.

 

[InCali]

Yeah. Seems like I'm coherent.

You sure?

 

[Spider-Fan]

I've been seeing speculation on DC assets being sold by AT&T for years now. I doubt it will happen, but let's assume it does. The absolute worst thing that could happen is them being sold to Marvel. That would be a monopoly within the comic book industry that is just not excusable. One company should not dictate how every major comic book should be written. Would it be cool to see Superman team up with Thor and such? Sure, but we can just get the 2 companies to do a cross over or something. That'd be fun. Them actually being a part of Marvel would be bad for everyone.

 

[HRPUFFSTUFF]

I've been seeing speculation on DC assets being sold by AT&T for years now. I doubt it will happen, but let's assume it does. The absolute worst thing that could happen is them being sold to Marvel. That would be a monopoly within the comic book industry that is just not excusable. One company should not dictate how every major comic book should be written. Would it be cool to see Superman team up with Thor and such? Sure, but we can just get the 2 companies to do a cross over or something. That'd be fun. Them actually being a part of Marvel would be bad for everyone.

i don't think that will happen-

i think that AT&T will just stop making new comics and close DC as a company and keep the rights to the characters and farm them out to other companies to make new stories while at the same time making movies and tv shows based off the IP.

so you could get Superman vs Thor comic if marvel wanted to pay for the rights to use superman but Superman would still be under the ownership of the WB.

 

[Kuwolski]

i don't think that will happen-

i think that AT&T will just stop making new comics and close DC as a company and keep the rights to the characters and farm them out to other companies to make new stories while at the same time making movies and tv shows based off the IP.

so you could get Superman vs Thor comic if marvel wanted to pay for the rights to use superman but Superman would still be under the ownership of the WB.

This is one of the probable scenarios. If the characters were sold outright, it would likely be from a massive overbid that appeals to AT&T's debt load. Unlikely, but something from Amazon or Tencent could fit this idea.

 

[HRPUFFSTUFF]

This is one of the probable scenarios. If the characters were sold outright, it would likely be from a massive overbid that appeals to AT&T's debt load. Unlikely, but something from Amazon or Tencent could fit this idea.

selling them outright would be short sighted for them as the IP is way more valuable for WB. but anyone that bought them would have a licence to print cash.

 

[Kuwolski]

selling them outright would be short sighted for them as the IP is way more valuable for WB. but anyone that bought them would have a licence to print cash.

I agree. The industry the characters were created for is dying, but the IP across various mediums is a goldmine.

 

[HRPUFFSTUFF]

I agree. The industry the characters were created for is dying, but the IP across various mediums is a goldmine.

they have 70+ years of stories to pull from for movie and tv show as well has thousands of characters to play with. even without the comics ongoing they can get many more years out of the DC comics line.

 

[Yowza]

With the publishing world having been jarred off track due to the Covid-19 virus I think some bottom line decisions could be made by AT&T sooner rather than later in terms of what they want to dip into and how to adapt given the changing times.

I found the following article on Engadget interesting that I think provides up to date insight for why the comic publishing industry in general never took off digitally these past 20 years:

The comic industry would rather grind to a halt than go digital
The comic industry would rather grind to a halt than go digital
ComicHub has a plan to get you single issues, though.

Wednesday is usually New Comic Book Day but, with everyone on lockdown due to coronavirus, this week’s selection was a little light. The main distributor, Diamond, ceased shipments both to and from its warehouse — a seemingly logical move given that many stores are shuttered anyway. Less logical is that, unlike literally every other media industry, the product wasn’t simply released digitally to consumers stuck at home. Instead, the entire comics world is on hold.

On a normal Wednesday, new books from companies like Marvel and DC would get a simultaneous physical and digital release, at the same price. Sometimes the physical copies even come with a free digital code. The whole idea being to avoid undercutting the brick and mortar stores with a more attractive digital product.

But what do you do when there are no brick and mortar stores to sell to? Apparently you just don't sell products at all. Anything that was scheduled for a physical release from Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse is on the back burner, either rescheduled for a later date or placed in limbo. Some digital-first titles like Freedom Fighters: Rise of a Nation will still be up for purchase on ComiXology and Kindle, but anyone looking forward to Batman #92 is out of luck until April 29th, at the earliest.

With Diamond's plans still up in the air, B2B software company ComicHub announced its own plan to deal with the stoppage, selling comics directly to customers. Readers can sign up and link their accounts to a physical store. When they purchase a comic, they'll get a digital copy instantly, but will also pick up the physical book at their local shop when it reopens. This will help to keep the stores afloat for now.

It's definitely a stop-gap solution for a business that hasn't embraced digital distribution in the way other industries have. And it's not even like those other media have ceased sending out physical products — you can still buy a copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons from Best Buy or GameStop. Heck, there are mail-order comic sites out there, like Mile High, Midtown Comics and Discount Comic Book Service, that will ship stuff directly to your home.

However, many readers will tell you that comic shops are an integral part of the experience. I have fond memories of heading to the store down the street from my high school every Wednesday. I know the names of my "comic guys" and am even friends with a few of them on Facebook. While there are some bad apples out there akin to The Simpsons' Comic Book Guy, there are plenty of great shops out there, too.

But all those shops, both good and bad, hold an outsized amount of power because of the way the industry has developed over the past 50 years.

For their first few decades, comics were distributed and sold through newsstands alongside newspapers and magazines. This made sense given that they were considered periodicals. Unsold newsstand products could be sold back to the distributor, and that included comics, which is one of the things that makes old issues so rare. If you missed an issue, you were SOL.

This is one of the reasons comic shops started to spring up during the '70s. People wanted to buy and sell back issues. People also wanted to be sure they could get the new titles they liked; newsstands often had to take what they were sent and didn't have a lot of options. Retailers approached comics publishers to ask if they could just buy comics directly. The companies were totally on board with this direct market, especially since they could make the comic shops eat the cost of unsold stock by making the issues non-returnable.

This arrangement worked out pretty well for the next two decades, but it hit a snag in the '90s when Marvel Comics bought Heroes World, a comics distributor. Marvel gave its new subsidiary exclusive rights to distribute its product. This caused a bit of a panic as retailers no longer got the same discounts, and rival publishers started signing their own deals with distributors. Shops collapsed and so did most of the distributors, leaving Diamond as the only big one left. This is why one company shutting down operations has had such an outsized impact.

Between the Diamond stoppage and so many stores shutting their doors, it makes sense that many people are predicting that "comics are dead." Comics and the shops that sell them share a long history, which has created a strong sense of camaraderie. The direct market helped mold the biggest four companies — DC, Marvel, Image and Dark Horse — and created the culture around them, too. The stores were what helped Marvel stay afloat when it was in trouble after a string of bad decisions in the '90s and '00s. Retailers and publishers mingle socially all the time as well, at conventions and retailer summits. It's not just business at this point, it's personal. The comics industry is built on loyalty.

If comics were to fully embrace digital, it would mean cutting retailers out. It would mean cutting their friends and supporters out. In the most simplistic terms, it feels like a betrayal — and no one wants to be the villain. Except that, by refusing to play the villain to their business partners, they're abandoning their customers. And if they're not serving their customers at all then there's no money coming in, and those stores might go under anyway.

Eventually the companies will have to make a decision. Their employees have bills to pay, after all. With Marvel and DC both owned by huge corporate conglomerates, there's no danger of either company dying. But other publishers might not be so lucky. Creators might just take their talents to ComiXology or Kickstarter. And there will still be comic shops. After all, we thought independent bookstores were on their way out a decade ago and yet their numbers have actually increased 40 percent since then, with almost 2,500 shops in the United States now. Comic shops can make a comeback too; they just have to stop acting like it's still 1975.

 

[SupermanFan]

It may be sacrilege to say as a fan of comic book character me comic book stories but I honestly wouldn’t care if they stopped making comics. I have so many comic book stories to go back & read and honestly I barely even read comics these days.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

The very reason why AT&T bought Time Warner was due to the vast amount of content and ownership of various properties including DC comics.

I would think, SOLELY on what you said, AT&T would never sell off a potential gold mine like DC.
If so, why woud you bother acquiring it in the 1st place?

 

[Peyton Westlake]

Also....think about Marvel's side of it.
Would they even want all those DC characters?
Would they have enough time to devote to all of them?
If they did...would have to put out like 100 comics a month?
How would Suddenly Superman be introduced into Marvel after never have been there all these years? (I'm not talking about dumb crossovers they have done in the past) I mean overall in Marvel's history, Superman, Batman,etc. never played a part of the Civil war or other major storylines,so where were they when all that happened?

 

[psylockolussus]

In another comics publisher.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

How would Suddenly Superman be introduced into Marvel after never have been there all these years? (I'm not talking about dumb crossovers they have done in the past) I mean overall in Marvel's history, Superman, Batman,etc. never played a part of the Civil war or other major storylines,so where were they when all that happened?

If it were the other way around with DC starting to include Marvel characters as part of their regular continuity, they could explain it away by saying they were hidden away on yet another hitherto undiscovered parallel Earth. Then later on they could have another Crisis, and lo and behold - they've always been there! Does does Marvel have a similar multiverse that they could use to explain it in the same way? (Not saying I think it'll happen btw, just thinking theoretically ).

 

[HRPUFFSTUFF]

If it were the other way around with DC starting to include Marvel characters as part of their regular continuity, they could explain it away by saying they were hidden away on yet another hitherto undiscovered parallel Earth. Then later on they could have another Crisis, and lo and behold - they've always been there! Does does Marvel have a similar multiverse that they could use to explain it in the same way? (Not saying I think it'll happen btw, just thinking theoretically ).

i could see them going in two directions

one just have them being their own thing in their own comic. hell i could see just making an anthology comic that tells the story of the DC heroes. but it would be more just a separate thing with no cross over with the 616 line.

two have them inserted into the 616 comics as new characters with new origins like krypton being destroyed by Galactus being the reason Kal-El is sent to earth. Wonder Woman meets Captain America in WWII so on and so forth

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

i could see them going in two directions

one just have them being their own thing in their own comic. hell i could see just making an anthology comic that tells the story of the DC heroes. but it would be more just a separate thing with no cross over with the 616 line.

two have them inserted into the 616 comics as new characters with new origins like krypton being destroyed by Galactus being the reason Kal-El is sent to earth. Wonder Woman meets Captain America in WWII so on and so forth

So you think that if they inserted them into the 616 universe there'd be no mention of/reference to their DC days? (I ask because Dynamite have referenced Vampirella's previous adventures with both Warren and Harris comics, as well as the Golden Age exploits of the public domain characters they use in Project Superpowers.)

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Also....think about Marvel's side of it.
Would they even want all those DC characters?
Would they have enough time to devote to all of them?
If they did...would have to put out like 100 comics a month?
How would Suddenly Superman be introduced into Marvel after never have been there all these years? (I'm not talking about dumb crossovers they have done in the past) I mean overall in Marvel's history, Superman, Batman,etc. never played a part of the Civil war or other major storylines,so where were they when all that happened?

Marvel would want them if only to deny competition to anybody else. Which is why it would be terrible for the industry if Marvel were to get them.

 

[Micromind]

People are now wondering if WB is under pressure to deliver from higher management of AT&T, as they are not moving release dates of movies like Nolan's TENET, ScooB! and Wonder Woman 1984.

Saw this comment on Reddit. So, the speculation is that if 2020 turns out to be a bad financial yer for WB, AT&T might sell off DC Comics or maybe WB Studios to some Chinese company.

 

[HRPUFFSTUFF]

So you think that if they inserted them into the 616 universe there'd be no mention of/reference to their DC days? (I ask because Dynamite have referenced Vampirella's previous adventures with both Warren and Harris comics, as well as the Golden Age exploits of the public domain characters they use in Project Superpowers.)

but thats just one character that they can build off of with out having to integrate that history into the rest of the other characters history.

you cant just plop the Flash or Batman with all of their history into the 616 its just too much retconning

 

[CaptainWagner]

People are now wondering if WB is under pressure to deliver from higher management of AT&T, as they are not moving release dates of movies like Nolan's TENET, ScooB! and Wonder Woman 1984.

Saw this comment on Reddit. So, the speculation is that if 2020 turns out to be a bad financial yer for WB, AT&T might sell off DC Comics or maybe WB Studios to some Chinese company.

So this guy has absolutely no credibility the instant he tries to say WW84 is "guaranteed" to be streaming only. Only thing guaranteed by that sentence is that the writer is full of crap.

But it's just exceptionally hilarious to see people still try to push this narrative days after they announced the launch date of HBOMAX, a huge move AT&T has invested hundreds of millions into and is making an integral part of their telecom service.