Not signed in (Sign In)
    •  
      CommentAuthorAlastair
    • CommentTimeJun 12th 2011
     (9904.1)
    Siegel & Shuster ain't nothin' to fuck with
    •  
      CommentAuthorarklight
    • CommentTimeJun 12th 2011 edited
     (9904.2)
    All this is the FLASH'S fault..??..again....

    Somebody should trip him up every time he starts running...:-)...

    It's one crisis too far...

    You know what's more scary. Remember the marketing Comics thread?
    It's been noted that the comics industry, a media industry it's size,
    doesn't market to the general public.Just to people who buy the stuff anyway.

    But guess what's going to be marketed with TV ads and everything???This stuff.


    So this reboot may end up being their most successful financial venture to date.
    Even if it gets panned creatively.



    Heri Mkocha
    http://www.youtube.com/thearklight
  1.  (9904.3)
    So this reboot may end up being their most successful financial venture to date.

    Only if the ads are any good.
    • CommentAuthorRenThing
    • CommentTimeJun 12th 2011
     (9904.4)
    Only if the ads are any good.

    Agreed. I think it'll take a lot of effort to not only overcome the perceptions of comics as a kids' thing or the purview of stereotypes like the Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons as well as build enough interest for people to shell out $2.50 US a pop and make them keep coming back each month.

    Now, with the e-versions, if they set up a monthly subscription that's cheaper than the dead tree print copies that could work better as it takes a lot less effort to download the latest edition than it does to get in your car, drive to your local store, and pick up your copies, especially if you weren't already doing that.
  2.  (9904.5)
    But guess what's going to be marketed with TV ads and everything???This stuff.

    Trying to mainstream comics with advertising doesn't have an especially successful history.
  3.  (9904.6)
    So, any word on whether you get to own your legitimate download outright like you do the dead tree version, or if it's going to really belong to DC on a cloud you're only just being allowed to pay to access?
    • CommentAuthorTalesin
    • CommentTimeJun 12th 2011
     (9904.7)
    I just can't see this being a good idea. As much as comic fans are always talking about wanting something new, the fact is people want comics like a ratty old pair of comfortable slippers. I do hope it works out for them but really I can see a bunch of old fans becoming grumpy because they are not the characters as they remember them (or the series they like have been gotten rid of or fundamentally changed eg Secret Six, Birds of Prey). It does seem very 90s. I know DC is not matching it with Marvel in terms of the top 100 etc but I don't know if this is the right way to solve it. I suppose as long as the stories are good then they will hook the readers in and they will build up the titles just like Marvels titles like The Mighty Th...oh um Runawa...ok...Captain Britain and M....GODDAMIT
    • CommentAuthorDarkest
    • CommentTimeJun 13th 2011
     (9904.8)
    Just had to turn down a talk on BBC Regional about Superman's new threads due to not being able to make it/ driving lesson.
    •  
      CommentAuthormoali
    • CommentTimeJun 13th 2011
     (9904.9)
    meh.
    • CommentAuthorSolario
    • CommentTimeJun 13th 2011
     (9904.10)
    I think the main problem isn't that comics readers are afraid of change; it's that the change we're given here isn't especially different from what we've had before. That's not change or risk.

    I hope it turns out well for DC. Especially the resurgence of horror- and war-themed superhero comics.
    • CommentAuthorPow
    • CommentTimeJun 13th 2011
     (9904.11)
    hmm, there's a story in one of the shitty glasgow tabloids about Superman getting rid of his underpants thanks to the influence of Grant Morrison and DC adding more black and hispanic heroes. The local shop owners are going to be millionaires come september.....
  4.  (9904.12)
    Trying to mainstream comics with advertising doesn't have an especially successful history.

    Well, that's no reason not to try it.
  5.  (9904.13)
    Well, that's no reason not to try it.

    Very true. But this seems to be less try and more betting the farm.
    •  
      CommentAuthorBeamish
    • CommentTimeJun 13th 2011
     (9904.14)
    I remember several months ago Vertigo putting out an commercial for Fables. I am sure DC was using that as a guage to see if it was worth the money, and it must have been. Also, it think it is a good move to let people know, who are not aware, were they could go to buy the comics. Although, as I think this I am reminded that Barnes and Noble are now selling some comics day and date, I would hate for the commercials to be B&N specific.

    As to the content, I hope the best for DC, my purchasing of their titles have been dwindling of late. Also, good luck to Flash not dying a slow death like every other title that Johns leaves (see his last Flash run for example).
  6.  (9904.15)
    Now that details are coming out, I'm thinking Grant Morrison's Superman is a must-read. If one can trust those shifty sorts over at Bleeding Cool, it's the Superman I've been wanting for a long while- a character based on the first volume or two of the Action Comics Archives, who bears only the slightest similarity to the character we call Superman today.

    Also, if that description of Blue Beetle is accurate, I should track down some back issues. I think I may have missed something I'd have enjoyed quite a bit.
    • CommentAuthor256
    • CommentTimeJun 14th 2011
     (9904.16)
    @Beamish -
    I remember several months ago Vertigo putting out an commercial for Fables. I am sure DC was using that as a guage to see if it was worth the money, and it must have been.

    I haven't seen the ad (I wonder if it's on youtube?) and I'm not at all up to date on the book, but it seems unfortunate that in the last few months I've heard several people say that they've dropped Fables because it seems to have lost its way.

    @James
    the Superman I've been wanting for a long while- a character based on the first volume or two of the Action Comics Archives

    Interestingly, I read a suggestion somewhere on Twitter Rumour Mill that the Superman costume redesign is (partially) motivated by ongoing legal conflict with the Siegel family. Wandering into the realms of pure speculation: Perhaps the logic is that, if DC are publishing a character who acts more like the Siegel & Shuster Superman, they have to make him look different to avoid some qualification for derivativeness?

    If anyone has more insight/knowledge of the S&S vs. DC saga, I'd be very interested to hear.

    Also, continuing on the Supertheme, the two things I actually like about the redesigns so far are: The bio-robotic Superboy (I have a soft spot for non-Clark Kent Superboys, though) and the fact that Supergirl and Superman now both have matching S-shield-shaped belt buckles... Details, details.
  7.  (9904.17)
    @256 -
    Interestingly, I read a suggestion somewhere on Twitter Rumour Mill that the Superman costume redesign is (partially) motivated by ongoing legal conflict with the Siegel family. Wandering into the realms of pure speculation: Perhaps the logic is that, if DC are publishing a character who acts more like the Siegel & Shuster Superman, they have to make him look different to avoid some qualification for derivativeness?

    I was wondering something along the same lines. There was an article I read the other day involving the movie rights and that after the 2012 Superman movie, it's entirely possible that we may see 2 different movie franchises, due to split movie rights. The S&S version would have the outfit and original abilities, such as leaping buildings in a single bound, etc., whereas the Warner/DC version would have rights to any later developments of the character by DC (I believe Lex Luthor was created by DC).

    That said, a few hours ago my brain started mulling over the possibility that this whole new version might be in part out of prep for when those rights shift. No clue about the comic rights themselves, but if they change the primary character now to better reflect what they'll have the movie rights to later, then in theory people may be more receptive to their version that will appear in any movies once the rights split.
    •  
      CommentAuthorBeamish
    • CommentTimeJun 14th 2011
     (9904.18)
    •  
      CommentAuthorjohnjones
    • CommentTimeJun 14th 2011 edited
     (9904.19)
    I'm probably talking out of my ass on this one, but I'd like to do comics like porn. Think about porn circa 1990 or so. You had adult bookstores, movie houses, mailing lists and the like. Back in 1990, do you really think there'd have been a huge uptick in people going to those places due to an advertising campiagn? I'm thinking no.

    The thing for me is that perception tends to be reality. The likelihood of shifting American culture away from the comics are for children/cat-piss men is about as likely as rehabilitating the swastika as a symbol. You're just not going to convince most people who aren't already into comics to try them in the traditional sense.

    Now think about porn today. It exploded because of the web. Hell, as I understand it, many of the conveniences like high graphics and secure purchasing were developed for the web at the behest of the porn industry. So, make getting comics convenient, inexpensive and anonymous. And if somebody wants a collection they can order a POD trade paperback. Like that. Sure, keep the LCS, keep the monthlies if they earn their keep, but overall gradually shift the nature of production to a digital form.
    •  
      CommentAuthorbrianwood
    • CommentTimeJun 14th 2011
     (9904.20)
    I wish people needed comics like they need porn. We'd all be rich.