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THE END OF COMICS... as we know it
By Koppy McFad
Aug 28, 2011 - 3:41
So in a few days, DC Comics will have finally implemented one of their biggest revamps in comics history, not merely a change in "continuity"-- which is an almost monthly occurrence nowadays-- but a change in the way comics are sold and distributed.
The change in the history of the DC universe is actually just a side effect. DC Comics hopes to find a new audience in the digital marketplace. To do this, it has discarded the old numbering and weighty continuities of less successful titles so iPad owners won't be intimidated about uploading the new version of Batgirl or Superman or so on.
As a longtime reader, it is sad to see vast portions of the history of Superman, the Teen Titans, Justice League and other DC stalwarts just done away with so casually. But as a survivor of the first CRISIS and several other CRISES afterwards, I can get over this. There will be problems like the never-ending Hawkman mess and I am almost certain that in the end, many of the old elements of these characters will be restored-- like Wonder Woman's panties. But these are all minor things.
What saddens and concerns me most about this revamp is what it says about comics nowadays-- the industry, the readers and the products.
This ambitious plan of DC Comics appears to be carried out in haste-- and in desperation. Many storylines in existing DC titles were rudely cut short (or poorly stretched out) just ahead of the "FLASHPOINT" change. And to think that DC Comics had just finished its long "BLACKEST NIGHT/BRIGHTEST DAY" event that set up many of its top characters like Swamp Thing, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman and Aquaman for revivals. It had just launched some new titles like XOMBI. They even introduced a new member to the Teen Titans just a few months ago. Now, it looks like they could have just skipped all the BLACKEST/BRIGHTEST rigamarole and just introduced the new titles anyway.
It truly looks like some angry executive at Time/Warner finally looked into DC Comics' financial records and demanded that the editors do something-- or else.
There is a heated debate going on at the DC Comics message boards about DCnU with the usual small-minded screaming about how DC is betraying their fans and so forth, but on the sidelines of the hysterical ranting are some posters putting out sobering facts, about how DC Comics-- and comics in general-- have an aging fanbase, how so few titles have trouble selling over 40,000 copies, how more and more comic book shops are shutting down. To sum it all up: the fans, the comic outlets and the comics themselves appear to be dying out.
The whole revamp is jarring but if you can just look behind all the squealing about Stephanie Brown and Donna Troy, DC Comics is at least trying to address the real problem, about how the industry could be in an irreversible downward spiral, regardless of how many "BATMAN" spin-offs they come up with.
Maybe the new digital comics will revive interest in the medium. That would be a win-win-win situation for the publisher, the retailer and the reader: new digital readers start a buzz that get people buying paper copies again, lifting the profits of both publisher and comic book stores and encouraging comic publishers in general to come out with more titles.
But it could just as easily turn into a lose-lose-lose scenario: digital comics siphon away sales from comic book shops, but they still aren't enough to sustain the publication of many DC titles. More comic book shops close down, DC publishes fewer comics and readers continue to dwindle. And this time, even MARVEL and the other publishers will be affected since there will be fewer outlets selling comic books.
I know they had to do something. I just wish they put a little more thought into it.
At the risk of sounding like a bad 1960s advertisement... "THIS COULD SAVE COMICS.... OR DESTROY IT."
Last Updated: May 16, 2012 - 6:56
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