There.
Ok, so why is this horror in front of my eyes? Well it's because DC lost it's collective mind and I suspect its will to live. They have decide to do a company wide reboot of EVERYTHING. All their titles at the end of summer are going to roll back to issue #1 and it looks like they are redesigning half of everything. Now, I'm not instantly against reboots. The new Dr. Who for example has done very well for itself. But you need a coherent plan. If you are radically changing HALF of your line up, that tells me you do not have a coherent plan. Things like the picture above only proves the point.
Here's the real problem. Their are two general types of comic book readers. Those that go through a "Phase" of reading comic books and then drift away from medium, and those who keep reading. Those that leave the medium have their memories of the character in stasis. Meanwhile, to keep the constant readers interested in the title, many plot points and reboots and crisis and new costumes are thrown around like confetti. By the time it's all done the casual reader will not recognize the character they fondly remember. Since the casual reader is in the majority movies and tv generally side with them. So you get Bruce Wayne as Batman not Dick Grayson, or Batman's son (as has happened recently). This gigantic reboot is not going to bring the casual reader back. It's just one more mutation of a cherished, slightly dusty childhood memory. Meanwhile, the dedicated fan who has bought issue after issue has just been slapped in the face. "Hey you, you've kept track of all the costumes and and everything, you bought all the cross overs, and you know every bit of trivia. Guess what? Doesn't matter now. New ball game. Buy our product please."
I think you gentle readers can see how this isn't a winning marketing strategy.
:/
ReplyDeleteDo they really think they are going to bring in new readers? I mean we can't really know the full extent of this "reboot" but I can say as someone who wants to get into reading comic books, it is quite annoying and disheartening to hear of this. Why? Because I had found out about titles or characters that would interest me and I learned of the latest story lines so that when I did eventually ease myself into it that wouldn't be so hard.
I got excited about reading these things, but now it seems that most of it will be completely different and I just don't know if I will be interested anymore.
Rouise they WANT new readers, but this isn't going to do it. You just showed one reason why it won't. Another thing I should have pointed out is this strategy is joined with a new marketing strategy that has cheesed off local comic book stores. If you lose the support of those selling your wares, well it's not going to go well.
ReplyDeleteI was once a regular comic book reader for (gasp!) nearly 40 years, but I've been Crisis'd and Zero Hour'd out. No more. Thanks for the memories, DC.
ReplyDeleteStabby (you don't mind being called stabby ok?), the only silver lining is DC is publishing more of its back log into collections. We can buy the good stuff, maybe that might eventually give DC a clue.
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