It is quite possible that comics fans and watchers of the business will look back on May 31st, 2011 and say, "that was the day everything changed." Admittedly, it's also possible they'll look back in a drunken haze and wonder what even happened that day, but let's stay on target here. CBR reported …
The sweeping line-wide change debuts on Aug. 31, when the pubisher releases just two comics — the final issue of Flashpoint, and the first issue of Justice League, under the new creative team of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. According to DC's Source blog, the premiere of Justice League will also mark the beginning of same-day digital release for all of the ongoing titles, "making DC Comics the first of the two major American publishers to release all of its superhero comic book titles digitally the same day as in print."
The idea of comic books being available in print and digital formats on the same day has been looked on by most of the possibly 3,000 comics retailers in the United States in the same way that a fisherman on the Japanese shore would look at Godzilla coming out of the water. Sure, it might be okay, but many feel that it would spell the death of their beleaguered business model.
Industry fave retailer Brian Hibbs posted some initial thoughts, including …
1) FIFTY TWO new #1′s? First off, that’s insane, second off, that’s F***ING insane. Who on earth will buy all of those? The DCU is roughly 35-ish monthly ongoing titles now — is Vertigo rebooting, too? I don’t *think* it is? So they’re increasing the line by 50%-ish?
Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free2) This CAN ONLY work if we get a big wave of civvies coming in… but 13 titles a week is way way way too much for civvies. Two or three a week might maybe have been possible?
3) full line-wide day and day is potentially huge because of the ripple impact it might have. It will take very very very few current customers moving channels to have a catastrophic cascade impact along and down the chain. Maybe as little as 3-5%? If we’re not netting more NEW readers (and I DO NOT MEAN “Marvel readers switching loyalty”) (And see above) we’re really running the risk of the entire comics market collapsing in fairly fast order — and I’m including things that aren’t superheroes.
6) FIFTY TWO new superhero #1s? Are there 52 strong creative teams out there? Editors who know how to shepherd a story properly? Seriously, DC hasn’t shown the editorial strength to have more than 8-12 (maybe) “on all cylinders” have they? I’M NOT TRYING TO BE MEAN ON THIS — but the consumer reality in the comics market is that readers judge this kind of initiative by the “WORST” element of it, not the BEST.
7) F***, they should have staggered out the launch over a few months… 1 (or 2, maybe 3) new books a week until they were up to their “right” number. I bet a LOT of people would try the “new” DC if the DCU was just 12 titles total in month #1
8) DCU Editorial, per Didio, has by and large been a cycle of events — generally with “big beats” hitting every two-ish weeks (sometimes more frequently)… for like the last 6-7 YEARS. But here’s the thing: structurally these kinds of beats can be generated because of history — “starting over” would appear on the face to eliminate that particular crutch?
9) The last time they tried anything EVEN REMOTELY like this it was a critical failure, and largely a commercial failure. Those three words? “One. Year. Later.”
10) I don’t want to trade the numbering on the “legacy” titles for the short-term bounce of a #1. In 2011 THAT BOUNCE NO LONGER “STICKS”. It is no more than a 2 month bounce any longer. In my secret heart, I was praying for the other way around — that they’d go back to “old” numbering on everything — GREEN LANTERN would be #487, or whatever it would have been.
11) Does this mean that all of the backlist on my racks will now be dead weight? If they’re rebooting Superman continuity, do I want to have ANY copies whatsoever of 98% of the in print Superman backlist?
12) This part fills me with dread: “a more modern, diverse DC Universe, with some character variations in appearance, origin and age. All stories will be grounded in each character’s legend – but will relate to real world situations, interactions, tragedy and triumph.” DC is not Marvel, and, I think the appeal of DC over Marvel is the more fantastic nature of much of the characters/cosmology. “The New Blue Beetle will be a Filipino Transexual character” (or whatever) doesn’t sound like a recipe for success to me, though.. and DC’s track record on “diversity” actually succeeding with the audience is fairly poor.
13) They’ve done REALLY well in keeping this on the downlow, though, haven’t they?
14) Following up on #11, does this imply we’re going to go 6-ish month without any NEW DC backlist? Will DC be smarter about WHAT gets collected and what doesn’t?
16) If this hits, it *could* hit big; but if it fails, it will be catastrophic …
The print industry as a whole has been in trouble for a long time, and without a huge stream of revenue generating movies like the Mouse House of Ideas, this could be a move that shifts DC into the future … while abandoning the retailers who kept them alive. On the other hand, without any notes on how these digital comics are delivered or driven — DC's own site? Apps? Platform specific or technology specific approaches? — let alone a discussion of price point, there's still the question of whether they'll be as usable as a PDF or as unmanageable as CrossGen's belated web comics. In the haze of v-neck collars and a new logo for Superman's chest (who changes that? Oh, Jim Lee …), the real story lies underneath.
[Source: Comic Book Resources, The Beat, Savage Critics]