DC Comic's Big Announcement

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Hmmm. Once I get an iPad, which is still a year or two out, being able to get digital comics will be VERY tempting to get me back in the comics game.

Also, I guess say goodbye to your local comics store. It won't be next week but once the rest of the industry follows suit it's going to be harder and harder to make a living selling comics.
 
iPad still isn't quite there for digital comics. Better than anything previous, but IMO still not there.

I also can't believe they're going to drop their numbers on every title so soon after celebrating Action Comics #900.
 
No one wants to buy Action Comics 783 at an auction. They should just start reseting the numbers every year. And organize them into volumes each year. Oh wait, that would make too much sense, and it would be too easy to see that their publishing schedule is horrible.
 
No one wants to buy Action Comics 783 at an auction. They should just start reseting the numbers every year. And organize them into volumes each year. Oh wait, that would make too much sense, and it would be too easy to see that their publishing schedule is horrible.
I bet that would only increase the number of idiot calls comics shops get claiming to have the first appearance of Superman. I love the calls from people with the first appearance of Spider-man, you know Spider-man (vanilla, or even recently "Web of") #1.
 
Rebooting the whole danged universe again, with #1's? Sure, why not. But then when one of those series gets close to a milestone (like Action Comics or Detective Comics #1000), they'll put it back to its original numbering.

Besides, continuity hardly even matters anymore. A creative team will come on board and just undo or re-introduce something from someone else's run without a second thought. The absolute best stuff in mainstream comics (mainstream being DC & Marvel) have been the ones where creative teams have been allowed to tell their own beginning, middle and end. Very rarely, it works out within the title's main book (Captain America, Daredevil, Green Lantern (up until Blackest Night, anyway)). Most times, though, they're mini-series. All Star Superman, Long Halloween, Kingdom Come, etc. In the latter's case, they're outside of the "mainstream" continuity, free to do whatever they want and focus on just telling a good story with a clear beginning, middle and end.

Fact is, the longer these characters exist, the bigger their iconology becomes. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and other cash cows are more or less unchangeable (at least in any kind of permanent sense). Their mythos is tweaked here and there, usually due to outside mediums (radio, TV, movies), but their basic mythology remains the same. I wonder if the companies were able to realize that. Maybe instead, we could see maybe a single creative team have a specifically limited run (12-24 issues) to tell the story they want and finish they way they want. Screw these attempts to tell any kind of concrete contunity, anymore.

So yeah, eat it up, fanboys. I'm sure this'll rake in a lot of moolah for DC, with the leigion of braindead fanboys.
 
I like how Comixology handles comics on the iPad, especially considering they're trying to translate print to screen.

I love reading on the iPad, but I feel guilty as hell about going completely digital with comics. I really like my comic shop, so I keep buying my DC titles there. Though it's been Crossover Overload, not digital versions, that has made me cut down my pull-list.

All Star Superman, Long Halloween, Kingdom Come, etc. In the latter's case, they're outside of the "mainstream" continuity, free to do whatever they want and focus on just telling a good story with a clear beginning, middle and end.
I would buy more comics if we got more of this. Most of the DC trades I own are these types of stories. I wish they'd do more Elseworlds. I love those!
 
Fact is, the longer these characters exist, the bigger their iconology becomes. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and other cash cows are more or less unchangeable (at least in any kind of permanent sense). Their mythos is tweaked here and there, usually due to outside mediums (radio, TV, movies), but their basic mythology remains the same. I wonder if the companies were able to realize that. Maybe instead, we could see maybe a single creative team have a specifically limited run (12-24 issues) to tell the story they want and finish they way they want. Screw these attempts to tell any kind of concrete contunity, anymore.
I'd rather they use new characters or expies for that... Watchmen showed it works better that way (using the Charlton characters after it wouldn't work any more then a sequel or a prequel, YOU HEAR ME DC?).
 
K

kaykordeath

I love reading on the iPad, but I feel guilty as hell about going completely digital with comics. I really like my comic shop, so I keep buying my DC titles there.
Supposedly, Comixology has a Digital Sotrefront program for local shops. But I've yet to find details on it in practice.

As for the re-boot...if handled smoothly, without too many "shocking" character changes, but rather simply a fresh start WITH THE CHARACTERS we know and have followed, this COULD work well. Details are starting to unfold that many of the recent events and "events" will not be wiped out, so the characters will have memories of them, and the consequences, rather than a wipe.

I'm staying tuned for now.
 
Honestly, the only four DC series I care about are Zatanna, Powergirl, Gotham City Sirens, and Batman Beyond, and I really don't see how you could mess with two of those. That being said, I'm sure DC is going to fuck it up somehow.

I'm also betting that we're going to see a lot of characters get tossed aside. For instance, I honestly don't expect Renee Montoya to be around any more now that they have an excuse to bring back the original Question.

Why can't they just do what Marvel did when they made the Ultimates universe? That worked really well until they decided to fuck it all up with things like Ultimatum.
 
As someone who stopped buying most mainstream comics a few years ago, not because I don't love the characters, I do, but because the stories just got to repetitive after almost 20 years of reading comics, I think it's a great idea and I hope they really shake it up and let it stick. I think with Johns in charge it probably will, this won't just be a stunt.
Added at: 11:00
In fact I gotta say, having spent some time reading about it I'm kind of interested in picking up a few of these titles.
 
As someone who stopped buying most mainstream comics a few years ago, not because I don't love the characters, I do, but because the stories just got to repetitive after almost 20 years of reading comics, I think it's a great idea and I hope they really shake it up and let it stick. I think with Johns in charge it probably will, this won't just be a stunt.
Added at: 11:00
In fact I gotta say, having spent some time reading about it I'm kind of interested in picking up a few of these titles.
All the previous ones have ended up being stunts why shouldn't this one.
 
Because Johns is in charge, it won't be a stunt? You mean like Infinite Crisis, 52, Flashpoint, Rebirth (both GL and Flash), Blackest Night (which didn't need to be crossed over with everything else...and now half the DC titles NEED to be something about white lanterns or something)...

I'm sorry to say, but Johns isn't just someone who does NOT avoid stunts, but has been the key reason for a lot of them for a good number of years.
Added at: 13:38
Well, that and Dan Dildio.
 
Green Lantern Rebirth was a stunt?

I didn't realize we're back to Kyle stories, with him being the only Green Lantern.
 
Yeah, I don't see how half of those are stunts but whatever man, I'm not going to nerd fight over whether or not this looks interesting to me and why.
 
Eh, I guess it depends on your definition of "stunt". I include characters who don't need to come back and aren't any more interesting as a result in that definition.

I certainly preferred having one Green Lantern over the Rainbow Light Brigade.
 
Yeah, I don't see how half of those are stunts but whatever man, I'm not going to nerd fight over whether or not this looks interesting to me and why.
A stunt would be any storyline that encourages readers to purchase titles they otherwise would not purchase. They are not the creators trying to tell a cool story, they are publishers trying to sell more comics. Most of those Nick mentioned fall into this category.

Not saying a stunt can't have a cool storyline but don't for a second think that DC is rebooting their whole line to #1 because they think it will make an interesting story. That might have been true in the pre-Dido age but not anymore.
 
K

kaykordeath

We now have pricing:
http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2011/06...-digital-copy/

Both digital and print editions of DC’s comics will have parity pricing for the first four weeks of release; thereafter, the digital titles drop in price down to our standard 1.99 digital price point. Oversized issues, including JUSTICE LEAGUE #1, will start at $3.99 and drop to $2.99 after four weeks.
Also note that JL#1 will have a standard issue available as well as a combo pack pollybaged with a code for the digital copy at $4.99 total.

As for the full price and 4 week drop off...I think that was pretty much as expected, is the "right" choice for both the business and the fans.

Now I have to make up my mind which way I'm going to go...
 
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/06/dc_hits_the_reset_button.php
I pretty much agree with everything this article had to say.

I'm a newer comic book reader myself so I'm mostly excited for this. I also love comics on the iPad. Being that I'm new to the scene, I depend heavily on wiki for backstory because I just need to know! So I'm excited for that. However, I do also like going into comic book stores and definitely do not want to see them go because of this.

I'm also interested in seeing if Marvel will do something similar.
 
I'm also interested in seeing if Marvel will do something similar.
They did. It was called the Ultimates Universe and they fucked it up with events like Ultimatum and The Ultimates. I don't even think they have it around anymore... which is sad because it was actually interesting.
 
I'd say they also fucked it up because the Ultimate universe was meant to be continuity free for new readers.

Unfortunately, that idea kinda gets thrown out the window the longer the series runs, thus creating continuity.
 
They did. It was called the Ultimates Universe and they fucked it up with events like Ultimatum and The Ultimates. I don't even think they have it around anymore... which is sad because it was actually interesting.
Aren't they basically continuing the Ultimate Marvel universe under the new title of Ultimate Comics or something stupid like that? Or are they only doing that for Spider-Man? I don't know. The only Ultimate comic I found to be consistently good was Spider-Man and when they "ended" it and relaunched it, I decided not to follow cause I figure they're going to muck it up.
 
I'm excited about the Green Lantern news I'm hearing. I think they have four GL books coming out.

One follows Kyle Rayner as the leader of a team. The other follows Red Lantern Atrocitus and his corp is a judge/jury/exeutioner anti-hero style book. Then ther GL:Corp with John Stewart and Guy Gardner. The main book will still feature Hal Jordan. :)

I'm glad to see they aren't writing out the 'rainbows corps', I'm probably one of the few that really enjoys them.
 
K

kaykordeath

DC has been making a big point of clarifying that this is a relaunch and not a reboot.

The general opinion is that this is not an ignoring or erasing of continuity but rather a folding in of some new on top of the old and a new creative vision.
 
Yeah, it's not going to destroy continuity, nor is it meant to. It's probably meant to shake some things up and give new opportunities for story.
 
The Ultimate comic line is still around. Still my favorite batch of books too. Other then most of the X-men being dead (who cares), a lot of the terrible changes from Ultimatum have been outright ignored, or even better, made fun of.

Also, Warner Brothers should do what it really wants to do. Scale down DC to just a few Earth One style graphic novels a year, and make tons of profit from that sweet, sweet merchandising.
 
The Ultimate comic line is still around. Still my favorite batch of books too. Other then most of the X-men being dead (who cares), a lot of the terrible changes from Ultimatum have been outright ignored, or even better, made fun of.

Also, Warner Brothers should do what it really wants to do. Scale down DC to just a few Earth One style graphic novels a year, and make tons of profit from that sweet, sweet merchandising.
Why would they want to do that? You realize it would cost them money right?
 

figmentPez

Staff member
Why would they want to do that? You realize it would cost them money right?
Not if it increased overall sales. If fewer, better, titles come out that are easier to follow then you stand a better chance at broadening your audience beyond the hardcore comic fans.

That's part of the reason I don't read comics regularly. I don't want to find a title I like only to have to work trying to figure out when the next issue comes out, what tie-in books I need to read as well to follow the story and figure out if I can afford to keep reading. Is it even possible to get a subscription to a comic book? If not, "why so stupid comic industry?"

I want to be a fan, I really do, I love the medium, I love the characters... I just hate the bullshit. I'd buy trades, but I never know when even those are going to be an incomplete story. Plus, it's damn hard to search for some trades on Amazon and elsewhere. For some reason it can be hard to find the right search terms. (No, I can't make it out to a local comic shop very easily.)

Also, digital does not thrill me. Maybe the paid content is better, but the free previews I've seen have left me feeling like they're offering a crappy DRM-laden version for the same price. Some of the issues I couldn't even read because the resolution was too low to read anything but black & white text; all the colored text boxes were illegible. If that's how they're trying to entice customers, they're too stupid to deserve my business.
 
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