Video: https://youtu.be/sjDpYoZTGbE
DC Comics in 2015 is a lot like
Disney from 1970s-1985. A brand in decline. When one looks at the state of DC
Comics and compares it to Disney during this troubled period they can clearly
see the parallels between both brands.
Disney in the 1970s and early 1980s
was a brand in trouble. The house of Mickey mouse and family films like
Sleeping Beauty began going in a different direction for its animated films featuring
stories with dark tones and gritty themes. Films like Robin Hood, The Rescuers,
The Fox and The Hound and the all featured grittier subject matter and dark
tones and themes.
And the public’s response to those
films was not positive. Sure some Disney films like Robin Hood, The Rescuers,
and The Fox and the Hound were box-office hits. But many of these darker films
left sour tastes in viewer’s mouths that alienated them from the Disney brand
long-term. Most parents didn’t want to take their kids to films with content
that was becoming darker and more violent with each film. By the time The Black
Cauldron was released with its extremely dark and violent themes for that time,
the Disney brand was in trouble.
Like Disney, DC was once a brand that
featured a catalog of family friendly characters like Superman, Batman, and
Wonder Woman. But since 2002 when Dan Didio took over as publisher the brand
has followed a similar dark path that Disney did in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Producing comics with dark themes, grittier subject matter and extremely
graphic violence that gets gorier with each new publication.
And just like Disney, the fans and
customers’ response has not been positive. Again, most people didn’t want to
share DC comics with their children due to the content that gets darker and
more violent with each new comic or each new comic storyline. In the aftermath
of DC’s most recent event Convergnce the number two comic book publisher in the
world actually saw sales decline for the first time in 15 years. Worse DC
actually lost market share to independent publishers like Image, Boom!
Dynamite.
Clearly, the DC Brand is in Crisis.
Unfortunately, no one at Warner Brothers seems to understand how damaged the DC
Comics brand truly is. Sure shows like Arrow and The Flash are hits. But so
were Robin Hood and The Rescuers. And while some DC fans and employees focus on
those bright spots like Disney fans did in the 70’s and early 80s, they don’t
see how the bigger picture of the DC Comics brand is impacted by over a decade
and a half of mismanagement across the board.
Movies featuring DC Characters like
Man of Steel have split their audience. Trailers like Batman V. Superman: Dawn
of Justice split their audience. And in business a Split audience is never a
good thing. When the audience is split, that means half of the people are
staying home and a project will only make half its money back at the box office.
And thanks to this split audience, DC merchandise clogs comic
shop and toy store shelves these days. Because fans are so turned off by the New
52, DC’s new universe that started in 2011 most DC merchandise winds up
remaining on store shelves even at clearance prices. Again, because the
audience is split due to all the changes, gimmicks, and events like
Convergence, a majority of DC Comics fans are not buying DC merchandise like
T-shirts and action figures.
These days most people spend their
time arguing about DC than anything else. The fans of DC Comics are fragmented
and frustrated and that’s not good for the brand long term. When a brand makes
people angry they don’t buy the products from it.
And when the most senior executive in
charge has to explain how their Comic book universe works dozens of times to
people it proves to the world that there’s something wrong with how that
product is managed. The reason why the products at DC are broken is because
broken people are producing them.
Clearly the DC brand is in decline.
It’s suffered severe damage due to that decade and a half of Dan Didio’s
mismanagement. It’s a brand in desperate need of new management with new
leadership and a new vision. Someone with a plan to rebuild the brand and bring
back the fun and adventure to its iconic superheroes. Someone with the same
kind of vision and leadership Michael Eisner had when he led the Disney brand
back to a second golden age in 1989.
The current editorial team just can’t
lead DC back to greatness. Dan Didio and his editorial team are reviled by
comic fans. Just the mention of his name alienates fans and starts arguments.
Even the name of people who work for him like Goeff Johns and producers like
Chris Nolan makes people angry. There’s just too much bad blood in all of DC’s
divisions and its sucking the life out of the products before they even get
released. The only way to get all
that negative energy out of the product is to purge DC of all its editorial
staff and its dysfunctional corporate culture.
The next editor in chief, publisher
and editorial team at DC Comics has to do everything in their power to all
purge all of the negative energy of the last fifteen years from the DC Comics
brand. All that doom and gloom, hopelessness and misery has to be exorcised
from the offices of DC Comics its products, and its people and replaced with
positive energy. And with positive energy from a new leadership new employees
will feel motivated towards doing the long, slow painful work of rebuilding the
DC Universe and the DC Comics brand.
It took Michael Eisner close to five years to rebuild Disney
and get it back to its golden age in the 1990’s. And it’ll probably take that
much time to rebuild the DC Comics brand and get it back to that level of
functionality. If a new editorial team works together with passion and heart then
maybe it’s possible to re-establish the DC Comics brand back to its prominence
and get a new generation of readers to rediscover what’s great about DC Comics
superheroes.
I do have a weird feeling that due to oversaturation, superheroes might suffer from backlash anytime sue though corporate mismanagement like with what's happening to DC could help accelerate things.
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