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Wednesday, April 20, 2016

DC Comics Rebirth is Gonna Be A Two Year Story- WTF?

  

DC Comics Rebirth is supposed to be a two-year storyline that goes across the entire line of publications.


Wrap that around your head. A two-year storyline. Going across the entire catalog of publications.


Seriously, a two-year storyline? During a period when comic fans have said they’ve had enough of mega crossovers?


WTF?


Again, Why hasn’t Dan Didio and his editorial gang of four been fired already?


Rob Liefeld asked on Twitter what Dan Dido’s marker is in comics. The answer to that question is simple: Destroying the DC Comics brand. That’s going to be his legacy. Being the man who drove the number two comic book company into the ground with his top down micromanagement and inept leadership.  


Sorry, but customers and comic shop owners today are NOT going to sit through a two-year storyline. Especially after all they’ve been through with DC. After five years of promises, promises and more promises that the New 52, Convergence and DC You would pay off, they’ve had enough.


In the publishing business you have ONE chance to make a first impression on readers. If you can’t grab the customer with ONE story, you have FAILED. If that ONE story does not excite the reader, they don’t buy any more books. Simple as that.


And DC Comics hasn’t been able to produce that ONE book to grab the reader and draw them into the DC Universe for close to fifteen ears. Five years since the launch of Dan Dido’s New 52 Universe and quality of DC’s products have gotten WORSE instead of better.


But Dan Didio’s solution to fixing the DC Universe is doing more of the same and expecting a different result. The rest of the world calls this insanity, but it’s business as usual at Warner Brothers.


Here’s a solution for Warner Brothers Executives haven’t thought of: Fire Dan Didio, Diane Nelson, Jim Lee and Bob Harras and Goeff Johns and see if things will get better.


If all the all the failures keep coming from the same people, then maybe those people are the problem.  


What makes this Rebirth storyline ridiculous from a business perspective is the fact that they’ve just given comic fans the incentive NOT to buy it from day one. A two year-storyline is just not competitive in an age where comics compete with TV shows, movies, and the internet programs based on comics for entertainment dollars. By the time Rebirth is over Supergirl will be finished with Season 3, The Flash will be finished with Season 5, and with the way things are going, Arrow will just be finished.


And that’s just DC’s own TV shows. Factor in Marvel Studios Netflix shows like Daredevil, Cage, Jessica Jones where people can binge watch and it you start to see what a disaster this plan is. And when you factor in and Marvel Studios Phase 3 Movies like Avengers 2-part Infinity War movies over the next two years and you really start seeing other options for their entertainment dollars over DC Comics.


In this information age time is a precious commodity. And no one is going to waste time waiting for Geoff Johns magnum opus to finish at DC Comics when they have a whole host of other options that finish up before it. The way I see it, Dan Didio is setting up Goeff Johns to take the fall for a disaster so epic he’ll wish his name was Chris Claremont. Then point the finger at him when everything fails. A classic Mangina trap, but Johns isn’t smart enough to see it. He’s too busy trying to play head writer of a TV show at comic books publisher.


There’s no payoff coming in the aftermath of Rebirth, just another Didio screwjob.  


 The way I see it, telling frustrated readers that the storyline is going to be two years long on day one gives them more incentive to move on from the DC Comics brand. Now that they see DC Comics is just not going to change, they can go out and start reading many of the great indie comics out there or indie fantasy like my Isis series. By the time DC’s Rebirth is over, a reader could have finished every Isis series book, and be up to date on the current storylines. Every Isis series story wraps up in one volume, and every story is an entry point like oldschool comics used to be.   


DC Comics Rebirth was DC’s last chance with comic fans to get their shit together. And instead of making things right, Dan Didio screws over comic fans yet again. Now I can honestly say that these are the last days for DC Comics. You can call in the undertaker in now, DC Comics is now ready to reserve its plot right next to Charlton’s in the comic publisher graveyard.


7 comments:

  1. Great post Shawn, and so true. From my own experience, I can say a big reason why I walked away from modern comics and the big two were the endless crossovers. I have never liked company wide crossover events, even going back to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Nothing DC has done is going to woo me back, and I can't see the 18 to 24 crowd that they are so desperate to attract being impressed either. What will save them is to tell good stories, that are done in one issue, for an all ages market. If they don't, the next crisis DC is going to have is a financial one.

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    1. The 18 to 24 crowd has moved past comics. But DC doesn't understand this. The only thing that'll woo comic readers back are good stories. Unfortunately, DIdio doesn't understand this. He keeps thinking that crossovers are going to sell readers, but it's not gonna happen.

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    2. Standalone stories have a tendency to do this. But DC seems to have less of this.

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  2. And I'm still working with the theory that these reboots, and relaunches are just a way for Dan Didio and Co to snowball the Warner Brothers exec into believing that there is nothing wrong at DC comics. Look at the numbers that the Rebirth relaunch has gotten, I'm sure Didio will say. To borrow a movie analogy, I'm have no doubt that Rebirth will have a great opening weekend, and then bomb, as there is no return audience. I wonder if they are still trying to push that whole 52 titles thing, too (me shaking my head in disbelief).

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    1. There's a lot wrong with DC and after the first month of strong sales the same sales decline will happen. But no one looks at the big picture.

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  3. Well, coming from John here, so far Action Comics and Superman are already selling less in their first issues then the first Action Comics and Superman sold for New 52. The other titles' first Rebirth issues are selling more than their New 52 counterparts. Something is already showing a hiccup in Rebirth.

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  4. Well, so far DC maintains that they are good, because they release #1s in phases. Comics aren't going anywhere until the generations that buy most of themy die off. Even then, the toys and movies are a business of their own, AFAIK

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