Comics are Awesome III

[JediTricks]

Blaming others for one's mistakes, always a sure sign of success on the horizon for comics, right? ... right?

Nothing in that read suggests to me that they were truly wielding editorial vision when driving New 52, and that ultimately isn't the fault of the writers or the readers, it's the fault of the editors at the top. But this is DC, and that's not possible, so I guess it's fans' faults for caring about minutiae, who would have ever guessed fans would do that? Oh right, anybody but those too disconnected from the fans on the street.

[andersonh1]

Blaming others for one's mistakes, always a sure sign of success on the horizon for comics, right? ... right?

Nothing in that read suggests to me that they were truly wielding editorial vision when driving New 52, and that ultimately isn't the fault of the writers or the readers, it's the fault of the editors at the top. But this is DC, and that's not possible, so I guess it's fans' faults for caring about minutiae, who would have ever guessed fans would do that? Oh right, anybody but those too disconnected from the fans on the street.

Yeah, that was my main takeaway from the whole interview. Didio and Lee are busy blaming the writers and the fans and the marketplace in general and everyone in the world for the failure of the New 52 except the guys with whom the buck stops. That's very revealing. They genuinely either misunderstand the audience, or think they can direct and change the way the audience thinks.

I laughed at the comment from Lee about telling new and exciting stories, when so much of the New 52 was standard superhero boilerplate storytelling, only with a universe and characters that were more crass and cynical than they had been in times past. Not that all that started with the New 52. The ending of Infinite Crisis, in which the founding character of DC comics, Earth 2 Superman, was beaten to death and lying in a pool of his own blood should have been a big clue about the direction and tone that DC's fiction was taking.

Until the management changes, we can't expect DC to improve.

[BWprowl]

The funny part to me is that they really seem to be overstating the definition of 'minutiae' they're accusing fans of focusing on. Something like...like how Superman shaves or the name of every single planet in Green Lantern's space sector, that's minutiae. Questioning how the hell you fit the careers of four Robins into a five-year timeline? That's something a bit more important that you might actually want to expand on and properly explain, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Also love their excuse about comics having a smaller audience than the movies and shows and whatnot. "Well the comics aren't even doing that well anyway, so why should we even try?"

Especially when both their movies AND comics are currently getting their asses handily kicked by Marvel.

[Dominic]

It was really weird when we launched the New 52 -- there were so many fans focused on, "What happened between the five years, when this character showed up, and this character" -- it almost overshadowed what the original intent of it was, which was basically to put a fresh face on the universe, boldly go forward, tell new stories.

I can see why this annoyed them. But, they had no right to be surprised by that reaction from.....comic fans (who are known to hold tenaciously to old content).

Now I can tell you that we've changed it. We're actually looking to the future for where our ideas are. It's not about re-telling an old story with an old version of a character, or picking my favorite Superboy from 1965, and giving it a new light. It's more about figuring out who we are today, and using these characters to tell the story of today's society.

I fully support the concept. I just hope DC does a better job in the future than they have been of late.


"Convergence" looks to be a huge waste of time.

[andersonh1]

"Convergence" looks to be a huge waste of time.

Barring some bad writing or art, I'll be buying more books per month from DC while Convergence is going on that I've bought for many a year. It won't be a waste of time for me.

As for DC, it's clearly them groveling to the old fans, begging them to come back. "We still love you, please stay when this is over!!" So it's not a waste of time for them, it's a marketing push.

[Sparky Prime]

Looks like Superman (spoiler warning, solicits) and Wonder Woman are getting new costumes after Convergence. I really like the new Wonder Woman costume. Looks more like something an Amazonian warrior might wear. Superman though... I don't know why they seem to keep going back to this jeans and a t-shirt look for him. With the new hair cut, he looks a lot like Superboy did pre-Flashpoint.

Oh and apparently there will be a new Batman who wears a mech-suit.

[Dominic]

I definitely agree about Wonder Woman. New costume looks great. (Probably my favourite look for the character.) Superman looks terrible though. (They took a deliberately rough "first time out" look from Morrison's run and made it the "standard".)

[andersonh1]

Anyone else get the impression that DC just doesn't know what to do with these characters? That they're just flailing around, trying anything in the hope that it will stick?

[BWprowl]

Maybe I'm looking at the wrong picture, but that...doesn't actually look like a 'new costume' for Superman, just like a picture of him having gotten part of his Clark Kent clothes shredded off to reveal parts of his regular costume underneath. You can see the regular costume's legs underneath the ripped-up jeans.

[andersonh1]

Maybe I'm looking at the wrong picture, but that...doesn't actually look like a 'new costume' for Superman, just like a picture of him having gotten part of his Clark Kent clothes shredded off to reveal parts of his regular costume underneath. You can see the regular costume's legs underneath the ripped-up jeans.

Check out this link: http://www.comicbookresources.com/prev_ ... oll.jpg%27