Official : Bendis gets both books

[Sacred Knight]

I just read this, had a feeling it would be posted already. Why do I smell yet another brand new relaunch initiative. Though even if possible, I would be highly surprised either way if Superman was affected much by such, considering Bendis is running that show and its really hard to see even a restructure not keeping his ideas in place.

[Miles To Go]

I just read this, had a feeling it would be posted already. Interesting.

I'm not going to jump at the idea Didio is gone because he's had more lives than a cat whenever this kind of news breaks

[Vordan]

Major restructuring apparently going on at DC

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/01...restructuring/

I’m betting we’ll get a new line wide relaunch after Snyder’s summer event.

[Sacred Knight]

Agreed. I'm just hoping this is not so mundane as just Johns taking a creative role back. Blech. Hoping for something a little different than just the usual Didio/Johns revolving door.

[Yoda]

I would not be surprised if Didio and Lee survive but are basically put on a much tighter leash. Though why they continually keep Didio around is confusing. Yes he has brought success with New 52 and Rebirth initiatives. But he's also responsible for driving them into both ditches they needed those to get out of. The diminishing returns they seem to be getting may not be what WB's is looking for. And Pam Lifford doesn't appear to have the tolerance for conflict and controversy as advertising and driving sales. Her background is building and sustaining branding.

Should be interesting to see how this shakes out.

[Superlad93]

And Pam Lifford doesn't appear to have the tolerance for conflict and controversy as advertising and driving sales. Her background is building and sustaining branding.

What's her background?

[Yoda]

What's her background?

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/...-restructuring

Lifford spent the longest stretch of her career, 2000-2012, at Disney Consumer Products, then spent a couple of years as EVP Global Licensing at Quiksilver before Nelson hired her in early 2016 to run Consumer Products (after Consumer Products was added to Nelson’s portfolio in August of 2015, see "Diane Nelson’s Hat Trick").

Bleeding Cool (so big grain of salt) had previously reported that the whole Black Label Batman Damned kerfuffle had pissed her off and led to the slow down and reigning in of that line a bit.

[DragonPiece]

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/...-restructuring



Bleeding Cool (so big grain of salt) had previously reported that the whole Black Label Batman Damned kerfuffle had pissed her off and led to the slow down and reigning in of that line a bit.

Then I doubt the recent lois lane death in walmart comics controversy helped matters..

[Miles To Go]

Then I doubt the recent lois lane death in walmart comics controversy helped matters..

Straw, meet Camel's back?

[Yoda]

I could see that being a bigger internal issue, even though it didn't really blow up outside of comic fandom the way it the Black Label thing did. It has the potential to mess with the Walmart line so the tolerance for editorial f'ups may be significantly less.

Though I'd be surprised if that played a role given the timing. These things usually are in motion behind the scenes for quite a while.

[Superlad93]

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/...-restructuring

Bleeding Cool (so big grain of salt) had previously reported that the whole Black Label Batman Damned kerfuffle had pissed her off and led to the slow down and reigning in of that line a bit.

Interesting. I read up more on her past work, and also what the general mission statement seems to be. And given where the current new era is I can see her influences. She doesn't seem to be creatively forcing anything more than cohesiveness and brand recognition all around. That's likely what we're seeing from the last summit we heard about where basically everyone was there.

[Yoda]

Interesting. I read up more on her past work, and also what the general mission statement seems to be. And given where the current new era is I can see her influences. She doesn't seem to be creatively forcing anything more than cohesiveness and brand recognition all around. That's likely what we're seeing from the last summit we heard about where basically everyone was there.

Part of that cohesiveness and recognition would more likely lean on not having the two most recognizable brands be known for Batman's penis or Lois Lane dying 20 times in a Superman anxiety attack they are selling at Walmart. That could impact how the brand is perceived outside comics. I doubt she had much concern with continuity issues within the comics themselves beyond what seeps out into the general knowledge of the IP.

[Sacred Knight]

I woule hope those two instances are not the major focal points that would result in this. Two examples part of a laundry list of issues okay, but I'd be highly concerned if they were the foundation of what "major restructure" implies. That would be drastically overselling their negative impact. There's gotta be way more going on than just a shadowed penis and one issue of overused gore.

[Yoda]

I woule hope those two instances are not the major focal points that would result in this. Two examples of a list of issues okay, but I'd be highly concerned if they were the foundation of what "major restructure" implies. That would be drastically overselling their negative impact. There's gotta be way more going on than just a shadowed penis and overused gore.

Oh yeah, not doubt. But I just see those as possible symptoms of the bigger problems that they have had relying on controversy as a selling point for the comics. Rather than building sustained growth or strong brands they rely more and more on drastic changes or controversial actions.

Supposedly, and I'm not how true this is, one of the bigger issues with the New 52 line wasn't the comics themselves, but the fact that merchandising took a hit at the same time but didn't recover like the comics did. When the comic changes are or have the potential to hurt the brand's value, that becomes a lot bigger issue that the comics themselves.

But I'm just spitballing here. So who knows.

[Superlad93]

Part of that cohesiveness and recognition would more likely lean on not having the two most recognizable brands be known for Batman's penis or Lois Lane dying 20 times in a Superman anxiety attack they are selling at Walmart. That could impact how the brand is perceived outside comics. I doubt she had much concern with continuity issues within the comics themselves beyond what seeps out into the general knowledge of the IP.

I think the restructuring is likely how and when they roll out old or new IPs, and relaunches/renumbering. I think we're seeing it with stuff like the Manhunter mini, Electric Warriors, Wonder Comics, Naomi, and so on. They may be looking at the success of things like specialty projects and minis. Stuff like Mister Miracle, the Batman That Laughs, Dial H, Wonder Twins, Martian Manhunter, The Green Lantern, and Adventures of the Super Sons seasonal mini/maxi may become more common place than the easily forgotten Damage or Sideways long form books.

It's something that I've been noticing more and more. DC seems to now create a base platform of their heaviest hitters (basically Batman, Superman, Titans, and Justice League as the main examples), some satellite titles next to the big ones, staples (Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman) and then the rest are kind of allowed to be whatever. Maybe instead of banking it all on characters coming out of events (like Metal), it's gonna be more about doing more open and closed minis and maxis that run on seasons or just end? Brand recognition while cultivating new brands.

I'm also thinking one or two more pop up imprints are likely.