What has Dan Didio done RIGHT as DC's Head Honcho?

[Trey Strain]

One thing I do know about DiDio is that he has tried to expand comics sales beyond the small, aging, cranky club that worships at the altar of continuity. He's absolutely right to do this.

[SecretWarrior]

If he got rid of Superman's trunks, that was a good idea.

If he brought them back, that was a bad idea.

[SecretWarrior]

If he got rid of Superman's trunks, that was a good idea.

If he brought them back, that was a bad idea.

[Ropeburn]

One thing I do know about DiDio is that he has tried to expand comics sales beyond the small, aging, cranky club that worships at the altar of continuity. He's absolutely right to do this.

Yep, who wants to own the actual issue where Batman first met Catwoman when you can rewrite that story over and over again.

[Robotman]

All Star Superman and giving Morrison the freedom to do whatever the hell he wants.

I think a lot of the dumb things that DC does aren’t necessarily Didio’s fault but he’s willing to take he brunt of the hate. I think he realizes that it’s just part of the job description. Someone’s got to be the bad guy.

[Frontier]

If Didio was the guy who let Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray do their Jonah Hex + All-Star Western run and kept it from premature cancellation than I say that counts as a good thing.

I also recall reading that he helped keep the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle book afloat when it wasn't selling very well.

[SixSpeedSamurai]

He's brought in a lot of good talent that's for sure.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

One thing I do know about DiDio is that he has tried to expand comics sales beyond the small, aging, cranky club that worships at the altar of continuity. He's absolutely right to do this.

Except...there's no indication whatsoever that he did do that. Nielson even conducted surveys on the subject, and the data showed that at least 70% of the people reading the New 52 were already avid or lapsed readers and ONLY 5% were identified as new readers to DC. And then, when people actually got a taste of the New 52, even those people it did bring back into the fold started to fall off again because the state of things was just so awful.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

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[Trey Strain]

Except...there's no indication whatsoever that he did do that. Nielson even conducted surveys on the subject, and the data showed that at least 70% of the people reading the New 52 were already avid or lapsed readers and ONLY 5% were identified as new readers to DC. And then, when people actually got a taste of the New 52, even those people it did bring back into the fold started to fall off again because the state of things was just so awful.

Are you again going to argue that the New 52 was a "debacle?" Well, for starters, the fact that more than 25 percent of the buyers were lapsed readers was not a bad thing. What was bad about it? It was a good thing.

https://www.themarysue.com/dc-nielsen-survey-results/

And no, the sales didn't collapse. They never collapsed. Here are the facts. I've posed this before, and I apologize to those who have seen it, but it's clear some people have not.

http://comicandscreen.blogspot.com/2...e-rebirth.html

It's fine if you didn't like the New 52. But it sold comics. And the expansion into Walmart is another attempt to move comics sales beyond the existing market.

[RepHope]

I also recall reading that he helped keep the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle book afloat when it wasn't selling very well.

He seems to do that a lot, although I'm certain Lee was the reason NSM went on for as long as it did.

[SiegePerilous02]

Some of my favorite runs came about during his "reign," so I'm ok with him despite his/the company's flubs. Nobody is perfect, no fan here would be able to run things perfectly either if put in charge.

As for the New 52 stuff...appealing to a wider audience than just the continuity obsessed comic fans is always a good thing. That group can't sustain the industry forever. Tearing apart their fictional universe yet again (because it didn't exactly work out the last time) was probably not the best idea overall. But the New 52 era still had some great comics in it. The WalMart and Black Label stuff are also steps in the right direction.

[Trey Strain]

The comics market hasn't grown in a long time, and DiDio tries out ideas to turn that around. Sometimes they don't work, but he deserves credit for trying them. Maybe the Walmart effort won't work, but it's worth a try.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Are you again going to argue that the New 52 was a "debacle?" Well, for starters, the fact that more than 25 percent of the buyers were lapsed readers was not a bad thing. What was bad about it? It was a good thing.

https://www.themarysue.com/dc-nielsen-survey-results/

Firstly, I don't need to argue that the New 52 was a debacle because DC themselves came to that conclusion. After all, we're here in Rebirth continuity where they've undone a good amount of the retcons wrought by the New 52 and an entire event dedicated to explaining how the timeline got messed up in the first place in Doomsday Clock.

If DC was so confident in sales generated by the New 52 universe, then why have they abandoned it?? Almost all of the defining traits of the New 52 have been done away with.

Secondly, the sales bump generated by the New 52 was not a lasting one and it began to diminish rapidly. In fact, even at the beginning, DC sales already began to show weakness. The very month after it debuted, DC's sales dropped 18% in unit share and 22% in marketshare.

And no, the sales didn't collapse. They never collapsed. Here are the facts. I've posed this before, and I apologize to those who have seen it, but it's clear some people have not.

http://comicandscreen.blogspot.com/2...e-rebirth.html

It's fine if you didn't like the New 52. But it sold comics. And the expansion into Walmart is another attempt to move comics sales beyond the existing market.

Yes, sales did collapse. As previously stated, sales started to fall off from the very beginning. But, again, you've posted those figures before and I've disproven them before. We've had this conversation many times. Once someone actually takes a look at DC's sales with a microscope during that era, the problems become apparent. See, during the New 52, interest in DC's regular titles took a severe downturn and the company relied more and more on titles outside of their regular lineup to generate sales. So, how is it good that a company known for their superhero books has to rely on titles outside of their regular superhero lineup? The short answer: its not good. The long answer: its indicative that interest in DC's main universe was severely flagging because of many factors, but chiefly the fact that the New 52 universe just seemed to rub people the wrong way.



This article also points out a lot of the issues DC was having before they pulled the plug on New 52: http://sktchd.com/longform/dc-troubles-longform/

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

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