DC is lacking...

[skyvolt2000]

Uh...it's not like i said they were bad? I enjoyed quite a few of them myself. But whatever. DC should be actively trying to reach ALL demographics, not just with superheroes either. Scifi and Fantasy are huge, especially with the YA crowd. I have a friend who is a huge fan of erotic fiction but wouldn't dare touch a comic book.

The issue is when they try those books-the line starts to the left from comics book stores, to a certain group and even those asking for them-will find any and all excuse to not support them.
Because they feel those books have no business in stores or being made.

DC SHOULD be going after all Demographics. They (along with FANS or those who claim to be FANS) have to ACCEPT not everyone wants Batman, Superman or their gang. Trying to force that on them will get you rejected.

Publishers (specifically dc) should look into things like this.

Many of them are and I would say look out for Lion Forge. Those guys are NOT playing around.

[jetengine]

I'm surprised DC just haven't made an imprint for them.

[skyvolt2000]

I wouldn’t mind a Fafnr and Gray Mouser led Sword of Sorcery series either!

Like Lee Stone said-you want that book-you need to look beyond DC & Marvel.

Dynamite would have a field day with that.

[Lee Stone]

The issue is when they try those books-the line starts to the left from comics book stores, to a certain group and even those asking for them-will find any and all excuse to not support them.
Because they feel those books have no business in stores or being made.

DC SHOULD be going after all Demographics. They (along with FANS or those who claim to be FANS) have to ACCEPT not everyone wants Batman, Superman or their gang. Trying to force that on them will get you rejected.



Many of them are and I would say look out for Lion Forge. Those guys are NOT playing around.

But remember... 'the kids of today are the leaders of tomorrow...'

Which in comic book sense means that the future regime of DC Comics will be one that grew up with a certain DC Comics experience.
And they will generally push for more of what they liked and more of what they think is lacking.

So, the next regime may push for more House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Warlord, Jonah Hex, Sgt. Rock, Omega Men, etc.

We just have to wait and see.

[Colt Cape]

But remember... 'the kids of today are the leaders of tomorrow...'

Which in comic book sense means that the future regime of DC Comics will be one that grew up with a certain DC Comics experience.
And they will generally push for more of what they liked and more of what they think is lacking.

So, the next regime may push for more House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Warlord, Jonah Hex, Sgt. Rock, Omega Men, etc.

We just have to wait and see.

It seems that older fans tend to downplay the power of back issues.
I mean I know plenty people around my age (16-17) who love characters like Jonah Hex or Sgt. Rock. But yeah, hopefully DC will start pushing more diverse books soon.

[Carabas]

I wouldn’t mind a Fafhrd and Gray Mouser led Sword of Sorcery series either!

Chaykin and Mignola did one for Marvel's Epic line back in the 90's.

[Lee Stone]

It seems that older fans tend to downplay the power of back issues.
I mean I know plenty people around my age (16-17) who love characters like Jonah Hex or Sgt. Rock. But yeah, hopefully DC will start pushing more diverse books soon.

True. Back issues are nice.
And in digital, especially, because they can be a much more affordable alternative.

But the problems with leaving those genres just to being accessible through back issues-

They don't get promoted except by word-of-mouth. Be it an article that 'revisits' a classic book or a friend suggesting to another.
Meanwhile, shop owners won't suggest them if they have gaps in the runs and will instead try to push the reader to a current title that's similar to encourage them to come back each month.
And many shops don't even stock back issues, sticking only with new releases and trades.

In digital, they often go ignored by DC. Last I looked, there was only Omega Men, Night Force, Arion (minus the Special), two issues of Warlord and a single Jonah Hex trade available.
No Amethyst, no Arak, no Sgt. Rock, no Blackhawk, and very few issues of House of Mystery and House of Secrets.

And many other genre titles were licensed, like Atari Force, Star Trek and the D&D line, and will never get digitized or reprinted by DC because they no longer hold the license to them.
(Side note: Dynamite teased that they were going to reprint Atari Force, but it seems that it hinged on the success of their Atari line, which apparently didn't do so well. So that's probably scrapped.)

[DrNewGod]

Mass interest in some of those genres among youth has greatly diminished in the 21st Century. Old West and World War II adventures that do not feature superheroes are a hard sell today.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

BA, in spite of my 22 year respect for you, we must disagree. If Downton Abbey could captivate America with well-written stories, so could any other period-piece. If done well.

IMO, it's not genre, it's story.

[Lee Stone]

BA, in spite of my 22 year respect for you, we must disagree. If Downton Abbey could captivate America with well-written stories, so could any other period-piece. If done well.

IMO, it's not genre, it's story.

True.
The Western was all-but written off as a genre that could never be accepted by modern audiences.
Until Tombstone.

And musicals?
Another genre that was written off...
Until Glee and Chicago.

And who would've thought that we'd see a resurgence of talent competition shows, not seen since The Gong Show and Star Search..?
But we now have The Voice, American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, America's Got Talent, The X-Factor, So You Think You Can Dance...

[MajorHoy]

True.
The Western was all-but written off as a genre that could never be accepted by modern audiences.
Until Tombstone.

And musicals?
Another genre that was written off...
Until Glee and Chicago.

And who would've thought that we'd see a resurgence of talent competition shows, not seen since The Gong Show and Star Search..?
But we now have The Voice, American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, America's Got Talent, The X-Factor, So You Think You Can Dance...

So, who publishes those comic books?

[Jim Kelly]

In the old days Dell and National (DC) were the two publishers that tended to do the most tie-ins with TV, movies and celebrities. Later Gold Key. Then in the 1970s, as Marvel gained in sales, they diversified by going after licensed properties like Conan, Tarzan, Planet of the Apes, Logan's Run, Barbie, Kiss and Star Wars. And it was really having those Star Wars comics that kept Marvel going so strong.

I think the publishers could probably get some celebrities to do comic book tie-ins now. It would give their image a certain nerd chic quality.

DC should try to do more tie-ins with TV shows. I'd love to read a comic book based on THE ORVILLE.

One area that hasn't been explored enough is the documentary comic book. Things like FROM HELL, THE 9/11 REPORT and ANNE FRANK. I enjoy those kind of comics, because they can do a lot with factual history. Such as using diagrams, charts, maps to tell the story, withoug being dry and boring. People like stuff that is based in real life and that can help them understand many sides of an event or an issue. And you don't have to read them in a linear fashion--you can flip between pages in different parts of the book, in order to compare facts and developments.

Also, in addition to Vertigo, DC used to have other reprints like Piranha Press and Paradox Press. Where did they go?

[Lee Stone]

So, who publishes those comic books?

I was just using them as an example of genres in a medium making a comeback after everyone wrote them off as never being marketable ever again.

[Jim Kelly]

The thing is, in comics history, there's almost nothing that wasn't tried. There were games comics, there were record comics, there were celebrity comics.

"Ev'ry Little Bug" was a running joke in the Spirit Section and was eventually set to music. Robbins Music Corporation published the sheet music--with an Eisner cover--and it's a highly sought after collectible. In 1987, Kitchen Sink released a picture disk of this song.





When you say "I know something you haven't done" to the comics industry, that's like saying "I know some place you haven't been" to Hank Snow. He's been everywhere, man. The comics have done everything, man.

[docmidnite]

Looking back to the '80s...
Let's take January 1984...

DC had 36 comics released that month.
Roughly, about 21 were traditional superhero titles.

The other 15 were:
Fantasy - Amethyst, Arion, Warlord
Western - Arak, Jonah Hex
War - Blackhawk, G.I. Combat, Sgt. Rock
Horror - Swamp Thing
Sci-Fi - Atari Force, Omega Men, Star Trek
Crime - Nathaniel Dusk
Anthologies - Best of DC, New Talent Showcase

I think that the main reason DC doesn't still have the same ratio of superhero:non-superhero today is because with the rise of comic shops as the main (read: sole) distribution of comics in the '90s, indies became more prominent and they mostly focused on non-superhero stuff. And they arguably tend to do genre fiction comics better than DC or Marvel. If only because they're not tied to having to maintain a continuity outside of the comic, itself.

Then combine that with how DC (and Marvel) learned they can make a lot of money with superhero events (especially crossovers) and variant covers. So superheroes got DC's attention. This began roughly with Death of Superman, but the seeds of it really started with Crisis on Infinite Earths and Dark Knight Returns. With a lot of help from Marvel's X-Men showing that an expansive franchise could test the limits of how many comics a reader would follow for one team or group of characters, leading to more and more multi-title franchises.
Before New Mutants, Alpha Flight, X-Factor and Excalibur came along, there were only a few multi-title franchises: Batman (Batman, Detective, Brave and the Bold, World's Finest, Batman Family), Superman (Action Comics, Superman, DC Comics Presents, World's Finest, Superman Family), and Spider-Man (Amazing Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Tales).

So, while DC and Marvel are producing almost three times more comics than they were in the '80s, there's less variety because a lot of franchises have expanded into multiple titles and, aside from Vertigo and the occasional tester, they both leave non-superhero titles to Image, Dark Horse and Dynamite.

I think with the boom that superhero fiction has been enjoying since the MCU and the CW shows began, it's not going to change anytime soon.
If we do get any genre fiction from DC, it'll be like Justice League Dark: a superhero comic with undertones of another genre. Because they have accepted that their current audience is superhero-specific.
Otherwise, they'll let Vertigo limp along as a tester or just leave the non-superhero fiction to Image, Dark Horse and Dynamite.
At least until the current boom runs its course. Which, it eventually will, just like the Reality Show and the Procedural Law/Forensics Drama booms.

Another way to look at it is that during those times when DC did put out strong non-superhero comics alongside their superhero offerings, those other genres were just hotter than superheroes outside of comics.
Currently, the superhero genre is hot outside of comics, so DC is simply doubling down on the genre since it's the one that they do best with.

by the way. How was the rest of Dynamite’s Pulp revival? I only read the first Masks mini series and didn’t read the rest.

[Lee Stone]

by the way. How was the rest of Dynamite’s Pulp revival? I only read the first Masks mini series and didn’t read the rest.

The ones set in Golden Age (or at least pre-Digital Age) were good.

I kinda found it frustrating because several titles were being set in the modern day, and it wasn't completely obvious without taking a look inside. Or at least reading a review before purchasing.
So I ended up only checking out books by Wagner or Francavilla, as both are very passionate about the Golden Age setting.

I haven't been able to get as much recently, because I only allot myself about $16 a month for comics.
Which, accounting for inflation, is equal to about $6 in 1982, or about 10 monthly comics back then.
And sticking with back issues, it does get me about 7 per month. Unless there's a sale.

There hasn't been a lot of modern comics that make me willing to spend double just to get them as they're released.
If I'm interested enough, they go into the wishlist until a sale or price drop.

I do make exceptions, however, as I did recently get Sandman Universe #1. I felt it was worth the price of two-and-a-half comics.

MajorHoy may have more info on the Dynamite Pulps.