Dick Grayson: Robin, Nightwing, Batman, Agent of Spyral Appreciation 2019

[Pohzee]

If they were given a book I bet they would make money.

What would we call it? Titans Rebirth?

[Ascended]

I'm not really sure I see how a good Nightwing book or even an editorial push for Dick Grayson could hurt Batman. In the current market, I don't see people dropping Batman from their pull list to add Nightwing. I could see them dropping something else maybe, but not Bats.

I'm not sure either, honestly. If they're concerned about competition it might not even be with Bruce, it might be with Ollie or the Squad or who knows what. I don't know how they handle their accounting, or how they combine revenues from editorial groups and/or titles (if they even do) or what. We can't know how they calculate inter-company competition between products without access to stuff like that.

It might be an issue where DC is concerned that a high quality Nightwing could become competition with *one* of the Bat-titles, like 'Tec. If fans have a choice between Batman, 'Tec, and a good Nightwing they might very well decide they don't need both Bat books. In which case they'll pick the Bat title they like most, drop the other, and replace it with Dick's book. That's potentially made worse when Bruce has even more series going than those two.

It might be a matter of pay rates. For all I know, DC pays more for writing Batman than for writing less popular characters, with a flexible page rate for talent based on the IP they're working on as well as their own credentials. If so, then a (random number) 20% drop in 'Tec is going to cost them more money than a 20% increase in Nightwing's sales, since the 'Tec creative team is being paid more but the title is selling less.

As I've said, I honestly don't know. I'm just theory-crafting. It might very well just be nothing more than Didio or someone else playing favorites.

[oasis1313]

It would seem reasonable that a writer should be paid according to how much he/she sells books. Which would incentivize decent work on ALL titles.

[oasis1313]

What would we call it? Titans Rebirth?

Titans Regurgitated.

[WallyWestFlash]

500x_nightwing.jpg
1char.

[Ascended]

It would seem reasonable that a writer should be paid according to how much he/she sells books. Which would incentivize decent work on ALL titles.

Most publishers pay a page rate based on the creator; their skill, popularity, tenure, speed, exclusivity, etc. But DC may adjust it according to the book the talent is on too. So maybe you're typical page rate is $100 a page, but if you're on Batman you get $120 per page, but only $85 for a Booster Gold solo. After all, Booster won't sell what Batman does, so the talent might get a little less per page to help ensure the title generates a profit. Batman will most definitely turn a profit though, so they can afford to pay more (and it would encourage the best talent to work on the biggest books). I don't imagine DC does that, but I don't know that they don't, either. I've never heard anyone talk about it, but its rare to see professionals talk about their paychecks so who knows? >shrug<

[bearman]

There is nothing wrong with the Fab 5 as characters, nor as friends on a team. It’s their position in the DC universe, and how they are handled. For decades, they have had more experience than all but the most senior of the JLA, but must be shown to be incompetent so the Leaguers can show them up.
The Outsiders is a way to address that issue...have them operate as a separate but equivalent task force, with Nightwing and company perfectly comfortable operating outside the JLA charter, but respected as equals.

[nightbird]

And that's the crux of it.

Creators talk about how the "secret to success" is that they just write the comics they themselves would want to read. That works on that level of the company. But the job of managers is to make profit, not sculpt the DCU into their personal vision of what they want to see.

If you did suddenly trip your way into a position of authority at DC, I'd expect nothing less from you than to treat Tim fairly. You might not like him, and that's fine, everyone has their personal tastes and favorite (and least favorite) characters. But to sideline Tim, who is proven to be a popular and profitable IP, that would be bad business that would hurt the bottom line. A good manager would say "Well, I don't like Tim, but lots of other people do. So I gotta treat him right whether I like it or not." and then try to find a way to use him that appeals to his fans while welcoming new fans in.

I dont know if DC fears Dick could become competition for Batman. That would be a valid concern, if the market data supports it. You don't want to split your revenue like that, because you just end up losing money, and in Bruce's case, he's used as the metric the entire direct market is built on so I can see why DC would be afraid to risk direct competition. But at the same time, there's so many ways to make Dick stand on his own so he's not seen as competition. I mean, no one considers Superman competition for Bruce, even though Clark is DC's #2 and spent far more time as DC's cash cow than Batman has (to date). Why? Because the IP's are so different; a Super-story is usually nothing like a Bat-story, with different themes, tones, and reader rewards. It's not a difficult job to find a way to bring Dick out of Bruce's shadow enough so that he wouldn't be a direct challenge too.

And if DC is afraid of Dick becoming bigger and better than Batman.....make Batman better! Instead of holding everyone else under the ceiling of the Trinity, raise that ceiling up! Make the Trinity better than they are; that'll make their IP's more valuable and allow other characters room to grow.

Nightwing and Superman sadly not in the same position. DC sometimes make Bruce top dog in expanse of Clark, so what to talk about character that in eyes of DC management just a part of Bat-verse.

I don’t know why even writers can’t keep some cohensive world with cohensive supporting group of characters for Nightwing books. It’s not something that only one writer can accomplish, but when it comes to Nightwing every new writer for some reasons start everything all over.

[Godlike13]

Except apparently when in comes to Ric.

[oasis1313]

Most publishers pay a page rate based on the creator; their skill, popularity, tenure, speed, exclusivity, etc. But DC may adjust it according to the book the talent is on too. So maybe you're typical page rate is $100 a page, but if you're on Batman you get $120 per page, but only $85 for a Booster Gold solo. After all, Booster won't sell what Batman does, so the talent might get a little less per page to help ensure the title generates a profit. Batman will most definitely turn a profit though, so they can afford to pay more (and it would encourage the best talent to work on the biggest books). I don't imagine DC does that, but I don't know that they don't, either. I've never heard anyone talk about it, but its rare to see professionals talk about their paychecks so who knows? >shrug<

I'd be curious as to what they're paying Bendis--probably a thousand bucks a panel. It's not considered polite for anyone, really, to talk about their salary. I'd definitely link pay to sales to encourage the writers to work for their groceries.

[nightbird]

Nightwing by Steve Rude

[oasis1313]

Nightwing and Superman sadly not in the same position. DC sometimes make Bruce top dog in expanse of Clark, so what to talk about character that in eyes of DC management just a part of Bat-verse.

I don’t know why even writers can’t keep some cohensive world with cohensive supporting group of characters for Nightwing books. It’s not something that only one writer can accomplish, but when it comes to Nightwing every new writer for some reasons start everything all over.

Nobody wants to bother with doing any research into what they're doing. If I was too lazy to research my recommendations, I'd be laughed out of the practice.

[nightbird]

Nobody wants to bother with doing any research into what they're doing. If I was too lazy to research my recommendations, I'd be laughed out of the practice.

I don’t know how hard it should be to read prior 10-20 issues.

[oasis1313]

I don’t know how hard it should be to read prior 10-20 issues.

Or even give 15 minutes to WikiDC.

[nightbird]

Or even give 15 minutes to WikiDC.

Well it’s sad to hear, that writers mostly not interested in reading comics written by other writers and to do some basic research beyond what management tells them.