Wal-Mart Superman Comic imagines torture and death of Lois Lane?

[Konja7]

That happens like every 2 years in comics. There is a cycle of highs and lows in comic sales, ppl just like to act like it was a grand failure of something, when it was just the cycle going up and then going down.

If writers wrote the characters better, as in IN Character,they wouldn't have so many huge ups and downs. I mean was walking across America like forest Gump in character pre Flashpoint? I don't think so. Was the new 52 kon behave and feel at all like any version before him? I think not.

Simple problem, simple solutions

I really doubt it's so simple. A well-written comic does not guarantee good sales.

There are many other factors that lead to books being unsuccessful or sales falling.

And right before Rebirth, sales were lower than they were pre-Flashpoint. So what?

At least, they were able to increase sales for a while.

We don't know how the sales would be without Flashpoint.

[Kon93]

I really doubt it's so simple. A well-written comic does not guarantee good sales.

There are many other factors that lead to books being unsuccessful or sales falling.



At least, they were able to increase sales for a while.

We don't know how the sales would be without Flashpoint.

As I said comics are usually now in the modern Era on a cycle of ups and downs, but that's not the only reason of course.

But a comic written with the character IN character, and the history of said book treated with respect goes a long way.

Instead of scrapping their universe they could have just did another line wide shakeup that changed status qous, but, left the character you WERE reading the same character as you are now

[Super4Ever]

This isn't within current continuity. These Wal-Mart books are standalone.

That said, DC wouldn't want that anyway. And with good reason. The way things were right before Flashpoint wasn't working. Sales were in the toilet. Whatever one may think of their ultimate choice of solution, the edict to do something was for a reason.

I thought they were in continuity, the first appearance of Ginny Hex was in one of the series before she appeared in Young Justice.

[RJT]

PTSD doesn't have ANYTHING to do with writing snuff comics, YOU are combining the 2, acting like he is only writing the way he does because of his ptsd. My point is that it isn't his ptsd that draws him to do this kind of writing, but that he has issues, some kind of fetish for it.

It is disrespectful as hell for you to lump all ptsd suffers with Tom King just to champion is snuff fetish

I don’t think his PTSD has anything to do with his comics. You’re the one who brought it up. I’m not using his PTSD as a defense—I’m saying it’s irrelevent and that it’s “disrespectful as hell” for YOU to use it to defend your criticism of his writing.

[Talon1load]

Dude, King definitely needs to get some therapy. He needs to stop shitting all over a beloved character because he’s got problems. And the mental issues and shitty writing are definitely connected. Everything he writes is steeped in anxiety and depression, obviously issues he’s trying to deal with I guess. His writing isn’t getting any better so it doesn’t seem like he’s making any progress.

[RJT]

Dude, King definitely needs to get some therapy. He needs to stop shitting all over a beloved character because he’s got problems. And the mental issues and shitty writing are definitely connected. Everything he writes is steeped in anxiety and depression, obviously issues he’s trying to deal with I guess. His writing isn’t getting any better so it doesn’t seem like he’s making any progress.

Yeah, this is despicable.

[Flash Gordon]

I think we should limit the discussion to the flaws in the work itself, not comments on the writers health.

I like King a lot when he's working on something authentic to him...I'm so so sick of this kind of story though. It's just misery for misery sake. That's not why people read Superman.

The problem isn't about kids reading it, the problem is it just stinks.

[Sacred Knight]

And right before Rebirth, sales were lower than they were pre-Flashpoint. So what?

What it means is that they have yet to find a model of any real long-term success in a long time. Only short-term solutions. Which is too bad but if all you can seem to achieve are short-term gains, at the very least going back to a past failure doesn't seem to be the best logic to work with in even succeeding at that much.

And to show I'm not coming from a place of bias, I'd include the New 52 in that, and I love at the very least its Superman. But it fell too.

[Ascended]

Well, they sell them next to the Pokemon cards so you have to sort of infer that they were aimed at kids. They reprint mainstream books in them. In one Green Lantern story, Hector Hammond wanted to feed off of one of Hal's sexual encounters in his past. So it's possible they didn't think this out very well.

Not reading the whole thread, but this caught my eye.

I haven't read the comic, and I'm not going to. I spend enough money on comics without having to go to a damn Wal-Mart for one. From what I hear, it definitely sounds questionable, but without reading it what do I know?

But there's something to recognize too; that section that sells Pokemon cards isn't really aimed at little kids. If it were, they'd be sold in the toys section. The real target audience for the TCG's in that "collectibles" section are high school age to young adult; people with a little more spending money, since those cards ain't cheap. Little kids get pulled into Pokemon from the cartoons and toys, then find their way to the card game once they're old enough for a little strategy. I mean, no one is introducing a five year old to Magic: The Gathering. And the older kids are old enough to handle a story about a worried Superman imagining scenarios when his wife won't answer her phone (or whatever it is). Now, Im not saying little kids don't go into that section, because they do. But they're not the main target for those collectibles.

I haven't read the story, and maybe it crosses a line. I'm not commenting on that since I haven't read it. But it might not be as outside the parameters of the target audience as people think. Or were these comics marketed and labeled as being "for Kids"? And that's not getting into how what's considered appropriate today is a far cry different than it was twenty or thirty years back.

Apologies if anyone brought this up, like I said I wasn't gonna read the whole thread.

[Darkcrusade25]

I don't think that's going to automatically happen, not with the pre-Flashpoint DC being over seven years ago . . .

I know but I mean as close to it in terms of major character histories.

[Sacred Knight]

Ah, if that's what you mean then they're pretty much already there. Most properties at least. Its not exact of course, I'm talking a general sense but in general its the old histories with most. There's only a few left that really hinge on any major post-FP changes that may outright contradict the old history, but even those will likely be reverted back sooner than later. Its just that the process of doing this has been gradual as Rebirth went on, instead of all changing back at once.

[Agent Z]

Do you know Lois isn´t real?

So you're allowed to hate a fictional character to the point of enjoying seeing her murdered over and over again but other people can't take offense to that because she "isn't real"?

[Celgress]

Well, King probably has one messed up mind given his former line of work so no one should be surprised. Before everyone jumps all over me I have friends and family who are/were in different branches of the special service and they've told me (off the record) about some truly disturbing ****. With that said, I blame the editors for not censoring or removing these overly graphic scenes (which I have viewed as I purchased the book).

[Yoda]

Not reading the whole thread, but this caught my eye.

I haven't read the comic, and I'm not going to. I spend enough money on comics without having to go to a damn Wal-Mart for one. From what I hear, it definitely sounds questionable, but without reading it what do I know?

But there's something to recognize too; that section that sells Pokemon cards isn't really aimed at little kids. If it were, they'd be sold in the toys section. The real target audience for the TCG's in that "collectibles" section are high school age to young adult; people with a little more spending money, since those cards ain't cheap. Little kids get pulled into Pokemon from the cartoons and toys, then find their way to the card game once they're old enough for a little strategy. I mean, no one is introducing a five year old to Magic: The Gathering. And the older kids are old enough to handle a story about a worried Superman imagining scenarios when his wife won't answer her phone (or whatever it is). Now, Im not saying little kids don't go into that section, because they do. But they're not the main target for those collectibles.

I haven't read the story, and maybe it crosses a line. I'm not commenting on that since I haven't read it. But it might not be as outside the parameters of the target audience as people think. Or were these comics marketed and labeled as being "for Kids"? And that's not getting into how what's considered appropriate today is a far cry different than it was twenty or thirty years back.

Apologies if anyone brought this up, like I said I wasn't gonna read the whole thread.

The books don’t even have the ratings that DM market books carry. There’s nothing on them at all to indicate anything that is not all ages content. The covers and trade dress even try to emulate the old school comic feel. They literally promise “4 Action Packed Adventures” on the cover.

And they are placed right by the self checkout lanes at my Walmart next to Pokémon cards, stuff animals, and all kinds of quick impulse buys designed to grab kids attention and make mom or dad grab something quick for their kids. It’s definti not set up as a older age collectibles section. There are Magic Cards, but half is cheap stuffed Pokémon’s and other little $3 stuffed animal and trinkets. So someone’s kid sees a brightly covered comic promising four Superman adventures they grab it and buys and hand it to the the kid in the car and the kid opens up to page one:

63B2BD4C-EDBB-4B89-AA05-0977D98405AB.jpg

Walmart didn’t sign on for that. The fact that they came out with a response to this so fast makes me think Walmart likely told them to clean up this mess ASAP. I don’t think they even jumped at the poison ivy cover this fast. King’s statement is some PR nonsense as well, “the book that spends 11 pages on Superman’s anxiety and Lois Lane’s repeated murder isn’t really about Superman’s anxiety or Lois Lane’s repeated murder. It’s about love!” I mean, come on.

[Celgress]

I really hate Lois, so I will tell a friend to buy it for me, and send it to me. It will be the first Superman comic I bought in months.

Well, I didn't think it was possible but this whole mess just took an ever darker turn....