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

[numberthirty]

Quick link to what theoneandonly mentioned...

https://community.cbr.com/showthread...ARDS-amp-RULES

Piece mentioned early on in that link...

https://www.cbr.com/out-with-the-old...cbr-community/

That second piece is absolutely worth a look.

[JAK]

Quick link to what theoneandonly mentioned...

https://community.cbr.com/showthread...ARDS-amp-RULES

Piece mentioned early on in that link...

https://www.cbr.com/out-with-the-old...cbr-community/

That second piece is absolutely worth a look.

Wow... someone tried hacking into someone's bank account/etc over a review? That's messed up, and absolutely unwelcome. My condolences to the reviewer and her family - nobody deserves that. Even as much as I complain about Snyder's DCEU Superman direction, I'd never wish ill on him or his family, and I don't understand the mindset of anyone who would.


Back on topic(ish): not that it matters, but I'm in agreement about just talking about the work itself - I've liked King on Superman the few times I've read him, so this doesn't change everything for me... it was definitely a mistake, though. Even if they wanted to do something like this on a concept level, there are less graphic was to put Superman's anxiety across to the reader effectively. Sometimes less is more.

[Soubhagya]

There's a post in Lois and Clark appreciation thread. And i must say i am pacified. Its the way of the mind to imagine such scenarios. I had this kind of experience once. So, i understand. Hopefully, someone posts that link here.

Edit: Okay so this already posted in this thread. My bad.

[Clark_Kent]

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:

Attachment 77335

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.

Parents should really know what they are buying their kids. Take 30 seconds and flip through the book. If some random parent blindly grabs a book off the shelf and hands it to a little kid without ever looking at the book first, then that's the parents' fault. Not King, or DC, or Walmart. It diesn't even matter that it's Superman...this character was very famously beaten to death nearly 30 years ago...by fists...over multiple issues, beaten. To. Death. lol Superman as a character is not above graphic violence.

But...this involves a female character. So obviously it's worse for some reason and King should feel bad or something. Instead of the parent who couldn't be bothered to flip through the book for 30 seconds.

[Jokerz79]

Parents should really know what they are buying their kids. Take 30 seconds and flip through the book. If some random parent blindly grabs a book off the shelf and hands it to a little kid without ever looking at the book first, then that's the parents' fault. Not King, or DC, or Walmart. It diesn't even matter that it's Superman...this character was very famously beaten to death nearly 30 years ago...by fists...over multiple issues, beaten. To. Death. lol Superman as a character is not above graphic violence.

But...this involves a female character. So obviously it's worse for some reason and King should feel bad or something. Instead of the parent who couldn't be bothered to flip through the book for 30 seconds.

I said this in the DC section Thread for this if DC's intention for this book is to be all ages than they need to communicate that to Walmart because as of now it's being targeted at kids and that's the issue. As for parents my parents never looked thru the books I grabbed off the spinner rack because they knew it wouldn't have graphic sex or violence. It's not insane for a parent to think a book being marketed to kids with kids stuff in Walmart would be child friendly and if these books are meant to bring in new readers DC is lucky parents don't flip thru it or they might assume all comics are now like this and forbid junior from ever reading comics.

[Clark_Kent]

I said this in the DC section Thread for this if DC's intention for this book is to be all ages than they need to communicate that to Walmart because as of now it's being targeted at kids and that's the issue. As for parents my parents never looked thru the books I grabbed off the spinner rack because they knew it wouldn't have graphic sex or violence. It's not insane for a parent to think a book being marketed to kids with kids stuff in Walmart would be child friendly and if these books are meant to bring in new readers DC is lucky parents don't flip thru it or they might assume all comics are now like this and forbid junior from ever reading comics.

I think that hits the major point though...you (and others) have the opinion these are aimed at kids, some of us have the opinion that they are not (currently) aimed at kids. The collectables aisle these show up in is more of a pop culture section, not a kids section. At my walmart, about 3 feet down the aisle is a figure of the dude from Walking Dead (I forget his name) with the crossbow, from Boondock Saints. He's got blood on him. I wouldn't say that figure is aimed at kids.

I think what we all can agree on is the books should have a rating on the cover. That much DC has messed up on. But this is the same aisle that sells "grab bags" of comics, where you get like 4 or 5 random comics and you don't know what they are except the one on top. I've seen everything from Suicide Squad #1 to Harley Quinn Rebirth #1. So I don't think kids are the demo in that aisle. My parents didn't flip through my books either, but that doesn't mean parents shouldn't. I look at stuff before I purchase for my kids.

I should add also, however, that there is nothing in this book that is even on the same level as things kids see on youtube if a parent isn't doing their job. I think kids can handle it even if they happen across it.

[Jokerz79]

I think that hits the major point though...you (and others) have the opinion these are aimed at kids, some of us have the opinion that they are not (currently) aimed at kids. The collectables aisle these show up in is more of a pop culture section, not a kids section. At my walmart, about 3 feet down the aisle is a figure of the dude from Walking Dead (I forget his name) with the crossbow, from Boondock Saints. He's got blood on him. I wouldn't say that figure is aimed at kids.

I think what we all can agree on is the books should have a rating on the cover. That much DC has messed up on. But this is the same aisle that sells "grab bags" of comics, where you get like 4 or 5 random comics and you don't know what they are except the one on top. I've seen everything from Suicide Squad #1 to Harley Quinn Rebirth #1. So I don't think kids are the demo in that aisle. My parents didn't flip through my books either, but that doesn't mean parents shouldn't. I look at stuff before I purchase for my kids.

I should add also, however, that there is nothing in this book that is even on the same level as things kids see on youtube if a parent isn't doing their job. I think kids can handle it even if they happen across it.

I bought this in a Kaybee toys in a Grab Bag of Batman comics when I was a kid it was one of my first Batman comics with a recommended age 8 and up.

https://goo.gl/images/RWeGUj

Yeah I can see DC marketing Suicide Squad and Harley Quinn to kids.

[Yoda]

Parents should really know what they are buying their kids. Take 30 seconds and flip through the book. If some random parent blindly grabs a book off the shelf and hands it to a little kid without ever looking at the book first, then that's the parents' fault. Not King, or DC, or Walmart. It diesn't even matter that it's Superman...this character was very famously beaten to death nearly 30 years ago...by fists...over multiple issues, beaten. To. Death. lol Superman as a character is not above graphic violence.

But...this involves a female character. So obviously it's worse for some reason and King should feel bad or something. Instead of the parent who couldn't be bothered to flip through the book for 30 seconds.

Superman is a brand. It’s a brand marketed on kids clothes and lunch boxes and backpacks. These books are not labeled or rated whatsoever. In fact just the opposite. They look like all ages books. Goods have packaging to tell you what you are buying without having to look at every page to divine whether it’s appropriate. You can pick books and movies by going to different sections and looking at the ratings.

And more importantly these aren’t located in a place in these stores that’s conducive to browsing. They are literally placed next to registers in most locations I’ve seen them. They are placed that way to be impulse buys to the broadest audience possible. This isn't a coincidence. If they wanted these to be in a place where they could be browsed for content they wouldn’t place them where you have seconds to decide to buy them.

When you package something like a Saturday morning cartoon you shouldn’t have to worry that you need to check it to see if it contains a scene that would be at home in an episode of the Sopranos. They don’t sell hard lemonade in a bottle that looks like Sunkist and doesn’t contain a label that tells you what’s inside.

[Ascended]

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:

Really? Interesting, I've never seen them stored like that (grouped with stuff from the toy section). I wonder why your's did that? Is it a smaller (likely older?) building that doesn't have room for the more expensive collectible things to have their own section?

Personally I think the books should've been designed specifically for young kids and stored in the toy section from the start, but that's neither here nor there.

[Yoda]

Really? Interesting, I've never seen them stored like that (grouped with stuff from the toy section). I wonder why your's did that? Is it a smaller (likely older?) building that doesn't have room for the more expensive collectible things to have their own section?

Personally I think the books should've been designed specifically for young kids and stored in the toy section from the start, but that's neither here nor there.

I have seen them in three out of the four Walmarts in my general area. One stopped stocking them after the first issues. Two continue to stock them. All of these are newer Super Walmarts with full grocery stores. In all three stores they have been placed in the same location, the self checkout aisle, where your back will be literally to them if you are using a self checkout register and you can't even get to them until you're actually using that register or it's vacant and you can sneak in. And they are not even stocked with the more expensive toys from the toy section. For example, the one where I picked up mine most recently has pokemon, magic and baseball cards set up at the end of the short checkout aisle closest to the interior of the store. There's then as section for pokemon stuffed toys and other small off brand stuffed animals priced $3-6 range. Nothing name brand really. There are usually those little mystery packs of small figurines, not the superhero of video game ones mind you, but the small animals and Shopkin's type stuff (including cheaper off brand versions) and like the squeeze balls, glowing rubber balls and other trinkets. And these sections are typically a mess, everything is scattered and disorganized and it's cluttered with things for other sections of the store that got dropped when people went to check out and decided against an item.

I honestly don't take my kids with me when I go to pick these up because it turns into 5 minutes of arguing why they can't get a $5 rubber glowing spike ball the dog will inevitably eat.

I mean Didio has bragged about how he sold these to Walmart by bringing in his own collection of the old 70's 100 page giants as like a proof of concept. I highly doubt anyone at Walmart anticipated the level of content they got in this issue. I assume King's quick response to try to head off more backlash came from a terse call from someone that it this blows up Walmart will just drop them because I doubt its worth the headache for them.

[Flash Gordon]

I still think it's ridiculous how DC thinks selling comics in Walmart is some kind of victory.

[MajorHoy]

I still think it's ridiculous how DC thinks selling comics in Walmart is some kind of victory.

Well, aside from in comic book stores, where else (in terms of brick-and-mortar stores) can you still buy any new issues of DC comic books these days?

[Yoda]

I still think it's ridiculous how DC thinks selling comics in Walmart is some kind of victory.

Particularly given it seems that its the same collectors who buy their DM books anyways, half to try to flip them on eBay. The LCS's by me actually go and buy them and then resell them.

[Clark_Kent]

I bought this in a Kaybee toys in a Grab Bag of Batman comics when I was a kid it was one of my first Batman comics with a recommended age 8 and up.

https://goo.gl/images/RWeGUj

Yeah I can see DC marketing Suicide Squad and Harley Quinn to kids.

If these are marketed to kids, then why aren't they in either the toy area (where many sticker books are kept) or the children's book area?

Superman is a brand. It’s a brand marketed on kids clothes and lunch boxes and backpacks. These books are not labeled or rated whatsoever. In fact just the opposite. They look like all ages books. Goods have packaging to tell you what you are buying without having to look at every page to divine whether it’s appropriate. You can pick books and movies by going to different sections and looking at the ratings.

And more importantly these aren’t located in a place in these stores that’s conducive to browsing. They are literally placed next to registers in most locations I’ve seen them. They are placed that way to be impulse buys to the broadest audience possible. This isn't a coincidence. If they wanted these to be in a place where they could be browsed for content they wouldn’t place them where you have seconds to decide to buy them.

When you package something like a Saturday morning cartoon you shouldn’t have to worry that you need to check it to see if it contains a scene that would be at home in an episode of the Sopranos. They don’t sell hard lemonade in a bottle that looks like Sunkist and doesn’t contain a label that tells you what’s inside.

In this case, you don't even have to flip through the whole thing...isn't Lex shooting Lois on oage 1?

I don't understand the "seconds to buy" thing...does your Walmart have a timer that boots you out of line if you take too long? Responsible parents know what they are buying their children, I'm not even sure why this is in dispute with people. Have we become so dependent on ratings in our faces that we cannot think for ourselves? Did you know the movie "Gremlins" is rated PG in the United States? My 10 year old loved the PG rated Goosebumps movie, but she hasn't seen Gremlins. I've seen it, and I know she needs to be a little older before watching homicidal gremlins chasing Billy with a chainsaw. The movie inspired the MPAA to create the PG-13 rating, and the film was never re-rated. But according to the almighty ratings system, the movie isn't so bad and is as safe to watch as A House With A Clock In Its Walls.

And true, Superman is a brand, and some people have outdated expectations for that brand. Like I said before though, fairly graphic violence has been appearing in Superman books for a long time. 30 years ago he was executing Phantom Zoners while the female of the group offered him "pleasures". Not long after he was beat to death, with bruises/punctures/blood. And these were during the CCA days. It's 100% true that Superman is rarely as violent or explicit as, say, Batman, but that doesn't excuse a parent from doing a very important job: namely, raising their own kids and not letting books/tv/internet do it for them. I'm not sure why this is even a debate. But then, people think these books are "marketed towards kids" for some reason when the books don't say "all ages", they aren't in a kids aisle, and there's also nearly zero marketing.

I'm curious though if this would get the same social media outrage if it were Diana imagining Steve Trevor's death over & over? Or Black Canary imagining Green Arrow's? Are people outraged because they are truly outraged, or because this depicts a female character?

[Clark_Kent]

I have seen them in three out of the four Walmarts in my general area. One stopped stocking them after the first issues. Two continue to stock them. All of these are newer Super Walmarts with full grocery stores. In all three stores they have been placed in the same location, the self checkout aisle, where your back will be literally to them if you are using a self checkout register and you can't even get to them until you're actually using that register or it's vacant and you can sneak in. And they are not even stocked with the more expensive toys from the toy section. For example, the one where I picked up mine most recently has pokemon, magic and baseball cards set up at the end of the short checkout aisle closest to the interior of the store. There's then as section for pokemon stuffed toys and other small off brand stuffed animals priced $3-6 range. Nothing name brand really. There are usually those little mystery packs of small figurines, not the superhero of video game ones mind you, but the small animals and Shopkin's type stuff (including cheaper off brand versions) and like the squeeze balls, glowing rubber balls and other trinkets. And these sections are typically a mess, everything is scattered and disorganized and it's cluttered with things for other sections of the store that got dropped when people went to check out and decided against an item.

I honestly don't take my kids with me when I go to pick these up because it turns into 5 minutes of arguing why they can't get a $5 rubber glowing spike ball the dog will inevitably eat.

I mean Didio has bragged about how he sold these to Walmart by bringing in his own collection of the old 70's 100 page giants as like a proof of concept. I highly doubt anyone at Walmart anticipated the level of content they got in this issue. I assume King's quick response to try to head off more backlash came from a terse call from someone that it this blows up Walmart will just drop them because I doubt its worth the headache for them.

That is so weird...and perhaps where our disagreement comes from. I've found these books in 4 local Walmarts, and they look like this:
Attachment 77372

That's a lot of room to stand and flip through things, but again this is just at the 4 I've been to. If your aisle is so crammed that you have no time to look, then that sucks. As a parent, if I didn't have time to look at the books first then I definitely wouldn't buy them. But, seeing as there's no timer when it's your turn to check out, I'd probably just take the few seconds required to peek. If the people in line behind you get huffy, well, there's lots of self checkout available...it's your money and your purchase, you should never rush yourself.