Possible major changes coming from DC Comics

[Jackalope89]

Well, Nightwing can be folded back into a revamped Titans book (which will work if editorial can resist tampering with it.) Place Batgirl into a relaunched Birds Of Prey. Tim is over in Young Justice and Damien is front and center in Teen Titans. That just leaves Jason unaccounted for. But maybe they could fold him into a new Outsiders book.

Your idea does work though.

Jason has Red Hood and the Outlaws (whenever Lobdell gets back to bringing Bizarro and Artemis back). A "Dark Trinity", if you will, of the black sheep of the Big 3.

[MajorHoy]

Action Comics and Detective Comics should both be turned into Superfamily and Batfamily books. Fold books that have trouble staying above cancellation like Supergirl, Nightwing, Batgirl, etc. into that and expand it to include more characters.

Sometimes I wish DC would do that.
Then they wouldn't be publishing any titles I'm willing to buy any more and I wouldn't be spending any more money on them.

[Vordan]

Well, with Bendis confirming that the events of The Silencer would be acknowledged in his Leviathan arc, I had some hope for The Silencer at least.

And considering how creatively bankrupt most of the main titles are currently, to me at least, I don't see much interest in the future of DC if the rumors are true.

I was and am hoping for 25 issues. But anything more than that is a slim hope at best. Maybe Bendis could bring her under his Wonder Comics imprint? Otherwise like I said 25 issues max is my hope.

[skyvolt2000]

I love how some seriously think Batman and Superman should be cancelled.

Not axed but BOTH need a reduction in the number of books they have.

Do we need 5-10 Batman focus books every month? NO.

Batman-solo book/team up with Robin or Signal

Detective Comics-Batman and friends/Batman centric stories

Batman Legends of Dark Knight-Batman solo ONLY stories

Superman
Action Comics

That is enough for him.

You still have to think about everyone else who does not buy their books nor care for Hal, Barry, WW, Harley or Aquaman.
Or do they not matter? Because many have taken the hint and left DC.

Folks continue to forget a lot of these guys have better success OUTSIDE of the entitlement zone know as comic book stores.

So Dc should just say we got Batman and be happy?

Ignore those sales charts of digital, trades and so on where it's Batman in the top 100 surrounded by Shuri, Riri Williams, Ms Marvel, Moon Girl, Wrong Earth, Saga, various Manga, Miles Morales & Buffy.

Not even bother to try to counter any of them because we got to stay with 22 safe books.

Not let someone take a shot with a risky character. Like Deathstroke's writer did with some Wakanda King. Who in 21 years went with a solo for 4 years and has a billion dollar movie.
Or let someone take a character KILLED and bought back and now like the Wakandan King has more years WITH a solo than without and a tv show with Ally McBeal.
Or Someone took a collection of TRASH and called it Justice League in 1987. Or a Kid Flash now known as Flash. Or a throw away character named Lobo.

Sometimes you have to take RISKS.

[Somecrazyaussie]

That is TOTALLY speculative with no real, tangible evidence to support it at this point.

If that was remotely likely, don't you think they would have returned before now?
That the collected edition of their early 1990s run that DC has been promising for a couple of years (even listing the availability of it in their "DC Essential Graphic Novels" catalogs in both 2017 and 2018) would have happened by now?

Now, I'm not saying it CAN'T happen, but until a new JSA series is actually available in stores, I wouldn't say it's definitely going to happen.

It isn't guaranteed, no. But why go to all the trouble of having them as a central mystery in Doomsday Clock if they weren't going to do something with them? I am more concerned with which writer at DC could do the JSA book when it finally does happen. Because I feel they have no one there who can do it justice.

[kurenai24]

I don't think this changes anything drastically but even if it did why are people acting like anthologies don't exist ...and as if there isn't a whole other comics industry that doesn't depend on anthologies (i.e. manga).

It's time for the American comic industry or rather the big 2 to follow the manga industry.

There are multiple japanese magazines that publish chapters of manga weekly and every 2 or 3 months they collect each individual manga into a volume.

Using Shonen Jump Weekly as an example they publish 25 serialized comics in their magazine. As someone who usually reads manga volumes or specific chapters of certain manga, I don't usually buy magazines but I think all 25 of the manga are published weekly with a few exceptions, like Boruto is monthly and Hunter x Hunter has a sporadic schedule.

Of course anthologies are not new to the american comic industry but I don't think the american industry relied on anthologies like the japanese industry do.

And obviously things would need to be modified for the American industry, I mean with manga there is only the mangaka who draws and writes (and maybe there is an assistant who helps), there is no colorist since manga is in black and white, these chapters are pushed out mostly every week where as in the States it's mostly every month, manga chapters don't have a set amount of pages while American comics are about 20 to 24 pages.

But I think with a few fixes here and there, DC (or Marvel) could publish a couple of anthologies and cut some of their publishing in half.

[BatmanJones]

Sometimes I wish DC would do that.
Then they wouldn't be publishing any titles I'm willing to buy any more and I wouldn't be spending any more money on them.

If you were to drop your one remaining DC title (Batgirl), it would save you $3.99 a month. I doubt it would save you any of the time you spend posting about books you don't read. It's been said that "time is money" too.

[Korath]

I was and am hoping for 25 issues. But anything more than that is a slim hope at best. Maybe Bendis could bring her under his Wonder Comics imprint? Otherwise like I said 25 issues max is my hope.

Which would be sad, but let's be honest : 25 issues for a brand new character in this day and age, not counting the annual(s?) wouldn't be so bad. At least she would have a strong foundation if DC ever wanted to make use of her again.

[Swamp Thing 2099]

New Announced:
Batman and the Outsiders

Announced Ending:
Titans
Sideways
Curse of Brimstone
Damage
Green Arrow
Terrifics

Guaranteed to stay:
Action
Detective
Batman
Superman
Flash
Wonder Woman
Harley Quinn
Green Lantern
Aquaman
Justice League
Suicide Squad
Teen Titans
Shazam (because Johns writing and movie)

Most Likely Cancelled:
Justice League Dark
Justice League Odyssey
Hawkman
Freedom Fighters
Martian Manhunter

Unsure
Batgirl (depends if Birds of Prey is announced or not)
Nightwing
Deathstroke
RHO
Supergirl
If Titans will return
Catwoman

This leaves room for 2 more ongoings.

And since there is a movie coming I would say one of those would be Birds of Prey

Suicide Squad is cancelled. Freedom Fighters and Martian Manhunter are 12 issue mini-series. Terrifics is safe.

[Bromor]

I was and am hoping for 25 issues. But anything more than that is a slim hope at best. Maybe Bendis could bring her under his Wonder Comics imprint? Otherwise like I said 25 issues max is my hope.

Wonder comics is more centered around teen/young heroes. Honor is an adult, she would be out of place. I agree that she would go over 20 issues. It's basically assured with the Leviathan event.

[Somecrazyaussie]

I don't think this changes anything drastically but even if it did why are people acting like anthologies don't exist ...and as if there isn't a whole other comics industry that doesn't depend on anthologies (i.e. manga).

It's time for the American comic industry or rather the big 2 to follow the manga industry.

There are multiple japanese magazines that publish chapters of manga weekly and every 2 or 3 months they collect each individual manga into a volume.

Using Shonen Jump Weekly as an example they publish 25 serialized comics in their magazine. As someone who usually reads manga volumes or specific chapters of certain manga, I don't usually buy magazines but I think all 25 of the manga are published weekly with a few exceptions, like Boruto is monthly and Hunter x Hunter has a sporadic schedule.

Of course anthologies are not new to the american comic industry but I don't think the american industry relied on anthologies like the japanese industry do.

And obviously things would need to be modified for the American industry, I mean with manga there is only the mangaka who draws and writes (and maybe there is an assistant who helps), there is no colorist since manga is in black and white, these chapters are pushed out mostly every week where as in the States it's mostly every month, manga chapters don't have a set amount of pages while American comics are about 20 to 24 pages.

But I think with a few fixes here and there, DC (or Marvel) could publish a couple of anthologies and cut some of their publishing in half.

Ideally, yes. But Manga doesn't just thrive due to the fact they are anthologies (it is certainly one of the main reasons it does though.) Manga is predominantly published in B&W and on different quality paper. We also have to bare in mind that some Mangaka (unless they are popular) earn nowhere near what a writer does in the States (the bulk of their wealth comes from Tankôban sales and royalties.) Plus Manga is widely distributed in Japan and is accessible to everyone. The same can't be said in America. We are also talking about two different markets.

I think Marvel are on the right track with their digital first comics for characters who can't sustain a solo long-term (Luke Cage, Cloak And Dagger, Iron-Fist etc.) These are convenient as they slash numerous overheads normally associated with printing them as physical comics. I think it is a great compromise and allows Marvel to do something with lesser known characters. DC should try something similar (as well as maintaining their focus on Wal-Mart/Target distribution.)

The real problem isn't the characters. The cause is the business model the Big 2 continue to follow. It is outdated and simply isn't suitable for how society functions in this day and age. Examples -

1. Decompression allowed for publishers to expand into the book store market. But not many people have the patience to wait out a story for 6 months in order to read it. Marvel is trying to rectify this by shipping books bi-weekly and doing "event" level stories weekly. But now it becomes an issue of affordability.

2. Comics don't provide value for money. If given the choice between a 5 minute read vs hours of gameplay a kid will always go with the latter. Sad, but true.

3. Distribution. How many of us got into comics by stumbling across them at a newsstand or drugstore? I did. A little kid though? No chance. Because the books aren't where he or she can get to them. DC is working on addressing this now.

[MajorHoy]

If you were to drop your one remaining DC title (Batgirl), it would save you $3.99 a month. I doubt it would save you any of the time you spend posting about books you don't read. It's been said that "time is money" too.

Oh, joy.

You may enjoy the pablum DC is foisting upon readers now, but some day . . .

[MajorHoy]

It isn't guaranteed, no. But why go to all the trouble of having them as a central mystery in Doomsday Clock if they weren't going to do something with them?

Why did Geoff Johns bother bringing back the original Wally West in DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH #1 if DC was going to wind up treating him the way they have?

[king81992]

Why did Geoff Johns bother bringing back the original Wally West in DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH #1 if DC was going to wind up treating him the way they have?

Original Wally only got brought back because of the backlash directed towards new Wally.At first I thought they did it to please alienated fans but then there were implications in Titans that original Wally's disappearance was connected to Dr. Manhattan's agenda. Then that angle was dropped. My guess is that Johns had different plans for original Wally but I'm guessing plans changed.

[kingaliencracker]

Well, DC just announced a Jimmy Olsen ongoing starting in June, so I guess we can put a lid on this rumor. If DC were going to significantly reduce their monthlies, Jimmy Olsen doesn't seem like a candidate who would get his own book.