The Didio thing...

[Ascended]

I agree with this, however I think the effort has been hamstrung by being too tied creatively to the established DC output. If the goal is to reach new demographics, then you need not only market channels that can reach those demographics, you also need products that appeal to them. The Walmart titles were e.g. stymied by the super-long-form tales they had to include. If I noted that an issue contained one part 3 of 7, one part 5 of 12, one part 6 of 6, and one self-contained tale, I'd likely look for something else.

Absolutely, agreed on all counts (not just the quoted part here, I just cut the rest to save space). I think what we're looking at is the industry un-learning what it knows. DC is slowly figuring out how to find those new readers beyond the direct market but apparently old habits die hard. Especially when the bulk of the company is still working under same systems and infrastructure they've had for decades and the established consumers are still the bulk of your revenue stream.

As I said, the business and moral part of it is irrelevant. It might not be right or optimal but it is what it is and nobody who can stop him is stopping him. And as you (rightfully) understand that nothing you say on the internet will change this, there is no real need to keep going round in circles about this.

We're discussing Didio's business decisions but the business part of it is irrelevant? Come on man. I've enjoyed bouncing this debate back and forth but yeah, we can be done with it.

[KC]

We're discussing Didio's business decisions but the business part of it is irrelevant? Come on man. I've enjoyed bouncing this debate back and forth but yeah, we can be done with it.

Yes because Didio has made decisions that are bad for business and nobody at DC has stopped him. For what it's worth, this back and forth has been interesting.

[Ascended]

Yes because Didio has made decisions that are bad for business and nobody at DC has stopped him. For what it's worth, this back and forth has been interesting.

Yeah I dont think we actually disagree on much, if anything, really. You're just more willing to accept the bad decisions than I am.

See, this is my bias. I take serious issue with it when people who should know better ignore what appears to be proven business practices. It means that either they know so much more than I do that they've circled around me completely, from bad business theory back around to good......or they're being allowed to ignore stuff I've spent years and a lot of money learning about, which is really uncool. And if they know more than me I want to know those things too, because I love this crap.

[Bruce Wayne]

Yes because Didio has made decisions that are bad for business and nobody at DC has stopped him.

Because the people with more authority than he does don't care about the publishing side whose profits are tiny. Merchandising and licensing for auxiliaries especially for movies and tv shows is where the real money is at.

[kjn]

I just opened up Under the Moon—A Catwoman Tale. On the secondary credits page, I count no less than twenty VPs: executive, senior, or just plain VPs.

Is it just me, or is that about fifteen or so too many? It almost seems like DC has more VPs than editors… Seven have "marketing" as one of their buzzwords, and then there is one with "content strategy" which sounds like marketing under another name.

[Ascended]

Art by committee.

Hell of a double edged sword.

[Tzigone]

Having watched the full video, I will agree with DiDio on one thing. He's right about Wally being written as an ******* after Crisis on Infinite Earths in his own comic by Mike Baron. The Wally that Baron wrote was NOT the Wally we had previously seen in comics at all. Baron recreated Wally as a self-centered jerk like DiDio says and didn't really become the fan favorite Wally until Mark Waid took over the comic years later. I don't know if Wally was "like Barry," but Wally became more of a recognizable DC character rather than a Marvel-wannabe.

I'll agree Wally was a jerk in early Post-Crisis, and I didn't like him. I haven't read later Flash, so have only seen him in crossovers, but he seemed fine later. I will say that, when he was young, Wally was a lot like Barry. Not identical, but both were smart/academic, responsible, had friends, etc. Which most heroes were then.

Wally did marry a reporter and have boy-girl twins, though. To be fair, Barry had never gotten around to actually having his twins (we just saw them in future, right?). And that's hardly all it takes to be like someone else.

Someone made the point that Wally didn't have his own book and once he was out of Flash's, he developed differently. I wasn't happy with Wally's early NTT self saying he didn't want to be a hero. He didn't make it happen in the Silver Age, but he loved being a hero. Some hate the way he was written there - I thought he was "meh" myself. Didn't like the depower-retirement. Loved some other NTT stuff, though, really. What I didn't like was his parents being made bad post-crisis. Hate good characters (even minor ones) going bad. Now we've had bad Allura, Zor-El, Jor-El, Thomas Wayne was cold, Hal's friction with previously friendly brother, etc. Then kill off Barry's mom in childhood. I'm not asking for all families to be happy all the time, but I'd rather more balance than this.

Also, Wally should definitely be given his own name. I'm not a fan of the mantle thing.

I only sort of agree. And, no I don't think it applies to Barry because when he was created, Jay Garrick wasn't part of his world. I can live with the kid-codenames (Robin, Kid Flash) being repeated even though I'd have preferred they weren't (loved Impulse having his own name). I'd have preferred Wally never use "Flash" but changing it now is just pissing off to many people and alienating fans. Central City Flash and Keystone Flash is how it should be now. But adults, in general, need their own mantles. Worked really well with Nightwing, IMO.

And I kinda preferred Golden Age heroes on another Earth.

While older version of Nightwing is my favorite character, my issue with Didio, from the little I know, is more the shock-value stories that don't actually add anything and often tarnish or destroy characters. Though he's hardly the only one to do that. But did I mention Steph is my second-favorite in and around the Bat-family (I preferred her as Spoiler, though).


I will acknowledge one thing, though: I don't care about what actually sells, unlike the professionals have to. I only care about what I like. I like history. But it has it's drawbacks. If you want a revolving audience (or a large new audience), history can be a detriment. Wikis help. I say this as someone who only started reading DC (with back issues) a few years ago.