Make DC better

[boltmonster]

With everything out of wack... schedules, books, creative teams, editorial... How would you fix DC's problems?

[lemonpeace]

the suggestion I hear often is a complete overhaul of the leadership at DC, since it seems like the people in charge have consistently been either wishy washy, asleep at the wheel or both and having to do damage control. We need people in charge who are actually in-touch with contemporary storytelling culture (which stories to tell, what story needs to be told, how to best tell those stories and get them out there) and won't be so reactionary

[Flash Gordon]

Just let Grant Morrison and Cecil Castellucci write everything.

[Ulysses]

Hire great writers and artists, stay out of their way except for keeping them on time.

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[Vampire Savior]

Hire great writers and artists, stay out of their way except for keeping them on time.

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This type of thing sounds good, but it isn't always the way to go, especially with long running characters those writers and artists didn't create. This is how you wind up with things like Punisher being some kind of avenging angel and fighting demons.

Rather, I think it would be perhaps more crucial to get very competent editors. When you have strong editorial staff, you tend to get good quality comics. My personal favorite editor was Jim Shooter. Creators may have had problems with him, but Marvel was quite arguably at their best under his watch, and it had a lot to do with him specifically. I don't think there is anyone I actually respect in comics more than Shooter, actually.

Editorially, DC doesn't seem particularly competent at the moment. Jim Lee doesn't have a good eye for what makes really good stories or characters, and outside of Batman, he doesn't even seem like a creator who really fits the DC Universe very well, so it's a little weird to me that he's at the top. As for Dan DiDio, he's too caught up in his personal preferences, which are weird and divisive. I also believe their efforts at reaching new audiences aren't bold enough.

[Restingvoice]

My answer's the same as the other threads. Even though there are, right now, 3-4 big writers that determine the trajectory of the universe, don't ignore the others, because the impression I got was a very unbalanced job where the top dogs steer and the lesser writers have to follow regardless of what idea they have at the time, as ordered by the management.

This type of storytelling would be fine if you like the prioritized books, but if you only like the smaller books that are connected to the big ones by event, it gets annoying having outside forces you suddenly change the direction of the story.

At least if you want to change the status quo in my book it should be done by the author of that book, not by the author of another book, enforced by management.

This kind of management forces people to read the big book first and trickle down to the others if they have extra money if they don't want outside interruption.

[KangMiRae]

We end all books and replace them with Batman books. Instant sales!

[comicstar100]

Just like they did for the start of Rebirth have Geoff Johns as essentially a creative consultant. Pull Johns off all writing duty for any monthly title since he appears to be too busy to meet deadlines. Everyone pitches ideas to him and they map out where the book fits in the overall DC universe. They do this with him every 90 days or so and Didio and Lee make sure these outlines are followed. If your idea does not fit in the main outline it is a black label book, no exceptions. In short have a plan for the main line of the books that make up the DC Universe and execute it without delays that kill all momentum and allow guys like Bendis to run wild.

[KangMiRae]

Just like they did for the start of Rebirth have Geoff Johns as essentially a creative consultant. Pull Johns off all writing duty for any monthly title since he appears to be too busy to meet deadlines. Everyone pitches ideas to him and they map out where the book fits in the overall DC universe. They do this with him every 90 days or so and Didio and Lee make sure these outlines are followed. If your idea does not fit in the main outline it is a black label book, no exceptions. In short have a plan for the main line of the books that make up the DC Universe and execute it without delays that kill all momentum and allow guys like Bendis to run wild.

Allowing Bendis to run wild will start a fire in, like, 4 of his 10 books.

[Starter Set]

Just let Grant Morrison and Cecil Castellucci write everything.

Now that's controversial.

[Sandy Hausler]

Just let Grant Morrison and Cecil Castellucci write everything.

Having Grant Morrison writing half of everything would definitely turn me off. While he's done some good stuff in his career, I haven't like most of his recent work.

[Godlike13]

the suggestion I hear often is a complete overhaul of the leadership at DC, since it seems like the people in charge have consistently been either wishy washy, asleep at the wheel or both and having to do damage control. We need people in charge who are actually in-touch with contemporary storytelling culture (which stories to tell, what story needs to be told, how to best tell those stories and get them out there) and won't be so reactionary

This is where im at.

[DCStu]

With everything out of wack... schedules, books, creative teams, editorial... How would you fix DC's problems?

Give them time and they'll fix it themselves. They always do eventually. This isn't the first time DC have gone through a rough period and it won't be the last. They've got to produce a lot of content in a limited time, they're not always going to get it 100% right.

[boltmonster]

Give them time and they'll fix it themselves. They always do eventually. This isn't the first time DC have gone through a rough period and it won't be the last. They've got to produce a lot of content in a limited time, they're not always going to get it 100% right.

Reduce the number of books to a level that does not interfere with the quality and common sense of the overall books.