Originally Posted by
Ascended
But that has nothing to do with what you were saying. You talked about how they were new characters who got big. And they did. Decades ago. New characters showing up *today* struggle a lot more. The point of contention here is the difference in the market since the 80's, and you're not addressing that.
The differences between mainline DC and Vertigo are many, and while many of Vertigo's classic titles are still trade sellers today, look at how the modern Vertigo imprint is doing. Again, you're using examples from decades ago, but the changes to the market make these comparisons moot.
The quality of New Age was easily on par with most of DC's titles, and above a whole lot of them. But New Age still sold poorly. So no, it's not the quality that made a difference there, otherwise most of those books would still be going. And saying that the line failed because it was riffing Marvel doesn't stand up either when both companies have been very successful when stealing from each other, from Marvel's early days right up to the modern era.
The quality *was* there. So was the marketing and high profile push. So yeah, I'm blaming the readers.
And what DC books right now are on the same level as Gaiman's Sandman? Or Ennis' Preacher? These are some of the most well crafted titles the company has ever made, so what exactly is DC pushing right now that equals them? If your argument is that "new/PoC characters have to be on the level as DC's greatest and most celebrated hits to be viable" then I'm pretty sure you're just proving my point, since a lot of other books can get away with much, much lower quality and still do fine.