DC's Dan DiDio Out as Co-Publisher

[Restingvoice]

A lot of people have reacted so far. But suspiciously absent reactions? Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, and Bob Harras have't said a word. Or Bendis for that matter.

Bendis already commented now. 45 minutes ago

[kingaliencracker]

Okay... What I'm going to say here is not gonna sound like something I usually do (mostly).

Dan Didio did a lot of good things. He kept DC afloat at times when DC had no business being afloat. Under his tenure some of my fav characters were created.

I interviewed him once, face to face, and I could say that he was really, really passionate about what he was doing, at least.

I do not agree with his vision of the DCU. I can't say he will be missed, as his biases really screwed things up for me.

But he did his best, and for that, he gets my respect.

Good leaders surround themselves with smart, capable people, empower those people to make decisions get all the credit when things go well, and takes all the responsibility him/herself when things don't go well.

To Didio's credit, he definitely took responsibility when things didn't go well and wasn't afraid to change course when something wasn't working. But where I feel he failed was surrounding himself with smart people & empowering them.

[Serving Size]

5G is a perfect example of creators being bankrupt of ideas and blaming the characters for poor sales.

There is a place for diverse characters in comics. But I don't know of many current fans that want to see someone other than Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne as Superman and Batman, respectively.

Then again, maybe that makes those current fans part of the bigger problem with the industry as a whole...?

What was the last new character in comics that made a real impact on the wider culture? That would be Deadpool via his Fox movies.

[kingaliencracker]

Bendis already commented now. 45 minutes ago

Fair enough. What did he say out of curiosity?

[Buried Alien]

The last time Dan Didio was not affiliated with DC Comics, 9/11 had just happened, George W. Bush was President, and only four STAR WARS movies had been released. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., were still years in the future.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[kingaliencracker]

What was the last new character in comics that made a real impact on the wider culture? That would be Deadpool via his Fox movies.

Harley Quinn (BoP's flopping notwithstanding)?

Miles Morales?

I mean it's not a long list. To be fair, the mass public only became highly interested in super heroes with the MCU, which started just 12 years ago. Disney/Marvel has barely tapped the plethora of characters and stories in Marvel's library. And Warner Media even less so with DC's library.

[Digifiend]

The plot thickens. DC completely no-showed ComicsPRO yesterday, and the two execs there today made a swift exit when the news broke. And they found out when we did!
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/02...ro-big-change/
https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/...hange/fic1el0/

[Bruce Wayne]

The plot thickens. DC completely no-showed ComicsPRO yesterday, and the two execs there today made a swift exit when the news broke. And they found out when we did!
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/02...ro-big-change/
https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/...hange/fic1el0/

That doesn't look good for if higher ups really got rid of him so that they can get more tv writers to write comics. DC tried that approach post-Infinite Crisis and that didn't pan out well. It does somewhat agree with IGN's claim that he got fired because they wanted more brand synergy.

[Restingvoice]

Fair enough. What did he say out of curiosity?

"Dan DiDio kept EVERY crazy promise me made me. we met each other 2 yrs ago during the madness of my near-death experience. he used it as a reason to make a lot of my personal dreams, big and small, come true. A lot of you specifically LOVE the #wondercomics imprint. that was dan"

Scott Snyder hasn't commented but he's on a boat in Hawaii 4 hours ago lol

Ah. Speaking of Didio's reign... forgot to mention that the first time I was attracted to DC Comics again post-Hush was the whole Infinite Crisis event that covers many titles. It was the first time I found out about DC shared universe in comics and what really hyped me to get into it, the fact that these comics are interconnected.

Of course, I got disappointed later on by the fact that it's not that connected, and the writers like to go off on their own making things inconsistent, but that first moment when I knew nothing I was really interested with the concept.

[dornwolf]

That doesn't look good for if higher ups really got rid of him so that they can get more tv writers to write comics. DC tried that approach post-Infinite Crisis and that didn't pan out well. It does somewhat agree with IGN's claim that he got fired because they wanted more brand synergy.

Bit of a weird hill to stake your career on. One of the leading 5G theories was that they were going to be looking past the current crop of writers and drawing from outside the industry. At least with Batman anyway. As for synergy, I don't really know what they mean by that tieing things to movies has never worked so I hope that's not what they mean.

[Ulysses]

My predictions.

No, Bendis is not getting a promotion. He is gonna get his titles cut back if anything. Remember that getting Bendis to turn coat was Didio's big gamble. It failed. This is likely one of the factors that got Didio canned.

5G will continue uninterrupted. It was never going to be more than a 6 month thing anyway. Nothing much will change at DC until then. The restructuring will occur while 5G is happening.

There will be no new publisher replacing Didio for several months. DC will be managed by some sort of corporate entity while they scout for a new publisher.

After 5G we will get a "return to archetype" type of event. We will see a return to a mythic standard of storytelling. DC will get tightened up, characters will be expected to stay on brand. Stories will be expected to be of mythic appeal.

So it will take 6-12 months but DC will start cleaning up its own room. No more of the Wally is a mass murderer business and killing off Alfred nonsense. No more Superman loses his secret identity and Lois may or may not be cheating on him or whatever the **** is going on over in the Superman books. We will see a return to what makes superhero stories great and that's heroes on an adventure. Joseph Campbell type ****. This will start with a solid focus on DC's core character roster.

[Citizen Kane]

After 5G we will get a "return to archetype" type of event. We will see a return to a mythic standard of storytelling. DC will get tightened up, characters will be expected to stay on brand. Stories will be expected to be of mythic appeal.

So it will take 6-12 months but DC will start cleaning up its own room. No more of the Wally is a mass murderer business and killing off Alfred nonsense. No more Superman loses his secret identity and Lois may or may not be cheating on him or whatever the **** is going on over in the Superman books. We will see a return to what makes superhero stories great and that's heroes on an adventure. Joseph Campbell type ****.

Damn, that makes me excited! Minus the 5G part.

[Bruce Wayne]

There will be no new publisher replacing Didio for several months. DC will be managed by some sort of corporate entity while they scout for a new publisher.

Jim Lee is still co-publisher though.

[sifighter]

Bit of a weird hill to stake your career on. One of the leading 5G theories was that they were going to be looking past the current crop of writers and drawing from outside the industry. At least with Batman anyway. As for synergy, I don't really know what they mean by that tieing things to movies has never worked so I hope that's not what they mean.

Yeah that’s what confuses me as well. I see marvel doing it but that’s because they want to have their characters look like their successful movie counterparts which I can understand to an extent. However, like you pointed out that’s not really gonna work in most cases, maybe Aquaman, Shazam, Wonder Woman, and Harley but that’s like four characters out of a universe.

Unless of course they are referring to the Arrowverse and Animated Universes, though if anything I’d think animated synergy is more likely this it’s been around longer and is generally more enjoyed by the public and the fans of the comics. I mean it’s slightly already happening with Batman Beyond so it’s not that much of a stretch of the imagination

[Tzigone]

I mean it's not a long list. To be fair, the mass public only became highly interested in super heroes with the MCU, which started just 12 years ago.

I kinda think going subscription model may have been a bad long-term decision in hind-sight. I don't know if they'd have survived otherwise, but it kept comics from being really easily accessed by every kid in the nation (US). Those are the ones that almost anyone knows. I mean, a sitcom could reference the Batmobile or Kryptonite and everyone knew what it meant. Now, certainly a more immigrant population that didn't grow up on it has an impact there, too. And really, those are still two really big IPs (even if Superman isn't selling, people - at least the older ones - know who he is). I do think appealing to kids again is probably a good idea. I don't want to go back the silver-age for the most part, but I do like the idea of stories that can appeal to children as well as adults. But kids need easy access, and I'm not sure the best route for that. I did think in-store Walmart OGNs and TPBs would be a good way to go, but those needed to be stories with mass appeal and kid-friendliness (heck, I want less grimdark and less constant character angst and more moral and good heroes and I'm not a kid). Also, stories taking a year or more to complete is a problem in a comics these days (has been for decades). I can enjoy binge-reading them, but many are ill-suited to the format they are originally introduced in to me and lose momentum in a month-to-month format. And it also kinda sucks because if you are not impressed by a particular story, you might as well drop the subscription or skip the title for the next six months. And it makes accessibility difficult - someone can't pick up a comic and read a story. Now, I got into comics in this era (1990s), so new fans can totally join in, but probably not as easily. I'm a personality type that gets into minutia and timelining and continuity and such for almost every show I watch. Not so much appeal for the casual fans comics used to have.

I will say the general perception is certainly wider than the "just for kids and geeks" reputation comic books had when I was younger.

Though I do agree with someone upthread that the end of monthly periodicals may be near. We are more and more in instant gratification, and have shorter attention spans. I really think shorter stories - a story in 1 to 4 issues - might make people more tempted to check out single issues (if they were available). This is especially important for younger readers. But even that might well not be enough. Sometimes certain media just get replaced. And comics haven't been really mainstream for a long time. I mean, I'm nearly 40 and until I was 12ish, I dont' think I'd ever seen a comic book in real life.