DC's direction

[boltmonster]

What are your thoughts on possible directions DC can take to start 2021 with a good plan?

[Restingvoice]

They already have a timeline and already decided to not use real-time to age the characters, just clean that up a bit so it fits the publication chronology.

Moving forward... do what Rebirth did by starting the relaunch with the most popular heroes and expand slowly from there. Don't publish too many things at once. Most people can't afford it if they're still going for a shared universe and crossovers.

As for the content itself... make stories that make sense for the characters involved or make character development that makes sense. Don't force them to fit a role. People enjoy stories but the characters have lasted longer than random stories number whatever, so in this kind of publication, the character is more important.

Anything radical can be tested in Black Label or other lines before being applied to the mainline.

[Korath]

Honestly, I've lost hope in DC. They'l just push back more of the same stories with Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman without taking any risk anymore, as far as I can tell. That sucks a lot. Oh well, I guess it shows that comics are decidedly not my cup of tea.

[Vampire Savior]

DC should put focus on another Earth where people can see heroes grow old, see legacies permanently replace them, have some heroes die and never return, make Superman Val Zod, or whatever. The point would be to subvert a lot of the tropes that mainstream super hero comics have accumulated, like heroes coming back from the dead, heroes getting rebooted, having them never age, and so on. Readers wouldn't know what to expect. Furthermore, if DC is going to have a multiverse, they should make decent use of it. I think people would get invested in it if the stories are good.

[Factor]

I hope they do focus on new digital content and make it cheaper than print. $4 just doesn't make sense for 20 pages of entertainment and the digital market is already crowded with other more popular media streaming and games.
As for print, they should move to the digest format across the board. Publish fewer but longer 100 page books that actually offer value for money.

In my head, both these initiatives would be linked. The new content would be published weekly in digital and collected the next month in the print digests, 4 issues at a time. Better yet, have the first three chapters of a story released the weeks before the print publication and release the last chapter at the same time as print. This way both mediums would get the complete story concurrently.
And the digital series would rotate in a seasonal model so there'd always be a weekly "Batman" book, but the characters' series like Batman, Detective Comics, Batman & Robin etc would all alternate and be published as part of the same print digest.

This would obviously be a big shift in DC's publishing model and require tons of planning to have entire arcs be completed before launch, but I think it would help make both digital and print more attractive.

Digital would have fresh new content at a cheaper price (and DC could even offer subscriptions to current series).
And print would get bigger books with fuller stories, (similar to mangas), making them more attractive to new readers.

I'd have around 12 or 13 digest series:
Batman (Batman, 'Tec, Batman & Robin, Batman minis)
Gotham Knights (GK team book, Batwoman, Batgirl, Catwoman or Red Hood)
Wonder Woman (Wonder Woman, Sensation Comics, Nubia, female JL etc)
Superman (Superman, Action, Man of Tomorrow etc)
Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan, John Stewart, GLC, Far Sector)
Showcase (Flash, Aquaman, Hawkman etc)
Titans (Titans, Nightwing, TT, Doom Patrol)
Adventure Comics (Legion and non-GL cosmic stories)
More Fun Comics (Shazam, Wonder Twins, a new Super Friends, Booster Gold)
DC Dark (JLDark, Swamp Thing, Animal Man etc)
DC Edge (Green Arrow, BoP, Outsiders, Checkmate)
Harley Quinn (Harley, Suicide Squad, Gotham City Sirens)

[sifighter]

I guess if I had anything to say it’s just clear up continuity and history and stay off it for a while. See I get that we have to do it currently as the new 52 changed a whole lot of stuff and removed a lot of what people liked, personally I’m one of those people who are glad to have Young Justice and the JSA back, but eventually we need stability.

After Death Metal, we need fewer to no stories about continuity and time being broken and loved ones and friends missing. I don’t care what stories we do, as these characters have been around longer since I’ve been alive, but we need solid ground for at least a little while that we can hang our hats on. I mean try explaining the past decade of Superman comics to a non comic reading person, from pre-flashpoint to new 52 to convergence to Rebirth and Superman Reborn, you will sound crazy. Just put out one big guidebook or even a miniseries like Generations was going to be and tell us what all happened and stay away from timeline/reality changes for at least 5 years.

[Lee]

As for print, they should move to the digest format across the board.

That would limit would could be done. No 9 panel grids, fewer words on each page. These comics will end up getting published as full sized graphic novels after serialisation, where they will have a longer shelf life. They shouldn't have to accomodate small page dimensions just for the sake of serialisation. (Tablets are bigger than digests too.)

[Godlike13]

They need to overhaul their creative staff.

[superduperman]

DC, and comics in general, need to expand beyond the DM. They will not survive if they don't.

An Ultimates line. What New 52 should have been. A hard start-from-scratch reboot aimed at new readers and available in places other than comic shops. Everyone starts at zero. Depending on how well it does, with the possibility of phasing out the old continuity and replacing it.

A widely expanded kid's line. Not comics. Books. Push hard to get them into school libraries and book fairs.

More Black Label. Not just series but stand alone OGNs. Aimed at adults. These would be more aimed at the DM.

Movie and TV show tie in comics. I don't know why they don't do these. When Superman and Lois comes out, put out a side comic that follows the adventures in between episodes. When a new movie comes out, release a comic about what happened in between films. And put them in places other than comic shops. This could be digital first and see how it does. Since the success of these things often depends on how well the show or movie does. You could include a digital code with other merchandise that would allow you to access the comic.

Give Superman a carved in stone definitive origin and then LEAVE IT ALONE! Move forward at that point.

[Factor]

That would limit would could be done. No 9 panel grids, fewer words on each page. These comics will end up getting published as full sized graphic novels after serialisation, where they will have a longer shelf life. They shouldn't have to accomodate small page dimensions just for the sake of serialisation. (Tablets are bigger than digests too.)

They could use the DC Giants format, or maybe reduce the size to the same as a tablet. My idea is that each print issue would collect 4 20 page digital comics. The size of the printed book isn't the biggest factor here.