Layoffs at DC?

[Myskin]

They also took lesser disney heroes like april, may and june duck and others and expanded on them and created new ones that have ended up in american comics and even the cartoons. The stories were even reprinted here later.

They even had many of the comic only disney stars show up in this show intro. How many can you name?

Well... All of them
The only one I can't recognize is the red bird with a captain hat, but I think that it was created for this intro. He doesn't look like a character from the books.
Most, if not all of the "new" characters in the opening were created by Romano Scarpa, who is - more or less - Floyd Gottfredson's/Carl Bark's heir together with Don Rosa, and probably the most influential Disney artist/writer in Italy. He created literally dozens of characters which are still used nowadays.

I am focusing mostly on Italian Disney because it's the company I know the best, and I am pretty sure that there are similar examples around the world which I don't know that well, or I don't know at all. However, I seriously think that it could be one of the most successful, if not THE most successful comic book company I have ever seen in terms of creative use of pre-existing characters. Since the 1960s they have published literally thousands of stories, and they have worked on these characters for such a long time that they successfully expanded the Disney universe in every possible creative direction. There have been stories about EVERYTHING. There are stories about Donald's superhero identity, stories about secondary characters like Gyro Gearloose and stories about super-secondary characters like Gyro Gearloose's uncouth neighbor. There have been cyberpunk stories about Mickey, hard sci-fi stories about Donald, hardboiled Mickey adventures, vintage stories (taking place in the 1930s) about Goofy and even Sex and the City-style stories about the duck girls from Duckburg. Continuity is VERY loose, but the quality has generally been very high (with some drops here and there). I am somehow sorry that right now I am too old to enjoy this stuff as much as when I was a kid
Some badass Mickey/Donald images:
https://www.fumetto-online.it/ew/ew_...K-GIANT047.jpg
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1DySMxc5AL.jpg
https://www.dcleaguers.it/wp-content...over_mm-03.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4p2S_aWIAACgZi.jpg

[manwhohaseverything]

Considering some of the stuff DC has published like Hitman and Preacher, the odds might be higher than you think, but generally, no I wouldn't expect something like a Japanese manga where Batman is buying women's panties out of a vending machine or something. I don't know if that *really* happens in Japan but it's not something Americans would be comfortable with. But that shouldn't matter, and maybe DC agrees.

Thanks for providing a vivid image of pervy batman-roshi. I always wanted batman bald. Btw, we already have mr.batman, supergoku and son jon.

Since, it's darknights metal. It's very apt that we might have batthemed international heroes.

[HsssH]

That Great Twenty list doesn't make sense either - the four Justice League of China members would definitely not merge with the Great Ten or align with the government - by the time their book was cancelled, they'd recruited an Aquaman analogue - from North Korea. That page from Doomsday Clock contradicts New Super-Man and the Justice League of China's final arc.

Maybe Johns didn't like the "Justice League of China" name and just threw all China related heroes that he knew into one big group without thinking much about it.

[Konja7]

"We want to partner with creatives in various territories and unlock stories that feel authentic to their marketplaces with characters that they can embrace as their own"

Yeah that sounds like they wanna do the European Scrooge McDuck universe type where the characters' the same but because people like different characters there they focus on that and do their own interpretation instead of the American version

Apparently in the US Mickey is very much a kid symbol and the only badass thing he does is in Kingdom Hearts, but in Europe, he's a detective with a gun. Like that.

So maybe if they license them to Shonen Jump they'll make a Robins and Super Sons manga. Still located in Gotham City, but with local humor... and maybe more Ramen shops and Japanese civilians because I notice when Japan makes something and set it elsewhere they like to put some Japanese products or characters in it.

Yeah. They will need to consider the tastes in other countries.

In general, manga seems to have young protagonists even in stories for adult audience. Even older protagonists (that aren't so common) are hardly older than 30 years old.

It will be difficult for the Justice League in Japan.

[Aahz]

"We want to partner with creatives in various territories and unlock stories that feel authentic to their marketplaces with characters that they can embrace as their own"

Yeah that sounds like they wanna do the European Scrooge McDuck universe type where the characters' the same but because people like different characters there they focus on that and do their own interpretation instead of the American version

Apparently in the US Mickey is very much a kid symbol and the only badass thing he does is in Kingdom Hearts, but in Europe, he's a detective with a gun. Like that.

But if they would want to tap into that market I don't think they would need local creators, they need to make kid friendly comics at a better price point.

In my country these Disney comics are basically sold in two formats, as an Trade Paperback with roughly 250 Pages (in A5) for 7€ and as a magazine for 4€ with roughly 50 Pages (in A4) that's usually also contains some kind of little toy or something similar.

The market share for the type of comics DC usually makes from local creators is in Europe probably not really bigger then the market share American comics already have.

[Restingvoice]

Yeah. They will need to consider the tastes in other countries.

In general, the manga seems to have young protagonists even in stories for adult audiences. Even older protagonists (that aren't so common) are hardly older than 30 years old.

It will be difficult for the Justice League in Japan.

Maybe that's why in the Justice League manga they use the New 52 version since they're younger

But if they would want to tap into that market I don't think they would need local creators, they need to make kid-friendly comics at a better price point.

In my country, these Disney comics are basically sold in two formats, as a Trade Paperback with roughly 250 Pages (in A5) for 7€ and as a magazine for 4€ with roughly 50 Pages (in A4) that's usually also contains some kind of little toy or something similar.

The market share for the type of comics DC usually makes from local creators in Europe probably not really bigger than the market share American comics already have.

The local creators are to make sure they get local tastes right. Kid-friendly books will sell to kids, just like how Teen Titans cartoon sell well in Indonesia, but if they already cover that market, maybe they want to expand to older fans too.

Not to mention that some of DC freelancers are already from those countries. Using Indonesia example again, Sami Basri and Yasmin Putri. When people found out that Ardian Syaf was drawing Batgirl New 52 relaunch, he got to the local news multiple times. So the local creators can be celebrities to draw the general public.

Some fans would still prefer the authentic American experience though, there are people like that, but that makes up the importers, not the general public.

[seusilva]

Here in Brasil the italian Disney comics are waaay more famous than american ones (besides Carl Barks and Don Rosa). Tons of reprints and lots of adventures, superhero stories and detective tales. We have our own version of some Disney minor characters too, some of them with amazing weird and fun comics, the most famous one being Zé Carioca.

Regional DC can work but only if they use some local creators. Stereotypical and boring stories would bring rage and lots of complaining.

[Gotham citizen]

[…]
Apparently in the US Mickey is very much a kid symbol and the only badass thing he does is in Kingdom Hearts, but in Europe, he's a detective with a gun. Like that.
[…]

Whit a tommygun please; or is it a shotgun?

[Restingvoice]

Whit a tommygun please; or is it a shotgun?

Shotgun looks like. It has that click-clack reload thing (can you tell I never learn a gun ^^)
Tommy gun has that ammo cylinder
I usually only see him with a handgun but I stopped buying after elementary school

[Gaastra]

Well... All of them
The only one I can't recognize is the red bird with a captain hat, but I think that it was created for this intro. He doesn't look like a character from the books.

Nope he was from the comics. Also carl barks and others while were making "family" comics made comics for all ages and not just kids. Adults read these comics more then kids in some places!

Family comics does not mean it can't have good stories adults can enjoy. Look at jeff smith's bone book.

Marvel has comics based on spider-man and hulk made and redone for other countries also and uk got the uk heroes like death's head and union jack. America would reprint these later and add them to the main universe and the uk transformers stories are mixed between the american comics stories.

And Donald is here secretly a Superhero.

And here is his sidekick!

[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

And no that's not daisy!

[The Overlord]

Kind of a lot of doom and gloom on the chances of regional anything DC is what I'm getting here.

I do not think the characters are the problem, we saw comic book movies, TV series and video games succeed in other countries and feature the same characters as the comics.

I think the reason Manga does better than comics in other countries is that the stories are more self-contained than the Marvel or DC Universes. The problem with American comics isn't the characters, its the story format has become dated.

[Vakanai]

Yeah. They will need to consider the tastes in other countries.

In general, manga seems to have young protagonists even in stories for adult audience. Even older protagonists (that aren't so common) are hardly older than 30 years old.

It will be difficult for the Justice League in Japan.

Just make the Justice League younger in Japan. Part of adapting to the audience.

[Vakanai]

I do not think the characters are the problem, we saw comic book movies, TV series and video games succeed in other countries and feature the same characters as the comics.

I think the reason Manga does better than comics in other countries is that the stories are more self-contained than the Marvel or DC Universes. The problem with American comics isn't the characters, its the story format has become dated.

See, that's the doom and gloom I'm talking about - manga is more popular, so? DC doesn't have to be as popular as manga, doesn't have to dominate over manga, DC just needs a wider fanbase than it has now and be profitable. Why does manga being more popular mean all that much? If you can't be on the top don't bother?

Besides, with the push into OGN and YA markets DC has shown it's transitioning to a lot more self contained stories free of old continuity, so the story format won't be the dated one.

[superduperman]

When I was a senior in high school, we hosted a German foreign exchange student and apparently Donald Duck is VERY popular over there.

[Tony]

I read Donald duck comics sell in the hundreds of thousands in Europe, not sure about now but back when I read it it was a much bigger number than marvel or dc sales.