Layoffs at DC?

[Username taken]

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dc-c...ses-to-follow/

Looks like we'll get official word soon

Hopefully, because its a pretty scary time.

I feel so sorry for the guys that lost their jobs though.

[Ascended]

I think most know this.

I also think we know the following characters are safe: Bruce Wayne, Richard Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Diana - princess of the Amazons and etcetera.

I think most of us are worried that this streamlining of business will streamline some of our favorite characters into comic book limbo...or maybe worse.

The core League is obviously safe, nobody is losing a solo there. Suicide Squad is likely safe, as is Teen Titans. Guys like Hawkman and the Outsiders are probably already dead in the water, those books are almost certainly going to be culled. I'm curious about the solo books for legacies though; there's no way characters like Nightwing, Supergirl, or Batgirl are removed completely....but they might lose their solo books and be exiled to team titles only.

It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. Back when DC left Diamond there was a big thread where we were all having a discussion similar to this one, and not to brag, but I did call something like this change in focus happening (#humblebrags) but damn if I didn't think it would be part of a corporate-wide implosion. I really thought those guys would weather the storm better and not need to take such drastic action across the board.

And let's put this cancel culture/bigotry discussion away, huh guys? This isn't the place for it. What's happening right now has nothing to do with comicsgate or anything like that, it's happening because of the economic collapse. Let's look at it this way; with the floppies being culled and focusing only on the Big Name characters and effort being put into digital and OGN's, we now know where to find the characters you want. For Batman and Wonder Woman, you'll be going to your LCS. For Naomi season 2 you'll go to your bookstore. For Blue Beetle, you'll be grabbing your tablet and downloading it (just examples here folks, don't take that literally, I have no idea where Naomi and Jaime will end up). There. Let's stop accusing each other of being awful people, yeah?

[skyvolt2000]

This is not a discussion im willing to have with you. Particularly from the angle you're approaching this situation.

Ignore button is your BEST friend......


Now lets hear from someone who actually WORKS in the industry
https://twitter.com/KurtBusiek/statu...40830346448897
Kurt Busiek

The world of things you’re interested in is affected by the larger world, and if you only look at the stuff you’re interested in as if it exists in a vacuum, you won’t understand why things happen in it.

DC was hit by a devastating wave of layoffs yesterday, and there are people now trying to blame it on the fact that they don’t like the comics, or even on a variant cover that I don’t think has come out yet.

But the layoffs at DC were only part of a larger wave of layoffs...

…that hit Warner Bros. and HBO, because of issues that happened on a level that had nothing to do with DC Comics.

It had far more to do with people not going to the movies during a pandemic, billions of dollars in lost revenues, and the HBO Max rollout being a major stumble.

Much like the Marvel bankruptcy of the 90s had nothing to do with the then-very-profitable Marvel line, but with corporate debt being piled on the company by its owners, who were leveraging it to buy other companies they shouldn’t have bought.

The upshot of all this is — if you’re trying to analyze a big thing, you have to look at the big picture, not try to take one piece of it and find the answers within that one piece.

[Username taken]

Ignore button is your BEST friend......


Now lets hear from someone who actually WORKS in the industry
https://twitter.com/KurtBusiek/statu...40830346448897
Kurt Busiek

I did wonder about the AT&T merger and their debt.

This is the same sort of crap that nearly killed Marvel and what killed Toys R Us (besides dumb business decisions).

It’s been going on in newsprint silently and people are only just finding out about that now.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

WB laid off workers across the board, idk why people think this strictly comic related

[cranger]

WB laid off workers across the board, idk why people think this strictly comic related

People want drama in their hobbies.

[Hypo]

The Beat: DC’s new “eSports” publisher, Pam Lifford’s plans and more fallout from Bloodbath Monday

Black Label is likely being phased out. The removal of editors Mark Doyle and Andy Khouri who headed up DC’s mature label effort is a big flashing arrow at that conclusion. Announced projects such as the highly promoted Rorshach mini series by Tom King and Jorge Fornes will continue, and Black Label will remain a “label” for collected editions. However WM’s President, Global Brands, Franchises, and Experiences Pam Lifford, who oversees DC, is said to dislike the more mature approach to comics. And no this isn’t just because of Batman’s full frontal back in the day.

And of course the biggest question of all…what does Pam Lifford want? I’m told the decisions on how to reshape DC were all hers to make. And the book on Lifford is that she’s more of a toy/licensing person than a publishing person. All of her most significant moves to date have been regarding branding of the characters with an eye to pajamas, lunch boxes and so on. Will John Stankey, Jason Killar and Ann Sarnoff continue to see comic books as very cheap R&D and keep the comics line healthy?

Or will they just license out the DC characters to IDW, Dark Horse and Boom for publishing?

[Holt]

The Beat: DC’s new “eSports” publisher, Pam Lifford’s plans and more fallout from Bloodbath Monday

Eerily similar to the proposed Marvel merger in the 80s. The WB top brass were only interested in the bigger fish like adaptations and merchandise and wanted to license the actual comic production of DC's characters to Marvel.

Wonder if they'd try the same for someone like Boom or IDW (since Marvel is obviously out of the question).

[skyvolt2000]

Eerily similar to the proposed Marvel merger in the 80s. The WB top brass were only interested in the bigger fish like adaptations and merchandise and wanted to license the actual comic production of DC's characters to Marvel.

Wonder if they'd try the same for someone like Boom or IDW (since Marvel is obviously out of the question).

Don't forget Oni Press & Dark Horse as well.

I would think if they were going to license stuff out IDW or Dark Horse. I think it would depend on what other deals those companies have.
What I mean is who can get me into places that I am not in now? Like schools? Libraries? Overseas? Other stores?

Is it easier to deal with those places via IDW or Boom versus DC doing it themselves. Does DC have a deal with Scholastic like Boom and Lion Forge have?


Also you have to look at orders from comic book stores and who gets a book.

Take Batman & Outsiders-put them at IDW-that is probably a top 10 seller for IDW or Dark Horse.
Batman-will a IDW Batman title even SNIFF 90K? Or will it SNIFF 40K and need to get extra printing every month?

[M L A]

Bunch of layoffs is expected with a merger and an economic downturn accelerated by a pandemic, but I remember when Didio was let go and most people were too busy celebrating to read beyond the words "Didio is gone" to see that AT&T was working on "moving its focus towards brands and franchises" and one reason he was let go was because he was a "traditionalist" who tried to accommodate the direct market, which AT&T obviously isn't interested in anymore.

[kingaliencracker]

It looks like Jim Lee is staying put...

https://www.comicbookmovie.com/justi...7450#gs.d756h8

[kingaliencracker]

Bunch of layoffs is expected with a merger and an economic downturn accelerated by a pandemic, but I remember when Didio was let go and most people were too busy celebrating to read beyond the words "Didio is gone" to see that AT&T was working on "moving its focus towards brands and franchises" and one reason he was let go was because he was a "traditionalist" who tried to accommodate the direct market, which AT&T obviously isn't interested in anymore.

I think people actually talked about that in pretty good detail when Didio was fired. We predicted it was signaling the end of monthly periodicals and the direct market model.

[Holt]

I think people actually talked about that in pretty good detail when Didio was fired. We predicted it was signaling the end of monthly periodicals and the direct market model.

Which the writing had also been on the wall about for a while. The Walmart push, the increased focus on digital, the big push for the YA graphic novels...

It was clear for a while but some fans were in major denial.

[Frontier]

The Beat: DC’s new “eSports” publisher, Pam Lifford’s plans and more fallout from Bloodbath Monday

"is said to dislike the more mature approach to comics."

I find this concerning. Really doesn't seem good for the comics side...

[skyvolt2000]

I did wonder about the AT&T merger and their debt.

This is the same sort of crap that nearly killed Marvel and what killed Toys R Us (besides dumb business decisions).

It’s been going on in newsprint silently and people are only just finding out about that now.

It's killing Sears now. Remember they bought K-Mart.
K-Mart-who I think months or years before that sale closed up a lot of stores.
The nearest K-Mart to me is 3 hours away and 95% of the stuff I could order online from them-WON'T SHIP to my house.

I think people actually talked about that in pretty good detail when Didio was fired. We predicted it was signaling the end of monthly periodicals and the direct market model.

It was going to happen.

This model does not benefit EVERYONE. You can't keep excluding folks because they don't care for this or that type of book. And you are restricted to one place for business.
Yes Batman and Spidey flourish in it but everyone else does not.

Yet when you look beyond it-Not only does Batman but EVERYONE flourish outside of it.

Who do you go with? What compromise do you make?

Batman and family stay as floppies.
JSA and Vixen got OGN
Jaime does digital first and OGN later.
Does every floppy arc need a trade? Lets help the value of those comics and hold off on a trade after every arc.