What would you put in a DC Magazine?

[Jcogginsa]

A common suggestion that I see for how to fix the American Comics industry is to introduce the Magazine format that's used by Shonen Jump and other magazine companies.

The way the Magazine format works is that instead of selling single issues, new comics would be released together in a magazine, and once enough issues came out, they'd be collected together in Trades.

This format has a couple different strengths. For one, it makes catching up on series a much simpler process, since there are no relaunches or renumberings mucking things up. It also gives new characters and concepts an easier path to success, since they're not in competition with the rest of the line

But since all of the comics would be getting released in one Magazine, that in turn means that the line needs to contract, since the magazines need to be a reasonable size. So this thread will be a place to discuss what series should be in it. Shonen Jump currently publishes 20 regular series, so consider that to be the maximum number of series present in the magazine

In terms of continuity, consider this a new start. Not part of any existing continuity.

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[MajorHoy]

. . . The way the Magazine format works is that instead of selling single issues, new comics would be released together in a magazine, and once enough issues came out, they'd be collected together in Trades.

To someone who has no familiarity with manga, what you wrote makes no sense whatsoever. How is the "magazine" different from an issue of a comic book? Are you talking a format similar to the magazines published back in the 1970s, like Deadly Hands of Kung Fu?

[Jcogginsa]

To someone who has no familiarity with manga, what you wrote makes no sense whatsoever. How is the "magazine" different from an issue of a comic book? Are you talking a format similar to the magazines published back in the 1970s, like Deadly Hands of Kung Fu?

Basically, every week they put out an issue of the Magazine. Each issue contains a new chapter of several ongoing series.

Once a series in the magazine has enough chapters, those chapters are collected together in a trade

[MRP]

To someone who has no familiarity with manga, what you wrote makes no sense whatsoever. How is the "magazine" different from an issue of a comic book? Are you talking a format similar to the magazines published back in the 1970s, like Deadly Hands of Kung Fu?

Shonen Jump is published almost weekly (48 issues per year) and each issue is like a small phone book (in the neighborhood of 500 pages per issue) featuring installments of several series per week. Magazine is perhaps a misnomer in the way Americans in the west think of magazines, especially those related to comics. But it is a very different product than the Marvel mags distributed by Curtis Circulation in the 70s. It is more akin to Crossgen's Edge and Forge books, but those were only monthly and smaller than Shonen Jump.

-M

[MRP]

To answer the OP's query, if I were to do 20 series in a book like that...


1. Superman
2. Batman
3. Wonder Woman
4. Flash
5. Green Lantern
6. Justice League
7. New Teen Titans
8. Birds of Prey
9. Suicide Squad featuring Harley Quinn
10. Amethyst
11. Super Sons
12. Vixen
13. Legion of Super-Heroes
14. Zatanna/Justice League Dark
15. Aquaman
16. Green Arrow & Black Canary
17. Supergirl
18. Batwoman
19. Black Lightning
20. Shazam

but if I were going that route, I wouldn't do 1 magazine, I would do 2-3, 1 would be Detective Comics which focused on 20 or so Batman/street level heroes (including heroes like Green Arrow, the Question, and Black Lightning), 1 would be Action Comics, with Superman and things like Legion, Justice League, etc. and 1 would be Sensation Comics with Wonder Woman, the JSA, Vixen, Amethyst, etc. Still tightening the line and giving variety each week, but offering a more thematically focused product and giving retail partners more product to carry/sell.

However, periodicals of any sort are a dinosaur product in the mainstream American market, and if you are looking to create products to reach mainstream audiences of the 21st century, serialized periodicals of any sort, even Shonen Jump style magazines, aren't the answer.

-M

[Jcogginsa]

my picks

1. Superman
2. Batman
3. Wonder Woman
4. The Flash
5. Green Lantern
6. Teen Titans
7. Hellblazer
8. Swamp Thing
9. Booster Gold/Blue Beetle
10. Doom Patrol
11. Green Arrow
12. Aquaman
13. Plastic Man
14. Static
15. Suicide Squad
16. The Outsiders
17. Shazam
18. Original title
19. Original title
20. Legion of Superheroes

[John Venus]

I've seen some people argue that this model wouldn't work for the American comic book industry but I don't remember the specifics. What were the arguments against this format?

[Restingvoice]

I've seen some people argue that this model wouldn't work for the American comic book industry but I don't remember the specifics. What were the arguments against this format?

I don't know about their argument but my argument is Shonen Jump works because it's black and white so they can do it on a cheap newspaper. Using the same format for DC Comics will make it an Omnibus, with that price.

[krazijoe]

Alfred E Neuman.