Gossip: DC Comics, Abandoning Comic Shops and Comic Cons?

[kingaliencracker]

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/goss...nd-comic-cons/

[Holt]

From the article.

That the Warner Bros firings of yet more DC Comics senior staffers, and the subsequent fallout across the company is part of a series of measures that will include a switch away from month print comic books towards digital comic book serialisation of stories, then collected in trade paperback sized volumes, or larger, thicker, anthologies aimed at a general mass market, a bookstore market, the bookfair market, the likes of Amazon – and then comic book stores and the direct market almost as an afterthought.

That the content being published and publicised will be pulled back to characters and storylines that have a big multi-media presence, so we're basically talking Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Harley Quinn, and Suicide Squad.

Bleeding Cool named a number of redundancies made by Warner Bros in recent days as well as adding further details as to what was taking place at the publisher the day afterwards, later partially corroborated by Comics Beat. No other comics news source has reported further details as yet. This may be because DC Comics has not issued any official press release.

It is notable that the naming of the departure of the likes of Adam Philips, Director, Marketing Services and Stuart Schreck, Sales Manager with 47 years at DC Comics between them were the principal figures who dealt with the direct market of comic book retailers, which led to much lamenting from comic shop owners as a result.

The other thing to bear in mind is that is this were to happen, and that is still up in the air, it wouldn't be for some time. DC is publishing their February solicitations tomorrow, whatever the DC Omniverse thing is meant to kick off in March, with a big company-wide relaunch and the return of titles such as Harley Quinn. Another lead creator is meant to be taking over both Superman titles, just as Brian Bendis did. And Brian Bendis has a big event to follow as well – and then there are the greenlit Black Label books, the YA and Kids OGNs and much more -all this is baked into current DC Comics schedules, which have seen a number of titles such as Batgirl, Young Justice and Hawkman come to an end in recent weeks. So if this does happen – don't expect it any time soon. Just watch for the signs as the company starts to change gear.

Something more solid is the rumour at DC Comics have made the decision to no longer have a strong comic book presence at comic book conventions in the fashion they have before, any appearance will now be subsumed into Warner Bros presence. We have seen a move in that direction at New York Comic Con, but San Diego Comic-Con still had DC Comics doing the full month. Not any more, and the departure of Fletcher Chu-Fong as DC Events Director after 18 years is seen as further proof of that. Not that there are any conventions to appear at right now, but this is a decision made going forward.

Much of these decisions come down to the Warner Bros Burbank offices, and DC Comics having to justify the space the company uses with them – even as everyone is working from home. So comic books that would make a profit at other publishers, are in the red at DC Comics. Which might also mean that other publishers would be keen to license titles that DC Comics has no current interest in publishing right now, able to monetise them without Warner Bros overheads on the balance sheet. However, I understand from those who have made enquiries that the suggested price demanded by Warners for such a thing is too high for anyone in the direct market. If Warners have chosen not to publish a comic, and someone else thinks they can make a profit doing so, it would have to be an unachievable profit for Warners to agree, as things stand.

[Dark Falz]

Whether this rumor is true or not, I think this sort of thing is inevitable. Again, if true, I guess it took a pandemic, getting smashed in sales by scholastic comics, and putting people in charge who aren't sentimental to conventional comics accoutrements like floppies and comic stores for the company to finally make that big jump. If it isn't true now, it will likely be true sometime in the near future.

Personally, I think that's potentially good news for the company, because I think that's what should be done because it makes sense, but I don't know how adept DC would be in rather uncharted waters like that. They could either navigate them well, or totally sink, because a lot--possibly (probably) most--of their audience more or less likes things the way they are now (they largely hate digital and like comics shops), even if they may recognize there's something wrong with the system.

[Noodle]

It would be stupid to abandon comic cons. The cons pay them to be there, it's free publicity for upcoming books, and the writers/artists that work for them will be there anyway as they often run their own tables to make money. Even if they abandon shops or even go digital-only, you still need to promote what you're trying to sell.

[vasir12]

It would be stupid to abandon comic cons. The cons pay them to be there, it's free publicity for upcoming books, and the writers/artists that work for them will be there anyway as they often run their own tables to make money. Even if they abandon shops or even go digital-only, you still need to promote what you're trying to sell.

It is most definitely not free for them, as the company as to spend a lot to probably present, not to mention to cost of travel.

That's why so many sites were emphasizing how cost effective FanDome was.

[sifighter]

It is most definitely not free for them, as the company as to spend a lot to probably present, not to mention to cost of travel.

That's why so many sites were emphasizing how cost effective FanDome was.

I’m not sure if I expect less cons, it’s possible but I would still expect artists and writers to go, but I would definitely expect more FanDomes

[Holt]

Pulling out of the big cons makes a certain amount of sense. Let's be real, the overwhelming majority of people who attend SDCC or watch the live streams aren't doing it because they care about the comic panels. It's become a promotional event for more profitable mediums like movies, TV, anime and video games now. And of course a fun venue for people to show off their cosplay. Marvel and DC still have panels to promote upcoming comic books, but that's not what is getting people in the doors.

[skyvolt2000]

It is most definitely not free for them, as the company as to spend a lot to probably present, not to mention to cost of travel.

That's why so many sites were emphasizing how cost effective FanDome was.

Not everyone does online. You would lose them and that walk up money and networking.

Now there are ways to save money and still go to cons.

Since this is DC-who is owned by AT&T-the places that they go all have a CW network. Send them to those local cons. The ones who have new shows will be there anyway.

[charliehustle415]

Alright time to pack it up boys, it's over.

I'm kidding of course.

But the writing has been on the wall for a while now.

I bet the bean counters at ATT saw that physical comic retail sales did not make any impact on their numbers, so they surmised why continue to do it.

This is what happens when companies get bought by large corporations, luckily for Marvel Disney runs on nostalgia so they were a natural fit, but DC comics -> WB -> ATT makes no sense

[Holt]

I doubt Disney has any more affection for Marvel's comics than AT&T does WB; they're just shrewd enough to realize that the comics serve as valuable R&D that can be mined for future movies, TV shows, games and toys.

With AT&T I'm not sure if they see the value of DC outside of Batman.

[Noodle]

It is most definitely not free for them, as the company as to spend a lot to probably present, not to mention to cost of travel.

That's why so many sites were emphasizing how cost effective FanDome was.

A company like DC isn't paying to present. The cons pay DC to be there. The most they would pay is travel costs as often the larger cons pay for the hotel costs of their guests.

Online conventions are cheaper for the people that run the conventions as they don't have to book venues or pay for said hotel costs. DC doesn't run conventions aside from Fandom this year.

[charliehustle415]

I doubt Disney has any more affection for Marvel's comics than AT&T does WB; they're just shrewd enough to realize that the comics serve as valuable R&D that can be mined for future movies, TV shows, games and toys.

With AT&T I'm not sure if they see the value of DC outside of Batman.

Yeah, but they still release Mickey and Ducktales comics; so for the actual business of "comic books" are definitely in line for Disney

[Badou]

DC for a while now hasn't done a ton at these large cons with comics. They aren't like a Marvel where they use these cons to announce their new titles and upcoming projects. They have been phasing out their presence at them for years it feels like. DC tends to do these kind of announcements on their own.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

Rumors of DC abandoning the Direct Market in favor of Bookstores, Book Fairs, Amazon, and digital have been circulating for awhile now -- ever since AT&T bought Time Warner -- and really even before that (but not as believably).

People are saying AT&T doesn't know what they're doing, but you know what? I think they DO know what they're doing because they're not looking at the Direct Market through rose-colored nostalgia glasses the way comics fans are.

Ever since The Dark Knight made a billion dollars at the box office, and then the MCU happened, the future of comics was out of our hands.

We'd been wanting comics to be appreciated by the general public and hoping for the day when being a comic reader wasn't something to be embarrassed by, and now that it's happened, we're realizing that getting noticed by the big corporations and the general public has only hastened the demise of the comic shop market.

Big companies aren't going to let characters who can sell billion dollar movies languish in the comic store ghetto supported by a few hundred thousand middle age fans.

The reality is that nothing DC and Marvel have done since the market crash of the mid-1990s has really turned the fortunes around for DC and Marvel. They just boosted sales by coming up with new gimmicks to get their shrinking fanbases to buy multiple copies of the latest "hot" comic -- most of which end up being worth not much more than cover price.

In a way, AT&T cares about the DC characters MORE than the fans do because AT&T/Warners are trying to come up with strategies to make their characters more prominent to the general public. They're not wasting time caring about what fans thought of "Heroes in Crisis" and creating a business strategy around that. And they shouldn't. What did HiC sell? 70k per issue? A multi-billion dollar media conglomerate can't care about 70,000 people.

The problem is that for decades DC and Marvel really have only been playing lip service to the idea of opening up new markets, but now AT&T has made it clear that THAT is the future of DC Comics, and they're right in doing so.

When we live in a world where Dog-Man outsells Batman or Spider-Man, something has gone horribly wrong with the way that comics companies have been running their businesses.

I'm glad AT&T is putting a stop to that. I'd love to hear someday that a Batman OGN aimed at the preteen market sold half a million copies in just a couple of weeks the way Dog-Man does.

I get that we may be losing some niche titles, but I think that OGNs in the bookstore might actually be able to support some niche titles that have an interesting mythology behind them. A Hawkman-Hawkwoman OGN series that explores the reincarnation aspect over the centuries could support an OGN once a year, I think. Other characters like Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld has multiplatform potential written all over it -- OGNs, animated films, and video games all exploring her unique fantasy world. Magical princesses have always been strong sellers with the preteen girl market, and maybe AT&T will actually see the potential of some of these underexploited characters.

I'm going to be optimistic in saying that, yes, I believe AT&T will exit the comic shop market to a very significant degree within the next five years, but I think it will be more than balanced with new and bigger markets opening everywhere else.

[numberthirty]

Sounds like the usual Chicken Little...