Say all you want about Marvel Comics, but at least:

[Anthony W]

Is it too early to start a "The 2020s was DC's worst decade thread"? I'm starting to think that DC stands for Dying Company. Seriously, can someone tell me what Jim Lee does over there? Oh look, there he is right now.....

Me: What do you do exactly?

Jim Lee: Stuff

Me: What kind of stuff?

Jim Lee: Comic Stuff

Me: What kind of comic stuff?

Jim Lee: DC Comic stuff

Me: Sigh...let's try something different. Walk me through your typical workday.

Jim Lee: I wake up

Me: Ok

Jim Lee: I look at my bank account and laugh. Then I go back to sleep.

Me: .....

Jim Lee: Then when I wake up again I go to work.

Me: Alright! Now we are getting somewhere!

Jim Lee: I go to my office, check my emails about drawing some variant covers, play with some action figures and take a nap. When I wake up its time to go home!

Me: There you have it Ladies and Gentleman!

[Somecrazyaussie]

Marvel! At least we aren't DC!

This made me laugh harder than it should have.

I want DC to do well. But, unless they acknowledge something is wrong, they'll never fix it.

[jwatson]

i like that despite their moniker being world outside your window it's actually the most fantastical and colorful of the universes but still grounded. Like i find i want to be several places in the universe when i am reading and i think that's because my earliest readings the world seemed more coherent in that the heros worked together more. DC on the other hand tends to be really dark for me and sort of muted but then there are really high concepts and but i find the characters i gravitate more towards there are those that bring hope like supergirl, wonderwoman, but overall there aren't many of them in the world. Whereas marvel may have dark stories but it has a lot more hopeful characters so overall i appreciate the balance and also like you say there are a lot of pockets so it hits a lot of my interest. Like i'm a star trek fan, i love magic, witches etc etc. and it has all that without necessarily demonizing those things. It's usually just more fun. ramble over.

[9th.]

I don't think either are perfect but I absolutely agree.

[Tony Stark]

It wasn't always like this.

Somewhere along the line in recent times, the rest of DCs line completely fell off. I don't know what the reason is but it happened.

I think part of the problem is that there doesn't seem to be a lot of "top creators" on DC books at the moment.

I don't really agree that DC can't do anything about it besides selling Batman books. If DC wants Titans or Superman or other books to sell more, they have to put high-profile creators on them. Or at least creators that have some sort of "reputation". Aquaman had a billion-dollar movie and I don't even know who's writing the book currently. Wonder Woman had a movie that was a cultural phenomenon and again I don't even know or understand what's happening with the character.

Batman is Batman and will always sell, it's time to spread the talent pool across the entire line. Although it's going to get a lot tougher because with Image and now Substack coming up, a lot more creators are more interested in doing their own thing rather than slave to the big tow.

Great post. I brought up some of the exact points to the people I was talking to. DC has some of the most iconic characters and yet they are mostly focusing on Batman.

[Doom'nGloom]

I'm surprised DC ain't doing much with the various lantern corps out there aside from sinestro corps. What happened to those guys? I'm not saying redo war of light/blackest night but do something else with them. People often critisize Geoff Johns' writing but his world building with GL is hard to surpass in my eyes. DC's cosmic side has a lot of potential and I wanna see Redjack use it to its full extent.

[The True Detective]

Say all you want about Marvel Comics, but at least they release 'Variety' titles for us to choose from. Unlike DC Comics, which released half of the publishing lineups are Batbooks.

Although Marvel relys 'Spidey' and 'X-books' for being a top selling franchise, nowadays, 'Venom', 'Daredevil', 'Immortal hulk' and freaking 'Moon Knight' (Who is a B-Listed) have stronger sellers with most of the batbooks.

Marvel feels like they'd be thrilled if Moon Knight started to outsell the X-Men, while DC seems horrified if other hero solo run outselling Batbooks.

I know a lot of people doesn't like the writing quality for the flagship teambooks like 'Avengers' and 'Fantastic Four'. If you hate it, then you tries other variety titles you can choose from. But in DC Comics, if you don't want to read batbooks. Then you are left with no choices (if your favourite superheroes is B/C Listed). Even if you buy 'Action Comics','The Flash' and 'Wonder Woman' book, their sales couldn't subtain the same strong numbers like those 'X-books'.

Of course, you say all you want about the staff and management at Marvel Comics, but at least it's not worse than what you see at DC Comics.

Lol you brought your obsession with DC and Batman into the Marvel forum, I knew you couldn't contain it to just the DC forum. This thread seems like more of a way for you to do your usual dumping on Batman and DC than it is to praise Marvel. I wonder if you're capable of making a thread that doesn't mention Batman and DC negatively. I bet you can't.

[LAWtoyoto 432]

Lol you brought your obsession with DC and Batman into the Marvel forum, I knew you couldn't contain it to just the DC forum. This thread seems like more of a way for you to do your usual dumping on Batman and DC than it is to praise Marvel. I wonder if you're capable of making a thread that doesn't mention Batman and DC negatively. I bet you can't.

The only way I will stop doing it if DC has greenlit a new JSA run, if the sale number for the Flash and Action Comics run has a strong seller. Like around 40k sales. Moreover, I need more fans to support those B-listed run as possible or else. It won't make a difference.

[Anthony W]

What's really funny is that Marvel Comics shoots itself in the foot every hour on the hour....AND DC STILL CAN'T TAKE ADVANTAGE. Good God, once upon a time they were the distinguished competition. What's it going to take for DC to get It's house in order?

Are we going to have to smuggle Jim Shooter into the building in the dead of night with a false id?

Jim Lee: Wait a second! Aren't you Jim Shooter!

Jim Shooter: No, look at my id. It clearly says Jim RooterI

Jim Lee: Oh...Welcome Aboard Jim! Which Batman project are you working on?

Jim Shooter: Actually I'm going to start with some Legion Of Superheroes stuff and slowly work my way through your whole universe

Jim Lee: Sounds like a plan! If you need somebody to draw some variant covers for you don't be afraid to contact me!

[Ultimate Captain America]

Dc Comics in a nutshell.

[Anthony W]

Dc Comics in a nutshell.

DC needs to redo No Man's Land and make it permanent so the Bat characters can have their own Krakoa. In a straight up fight between Krakoa and Batkoa my money is on Batkoa.

[Dreaded Porcupine]

You aren't wrong but give DC credit for making a honest effort to spread out it's lineup.

What happened was when books like Blue Beetle, Frankenstein, Earth 2, Swamp Thing and The Terrifics either stopped selling or never sold at all DC doubled down on Batman, which always sells.

DC tried to give the fans variety but they didn't want it... So they stopped.

They didn’t give the fans what they have been asking for. The JSA and LOSH not written by Bendis. The JSA alone would keep pace with the Batman books. Fans have been asking for a JSA for years now.

[9th.]

Dc Comics in a nutshell.

This made me belly laugh, made my day

[Tony Stark]

This made me laugh harder than it should have.

I want DC to do well. But, unless they acknowledge something is wrong, they'll never fix it.

Me too. I’ve always been a Marvel guy, but I love DC as it had many characters I have a strong affinity for. I really hope they can turn it around. My brother is the biggest Batman fan I know and he’s sick of all the Batman related material DC has been pumping out.

[LAWtoyoto 432]

Okay, people say I am crazy because they couldn't handle the truth. But in reality:

50-75% of dc books is batman (or adjacent) books

Spend 80% marketing batman books

90% of DC media is batman

Surprise batman sell higher

Short plan or not It is absolutely not healty to put this much reliance on one ip. Not even marvel at the worst at least had Spider-man and X-men as back up in their profolio. Retailers have constantly complain how this causes more problems then it actually fix it. The bubble is going to burst and everyone just waiting
.
And it's right to be mad about this. It will print, it will make money, and it will reinforce the idea that only Batman makes money. This will result in even more Batman books being made, taking the place of other IPs.

Maybe Marvel will gain more new audience more than DC.

There’s no evidence to suggest comics aren’t selling as well as they used to, the market is just changing. There are way more types of comics being published than ever before so some readers are moving away from Big two comics in favour of indie titles, not to mention child-oriented comics also becoming increasingly more popular. Readers are also moving more towards buying trades in bookstores and digital over floppies.