DC Comics 2024 News/General Discussion

[skyvolt2000]

If DC were interested only on trade sales for a story, that comic would likely be sold only on trade (like the OGN line).

This story with Steph and the Superkids will likely be on floppies, so the characters will need to sell on that market.

You do notice DC Comics is doing floppy versions of Batman and Robin and Harold OGN and Primer OGN.

Why are they being done as floppies? When the books have been out for years.


Why does this need to sell in the floppy market that looking at the comments around here DOES NOT want it? Who will do everything to trash and bash this before the first issue preview?

This is DC trying to throw a bone to comic book stores. Yet those same store will probably REJECT the book.

[Konja7]

You do notice DC Comics is doing floppy versions of Batman and Robin and Harold OGN and Primer OGN.

Why are they being done as floppies? When the books have been out for years.


Why does this need to sell in the floppy market that looking at the comments around here DOES NOT want it? Who will do everything to trash and bash this before the first issue preview?

This is DC trying to throw a bone to comic book stores. Yet those same store will probably REJECT the book.

DC should expect there is an audience for these comics in the direct market. They could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time

That said, I don't know why you consider this is throwing a bone to the comic stores. If the comic stores don't feel this book will sell between their customers, it isn't so weird they are cautious.

[Last Son of Krypton]

Jim Lee, president of DC Comics: “There is probably too much superhero content today”

INTERVIEW. Guest of honor at Comic-Con France this March 30, the iconic artist and current CEO of DC Comics looks back for us on 35 years of an extraordinary career.

Jim Lee is to superhero cartoonists what Michelangelo was to painting. A pioneer, who was able to impose his detailed and dynamic style in a nightmarish 1990s for the “comic book” industry. We learned to love him during his very successful debut at Marvel – with 8 million units sold, his X-Men #1 , published in 1991, is still the best-selling comic book in history the United States. Then we loved him as a creative metronome on the DC Comics side. Particularly when in 2011, he offered a new lease of life to Superman and his gang via the New 52, ​​a complete overhaul of the publications of the American publishing house, very aptly translated into “Renaissance DC” in France. A rescue according to the rules of the art.

In 35 years of a decidedly busy career, Jim Lee will have sketched for and alongside the greatest, from the sepulchral Punisher: an Eye for an Eye (coded with Carl Potts for Marvel in 1991), to the much more colorful Superman: For tomorrow ( For Tomorrow in VO, written in 2004) through the unforgettable Batman: Silence ( Hush in VO, written in 2002) – which it is also said will be the main inspiration for the sequel to The Batman by Matt Reeves , scheduled for 2026.

However, by discovering this greedy guy and his little meter sixty in the Parisian premises of Warner Bros. Discovery, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, we can't help but believe that we are facing a long-time friend. As if this broad smile, between two bites of pain au chocolat (he loves it, it seems), and this warm handshake had also entered our popular culture. We then enjoy contemplating his humble, almost modest charisma. An assumed simplicity, also part of the success of this artist born in Seoul, but who spent most of his youth in the city of Saint-Louis, in the United States.

Now installed at the head of DC Comics after the highly publicized merger between Warner Bros. – of which DC is a subsidiary – and Discovery Inc. two years ago, it is therefore both in the costume of distinguished designer, but also in that of president of the firm that Jim Lee will present himself on March 30 at the park exhibitions at Porte de Versailles, in Paris, for the very first edition of the Comic-Con France show. Lee will give a short conference there to celebrate Batman's 85th anniversary.

But the Parisian high mass of pop culture should also be an opportunity to promote Superpowered: The DC Story. This three-episode documentary, co-produced by Jim Lee, will be broadcast every Wednesday, from April 3 to 17, on Warner TV Next. It will celebrate the 90th anniversary of DC Comics, through the eyes of around sixty prestigious guests, from comic book writers to actors who played their heroes in the cinema. A big celebration of vigilantes in capes and tights, to which Le Point Pop was able to access a preview…

Le Point Pop: To celebrate your 90th anniversary, DC releases Superpowered, which looks back on almost a century of a story that began in comics. Was it important for you to remember that the starting point of all this is paper?

Jim Lee: It was even vital! For many people, the gateway to the DC universe is a film, a series or a video game... There is so much complexity and depth in all these mediums that today, I think it It's vital that people remember the creative minds of those who brought these characters to life. This is essential to fully understanding and appreciating them. They are not just pixels on a screen: basically, they were invented by humans, like you and me!

The same goes for their stories, which were written to entertain, but also to send a message. I loved the passage in the documentary where Grant Morrison [screenwriter at DC, Editor's note] says that in a certain way, the creators of these characters were more powerful than the gods: the gods created imperfect human beings, where the Artists have created perfect superheroes, like Superman. This analogy blew me away!

As far as you are concerned, the story begins 26 years ago when you arrived as a rock star at DC.

To be honest, I don't think about it often (He laughs) ! It was so long ago. In my current role as president, creative director and publisher, we have no choice but to look forward. And then, generally speaking, I don't like looking into the past: either we harbor regrets, or we find ourselves stuck in a moment in time. It can be dangerous when trying to progress.

I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but I'm more like, "What will the next 26 years look like?" » I never rest on my laurels!

In the first episode of the documentary, you explain that creators always want to offer something different. How to satisfy old fans and new ones?

This is precisely the most complex part of the job! At the end of the day, what really matters is to keep an eye on what is happening in society, while listening to publishers and artists to build together a future which must systematically be based on what is happening. happened before. We must ask ourselves: are we building a world of hope? A world where the audience can identify with our characters? Because if they can't, then our industry runs the risk of obsolescence.

Paul Levitz (publisher at DC from 2002 to 2009) rightly states that unlike many large companies and despite its seniority, DC's strength has often been to innovate, to be the "disruptor" in its sector. . Is this the key to your success?

Yes. One of the reasons I did well at DC was because I came from a smaller company. I worked at Image Comics [publisher of Kick-Ass and Spawn , bought by DC in 1998, Editor's note], which was in reality a group of artists who had just left larger companies.

So I had this kind of entrepreneurial fiber in me, which I tried to infuse into DC, a more stable and mature society. The initiatives I enjoyed working on the most at DC were those where we started from scratch to establish a complete project. You have to do a lot of research, hire the right people, establish the right business model.

This was the case with the New 52 (in 2011): we asked ourselves, for example, how to publish comics both in paper and digitally on a daily basis, how to rewrite a historical continuity that makes sense, then it had to encourage artists to stand out from their predecessors. All while promoting our new products and with sales imperatives. At the time, it almost felt like we were completely rebuilding a business.

The documentary reminds us that Superman, invented in 1938, is the first superhero in history. If you had to invent this first superhero in 2024, who would it be?

Very creative question: I've never had that one before! If I created this superhero, I already think I would be rich! Or that in any case my descendants would be (He laughs) ! All joking aside, I think the reason Superman exploded so much was because he was doing things that were unheard of at the time.

Seeing a man lift a car over his head in 1938 was crazy. Today, we have artificial intelligence, we are sending man to the Moon… So what would it take to really impress the reader and set a trend for almost a century in pop culture? I imagine that it wouldn't fit in a simple comic book: it would have to be a quasi-human, synthetic being, who could actually fly and lift cars, while looking like us. That would be a revolution.

There has been talk lately of the public's fatigue with vigilantes in tights. You believe in it ?

Yes. At least for a part of the population who thinks they have seen something predictable. But you know, superheroes aren't necessarily a genre. It's just telling the story of people who have superpowers. And that can be done in the form of thriller, science fiction, fantasy, romantic story…

I also think there may be too much superheroic content. Same thing with Star Wars , for example, and generally with all our competitors. It’s a very crowded niche. But I remain convinced that in the end only the cream will rise to the surface.

In just a decade, Batman and Superman – the company's main sources of revenue – will enter the public domain. Does this worry the boss of DC Comics?

I'll give you a very pragmatic answer: it's not as if everything will suddenly fall into the public domain. This situation only concerns elements dated from the very beginning. Take Superman for example: there are certain powers or certain sidekicks that appeared at very different times, and which therefore will not immediately fall into the public domain. In short, it doesn't stop me from sleeping.

Is artificial intelligence also a threat to the sector?

Many artists feel in danger and make it known publicly. From a strictly personal point of view, I don't feel threatened. I have the feeling that significant progress must take place in terms of regulation, in particular fair compensation for authors, as is the case in the music industry. There are – and will be – ways to track the misuse of AI. It's impossible to ignore this new technology, so we must control it, and pay those whose work feeds these machines.

[Last Son of Krypton]

This year, you are coming to celebrate DC's 90th anniversary in Paris, as part of Comic-Con France. Why here, and now?

This is a first at a convention! Even though it seems to me that I had already come to do signings in Saint-Germain around twenty years ago... Paris is a fantastic city, one of my favorites in the world. There is something inspiring about walking here. I believe that a lot of things about the history of this country, and even its influence on the United States, have had an impact on the nature of superheroes.

We talk a lot about global strategy when we are from his office in California. But coming out and going to people, seeing their enthusiasm, that’s priceless.

Can we hope to see you drawing again soon?

Yesterday morning I was drawing again! I draw a lot, even if I don't publish everything (He laughs) ! If you're talking about drawing complete stories, I won't hide the fact that it's difficult to find time. But the ambition to create still burns within me. There's actually a story I'm working on, which could be the last one I tell.

A clue, perhaps?

Nice try, but no (He laughs) ! I can still tell you that it will be big, that it will say a lot about my own journey, and what the future could be for the world. Okay, I'll give you a hint: I've always been a big fan of “Legion of Super-Heroes” [a DC Comics story about a super-team from the third millennium]. My idea won't necessarily be about them, but I'll just say that I like the fact of having a group of characters set in the future, coexisting with heroes from the present. I am convinced that there is a subject.

Source: https://www.lepoint.fr/pop-culture/c...56307_2920.php

INTERVIEW - JIM LEE: ''THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ETHICAL AND LEGAL COMPONENT FOR AI''

Great comics event at the start of the year: the publishing director and president of DC Comics came to France. On the program: the presentation of the documentary Superpowered: The DC Story ahead of its broadcast on Warner TV Next, a special panel on DC and the launch of the festivities for Batman's 85th anniversary this weekend at Comic Con France , and several sessions of dedications. In the middle of all this, Jim Lee also sat down with us for a few minutes, to talk about the importance of comics in our entertainment society, DC Comics ' missions in pop culture, but not only that.

At the end of the discussion, almost a quarter of an hour to discuss as many different subjects as possible in the allotted time, including the thorny issue of artificial intelligence which we have addressed numerous times in our columns. The interview was recorded at the Warner Bros. offices. France and you can find it on video, with French subtitles, below. But as we think of all audiences and all their habits, the audio can also be listened to simply as a podcast via First Print , and the transcription of this exchange can be found just after the video. So you can enjoy this interview with Jim Lee however you want.

Special thanks to Jessica Assayag of Warner Bros. France.

Throughout the documentary Superpowered, even if we talk a lot about cinema and TV series, comics constantly come back to the heart of the subject. Do you still think, as a publishing director and artist, that comics are relevant in this era of mass multimedia content?

Yes, 100%, otherwise I wouldn't do what I do. What we say internally at Warner Bros is that comics are the cornerstone of our work. They establish what is canon, they give the immutable tone of what these characters are, how we define what Superman is, what he does, what he doesn't do... These are the important things that we try to pass on to those who have to adapt the characters on other media. Because I think that if we break these rules, then the characters are no longer recognizable. It's important for fans to know who these people are. These are fictional characters, whose stories are told by lots of different people and so you can see that just through the complexity of creating this content, a character could take almost infinite directions. And it's our job to say "no, this is what this character is", "this is what they represent, this is their meaning" and it's a bit of the glue that holds everything together. is our company. I think what we do is vital to the ecosystem that is created because these characters start in print comics, they are defined in publications, they can be changed by adaptations in media but we all have a starting point solid, so it's not like everyone is reinventing the DC Universe from right to left in these different media.

How strong are comics as a medium compared to the rest?

Well, we embody the fastest, cheapest, and in all selfishness, I would say the most creative medium. I mean, you and I could sit down and dream up a Batman story and it could come together in a month or two and we'd have an unlimited budget. Our only constraints would be the time available, and the limits of our creativity. And these are not things possible for any other adaptation of these characters, they always have to think about the budget, and it is this which will define the scale of the action. Since we don't have this kind of limitation in comics I think we can think about what these universes can be in all their aspects and having this unbridled creativity allows us to do what no one else cannot do. It gives us what is the foundation, the most fertile anchor point, which serves for all other adaptations.

Could you detail what your daily work consists of as publishing director, in particular the differences with what the editor-in-chief, Marie Javins, does?

I work with various groups in the publishing department, and as a liaison between Publishing and all other departments within Warner Bros. Discovery that use our content. First and foremost is DC Studios, obviously. Before there was DC Studios, we had Warner Bros. Television, but also WB Films which used our characters, which meant that there were a lot of "disputes" and coordination that were at stake. Now there is only one "store" which is DC Studios. and it's fantastic. On the publishing side, it's about giving creative directions, so I have meetings with Marie Javins and the main editorial managers to discuss what we are going to do and why, what we could do in the future, if we meet the expectations of our readers, what we could do to improve our sales, or which character we could highlight, what we could do to coordinate with the film or video game division in order to We have great collaborations, so we spend a lot of time on all that.

And then, there are those boring meetings-- working meetings on PNLs [profits and losses], the financial reports of the quartiles, so it's a part of the business finances to manage as a publication director. There are also marketing meetings, to find out what we are going to do and how to best use the marketing budget we have. We simply have to work with teams to keep them motivated and excited about the future, by defining the guidelines for us to be growing, how much we are going to invest or spend in digital compared to physical releases, are Are there new areas where we should develop? Like Young Adult or youth, having new formats for new audiences. I spend a lot of time looking at data, market analyses, looking for what we should do, knowing if it's the right thing, if we are relevant in our choices and how much we invest in each of these choice. There are plenty of meetings held just for these topics.

It's now been more than ten years since we were treated to the New 52, ​​we then had DC Rebirth, then Dawn of DC, which will conclude this year, it would not seem that these cycles to attract new readers are of shorter and shorter? What do you think ?

So, the New 52 was in 2011... Rebirth in 2016 so that's five years... and Dawn of DC in 2023 so seven years, in fact. But I think in all cases that we need to look with hindsight and globally at what we do every 5 to 7 years. It seems to me that we have some pretty big plans for next year...well, this year, AND next year! I can't elaborate on them for you, but they are not things that we can do too often, at the risk of tiring the public, but I think that there is room for reflection every 5/7 years , where we look at the progress we have made, we wonder what should be done...

What we learned from the New 52 is that we can't make big, massive structural changes because it's too divisive and it destroys the readership. I think Rebirth corrected certain elements of the New 52. Dawn of DC was a sort of soft-reset to reintroduce new concepts without getting rid of continuity. I think there are still other ways to keep fans excited about your work without going back and resetting everything to zero. Moreover, this is also part of our discussions [internally].

[Last Son of Krypton]

How do you balance shaping the future of the DC Universe with celebrating the legacy through older characters like Superman and Batman who are both 85 years old?

I think this question is asked throughout the documentary [Superpowered] because if we don't move forward, there is the risk of being fossilized, of being nothing more than a pretty painting of the past on a wall, which does not speak to the future. I think our mission is to hold on to what made us special like our past, but to continue to build and evolve to stay relevant and grow even more in the future. If you look at the pop-culture landscape, there are plenty of heroes who didn't do that. Like Dick Tracy, The Phantom, Doc Savage. These are characters who were very important, but whose world - and them - have not evolved and I think that partly explains why they have become sort of relics of a pop-cultural past. They are no longer as relevant today.

That's why we need to keep moving forward and think about what kind of stories we're telling, whether we're creating content that is meaningful today, and that will also be meaningful in ten, twenty, fifty or even hundred years.

There is growing concern about the use of AI (artificial intelligence) in comics. What is your position on this? Since in addition to being a Publisher you were also an artist.

Yes, it's true ! I have a personal point of view which is not necessarily in line with company policy. But we're still at the very beginning of all of this. I think the reason we haven't yet spoken publicly about AI is because everything is evolving and changing very quickly. The public's perception of AI, but also the way in which AI content becomes marketable. This is all too premature. As a company, we are obviously going to formulate a policy and as we are part of a much larger group, these policies need to be consistent across all of the ways in which AI is used, if it is used. the company. So it’s not just up to us to decide what to do with AIs.

But on a personal level?

As an artist, personally... you know I saw the birth of Napster, and the film industry is much bigger than the comics industry. When a technology appears, it's very difficult to put the genie back in the lamp and say "we can't do that". Many people online say they want to "reject all things AI" but they say this via phones created by companies that have invested heavily in AI. It seems a little ironic to me to see so many people wanting to slow down this progress. Look at our world, and the speed at which it is moving towards the future.

What seems crucial to me is that there must be credits if the AI ​​creates something based on other work - and that's how it works - and compensation for that too. There is a legal component that is going to take time to be developed approved and then accepted by everyone but I think it is the next vital step that is needed before large-scale commercial use of AI is possible. In the absence of all this, the consequence will be the dismissal of a large number of creatives with what is currently the theft of their productions.

But we live in a world where people are stealing content everywhere, with piracy, and before that artists copying other people's styles, or retracing photos, but AI is on steroids, the way it's moving, and it ingests an enormous amount of data from numerous sources. So I think there's both a big legal and ethical component as well as a social one - "is this right or not?". I can imagine a world where we would have AI content that will be labeled as is, and content that will be produced by humans, and people will be able to decide what they want to do. In the United States, and I don't know if it's the same in your country, if you have food with GMOs, there is a label that tells you so, and consumers know what they are taking.

There is a kind of danger, it is not ethical as an artist to say “this is my work, I created this” when you have used an AI. These are the ethical questions that must be asked; we must have laws and agreements on these subjects, and even if we are at the very beginning, answers will be provided. That’s my short answer!

Source: https://www.comicsblog.fr/47805-inte...le_pour_les_ia

[D.Z]

I'm fine with A.I.

I'm waiting for some of their characters to hit the public domain.

[Garrac]

I would have prefered if Jim Lee had chosen to shut up today

[Digifiend]

Ugh, what a load of waffle.

[j9ac9k]

One more:



https://twitter.com/jcbedgar/status/...802505/photo/1

Where's her totem? I wonder if he just missed it and it will be added in another sketch or if her powers are internalized for this story. (do we know if this is an Elseworlds?)

Also, I guess nobody likes her original hair.

[Factor]

Comparing Lee to Michelangelo is a choice LOL.
Reading this interview only makes me more certain that DC needs someone better in charge. He feels so detached from reality. And some of the quotes are downright dumb. How can a person of his stature at DC publicly say there’s too much superhero content? That’s your bread and butter, dude. And the “cream will rise to the top” nonsense sounds even worse considering DC’s general lack of quality across multiple media.

[Garrac]

Comparing Lee to Michelangelo is a choice LOL.
Reading this interview only makes me more certain that DC needs someone better in charge. He feels so detached from reality. And some of the quotes are downright dumb. How can a person of his stature at DC publicly say there’s too much superhero content? That’s your bread and butter, dude. And the “cream will rise to the top” nonsense sounds even worse considering DC’s general lack of quality across multiple media.

I gotta admit, the "all those people that don't want any AI are hypocrites because they commplain from mobile phones owned by AI suproters" it's so incredibly dumb, how could this guy trick Alan Moore into anything?

[Frontier]

Where's her totem? I wonder if he just missed it and it will be added in another sketch or if her powers are internalized for this story. (do we know if this is an Elseworlds?)

Also, I guess nobody likes her original hair.

I can't believe I didn't notice her totem isn't there.

[HsssH]

I gotta admit, the "all those people that don't want any AI are hypocrites because they commplain from mobile phones owned by AI suproters" it's so incredibly dumb, how could this guy trick Alan Moore into anything?

It is not like Alan Moore is "normal" either.

[Primal Slayer]

[B]Jim Lee, president of DC Comics: “There is probably too much superhero content today”

Well Jim...there's to much of the same superhero content today. Esp within DC who doesnt ututulize most of these characters properly inside and outside of comics

[skyvolt2000]

Comparing Lee to Michelangelo is a choice LOL.
Reading this interview only makes me more certain that DC needs someone better in charge. He feels so detached from reality. And some of the quotes are downright dumb. How can a person of his stature at DC publicly say there’s too much superhero content? That’s your bread and butter, dude. And the “cream will rise to the top” nonsense sounds even worse considering DC’s general lack of quality across multiple media.

To a point he is correct and to another point he is beyond wrong.

There is too much-HOWEVER when it comes to DC it seems to be too much from a certain franchise.

So guess what everyone else does? Create DIFFERENT content.