"Batgirl" Variant Cover Cancellation Sparks Further Debate Among Comic Pros and Fans

[Stormcrow]

Just curious, would you still object to the cover if it was sold as a print?

Not really, but then it wouldn't actually be a cover. It'd be taken into consideration as the work of art that it is without all of the context attached to the book itself. Still not completely sold in the image, but I'm good if it doesn't undermine what the current Batgirl creative team is trying to accomplish.

As I said before, wouldn't have much of an issue with it either had it been a cover for Gail Simone's Death of the Family tie-in arc for example.

[Kid A]

Plus if someone is only reading Batgirl because it is lighthearted now and sees this cover and it it makes them not want to read the book then that is their problem.

It's DC's problem if they lost potential customers because of a misleading variant.

Fiction is apartently no longer the place to explore dark imagery.

...I suppose for some fans, superhero comics are the entirety of "fiction."

[trooper_thorn]

It's DC's problem if they lost potential customers because of a misleading variant.

It's also DC's problem if they lost potential customers because of the decision to drop the cover.

I suppose the question is which cost them more?

[macattack]

I...I suppose for some fans, superhero comics are the entirety of "fiction."

So you're basically saying that superhero comics must now no longer explore certain imagery? Should Punisher MAX no longer be printed, then?

You're advocating a seriously slippery slope here.

[FriendRoss]

It's DC's problem if they lost potential customers because of a misleading variant.



...I suppose for some fans, superhero comics are the entirety of "fiction."

I don't really judge other people on what types of media they consume so I'm not sure.

[Kid A]

I suppose the question is which cost them more?

No, that's not the question. Batgirl's target audience aren't those people.

[Agent Scarlet]

No, that's not the question. Batgirl's target audience aren't those people.

I love the current Batgirl. I loved that they brought Barbara back in new52, I like the new costume, lighter tone, and brighter colors of the book. However, I'll be dropping it until Cameron Stewart is gone, as I don't support blatant censorship.

"Target audience" is not as cut and dry as you want to make it sound

[DevilsGambit]

The discussion of the "Batgirl" #41 Joker-themed variant didn't end with DC Comics' decision to not publish the cover.


Full article here.

Marching backwards is a great way to put it. I know its supposed to be a positive comic. We've had positive variants for batman which is a dark comic. It should be able to work both ways. Almost half of readers are already women. So who are they really trying to reach at this point? Don't judge a book by its cover. Don't judge a comic by its variant cover art!

[FriendRoss]

I buy it and give it to me niece from time to time.


Compared to some of the other stuff she reads "as in, real books" the cover is tame. She also likes walking dead, outcast, and wonder woman. Just can't get her into ms marvel unfortunately

[Kid A]

I love the current Batgirl. I loved that they brought Barbara back in new52, I like the new costume, lighter tone, and brighter colors of the book. However, I'll be dropping it until Cameron Stewart is gone, as I don't support blatant censorship.

"Target audience" is not as cut and dry as you want to make it sound

For all practical purposes and intents, it is. Businesses can't account for every single physical person when it comes to marketing a book, so they're forced to make some generalizations so that they can appeal to a visible demographic of people. And in this case, the variant cover is at odds with the demographic they're trying to appeal to. Exceptions will exist, but DC can't afford to be bothered by exceptions that have negligible impact.

In other words, personal anecdotes don't make compelling arguments.

[trooper_thorn]

No, that's not the question. Batgirl's target audience aren't those people.

Really? Batgirl fans aren't concerned with the possibility of censorship? You say that with such certainty that I'd be curious to know your source.

In all seriousness though, nobody can really know the answer to this question without interviewing a sizable number of readers. The article announcing the decision only cited "dozens" of angry people/sites which doesn't begin to reach a significant percentage of the roughly 40k-45k readers.

Or is this going to turn into a "No true Scotsman" debate where no true fan could possibly like this cover?

[Captain Planet]

Notice that Dillon's cover with Superman, used to demonstrate how wrong the cover is, uses Superman and Doomsday and not Batman and Joker. Batman and Joker would have been a better comparison and most people would not have thought it out of the ordinary. Because that's the world of the Joker. The superman on is misleading. It's like It's like taking Pulp Fiction but replacing the characters with Muppets and saying "Look how disturbing this movie is, definitely not for children"!

[middenway]

I know you are done, so I will leave this open for the next person, but it was also his decision to create the cover in the first place. Was his decision respected then?

Rafael Albuquerque created the piece with a specific intent. When it was releases, he felt that in the context of that cover being on that particular book, which has a very specific ethos in the way it portrays its female hero, altered the piece to the point that his intent was being lost, so he asked for the cover being removed. Or at least, that's my understanding of it.

I don't think that covers like this shouldn't be made, I just think it was put on the wrong book. On another book, this discussion probably wouldn't have been so big. But that image goes against all the goals of the current Batgirl team.

I think they made the right choice for this particular book. On another book, keeping the cover could be the right choice. You can't evaluate it without considering the context that it's presented in.

[Agent Scarlet]

For all practical purposes and intents, it is. Businesses can't account for every single physical person when it comes to marketing a book, so they're forced to make some generalizations so that they can appeal to a visible demographic of people. And in this case, the variant cover is at odds with the demographic they're trying to appeal to. Exceptions will exist, but DC can't afford to be bothered by exceptions that have negligible impact.

In other words, personal anecdotes don't make compelling arguments.

Neither does implying that "Target Audience" means "people who will blindly buy a book no matter what"

[Joshua]

While I wouldn't buy it, I think DC should have kept the variant. If you want it, buy it. If you don't like it, don't buy it.