DC You Initiative: Improved and Better than New 52 ?

[Lee Stone]

I posted this in a separate thread but I think it's even more fitting in this one as it speaks about diversity.

Dick Giordano in 1984:

If I were asked to sum up DC's publishing philosophy in two words (and incidentally, no one has asked me to do so), I would have to respond: diversity and commitment. (Er... the similarity between those words initials and our company's name is purely coincidental.) Diversity in genre, diversity in format, diversity in style. We strive to present a variety of styles rather than a standardized (but easier to attain) "house look". We know we could milk the success of TEEN TITANS and LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES by endlessly cloning or spinning off new titles from those (and other) titles. The advantages are obvious. The advantages are also short term. We know we could borrow the success of properties developed by others by licensing. Profitable in the short term..? Maybe. We know we can generate a good chunk of revenue by reprinting everything good and everything not-so-good in our library. Again short term. Instead we choose to build for the future with diverse formats, genres, and styles like CAMELOT 3000, NATHANIEL DUSK, RONIN, THRILLER... yes, even OMEGA MEN, BLUE DEVIL, and VIGILANTE, which, even though the fall into the "favored genre" of super-heroes, try to appeal to different segments of the audience by using a different approach to that "favored genre". Super-heroes make wonderful reading and I wouldn't for a moment suggest that we abandon them. To the contrary, much of our 1985 production will concern itself with the enhancement of all of DC's super-heroes, to redefine our universe and recreate our older characters; to create new characters to populate our universe. But expanding the scope of our audience demands diversity. To meet that demand requires time, patience, money, and a willingness to gamble occasionally. We need to be very active in the solicitation of new ideas. We have to read and examine 15 or 20 presentations for every one we select. I think you'd be surprised at some of the creator names on presentations now sitting on my desk. Our open-door policy and the fact that we do not operate from a preconceived notion of what's doable and what is not is well known to the creative community and they know that, at the least, they and their ideas will be greeted openly and with respect when they come to us. And come to us they do.

[blackbolt396]

I think it's a big improvement.
The New52 idea of one tone for all would work in a line of, say, 12 titles... But when you have 52 books out (or did) people expect some variety.

The new DCYou looks about right.

I've read people say on here that they don't like all the new books. That's a good thing!
If one group of readers liked everything DC put out (like before), then there's another group that would not like anything (also like before).
So, if you don't like something, it's probably not for you but rather... it's for those readers that don't like what you like.

My only complaint is that if they had taken the time to prepare the relaunch in 2011, then we could have gotten this a lot earlier.
But it's here now, so things are getting better.

That's why Valiant comics work if you just have 10 or so books the shared universe works, when you have a ton of books like DC and Marvel it's a mess in my opinion.

[Pharozonk]

I posted this in a separate thread but I think it's even more fitting in this one as it speaks about diversity.

Dick Giordano in 1984:

What I would give to have Giordano alive and still in charge of DC...

[HsssH]

Why? During his time Crisis, Watchmen and Dark Knight happened, things that every old school fan supposedly dislikes.

[Sacred Knight]

Its only been a week so I think its kinda hard to judge that. I do think just that one week however has displayed a greater variety as promised. Is it overall better though? Need a bit more time. For me personally though I have a hard time imagining it not being, as while I'm all for diversifying tones, I wanted the same continuity and that's what we got.

[Lee Stone]

Why? During his time Crisis, Watchmen and Dark Knight happened, things that every old school fan supposedly dislikes.

I think Crisis, Watchmen and Dark Knight were great at the time.
Looking back at the editorial I reprinted, all three of those titles were fresh, different and diverse at the time.

And if DC had left them at that, I would never have grown a dislike for Dark Knight.
But years later when DC started doing what he mentioned they shouldn't do, and trying to make everything else like Watchmen and Dark Knight, that's when I got tired of it.

[andersonh1]

In looking at it, DC You isn't really all that different than early New 52. It's the same approach, though hopefully with less strangling editorial influences. I don't see that it's any better.

In fact, I bought 14 New 52 titles at first, though few of them lasted to the end of that first year. I haven't jumped on board any DC You titles. It really does seem like more of the same.

[DetectiveStrange]

DCYou is a step in the right direction, for sure. The difference between this and the New 52 launch is that while there were a diverse range of genres published when Nu52 began, it all had the same tone. With DCYou, we're getting books like Bizarro, Section 8, Batgirl, Action Comics, and Hellblazer - books with diverse tones that aren't pigeonholed into sharing the same aesthetic - an editorial demand that has been suffocating for good comics to breathe. As a previous poster said, having three completely different interpretations of Superman on the stand in the same week is incredible - and healthy for comics.

There are some further changes I would like to see, however - the reincorporation of legacy into their comics, which has been a hallmark of DC publishing since Showcase #4. I would like to see Wally's generation of heroes, Jay's generation of heroes, and Bart's generation of heroes return to the DCU. Continuity? I don't care so much about. But heroes and their legacies are an essential part of the DC Universe, and part of why their heroes have always been timeless, whereas Marvel's were always Timely.

And yes, that quote from Dick Giordano is great.

[LifeIsILL]

How long is DC YOU gonna last?

I hear the writers have a year to make it work or something?

I really wish they would bring back Jonah Hex, Red Lanterns....and fix Green Lantern ASAP.

[Buried Alien]

How long is DC YOU gonna last?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[andersonh1]

To quote Captain Marvel in Convergence: Shazam, "All we have are moments. We'd better enjoy them while they last."

Or words to that effect.

[Sacred Knight]

Thankfully Convergence was a moment that didn't last. That was a trying two months.

[andersonh1]

Thankfully Convergence was a moment that didn't last. That was a trying two months.

Best two months DC has published in at least four years.

[Ascended]

Thankfully Convergence was a moment that didn't last. That was a trying two months.

Yeah, I actually didnt even bother going into my LCS for those two months and now Im catching up on the Convergence tie-in stuff, and....wow, what a bunch of half-assed tripe. I mean, some of it has been solid, like Hawkman, and The Question was just stunningly wonderful (gods I miss Montoya), but most of what I've read thus far has been pretty bad. I was very disappointed by Speed Force in particular, which did an amazing job of ignoring all the interesting things about Wally West in order to put more emphasis on his kids and a super fast turtle.

As for the DCYOU, we're only beginning but we're off to a really great start. Granted I havent read everything DC has published in the last two weeks, but what I have read has been real quality. Justice League, Action, Batman/Superman, Bizarro, Harley, Bat-Mite....the worst of the lot has still been solid, like Batman Beyond or Starfire, and even Green Lantern wasnt that bad.

If this is the kind of quality we can expect from DC moving forward, that move to Burbank was the best thing they could have possibly ever done, and being an East Coast guy I took that move real personal.

[upgrayedd]

Thankfully Convergence was a moment that didn't last. That was a trying two months.

You ain't kidding! I have not spent that much on comics in years.