No more "batgirling," back to the same old same old.

[brandnewfan]

Well crap.

I've loved almost everything in the "DC You." This is a shame.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/08/...-and-potatoes/

[Outside_85]

Hmm, well that's disappointing since it also means we are going to go back to the less experimental DC that's just going to push out 5-6 Bat books every time they do 10 new ones.

[greenish lantern]

Does this mean that we won't be getting titles like Omega men and Martian Manhunter, or that it's the end of "Batgirling" and "cute" titles like Prez and Bat-Mite?

[cranger]

Does this mean that we won't be getting titles like Omega men and Martian Manhunter, or that it's the end of "Batgirling" and "cute" titles like Prez and Bat-Mite?

I'd think Omega Men and Martian Manhunter are probably closer to what they feel comfortable with, whereas books which take the character out of their setting, change their costume, change their style, just radically change how that character is typically presented, those will probably be shifting back. So Prez is probably fine, Bat-Mite is probably fine, those are just books where those styles are what those books are about. I'm not even sure if most of the experimental books are what the issue is, rather than the core books that were also changed, where the changes did not bump sales at all and in fact DC fears that those changes will lead to existing readers no longer being interested.

[brandnewfan]

Does this mean that we won't be getting titles like Omega men and Martian Manhunter, or that it's the end of "Batgirling" and "cute" titles like Prez and Bat-Mite?

Just guessing, but I'd bet books like Black Canary, which isn't a traditional superhero book (even the newly "batgirled" Batgirl is more superhero-y) might suffer. Not all those kinds of books will necessarily get canceled but they may change directions and styles a bit. Maybe even creative teams. Brendan Fletcher, for example, doesn't strike me as a traditional superhero storyteller. That's not a criticism, I love the guy...I'm just saying.

DC probably won't be keen on trying out new concepts like Prez or Bizarro or Section Eight.

Books like Gotham Academy, Gotham By Midnight.....Midnighter, Omeg Men....they may not last much longer.

Back to doom and gloom I guess

[CrimsonEchidna]

As someone who has not be reading much DC as of late, exactly what does "Batgirling" mean?

[protege]

well, I wasn't too comfortable with the new direction Superman was going in, so no loss there, but i wonder about books like "We are Robin" and "Deathstroke." I wasn't buying too much of the Dc new Anyway.

[GlennSimpson]

As someone who has not be reading much DC as of late, exactly what does "Batgirling" mean?

Well, there is a sort of "standard" look and feel that a lot of books have. Superman, Justice League, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc. "Batgirling" means not worrying about sticking with that look and feel and doing something more abstract and creative. The benefit is that it can bring in an audience who doesn't care for the standard look/feel. The risk is that the people who do like the usual look/feel don't have any incentive to try the new one.

I think in terms of DC's recent direction, "Batgirling" also means fewer crossovers and letting each book just tell its own stories. Or at least not having storylines cross over between books.

[RobinFan4880]

Batgirling means taking a popular hero who isn't selling "like they should" and changing the tone, the look and the feel of the book to be more "indy". It also means allowing the book to exist in its own corner, only interacting with the wider DCU as the creators deem proper/necessary.

The problem with this method is that it doesn't always work. Batgirl, Grayson and Harely Quinn (especially the latter) were very successful with this model. The problem is DC over saturated the market, while at the same time not putting enough emphasis on their core properties and ensuring they were as successful as they could be.

Most likely, we are going to start getting events again. DC doesn't want to go back to the days where the Green Lantern and Batman families were constantly in a state of leading to-, existing in-, or dealing with the aftermath of- an event. Most likely we will get a big DC event and a family event once a year. Gimmick month will also come back with abandon, perhaps even being tied to that year's big event. All together, this will probably eat up a third of the issues per year. The rest of the time, the books will be allowed to do as they please.

[CrimsonEchidna]

Well, there is a sort of "standard" look and feel that a lot of books have. Superman, Justice League, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc. "Batgirling" means not worrying about sticking with that look and feel and doing something more abstract and creative. The benefit is that it can bring in an audience who doesn't care for the standard look/feel. The risk is that the people who do like the usual look/feel don't have any incentive to try the new one.

I think in terms of DC's recent direction, "Batgirling" also means fewer crossovers and letting each book just tell its own stories. Or at least not having storylines cross over between books.

Ok that makes sense. To the very least I do hope that they continue not doing the mandatory crossovers/tie-ins.

[greenish lantern]

Just guessing, but I'd bet books like Black Canary, which isn't a traditional superhero book (even the newly "batgirled" Batgirl is more superhero-y) might suffer. Not all those kinds of books will necessarily get canceled but they may change directions and styles a bit. Maybe even creative teams. Brendan Fletcher, for example, doesn't strike me as a traditional superhero storyteller. That's not a criticism, I love the guy...I'm just saying.

DC probably won't be keen on trying out new concepts like Prez or Bizarro or Section Eight.

Books like Gotham Academy, Gotham By Midnight.....Midnighter, Omeg Men....they may not last much longer.

Back to doom and gloom I guess

Omega Men was great, but I have to admit I didn't like any other title that you mentioned.

[FanboyStranger]

DC probably won't be keen on trying out new concepts like Prez or Bizarro or Section Eight.(

It's a quibble, but Section Eight is not a new concept. It's a defacto spinoff from Hitman, and it's squarely aimed at fans of Ennis and McCrea. I'm sure DC figured that monthly sales on the mini were going to be a loss leader for the inevitable collection, which will probably sell a lot better than most books of its type. That's the better model for this kind of book with a big name creator.

[K. Jones]

The concept doesn't seem to track. At least, not entirely.

The Mark Doyle bat-line is going like gangbusters, so the specific instance of "batgirling" which would essentially have to mean Batgirl, Black Canary, Gotham Academy - essentially the Fletcherverse - is kind of probably not going anywhere.

But secondary titles and new ideas, kind of cute, out there stuff, I can see that not doing that well. Prez looks rad and I'll get to it eventually maybe. Bizarro looks fun, Bat-Mite looks fun, but it's true I just glanced at them and had no real interest. But they were also only ever marketed as miniseries. And elsewhere in the DCU, frankly, zilcho is remotely "batgirled" (Well, maybe Doctor Fate and Doomed. I love Fate but I could see it not making the cut after a while. Doomed I just could care less about.), if by "batgirled" we mean fun, contemporary, hip, stylish, fun for both girls and boys, and yet actually taking the characters pretty seriously at the same time. Honestly if we were to look through comics history it's not like Batgirl is even the first title that fits the bill here - Lee/Ditko era Spider-Man is all kinds of batgirled.

So between how much Doyle's line is full of critical darlings, how successful probably Eternal and the post-Eternal bat-line are, and the fact that most of the rest of the remotely similarly describable titles are already temporary titles, the notion of a top-down editorial back-off seems kind of patronizingly phony.

Of course the sad fact that Convergence probably outsold a bunch of them because of *HYPE* is a real factor. But seriously, I wouldn't be especially worried. And I'm not!

I do suspect the return to Bruce Wayne Batman and Non-Depowered Superman will happen sooner than we expected. In other case (Aquaman) I'm glad it'll happen, because basically I just want his classic costume back on him.

[AlexanderLuthor]

I'm not sure what they expected. The minute the new DCYou list came out I cut half of my DC pull list. I know it's not popular to say around here, but the majority of comic book fans are skewing towards middle aged men. They brought a lot of those people back when they rebooted, but most of those people are also continuity nuts. They aren't going to pick up books like Prez, Bat-Mite, Bizarro and so on if they don't "matter". It's nice to have those sorts of books in limited numbers, but the whole continuity is whatever you want it to be has turned a lot of people off that were religiously buying the New 52 stuff. I have not met one person in my LCS that was there because of the DCYOU initiative - but know plenty who cut way back. It's the sort of idea that is really popular here, but doesn't work in the real world

[JBatmanFan05]

I'm not sure what they expected. The minute the new DCYou list came out I cut half of my DC pull list. I know it's not popular to say around here, but the majority of comic book fans are skewing towards middle aged men. They brought a lot of those people back when they rebooted, but most of those people are also continuity nuts. They aren't going to pick up books like Prez, Bat-Mite, Bizarro and so on if they don't "matter". It's nice to have those sorts of books in limited numbers, but the whole continuity is whatever you want it to be has turned a lot of people off that were religiously buying the New 52 stuff. I have not met one person in my LCS that was there because of the DCYOU initiative - but know plenty who cut way back. It's the sort of idea that is really popular here, but doesn't work in the real world

Well said. I agree.

When you do sweeping changes to established characters - as DC did with Superman, Green Lantern, and Batman post-Convergence - you're going to divide fans. Before when you divided fans, however, you could bank on them still buying the comics out of habit. That's not the case any more with the current market dwindling and getting older, as well as the price of comics going up. Why spend $4 on a comic book that you're not really into, when you can wait until the story is complete and buy it on your tablet for $10? The majority of readers are starting to figure that out and I think the loss in sales is a direct result of that.

I agree on this as well. Sweeping changes like New 52 and post-Convergence can drive readers out or send them to trade waiting.