Your DC-Only controversial opinions...

[Tayswift]

That was interesting.
I did not know he attacked comics for their terrible portrayal of people of non-white skin color.
It is true comics and pulp magazines portrayal of Blacks, Asians and Latinos was mostly horrifying at the time.

The Batman Robin thing it's true some people do joke about how some of the back issues make their relationship look, but they are just foolishly mocking it . I think Wertham was coming from a place, that he genuinely thought reading them would turn young readers gay. I don't think anyone today is suggesting that is/was the case .

LOL at 40s Wonder Woman being more progressive, and modern Wonder Woman becoming closer to the "safe" Wonder Woman he wanted.

he is damn right about wonder woman more progressive at 40s than now

[Trey Strain]

No more crossover wars. But for God's sake, if you're going to inflict another one on us, make it like a real war for once instead of like another video game war.

[manofsteel1979]

I think the industry is strangling itself to death with its dedication to floppies. A twenty page book, with maybe five panels on average per page, at four bucks a shot, that only comes out once a month, and can only be found in hobby shops? And people wonder why comics dont sell? Why the industry hasn't completely moved on to digital boggles my mind. Comics could generate some solid profit right now if the publishers would stop pretending that it's still 1980. They still treat digital comics like the red headed step child; they dont get much attention or focus, and almost always get the scraps from the talent table.

Did you guys know that in 2011 digital comics sold something like 24 million copies, but in 2014 they sold 100 million? By comparison, print comics only gained something like 9 million more readers during the same period.

Imagine how much more that increase could have been if the industry had actually worked at their digital presence?

While I don't think the industry should abandon floppies completely....I do think digital should be the focus for the mass market. Just like in the music industry with digital downloads and streaming being the norm, vinyl records have found a new market for collectors and high end audiophiles and has seen that particular segment skyrocket in popularity. Still just a small percentage of the overall industry...but it's noteworthy that it's the only segment of the music industry to see growth in the last few years. I think there will always be a niche market for floppies in some form, so I could see that as the future of comics...I.E. mass market driven digitally with a strong collectors secondary market.

All i know is since I've gone digital I've not looked back. HOWEVER....I did get the paper/hard copy version of SUPERMAN;LOIS AND CLARK this week out of pure nostalgia. I've gotten every Superman related #1 in floppies since 1986 and I won't stop now.

[Aahz]

They should write events as big one shots and not as series of floppies.

[superduperman]

I think the industry is strangling itself to death with its dedication to floppies. A twenty page book, with maybe five panels on average per page, at four bucks a shot, that only comes out once a month, and can only be found in hobby shops? And people wonder why comics dont sell? Why the industry hasn't completely moved on to digital boggles my mind. Comics could generate some solid profit right now if the publishers would stop pretending that it's still 1980. They still treat digital comics like the red headed step child; they dont get much attention or focus, and almost always get the scraps from the talent table.

Did you guys know that in 2011 digital comics sold something like 24 million copies, but in 2014 they sold 100 million? By comparison, print comics only gained something like 9 million more readers during the same period.

Imagine how much more that increase could have been if the industry had actually worked at their digital presence?

Agreed. Up to a point. I still prefer a physical copy I can hold in my hand. Which is why they need to release more graphic novels that are just that. Not collections of floppies. Make them more like books.

[superduperman]

Lobo is Daffy Duck with Elvis hair and a big bike. Who doesn't love to laugh at Daffy Duck?

Point. However, I think DC does take him too seriously sometimes. He got his own storyline in Injustice, for instance. Ate up a good chunk of the book. The Justice League cartoon where Superman disappears and he tried to take his place was probably the only good use of him because he was such a ridiculous screw up.

Neither is the one currently appearing in comics. No more so than if an adult killed someone by throwing a baby at them very hard makes the baby a murderer.

It just seems like a very bad way to start off the character. Make her a mass murderer, even if it wasn't her fault. She's going to spend the rest of her life trying to atone for that.

[Ascended]

I agree with manofsteel that floppies have their place in the market, and superduperman (and those like him) are the reason why. But floppies shouldnt be the primary focus for the industry anymore. The monthly release dates, the low page count, the high price, it all combines to present an archaic model that no one not already invested in the art form is going to delve into.

The fact that the prime market only gained 9 million new readers (roughly, I dont have the data in front of me) while digital gained 76 million and the movies and tv shows are huge proves the point.

What I really want to know is, why havent the publishers made the jump? If a business student with no insider information can figure this out....well, I assume that the people who actually work in comics know more than I do. So what is it that is keeping them from pursuing a profitable comics industry? What is it that is missing from the puzzle?

[j9ac9k]

What I really want to know is, why havent the publishers made the jump? If a business student with no insider information can figure this out....well, I assume that the people who actually work in comics know more than I do. So what is it that is keeping them from pursuing a profitable comics industry? What is it that is missing from the puzzle?

I'm going to go with, "an increasingly illiterate populace."

[GlennSimpson]

I agree with manofsteel that floppies have their place in the market, and superduperman (and those like him) are the reason why. But floppies shouldnt be the primary focus for the industry anymore. The monthly release dates, the low page count, the high price, it all combines to present an archaic model that no one not already invested in the art form is going to delve into.

The fact that the prime market only gained 9 million new readers (roughly, I dont have the data in front of me) while digital gained 76 million and the movies and tv shows are huge proves the point.

What I really want to know is, why havent the publishers made the jump? If a business student with no insider information can figure this out....well, I assume that the people who actually work in comics know more than I do. So what is it that is keeping them from pursuing a profitable comics industry? What is it that is missing from the puzzle?

There is something missing, and it's information the publishers have that we don't. I find it safer to assume that if they aren't doing what I think they should, it's because I'm lacking information they have.

[Johnny Thunders!]

Brian Azzarello has written better Superman comics than Batman comics.

[Lee Stone]

DC needs letters pages again.

It gives a controllable forum where the creators can shed light on behind the scenes story plots, plug future stories and characters, clarify story points and build a sense of community or fanfare.
And a one-stop-shop for official horses mouth responses, which would still be easily seen by new readers who may have similar questions or thoughts.

[Lee Stone]

I agree with manofsteel that floppies have their place in the market, and superduperman (and those like him) are the reason why. But floppies shouldnt be the primary focus for the industry anymore. The monthly release dates, the low page count, the high price, it all combines to present an archaic model that no one not already invested in the art form is going to delve into.

The fact that the prime market only gained 9 million new readers (roughly, I dont have the data in front of me) while digital gained 76 million and the movies and tv shows are huge proves the point.

What I really want to know is, why havent the publishers made the jump? If a business student with no insider information can figure this out....well, I assume that the people who actually work in comics know more than I do. So what is it that is keeping them from pursuing a profitable comics industry? What is it that is missing from the puzzle?

Diamond.
Publishers made a "deal with the devil" to find an alternative to newsstands.

Comic shop retailers.
A lot of the big ones feel more of a "sense of ownership" than the most devoted X-Men or Batman fan.
They can make or break a series just by adjusting their orders.

In short, DC and Marvel don't have the wheel.

If they went all digital, they would have to consider the possible backlash from Diamond and the retailers.
Would Diamond still stock the TPBs and Graphic Novels, if DC or Marvel took out almost 50% of Diamond's monthly profits?
Would retailers boycott Marvel or DC out of spite for "abandoning them"?

[Trey Strain]

Rap "music" is embarrassingly awful, but everybody wants to know about it. The blues is a great art form that was invented 100 percent by African-Americans, but nobody wants to know about it except for a few white people.

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[Crazy Diamond]

Rap "music" is embarrassingly awful, but everybody wants to know about it. The blues is a great art form that was invented 100 percent by African-Americans, but nobody wants to know about it except for a few white people.

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Black culture is hated and shunned until it is co-opted. It is dismissed as garbage until we move on from it. Then, some claim they loved it all along and that what we do in the present is "ghetto" and trashy. Without music like the Blues, funk, jazz, and the like there is no rap music. How a person can like one but hate what it influenced is beyond me.

Related: I love rap music precisely because it will never be completely accepted by the mainstream here no matter how many Macklemores show up. It's too raw for that.

[Ascended]

There is something missing, and it's information the publishers have that we don't. I find it safer to assume that if they aren't doing what I think they should, it's because I'm lacking information they have.

This. But for the life of my I cannot figure out where that missing puzzle piece is. I know how much talent is paid, I know how much advertising costs, I know how much printing and distributing costs and how much it costs to keep offices afloat and paid for. And I still cant figure out what it is that keeps the companies focused on floppies. Even with the increase in readership the industry saw in 2011, the ultimate profit gains have been relatively modest.

Im just a business student. I dont have to know how these guys run things. But what worries me is that we've seen other industries die because the doddering old fools in charge refused to evolve. WB and Disney see DC and Marvel as nothing more than cheap IP factories and have little need of extra profits from comic sales (which would have to be astronomically high to generate enough profit for those mega-corporations to notice). And changing the business model would require investment and hard work and risk. I fear that we havent seen changes because, so long as the comics break even, their parent companies see no need to do anything. And until the Big 2 change, the smaller publishers cant.

I also wonder if the companies are just playing the long game and letting the fans break the news to the retailers ourselves. A 9 million increase in floppies versus a 76 million increase in digital. The writing is on the wall and the retailers know it (better than I do, certainly).

Perhaps the question is; why arent retailers and Diamond doing more?