Your DC-Only controversial opinions...

[superduperman]

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"?

I have heard so many frickin' horror stories about Diamond for so long. My LCS can tell you. One time they sent him a pop tart in with the merch. A pop tart. Have no idea if it was wrapped. I guarantee you if a competitor to Diamond ever popped up, they'd probably clean up.

[80sbaby]

I take it you're only referring to pre-Flashpoint Dick and ignoring that his back story changed with the New 52?

Yeah, I was thinking in terms of Pre-FP. Although, even in DCNu, I think he was still fighting a higher caliber of enemy than most other heroes at age 16, wasn't he?

[Ascended]

I have heard so many frickin' horror stories about Diamond for so long. My LCS can tell you. One time they sent him a pop tart in with the merch. A pop tart. Have no idea if it was wrapped. I guarantee you if a competitor to Diamond ever popped up, they'd probably clean up.

A competitor has popped up. Digital. And from what I have read, they are cleaning up.

But yeah, the Diamond deal was great short term; kept prices reasonable, provided more consistency to the market.....but the long term loses have far outweighed the short term gains.

I dont think anyone ever considered how they'd replace the fanbase without easy access to the merchandise, once comics were so hard to find people began thinking they were no longer made at all. Hell, I was talking to a friend a while back who is an extremely intelligent, rich guy with more connections than I can imagine in both public and private sectors, and he was under the impression that comic shops dealt only with old issues, like an antiques store. Had no clue that there was fresh material every week. If someone like him is ignorant of the industry, what hope does some poor kid in the ghetto have of finding them?

[PlumeNoir]

I really liked the concept of Hypertime and didn't find it confusing at all.

Funny how that is what we seem to have Post-Convergence. Ironically, I'm not really enjoying it now.

[AdamFTF]

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.

My problem with digital comics is that sometimes I'll buy them and forget about them until months later when I log onto Comixology again. I'm much more likely to read a comic if I see it lying around my place. Either that or I'm going to have to read digital comics the minute I buy them.

[stephens2177]

You can read digital comics while waiting for the bus,cooking supper,working out,sitting in your car waiting for youre wife to come out of a store,it can be with you wherever you go now,that is a huge advantage over floppies. Not to mention if you see or happen to think of some character or writer or book that's cool,you can go online and buy any of it right there on the spot without waiting to walk into a comic shop that is half or a whole hour away from where you live,and hope for something there.

[Lee Stone]

A competitor has popped up. Digital. And from what I have read, they are cleaning up.

But yeah, the Diamond deal was great short term; kept prices reasonable, provided more consistency to the market.....but the long term loses have far outweighed the short term gains.

I dont think anyone ever considered how they'd replace the fanbase without easy access to the merchandise, once comics were so hard to find people began thinking they were no longer made at all. Hell, I was talking to a friend a while back who is an extremely intelligent, rich guy with more connections than I can imagine in both public and private sectors, and he was under the impression that comic shops dealt only with old issues, like an antiques store. Had no clue that there was fresh material every week. If someone like him is ignorant of the industry, what hope does some poor kid in the ghetto have of finding them?

That's a pretty common misconception.
Comic shops are generally considered by the average non-comics reader to be equivalent to vinyl record shops and baseball card shops.

Add in the fact that cons, the only real widespread outlet to show comics are still made, are now mostly sci-fi or anime focused. And most probably think ithey're about the Marvel movies or DC shows.

[MajorHoy]

You can read digital comics while waiting for the bus,cooking supper,working out,sitting in your car waiting for youre wife to come out of a store,it can be with you wherever you go now,that is a huge advantage over floppies. Not to mention if you see or happen to think of some character or writer or book that's cool,you can go online and buy any of it right there on the spot without waiting to walk into a comic shop that is half or a whole hour away from where you live,and hope for something there.

Depends on if you have invested in the devices to read them and have good wifi connections where you live.

Some of us haven't / don't, and don't necessarily feel the need for that. And I can't even guarantee cell phone service inside my house.

[BohemiaDrinker]

Depends on if you have invested in the devices to read them and have good wifi connections where you live.

Some of us haven't / don't, and don't necessarily feel the need for that. And I can't even guarantee cell phone service inside my house.

Sure, but the question here is: how many comics readers today lack a device to read them? May be a negligible number.

[Ascended]

That's a pretty common misconception.
Comic shops are generally considered by the average non-comics reader to be equivalent to vinyl record shops and baseball card shops.

Exactly. That is a HUGE problem.

Anyway, didnt mean to derail the thread with this one topic.

So.....another controversial opinion.....

People who claim to be die hard Ted Kord fans but only started to "like" the character when he died and was replaced. Seriously, ten-ish years on the DC message boards and it was rare to see someone say something like "Man, Ted could totally carry a solo! He's such a great character!" People enjoyed him to a point, mostly due to JLI nostalgia it seems, but it wasnt until after his death that his "fan base" actually appeared. I've always thought that it was more about railing against change than it was about Ted, and his actual fans' voices get lost in the volume of cries from bandwagoners that really translate to "I hate Jaime because he didnt exist when I was a kid!"

[stephens2177]

Depends on if you have invested in the devices to read them and have good wifi connections where you live.

Some of us haven't / don't, and don't necessarily feel the need for that. And I can't even guarantee cell phone service inside my house.

Out of those who are into comics how many do you think really don't have a cell phone,or tablet,or computer? I bet it's a very very small amount.look at you,you say you don't have good internet,BUT you are able to get on here everyday and post,if you can do that you can buy and read digital comics.


Btw another controversial opinion that I hold is that you can make a good version of kon-el.just because Lobdell and DC crapped on him doesn't mean there isn't a way to make kon work,just look at every other version,they all work.

[t hedge coke]

I really liked the concept of Hypertime and didn't find it confusing at all.

Hypertime, like "breathing" or "deconstruction," wasn't a new technique developed, but a description of something that pre-existed the word by ages and ages. But, I think, giving it a name led some people to assume it was a new thing and new things can be stopped. Not calling hypertime by that name won't stop it. Stories will still connect with characters or causally, our brains will still make connections that other readers won't be making, we'll still value certain takes or continuities over others.

I'm kind of mindboggled by people having trouble with alternate continues, in general. How do they watch James Bond movies? How did these people handle Arsene Lupin besting Sherlock Holmes (and then, when sued, Herlock Sholmes or whatever)? How did the survive the existence of different Robin Hood stories and all the variations? Or, get through Jesus' two different family histories in the Bible? Even if The Flash of Two Worlds blows your mind.

[sunofdarkchild]

Exactly. That is a HUGE problem.

People who claim to be die hard Ted Kord fans but only started to "like" the character when he died and was replaced. Seriously, ten-ish years on the DC message boards and it was rare to see someone say something like "Man, Ted could totally carry a solo! He's such a great character!" People enjoyed him to a point, mostly due to JLI nostalgia it seems, but it wasnt until after his death that his "fan base" actually appeared. I've always thought that it was more about railing against change than it was about Ted, and his actual fans' voices get lost in the volume of cries from bandwagoners that really translate to "I hate Jaime because he didnt exist when I was a kid!"

That happens a lot. Jean Grey, Kara Zor-El, Jean DeWolf. Jason Todd. Even Stephanie Brown to a lesser extent. All had very small and quiet fanbases until they were killed, and their deaths are what made their fanbases grow and become vocal. I think even Rob Stark benefited from that effect.

[t hedge coke]

That's a pretty common misconception.
Comic shops are generally considered by the average non-comics reader to be equivalent to vinyl record shops and baseball card shops.

They're also often notoriously unfriendly even in concept to a number of readers who don't fit who they're designed for. Comics shops can be super friendly and helpful, but the majority of them have every window papered over, the porny stuff and the children's stuff side by side, and if the staff aren't condescending to inquiries or the pursuit of comics not to their taste, there will always be two or three regulars hanging out there all day, ready to mock and deride anything someone else asks about or picks up that they don't feel is of superior quality. At least in the US.

There's a reason for Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons or similar pop culture gags. It's not because that nerd supremacy dungeon chic is a rarity.

[dancj]

Out of those who are into comics how many do you think really don't have a cell phone,or tablet,or computer?

There are many devices which can read digital comics, but only tablets are really well suited to it. Desktop PCs aren't portable. Laptops are stuck in landscape. Phones are just too damn small.