Lee & DiDio Explain Frank Miller's Relevance, Learning from DC You & More

[CBR News]

DC Co-Publishers Jim Lee & Dan DiDio spoke with CBR TV about "Dark Knight III," Lee's return to "All-Star Batman & Robin" and DC Super Hero Girls.


Full article here.

[dan12456]

"Hey, who deserves a moment in the spotlight?" We kind of pushed a lot characters to the front and center. That said, we pushed a lot of content to the front and center, and at the end of the day, you just can't slap the label "diversity" on something and expect it to sell. At the end of the day, you saw the better content sell better than the others, and you have to have that in the back of your mind as you keep going forward and keep expanding this program. You gotta get really good creators working together. It's a bit of alchemy, getting the right writer with the right artist on the right character. That said, we've got some big plans where we're going to continue building on what we learned and what started with DC You."

I found that comment really weird, because there was very little correlation between what sold well and what was critically acclaimed or well received amongst fans.

[Tayswift]

"Hey, who deserves a moment in the spotlight?" We kind of pushed a lot characters to the front and center. That said, we pushed a lot of content to the front and center, and at the end of the day, you just can't slap the label "diversity" on something and expect it to sell. At the end of the day, you saw the better content sell better than the others, and you have to have that in the back of your mind as you keep going forward and keep expanding this program. You gotta get really good creators working together. It's a bit of alchemy, getting the right writer with the right artist on the right character. That said, we've got some big plans where we're going to continue building on what we learned and what started with DC You."

I found that comment really weird, because there was very little correlation between what sold well and what was critically acclaimed or well received amongst fans.

yeah, it is a weird comment because quality had little to do with sales. omegan men sales are very bad for a book with critical acclaim.
i wonder if right writer and artist will be more of meat and potatos, or they will keep hiring some diverse talent

[Avi]

It is really a weird comment...

It will be interesting to see what they think they learned... and the first impression will come in January. The announcements are good so far and I hope the plans for DC Super Hero Girls pan out.

[solletaire]

"Hey, who deserves a moment in the spotlight?" We kind of pushed a lot characters to the front and center. That said, we pushed a lot of content to the front and center, and at the end of the day, you just can't slap the label "diversity" on something and expect it to sell. At the end of the day, you saw the better content sell better than the others, and you have to have that in the back of your mind as you keep going forward and keep expanding this program. You gotta get really good creators working together. It's a bit of alchemy, getting the right writer with the right artist on the right character. That said, we've got some big plans where we're going to continue building on what we learned and what started with DC You."

I found that comment really weird, because there was very little correlation between what sold well and what was critically acclaimed or well received amongst fans.

My thought exactly. Books like Wonder Woman continue to be strong sellers even though they have not been too well received. The creative team of M and D Finch are continuing into their second year on that book. While books like Midnighter and Gotham by Midnight are struggling and cancelled. Also acclaimed creative teams like Genevieve Valentine and David Messina have been dropped.

I would be very disappointed if Lee/DiDio really felt like that. Because that statement is false.

I also think this comment is a bit disrespectful to the creators behind the books. Fawkes/Ferreyra, Orlando/Aco/Mooney, Valentine/Messina, Fletcher/Wu are all creative teams that have put together some really phenomenal comics...

[RobinFan4880]

Live interviews often lead to people misspeaking. I am going to file this under that category. I think he meant to say some content sold better than others.

[Lee Stone]

So... What was Omega Men? Chopped liver?

[K. Jones]

Must read the article for context, but suspect that Frank Miller's relevance for two fifty-year old old dudes is not the same as Frank Miller's relevance for me, or Frank Miller's relevance for somebody half my age and getting into comics. Or for that matter, somebody Miller's age or from before that (I've noticed for a while now that in many regards in life, including comics, I fall more in line with dudes like Denny or Len or Marv, writers who could be my grandparents, far, far, far more often than folks who are you know, my parents' age. Excepting Morrison.)

I suppose it's pretty relevant that all the dudes approaching 50 who were in their formative years in the 80s are now the ones running the shop, so to speak, in both the books and the film side of things, and thus, things like Batman v. Superman, which could be pretty rad, but is still almost assuredly not going to be as good as Dini & Timm & Burchett's World's Finest animated Batman/Superman crossover, because that thing is the effing gold standard.

I understand though from some peers and many online folks that DKR and Year One were their gateway points into Batman. This interests me. I liked both when I read them as a teenager, but they didn't hold a candle to Long Halloween for me, which was what got me back into comics.

[Prime]

Hasn't Miller gone down the deep end?

[Conquistador18]

Good luck trying to find that balance. They haven't brought in the new readers that they thought they would and now they've got to try and figure out how to bring back the old readers who they have alienated.

[codystarbuck]

I think the title of this should have been Lee and Didio hope to convince enough people that Frank Miller is relevant, to cover that check they wrote him. What it says to me is that they recognize that they haven't had a major, long term, acclaimed hit since the days of Dark Knight, Sandman, and Watchmen. That's what happens when you stop encouraging people to be creative and just churn out content. DC was so much better (Marvel, to, for that matter) when their bakcs were up against the wall and they had nothing to lose. For Marvel, it was the launch of the Marvel Universe, with FF #1, as the company was barely alive. For DC, it was when Jenette Kahn implemented changes to encourage innovation, which led to a major renaissance at DC, with 1986 (and into 1987, to a certain extent) probably marking the apex.

[K. Jones]

I think the title of this should have been Lee and Didio hope to convince enough people that Frank Miller is relevant, to cover that check they wrote him. What it says to me is that they recognize that they haven't had a major, long term, acclaimed hit since the days of Dark Knight, Sandman, and Watchmen. That's what happens when you stop encouraging people to be creative and just churn out content. DC was so much better (Marvel, to, for that matter) when their bakcs were up against the wall and they had nothing to lose. For Marvel, it was the launch of the Marvel Universe, with FF #1, as the company was barely alive. For DC, it was when Jenette Kahn implemented changes to encourage innovation, which led to a major renaissance at DC, with 1986 (and into 1987, to a certain extent) probably marking the apex.

I think it was probably a three-way combination of Kahn's Vertigo work, Levitz's management and Denny O'Neil being the editor of the large batman line.

[Nick Miller]

I think the title of this should have been Lee and Didio hope to convince enough people that Frank Miller is relevant, to cover that check they wrote him. What it says to me is that they recognize that they haven't had a major, long term, acclaimed hit since the days of Dark Knight, Sandman, and Watchmen. That's what happens when you stop encouraging people to be creative and just churn out content. DC was so much better (Marvel, to, for that matter) when their bakcs were up against the wall and they had nothing to lose. For Marvel, it was the launch of the Marvel Universe, with FF #1, as the company was barely alive. For DC, it was when Jenette Kahn implemented changes to encourage innovation, which led to a major renaissance at DC, with 1986 (and into 1987, to a certain extent) probably marking the apex.

Oh please, would you like me to list the dozens and dozens of books that are as well liked as the content from the mid 80's?

[Flash Gordon]

Hate to break it to ya DC but Omega Men, Prez, and Grayson are the best books you're putting out there in terms of quality and substance. Like those books are just as good as anything Image is doing, seriously (and that's not an insult to Image, rather a compliment to DC). None of those books are big sellers though, you have to keep THAT in the back of your mind.

I imagine years from now we will look back fondly on those books in TPB. It's not always about sales, in publishing. Sometimes you just have to believe in a project as an art, and what it can do for its readers in the future (and the industry as a whole).

I want more books like that.

[Darrin Kelley]

Sales have never been the driving force behind whatever Vertigo puts out.