DC Announces Full "Rebirth" Line, Twice-Monthly Books, Lowered Price Point

[Starchild]

Excuse my ignorance, but I fail to see how bi-monthly books are a bad thing. I look forward to reading Cyborg, Green Arrow and Justice League twice a month.

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

Excuse my ignorance, but I fail to see how bi-monthly books are a bad thing. I look forward to reading Cyborg, Green Arrow and Justice League twice a month.

more $ to spend (yes, I know for more content. Still more $ spent), possible risk of lower quality (usually complaints are the art), etc

[Götterdämmerung]

Being that the Green Lantern Corps are my favorite superheroes (and Superman second), looks like I have a lot to look forward as far as plentiful comics. I really should stop being a worry wart and revel in the idea of all kinds of stories from superhero titles I really love.

[dragonmp93]

They are banking on the safe but there is a risk involved with that. DC is basically flying without a safety net of any kind here in my opinion. Those so called "safe" titles had better perform and grab a lot of consistent sales and market share and it better be more of both then they were already getting under their previous model to make this move worthwhile. They have literally nothing else here that will pick up the slack for them should sales fall off with these. I'm not at all comfortable about that since there's absolutely no guarantee that sales will in fact improve with this arrangement.

Well, i think that having titles that with luck sell 25k at best as your security net is a horrible idea.

[Ascended]

Excuse my ignorance, but I fail to see how bi-monthly books are a bad thing. I look forward to reading Cyborg, Green Arrow and Justice League twice a month.

Some people cant afford it.

If all you got for a monthly comics budget is eight bucks, and you read both Superman and Spider-Man, now you're going to have to decide; read just Superman with those eight bucks, and then go buy a cheap cup of coffee with what is left over, or read Spider-Man and spend the other four bucks on another title, and with the amount of books DC is double shipping, odds are that new title won't be from DC.

Additionally, if those double shipping books cant find an audience, DC is going to lose a lot more profit before they recognize that fact and take steps to rectify it. The company just moved across country and had a dismal 2015, if this tanks they could find themselves in serious financial trouble real quick.

And some people just see it as a money grab and refuse to play along on principal.

[RoyImpulse]

They are banking on the safe but there is a risk involved with that. DC is basically flying without a safety net of any kind here in my opinion. Those so called "safe" titles had better perform and grab a lot of consistent sales and market share and it better be more of both then they were already getting under their previous model to make this move worthwhile. They have literally nothing else here that will pick up the slack for them should sales fall off with these. I'm not at all comfortable about that since there's absolutely no guarantee that sales will in fact improve with this arrangement.

I totally agree. In the long run, DC needs to be more than the "safe" titles. In the short run, fans will be spending most of their time and money on these titles due to double shipping and it really won't leave much for other titles. Once the momentum slows down from double shipping, will DC be able to expand the base? We'll see. The Hanna Barbera titles are a test to see if something outside of the "safe" titles can work in the long run.

[sifighter]

I totally agree. In the long run, DC needs to be more than the "safe" titles. In the short run, fans will be spending most of their time and money on these titles due to double shipping and it really won't leave much for other titles. Once the momentum slows down from double shipping, will DC be able to expand the base? We'll see. The Hanna Barbera titles are a test to see if something outside of the "safe" titles can work in the long run.

Well it's not just the Hanna Barbera series but also mini-series such as Prez, Bloodlines, Harley's Gang and etc along with the Vertigo series. So while the main universe series are very safe, I'd say that there are at least a few things they will be trying out.

[Starchild]

Some people cant afford it.

If all you got for a monthly comics budget is eight bucks, and you read both Superman and Spider-Man, now you're going to have to decide; read just Superman with those eight bucks, and then go buy a cheap cup of coffee with what is left over, or read Spider-Man and spend the other four bucks on another title, and with the amount of books DC is double shipping, odds are that new title won't be from DC.

Additionally, if those double shipping books cant find an audience, DC is going to lose a lot more profit before they recognize that fact and take steps to rectify it. The company just moved across country and had a dismal 2015, if this tanks they could find themselves in serious financial trouble real quick.

And some people just see it as a money grab and refuse to play along on principal.

Hmm, you make me want to rethink my whole pull list. I have a lot of titles as you can see. Maybe it's time for me to trim it down a little bit, which is going to be hard, because I follow all of those titles religiously. I've never been a trade-waiter, but i don't think I'll have much of a choice.

[Atlanta96]

I totally agree. In the long run, DC needs to be more than the "safe" titles. In the short run, fans will be spending most of their time and money on these titles due to double shipping and it really won't leave much for other titles. Once the momentum slows down from double shipping, will DC be able to expand the base? We'll see. The Hanna Barbera titles are a test to see if something outside of the "safe" titles can work in the long run.

I'm not trying to suck up to DC or anything, but I think it's safe to assume that they have plans for books featuring new/secondary characters to be released a while after Rebirth. For all we know, the double shipping could be a temporary thing, and we can expect a full lineup of titles in a year or so. Again, I know DC is still going to make stupid decisions, and I do think the double shipping is a bad decision already, it's just a bad decision I don't expect to last long.

BTW if I'm right and they have additional books planned for later in the year, hopefully they'll give Tim Drake his own series again, and also Superboy and Catwoman books that don't suck! And an ongoing series with an Asian protagonist finally! Yeah, DC definitely has some work to do!

[Flash Gordon]

Hmm, you make me want to rethink my whole pull list. I have a lot of titles as you can see. Maybe it's time for me to trim it down a little bit, which is going to be hard, because I follow all of those titles religiously. I've never been a trade-waiter, but i don't think I'll have much of a choice.

I pretty much only trade wait DC now, with the exception of GRAYSON, OMEGA MEN, PREZ, and HELLBLAZER.

Was buying LOIS AND CLARK but it's been hard to find, even in this city.

It's just more economical. Plus it's easier for me to store in my small space. I spend my monthly budget primarily on smaller press stuff.

[Ascended]

Hmm, you make me want to rethink my whole pull list. I have a lot of titles as you can see. Maybe it's time for me to trim it down a little bit, which is going to be hard, because I follow all of those titles religiously. I've never been a trade-waiter, but i don't think I'll have much of a choice.

Well, you can always decide which Superman book looks better and just get that one (dropping the other) and do the same for the two Justice League books.....some of the books arent coming back, like Midnighter, and you got at least one miniseries in there with American Alien....oh, two, that Suicide Squad mini.....but yeah, I think most of us are going to be adjusting our pull lists once creative teams and directions are released.

It might not end up costing you much more though, especially if some of those books are 3.99 instead of 2.99.....dont forget, a bunch of DC titles are going to be cheaper too, which should help.

Also, you need to go check out Invincible by Robert Kirkman. Looking at your pull list I think it would be right up your alley. We're at something like 120 issues but the trades are easy to get and cheap. I know you're talking about culling the herd, but if you haven't tried it yet? Oh my god, best superhero title on earth! And if you do try it, you have to give it until around issue 9. Everything up to that point is prologue, the real story starts then (about halfway through the second trade if you get the standard release). Its also on break until April, which would give you plenty of time to catch up if you love the book (as all right-thinking people do!).

[JasonTodd428]

Well, given that we already saw what happened with the DC You approach.............................

They tried to do to much with DCYou granted but now it seems they've gone to far the other way. They've been doing that a whole lot in recent years, first the N52 then DCYou and now Rebirth. Like I said they're taking a big risk here by banking their future on some of these so called "safe" titles without having a safety net of some sort provided by the revenue created by titles with smaller fan bases. They're basically throwing away additional sales in this ventureo because not all the fans of those titles are going to flock to JL or Batman or to a team book that might have one member they like but five others they do not care for in the absence of any other DC books to buy.

Now I really do hope this strategy works out for them but I remain skeptical. I think they may come to find that strong core titles are all well and good but that they also need titles like an Omega Men or a Ms Marvel to be truly competitive in todays market.

[Starchild]

Well, you can always decide which Superman book looks better and just get that one (dropping the other) and do the same for the two Justice League books.....some of the books arent coming back, like Midnighter, and you got at least one miniseries in there with American Alien....oh, two, that Suicide Squad mini.....but yeah, I think most of us are going to be adjusting our pull lists once creative teams and directions are released.

It might not end up costing you much more though, especially if some of those books are 3.99 instead of 2.99.....dont forget, a bunch of DC titles are going to be cheaper too, which should help.

Also, you need to go check out Invincible by Robert Kirkman. Looking at your pull list I think it would be right up your alley. We're at something like 120 issues but the trades are easy to get and cheap. I know you're talking about culling the herd, but if you haven't tried it yet? Oh my god, best superhero title on earth! And if you do try it, you have to give it until around issue 9. Everything up to that point is prologue, the real story starts then (about halfway through the second trade if you get the standard release). Its also on break until April, which would give you plenty of time to catch up if you love the book (as all right-thinking people do!).

Huge, huge, huge, HUGE Invincible fan over here. I was bummed when Invincible Universe was cancelled, they showcased some of my favorite characters ever like Best Tiger and Astonishing Wolf-Man. It's obvious that I have some decisions to make. I have to take into account that I read Marvel and other indie titles too. At some point, I gotta ask myself: Do I really need to follow 5 X-titles or 7 Justice League books?

[AlexanderLuthor]

Double post

[AlexanderLuthor]

They tried to do to much with DCYou granted but now it seems they've gone to far the other way. They've been doing that a whole lot in recent years, first the N52 then DCYou and now Rebirth. Like I said they're taking a big risk here by banking their future on some of these so called "safe" titles without having a safety net of some sort provided by the revenue created by titles with smaller fan bases. They're basically throwing away additional sales in this ventureo because not all the fans of those titles are going to flock to JL or Batman or to a team book that might have one member they like but five others they do not care for in the absence of any other DC books to buy.

Now I really do hope this strategy works out for them but I remain skeptical. I think they may come to find that strong core titles are all well and good but that they also need titles like an Omega Men or a Ms Marvel to be truly competitive in todays market.

I'm not really sure what risk you are talking about. Shipping Batman and JL twice a month makes up for the sales of every single other book being cancelled by themselves. Not to mention WB/DC will make enough in the last week of March off of Batman v Superman to finance the comic book division for the rest of your lifetime. Comics are the testing ground for the IP, but really just a drop in the bucket money-wise for WB. It's the creative/built in losses side. I'm sure they want DC to do well, of course, but in reality the movie will make what DC makes over 10-15 years in just 1 weekend.

As for being competitive in this market - DC isn't making these changes because Ms. Marvel is doing well critically, it's because Marvel getting the Star Wars stuff is ripping their faces off