Originally Posted by
BohemiaDrinker
Hmm, ok.
Look, I could go all day flooding this thread with links that would prove exactly that (as individuals, not as a group, though).
Sure it is. That's how they build a name so they can go to Image, that's how they negotiate their contracts and page rates, their job depends on sales as much, hell, much more than the editorial and management.
Google "HyperCrisis", or "Superman: 2000" or any Morrison interview, and so on. Go look for what the guys who are in a fortunate enough position to not have to worry about their jobs have to say.
At the end of the day, the New 52 was a beautiful shell with no soul. You may disagree because all you want is "Superfriends", but the thing had no staying power because it lacked what made DC "DC". If you loose your diehard fans and can't keep "new" ones, as much noise as you make, you will be in trouble soon enough. What's more, if your die-hard fans have nothing good to say about your company, that's even worse. You'll cap your growth right there.
Well, I do freelance work for a comics site here in a Brazil for about ten years, so a lot of fan perception gets to me. I actually covered ComiCon here 2 years and a row, talked to hundreds of fans (and quite a few pros) and I have to say, you may have to question your perception of what the "bulk" audience is; because there is no bulk audience as far as preferences go, and what you are describing are casuals, and casuals are very, very far from being the bulk of the audience in any way I can see.
If someone gets confused by Wally's skin color, chances are that they didn't pick a Flash comic (or, hell, a DC comic) before and will not pick one again.