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  1. #1
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    Default DC learning hard into Batman?

    Ok, DC comics has a rich history and characters, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, etc. You would think the comics of today would have a lot of variety like Marvel does. But why does DC, no matter the book have to throw Batman or something Bat related in the book? I was reading a Jonah Hex story and where is walking the streets? 1800s Gotham City. Is it because they have no confidence in other characters? Over at Marvel, Spider-Man is popular, featured a lot and crosses over with other characters. But with Marvel, crossovers are a common and frequent thing. But characters have their chance to shine, and even if Spidey crosses over it doesn't overshadow a character in their book. But with current DC it's just BATMAN BATMAN AND OH YEAH...MORE BATMAN. DC is more than Batman. The wheels fell off creatively somewhere. Golden Age comics had way more variety. But Post Crises to 2021, flood the market with Batman. It's astounding how one company relies so heavily on one character and the other has a popular character and spreads the wealth around.

  2. #2
    Mighty Member warzon's Avatar
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    This is i Stop Buying DC because everything is Batman Based i don't have a problem with him having a big Family DC needs to create an Anthology Book for some of his Family if it were i it would be as follow

    Batman
    Detective Comic=An Anthology Book for his Family Featuring Batwoman.Batgirl.the Huntress.Catwoman.Spoiler.Orpan.Signal.Redhood.Red Robin.Robin
    Brave and the Bold=Bring back his team up Book
    Nightwing as the 1st Robin Dick should have his own Title
    The Huntress i've always been a fan of Helena .

    and then do the same for the rest of the Trinity

    Wonder Woman
    Nubia since she was Diana's 1st sister she deserves to have her own Ongoing
    Sensational Comic should be her Family Book for Wonder Girl=Cassie.Artemis.Fury.Grace.Hessia.Queen Hippolyta.Yara.Jason.and Bobby Barnes i still have Hope for him being Wonder Boy
    Wonder Comic would be a Team Up book for Diana
    Troia i Love me some Donna Troy and she was the 1st Wonder Girl like Dick being the 1st Robin so she too deserves a Title.

    and for Kal El we will have

    Superman
    Action Comic will be his Family book for Supergirl.Superwoman.Steel=Natasha.Superboy=Jon and Conner
    Power Girl always liked her a little more than Supergirl.
    Steel=John Henry cause DC Needs More Heroes of Color in their own Ongoings
    DC Comic Present will return as his Team Up Book

    so that way DC can Open up it's roaster with other Teams and Solo's so that Batman isn't taking over the entire DC Format .the only reason he's so popular is because thats all they concentrate on.i personally stopped collecting DC when they started the New 52.I did however collect the Justice League the Darkseid War and was because OF JASON FABOKS Art i'm a big fan and the 1st 18 issues of Titans Rebirth after that nothing else in DC appealed to me.so that's my thoughts on Batman and DC Comics.

  3. #3
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    Frankly, the real reason Marvel didn't focus on Spider-Man and X-men, their two top franchises, for so long was because of the situation with the film rights. That's what forced them to elevate the Avengers from a B-list franchise into their flagship franchise on-screen, and throught he MCU elevate other once obscure characters and franchises as well (Guardians of the Galaxy being the best example).

    DC/WB on the other hand didn't have the pressure of needing to elevate their other major characters because they had full control over their A-listers - Batman and Superman. And since they've struggled with getting a version of Superman who is widely beloved as much as the Donner/Reeve version was once upon a time (which isn't entirely their fault and depends on a bunch of factors), Batman has been their safest bet - in the comics, in the movies, in animation...basically everywhere.

    But to be fair, at least on the film side, they have spent the last few years focusing on the rest of their universe. By the time Reeves' Batman film comes out, it'll be a solid decade since the last solo Batman film. Wonder Woman and Aquaman have become fairly major franchises, the Shazam/Black Adam side of things is looking up, and hopefully Flash opens up not just the title characters mythos but the wider DCU as well. And lets not forget Justice League...whichever version of it floats your boat!

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by CTTT View Post
    Ok, DC comics has a rich history and characters, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, etc. You would think the comics of today would have a lot of variety like Marvel does. But why does DC, no matter the book have to throw Batman or something Bat related in the book? I was reading a Jonah Hex story and where is walking the streets? 1800s Gotham City. Is it because they have no confidence in other characters? Over at Marvel, Spider-Man is popular, featured a lot and crosses over with other characters. But with Marvel, crossovers are a common and frequent thing. But characters have their chance to shine, and even if Spidey crosses over it doesn't overshadow a character in their book. But with current DC it's just BATMAN BATMAN AND OH YEAH...MORE BATMAN. DC is more than Batman. The wheels fell off creatively somewhere. Golden Age comics had way more variety. But Post Crises to 2021, flood the market with Batman. It's astounding how one company relies so heavily on one character and the other has a popular character and spreads the wealth around.
    CTTT, that's almost right.

    DC has a long history of ignoring it's own characters.

    If it's not Superman or Batman, DC has done next to nothing with it's IPs...until very recently.
    Last edited by scary harpy; 05-09-2021 at 10:07 AM.

  5. #5
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    Water is wet, yes.

    DC has long since been "we have Batman... and Superman, I guess." At least since the '80s when prior it was the reverse. They're starting to branch out a bit more, but they're still flooding the Batman content in hopes of having their cake and eating it too.

    It's annoying, especially right now where so many DC stalwarts don't have a book and Batman has half the line, but make no mistake that it's improving in media adaptions. Shazam, Wonder Woman, Flash, Black Adam, Suicide Squad... Not long ago it was only Superman and Batman movies you could expect and when you got anything-- like Green Lantern-- well, you got Green Lantern.

    This is to say nothing of TV where we got Black Lightning, Green Arrow, Doom Patrol, Titans, Stargirl and so much more.

    The last decade has seen WB/DC/AT&T do more for the non Super/Bat lines than most their entire history.
    Last edited by Robanker; 05-09-2021 at 12:30 PM.

  6. #6
    Mighty Member Samm's Avatar
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    If you look at DC’s history in comics, animation, video games, shows and movies, the franchises that pop up the most are Batman, Superman, Justice League and Teen Titans. Suicide Squad would round out the top 5 due to the last 10 years of usage. Those are their bread and butter, although recently it seems Batman only in the comics, outside of the comics the rest of the DCU has been getting a lot of love! Look at the movie side! Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Shazam and soon The Flash have all gotten films. Green Lantern got one too. Black Adam, Blue Beetle, Static and Zatanna all have upcoming films, on the TV side you have Doom Patrol and Stargirl, both not connected to anything Batman, likewise for the upcoming GLC and Constantine shows. Suicide Squad has an upcoming game and Iniustce 3 is on the horizon!

    I think it’s only the comics where it’s become apparent they only care about Batman. I think things will change for the better in the coming future, thanks to Marvels success and WB competing with Disney

  7. #7
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    More of you need to buy EVERYTHING that doesn't have BATMAN in it, and maybe DC will notice that other properties might actually sell.

    Until then, they have had various new series for characters like Aquaman and Green Arrow in the past, heroes who starred in successful movies or TV shows, but the books don't last until at least issue #100 because not enough shops order them / not enough people were buying them.

    Batman sells. Batman makes $'s for DC. So DC should stop publishing all the Bat-stuff.

  8. #8
    DC/Collected Editions Mod The Darknight Detective's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Samm View Post
    If you look at DC’s history in comics, animation, video games, shows and movies, the franchises that pop up the most are Batman, Superman, Justice League and Teen Titans. Suicide Squad would round out the top 5 due to the last 10 years of usage. Those are their bread and butter, although recently it seems Batman only in the comics, outside of the comics the rest of the DCU has been getting a lot of love! Look at the movie side! Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Shazam and soon The Flash have all gotten films. Green Lantern got one too. Black Adam, Blue Beetle, Static and Zatanna all have upcoming films, on the TV side you have Doom Patrol and Stargirl, both not connected to anything Batman, likewise for the upcoming GLC and Constantine shows. Suicide Squad has an upcoming game and Iniustce 3 is on the horizon!

    I think it’s only the comics where it’s become apparent they only care about Batman. I think things will change for the better in the coming future, thanks to Marvels success and WB competing with Disney
    I think it's less DC only caring about Batman and more the CB audience caring about him to a far greater extent than the other characters. As Robanker pointed out above, Superman was once king based on his sales, but except for his "death," post-COIE hasn't been as kind to Clark.
    A bat! That's it! It's an omen.. I'll shall become a bat!

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  9. #9
    DC/Collected Editions Mod The Darknight Detective's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MajorHoy View Post
    More of you need to buy EVERYTHING that doesn't have BATMAN in it, and maybe DC will notice that other properties might actually sell.

    Until then, they have had various new series for characters like Aquaman and Green Arrow in the past, heroes who starred in successful movies or TV shows, but the books don't last until at least issue #100 because not enough shops order them / not enough people were buying them.

    Batman sells. Batman makes $'s for DC. So DC should stop publishing all the Bat-stuff.
    There's this idea that if you take out Batman, other characters will fill up the vacuum. Maybe, but maybe not. If you replace all TV shows with reality programming, i.e., I sure am not going to switch my preferences for the latter.
    A bat! That's it! It's an omen.. I'll shall become a bat!

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  10. #10
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    I wish that other families could be franchised out like the Batman. Even if it doesn't sell we could still see it in anthologies. DC has various power sub-sets. Black Canary has sound/the audio spectrum. Cyborg has cybernetics. Plastic Man, the Atom, Hawkman all a bit different than DC major families-Superman, WW, Flash, Green Lantern, Batman. Why not explore them more regularly? DC is potentially a half trillion dollar company in terms of their intellectual property but it seems that they are content to just let them sit on the shelf and collect dust all the while their parent company fires people left and right.

  11. #11
    A Wearied Madness Vakanai's Avatar
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    Movies. bat39 is correct, the real reason it's different for Marvel is because Marvel couldn't put Spider-Man into their own movies. And the comic books don't count for much but their IP value. If you can't profit as much from Spidey in film, then you need to beef up the Avengers and such. That's it. There is no other reason. In an alternate timeline where Marvel didn't need to sell Spidey's film rights to stay afloat? Yeah, the variety you're talking about wouldn't happen. You want DC to stop leaning on Batman, they'd have to lose his film rights.

  12. #12
    DC/Collected Editions Mod The Darknight Detective's Avatar
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    IMO, Batman is not the impediment for your favorite characters' success, but rather DC not expanding the market. There have to be enough (at the moment) non-readers who would be willing to buy something without Bats, but how do you get their attention?
    A bat! That's it! It's an omen.. I'll shall become a bat!

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  13. #13
    DC/Collected Editions Mod The Darknight Detective's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vakanai View Post
    Movies. bat39 is correct, the real reason it's different for Marvel is because Marvel couldn't put Spider-Man into their own movies. And the comic books don't count for much but their IP value. If you can't profit as much from Spidey in film, then you need to beef up the Avengers and such. That's it. There is no other reason. In an alternate timeline where Marvel didn't need to sell Spidey's film rights to stay afloat? Yeah, the variety you're talking about wouldn't happen. You want DC to stop leaning on Batman, they'd have to lose his film rights.
    One hundred per cent correct on all counts.
    A bat! That's it! It's an omen.. I'll shall become a bat!

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  14. #14

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    It is my biggest pet peeve and one of the reasons I purchase so few DC comics these days.

    (I pointed out in another thread that DC currently had 9 titles starting with Batman, and that does not include other Batman titles like Joker, Man bat and the usual spin off heroes, Nightwing ect)

    The problem is that you have fans out there that will buy anything with Batman (I'm assuming for investment potential?) so for DC that 4th Batman title (Batman Gotham Knights, Batman Urban Legends) might do better in sales than a new Martian Manhunter or Mr. Miracle run.

    I'm hoping that once COVID is over we'll at least see some of the non Batman reliable titles released (Green Arrow, JSA, Aquaman) fingers crossed.

  15. #15
    A Wearied Madness Vakanai's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Darknight Detective View Post
    One hundred per cent correct on all counts.
    Even other character's film successes doesn't matter - Wonder Woman has gotten a few more minis and such since her film success, things like Dead Earth or the upcoming Historia, and a few YA and Kids books, all thanks to her film success (here's hoping WW84's lukewarm reception doesn't put a chill on all that), but it's really not as simple as that. The difference between Batman and WW despite their film success is the strange interplay between comic book sales and laziness. See, for a variety of reasons (direct market, mishandling, etc.) Wonder Woman books don't sell as well as Batman. Now the books are just ip farms for the films, so you'd think that wouldn't matter, but it does, and here's why - if both are doing well on film, even if film is god here, they really only need to be lazy and spam more of the character that's selling in books. Doesn't matter how successful other characters are in film, they can just get Black Label minis and YA/Kids graphic novels, they just need to focus who pushes more books to make their numbers look good. As long as one Wonder Woman book exists to springboard film ideas, they're good. But Batman pushing more books only matters because his films and videogames are also a gold mine. If they lost the rights somehow there, the it'd no longer matter how well he moves books, they'd be forced to change and bulk up the books on characters who don't sell as well because at least they have the films rights there.

    So yeah, it's really just a matter of their current most popular character in the books also being a moneymaker in other media. Take away other media then it doesn't matter what his book sales are, they'd have to pump up the other titles instead. Film success isn't enough to change the book market, but film still matters more. Batman would have to lose on the film front to see his titles drop - but getting a big film isn't enough on it's own to make titles expand. Mostly a fault of the direct market. But simple fact is, they can do it because they have his film rights. If Marvel had Spidey's, they wouldn't have put as much work into their other titles.

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