Which DC ongoings will remain?

[Factor]

So it looks like DC is cutting at least 20% of their line, if the Jim Lee interview is correct (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/he...comics-1307413).

We already knew there would be some type of relaunch after Death Metal, so a lot of the current ongoings have already been canceled, but now it's clear that not all of the titles will actually return, or at least not in print, as DC seemingly starts focusing more on the digital market and OGNs.

So it's likely that the highest selling ongoings will get to stick around in print, but other titles will become digital-first or be published as OGNs like Hellblazer's last arc.

Analyzing DM sales in February and March, I made this list of the best-selling DC ongoings (or maxis in GL's case) so we could speculate on which books might still be in print when DC's new plans are implemented:

Batman
Justice League
Detective Comics
Batman/Superman
Superman
Action Comics
Green Lantern (ending at 12)
Legion of Super-Heroes
Flash
Wonder Woman
Catwoman
Shazam (canceled)
Nightwing
Justice League Dark
Harley Quinn (canceled)
Suicide Squad (canceled)
Young Justice (canceled)
Aquaman (canceled)
Supergirl (canceled)
Batman Beyond
Batman & Outsiders (canceled)
Justice League Odissey (canceled)
Teen Titans (canceled)
Batgirl (canceled)
Red Hood (new direction announced)
Hawkman (canceled)
Terrifics (canceled)

I only considered main DCU titles. There are 27 in total, so I think we can expect around 20 to still be around as regular ongoing books.

[Factor]

My speculation:

22 Titles still in print:

Justice League
Justice Society (the only "new" launch)
Young Justice or TT
Batman
Detective Comics
Batman/Superman or Trinity
Superman
Action Comics
Legion of Super-Heroes
Supergirl
Wonder Woman
Aquaman
Flash
Green Lantern
Legion of Super-Heroes
Shazam
Justice League Dark
Harley Quinn
Suicide Squad
Catwoman
Nightwing
Green Arrow

Books they should try as digital-firsts, based on media exposure and the digital audience:

Black Lightning
Stargirl
Blue Beetle
Birds of Prey
Batgirls (Babs, Cass and Steph working together)
The Titans
Naomi: Season 2
Far Sector: Season 2
+ Keep Injustice and the continuity-light series starring the Big Guns from the print line.

Characters that should be/remain the focus of their Kids OGNs:

Bumblebee and others from DC Super-hero Girls
Cassandra Cain as Batgirl and Babs as Oracle
Doctor Fate (Khalid)
Titans Spotlights (like Raven)
Supergirl
Supersons
Billy Batson/Shazam
Amethyst

[Swamp Thing 2099]

[QUOTE]snip/QUOTE]

Harley Quinn is cancelled. Nightwing is not.

[Nick Miller]

I don’t see how Legion, Shazam, JSA can get the audience they need (sorry)

9 batbooks
5 superbooks
2 Justice League books
2 GL cosmic books
WW
Flash
Teen Titans

And 2 open slots to run 4 issue minis every month. So we end up with 24 stories for the year, ... these will be used to tell stories that writers bring to editorial, including new heroes.

Scattered among the bat and Sups books will be all the characters from those franchise, I am not saying Batman in all 9 books.

It’s nice to get a schedule down, and artist can finish the book and everyone will know what’s coming, for example, each week in November we get a Martian Manhunter book, each week in December we get a Shazam Christmas tale, etc.

[Ascended]

You got a couple backwards; Harley's book is ending with 75 (I think?) but as far as I know nothing says Nightwing is cancelled.

I don't really know what to expect. This is supposed to be the biggest books that sell the best, right? That's the idea for the direct market, and everyone else will be used in digital or maybe OGN's or something. Right? If that's the goal then I'd guess just take the lowest selling books (across a multi-year average), whatever they are, and cut them. But I doubt DC is going to do that; they've played favorites for way too long for me to think they'll do something like that.

So I fully expect the new lineup to be very Bat heavy. Thanks to years of mismanagement the Bats are one of the few IP's that DC manages to make reliable money on. I think we'll see a chunk of team/ensemble books; they'll use a popular character on the cover for sales, and populate the pages with other characters who can't carry their own books in this new normal. So I'm guessing something like this:

Detective
Batman
Action
Superman
Wonder Woman
Flash
Green Lantern
Aquaman
Justice League
Harley Quinn.

Those are all a given, I think. And it's already half of your proposed 20 book line. Then the bottom ten;

Suicide Squad (using Harley to prop up sales)
Young Justice (or some other teen team, using Damian to hold up sales and surrounding him with the rest of the teen heroes)
JSA
Justice League Dark (with Diana still in the lead)
Green Arrow
Batgirl & The Birds of Prey
Batman & The Outsiders
Nightwing & The Titans
Red Hood & The Outlaws
Batman/Superman (or Trinity, as Factor suggests).

And that's assuming the bottom 4-5 slots aren't just used to rotate through different miniseries and Events. Some of those books don't sell well, like Batgirl and Red Hood (and Nightwing these days) but DC has never seemed to care before and with everyone's attention on digital I'm not sure if they'll start to care now. But something like this, presumably with higher end talent because all the other guys got fired, would still leave the direct market with easy access to *most* aspects of DC (street level, magic, cosmic, etc) while using popular characters (or DC's pet favorites) to draw readers in.

[skyvolt2000]

And that's assuming the bottom 4-5 slots aren't just used to rotate through different miniseries and Events. Some of those books don't sell well, like Batgirl and Red Hood (and Nightwing these days) but DC has never seemed to care before and with everyone's attention on digital I'm not sure if they'll start to care now. But something like this, presumably with higher end talent because all the other guys got fired, would still leave the direct market with easy access to *most* aspects of DC (street level, magic, cosmic, etc) while using popular characters to draw readers in.

Those two have had run last to 50 issues. So it's not like they weren't selling.

If you are going to keep flooding the market with Batman-didn't learn your lesson. That is pandering to a market that claims certain books can't sell but somehow they find audiences.

If all those "can't sell" books go to other venues-that less books for the direct market.

It will eventually become-why buy floppies for X when I can wait for the trade to go along with the OGN of JSA.

[Factor]

[QUOTE=Swamp Thing 2099;5097140]

snip/QUOTE]

Harley Quinn is cancelled. Nightwing is not.

Sorry, fixed it.

[Ascended]

Those two have had run last to 50 issues. So it's not like they weren't selling.

Eh, surviving to issue 50 and being successful aren't necessarily the same things. I think Red Hood has struggled to maintain 20K in sales, from what someone told me on the Bat forum. That's not "horrible" but not what I'd call "successful" either. But you're not wrong; those books have managed to survive when a lot of others haven't (I'd guess pet projects and personal favorites among management, which shouldn't be allowed in a proper run business). But if they did what I suggest and just cut the bottom selling titles regardless of what they are, I'm guessing Batgirl and Red Hood (and now Nightwing, but not traditionally) would be among them.

If all those "can't sell" books go to other venues-that less books for the direct market.

Go check out that interview from Lee. Fewer books in the direct market is *exactly* what is happening. It seems like the direct market will mostly just be the big name, classic characters, while digital will have the big name classics but also secondary characters and licensed products like Injustice.

Right now, it's the direct market getting most of the effort and focus, with trades/OGN's after that and then digital. Sounds like they're about to flip that around and the direct market will get the least amount of attention and effort.

It will eventually become-why buy floppies for X when I can wait for the trade to go along with the OGN of JSA.

From the sounds of that Lee interview, not every direct market book is going to get a trade collection for every six issues. They'll do a trade collection when the story is big enough to deserve it, but otherwise you'll have to buy the floppies. That ensures the direct market retains a product only they can provide, but it sounds like digital (and maybe OGN) will have plenty to offer as well.

[DrewHLMW]

I'd relaunch the line next year and go with the following 22 books, numbers dont have to change they just need to be promoted under some kind of banner like new 52 or rebirth before it.

Batman
Detective Comics
Superman
Action Comics
Batman/Superman
Justice League
Teen Titans
Young Justice
Titans
Wonder Woman
Flash
Green Lantern
Aquaman
Green Arrow
Nightwing
Red Hood
Justice Society
Supergirl
Batgirl
Catwoman
Birds of Prey
DC Universe presents (rotating charcter for each arc)

[Jekyll]

The boring core 7 titles and then bloated Batman related titles. Yawn!

[Tony]

I would like to see them down to less than a dozen. You could actually get good creative teams that way. Hopefully Bendis is priced out, and we get some fun Superman stories. Pretty sure if it was easy to afford them all and they had quality creative teams you would get a lot of "DC Zombies". The numbers sold would be a lot higher per book thus profit vs a quarter or more of the books actually losing money. No wonder so many lost their jobs and counting.

The creators That actually kept working could make a lot better rates as well.

[The no face guy]

Jim Lee specifically states...

That said, we will be reducing the size of the slate. But it’s about looking at everything and looking at the bottom 20 percent, 25 percent of the line that wasn’t breaking even or was losing money. It’s about more punch for the pound, so to speak, and increasing the margins of the books that we are doing.

It was inevitable that the economic downturn as a result of COVID19 would hurt DC's bottom line, if people aren't getting paid then they can't afford luxury items like comic books.

For me, this is sad, because it probably means we won't get many titles from DC's secondary line of heroes, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Zatanna, I can probably kiss any chance of seeing Vic Sage get a full series run goodbye. They'll run with the proven sellers, Batman, Superman, Nightwing ect. As to who get cancelled, all depends on the current sales.

[Mr.B]

The ones not canceled and upcoming ones plus JSA. About it.

They can move teen characters to digital or ogn only.

[CaptCleghorn]

I don’t see how Legion, Shazam, JSA can get the audience they need (sorry)

I so want to scream and disagree with you, but the slow infrequent JSA teases don't seem to be lighting a fire for the series' return. As for Legion, the current version is pure Bendis and if Bendis leaves the Superman titles, I'm not sure if a new Legion writer would want to carry on with the book as is. Would a cutting back DC go through another revamping of the Legion title?

[Holt]

Stargirl just got renewed for a second season and the JSA will be in the Black Adam movie, so there's a reasonable chance a new title is attempted. Just like how I'm pretty sure there'll be a Green Lantern title and maybe Justice League Dark.