Monday, June 27, 2011

Dan DiDio, and DC, seems to have lost the plot.

Check out this article on Bleeding Cool for why.  I heartily recommend you read it all.  It's a report from the DC Retailers roadshow.

Ready?
OK, so I fully endorse the idea of not writing for trades, of just writing good stories.  On the other hand, I ahve also heard that if books do not get good sales immediately they will be cancelled.  Gah.  Sometimes great books aren't recognised in the early sales figures.  I have a feeling that the less well known characters will not sell as well and then be dropped.  But I digress.

Not putting up with delayed content is also something I approve of.  I don't care if your job is also your vocation, or how much you love it, be a damn professional.

I am also quite pleased with the lineup of the new JLA.  Yes it could be more diverse.  Yes it is very white.  But I also love these characters (except for Hal, and maybe Deadman) and I want to read about them.

But then, then I got to the descriptions of the new books.  I shall share some of the prizeworthy* ones.  My comments will be underneath each entry


Supergirl- Another area of improvement DC is looking for is characters to sound true.  Supergirl, as she has been written, sometimes comes across as mature and responsible as a 40 year-old adult.  She shouldn’t.  She’s a teen who is still finding herself and her character should reflect that.
 Does he mean Sterling Gates near universally acclaimed run?   You know, the one that brought nearly all Supergirl fans on side, that everyone thought was fab, that turned around a very unpopular title?

 Batwing- Based on fan interest in this character from Batman Incorporated, DC wanted to give the character an ongoing title.
I have no idea who Batwing is.  People on twitter seem to favour Nightrunner over Batwing.   I know, I have a small sample group, but still.

Batgirl- Barbara Gordon is back as Batgirl.  The events of Killing Joke and her tenure as Oracle have occurred and this title addresses her return to the role.


 Oh great. So she is in some way out of the chair. I've documented my thoughts on this before.



Catwoman- The sexy side of Batman.
What the fuck? Is that all Selina is to you?  That's your synopsis?  I accept that it may be the reporter's words and not DC's, but something has gone wrong somewhere.




Birds of Prey- Barbara Gordon will still be part of the book.
Well, that's something at least.

Red Hood and the Outlaws- One of the most requested characters for a book is Jason Todd as an anti-hero.
What, over Cassandra Cain?  Seriously?  Over Stephanie Brown? of which...

Teen Titans- All four Robins star or co-star in a book.  (I know, what about Stephanie Brown?  It was hinted that we would see her in Batman Incorporated. Dan Didio said she worked better as Spoiler.)  This book is Tim Drake’s showcase. There will be some synergy between this and Superboy.
FIVE Robins.  There have been FIVE Robins.  You'd think DC would remember the girl wonder campaign, and why they brought Steph back in the first place.  I bet Bryan Q Miller is feeling reaaally happy about this.


Suicide Squad- Combining elements from previous iterations of the Squad and the Secret Six with Harley Quinn’s fashion sense from the Arkham games.
OK,  a character's fashion sense should not form part a pitch for a comic.  Unless you are writing a fashion comic.  Suicide Squad isn't a fashion comic.

Blackhawks- They wanted a book that had a G.I. Joe feel to it, so they went out and got a G.I. Joe writer to work on it.
Or, you could write a GI Joe book.  I still want to know where Zinda is.


I am not a happy fangirl.

*not really prizeworthy

9 comments:

James Ashelford said...

Nightrunner would have been cool (Parisian Muslim Parkour guy, awesome) or Cass Cain as Black Bat who was finally getting some damn guest spots.

*seethes*

Saranga said...

I can't believe he's had the cheek to talka bout fan demand and not give Steph and Cass their own, or shared series. Fuck sake.

I know I didn't want Steph to be Batgirl tos tart with, but her book turned out to be really rather good, and good writing and art trumps preconceived notions any time.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of talented people they aren't keeping.

Saranga said...

On the plus side, it seems that Steph isn't fully benched. Bah. I want her as Batgirl, leading her own book dammit.

notintheface said...

Stephanie - fans were hounding DC for months to either resurrect her or give her a Batcave case.

Jason Todd - fans voted to have him killed off via 1-800 number.

And they determined Jason was more porular HOW exactly?

Anj said...

Seems like DC is irritating their current fanbase in hopes of grabbing a new one.

Unbelievably risky.

Do they really think people want to read an immature and irresponsible Supergirl?

Anonymous said...

I'm just irked at that fact you have just pointed out in the comment above, Saranga. DC needs to acknowledge the older fanbase (AND fangirls) of Supergirl. Screwing me over isn't going to win support from me as a fan.

Yes, I'm looking forwards to Supergirl and the rest of the Bat-titles with cautious optimism but, by making SG an immature and irresponsible heroine when she's far from that is awful to do. Gates, David and Igle did the character justice by making her a heroine in her own right. By reverting her to this once every 5 years or so is annoying, to say the least, and I hope they understand that they're hurting the older fanbase-male and female- by doing so.

-ealperin

Anonymous said...

Typo! Edited version:

I'm just irked at that fact you have just pointed out in the comment above, Anj. DC needs to acknowledge the older fanbase (AND fangirls) of Supergirl. Screwing me over isn't going to win support from me as a fan.

Yes, I'm looking forwards to Supergirl and the rest of the Bat-titles with cautious optimism but, by making SG an immature and irresponsible heroine when she's far from that is awful to do. Gates, David and Igle did the character justice by making her a heroine in her own right. By reverting her to this once every 5 years or so is annoying, to say the least, and I hope they understand that they're hurting the older fanbase-male and female- by doing so.

-ealperin

Eyz said...

MMmmmh.... :/

Okay...some quick thoughts:
I would really have preferred Nightrunner. Be it just because it would have felt unique. I'm afraid Batwing might turn like a Black Panther-light/copy....

I'd prefer a BATGIRLS! book over the Jason Todd one. Like Cassie and Steph kickin' ass, side by side.

At least Roy Harpey has is arm back. Can he have his DAUGHTER back, please??

I'm not really interested by the JLA book...took I guess I'll give a look to the JLI one at least.

The trades vs issues is a whole different thread. I'd love if american comics could evolve past the on-goings and accept and embrace trades/volumes as a better way to propose comics on the market.
(just give a look at what euro-comics do http://www.bdgest.com/agenda_sorties.php it helps having always self-contained stories and bad sales or not, complete stories unlike unfinished on-goings)
And this sounds like a good move (not constraining creative teams to expand story arcs over more issues). But I don't expect it to be that great on our end... (like they're gonna split stories over smaller trades to make us pay more than we'd do)

SallyP said...

I TOO, am worried about Zinda. I love Birds of Prey, but with the lineup that is shown on the new cover?

Bleh.