DC Universe Rebooted and Renumbered - again

[Hoy Murphy]

Here's the story in USA Today:

 

I've been hanging onto the DC train for years waiting for a clear opportunity to jump off, and here it is. Anything they publish from that point on, I'll read the reviews and, if it seems like something I'll like, I'll buy in trade paperback. I've been waiting for the classic Justice League lineup to return, and that's happening, so I'll get that. My son has been a Green Lantern fan all his life, so I'll continue to get those titles for him. Unless Manhunter from Mars or Adam Strange get their own series, we'll just have to wait and see what else they do.

 

Hoy

 

 

 

[Captain Comics]

I wish they'd retain the numbering on Action and Detective (and I don't know that one way or the other) and turn them both into anthology books. I know, I know, it's been tried before. But I'd like to see a big, honkin' 100-pagers with the usual leads but then 80 pages of done-in-one stories of all kinds -- not just superheroes. It's a dream I have.

 

And, Mark, I've wondered how this is going to affect brick-and-mortar stores too. Dark Horse is arranging their digital stuff to still flow through the local stores (with original content not found online), so they're making sure retailers get a piece of the pie. DC doesn't seem to be doing that.

[Jason Marconnet (Pint sized mod)]

I will always be partial to paper. I like the feel of it. I know my sister-in-law loved to read books wouldn't think of getting a Nook. Well we got one for my mom and she tried it out. Guess what? She got one for her birthday. So the electronic readers have appeal. My dad just got an ipad and it's pretty neat. So who knows I may succumb to digital comics sooner than later. They are certainly easier to keep track of and cataloge. I figured if I got something like an ipad I would get digital comics but ones that I missed out one, you know to catch up.

 

As far as the already announced titles, I already posted some thoughts on them. I'd like to buy them all.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Not likely. They've been selling digital comics for a while now... if they wanted to do something like that, they've had ample opportunity.

[ClarkKent_DC]

Captain Comics said:

And, Mark, I've wondered how this is going to affect brick-and-mortar stores too. Dark Horse is arranging their digital stuff to still flow through the local stores (with original content not found online), so they're making sure retailers get a piece of the pie. DC doesn't seem to be doing that.

The guy at my comics shop didn't seem too worried.

I don't know what he knows, but it seems to me that since the advent of the trade paperback, comics stores focus more on selling those than selling weekly comics anyway. So the people who want the whole story collected in one book will still want that, I figure.

[Mr. Silver Age]

So the people who want the whole story collected in one book will still want that, I figure.

That is most likely me, since that's the format more and more comics are being written for (as well as the haphazard schedule that gives no indication of how long I have to remember Chapter 2 before Chapter 3 arrives). 

The problem then for the comics shop is that LOTS of places offer to sell me the all-in-one TPB for less than they'll do it and often ship it for free (especially for a minimum order, like Amazon). The more formats and distribution make the periodical less viable, the more I'd think shops would worry. That's the only thing they offer that isn't readily available lots of places.

A number of these comics sound promising, and I may check some of them out, or at least scour to Web to see if I can dig up some teeny bit of information or opinion about them when they arrive. But ultimately, the notion that I have to buy four or six to get a full story and that they'll soon go back to what they do now, with dense, interweaving plots, makes me think I don't want to buy in. I don't think they have a lot of interest in writing comics that I would be interested in these days.

They haven't shown me in many years that they can make their comics "accessible," except in the figurative sense of giving the characters new costumes (however that works) and in the literal sense of giving me access via my iPad. I want the literary sense of "accessible," that the story I have in my hands makes sense to me. That version doesn't seem doable any more.

-- MSA

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

The guy at my comic shop seemed pretty cool with the day-and-date idea. He pretty much considers it the new newsstand, and that it will eventually pull more readers into his store for other material if they get the bug. I hope he's right.

 

He also said that he (and most retailers he talks to) really expected Marvel to be the one to do this first.

[Newsboy]

I just realized -- the "S" shield on Superman is different. They lost the serif at the bottom.

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

Newsboy said:

I just realized -- the "S" shield on Superman is different. They lost the serif at the bottom.

...Yeah , and it's at least a semi-uncapitalized " S " , and thus , kind of looks closer to the 1938-1941 chest insignia !

[Hoy Murphy]

This is going to be an experiment for me that I've contemplated for a while. I'm going to start buying DC comics exclusively as tpb collections. I've been doing that with Fables, the latest Thor revival, and a couple of others, and it is satisfying to read a big chunk of story at once, although even with collections there's no guarantee of getting a complete story. That means Amazon will be getting more of my business and my local comic shop guy will be getting a lot less. He won't like that but he is an unhappy, surly man who doesn't much like having customers come into his store, doesn't participate in Free Comic Book Day, and doesn't much care because he's the only store in the area.

Hoy

[Captain Comics]

When I moved to Panama City, Fla., in the mid 1980s that was the only kind of comic shop there. By no coincidence, that's when I became a Westfield Comics subscriber. That guy was so unpleasant, I decided very quickly I wasn't going to give him any of my business.

Hoy Murphy said:

He won't like that but he is an unhappy, surly man who doesn't much like having customers come into his store, doesn't participate in Free Comic Book Day, and doesn't much care because he's the only store in the area.

[Newsboy]

DC has announced its post-relaunch Green Lantern titles. The press release is here.

[Philip Portelli]

Looking again at the new costumes, maybe the V-necks are to emphasize that these are the official FIFTH versions of these characters!