Glad I’m Not a Retailer

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

How do you order DC titles for September? Fifty two #1 issues as the entire line reboots. Do you order it with inflated numbers as a #1 suggests? Do you just order off your previous numbers? Except how do you factor in the possible impact of the simultaneous release of electronic editions? How much business is that going to siphon off? Decades ago, DC came up with the hardcover/softcover near-simultaneous release of some of their most popular titles and it was a spectacular failure. But at least the retailers themselves weren’t threatened.

Or perhaps we’re just being paranoid. I mean, bookstores as a whole are doing extremely well and aren’t closing right and left, so it’s not as if comic book stores need to worry about their bottom line, right? Right?

I take it back. I’m glad I’m not the DC sales rep who has to sell this concept TO the retailers.

PAD

124 comments on “Glad I’m Not a Retailer”

  1. Another problem, is that they might not get new readers before September (and not sure they will at that time either …)
    What’s the point of starting to read some comics, knowing that few months from everything will change “again” !

  2. The potential of the digital market cannot be ignored, try as the comic book industry might… as did the publishing and music industries before them.

    1. The potential is there, if the powers that be actually advertise to new readers instead of hoping that entrenched readers follow.

      I mean actual advertising. Television commercials and web banners on lots of websites, not just on “nerd” sites where people are already aware of what’s going on.

      The people who are regular readers are pretty mad, and I can see why. It’s kind of hard to ignore the “biting the hand that feeds them” way DC is handling this. Not that any of this is too surprising. DC has a tendency to go for a full restart ever twenty years or so but they’ve been really inundated with universe upheaving events for the past few years. There’s just a lot of ifs here.

      If they can somehow hold onto the readers they have.

      If they can work out from the leaden weight of all the grittiness they’ve tried to add to their comics for the past decade and make them truly fun again.

      If they can draw in new readers.

      If they actually advertise and try and drum up interest to draw in new readers.

      DC seems to have their work cut out for them. If all these IFs happen it could be a serious boon for them, they seem to be ahead of the curve of their competition.

      (I’m aware this doesn’t do anything for the retailer and brick and mortar shops problem, but it’s kind of hard for me to think in those terms. I live in a very rural area and haven’t had a proper comic shop to frequent in about seven or eight years)

  3. .
    I’m so glad that I dropped most all of my Marvel and DC books years ago now. The mega-crossovers are bad enough, but this is getting stupid. This is, what, DC’s third or fourth reset button event in 25 years?

  4. I’m currently reorganizing my collection moving stoff from long boxes to short boxes and vice versa, closed runs of comics i like to reread such as PAD’s Supergirl grouped with his hulk run and separate from Ongoing series that are still expanding etc. I’m glad I started with Marvel. Because I’m seriously tempted just pull out the few ongoing series of series of DC comics that I’m really liking like Bryan Q Miller’s Batgirl put them in a short box and just file all the other DC stuff away in a longbox and store them somewhere else.

    I mean what happens to all these series that are still new like Batman Inc is that story gonna be done by the end of august?

    As for digital i’m still not there yet probably because i don’t have a tablet, i just hope it doesn’t destroy brick and mortar stores.

    1. The problem is that brick and mortar stores are in a slow motion free fall and the question isn’t if they’ll hit ground with a messy splat, but when. The number of retailers are shrinking every year (and this has an impact on sales) and I don’t see a way to reverse that.

  5. Oh, God, are you serious?????
    .
    They’re rebooting every single title?
    .
    Even long-running books like Action Comics and Detective Comics? So this means Action Comics won’t see issue #1,000 in eight years? Seriously?
    .
    .
    God, I’m so sick and tired of all this stupid renumbering. And now 70 + years of legacy numbering goes out the window.
    .
    Please someone tell me that this is just a temporary stunt, and they’ll go back to their original numbering after a year or two, like Marvel eventually did.

    1. Luigi, it’s temporary in the sense that this may be Dan Didio’s last harebrained idea, once this bombs, we’ll be back to a status approaching quo.

    2. According to Comic Book Resources, “The other seismic shakeup that remains unconfirmed is whether long-standing titles “Action Comics” and “Detective Comics” would also renumber with brand new first issues. However, at this time, CBR has found no confirmation one way or the other on the fate of those titles.” There doesn’t appear to be a lot of concrete information available yet (presumably there will be more when it comes time to order).

    3. Luigi,
      .
      I’m not crazy about the re-numbering idea either, although since I’m not currently reading any DC titles my lack of enthusiasm for the idea is more on principal than the protest of a current reader. I suspect my comments would carry the same weight, either way.
      .
      That being said, I don’t see how re-numbering a series (much less every series a publisher puts out) at #1 does any long-term good. In fact, I addressed the matter of renumbering/re-launching (which, when you think about it, is the same thing) in this thread (eighth comment down):
      .
      http://www.peterdavid.net/index.php/2009/03/15/fallenangelreborn/
      .
      I still think PAD’s point in the But I Digress article I referenced remains germane. Treating high numbers as anathema does undercut a company’s sense of history. He gives a hypothetical example of a highly regarded writer-artist taking over Spudman with issue #88, which generates a lot of buzz.
      .
      PAD wrote: “People try Spudman who have never read the series before. They like what they read. What’s the next thing they do, if they’re collectors? Well, if they never read the series before, they try to pick up the back issues. Or if they had read it but then stopped, they might try to fill in the gaps.”
      .
      He then pointed out that if the publisher had relaunched Spudman with a new #1, “People get in on the ground floor– and have absolutely no compulsion to check out back issues.”
      .
      Now, in the thread I referenced, I was asking specifically about PAD’s decision to stop Fallen Angel as on ongoing title, and re-launch it as a series of mini series. This is what he said–in part– in his reply:
      .
      “It’s a valid question, Rick. I think the sad fact is that we’ve reached a point where, between trade paperback collections replacing back issue sales and reader attrition the longer a series goes on, that there is simply no reason to continue ongoing numbering on a series.”
      .
      With those words in mind, maybe R. Maheras’ idea (below) is the right one: have volume and issue numbers. Thus, the June 2011 issue of Action Comics would be Vol.73 No. 6 (Of course Action Comics’ numbering is already messed up because of Action Comics Weekly back in the late 1980s). That might be the best compromise between the sense of history a larger issue number brings (Hypothetical first-time visitor to a comic store: Batman? Some guy dresses up as a bat? Probably gets all of some other guy’s press, too. I don’t know. Still, more than 600 issues? It’s got to have something going for it.”) and the possibility of alienation a high number may bring to new readers (“Batman? Looks pretty cool. But 600+ issues? I’ll never know what’s going on.”)
      .
      Mind you, I don’t agree with the second hypothetical statement, though I do think comics, in general, aren’t as new reader- friendly as they were when I was younger (which has nothing to do with how they’re numbered). So maybe there’s less of an incentive to seek out back issues, even among those who live near comic shops that still carry back issues.
      .
      (One thing that got me to seek out back issues? The letter columns. In some cases, I picked up a particular issue of a title, and reader comments about a previous issue got me interested enough to seek out those back issues. So I’m all for bringing back letter columns, and like that a few series still run them.)
      .
      I commented about comics that aren’t quite new reader-friendly in this thread:
      .
      http://www.peterdavid.net/index.php/2005/08/21/steve-the-spider-man-fan/comment-page-1/#comments
      .
      http://www.peterdavid.net/index.php/2005/08/21/steve-the-spider-man-fan/comment-page-3/#comments
      .
      Since I’m not sure if the links will take you directly to my comments, and it’s a long thread, the first comment begins with “I agree there needs to be more all ages comicbooks out there.”; the second with “Here’s a perfect example of what I was talking about earlier.”
      .
      As to this current plan, it probably is a temporary stunt, as you seem to hope. And, as Bob Greenberger said on Comic Mix (“Some thoughts on DC’s New World Order” (I’d post the link, but it looks really long and unwieldy)), the numbering will probably revert to normal as both Action Comics and Detective Comics near their 1000th issues.
      .
      Rick

  6. Peter’s point about “How do you (retailer) order 52 #1 issues?” would be strong even if it weren’t under the shadow of digital release. Some of my questions from a reader’s point of view:
    1)DC appears to want to make their characters “younger”. So, how much history is being unwritten? Will Justice League #1 be the origin of the JLA? Or have they been around for some time? The team appears to be the Big Seven, minus J’onn J’onzz, plus Cyborg. How long have they been functioning as individuals before this takes place?
    2) If the New DCU is set relatively early in the careers of the Big Guns, what about the derivative characters? Robin? And which one? Batgirl? Which one? Batwoman? Supergirl? Superboy?
    3) And speaking of sidekicks, who are the Teen Titans, if any? Was Cyborg ever one or did a more mature Vic Stone jump straight to the JLA?
    4)And at the other end of the age range, what about the JSA? Will DC dare to decouple them from WWII and make them merely one generation older than the JLA heroes?
    5)Meanwhile in the 31st Century…everybody loves the Levitz Legion (well, I do anyway!). Is their reboot recent enough, and are they far enough downstream of 21st Century DCU that they’ll be largely unaffected?
    6) After CoIE a quarter century ago (gasp! I’m old!), DC quailed at a true line reboot in part because Teen Titans and the Legion were selling well. Now the Morrison-influenced Bat books are selling well. Will DC throw the goose out with the bathwater, or kill the baby laying the golden eggs? Did I just mix metaphors?
    7) Will DC feel compelled to bring the comics in line with the movies? Granted, at the moment, that’s just Nolan’s Batman and the forthcoming GL film, but… Who’s the tail and who’s the dog here?

    So many questions…the summer convention season suddenly looms a lot more interestingly than it has in a while. Now I’m really sorry I’m highly unlikely to make it to San Diego.

  7. I’m pretty fed up with yet another reboot and renumbering situation.

    I’ll likely be dropping a lot of stuff that I still have on my pull list from DC.

  8. Given that I haven’t been enthusiastic about a DC ongoing series since Gotham Central was canceled, my only reaction to this is “How will this affect the DC reprint line”? Personally, I’d rather read Dark Knight Archives than any current incarnation of the Dark Knight.

  9. None of this will entice new readers, partially because the Universes are just as impenetrable and convoluted as before. And will most likely chase away more older readers like me.

  10. Doing digital day and date has to be done, and it’s going to lead to some scary times for retailers, I’m sure…but there’ll be a place for print for a long time to come yet, in part because devices aren’t a) that ubiquitous and b) really standardized — not everybody has either the money or desire to own an iPad, iPhone, Android tablet, or Nook Color, and reading digital comics on a computer, via an app download, might well be annoying enough to put people off (there’s something to be said for taking the simple route and skipping the DRM.)

    Still, comics publishers need to think in something other than straight lines with digital, and make things easier for retailers by merchandising the phantom — let them sell gift cards, just like with iTunes. Set up a paid referral system from the retailer’s website, as with Amazon. Encourage assorted sales options and bonuses — “Stop by your local comics shop, pick up the trade of Spandex Pervert Asskickers: Shoeprints Up The Khyber and get a bonus download card for issue 7!” That kind of thing. Take the digital route in as many ways as possible. “Spandex Pervert Asskickers: Shoeprints Up The Khyber with Digital Edition!”

    Honestly, there are trades I’d spring for in a flash if they included a digital edition on a disc tipped into the back cover…like they do with textbooks.

    They also need to be canny with pricing. The impulse is going to be to siphon as much out of the customer wallet as possible, and that’s going to put customers off (the pricing kerfuffle with ebooks and Amazon did ding ebook market growth somewhat; while it continues apace, there’s a lot of people pìššëd øff at their ebook choices suddenly being more than ten bucks, thanks to the publishers.)

    Played right, this could be a way to revive the business somewhat. Played wrong…dooooooooom. Say what you will about Marvel, it’s only the ancillary lines they’re throwing off a cliff to see how they bounce. Projects like FF and the circular firing squad of ASM have outs built in. What DC’s doing line-wide is more akin to taking the family dray out behind the barn, plugging it, and bringing in a ringer.

  11. see, this is why i stopped buying single issues and now focus on graphic novels. it’s more economical and space saving.

  12. I have always always ALWAYS loathed the “relaunch” gimmick. With a few exceptions, whenever a title has “reset” to #1, I pretty much dropped it off of my reading list. Mind you, I haven’t picked up a DC book in a couple of years, so it’s not like they’re losing my business *now*, but still, they’re reminding me of the bad aftertaste left by the same stunt on previous occasions…

  13. While I still stress the R word when talking about comic books, I am reading a lot less than I used to.
    DC’s still make the majority of what I purchase, yet there’s only about 20 of those now (in an overall purchase of about 30 titles a month), not counting mini-series and specials, but I am NOT buying every Flashpoint tie-in.
    Personally, I cannot see DC restarting the numbering on the legacy titles (Action, Adventure, Detective, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman). They could do a #1 before going back to the regular numbering, like they did with the Zero and One Million issues.
    Has this been confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt?
    After all, DC HAS put in false solicitations before, like when they advertised additional issues of the Flash past the death of Bart Allen to keep that event a secret.

    And as an aside, could someone please tell Glenn Hauman that the ComicsMix logo does not currently appear over their window on Peter’s site?
    The only way I have to get to their place is by clicking an individual story

    1. I’ve been off and on. At times I’ve wondered why I didn’t just give up, particularly since I’ve been wanting digital comics for several years now and Marvel refuses to deliver (don’t get me started on their rental service).
      .
      But I’m seriously on the verge of making the final ‘off’ decision, even with this announcement by DC.

    2. .
      I stayed on, but my treadmill is just a lot smaller. I pick up the odd trade and one shot here and there and the only ongoings I have been buying in the last three years have been The Walking Dead and Fallen Angel. And of those two, Fallen Angel fell off my buy list 18 months ago because the only shop that was less than a one-and-a-half hour drive from my place stopped stocking for the “handful” of people that came in to buy it.
      .
      Interestingly, from what I was told, pretty much all of us where people who only bought a few titles a month and didn’t have a pull list/box at the store. The end result of that was that I don’t shop there anymore. I can get TWD at my local bookstores and most of the one shots, TPBs and specials that pique my interest I can get from my local bookstores or online.
      .
      Swift move on their part. They didn’t want to bother with ordering a single book so they lost all my business. Not that they probably miss my maybe $200 to $250 a year spent there in the overall scheme of things.
      .
      That may ultimately be the only thing that comics going digital will improve upon in my book. It may be initially harder to find out about some new books/new releases and books from smaller companies, but the upside is that I’m never going to not bother downloading my monthly order because it’s too much trouble to bother with such a small order. The major downside is that the brick and mortar stores that are good about service will be just as dead as the rest of them and there will be a lot lost in not being able to go in and browse through all the books and other stuff that are always on display in the average comic shop.

      1. Jerry,
        .
        A few years back, I had a similar experience with my comic shop not stocking a title I was reading because, as you say, only a “handful” of people were reading it (actually, I think I was the only one reading this particular title, but my Mom always said I was a handful). I was reading a series called The Victorian, and I thought it had been canceled with #8, since I didn’t see any more issues for months. Flash forward about a year, and I discover, quite by accident, that the book is still being published. My comic shop stopped carrying it. Why? “No one was buying it.”
        .
        Um, excuse me? It was on my pull list. I would have bought it if they’d put it in my bin. I had it on my pull list because I wanted to buy it.
        .
        So what happened in the end? I ordered the back issues I needed directly from the publisher (money that would otherwise have gone to my local comic shop). As to the rest of the series (which ended with #25), I was able to get those few issues from my comic shop. But I should have been getting it from them all along.
        .
        And why was “no one” buying it? Presumably because they only ordered the one issue and put it on the shelf. For whatever reason, it got buried, so no one saw it and picked it up out of curiosity. I’m going to guess that this happened two or three times before my store owner made the decision to stop carrying the title. Meanwhile, here’s me, who would have bought it if it had been in my bin (or if I’d seen it on the shelf; that happened with another title I thought had been canceled (Akiko, if memory serves). It hadn’t been in my bin for a long time, and then one day I chanced to see the then-current issue on the shelf).
        .
        For some odd reason (well, odd to me) my comic shop put new comics on the shelf, and then put holds into customers’ bins. I’d have done the bins first, myself. That way the one copy of The Victorian would have ended up in my bin (and my money would have ended up in the shop’s cash register), instead of being buried on the shelf.
        .
        Putting titles on the shelf first is no excuse for my not getting my copies of The Victorian, however. When the staff at my comic shop went through the pull lists to see what to put in customers’ bins, they should have pulled their one copy of The Victorian off the shelf and put it in my bin. Again, guaranteed sale.
        .
        I talked about the matter in the thread “In Response to Brian Hibbs” back in August 2004. I’d have provided a link, but many comments, including mine, have been truncated. For the record, I’ve remained with that particular comic shop because A) it’s close by; B) they’ve improved in that regard; C), as I said on the original thread, the owner seems to want to do right by his customers; and D) another store I referenced (albeit one further away; and which was once a back-up store) has since closed.
        .
        Despite the Victorian foul up, there are good things about the comic shop I frequent (though I wonder how many customers they lost because of incidents like me with The Victorian and you with Fallen Angel). Even so, I still miss Rock’s Comics (my original store) and Dave’s Comics (where I went after Rock’s closed). Both are long since gone from the retail scene.
        .
        Speaking of comics, I participated in Free Comic Book Day this year. I invited my 8-year-old nephew along, but he couldn’t make it. So I visited four stores and got 17 titles, 12 for him and 5 for me. I haven’t had a chance to give them to him yet. Hopefully he’ll like them (and they’ll bolster his interest in reading). Those he doesn’t like? Maybe his friends will want them.
        .
        Will these free comics get him interested in comics to the same degree most of us probably were? Maybe. Whether he’d stay interested is another matter. He doesn’t live near any comic shops. He does enjoy the Scholastic Bone volumes, though those are trades, rather than individual issues.
        .
        Rick

  15. DC should make the first three issues of each title returnable. Otherwise, things could get scary very quickly for retailers.

  16. My concern is if it affects out-of-main-continuity titles like their kids comics and Batman Beyond.

    ESPECIALLY Batman Beyond. I want to read about Terry, dámņìŧ. It’s LITERALLY the only DC title I follow.

  17. While I agree with some of the previous posters that point out the necessity of entering the digital market, I don’t really understand DC’s need to reboot their books with #1. To my knowledge (and feel free to correct me here, folks) no previous attempt by either Marvel or DC to re-number their long-established titles with #1 have ever lasted. Didn’t Marvel have to put both nuumbers on the cover at one point until they went back to the original numbers? And maybe I’ve not been paying much attention here, but is the digital price the same as the print edition? Since skyrocketing paper, freight and transportation costs have long been cited as the main reasons for periodic price increases, surely the digitial edition should cost significantly less since those factors no longer come into play? And finally, I’m sort of curious how this will affects writer and artist payments. Will they get royalties on digital copies the same as print copies? All of this is really just a mental exercise as far as I’m concerned anyway. Like Jerry Chandler, I gave up 90% of my Marvel and DC books years ago. While I would be sorry to see my local comic book shop suffer, I just can’t justify spending 20 or 30 bucks a week on a tiny pile of comics that takes just 15 minutes to read.

    1. “To my knowledge (and feel free to correct me here, folks) no previous attempt by either Marvel or DC to re-number their long-established titles with #1 have ever lasted.”
      .
      There was the post-CoIE Wonder Woman series.
      .
      But the truth is that series don’t end up going back to the original numbering because fans clamor for it, it’s because the publishers get another opportunity to do another specail issue to hopefully boost sales. “Hey, this issue 35 corresponds to issue 600 if we never restarted things. We can do a super-sized issue with special covers and low cost reprints in the back. Cha-ching!”
      .
      And that’s all these new number ones are about, trying to get sales. I don’t fault them that. I find it annoying from an organizing standpoint, but I get it. The thing that will bug me is if it turns out to have a storytelling reboot quality to it, the whole “all those books you’ve read may or may not have happened they way they did, we’re not sure, it’s just easier to ignore it all for us” style of writing is very lazy.
      .
      Oh, and the dual numbering Marvel had for a while came about because of some fanboy editors, and eventually dropped off because it wasn’t being consistently handled. Quesada himself actually started it on the Marvel Knights Daredevil because he wanted to honor the legacy numbering, and he believed in it up until he saw the profit margins on doing a new number one issue every few years.

  18. I think this event is an effect of the fact that DC is going same-day-digital. They believe this will attracted new readers and want to make things as accessible to them as possible. The mistake I see in their approach is the number of titles. If I am a new reader and see there are 50+ different titles a month on a share universe I would not go there.

  19. The advantage to reboots (besides a possible spike in sales and publicity) is that it can help with one area of comics usually given to the “willing suspension of disbelief” category: the passage of time. Peter Parker was a teenager in the 1960s — and a young adult now. The Fantastic Four met Nixon when he was president — and they’re young adults. And while DC doesn’t usually tie itself too closely to real-world people or events (except that the JSA fought in WW2), we still know from the settings that the current mid-30 heroes were doing there thing in the 1960s and 1970s. (I always liked the part of Kyle Baker’s PLASTIC MAN series where someone was convinced there was something wrong with the timestream. For proof, he showed a series of photos of Ðìçk Grayson next to Batman, where Ðìçk Grayson went from the little kid when he began as Robin to the young-adult Nightwing — and Batman looked exactly the same in every photo!) And even if you buy that what gave them their super powers also slowed down their aging (which would be a weird common denominator, given the variety of power-bestowal mechanisms — not to mention non-powered heroes, like Iron Man and Batman), it wouldn’t explain how the supporting cast hasn’t aged, whether it’s characters who were older when first introduced (Perry White, Aunt May) or characters like Jimmy Olsen, Foggy Nelson, etc.

    I’m not saying reboots are perfect, and I’d hate it if they pretended to retcon every previous story out of existence, but at least it would help explain how these characters who were in their teens or 20s are about the same age decades later.

    1. I disagree; I think retconning everything back to zero is probably the only way they’re going to be able to reboot anything, not to mention being able to tell stories in the future without having a bunch of fanboys insisting on tying everything up in ancient continuities (“Wait a minute, Superduperguy already knows about the Froohoovians’ weakness to sponge cake, from when he fought off their invasion of Earth back in Adventures of the We-Told-You-So Society #468, August 1967! And everybody knows that Power Rings can’t be used to make an entire working bakery – that’s why Green Ring Dude couldn’t get the birthday cake ready before he went to the Planet of the Scantily Clad Amazons, and his girlfriend got so mad at him, in Green Ring Dude Space Army #294, July 1972!”).

      In my personal opinion, a complete reboot of the entire DC Universe, with no looking back, is in fact the only way this whole thing is going to work. Fans have seen far too many Magic Reset Button Events over the past few decades, where “everything changes!” only to be changed right the frak back again three issues later – one more and DC will lose their last readers, I think.

      1. Yeah. The thing is that it’s impossible to “uncreate” something. Anything that’s worthwhile that was created will find its way back into continuity at some point. It may look different when it does and it may take 20 years for it to happen, but it’ll happen. Look at all the stuff they tried to take out of the Superman mythos after the Crisis. Even Krypto came back, for heavens’ sake.

  20. The ‘same-day-digital’ aspect has pretty much distracted a lot of folks from the most telling thing about this reboot: it’s really NOT about the retailers or their clientele. It’s about enticing more Hollywood types to invest in the character licenses, because that’s where the real money is these days. DC’s actual comics themselves are now completely being treated as loss leaders. Frankly, the digital gimmick makes more sense for that minuscule niche of Beverly Hills and Burbank types than it does for the common comic book buyer.

    1. You’re right in that it’s not about the retailers or their clientele. DC isn’t really worried about that. But I think you’re wrong when it comes to what it IS about, which is really about attracting new readers, or the UNcommon comic book buyer. And, yeah, long run better sales equals more attractive to Hollywood, but I think they are more focused on sales themselves than appealing to the movie makers for something nebulous that may never happen.
      .
      Tony above nails the issue of perception that is going to be something DC will have to struggle against to actually get those new readers.

    2. I’d be skeptical to dismiss the various digital book readers and iPads as “the digital gimmick.” I know quite a few people, of all ages, who use some sort of electronic digital device to download books. I know that the retail store I work at sells lots of Kindles and iPads (with people asking every day if the iPad 2 is in stock). And with the numerous citations of comic book sales declining (often mentioned on this site), I think a way of tapping in to this growing digital audience — and being able to send out comics without mailing or printing costs — would be a boost to sales.

      My suspicion is that moving comic books to a digital as well as print format will be like when music moved to digital/iTunes as well as CDs. And for folks who think this will hurt the local comic book stores, it probably will — but DC and Marvel are in business for themselves, not for the stores; much like record labels didn’t pass on the profits from iTunes so they could support Tower Records and the Virgin Megastore. As they said on THE GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY AND MANDY, “Evolution takes no prisoners.”

      1. A lot of people? Maybe. All? Not hardly. I won one of those readers (a ‘Kobo’ if I recall correctly) at a charity draw a year or so ago. Gave it away a few months later. Clumsy and slow compared to a real book. Didn’t care for it much. As for reading comics on an iPhone or iPad? Who needs the eyestrain compared to reading on a full-sized page?

      3. Starwolf, its awesome to read comics on the iPad. Try it. And you can make the panels as big as you want.

  21. I think that retailers might want to order some extra copies of a few main titles, but just order their standard number on most others. I don’t think having them #1 will impact sales in a positive way many of the titles in the stores. Of course, some good publicity on a few of the titles might spur sales of those ones.

    I do think that digital sales will probably have a growth spurt. I don’t know the format DC will use and whether it is the same as whatever they are using right now. Over Memorial Day Weekend DC had a “101 GREEN LANTERN Digital Comics for $.99 Each – 48 Hours Only!” sale going on. Sales figures on that might be of interest.

    Looking at all my comics boxes this past weekend, I am tempted to prune the number of physical comics I am getting in favor or trades or possibly digital versions. When I see the Previews for September I’ll have to make some decisions.

  22. Peter I bet you are glad that you work for Marvel instead of DC today! Man can you imagine how the creators feel? Its like a scene from Office Space: DC HEAD HONCHO: Umm yeah we are going to need you guys to wrap up your 12 month story line in three months? CREATIVE TEAM: Why? HEAD HONCHO: We are ummm, rebooting the entire DCU. CREATIVE TEAM: What? WHY?? HEAD HONCHO: Yeah ummm, Jim Lee and Geoff Johns want to relate to a younger audience. CREATIVE TEAM: “Younger Audience”? Ok i get that. We can make tweaks to the existing stories, I have some ideas about that. How about renumbering all titles in Janurary with a number one and going through December and with one annual you can restart each January with a new number ono-twelve. You are GUARANTEED a new number one hits the stands every YEAR! So when the trades come out it can be called for example Superman-Volume 1 or whatever. HEAD HONCHO: Umm yeah. We cant do that. CREATIVE TEAM: Why not? HEAD HONCHO: Becasue Jim Lee and Geoff Johns want to do a complete reboot and bring in new readers. CREATIVE Team: So what you are saying is that they are throwing out 75 YEARS of history because Geoff and Jim want too? HEAD HONCHO: ummm yeah. Creative Team: Okkkk. We at least we are still on Action Comics. HEAD HONCHO: Yeah about that…we are going to give you a new assignment. CREATIVE TEAM: Ummm ok. What? Batman? Superman? Booster Gold? HEAD HONCHO: Umm no. You guys are going to be the new creative team on Brave and the Bold for the kiddie line. So no swearing nor any fights nor any blood. CREATIVE TEAM: Can i just quit? HEAD HONCHO: Ummm yeah. I am going to need you clean out your desk and be out by closing time. CREATIVE TEAM: I wonder if Marvel is hiring?

    1. Have you seen one reaction from a creator that even remotely supports this conversation you’ve concocted? Check out Scott Snyder or Chris Burnham’s Twitters, or Gail Simone and Ethan Van Sciver’s Facebooks–they’re excited. There’s quite a bit of evidence to suggest DC has been planning this for quite awhile; I sincerely doubt anyone got three months notice and screwed into writing for the DCAU if they didn’t want to already.

  23. Geez, why not just go to the “volume” numbering system, as was common for periodicals last century, so that every January, there is a “No. 1” issue? For example, in the case of Action Comics, the January 2012 issue would be Volume 74, Number 1. Better yet, why not just number EVERY issue #1 and get this stupid charade over with?

  24. From DC I only buy Power Girl and, because it features Krypto, the current Superboy. I bought Action 900 because I happened to stumble across the one with the Alex Ross cover (wow!). There seems to be no news about PG or Krypto/SB in the reboot info, so I must wait. I suspect Ross will do some work for the new DC comics. At least there are other publishers and I can still buy Fables and Invincible and a few others, and read from the stacks of unread comics (and books and magazines) I already have.

  25. I stopped buying comics 2 years ago when my son was born due to financial concerns, available free time and storage space. I said to myself I was not going to buy comics ever again. Having said that, the digital distribution approach sounds interesting.
    .
    One aspect of comics I hated was missing an issue and having to pay extra money to buy it in the second hand market. Depending on what model DC uses this would not be a problem anymore.
    .
    I have lots of questions: what will the prices be, for how long will each issue be available for download, will there be subscription options, will there be sales?

    1. With the birth of my twins I have also been heavily cuttting down op titles, both no longer getting titles that I’ve collected for year and skipping most if not all new titles and limited series. This may help me cut a lot more. My choices are helped by the fact that so much is being collected and that my library gets most of it.

  26. I think the new number 1 issues will be the reboot then the titles will continue with current number but with the new title changed. Why give this info out now, if DC can have people talking/speculating/complaining (I dont mean any on this board) for three months or even until the Octobers solicitations will be a free advertising boon.
    Just my prediction, though that doesnt change the fact that it is still a dámņ reboot.

    1. That’s similar to what I have long thought would have been a great middle ground to Marv Wolfman’s original suggestion to do exactly what DC is doing now after COIE, but still enable the top-selling titles to continue/resume in their (then-) current states.
      .
      Namely, suspend all of the regular titles for x months. In their place, launch mini-series, for the sake of illustration, subtitle them all “Secret Origins,” as in “Secret Origins: Superman,” “Secret Origins: Teen Titans,” and so on (or, since it comes first, would that be super-titling, not subtitling?). Those minis take as long as they need, up to a year, be they one-shots or 12 issues. They chronicle the new, post-Crisis (or, in this case, post-Flashpoint) history of the pertinent character(s) up to the “present.” Then, once that’s done, either resume the original numbering or start over with new #1’s, whatever editorial policy decides.
      .
      I’m wondering if that might not be a little of what we’ll be seeing from DC here in a few months…the “new” books establishing the new status quo, then resume business as usual.
      .
      –Daryl

  27. There seems to be an inherent paradox here, in that DC is trying to appeal to a younger readership and yet wouldn’t the three dollar price tags put those books beyond the reach of casual reading?

    1. I wouldn’t say so at all.
      .
      What do we mean by “younger” readers?
      .
      The 5-10 year old set? Three bucks is roughly the price of a pack of whatever trading card game is popular this week. It’s half the price of an action figure.
      .
      The 11-15 set? Cheaper than a CD, video game or DVD.
      .
      Much as many of us miss the days of comics under a dollar, and watched in awe as prices went up so quickly in comparison to te decades that came before, the current price point is still – speaking relative to the rest of the entertainment options competing for our dollars – an inexpensive one. The real price issue, as I see it, is that long standing public perception that comics are “cheap” in every sense of the word. Someone who hasn’t picked up a comic in 20-25 years decides to pick one up for him-/herself or their kid, sees the $2.99 price tag, remembers that, two decades ago, they paid under a dollar and gets sticker shock. Understandable. But then, two decades ago, they paid less than a buck for a gallon of gas, too. And wouldn’t dream of willingly paying in the neighborhood of $5 for a cup of “gourmet” coffee.
      .
      –Daryl

      1. Yeah, but with the story decompression that has taken place over the last decade that $3 is no longer a full story but just the chunk of a TV show that occurs between commercial breaks. You want a full story you are spending 15 to 20. Comparable to new DVD, but not a value. And then you look at how quickly DVD prices come down versus comic book collection prices and suddenly you can get three or four DVDs for the price of a single trade paperback.

      2. A decent point, Jeremy. Personally, I’d compare a single issue to a single episode of at least semi-serialized programming as opposed to an act of a single episode. But, that’s me, which, from my POV, puts a trade paperback on more equal footing with a full season DVD/blu-ray set, and thus more comparably priced. (Or, if I wanted to get REALLY picky about my terms, I’d compare TPB’s to those frakkin’ partial-season sets, like BSG season 2.0 and 2.5, or – maybe even better – the half-season sets of Glee that get released, with the second half of a season released ALONGSIDE the full season. Charge more, comparably speaking, for two halves of the season than for the full season.)
        .
        –Daryl

  28. @ Tony: I quit collecting YEARS ago when comics where a $1.99 that was about the time of the crapfest of Red/Blue Superman in the late 1990’s. I only recently started reading comics again in the last three years and that is strictly picking up trades off of Amazon. There you can pick up them up at 50-75% off cover price. So I will pick up the trades off Amazon if any are good.

    The way they are doing it is a problem. Imagine seeing this on a dccomics.com: Blue Background. Tag line: Everthing you heard is true. Quote from Infinite Crisis: “Everthing comes from Superman”-Alexander Luthor. In September Everything you know about DC Comics changes. Superman Symbol pops up and Action Comics Number One. Written by Geoff Johns and Art by Jim Lee. October: Detective Comics Number One: Similar Background with Black Bat Symbol Written by : Grant Morrision Art by (Whoever) December: Wonder Woman Number one. So on and so forth. Can you IMAGINE the hype? The excitement surrounding these three titiles? If you are going to do a reboot then do it right. Not have FIFTY ONE number one issues come out in one month!! Less is more. I came up with this in about 30 seconds. I am sure DC has marketing team that makes ALOT of money and come up with something better than this crap!

    1. Your idea is problematic. If they draw out the reboots, they run the risk of the same thing that happened after Crisis. Superman and the JLA were rebooted in 1986-1987. Hawkman was only rebooted in 1989, after already appearing in the JLA. Problematic continuity problems.
      .
      It’s better to reboot all at once. Or else to put certain characters on hold while they wait their turn? Are you suggesting they stop publishing Wonder Woman until December?

      1. If you’re going to space out the restarts, the smart thing to do would be to keep the old universe in place and phase it out as you’re building up the new one. (Basically what was rumored about the Ultimate universe way back when.) And just do the same day digital with the new universe to avoid diluting the brand amongst that supposed hoard of new readers that were Just Waiting For A Restart so they could read the books.
        .
        That has the added bonus of letting the older titles die in more natural fashion. As it is the few DC books I’m reading “feel” like the creative teams thought they’d be sitting pretty for awhile and then were told “hey, in three months we’re restarting everything.” I can live with continuity restarts. It’s that “FU to current readers” feeling I’m getting that really makes me not want to support the relaunch.

      2. Phasing out the old universe gradually is okay by old readers like you and me, but if the goal is to attract new readers with DC’s brand new universe, then you don’t want to confuse them by having titles from both universes co-existing for several months.

  29. Aside from my BB survival concerns, I present a thought shamelessly adapted from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

    “DC’s rebooting? Must be Wednesday.”

      2. I hear he responds quicker if you offer advice only you think is sage…

      4. I read on WIKI that Peter David doesn’t really exist… that he’s an amalgam of John Byrne, Rob Leifeld, and Erik Larsen… and when you filter them all out, you get the avatar that IS Peter David.
        .
        I don’t know who’s been raising his kids and paying his bills, though…

    2. I heard that, late at night, if you stand in front of a mirror and say his name five times in a row he magically appears. As for what happens after that…

  31. If the digital versions are only available for iFruit stuff, Nook and Kindle (or even for all smartphones), i’ll never see one.
    .
    If they’re available for reading on a PC, and they don’t cost too much … maybe.
    .
    Of course, does anyone actually think they won’t be pirated and widely reposted online for free download?

    1. Last time Marvel did this, they charged more for the digital version than the physical one, right? It’s like they want us to download pirate versions.

    2. Of course, does anyone actually think they won’t be pirated and widely reposted online for free download?
      .
      What makes you think they’re not already?
      .
      But here’s a bit of a warning for DC: When Marvel released a few of those CD collections of stuff like Amazing Spidey and Fantastic Four, people were interested. That is, until they saw the quality of the PDFs on those CDs and the fact that the pirated scans were of far better quality.
      .
      If DC doesn’t make the same mistake and they put high quality stuff out there for the digital edition, people will look to buy it. Just like they have with music when pirated mp3s are easy to find. Just like they have with ebooks when pirated versions are easy to find.

      1. What makes you think they’re not already?

        .
        Pirated scans are already out there, same day as paper release. All DC is doing is getting a share of that. There are some folks they’ll never get money from, but they’ll get some money they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. (Which, I think, is what you’re saying….)
        .
        If DC doesn’t make the same mistake and they put high quality stuff out there for the digital edition, people will look to buy it.
        .
        Well it depends on “high quality.” 128bps for music didn’t stop iTunes from being a success, but that’s not the best possible quality…

      2. Oh, i know that scans are all over the place. But if DC puts stuff out there already in digital form, there’re going to be even more copies.

      3. Well, they can continue to receive nothing from the pirated scans, or they can try and receive something from people buying legal scans.
        .
        iTunes (music), Steam (games), Amazon (ebooks). It might be a shock to many, but there are people out there willing to pay for digital if you give it to them.

    3. Comixology has DC comics available, with iPad and Android editions, as well as having them for viewing via the web.

      Prices, far as I can tell, are $2.99 for 20 pages new, and the price drops to $1.99 about four to eight weeks afterwards.

    4. “Of course, does anyone actually think they won’t be pirated and widely reposted online for free download?”
      .
      Conventional thinking is that if a digital version is created, it will be pirated.
      .
      However, historical analysis of digital books, movies, and music suggests otherwise. Before iTunes, music piracy was a nationwide issue. A popular defense for those who pirated music was that they simply weren’t willing to buy an entire CD for one song. Now, people seem more than happy to pay 99 cents to download that single song.
      .
      Likewise, if you look through any of the popular file sharing sites, you will find digital copies of pretty much any popular book except for those which have reasonably priced digital copies available. (I include the disclaimer “reasonably priced” because I have seen companies who charge more for the digital version than for the hard copy, and those are frequently pirated.)
      .
      DVDs and Blurays now sometimes come with a digital copy of the movie. And yet, the pirated copies I see online are still the ones created with an iPhone in a theater.
      .
      So, I don’t expect that the pirating of digital comics will suddenly increase. It is actually more likely that it will decrease.
      .
      Theno

    5. It should be available on computers too, not just iPads and the likes.

      Jose V

  32. Heroes DC-eborn. From the same creater (Jim Lee) who did it for Marvel a bazillion years ago…

    “a more modern, diverse Universe, with some character variations in appearance, origin and age.”

    And look how great things worked out for the female Bucky Barnes. Younger, girlier, but still caucasion of course. Mark my words, and those of others above, a year from now we’ll be back to the old numbering.

    I wonder just how many JLA #1’s I currently own?

  33. Are bookstores really doing that well? I mean, Borders just went under, and most of them in a 50 mile radius of me have closed. I don’t know how Barnes and Noble is doing. And what about the LCS? If the same day digital takes off, where does that leave them?

    1. where does that leave them?
      .
      Pretty much up the same creek they’ve been stuck in for the last 15 years or so after the speculation bubble burst and Marvel filed for bankruptcy.
      .
      A lot of shops have already closed because they were unable or unwilling to find ways to diversify. More shops are still going to close because the comic book industry itself isn’t very strong.
      .
      Should it really be the responsibility of Marvel and DC to prop up comic shops? I don’t think so.

      1. “A lot of shops have already closed because they were unable or unwilling to find ways to diversify.”
        .
        It’s not very easy for most independently owned comic shops to diversify. The problem is that with being a small business, they can’t get other things much cheaper than an individual can get them online. DVDs, figures, cards, toys, t-shirts, they can all be undercut by a quick trip to Amazon.com or the like. Even the hardcover collections, an individual buyer can go online and get it significantly cheaper than a shop can afford to sell it.

      2. This is reality for any business owner, small or large. You either find a way to deal with it, or you don’t survive.

  34. I find the timing a little baffling. Three weeks hence, there’s going to be a Major Motion Picture released in IMAX 3D that’s going to have the words “Based on the DC Comics Character” on screen in giant green letters. Assuming that phrase tempts somebody to visit their local comics shoppe, what will they find? Maybe some back issues, maybe some trades. But current comics? Anything GL-related is going to be tied up in this “Flashpoint” nonsense, bearing no resemblance to the CGI-rendered special effects that are Ryan Reynolds’ abs! At best, retailers can say “Just wait until September. The book relaunches with a #1 issue!” Great way to capitalize on the synergy…

    I was going to skip “Flashpoint” anyway– I’m soooooo tired of “Someone’s altered the timeline! We need to spend 2, or 6, or 8, or 12, or 24 issues restoring it to normal, effectively making it so the last 2, or 6, or 8, or 12, or 24 issues never happened (and therefore, never needed to be read in the first place).”

    DC has now given me incentive to NOT go back when all that’s over.

    1. Flashpoint is self-contained to the main series and a number of peripheral miniseries. And Booster Gold. It is not crossing over into any other titles. Nothing Green Lantern-related, other than the Abin Sur Flashpoint miniseries, is going to be tied up in Flashpoint.


    2. Sorry. Forgot about the final chapters of a multi-part, multi-title crossover event. Great place for new readers to jump on…
      .
      Serious question: how much do we know about new readers’ preferences? I’ve heard just as many anecdotes that a dense mythology laden like that intrigues some readers MORE.

      1. I’ve heard that as well, and I’ve no doubt that it’s true–for some readers. Is it wise to gamble that there are MORE of those types of readers than there are the type who prefer a clearly-defined jumping-on point? Especially in this, the age of the short attention span?

  35. I own a Kindle, but I don’t want to buy any type of PADD. I don’t want digital comics. I only want a “hard” copy.
    Thank heavens I only buy the Lantern and Legion books. Restarting at #1 doesn’t encourage me to go buy any “new” DC books.
    I don’t care about the numbering: I care about the characters and the talent that creates them.
    I don’t want to go to a comic con and ask the talent to sign my Ipad. Has it happened yet, Mr. David?

      1. What, no Kobo??!?!?

        (since we’re being sarcastic about bookstore failures…)

      2. I was quite surprised when I saw someone use a feature on their Kindle to get an author’s digital signature on a book at a convention a few weeks ago.

  36. My favorite “hard” copy autograph was given to me by Julius Schwartz and Murphy Anderson.

    Both gentlemen were kind enough to signed my tattered copy of one of the first comics my mom ever got me.

    “The Origin of Superman” by Bridwell, Infantino, Swanderson, and Schwartz.

    No disrespect to cutting edge technology, but I will always remember where I was, and how I felt as a little kid reading about Superman for the first time. 🙂

  37. The timing works out well for me in terms of saving money. When I was growing up I liked the DC characters more but then I started to get a real taste for the Marvel books, in no small part due to them having Handbooks before DC did. And when the first Crisis happened, well, I hated to see some classic stories go but DC for a time after that seemed to be moving in some interesting directions, at least until Hawkman got messy. But in recent years characters’ back stories have changed so often that it’s been harder to accept them as real characters. Once I read the latest news part of my brain short circuited and to a large degree I lost interest in the characters. The youth-anizing of the characters doesn’t help either because I like a mix of age ranges in my heroes.
    .
    I think in some ways this plan would have been better served at another company. Then it might have been fun so see where this new direction might go. But DC changes continuity more often than some readers change clothes, and my honest first reaction was “Oh crap not this again.”
    .
    Marvel’s had some continuity messes of its own like One More Day, but as anyone who’s tried to read some of the longer current Handbook entries can attest, for the most part there’s something resembling a backstory with their characters. You can usually draw a line from where a charater was at in the 1960s to where they are in the 2010s. A jagged line sometimes sure, but a line nevertheless. If someone other than Spider-Man gets married, it matters, and shapes characters.
    .
    I’ll still read some DC titles that are non-DCU like Fables, as well as the Showcase books, but for now at least I’m done with DC’s current superhero stuff. I’m enjoying what Marvel’s doing well enough that I’ll still get my current superhero fix with them. But as PAD noted, I’m glad I’m not a reailer trying to figure out how many of each #1 to order.

    1. Hmmmm…speaking of the “handbooks,” I just remembered…didn’t Dan Didio announce a new edition of Who’s Who on the horizon several months back?
      .
      Fits with this reboot perfectly.
      .
      –Daryl

  38. @ Rene. I am going on the “less is more” philosophy. Back in 1992 when Superman was killed the titles had the “Funeral For A Friend” that went on for the next month, then after that It was 4 or 5 months before Superman #500 came out. The same could be done here introduce your characters over a 6 month span and have (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Latern, Flash) all meet and have to defeat generic enemy A (Mongul, Darkseid) and THEN you introduce JLA around 6 months later. See it happens slowly and naturally, then in the meantime you could have miniseries such has Teen Titans, JSA etc..to fill in the back ground of the new DCU. After the first year introduce Superman and Batman number one. Like I said this took me about 30 seconds to come up with. If you are doing a hard reboot, do it right.

    PAD, I am wondering what your thoughts are. I think given the fact that you worked at DC in the past (Supergirl was AWESOME by the way!) do you think it will work? The fanboy in me thinks it wont but what do I know?

    1. Well, Marv Wolfman said (in an interview with, I think, Amazing Heroes) that this was the original plan fro the post-Crisis universe. Forget everything that went before, start from scratch with brand new adventures. Which would certainly have helped avoid all the migraine-inducing continuity nightmares we were subjected to in the following years (cough, cough, Legion, Hawkman…)

    2. PAD, I am wondering what your thoughts are. I think given the fact that you worked at DC in the past (Supergirl was AWESOME by the way!) do you think it will work?
      .
      I don’t see how it could POSSIBLY fail.
      .
      PAD

    3. I still don’t see how a gradual reboot could work. You could do it in either of two days, but both have big editorial problems:
      .
      The first way, you’d stop publishing all titles from the old universe, and THEN you’d start gradually introducing the new titles. Problem: I think DC publishes about 60 DC Universe titles per month. So in August they publish 60 comics. Comes September, they publish only 4 or 5? They just cut the other 55 titles, so they can be re-introduced gradually?
      .
      The second way would be the gradual phasing out of the old universe titles. If your goal is to attract new readers by introducing a brand new, simpler, more straightforward universe, then you do NOT want to confuse the new readers by having titles from both universes, old and new, being published in the same month.

      1. For some reason it’s easier to reply down here… There are obviously pros and cons to all courses of action, but the relative stability of a gradual rollout helps reduce the risk to the various parties involved with this.
        .
        To minimize potential confusion, just brand the “DCnU” line slightly differently (or call the older stuff “DC Classic”), only do same day digital with the new stuff, emphasize the DCnU books over the old stuff on the digital distribution channels, etc., etc.
        .
        And unless DC is planning on completely purging their superhero backlist in all extant forms, there’s bound to be some potential confusion somewhere along the way.

  39. Hi all,

    I’m pretty sure that even though everything is starting over with new #1s, this is NOT a full reboot…hasn’t it already been confirmed by DC that Green Lantern will be carrying on the post-Blackest Knight stories?

    I’m actually really excited for this…I feel that DC have been treading water creatively for awhile now (Bat books excluded), and this really excites me.

    I’ve been loving Marvel’s output recently, but I really DON’T love their answers to the shrinking market. Seriously, $3.99 22page books shipped several times a month? I think this radical move by DC shows much more promise.

    1. I’m pretty sure that even though everything is starting over with new #1s, this is NOT a full reboot…hasn’t it already been confirmed by DC that Green Lantern will be carrying on the post-Blackest Knight stories?

      I’m not really all that concerned about numbering but what I am worried about is whether this a a full reboot of the entire universe. Alex indicates that it is not.

      I stopped reading Spider-Man when they undid his marriage. If Clark and Lois are no longer married in the new continuity, that’s it for me and I’ve been reading Superman since 1962. Yeah, I’m older than everyone here.

      1. It’s definitely the “partial reboot” that gives me the feeling of this having been done before.
        .
        I want the Clark-Lois marriage to stay in place as well, but considering that the new writer (Grant Morrison) was part of an earlier plan to eliminate the marriage that did not get greenlit, I’d lay odds on us being unhappy.
        .
        Given the number of #1s, this time only DC should make the #1s (and maybe the #2s to help gauge the drop off) returnable (maybe to some maximum so a retailer doesn’t order 100 copies of, say, Beware the Creeper#1 if that’s one of the titles) to allow retailers a bit of a safety net.

      2. I for one miss the tension between Clark and Lois. Marriage is over rated. Look at how beautiful Grant Morrison and Frank Quetly did it in All Star Superman. Or how great Superman the Animated series was with Lois belittleling Clark.

  40. Pingback: Chain Reactions | DC’s reboot, relaunch and new digital strategy | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment

  41. Thanks for voicing exactly what the retailers are thinking. I thought firguring out how to order 16 Flashpoint minis was tough. 52 new #1s was going to be tough enough. How much bump for #1? How many people will jump off. But to then throw in the digital to boot? Gah. I have a strong feeling most stores are going to be conservative on this. Its hard enough gambling on the new #1s we get every month. While I am happy DC is doing something big and proactive rather than just endless creative changes that don’t work, they are going to have to make this affordable for retailers. Doing lots of variant covers isn’t really going to help.

    And the yet unanswered question, how will Marvel respond?

    1. I think the policies DC announced to address this will go a long way to help the retailers. Especially the 100% returnable for the first 3 issues (or so).

  42. @ Renee That does make ALOT of sense. I was just going on the fact that if you are going to do a hard reboot, do it right and its just one fan’s opionion. What do you think they should do?
    @ PAD LOL Now thats the famous wit of PAD I like. LOL I can smell the sarcastic tone of “POSSIBLY” all the way down here in Tennessee!:)

    1. I don’t know, Michael.
      .
      Like most fans, I don’t like reboots. So I think they shouldn’t do it at all. But, if they have to do it, then I much prefer a complete and total reboot done all at once.
      .
      I agree that the market is crowded. If it were up to me, Marvel and DC would publish only 20 monthly comics, period (2 Batman, 2 Superman, JLA, Wonder Woman, Flash, GL, Titans, Legion, the other 10 titles reserved for a floating pool of B and C list characters).

  43. All I care about is reading books that have good writing and good art. I’ve grown accustomed to the “exclusive previews” of comics online and find that digital is just as good as print. Maybe even more so.

    The main issue I have is that I prefer organic storytelling where characters develop out of their given circumstances. A line wide reshuffling and renumbering isn’t really organic. It often tries to be, but rarely is. And I fear that massive reshuffling will just go to further damage good characters and the potential stories that can be told about them. Look at characters like Hawkman who have been rebooted more often than you can shake a stick at. There’s going to be a point in time where the public says “I’m sick of this” and move on.

    Also, since comic books can no longer be found on the news stand comic companies should really work with retailers more to generate business. Same day digital could end up destroying the local comic shops. Just like ITunes gift cards, swipe cards could be used in more traditional retail venues to draw new customers to comic books. Imagine if you bought a Hulk figure at the local walmart and it contained a swipe card for three free digital comics. It would be an awesome way of generating interest while at the same time providing a way for comic publishers to redirect customers to the local comic book shops that are the backbone of their current business.

    1. I love reading comics on my iPad. Its also easier to store things in my hard drive than having books, comics or dvd’s lying around the house. Retailers need to adapt. Wizard went 100% digital. Darwin Cook is looking at doing a 100% digital book. The writing is on the wall, retailers.

      Jose V

  44. What I find interesting is that, given Apple’s rules concerning family-friendly and adult-oriented apps, what is the likelihood that some comics will be delayed due to Apple refusing to post due to content restrictions? Since I’m still an analog reader, I don’t know if that’s currently a problem.

    1. That may hinge on the specifics of Apple’s policies. Technically speaking, Apple would only need to sign off on the reader app itself, which would, ostensibly, contain no actual content. The content itself could be purchased from DC via the app itself, as opposed to through, say, iTunes. And, even at that, for example, a quick perusal of the iTunes stores shows that the uncensored version of Cee Lo Green’s “F**k You.”
      .
      –Daryl

  45. Maybr a small point, but:

    DC did not invent the hardcover/softcover with near-simultaneous releases. DC’s “hardcover” books (Titans, Legion) came out a year or so in advance of the “softcover” versions. This was in the mid-1980s. About 10 years later, Marvel came up with the dreadful idea of releasing $1.95 and $1.50 editions of the X-books, with the expensive version aimed at the direct market on better paper. My recollection was that they were printed at the time, but the “hardcover” version hit the streets first because direct market distribution was faster. Or maybe there was a two-week lag. In any case, it ended up showing Marvel it could up the price on popular books without really cutting into their sales. And we know where that led to.

  46. I for one look forward to DC redoing their universe. I think that is just what they needed.

    Marvel has tried to do a reboot with the Ultimate Universe, to a degree, and with Heroes Reborn. There was a time when Marvel considered folding their main universe in favor of the ultimate one. DC is doing just that. A restart. Good for them. I hope they can pull this off.

    Marvel has released numerous of number ones: Amazing Spiderman (three), Avengers (four), Thor (four) Fantastic Four (four), Iron Man (four), Hulk (two), Wolverine (five), X-Men (two)and so on.

    As far as comic retailers go, join the 21st century. Just like Video outlets like Blockbuster are feeling the heat from Netflix, and Music retailers feel the crunch from iTunes, and book retailers like Borders get passed by the kindle, nook or iPad, Comic retailers need to adapt. Find something to attract new readers. Will they die completly, no, but retailers will shrink.I for one get all my movies and tv shows online. I get all my books online too. Its just the way of the world now. I hope to see more Marvel content online too.

    Jose V

  47. Am closing my store of 16 years, and when I heard about this it was the first time I was actually happy about it…

    This, unlike DC’s holding the line at $2.99, is an INCREDIBLE blunder. If I was still ordering for the store, I’d cut DC books across the line. They don’t sell as well as Marvel, AND the discounts they offer through Diamond aren’t as good as Marvel…

  49. Not to get all tinfoil-hatty, but I think that DC would consider LCS closings as a feature, not a bug, and that the same-day digital sales are tied in with that. If the LCSs don’t order all the #1s (or don’t order enough), then that might encourage fans to make the jump and get an iPad or Nook so that they don’t have to worry about missing another issue or committing to a pull list for titles that they might want to drop; if the unsold issues push the store into the red and eventually lead to its closing, again, that would encourage fans without another convenient LCS to go digital.

    Either way, DC could offer the titles at a discount from the current cover price, and still make a tidy profit without printing and distribution costs. As JamesLynch noted above (at June 1, 2011 at 12:05 pm), the record labels certainly weren’t in the business of keeping the brick-and-mortar stores alive.

Comments are closed.