What the Hell, DC?
Arrgghhhh!
Are you trying to rip my heart out DC?
I just read that they canned Kevin Maguire from the upcoming Justice League 3000 book. I was going to GET that book...based solely on the fact that Kevin Maguire was going to be drawing it! I LOVE Kevin Maguire! He is one of my favorite artists.
Apparently they wanted something that was "darker"
Well, fuck that.
I'm sick and tired of "darker". I want bright, I want light I want humor, I want FUN! Why is Daredevil, Young Avengers, Journey Into Mystery and Hawkeye my favorite books at Marvel right now? Because they are quirky, and hilarious, and beautifully drawn, and witty and damned well-written, that's why!
How much more darkness can we take, for Pete's sake? DC has managed to kill off practically all of my favorite characters, dumped their entire UNIVERSE to make a more modern and compressed one, and managed to lose all of the characterization and zaniness from some 75 years of comics in doing so. Why does DC want to be Marvel from the 90's? Why does DC want to be Marvel at all? Keep with YOUR strengths and heroes. I know that you are going solely for the 18 to 35 Male sector of the market, but you know something? Those young male readers probably wouldn't mind something hip and fun and quirky either!
Seriously, that is one depressed sad bunch of editors and suits you have there DC. Have any of the things that the Powers That Be come up with in the last couple of years actually...worked? Firing your best writers and artists by e-mail, running rough-shod over your creators and generally pissing off some of the greats in your profession is a monumentally STUPID thing to do! The wonks who make the decisions obviously don't even read comics, and have no understanding of things other than the bottom line...but they are messing up your bottom line in a fundamental way.
You will probably never get those glory years back, because you have done such a good job of chasing off everyone who isn't in your increasingly narrow focus group. Get Kids, get Women, get old Guys, get everyone you possibly can! Make DC a haven for creators, and your books will fly off of the shelves!
And for the love of God, get Kevin Maguire a decent job!
Sheesh!
posted by SallyP @ 7:27 AM
14 Comments:
Not to mention that DC has a major image problem right now. I honestly think the people running DC either have no clue what they're doing or they're intentionally trying to devalue the company.
Possibly both, Randy.
They really don't seem to have a clue. It isn't even DC Comics anymore, but DC Entertainment, I think, and they are lumping in comics with movies and such, and it doesn't necessarily work that way.
"The floggings will continue until morale improves" seems to be their motto.
They seem to be under the impression that darker is what people want. If Batman is dark and popular, then Superman must be made darker, that sort of thing, never mind that they're two very different characters with their own fans, albeit with overlap.
I started reading Marvel's Captain Marvel and there's some darkness in there, but it's not in your face. Sure, my favorite comic at DC right now is the fairly dark Red Hood and the Outlaws, but there's some humor there, too. DC used to be about fun and variety and about goodness and heroes, characters who did the right thing simply because it was the right thing. I want more of that, not less.
What kind of thought process must you have to face a choice between having Kevin Maguire draw your book and having something "dark and gritty" and picks Door#2? How do you get to that point in your thinking? HOW???
The Glory Years are dead and buried (at least under the current Regime).
DC Is currently In The GORY Years.
Which Is why I am currently reading zero DC periodicals.
In this article Maguire says he has been offered ogther stuff by DC, so it doesn't sound so bad:
http://www.newsarama.com/18636-howard-porter-names-justice-league-3000-artist-debut-bumped-to-december.html
I've reached the point where I'm hoping DC continues to get far worse. Thereby speeding up the inevitable purchase by Marvel/Disney and netting us some excellent movies by a company that knows how to handle iconic characters.
Preach it, Sally. I'm buying the same Marvel titles you are, and they've moved up to the top of my reading stack (that's important because I semi-annually drop all the crap that's slipped to the bottom of the reading stack). Know what's on the bottom of the stack now? Pretty much exclusively? Yep. It ain't Dark Horse, and it ain't Marvel.
I was going to bring up the Superman movie, too, but never mind. I just don't have the strength.
I agree with pretty much all points here (and with your four favourite titles, Sally) and as a male aged 18 - 35 (though hurtling towards that latter figure at a rate of knots) I just can't be bothered with this darkness and grittiness.
What DC seem to be missing (and Marvel has in spades) is that just because they have a shared universe setting doesn't mean they have to do away with variety of tone.
And like Bryan I find some DC titles lingering at the bottom of the to read stack, sometimes for weeks on end.
It's just so infuriating. I really do love my DC Characters...but I don't really love what is being done to them. Not to mention a whole lot of my favorite characters have either been killed off or are in limbo.
I'm still not completely back with Marvel...that whole Civil War thing did a real number on my loyalty...but I have to admit that while they seem to mostly be putting out things that are either Avengers, X-Men or a weird combination of the two...there ARE some pretty decent titles in there.
Of course, my liking something is usually the kiss of death.
VERY good point about variety of tone, James. DC is getting homogenized down to the grimmest setting, pretty much across the board. It extends to their movies and animated properties, as well. I find there is a distinct limit to the amount of depressing story I'm willing to tolerate each month, and DC is consistently exceeding that limit.
Homogenized is the perfect description Bryan. It's all turning into a bland mushy soup...if so much gore can actually be called bland.
Actually it IS bland, because they have gone so overboard on the violence and blood that it has lost most of its power to shock anymore.
Yup, homogenized and bland are perfect descriptions of DC right now. I have a few books I enjoy, but not nearly the amount I was reading before the reboot. And I have no inclination to add more DC titles right now. What would be the point? It would just be more of the same old same old.
Exactly. And really, what is the incentive to pick up a new book when you already pretty much know how it is going to be?
A little bit of fun, a little bit of humor, something...unexpected. A twist. I know, how about writing them IN CHARACTER for a change?
Man I'm cranky!
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