So Laremy Tunsil Jersey , it’s common knowledge that DC Comics and I parted ways several years ago. It’s also common knowledge that that is not at all uncommon, and we’ll get to that shortly. Point is, while I delight in the produce of DC Entertainment, I’ve come to view anything from the actual DC Comics division as I would a plate of shrimp that was left in the sun for a day: there’s a high probability that it’s bad and will make me sick if I eat it. You’re free to, of course, but I wonder what the hell is wrong with you (and I’ll just leave the number for the poison control center right here on the counter where you can’t miss it).
Still Cordrea Tankersley Jersey , DC news occasionally does push its way in front of my eyeballs, and I must say the latest bulletin from WonderCon is. suggestive.
Retro-Active is described as “a wave of one-shots that will pay homage to the spirit of the Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash Raekwon McMillan Jersey , and Justice League of America stories of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.” These are not simple reprints but a 5050 mix of new material written into the old continuities presented alongside the reprinted originals.
Now, what immediately pops out at me is the significance of those decades. Bluntly: an era before things were fucked up beyond all repair. There were missteps to be sure, but there was a bottom line respect for the characters, the readership, and the basic tenets of storytelling. What also jumps out is I’m looking at names from those eras – names we haven’t seen in a while. Names that Charles Harris Jersey , like the continuities, were not a part of or tainted by the last 10 years of toxicity.
Len Wein, Alan Grant, Norm Breyfogle, Marv Wolfman. Wow.
I can only come up with three explanations for a move of this kind coming out of. I’m not sure my fingers will even type it. a move like this coming out of the DC Comics of 2011.
1. Reichenbach Falls
DC has been hemorrhaging readers for a long time, but recent years have seen them deliberately slicing themselves open. I don’t know if the intent was suicide or a troubled teen cutting herself for attention and nicking an artery by mistake Mike Gesicki Jersey , but the result is the same: the readers are going, going, gone. Faster than they can be replaced – and what they’ve been replaced with isn’t worth much. DC has consistently cut loyal long-time fans in favor of imagined new ones: new ones with less disposable income, who are less invested in the hobby and won’t necessarily spend as much on it regardless of income. They do make plenty of noise in forums and blogs. That never translates into actual sales because they mostly get the gist from Scans Daily, but hey, at least their excesses further alienate those who have left. You might think that once a reader is lost that’s the end of it. They can’t spend less than $0 Minkah Fitzpatrick Jersey , right? But the cost of all those lost readers goes far beyond the simple dollars and cents. Consider: I was at a friend’s house a couple weeks ago and they were showing off their gaming system. They had EA Sports, Assassin’s Creed, and then while the rest of us were talking, they took out Assassins Creed and put in Arkham Asylum. As soon as the DC logo went up, the guy I was talking to looked up, rolled his eyes and threw back his head. He thought it was an ad for DC Online Cheap Miami Dolphins T-Shirts , but then the Rocksteady name came up and he said “oh wait, I’ve heard of this.” When he saw the actual game start, he really liked it.
Now, that’s some serious bad voodoo. The DC logo = Bad. The Dark Knight was not only a great movie, it was a fantastically popular one. Smallville has been running longer than M*A*S*H. The Green Lantern trailer OWNED WonderCon this past weekend. And yet, the DC logo got this automatic negative reaction – because of the comics. If you’ve ever heard talking about a great unsolicited review or great word of mouth for their business and say they “can’t put a price on that kind of advertising” – well this is the flip side. You can’t put a dollar amount on the cost of YOUR LOGO = BAD. You can’t put a dollar amount on the real damage DC Comics has done to the DC brand.
So Cheap Miami Dolphins Hoodies , possibility #1 is Retro is a concerted effort to lure back those lost readers. If so, it’s a nice start. It really is, don’t get me wrong. However, it needs to be said that you’re not going to undo 10+ years of abuse in 2 months.
In 1893 Conan Doyle decided he was tired writing Sherlock Holmes and attempted to kill off his character in a final battle with Professor Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls. To put it mildly: the reading public was not pleased. They flatly refused to accept the destruction of something that brought them such pleasure. Doyle then tried to appease them by telling new stories from the time before Holmes was killed. The reading public WAS NOT SATISFIED. It was not enough to have new stuff if the trail still led to the unacceptable outcome, and Doyle had no choice but to suck it up and undo the damage, bring his hero back to life.
If DC wants to win back readers it lost by its own bad behavior Customized Miami Dolphins Jersey , this is a start, but make no mistake it is only the first step of a long journey.