The Four Color Media Monitor

Assuming such a gimmick actually takes place, that is. In this recent sales analysis on The Beat for DC Comics sales, when the writer brings up the results for sans-adjective Batman, he says:

Come April, a major storyline titled “Batman R.I.P.” gets underway, so perhaps DC are hoping to infuse the book’s numbers with new life by way of a mainstream press blizzard - after all, it worked for the competition’s Captain America last year, and Batman is a rather more recognizable character.

So far, there's no way to tell if the Masked Manhunter will actually be going MIA when this story takes place, but if it does happen, I'd say that such a move would be ridiculous, especially when there's another movie coming up this summer. On the one hand, of course DC's steps with their own serial fiction should not have to be bound by whatever goes on with movies based on them. On the other hand, I don't think such a move would be good for capitalizing on any moviegoers the movie might encourage to read the books. After all, they'd come in expecting to see Bruce Wayne as the star under the mask, wouldn't they?

And considering that there's been too many deaths of recent, even the death of a major character would be tacky at best, and could understandably alienate the fans they've still got reading their books. The death of Captain America was uncalled for, and I think the death of Batman would be just as unwelcome, even if it's only temporary.

Even if a death is only temporary, it's not something inspiring, and shouldn't have to be rewarded with sales.

Labels: dc comics