The Four Color Media Monitor

The first time in recent history DC ever began pushing for diversity at the expense of established heroes was at least a decade ago. Now, the Hollywood Reporter says they're falling back on it more officially again in their new "event". This article begins with the news that they're:

...putting two of its flagship books, Action Comics and Detective Comics, comics that have been published since the 1930s, back to their original numbering.

But whether that's justified, it's clear they're only doing that for the sake of a sales spike.

“Sometimes you lose your way, you get a little lost,” admitted DC co-publisher Dan Didio to a packed room of 500 fans at WonderCon, the comic and pop culture convention in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The New 52 proved to be a divisive event for comic fans and comics retailers with some books being hits — Batman by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Cappulo, is one example — while others didn’t connect.

“You felt it. And after a while, we felt it too,” he said, adding one purpose of Rebirth was to reaffirm to fans the company’s commitment to readers.

I don't think he's admitted anything, or else he'd admit they were wrong to force so much darkness on the DCU, and trash morale in the process. This is hardly acknowledging any of that, and that's just why they're still lost as ever. They have no commitment to readers old or new, and no respect for major or minor characters in their stable. And now, they're even resorting to more desperate diversity:

Gene Yang, whose work American Born Chinese became the first graphic novel to be a finalist for the National Book Award, is writing New Superman, a comic that is set in Shanghai and whose main character is a 17-year old Chinese teen who finds himself with Superman’s powers. [...]

Joining the Chinese Superman in the new lineup are a Latina Green Lantern and the return to prominence of Batwoman, a lesbian, among several comics highlighting diversity. There is no doubt that the titles are meant to draw in new readers and reflect the modern world, but DC executives said it was less about overt discussions about diversity than being reflective of today's world.

“This is the new normal. It’s the reality,” said co-publisher Jim Lee after the presentation. “If you’re creating a list of characters to use, it’s less about filling quotas than seeing who are cool characters and what haven’t we seen before.”

But we have. If these stories are really about diversity, it's a very narrow, limited kind, which is race, sexual orientation, but hardly ethnicity/nationality, except what they consider suitable. Some of the commentors back up the conclusion DiDio and company are just pulling everyone's leg yet again:

And these are the same executives that rebooted the entire line when I was reading DC Comics back over 15 years ago. Dan Didio used this excuse as his reason for repeatedly rebooting the line: "Julius Schwartz once said to me that comics characters become stale after a while and need an enima then a clean slate." This was the excuse used as the reason for the birth of the silver age from the golden age.
The thing is, at the time, there was 20 years between reboots and the editors were very careful not to crap on the characters people loved from the golden age when they rebooted them. They used different creators to revamp the characters and a different executive team.
What this group of executives from DC Comics keeps missing is...
1) You reboot your line every 5 years, they did it every 20. When they rebooted, they didn't destroy previous versions, in case the new versions didn't go over well, they could go back to the old ones. As it stood, they just shifted the originals to an alternate universe and told stories everyone could like, new readers and old.
2) These executives like to trade old readers for new ones. They have repeatedly put down their long time readers telling them, 'Look, this is what we are doing. If you don't like it, stop complaining and vote with your wallet.' I took their advice, stopped buying and never looked back. Why? Because these all knowing executives took the characters I loved and completely mutilated and destroyed them in favor of their new versions, kind of the opposite of what Schwartz did. It was DC's way of telling long time readers to get lost. Be careful what you wish for b/c many long time readers did get lost and most comic shops that I used to shop at no longer exist.
3) The problem, what these executives again, keep missing is that they believe the problem is with the characters, that the characters go stale. That's incorrect. A character is only good as the writer and artist make them. So, if you keep having the same executives make the same decisions, maybe its a sign that its not the characters that need to be rebooted, its you executives that keep turning your readers off and away.
4) Stop trying to 'Frank Millerize' all your characters. Though I don't read your comics anymore and can't find a comic shop to buy them even if I did, what works for Batman doesn't work for Green Lantern, Wonder Woman or anyone else but Batman. Chocolate is great but on top of an egg roll is just gross.
Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

DiDio has never truly respected Schwartz or any other veterans of DC's better days. This comment makes a good point similar to mine that characters aren't the problem, but rather, the assigned writers. And then:

I stopped buying comics not only b/c they weren't good anymore but because of the people working in the industry and the fans who buy them. The new generation of creators are just the nastiest people. They have this sense of grandeur about them, like they are gods or something and I'm like, if you were so great, why is your work turning so many people away. Just b/c a few sycophants crowd around you in a comic shop or at a convention, does not make you a god. Get your head out of the niche comic box and no one knows your name. And the fans are just like wild, rabid dogs, if you don't like what they like, they attack you. I'm like WTF? How do you expect to attract a new audience and maintain your old one when you people in the field are just vile, foul. I stopped reading and traded my entertainment circle for a nicer bunch of people.

And also:

I agree. Comic fans can be pretty bestial. Look at all the comic fans who love the new Batman vs Superman movie. I keep hearing all over the place, 'Finally, a movie made for the fans! **** anyone who doesn't agree!' Well dude, a movie has to appeal to not just to people who attend the San Diego Comic Convention. There's a whole world outside who are turned off by the gloom and doom of the DC Universe. Does it appeal to DC fans? Sure it does! But not everyone wants to pay ten bucks to see superheroes fight villains, not each other, like comic fans. Comic books, like the superheroes I used to read, were once fun and inspiring. They aren't anymore, fun or inspiring and that's why the flick is turning off so many people outside the comic fan network.

And one more written as a correction:

Sorry, meant to say "most people don't want to pay over ten bucks to see heroes fight each other, like the angry fans who fight each other who don't agree with them." Most people would rather see heroes fight villains but with the people making comics and movies today, most heroes behave like villains so in the end, what's the difference.

Well how about that, somebody is disillusioned with superhero comicdom because of a fandom giving the medium a bad name, and that goes double for the modern creators. Even some veterans have proven themselves a serious letdown who don't seem proud of their past work. But let's distinguish between certain creators/fans. Not every one of them is an irrational head case hostile to disagreement over a potentially bad direction, but it's the ones who're in agreement with DiDio/Quesada who've succeeded in damaging comicdom's reputation. Some of these pseudo-fans are also SJWs. With their attitude, they shouldn't be shocked that sales are so awful, and that real fans have been driven away.

Labels: bad editors, conventions, dc comics, moonbat writers, msm propaganda