Every day I come home from work and check my sites. I start with Facebook, then my e-mail, and then I check out what comic and entertainment news is happening. I must say, in these last few weeks a few things, what I have read make it seem like things may be going astray at DC Comics. Since their New 52 relaunch last year, I've been turned off by everything except Batman, Green Lantern, and Aquaman. As a long time Superman reader the only comic featuring the Man of Steel I still remotely enjoy resembles Tom Welling. Now, new things have come to light that makes me feel like things are rotten in the state of DC.
First off, back in June, a much respected comic writer, George Perez, stepped down as writer of Superman. Perez is most known for his 1985 mini-series, Crisis on Infinite Earths. He is quoted in saying, "A lot of people were now making decisions. They were constantly going against each other, contradicting, again in mid-story. I can’t wait to get off Superman. It was not the experience I wanted it to be.” Perez also expressed frustration with Grant Morrison's Action Comics taking place five years before Superman. “I had no idea Grant Morrison was going to be working on another Superman title,” he said. “I had no idea I was doing it five years ahead, which means … my story, I couldn’t do certain things without knowing what he did, and Grant wasn’t telling everybody. ‘Oh, my gosh, you’re deciding all these things and you mean even you don’t know what’s going on in your own books?’ So I became very frustrated.”
This all seemed a bit peculiar, but yesterday Rob Leifeld, former co-creator of Image comics and currently writing DC's Grifter, Deathstroke, and The Savage Hawkman, gave his resignation from those titles via Twitter. "I officially got off the DC52 treadmill this morning,” he wrote, adding, “I believe in what DC is doing, but had to preserve my sanity. I walked off all three books. Can’t wait to see any attempts to spin. I have every email. I lasted a few months longer than I thought possible. Massive indecision, last minute and I mean LAST minute changes that alter everything. Editor pissing contests… No thanks. Last week my editor said ‘early on we had a lot of indie talent that weren’t used to re-writes and changes … made it hard.’ Uh, no, it’s you.”
Ok, so maybe it's DC Comics and the New 52 staff that are getting frustrated with re-creating these characters and making over 50 years of stories seem cool and fresh. But let's look at the final piece of this disturbing puzzle. On August 14, Warner Bros. announced that it was shutting down it's direct-to-dvd company, Warner Premiere. This company has made DC animated films like Batman: Gotham Knight, Superman:Doomsday, Green Lantern: First Flight, and it's current project, The Dark Knight Returns, based on the famous Frank Miller mini-series. Warner Bros. said all current projects will be completed, but come Fall, the company will be no more due to the downturn of the home entertainment industry.
So what does all mean? To me it seems like DC is in trouble. Sure, The Dark Knight Rises made lots of money, but it didn't come close to beating The Avengers. Sure, the New 52 campaign started out selling well, but has slowly dwindled and is being out shined by Marvel's Avengers vs. X-Men mini-series. Their last film before DKR, Green Lantern, was a flop and they put the new Superman movie in the hands of their supposed savior, Christopher Nolan, in hopes of a hail mary pass to try and catch up to the their #1 rival, Marvel Comics. But everyone knows when you make ludicrous plays when the game isn't even close you're only going to fall more behind.
With the money Marvel Comics made off of their early hits like the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises they invested it in their own studio, and started making their own films. This gave them financial freedom to not have to pander to corporate executives who've never read a Thor comic book. DC is still owned by Warner Bros. One theory behind the failure of Green Lantern was that too many people had a say as to what should be in the film. When Joss Whedon made The Avengers he wrote his own script, shot the film his way, and it was a blockbuster hit. The only reason Nolan's Dark Knight franchise has succeeded is because Warner Bros. trusted him enough to make them money. Too bad they couldn't have had the same faith in Martin Campbell.
As far as the comics go that's just gone. The New 52 relies on today's teenage BOYS to walk into a comic book shop and like their Superman like they like their Edward Cullen, except everyone except teenage GIRLS hate Edward Cullen! DC's has alienated readers like myself who have stuck with these characters for twenty-plus years. Their best titles are the ones they didn't change, like Batman and Green Lantern. Marvel Comics has gone the opposite way. Avengers vs. X-Men is rewarding readers who have been with them since 2005's House of M. Then, after AvsX, Marvel NOW looks like it won't be a reboot, but a fresh stew that mixes up the pot and brings the X-Men into the Marvel main stream after being out of the loop for so many years. The more I read about Marvel NOW the more I think it'll be good, which is the opposite of what I thought the more I heard about DC's New 52. If DC wants to get back in the game they're going to have to change their tactics. Here are a few of my suggestions.
1) Lois and Clark are DC's power couple, put them back together, NOW!
2) Tim Drake should be the Red Robin he was BEFORE he had feathers!
3) Marvel spent 5 films building The Avengers. Don't follow their lead. I suggest going backwards. Make a Justice League movie with the relative unknowns: Green Lantern, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. This will introduce these characters, and the most popular ones get their own film. Then, in the second JLA film, bring in Superman and Batman to draw a bigger audience.
4) Listen to your Chief Creative Officer, Geoff Johns. He makes a great story. Just let him do his thing and stay out of his way.
5) Keep Scott Snyder on Batman. I haven't enjoyed Batman comics like this in years.
6) Don't let Grant Morrison write anymore Superman comics. I'm still trying to figure out how all of the Batman R.I.P. titles fit together.
7) People got to know Green Arrow through Smallville, now let people know other DC heroes through Arrow and see what the people like.
8) If you want to attract teenagers make a movie about teenagers; hence Teen Titans or Young Justice. People know who Robin is!
9) Marvel let their writers help in the film making process, not studio executives who couldn't even tell me where Superman is from. I'm talking to you Jon Peters!
10) You don't have to reinvent the wheel, just make it more round. (I really don't know what I'm trying to say, but it sounds profound, and I wanted to get ten things in here.)
So will DC read this blog and contact me on how to save their jobs? Probably not. All I know is the facts I've read and the sales numbers I see. I've been reading comics all my life. So what do I know?
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