The DC Comics Thread Vol. 3

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

Son of a bitch! I really need that Absolute Swamp Thing!!

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

DC DUBS 2019 “THE YEAR OF THE VILLAIN” WITH SPECIAL 25-CENT COMIC BOOK AVAILABLE MAY 1ST

DC’S YEAR OF THE VILLAIN RELEASED IN TIME FOR FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

FEATURES ORIGINAL STORIES BY SCOTT SNYDER WITH JAMES TYNION IV AND BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, SETTING THE STAGE FOR HIGHLY ANTICIPATED EVENTS THIS SUMMER AND FALL

VARIANT COVER ARTWORK BY JIM CHEUNG, STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU AND ALEX MALEEV, WITH MAIN COVER BY GREG CAPULLO

BURBANK, CA – (Feb 13, 2019) – DC announced plans today to release an exclusive original comic, DC’S YEAR OF THE VILLAIN, on Wednesday, May 1, as comic book retailers nationwide prepare for Free Comic Book Day, Saturday, May 4. Available for only 25 cents, DC’S YEAR OF THE VILLAIN spotlights several of DC’s most infamous super-villains, in stories written by celebrated authors Scott Snyder (JUSTICE LEAGUE, THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS), James Tynion IV (JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS: THE GRIM KNIGHT) and Brian Michael Bendis (SUPERMAN, ACTION COMICS).

This exclusive 32-page comic will feature breathtaking art from Eisner Award-winning illustrator Alex Maleev (Jinxworld’s SCARLET), Jim Cheung (JUSTICE LEAGUE) and Francis Manapul (THE FLASH, AQUAMAN/JUSTICE LEAGUE: DROWNED EARTH), with an original cover by acclaimed artist Greg Capullo (BATMAN, DARK NIGHTS: METAL). Hardcore fans will also want to contact their local comics retailer right away to check availability of any one of three beautiful variant covers by Maleev (Lex Luthor) and Cheung (the Batman Who Laughs), as well as popular cover artist Stanley “Artgerm” Lau (the Cheetah).

Following the events of Snyder and Tynion’s JUSTICE LEAGUE, Lex Luthor takes a major step forward, assembling his Legion of Doom for the final push to replace Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the League as the rightful leaders of not only mankind, but the universe itself, hoping to harness the power of Perpetua, the first being to be imprisoned within the Source Wall, now newly freed in the events of JUSTICE LEAGUE ANNUAL #1. Perpetua’s storyline and Luthor’s plans to rid the universe of heroes will continue to escalate throughout the rest of 2019.

Snyder continues this plague of villainy through his fan-favorite character the Batman Who Laughs. Fans should pay close attention to the current six-issue miniseries, as the events of the final issue will continue to play out in this pre-FCBD issue, leading into a master plan revealed in a to-be-announced new series debuting this summer.

Fans of Superman and ACTION COMICS will also have plenty to look forward to in this issue, particularly those following the “Leviathan Rising” story arc beginning with issue #1007. Bendis and Maleev will kick off a new status quo in DC’s dark world of espionage and terrorism; the repercussions of this new order will have major ramifications for the Man of Steel this Summer.

And in case you thought the Dark Knight would be getting off easy, guess again: DC’S YEAR OF THE VILLAIN will also contain clues to Batman’s upcoming battle with the villains of Gotham in “City of Bane,” also slated to begin this summer.

On Free Comic Book Day, Saturday, May 4, DC will showcase its upcoming young reader imprints—DC Ink (young adult) and DC Zoom (middle grade). At no cost, fans can get their hands on exclusive early looks at UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE (DC Ink) and DEAR JUSTICE LEAGUE (DC Zoom).

Fans can check out dccomics.com for more information about Free Comic Book Day activities and offerings.

[Ωmega Man Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Ωmega Man]

What, no cover for Bane?!

On the other hand.... BOUT DAMN TIME WE GOT US A CHEAP COMIC!

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

Son of a bitch! I really need that Absolute Swamp Thing!!

Resolicited for October:

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

Dceased #1 Variant by Yasmine Putri

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

Resolicited for October:

Phew! Thanks, I hadn't seen the resolicit yet. I need this absolute in my life. Love those books. I just ordered the final Sandman Absolute volume for Overture, which finishes my Gaiman Sandman absolute series off again (at 7 volumes no less!), unless he returns to the series.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Dceased #1 Variant by Yasmine Putri

...Goddamn it, DC, stop cashing in on my need to buy quality art.

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

Well she's not doing the interiors so you could skip.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

In that case, I'll just save the image to my hard drive.

[Michael Heide Heide Finition Find all posts View Profile Close Michael Heide]

What, no cover for Bane?!

On the other hand.... BOUT DAMN TIME WE GOT US A CHEAP COMIC!

They did exactly the same thing last year with DC Nation #0.

[W.West Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close W.West]

I actually don't like the DCeased cover. Like at all. Homage is cool but this feels like a poor ripoff. Much like the story concept.

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

Dan DiDio Tells Retailers That DC is Cutting Back Their Comics

Dan DiDio, publisher of DC Comics, has taken to the stump at ComicsPRO, the comics retailer advocacy group meeting being held in Charlotte, North Carolina for the next few days.

Not everyone made it in, due to cancelled flights, bad weather and the like. But they all turned out to hear what DiDio had to say.

We may get a fuller report later. But the headline is that DC Comics is cutting the number of titles they sell through the direct market of comic stores. Bleeding Cool had heard rumours, dubbed ‘The New 22’, and DiDio directly denied that number in his speech in Charlotte today.

However, he did tell retailers that DC Comics would be cutting their publishing numbers back, by a further ten to fifteen percent, as that’s what he believes the market can bear.

He also believes that Diamond Comic Distributors are distributing too many comic books to comic stores right now, diluting sales for individual issues across the board. He didn’t mention Marvel Comics, but I’m told that seemed implicit.

Bleeding Cool has previously noted how different creators have fiefdoms within DC Comics and it seems that DiDio feels the same, wanting a greater connective tissue between comic books at DC Comics and wanting creators to work well together. Possibly more than they are right now.

DiDio took full responsibility for the Batman Damned #3 cancellation-and-resolicitation issue, saying he hadn’t approved of the content/artwork as it would be published, necessitating a further delay. What changes may have been made were not detailed.

DiDio acknowledged unrest regarding the comics industry right now, but asked comic book retailers not to share their complaints about DC Comics – or others – with their customers. Rather, to hold themselves to a higher standard than the fans.

But he stated that DC Comics have better comic books than their rivals because they pay their “power talent” higher page rates than Marvel. I know there has been some disquiet about that as well of late, looks like DiDio is doubling down. So… who are their power talent?

More as we hear it.

UPDATE: There appears to be some spinning back. I am told that Dan DiDio showed disquiet at how soon this story was reported. Retailer Ryan Higgs tweeted,

With Newsarama’s Chris Arrant backing that up.

However, Heidi MacDonald who boasts of having’ operatives on the ground at ComicsPRO’ and who writes a very informative piece about Nancy Spears being moved to VP DC Sales, reports,

Like other sites, I’d heard the rumors that DC publisher Dan DiDio was considering cutting the DC line to between 20-30 titles, a number that would send retailers reeling. Today at ComicsPRO, Didio confirmed that DC would be cutting its line, though not to those levels, to focus on higher sales per title.

I think a lot of retailers thought the market has too many books, but they may be saying “Not like this, not like this.”

Which is pretty much in line with Bleeding Cool’s original report earlier today. We will keep our ears open, there is more we need to line up…

ComicsPRO: Nancy Spears is heading up DC’s sales and more

Unless you don’t believe in paying attention to what’s going on round the comics world, you’ll have noted that DC Comics has been undergoing a lot of changes of late. And this weekends ComicsPRO meeting is where we’ll learn about more of them.

From what I’m hearing over he last few months, it’s total Game of Thrones.

Mark Chiarello and Bill Morrison – two of the most creative people at the company – have been let go, as has John Cunningham, formerly the head of sales, and Eddie Scannell, a lesser know exec who worked in Consumer Sales.

It wasn’t all bad- Marie Javins, who was Group Editor/Executive Editor of New Publishing Initiatives, has been promoted. As has Jim Chadwick, who was a Group Editor. Their new portfolios haven’t been made public, but they are two of the most talented people at the company, so that’s all good news.

But a lot of other changes have been made, few public. Industry veteran Jim “Ski” Sokolowski, formerly VP, Comic Book Specialty & Newsstand Sales at DC Entertainment, has been demoted, I’m told.

Cunningham and Ski were DC’s direct conduits to the direct sales market and retailers. Previously Bob Wayne was the much much loved figure who led the way in this market for DC a near messianic figure never quite replaced.

Why is all this happening? Well, you may also have heard that AT&T purchased Warner Bros, and although many thought it would be months before they turned the eye of Sauron to DC Entertainment, it came at them fast. The entire consumer products division has been revamped under new boss Pam Lifford. While DC is under the gun to get costs under control, it’s also part of wider cutbacks in Lifford’s entire area, as WBCP also had layoffs.

Like other sites, I’d heard the rumors that DC publisher Dan DiDio was considering cutting the DC line to between 20-30 titles, a number that would send retailers reeling. Today at ComicsPRO, Didio confirmed that DC would be cutting its line, though not to those levels, to focus on higher sales per title.

I think a lot of retailers thought the market has too many books, but they may be saying “Not like this, not like this.”

Also, two new DC initiatives, DCeased and DC Villains may be a little bit of projection. Who knows.

I’ll have more details on all of this, but in the meantime, one more note on who appears to be taking over DC’s sales department: Nancy Spears, who has moved from Vice President – Mass, Book & Digital Sales & Trade Marketing to merely VP, Sales this month.

I’m hearing nothing but good things about Spears, whose resume is stellar with 7 years at DC, and previous stints at various Warner Brothers departments and even as COO of a WNBA team. Her twitter handle is a reference to Wonder Woman, so she’s not just the VP, she’s a customer.

Spears first appeared on my radar in the PR about the Walmart expansion. This program has been a success, and perhaps those retailer doomsayers were a little bit more on the nose than I thought. With Spear’s previous experience in mass market sales, and rumored huge changes to DC’s sales and marketing departments, well, maybe that is the way the wind is blowing?

Mass market sales for comics are such a huge topic, with many many bizarre failures over the years. The moves to this market have mostly been under reported. But perhaps it is the result of comics-themed IP taking over all entertainment. Mass market for mass media.

While we have operatives on the ground at ComcsPRO, we’re always looking for more – hit us up if you want to add anything to this massive, developing story.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

Interesting stuff. It sounds possible that DC's sales at Walmart have been sufficiently strong that the company is seeing the comics shops as, at least to some extent, expendable.

I thought at the time that the expansion into Walmart was a terrific idea, and apparently it was. The fact that they're sounding out Target as another place to sell comics seems to confirm this.

DC took pains to announce recently that sales in the comics shops will remain at the core of their business. But who knows, maybe they'll change their mind about that.

Let's think about the unthinkable for a moment here -- that DC finds a way to ditch the shops. That might very well shut the shops down, which would deliver a huge competitive blow to Marvel. Marvel is already far behind in finding new outlets, as DC seems to have locked up the nation's two biggest retailers, Walmart and Target.

Let's face it, for the comics companies to sell their products at comics shops makes no sense in today's world. That distribution system is archaic.

[Trey Strain Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Trey Strain]

At four dollars a pop, the floppies won't sell at Walmart and Target. Only aging nerds who go to comics shops will dish out that kind of money for funny books. But if DC would print the floppies on newsprint, and lower the prices as much as that would allow, then selling floppies at Walmart and Target might be feasible.

A six-panel grid, which would get more story into each comic, would also make the floppies more attractive to new readers. Those are the people DC needs to market to, not the old cranks who are buying their comics now.

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

I don't think the cutback is due to the success of Walmart but rather an extension of the cost cutting DC has already done this year, like the laying off of higher salaried senior staff.