APE IN A CAPE: That List of Five Characters People Want To See Back In The DCU

APE IN A CAPE: That List of Five Characters People Want To See Back In The DCU:

differenzeartistiche:

gailsimone:

Thanks for the reply Gail, it's highly appreciated.

You make some fair points and, to be honest, they're not points I hadn't thought about. I know how these things work. I worked in the film industry for a bit before realizing that it was too mean-spirited for me. I know about demands, marketing concerns, and how a big company is a huge, complex animal that is a whole lot more than the sum of its parts, and all those parts move uniformly in very rare occasions.

The reboot makes sense on many levels, commercially speaking. My mind knows that and even if the individual writers are not all in it for the big bucks, you're dealing with a machine that is, as I said, much bigger than you.

But - and I know that you were a comic book fan before becoming a comic book writer so you'll understand this - there's a certain level of irrationality involved in being a part of such a huge and complex shared universe, even just as a fan. And when I say that I'm angry at DC, it IS the irrational part of me that is speaking. The part of me that cried when Ted Kord and Sue Dibny were murdered and that just won't accept that the universe I grew up with is changing because of marketing, demands, retailers and all that.

And no, I won't believe that the good writers at DC could not write any more good stories in the old continuity or even reivent certain aspects of the DCU to make it more appealing WITHOUT messing it up completely the way it's happening now. Even when something is not perfect, and the old DCU was definitely not, there are ways to make it better without erasing everything, the good and the bad.

On one thing I wholeheartedly agree with you. The "smaller" books will be a blast for long-time fans. Animal Man and Swamp Thing, as well as Stormwatch, were all exquisite. I have high hopes for JL Dark, the anthology series and a few others. Knowing that those books will be out every month gives me hope. But then I think that, along Buddy Baker being his awesome self, every single month will also bring an unmarried Clark Kent and the lack of my favorite superhero Oracle, among dozens of other things, and yes, I do get angry. Even if it's only the irrational part of me thinking that DC prefers two new readers off the street to me, but I do get angry.

Oh, sure.  First, let me say that in my other post to you, I said, "we don't blame the readers" when a book fails…I meant WE at DC and Marvel. I've never heard anyone blaming the readers even when a good book fails. It may happen, but generally everyone's just too depressed to blame anyone in particular. I just realized upon rereading that my phrasing was awkward.

Okay, I honestly don't think it's 'irrational' to be upset about changes in things that bring you joy. I know what you are saying and it's very gracious, but we love what we love, and it's a drag to see that stuff screwed with, especially if you suspect that the people doing it don't care about it in the same way you do. I've felt this same thing many times.  When you actually work at DC or Marvel, when you build something with great care, and someone else casually knocks it over, believe me, 'irrational' is the kindest word you can give to how it makes you feel. ;)

I don't think the question is whether or not good writers couldn't continue to write good stories pre-relaunch. I mean, Jeff Lemire, Scott Snyder, Bryan Q. Miller, those guys were killing it pre-relaunch, just off the top of my head.  And I hate leaving books, I would happily write Oracle and Black Canary forever, and the Secret Six, and Ryan Choi, etc. etc.

But something did have to be done. And it needed to be something that got national attention, and it needed to be something that for once, raised ALL the boats, not just a few titles that were already selling okay anyway.

And that is happening, even the lowest selling 52 book is doing numbers that would have made it a big hit pre-relaunch, and the rest of the books are doing far better than that, and we haven't really quite hit the ceiling yet.

The upside for me is, I feel like we're at that point right after Crisis On Infinite Earths, where everything's not set in stone and you can build castles anywhere you like. That's a positive.

If, at the end of this, the comics retailers benefit and are better able to stay in business, and the digital model becomes a viable revenue stream, and some of the books that would have had no chance pre-relaunch end up thriving, those are all hugely positive things for the future of the medium.  Hugely positive.

The downside is what you mentioned, that some stuff we love is changed or erased, at least temporarily.

I understand that you're angry, I get a little peeved at some of the people trying to talk people out of being angry. Being angry is fine, and being angry has  already caused some positive directional shifts. I might mean 'passionate,' more than angry, come to think of it, but I do know they've made some changes based on things readers have come down solidly about, the perfect example being the girl dressed as Batgirl at San Diego.

The comics industry isn't really 'mean-spirited,' in the way you are saying the film industry is. That's not a big part of the culture, really, except for scattered jerks. When a great book is canceled, even when it's at a different company, we're all bummed. It's not something ANYONE takes any pleasure in.  But eventually, if reader support isn't there in large enough numbers, well, then you get something like Secret Six or She-Hulk or Ant-man, books people care about deeply but don't have a big enough audience to continue.

I'm pretty excited about the quality of the books I've read. I haven't read all of them, but there were enough that were dead-on solid that I think it very likely that they will keep an audience far larger than would have been likely pre-relaunch. Quite a few sleepers, too. There are a couple that didn't speak to me at all, but books like All-Star Western, I,Vampire (seriously, WAY better than I expected), JLDark, Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Batman, Frankenstein, Stormwatch, Men of War, bunch of others…I think they really did bring a new level of excitement. I'm sure it sounds like hype, but I really, really enjoyed all those books a great deal.