Definitely doesn’t help that people aren’t interested in newer characters(of course lots of people don’t think they’re well written). In addition, maintaining old readers only gets them so far and attempts to get new readers drives away the old ones in an attempt to interest them. Then the newer readers don’t necessarily stick and they’re just left in a worse place back at square one,

A vicious cycle that repeats, repeats, repeats.

 

Well, unfortunately that's the glaring issue of Didio's statement which everyone has been bringing up - good content brings in new readers. Manga is full of new characters and concepts and they're getting new readers. Now look at the New 52, sure he had guys like Scott Snyder, but the creative teams on a ton of titles weren't exactly cream of the crop to put it nicely. As for the artist driven line - well it doesn't help when your key selling point jumps ship from the titles 3-4 issues into the run.

 

You know, I tried to find some more uplifting news regarding DC Comics.

Instead, I found these:

Report: DC Comics Might Not Have a Future as Part of WarnerMedia Under AT&T - Bounding Into Comics
Where Does DC Comics Fit In AT&T’s Vision For WarnerMedia?

Turns out the CEO didn't mention DC Comics anywhere in the filing, and AT&T are $164 billion in debt, after acquiring WarnerMedia for $85.4 billion.

I hope things will be better in 2020, and DC Comics can improve upon their current situation.

Is the situation similar for Marvel Comics, because they don't seem to have openly expressed similar concerns as well? I only ask because it seems DC Comics are admitting they're going to need to make some changes, while Marvel Comics appears to be fine at the moment.

 

I wasn't laying that all on him. It's a problem that's been going on since before we were born. But there have never been legitimate steps taken to try to correct it. Including by Didio, which is why I think it's hypocritical for him to criticize a problem he's helping perpetuate. And it's not like Damage or Prez are anything new, either.

 

It also doesn't help that all the new ideas that are presented seem to be things that Didio doesn't like. Dick taking over the mantle of Batman. Jon Kent. All the other various things that were interesting, but were thrown out the window because Didio doesn't like sidekicks.

 

Has he ever outright said that, or is that just something that people have put together over the years?

 

Well, he's always had a grudge against Nightwing:

NYCC ’18: DC Nation Panel— Dan DiDio Reveals Why He Hates Nightwing

For those who haven’t kept up with the latest developments in the Bat Family, Nightwing/Dick Grayson took a bullet to the brain by KGBeast that resulted in serious brain trauma affecting his memory. This latest blow in the life of Batman’s ward prompted an audience member to ask DiDio directly why he hates Dick Grayson. DiDio has been pretty open about putting Nightwing through the ringer for years, revealing plans to kill of Dick Grayson in initial Infinite Crisis pitches. In a nutshell, DiDio’s negative view towards Dick Grayson is over the fact that while Grayson has aged and grown along with readers, Bruce Wayne/Batman has essentially stayed the same age. The fear for DiDio is that they’ll eventually have to tell the story where where Dick Grayson is older than Bruce Wayne, resulting in another member suggesting to simply retire Batman. “Let Batman be Happy!” was another sentiment shouted from the audience to applause.

 

Ernie Colón Dies at Age 88

 

Rest in peace. The creator of Amethyst at DC (who is now appearing in Young Justice), but I also grew up reading him on the short-lived Ultraman comic from Harvey Comics as well as Eclipse's Airboy comic, not to mention the occasional Savage Sword of Conan story at Marvel.

 

       

So basically he hates Dick Grayson because he refuses to let Bruce age? That's hilarious. He has no one but himself to blame for that. We had some of the best Batman material in over a decade happen when Dick became Batman, but no, that was too much, Didiot had to have Bruce return because heaven forbid someone else hold the mantle of Batman.

I agree with the end, it's time to retire Batman.

 

Greg Capullo Signs New DC Contract, Joins Scott Snyder on Secret Project

 

Secret Batman project, probably  

 

A lot of the new comics failed because they were crap. If that wasn’t enough, DC did what every other comic book Industry did: hire a bunch of writers that are flat out unlikeable and constantly blaming people that don’t like their work. Didio isn’t the victim, he’s part of the problem.

To add more salt to your fries, after he rants about people picking up older comics, dc announces that they plan to put out more “nostalgia.”

I heard that marvel comics was responsible for a lot of comic stores closing. And they have been canceling some of their comics. So yes, I imagine that marvel is similar to dc. Especially since there have been calls that claim the comic industry is becoming a dying landscape. To be honest, marvel’s big money maker is obviously the MCU.

 

None of them are new anyway. They're all reusing the same characters and same ideas we've already been reading our entire lives. None of them are new, personal stories that only a particular writer could write. We've been conditioned to think that a new writer's take on Batman or whatever is something new. It's not. It's still Batman. If the writer does stories we've already read, we've already seen it. If the writer does something completely different that we've never seen before, we all say Batman wouldn't do that. Lose/lose. But that's all we are ever going to get, because the idea DC or Marvel would suddenly switch to creator-owned at this late date is unfathomable.

 

Will One piece beat batman this year?

'One Piece' Takes Step Closer To Beating 'Batman' Sales Record

 

It should be a wake up call that a Japanese comic that's been around for 20 years (all by the same author and only a single title) will soon pass the number of copies sold that Batman took 80 years to reach with multiple series running at the same time.

Particularly of note is that for the Japanese comic here, they are only counting the collected volumes, only 4 of which come out in an entire year, whereas for Batman, they are counting the monthly floppy sales. They are not counting the issues of Shonen Jump, the magazine in which One Piece originally runs, which sells in the MILLIONS A WEEK. Even if you only counted 1/20 of Jump's sales (Jump contains about 20 stories each week), that number would already put it millions ahead of Batman. In 1/4 the time.

Also noteworthy is that Japan's population is about one third of the U.S.'s.

Will One Piece beat Batman? By any possible barometric, One Piece is already beating the living shit out of Batman. I will never understand why the "Big 2" refuse to look at what a healthy comics industry in another country is doing differently, and far more successfully, and instead insist on constantly clinging to the edge of oblivion, barely clinging to life.

 

So speaking of Didio, reading an article on DC’s upcoming Wally West focused mini and it seems a key character in the book was one co created by him previously and was editorially pushed in for Lobdell to use when he came on as writer. Ugh.

 

Or continuously hire writers that obviously has it against the fans and the industry as a whole.

 

No one working for the Big 2 has it against the industry as a whole. It doesn't work that way.

 

Really? Because I’ve been noticing a bunch of writers that had series getting cancelled being butthurt that no one bought their shit. Didio is a prime example by accusing people being stuck in nostalgia, when no one was interested in bad comics and dc making more nostalgia stuff anyways, lol.