Lois Lane's NEW Boyfriend

[jimsmegos]

Self censoring here but **** DC. To do this to Lois and Clark is simply disgusting. The relationship is just as iconic as Superman himself. So much so that I among many others obviously are actually ****ed off about the social lives of fictional characters. And seriously how do they expect this to draw in new readers? Certainly not kids. Do you want your child reading a book where the characters are talking about 'going back to bed'? I'm not a prude or anything but how exactly is this reaching a younger fan base that would really care to pick up comics?

Again I self censor and reiterate my original statement; **** DC.

[MegoSteve]

That whole "We were just... celebrating" panel is revolting.

[Werewolf]

And seriously how do they expect this to draw in new readers? Certainly not kids.

DC has spoken on record that this reboot is specifically aimed at the 18 to 34 male demographic. Not kids, women or long time readers. This, obviously, is actually narrowing the amount of people reading their comics and makes very little sense to anyone but them. I don't think they have really thought this through, for the long term, all that well and are just hoping to coast on hype.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Absolutely. Well said.

Chris

[The Toyroom]

I don't think they have really thought this through, for the long term, all that well and are just hoping to coast on hype.

Coasting on hype until they reach obilivion...it doesn't matter how fast you get to hell in a handbasket, you're still getting there none the same...

[jimsmegos]

DC has spoken on record that this reboot is specifically aimed at the 18 to 34 male demographic. Not kids, women or long time readers. This, obviously, is actually narrowing the amount of people reading their comics and makes very little sense to anyone but them. I don't think they have really thought this through, for the long term, all that well and are just hoping to coast on hype.

With that being the case wouldn't it make more sense to go down the Nostalgia Highway more so than the modern Dis-functional Relationship Boulevard?

[ctc]

>wouldn't it make more sense to go down the Nostalgia Highway

Nope. The old fans are a market of diminishing returns: they're either getting bored and moving on or getting old and dying. The rest are gonna buy the book regardless, so you don't have to worry about them. What's interesting is that 18-34 year old males is HISTORICLY the superhero market. (So targeting them is, in a way nostalgia....)

>This, obviously, is actually narrowing the amount of people reading their comics

Oh, HELLS yeah! They're playing it WAY safe.... according to 30+ year old wisdom. It's weird considering the last 10 years of import comics have shown that there are significant numbers of younger AND female readers out there. As Mangamania winds down they're gonna be looking for new comics to read. A ready made audience. I gotta wonder if DC (and Marvel) really know how to deal with that. It's a new market, and they seem to like falling back on the old standards a lot.

>Heaven forbid the characters grow past that and stay in a committed relationship

Yeah, but the problem is that there's only a limited number of permutations on a theme and eventually you start lapping yourself. By reverting back to this part of the formula they can recycle some old standards and keep the machine rolling a few more years. "....er.... what's cool? Love triagles! Sure, let's do that!"

....it's only a matter of time 'til the ninjas are back....

Don C.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

I guess it is all just so frustrating because there seems to be no plan. At least in the 80's you could reference "Supes is getting too powerful and we are writing ourselves into a box" - result is the John Byrne version. To many Earths and universes - result is Crisis.

Now it is, were bored, we need a spike for the stockholders, we need hype - lets do this. How do we so it? We'll just figure it our as we go along.

[The Toyroom]

^ Yeah they say it's to boost sales cuz sales are down but WHY are sales down? Could it have anything to do with the fact that DC editorial has been a seat-of-the-pants/knee-jerk reaction operation for close to 10 years now? So what do they do to fix it? The ultimate in seat-of-the-pants/knee-jerk reactions...

[johnnystorm]

Oh, HELLS yeah! They're playing it WAY safe.... according to 30+ year old wisdom. It's weird considering the last 10 years of import comics have shown that there are significant numbers of younger AND female readers out there. As Mangamania winds down they're gonna be looking for new comics to read. A ready made audience. I gotta wonder if DC (and Marvel) really know how to deal with that. It's a new market, and they seem to like falling back on the old standards a lot.

Agree on this...EVERY time I've been in a chain bookstore looking at graphic novels, I'm stepping over 2 or 3 tween girls reading the manga. Now with Borders officially gone, the market is ripe to swoop in on that demographic. But not with the line DC is providing here. Nothing for them. The books Supergirl, wonder Woman, Batgirl etc. are NOT what this market is looking for. Maybe the I...Vampire book is there, but I'm betting DC will go more horror & less romance on that title which will kill it quickly. Looks like Twilight but will end up Stephen King Lite. And why buy DC's version of True Blood
when IDW has the real thing?

So they will probably go online to buy or (more likely)without the actual tactile book experience they seem to like will faze out of the hobby into another media.
Marvel seems to grasp this somewhat with books like 10 LOVE & the (sadly) defunct Spider-Girl, but neither will commit to persuing it completely.

As the parent of a tween girl, believe me it's tough to get comics to compete with Disney Channel & Monster High. Of all the companies out there, Archie has the best chance of getting this market. My daughter won't touch a Supergirl book, but she likes Betty & Veronica.

[johnnystorm]

^ Yeah they say it's to boost sales cuz sales are down but WHY are sales down? Could it have anything to do with the fact that DC editorial has been a seat-of-the-pants/knee-jerk reaction operation for close to 10 years now? So what do they do to fix it? The ultimate in seat-of-the-pants/knee-jerk reactions...

And there it is...DC has alienated everyone with the constant Events that are non-events, and now they've just tossed everything out anyway. I've cut my book pulls down to almost nothing, and the main reason has been the nagging feeling I'm wasting my money on meaningless filler while Dan Dud-idio Geoff Johns, & Jim Lee jump from rock to rock seeking a way across the sales river. I don't want to be a slave to 50 year old continuity, but if you ask me to invest in a weekly "event' & crossovers, don't write it out of existance the week after it ends. Final Crisis & Countdown being major examples.

[The Toyroom]

BRING BACK THE DAYS OF JENETTE KAHN AND DICK GIORDANO AND JULIE SCHWARTZ!

[ctc]

>EVERY time I've been in a chain bookstore looking at graphic novels, I'm stepping over 2 or 3 tween girls reading the manga.

One of the odd bits of Mangapalooza was that books like Bleach and Naruto had significant numbers of female fans. Weird, considering they’re the Japanese equivalent of the Superheroes. So the precedent IS there.... it’s just up to DC (and Marvel) to capitalize on it.

I think a big part of the problem is that superheroes have had the (not undeserved) reputation as “adolescent male power fantasy” for a LONG time here. Overcoming that won’t be easy, and will require time. There’s no easy way to do it. (“But.... Wonder Woman has PANTS now! See? We’re sensitive to the female reader....”)

Another issue comes from characterization: something typically shoved to the back burner in a superhero book. Spidey’s a wise-*** (depending on who’s writing him at the time,) Bats is grim and pensive (usually,) “HULK SMASH!!!” ....but anything deeper is relegated to subplots and special issues. The Japanese stuff tends to make the characters personality and motivation more central to the story, which I can see drawing more female readers.

The most predominant example of this for our stuff comes from the girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse/significant other that usually exists only to harangue the hero with ill timed obligations, comedy relief, and target to be taken hostage/brainwashed/stuffed into a fridge. Interaction becomes the b-story, and is secondary to the baddie of the issue. I think that’s one reason Supes and Spidey have recently become single again: actually DEALING with married life is tough to write and adds GENUINE consequence and obligation. Having the random date of the issue is easy: change the girl and it’s like a whole new story, even if you’re recycling the same “Let’s go for a walk in the park....OH NO! Evilman!” story. Having nerdy Clark chasing hip, hot Lois is even easier: it’s every sitcom ever!

What bothers me about the situation is that we’ve SEEN superhero books do this in the past. The 80's Justice League was BASED on these ideas. Peter David’s run on X-Factor was character driven. (And would have been MORESO if the editors didn’t interfere.) I know a lot of oldster fans think these books were too jokey, but that’s part of what makes for a winning book. Character X scowling, grimacing and espousing “GRRR!!!! I’m ANGRY!!!” ALL the time is how superhero comics got the rep as nerd-fuel in the first place. You NEED more human moments, where the characters do stuff normal folks do, in order to really hook a reader. It doesn’t HAVE to be funny.... but it does have to be there. Those are the times we see who the character is, and the times they become relatable. (Like the episode of the Justice League cartoon where Clark invites John to spend Christmas with his family.) It makes the fight scenes exciting when we actually care about the participants. (And not just on how well they’re drawn, or where this fits into the continuity....)

Don C.

[Werewolf]

When I was little girls read superhero comics. Wonder Woman, Batgirl and Supergirl were very popular with girls and were merchandised towards them. Heck, my Mom was big into comics as a girl (Superman, Lone Ranger, Disney, etc.) and she was the one that got me into comics as a small child.

It wasn't until The Dark Knight Returns the comics industry really started to shift. The industry wanted to be dark, adult, edgy and be taken seriously by the mainstream. It wasn't cool anymore to make comics for kids and the industry certainly didn't want the stigma of girls and female readers. That just wouldn't be macho. Shockingly this mindset of reducing the variety of people that read DC hero comics caused less people to read them and sales went down, way down.

If they want to save themselves, they need to cast their net wider. Not going after the same narrowing market. Making the DC universe 18 to 34 adult male only isn't going to cut it. There's a vast untapped market of kids and female readers out there just waiting for DC. But going after kids and female readers, you know, that just wouldn't be cool, extreme and edgy.

[Werewolf]

Character X scowling, grimacing and espousing “GRRR!!!! I’m ANGRY!!!” ALL the time is how superhero comics got the rep as nerd-fuel in the first place. You NEED more human moments,

Yes! More actual story and less "Hulk Smash!!!"

There’s no easy way to do it. (“But.... Wonder Woman has PANTS now! See? We’re sensitive to the female reader....”)

Exactly, that type of condescension doesn't work. Also just having female characters isn't going to cut it when they have painted on clothes, arched backs and their breasts are just about totally falling out.

They really don't even need "a girl comic" to draw in female readers. My mom's favorite comic was actually Superman. Because the comics told good fun stories about characters she liked and weren't just one splash page after the other of somebody getting graphically brutally beaten.