DC Cancels "Superman Family Adventures"!

[The Toyroom]

What th' hell?! One of their best titles in this "New 52" era and a must-read every month...DIDIOTS!

Superman Family Adventures, the all-ages DC Comics title written and drawn by the Eisner-winning Tiny Titans team of Art Baltazar and Franco, will end with April’s #12, according to solicitation information released today by the publisher.

Like the long-running CW television series Smallville, Superman Family Adventures will apparently end with a team-up of Superman and his various allies against Darkseid.
The title, which began in 2012, was the first all-ages title from DC to utilize the New 52 costume designs, most notably the collar and red belt on Superman. Still, the stories are self-contained and out-of-continuity tales so the series has been a refuge of sorts for Superman fans disaffected by the changes to the character and his world brought on by the New 52.

Superman Family Adventures is designed as a new-reader and all-ages friendly mix of comedy and action, with a villain generally popping up with some crazy scheme that Superman must thwart while the other members of the Daily Planet staff wonder where Clark Kent has gone and cater to a Perry White on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

While it seems likely the cancellation of Superman Family Adventures is just setting the stage for a new, all-ages book featuring Superman and his cast that ties more readily into the forthcoming Man of Steel movie, it’s notable that there is at least one other all-ages title that doesn’t appear to be coming out in April.

An e-mail to DC Comics publicity about the lack of a solicitation for a new issue of Green Lantern: The Animated Series was not returned as of this writing. If that title has been cancelled as well (last month’s issue was not solicited as a final issue, but that’s been known to happen before), it might signal a broader relaunch for DC’s all-ages line, something that neither they nor Marvel have been particularly averse to over the last several years.

[boss]

WHA??? That's one of the only comics I've had pulled in the last decade.

[palitoy]

Screw you DC, the kids were really getting into that one.

[Operation:Mego]

That's too bad, I was greatly enjoying the series.

[megoscott]

NOT COOL. This will cause consternation and heartache at my house.

[madmarva]

Sucks. It was the last ongoing Superman title i actually enjoyed. No GL Animated comic could mean the cartoon will be done after this season, too.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I'm still aching over Tiny Titans' cancellation, and now this...

Chris

[EMCE Hammer]

My oldest has read damn near every Baltazar offering, either through our own collection or the local library. Aaaannnd he's GL-crazy. There will be a lot less joy in Mooreville because of this. As if chasing us off isn't enough, they'll stick it to our kids too. This must be the renaissance for the Red Bull and Cheetos demographic. Sometimes nerd rage doesn't seem so obnoxious.

[rche]

Ouch. No bueno.

[MIB41]

I think this interview with Grant Morrison in Rolling Stone back in 2011 really sums it up. Here's an excerpt -

Comics writer Grant Morrison (who recently appeared on KPCC's "AirTalk") did an interview with Rolling Stone that the magazine decided to headline "Grant Morrison on the Death of Comics." As Morrison said, "comics sales are so low, people are willing to try anything these days. It's just plummeting. It's really bad from month to month. May was the first time in a long time that no comic sold over 100,000 copies, so there's a decline." When asked if he thought comics were in a death spiral, Morrison gave a frank yes.

Comics have become a niche, luxury good. Comic prices have outpaced the rate of inflation, with the average comic cover price tripling to quadrupling over the past 20 years. DC tried keeping prices down, reducing most prices to $2.99 while competitors Marvel sold comics for $3.99, but they didn't reap much of a reward in their sales numbers.

So what's DC, one of the top two comic publishers, doing about these problems? They're reimagining their characters and trying to broaden the appeal of their characters.

Here's hoping these changes can broaden that enthusiasm out from the comic store faithful who come out for midnight parties to a more mainstream audience, and that comics can become more than a niche art form. The chances don't look great, but the alternative of not doing anything isn't an option.


And here's a recent story about how much comics are being consumed...digitally. In 2012 digital comic sales rose 197% from the same time in 2011. As I have been saying, the days of the printed comic are going away.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheweek.com%2Farticle%2Findex%2F236163%2Fcan-comic-books-save-themselves-by-going-digital&ei=A1r1UMusJ6qX0QHBw4DwDg&usg=AFQjCNHrGcVZ4ThxmD070JGM08gMjeQ7Mw&bvm=bv.41018144,d.dmQ&cad=rja

[Godzilla]

The only reason I have to go to a comic shop now is Super Dinosaur. DC can go to Hades. My kids will be crushed.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I suspect that what's happening here is the old thinking creeping in. They're not seeing the advantage of seeding your next crop of readers.... that is, kids.... so when the sales of their kid stuff isn't spectacular (like the annual non-events) they shy away. It's the catch-22; you NEED to do something genuinely new for a genuinely new audience, but you can't 'cos the fiscal concerns and business template prevent it.

>comics sales are so low, people are willing to try anything these days.

Which, as we've seen from their last decade's worth of material is apparently NOT true. They've been doing the exact same things, with little tweaks ("This time, no external panties!") since the 80's! Wasn't Marvel just hyping THIER big redo, where Jean Grey dies.... again.... but in a TOTALLY DIFFERENT way than the others? Hasn't the big centerpiece for DC's "52" been YET ANOTHER origin for how the Justice League comes about? Sales are low because it's NOT the 80's any more. It hasn't been since the 90's, when the speculators left and the kids turned to the Japanese stuff, which they actually READ and don't collect. That's the problem with the perpetual non-events; they appeal to the speculator looking for the big "event" issue that gains notoriety and therefore goes up in value right away.

....which they DON'T because there aren't enough specualtors around to sustain that system. Because it's not the 80's any more. Well; it IS, but the ratios are different for comics. The independents are the new mainstream and the book store is the new comic shop. Einstein was right; insanity is performing the same actions over and over but expecting different results.

If they actually tried something different they might see some success; or at least set the stage for later success by drawing some new readers. Doubling down on the ol' "GRRRR! SUPERHERO!" thing won't cut it. Different looks like this:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Prince-Tennis-Vol-42/dp/1421528541/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358268532&sr=8-1&keywords=prince+of+tennis+volume+42

42 volumes ABOUT A GUY PLAYING TENNIS! In black and white! Each volume roughly equal to a YEAR of fold-floppy books! COMPLETEY WRONG according to classic comic thinking, and yet; there it is.

And no; I don't offer it as an example of comic content genius, so let's not get distracted by the weird eyes.... I offer it as an example that there are vast, untapped markets out there for comics. Markets that the Big Two-ish have been ignoring for 20 years. Hell; markets they'd been SQUELCHING for 20 years by taking up all the shelf space at the comic shop, and turning said shops into the sole sources for comics. It's like never putting gas in your car and wondering why it eventually stops.

They don't even have to abandon superheroes, or ape the Japanese (which they tried, back in the 00's....*sigh*) But they DO have to bring something new to the mix. A new perspective, new themes, new ideologies for how a story SHOULD work.

>It's just plummeting. It's really bad from month to month.

The sad thing is, we've seen THIS before too! Back in the 70's. And what stopped THAT implosion was Star Wars.... and the widespread acceptance of tie-ins. Not that THIS was particularly wonderful content-wise (the old Transformers comic is all but unreadable) but it brought new ideas in. Wholesale. It opened up new revenue, brought in new readers (we ALL read the Marvel Star Wars comic as kids) and set up what most consider to be a boom time for the Big Two; the mid to late 80's. The problem is, the saving grace this time was ignored by the Big Two and went to the independent markets.... who had been squeezed out of the shops and tried something "new:" B&W newsprint anthologies sold on newsstands.

Digital could help; and they're poised with enough resources to sweep the market, but there's still too much of the old hampering things. From the article:

>Soon, readers will be able to download a $3.99 digital version of every new issue from major e-book stores

You make no friends charging cover price for a download. Hell; you make no friends charging that much for 20 - 24 pages of an ACTUAL comic. Kids are used to 200 pages of comic for $5 or less. That won't change, either. When THOSE kids have kids they're gonna pass their perspectives on. Digital should be cheap. DIRT cheap. It makes impulse buys more likely, which makes it more likely that someone who'd normally never give your stuff a look will actually try it, which gives you a larger and more broad audience, which helps sales and lets you try some different things, which broadens your potential audience....

>announced a plan to turn movie fans into comic book fans by making their most popular characters even more accessible

THIS is one of the STUPIDEST things I've seen all day. It's not going to happen. Movies and comics are different; movies are easier, you just sit there and they happen. Comics require reading, which isn't a LOT of effort but more than "sit and stare." If folks were into that, they'd ALREADY be reading your damned books! It's not like finding a Marvel or DC book requires some sort of epic quest to the farthest reaches of Ultima Thule.... it requires an internet connection and a credit card. I don't even have to leave my damned house to get their stuff! People aren't reading 'cos they don't WANT to! GIVE them a reason to read your books.... give them something movies can't; otherwise they're not going to come.

>Comics are also a niche market–along with video games, they’re one of the only forms of mainstream entertainment where big chunks of the audience just one day stop engaging.

Okay, THIS might be the stupidest thing I've seen all day. Video games a niche market? REALLY?!?! It demonstrates that old, invalid attitude that won't go away for these people. "But.... that's what it was like when I was a kid.... it's the same still, right?"

Don C.

[enyawd72]

I think the bottom line is, and has been for some time, that comics just aren't FUN anymore like they used to be.
Why are all of us here on these boards? Because we love and enjoy the SIMPLICITY of the Mego figure. It reconnects us with the happiest time of our lives...our childhood. It makes us feel young at heart. THAT'S what comics need to start doing again. Stop with the constant events, the killing off of characters, the "realistic" costume designs. I would buy every book Marvel and DC put out every month if they went back to the pre-90's format. Self contained stories of right vs. wrong. Fantastic tales of FANTASY with brightly colored characters on newsprint for a dollar or less.
I think a lot of us would. Instead, Marvel has me buying only Masterworks, and DC has me buying NOTHING.
I love comics more than pretty much anything, and when I cannot walk into a local shop and find a single thing that interests me enough to buy it, there's a problem. I don't care if the books are printed or digital, I don't buy new comics because they're CRAP, plain and simple.
Both companies need to get back to the basics. Johnny video game doesn't have a wad of money to spend on this stuff. I DO. Give us forty-somethings great stuff like what we grew up with, and we'll buy it, AND I'm willing to bet today's young kids would fall in love with comics the same way we did.
Bring back the SIMPLICITY of comics, and bring back the FUN.

[Figuremod73]

Both companies need to get back to the basics. Johnny video game doesn't have a wad of money to spend on this stuff. I DO. Give us forty-somethings great stuff like what we grew up with, and we'll buy it, AND I'm willing to bet today's young kids would fall in love with comics the same way we did.
Bring back the SIMPLICITY of comics, and bring back the FUN.

I think they just dont know where to go with it. All the people who knew what they were doing are long gone. I imagine most comic professionals have the attitude of "why bother"? Being a comics professional has in most cases never been a lucative business anyways. (Not everyone is fast and has Byrnes page rate.)
I still think titles like Superman Family Adventures would do better in grocery stores (if its sold in any of them, ive definately overlooked it). Children cant gain interest in DC content if it isnt accessable and available to them.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I never have understood how Archie can still have a space at grocery stores, but Superman and Spider-Man do not. Non-comic reading children have no idea who Archie is. EVERYONE knows Superman and Spider-Man. An all ages DC and/or Marvel digest is a no-brainer.

Chris