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There are some things missing from DC's relaunch in my opinion. No Justice Society of America. No mention in any of those books of Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, Ted Grant, any of the "oldies but goodies" that I love so much. I really hope that even if it is just as hard-assed "get off my lawn" retired types, some of these characters are still alive. But it seems unlikely. As the blurb for Action Comics says, "Superman defends a world that doesn’t trust their first Super Hero." If Supes is the first, then no JSA could have existed. That may also get rid of many of the legacy heroes around the DCU. No more Power Girl? A shame after her recent series. But without the background of Superman of Earth-2, isn't she just a slightly older take on Supergirl? Also, on the magic side: No mention of the Spectre or of Doctor Fate in the darker side of the DCU. More characters with JSA ties... gone. At least Mr. Terrific is around, though he no longer will have taken inspiration from Terry Sloane - the first Mister Terrific, I assume.
No mention whatsoever of the Marvel Family. They have been a fundamental part of DC so long that I have a hard time believing they won't be around in some capacity. But maybe they won't. Maybe with Superman and Apollo around, and the magic side of the DCU taking a turn to the dark they felt there was no place for the Big Red Cheese. This is even more of a shame because of the stature that Black Adam had attained in the DCU. It seemed writers were having a hard time differentiating Captain Marvel from Superman, and attempts to tie him more firmly into the magical world were not as successful commercially as they might have hoped. But people loved Black Adam. As mentioned previously, I have seen nothing on Wally West (Flash/Kid Flash), Donna Troy (Wonder Girl/Troia), Raven, Garfield Logan (Changeling/Beast Boy) or Garth of Atlantis (Aqualad/Tempest). I'm hoping that the relative prominence of Nightwing, Arsenal and Raven means they are still around, and look forward to finding out.
Nonetheless, though these characters will be missed by some, if they are indeed missing, I think this is a great opportunity for DC, and I am looking forward to my small role in it as a reader, and reviewing the books for this site.
It has come out this week that this will not affect Vertigo. This isn't a surprise, as some of those characters are creator-owned, but in announcing that Flashpoing tie-ins Booster Gold #45 and Batman - Knight of Vengeance #1 have sold out, DC mentioned that "Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso team up again for SPACEMAN, coming to Vertigo this fall."
That brings me to the new day-and-date release of the digital books. I'll be honest. I am not entirely sure what to make of this. There will doubtlessly be a benefit for people who don't have a decent local comic shop. I don't know this will have a huge impact on shop sales. I think a lot people like to own and actually flip through the books. Back in Toronto, it was a ritual - I'd go to the shop, pick up my comics, and chat with like-minded souls. I'd flip through some books I wasn't already buying, and see if I might want to. Look at the latest action figures. I'd get recommendations on new titles from the owners or their employees, or from other customers. That has always been one of the best ways to hear about new titles and if they were any good. It was an experience I really enjoyed. And I got a discount for being a good customer. I even used to get a bottle of wine from the guys who owned the shop at Christmas time. I wouldn't trade that in for the convenience of digital. That said, the trip to the shop here is longer than it was there. It feels less personal, and with fifteen long boxes in the house these days, I now have storage space issues.
I can definitely see buying some books, and getting ones that I just want to read a couple of times digitally.
But there are other people out there. People who don't know where their local comic shop is. Who wouldn't go there if they did. But who will watch X-men: First Class, or the Green Lantern movie. Who might read news stories about things happening in the DC Universe, or in Marvel. And would be tempted to check out what all of this is about. But the story the news says is coming out "today" isn't available. And won't be for months. Do we expect a non-fan to remember for months that they want to check out a comic? And forget about waiting for the trade paperback. Marvel gets those out reasonably quickly. DC on the other hand... well... let's just say that by the time the paperback comes out, it's no longer relevant if you are at all up to date on what is happening in the DC Universe. I'd love to see DC take care of that as well.
So, overall, my opinion is this: DC's announcement of day-and-date release is not the death knell of the local comic shop. The element of community that many collectors like just isn't quite the same online as it is in person. That will continue to be true for some time. Digital is a distribution channel that might help bring or keep more people in the hobby, and that is always a good thing. The things that make the local comic shop so appealing to a number of people in the hobby will not go away. And for those for whom digital comics are a more appealing/practical choice, they will be there.
1 comment:
I agree with your bottom line take on it: as mentioned to you and others, I'm one of those "prefer to have it/hold it/feel it while reading it" types with comics (and books in general, really), but the popularity of digital format of books - which is really still just in its infancy - is exploding, so I think it's a great idea and time for DC to be doing this in conjunction with its traditional publishing medium. Having said that, while I'd read a digital version of a comic to see what happens next and keep up with the storyline if/when I couldn't get to a store to buy it, the virtual versions would never trump reading the physical versions (my own storage issues be damned). A sobering thought, however: we may well be the last generation that has had enough exposure to both physical and virtual options to fairly choose a preference between the two.
Keep your long boxes safe and secure, folks, because not only may they contain comics that are valuable anyway, but they contain a format of comics which may, in 20 or 30 years down the road, no longer exist. I do, however, sincerely hope not. If my daughter takes after her folks at all, she'll dig on at least some comic titles, and it would be a shame if she never had the pleasure of stretching out on the couch with a few choice selections from the comic shop shelves and reading them as I feel they were meant to be enjoyed: on the page, not on the screen.
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