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DC's New 52 - Buy, Try or Fry?


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Old 02-09-2011, 21:43
Mandark
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DC did the classic low first print run so it would sell out. Second sold out too.
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Old 03-09-2011, 09:32
FunkmasterT
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DC has now confirmed that Barry Allen's marrige to Iris West never happened. This might explain the lack of Wally, for the timebeing. This won't go down well with the fans. He's dating Patty Spivot - that will explain why she popped up in Geoff Johns' recent The Flash run.


http://www.comicvine.com/news/confir...new-52/143544/



EDIT: Sorry, looks like this was actually said at Comic-Con. So it's not new news, but I hadn't heard it before.
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Old 03-09-2011, 11:40
tingramretro
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Yep, comic books have been dying for a while, and I can't really see a solution. There isn't really much they can do to evolve the way games and movies have been able to. Motion comics have proven to be a complete failure, and I'm not sure 3D is going to be much help either.

One of the big problems is that they have lost the kids market, but I'm not sure that can be reclaimed, even by making comics more accessible. They're still going to too expensive, and there's still going to be increased competition from games, movies and the 800 TV channels aimed at children, which weren't a factor 20-odd years ago, when kids were swapping comic books in the street.
The only way comics will ever be "accessible" is if they're back in the high street, and given the prices chains like WH Smith now charge to place magazines on their racks and the fact that no newsagent in their right mind is going to stock stacks of comics that are not offered on a sale or return basis, that just isn't going to happen. Sale or return would be a vital factor in getting comics back into the mainstream, and publishers are reluctant to readopt it.
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Old 03-09-2011, 16:09
JPartridge
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I don't know what the solution is. May be comics are no longer a mainstream thing. Existing fans will pay good money for well written/drawn comics but not many potential new fans will. They'd rather buy a game for their phone or put money towards games for their consoles.
I'm 13 and a new fan of superheroes because of all the recent movies but I'm not buying comics because from the movies I much prefer Marvel and there's not a good starting point there. I'm not paying nearly £3 because I'd much rather read the Avengers than Justice League.
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Old 03-09-2011, 16:17
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I'll be looking into them when there available in collected editions for definite.
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Old 04-09-2011, 09:37
tingramretro
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I'm 13 and a new fan of superheroes because of all the recent movies but I'm not buying comics because from the movies I much prefer Marvel and there's not a good starting point there. I'm not paying nearly £3 because I'd much rather read the Avengers than Justice League.
Regarding there not being a good starting point for Marvel, for some years now they've tried to make many of their stories able to be read either as part of the ongoing narrative or equally well as (usually) shorter arcs that will be collected together. The collected editions can be found in most high street bookshops and work out a lot cheaper than buying individual issues. If you're new to comics, I recommend trying them that way.
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Old 08-09-2011, 11:35
Biffo the Bear
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Well, I got Animal Man and Swamp Thing out of curiosity, and I quite liked them! I'm still not sure what's going on with the continuity though.

I had a flick through JL & JLI, and it seems that everyone knows who the heroes are, and the histories are roughly the same, but simply that none of the previous adventures apply. I've not read Flashpoint though; perhaps that has some of the answers?

From looking through the other issues - I have to say that I do not like the new Superman at all. They've redesigned him so he's shorter and stockier somehow, and his face looks flatter - I can't quite put my finger on it. He looks more like an archetypal US 'college jock' as opposed to a man, it's bizarre.
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Old 08-09-2011, 18:30
FunkmasterT
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Well, I got Animal Man and Swamp Thing out of curiosity, and I quite liked them! I'm still not sure what's going on with the continuity though.
Swamp Thing and Animal Man are actually two of the ones that I'm least interested in - but their past stories seem to have gotten a lot of praise, and I can't help but think I'm missing out. Are they the best of what you've read so far?

I've not read Flashpoint though; perhaps that has some of the answers?
Flashpoint has none of the answers. Barry Allen ran a bit to fix time and brought 3 different timelines together, or landed on the wrong one.

From looking through the other issues - I have to say that I do not like the new Superman at all. They've redesigned him so he's shorter and stockier somehow, and his face looks flatter - I can't quite put my finger on it. He looks more like an archetypal US 'college jock' as opposed to a man, it's bizarre.
Supes looks weird without his panties.


I got Batgirl, JLI, Green Arrow, Detective Comics, and Action Comics #1s through today. Half-read JLI, I think it's one I'll be sticking with. Haven't touched the others.
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Old 08-09-2011, 19:18
not_the_doctor
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Wow, DC's comic book app was apparently downloaded less than Marvel's the week of the DCnU launch.
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Old 08-09-2011, 19:21
Biffo the Bear
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Swamp Thing and Animal Man are actually two of the ones that I'm least interested in - but their past stories seem to have gotten a lot of praise, and I can't help but think I'm missing out. Are they the best of what you've read so far?
Well, they're the only two I've read properly - but then I'm a big fan of the two - I was always more into the off-beat titles, like these two, Hellblazer & Doom Patrol!

Like I said, I only really flicked through the other titles so can't really compare. The artwork looked very nice in them; very colourful and what not, but they're not really my cup of tea

Originally Posted by FunkmasterT
Flashpoint has none of the answers. Barry Allen ran a bit to fix time and brought 3 different timelines together, or landed on the wrong one.

Supes looks weird without his panties.

I got Batgirl, JLI, Green Arrow, Detective Comics, and Action Comics #1s through today. Half-read JLI, I think it's one I'll be sticking with. Haven't touched the others.
Hmm.. I wonder if it's more change for change's sake if they've not set up a 'reason' for the continuity? Like I said before, they seem to have an acknowledged 'existence' in the new universe, but none of the baggage.

I suppose it could work, but we've seen it before with multiple Crises and such like - eventually it usually turns back to form. Who knows?
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Old 08-09-2011, 19:22
Biffo the Bear
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Wow, DC's comic book app was apparently downloaded less than Marvel's the week of the DCnU launch.
I reckon people will want the hard copies for the no.1 issues, just in case they're worth something in 20/30 years, you never know!
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Old 08-09-2011, 19:31
not_the_doctor
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I reckon people will want the hard copies for the no.1 issues, just in case they're worth something in 20/30 years, you never know!
Nevertheless, given the widespread media coverage DC got for their relaunch, falling behind Marvel has to be considered a pretty bad result.
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Old 08-09-2011, 19:45
Biffo the Bear
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Nevertheless, given the widespread media coverage DC got for their relaunch, falling behind Marvel has to be considered a pretty bad result.
Could be - I think we'll have to see overall sales vs online sales for month end before saying one way or the other though.

You have to factor in the number of people who may have stopped buying DC with the reboot as well. There are a whole load of Batman and Superman fans out there who are really cheesed off that they'll not get to see DC and AC #s 1000 as well.
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Old 08-09-2011, 22:29
JAS84
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The only way comics will ever be "accessible" is if they're back in the high street, and given the prices chains like WH Smith now charge to place magazines on their racks and the fact that no newsagent in their right mind is going to stock stacks of comics that are not offered on a sale or return basis, that just isn't going to happen. Sale or return would be a vital factor in getting comics back into the mainstream, and publishers are reluctant to readopt it.
Yeah, to use a non-superhero example, as you'll know, even the Dandy (which is as old as Superman and Batman!) has almost been killed off by it. They had a major relaunch last October, but apparently only sold 20% of the print run. Distribution's been getting gradually worse since then. And the sales have fallen 48% between January and June this year. Despite a price cut and a frequency and quality increase. It's nothing to do with lack of fans, or a sudden hatred for comics, and everything to do with retailers. If prices rose with inflation alone, comics would still be around 50p, the price of a newspaper. Unsold copies and charging for shelf space has pushed prices up something like 500%.
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Old 09-09-2011, 22:09
Rooks
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The inflation point is well made. Back in the very late 80s, early 90s, I used to buy Transformers UK comic. It cost 32p. Inflation would have this at 64p in 2011. Modern Transformer comics cost £3 and upwards.

Back to DC. Tried reading these first batch of the new 52 and I've struggled. Modern comics seem to have very little dialogue, way too many dynamic poses that don't really add to the story. What happened to telling a story? The likes of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee seem highly regarded but I'm struggling to see why on the basis of what I've seen thus far. Personal taste probably.
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Old 09-09-2011, 22:55
not_the_doctor
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The inflation point is well made. Back in the very late 80s, early 90s, I used to buy Transformers UK comic. It cost 32p. Inflation would have this at 64p in 2011. Modern Transformer comics cost £3 and upwards.
Keep in mind, comics were printed on toilet paper back then. Modern paper and digital coloring have contributed to the price hikes as well.

Back to DC. Tried reading these first batch of the new 52 and I've struggled. Modern comics seem to have very little dialogue, way too many dynamic poses that don't really add to the story. What happened to telling a story? The likes of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee seem highly regarded but I'm struggling to see why on the basis of what I've seen thus far. Personal taste probably.
I didn't bother with this one myself, but I saw a few panels online. It looked a long way from Lee's best work, which at best could be described as decent. As for Johns, he's wildly overrated. He's decent enough by current comic book standards, but those standards are generally very low. Most modern mainstream comics read like teenage fan fiction.
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Old 10-09-2011, 00:00
zwixxx
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...I'm not paying nearly £3 because I'd much rather read the Avengers than Justice League.
shop online and you can get 'em for £2.10 (p&p included)

Supes looks weird without his panties.
^agree most heartedly

I got Batgirl, JLI, Green Arrow, Detective Comics, and Action Comics #1s through today. Half-read JLI, I think it's one I'll be sticking with. Haven't touched the others.
Looks forward to tomorrow when Action,BatG & Det should arrive for me - can't wait.
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Old 10-09-2011, 08:46
Rooks
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As for Johns, he's wildly overrated. He's decent enough by current comic book standards, but those standards are generally very low. Most modern mainstream comics read like teenage fan fiction.
Possibly a sign of our age

I've never really been a DC reader. I've picked up the odd comic in my teenage years but I was always more of a Marvel reader. The DC relaunch is designed to hook in new readers or lapse readers. That, in itself, is a good idea. But it doesn't address the two key points that comics are too expensive and that even with a relaunch they are still very difficult to get into.

So why is this? The artwork is "artwork", too elaborate in it's layout which makes it tough to follow. But the big problem for me is that every one of the new DC comics I've read has been mystery-lead and it makes you feel like you've been dropped into the middle of an existing storyline (yes, I suppose in a way you have).

God I'm old

Edit: Sorry, slightly more negative than intended there.
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Old 10-09-2011, 09:16
FunkmasterT
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Really liked Action Comics. Morrison might well do a fine job with this cocky Supes whose powers are still developing - plenty of action, as well as some plot to start a story up, rather than just some boring origin issue. Detective Comics #1 was all right - worth it for the last two pages, though - I won't spoil it I had to force myself to finish Green Arrow #1, it was dull and thrust a bunch of unknown characters right into your face, with little really going on; won't be buying GA #2.

Still haven't finished the others I got. Can't believe I thought someone could fix Green Arrow.
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Old 10-09-2011, 15:20
not_the_doctor
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Possibly a sign of our age
Maybe, but considering the age of those who actually buy comics these days, probably not.

... That, in itself, is a good idea. But it doesn't address the two key points that comics are too expensive and that even with a relaunch they are still very difficult to get into.
I think they might have had an opportunity to really make an impact with digital, if they had launched at a more sensible price point. Comics are expensive enough as it is, and full price for a digital copy is just absurd. I'm still not sure how much real potential there is in digital comics. I can handle watching a TV show or a movie on a tablet, possibly even a phone, but a comic? Nope.

So why is this? The artwork is "artwork", too elaborate in it's layout which makes it tough to follow.
I do hear that a lot, but there were a few big panel-stuffers like George Perez drawing some of the most successful titles 20-odd years ago. For me, it's more that the characters don't look likable anymore. If you look at how a character like Hulk was portrayed in the 60s and 70s, both in comics and live-action, he was just a big, friendly, lumbering looking thing, but today he looks like a gamma infused steroid zombie™. And there's barely any resemblance between the classic Superman and the modern version, which tends to look somewhere between a pro wrestler and a brooding, pouting advert for... gay?

But the big problem for me is that every one of the new DC comics I've read has been mystery-lead and it makes you feel like you've been dropped into the middle of an existing storyline (yes, I suppose in a way you have).
They do seem to have developed a serious case of TV envy over the last few years, due to the success of shows like 24, Lost, etc. I think Marvel are even bringing out new series in "season" format!?
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Old 10-09-2011, 22:37
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Treated myself to Action Comics Issue 1 and Detective Comics Issue 1 today via my Comixology app.

Just wondering though if I wanted to actually order this in proper comic form, where is a good place online in the UK?
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Old 10-09-2011, 22:49
FunkmasterT
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Treated myself to Action Comics Issue 1 and Detective Comics Issue 1 today via my Comixology app.

Just wondering though if I wanted to actually order this in proper comic form, where is a good place online in the UK?
I use http://www.inter-comics.com/

I usually get new releases through before Saturday, they're well packed and protected, and the chap who runs the site has always been quick to reply to any queries I've had. You can only pay with Paypal, though, and postage cost is calculated based on the weight of the comics. I'd recommend the site, I've not had any trouble yet. My nearest comic shop is 50 minutes away by train, then another 10 minutes walking, so it's nice to be able to just have them sent by post.
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Old 10-09-2011, 23:12
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Nice site bit awkward to navigate though, can't find the new comics on it.
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Old 10-09-2011, 23:52
FunkmasterT
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Nice site bit awkward to navigate though, can't find the new comics on it.
Click New Releases for the current week's comics, and Coming Soon for week-by-week pages, and Pre Orders for anything 5 weeks and further into the future.

It can be a little clunky to get around, but the search box should help find most stuff. Stick #1 or #2 or #whatever in to try to narrow down any searches, if you're doing a manual search.
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Old 11-09-2011, 11:30
bigstunnerdude
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Does the site not do #1 for the new DC Series. Can't find any at all one there?
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