All of us have holiday traditions: some of us watch A Charlie Brown Christmas each year, some of politely ask the Big 2 to make some changes to their comic lines to please our interests. Wanna guess which one we are doing today?
A number of our staffers have shared what they’re hoping DC does in 2016 – read what they have to say, and share your own wishes in the comments!
Keith Dooley:
Release collected editions sooner
DC should follow Image and Marvel’s example by releasing collections of their series in a more timely fashion. By releasing a trade with four or five issues of a series on the same day or close to the release of the next issue, a reader can catch up on a series or test it to see if it’s to their liking. A series may even avoid cancellation. An example of this is “Omega Men”. The critical hit has been a sales disappointment, yet could possibly gain a boost in readership and go beyond its promised twelve issues if readers are able to see why this book deserves to survive. This would be an easy move for DC to accomplish and one that could help them financially while also allowing us to continue buying quality series.
Overhaul the entire line by keeping what worked with the New 52 and bringing back what was lost
Many good things came from the New 52 initiative. DC gained new and lapsed comic book readers, some series got much-needed resets, and there were exciting creative teams on excellent titles. There were, however, some hiccups that came along with the New 52. Continuity issues, such as those in the Bat-line and the history of the Teen Titans and other legacy characters, were unaddressed. DC, if rumors are to be believed, have an earths-shattering shake-up in the works for 2016. Hopefully this involves tackling gripes that long-term readers have while not alienating new readers. They can easily do this with the right creative teams (which are plentiful among their titles) and the balance of the old and new. DC is known for legacy, with history and family playing a large part in the allure of their characters. By bringing these qualities more to the forefront, both old and new readers will be satisfied. Continuity doesn’t automatically make a story great, yet it allows certain characters’ stories to become that much richer.
James Johnston:
Just Put Tom King On Everything
I’ve lost all semblance of objectivity when talking about Tom King. He just gets it in a way that not a lot of writers do. Ideally, I’d love to see him take control of whatever’s been happening in “Green Lantern” and really help make DC’s cosmic corner seem like something that can compete with Marvel’s Galaxy and its subsequent Guardians.
Ride Out The Bat Status Quo A Little More
It is so ridiculously refreshing to read Bat Comics when Bruce Wayne is out of commission. The Morrison run where Grayson and Damian took over as Batman and Robin is still one of my favorite period in comics and I’m really digging how everyone in Gotham is working around Gordon and his Bat-Suit. It feels fresh and isn’t the type of storyline I’d like to see resolved with Bruce knocking his head while getting off a bus and remembering he’s Batman while the “We Are Robin” crew fade away like they’re in Marty McFly’s family album. If you’ve got an actually cool status quo change going on and properly letting it grow could lead to a lot of great supporting characters down the line.
Give Up On Your Movie Plans And Listen To My Financially Irresponsible Plan
Scrap everything you’re working on now. I know you poured a lot of money into letting Zack Snyder build sets with names like “Fart Street” but listen to me. You have to burn the whole thing down and listen to my plan.
Hire Edgar Wright. Hire Edgar Wright and his spiteful heart.
You want to chip away at Marvel’s stronghold on superhero movies? You can’t do that through an impersonal corporate lens. You need someone with a personal stake in this fight. Edgar Wright spent like thirty years working on “Ant-Man” and had it taken away from him by that weird executive who runs Marvel that no one can find any info on. You put Wright in charge of your cinematic universe or whatever buzzword we’re using for franchises now and you let him go wild on it. You let Wright turn this whole mess into a calculated strike against DC’s weaknesses and you take those bastards to the woodshed.
Continued belowOr you release Batman V. Superman Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad and I begrudgingly go and feel bad for five hours. It’s probably going to be the last one, isn’t it?
More Prez
It’s a great comic!
Ken Godberson III:
Let Greg Pak Revitalize “Teen Titans”
Oh, “Teen Titans”, where did it all go so wrong? Oh, besides everything I’ve already said. The tl;dr version: “Teen Titans” needs a coherent and uninterrupted direction, these legacy characters needs to actually be part of their legacy and they need to be able to act like teenagers and have downtime. These three aspects are so vital, but they have been few and far in between.
It seems that the stars may finally be aligning with the news of Greg Pak taking on writing duties this February. I love Greg Pak. That first issue of “Totally Awesome Hulk” was fantastic (Not worth $4.99 but that’s an argument for another day). The start of his and Aaron Kuder’s run on “Action Comics” was great. To put it simply: Greg Pak is one of the few writers I trust that can really make “Teen Titans” good. My big concern is: DC itself needs to give me reasons to trust them. Because Will Pfeifer’s run was supposed to be a fresh start but it soon brought back all the things that made the New 52 Titans rubbish. Everything Pak has been talking about on Twitter makes me hopeful, but I am concerned about editorial and above still hamstringing the book. Prove me wrong.
Orlando and Kolins “Shazam”
Said this in my review, but it’s worth reiterating: DC, you have One. Job. The Darkseid War: Shazam one-shot laid a perfect groundwork for an ongoing which actually showed the relationship between Billy and the variety of gods that are now giving him his powers as well as give an interesting depiction of Billy himself. This is such an opportunity and to see it wasted like the Johns/Frank run was would just be a massive shame.
Alice W. Castle:
Will You Sort Out Superman Already?
Look, Superman’s been a load of old shite ever since the New 52. There’s no getting away from it. Even Grant Morrison and Rags Morales’ run on “Action Comics” or even Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder’s run have been mired by the fact that the character has been utterly neutered editorially by this fetishistic obsession with painting him as an alien and isolated from humanity because of his awesome powers.
That’s, like, the opposite of who Superman should be.
Superman should be the heart and soul of the DC Universe. He should be compassionate and use his powers for the betterment for those around him. He should radiate that warm feeling that you get when you read something like, oh I don’t know, “Convergence: Shazam” which perfectly nailed the tone that the Superman line of books should have.
In the immortal words of Jason Latour: Smile, Superman. And get rid of the jeans and t-shirt look and stop shaving your head. You look like a hooligan.
Make Your Core Characters Engaging Again
If you were to ask me what comics from DC I’ve been keeping up with lately, it’s all stuff like “Gotham Academy” and “Constantine” and “Superman: Lois & Clark”. All books that are very insular, focusing more on characters in their own little corner of the world instead of the grand, core characters that should make up DC’s repertoire. As I’ve mentioned, Superman has struggled ever since the New 52 began and, let’s face it, Wonder Woman never quite recovered from “Infinite Crisis” what with the whole killing Maxwell Lord on national TV thing.
The only character to keep a strong creative vein in the last few years is Batman because, honestly, it’s more difficult to do Batman wrong than to do him well, but even then it’s been a slog for me to keep up with so much Batfamily books that they all kind of blend together.
If DC were able to trim back on the Batbooks, redefine Superman and Wonder Woman within the universe to something a bit less terrible and have secondary core characters like Aquaman, Flash and Green Lantern back them up and were able to put together a core stable of books lead by a Justice League series that didn’t feel like Geoff Johns on autopilot then I feel like DC would be able to forge a new path for the universe and wouldn’t feel like they’re spinning their wheels and holding back their genuinely innovative books. If you want to drop the New 52 branding, you need to also drop New 52 sensibilities because they’re doing you no favours.
Continued belowVince Ostrowski:
Publish a weekly comic that doesn’t have anything to do with Batman
The Batman weeklies have both been majorly enjoyable, but I’d love to see a weekly comic starring the underutilized Flash family, the Green Lantern universe, or, god forbid, Superman and his extended cast. I know the Superman and Green Lantern titles have, at times, acted in a weekly crossover fashion, but I’d like a true, dedicated weekly with either of them as the focus. One story, told weekly, in a 6-month or year-long fashion.
Fix the Legion of Super-Heroes, dammit
I’ve been dying for a true relaunch of the LoSH, where we start with a small, intimate group of characters that are given actual personalities and for which the writers are given time to really explore. Tie them in with Superman, Batman (somehow), or anyone they think can help with the financial viability of the book. LoSH is one of DC’s most unique properties, and I’ve been missing them from way back, long before the New 52 bungled their opportunity to re-introduce them to a new audience.
Don’t give up on DCYou style comic books
Much has been made of the lackluster sales of some of DC’s most interesting books, launched through their DCYou initiative. While I wouldn’t blame DC much for curling up into a ball and releasing 52 Gotham-centric comics next year, I’m imploring them to not do that. They tried a lot of really cool things in 2015, and for the most part, I can’t find myself able to blame them for comic readers just flat out not supporting these titles more with their wallets. I still think it behooves DC to cater to independent sensibilities by releasing a half dozen to a dozen more experimental, long-shot books. The way that some comedians can be “comedians’ comedians” in that they are mostly appreciated by people that understand the craft of comedy, less marketable comic book series can attract writers to DC, if they’re interested in that. At the very least, they’ll get to keep the goodwill they earned last year by releasing titles like “Prez” and “Midnighter.” That goodwill might not pay to keep the lights on at DC Entertainment, but it sure makes for good press, even if only 10,000 of us are buying what they’re selling.
Paul Lai:
Embrace your West Coast Flavor
In 2015, while DC stocked comic shops with cases of “Convergence” titles they couldn’t move, DC’s offices boxed up and relocated from New York to sunny Burbank, California. So look around, DC, and observe a world outside of the Metropolis and Smallville dichotomy your comics can get stuck in.
Out here in Cali, our patron saint is 2Pac, and he gifts you with three tips in “California Love.” First, fundamentals: “California knows how to party… We keep it rockin’.” For your fans (like yours truly) who respected the superhero melodrama you could Reis to but hungered for some down-to-earth and playful fare, DC You was a breath of fresh air, blasting rhythms we hadn’t heard from DC in a while, or at all. But if you’re going to party, you need to keep it rockin’. Find non-traditional metrics for non-traditional titles and models; the carats, cut, and clarity of Diamond figures might actually obscure what would be successful in trades and digital, if you can hold on long enough to distinguish it from the competition.
“Famous ‘cause we program worldwide,” declares Pac, and acting Hollywood means thinking global. Keep thinking expansively about your reach. Your audience of tomorrow will look as much like Khalid Nassour (Dr. Fate) and Maps Mizoguchi (Gotham Academy) as Jason Todd and (non-CBS) Jimmy Olsen. Keep treading with care how you portray the “Master Race,” and keep pushing the envelope with the multitudinous “We are Robin” cast or the “Prez” apology tour.
Finally, Pac warns “Flossin— but have caution, we collide with other crews.” For the uninitiated, “flossin’” refers to showing your stuff off. Embracing your California means inordinate confidence in what you have to take pride in, a legacy and foothold in culture that no Hordr could uproot, no dionesium pool could erase. But California cool also means having no bones to pick with rivals. You do you, DC You. Keep ya head up and brush your shoulders off.
Continued belowZach Wilkerson:
Give Batman a rest, build up the rest of your line.
The Bat-books have been phenomenal in 2015. We’ve gotten two successful and enjoyable weeklies, a consistently solid and surprisingly daring flagship title, and a diverse line of secondary and tertiary titles. And yet, in spite the refreshingly bold and critically acclaimed “DC You” initiative, the rest of the line feels stale. It’s been a long time since the DCU has felt dynamic and cohesive. Small, self contained events like “Forever Evil” and “Convergence” have come and gone with relatively few lasting changes. I find myself longing for the suspenseful build up and exciting surrounding stories like “Infinite Crisis” or “Blackest Night.” Against my better judgement, I’m going to call for a major line-wide event in 2016, the likes of which DC hasn’t really seen in years.
Brian Salvatore
A Shazam Ongoing
I ask for this every single year, and I’ve yet to receive it. Let Jeff Parker and Doc Shaner set it on Earth S, or do it on the main Earth, whatever, just do it! Now!
A Superman Weekly
Remember how “Batman Eternal” was all about celebrating the entirety of what makes Batman great? Do that for Superman, and let him get back to his rightful place atop DC’s line of superheroes. He’s the first, he’s the last, he’s our everything.
Trust in your creators
Putting people like Greg Pak and Tim Seeley on books that are struggling is a great plan – but let them develop it from there. If editorial controlled books worked that well, DC would be the tops right now. But they don’t work out most of the time – so, let them, organically, decide where to take the characters that you’ve entrusted to them. This shouldn’t be a radical idea – it (kind of) worked with the DC You initiative – follow that model, tweaking where necessary (like the parts where people have to actually buy the books), and you’re setting up for long term success, not just a trip to the top of the charts for this month.
A Supergirl ongoing
Do I really need to tell you to do this? And not the digital first TV show tie-in, an honest to goodness Supergirl title. You are leaving money on the table, DC.
