At the beginning of June, DC comics finally answered the big questions it's fans had been asking since the beginning of the year "What comes after Flashpoint?". The answer surprised many, and angered quite a few- DC was relaunching it's entire line of comics with 52 new first issued to launch the first week of September. That meant that Action Comics, which had just reached it's 900th issue, would be restarting it's run. DC said that things would be different, and unveiled an image from it's new Justice League. Not only was it obvious that costumes had subtly changed, but fans were informed that characters would be younger and the worlds history was not different.
This wasn't the first time DC had rebooted their universe. Heck, it wasn't even the first time in a decade that they'd attempted to relaunch. And yet, fans reacted badly. Message boards were filled with complaints and hundred if not thousands of fans wrote angry letters to DC. Many of them threatened to cease buying DC altogether.
Was DC mad to erase their continuity? Were they making the worse business decision they could possibly made? Was this the end of half of the big two?
Well, as I've mentioned above, DC comics, more than it's primary competitor Marvel, has had numerous continuity snares for all of it's major characters. Occasionally these problems have been resolved within a characters individual books, as Grant Morrison has managed to do with Batman and Geoff Johns did to fan acclaim with Green Lantern, but others, such as Superman, have just continued to heap on alternate origins without resolving which story was the new canon and which was simply an alternate universe story.
More than anything, this reboot allows DC to maintain hard control over the history of their world, and by not starting from the literal beginning, DC can allow past stories to maintain their presence in canon. Stories like The Killing Joke and Death in the Family will stay in continuity and their effects will still be felt, but snares can be smoothed out and explanations can be given.
While this may anger old fans, it creates a perfect opportunity for lapsed readers to jump in and gain a quick grasp on the character without having to spend hours looking up old back issues or trying to sort through descriptions on wikipedia.
There is a valid question, though, as to whether continuity has anything to do with the relaunch. It's been revealed that several titles are getting little or no reboot, and will simply continue on with their current continuity. Those titles are all under the Batman and Green Lantern titles. This is a very important thing to note when considering whether the relaunch if worthwhile and what the reason behind it really is.
In May 2011, before DC comics announced it's relaunch initiative, out of the top 20 comic books for the Month, DC had 8 books, one event book and 7 regular titles. Those books were Flashpoint (the event book), Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Batman Inc, Batman & Robin, Batman, Flash and Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors. The next highest seller was Justice League at number 25, followed by Action Comics at 32, Detective Comics at 35 and Superman at 38.
It's important to note that the two franchises that have top twenty selling books are the books DC is not messing with, despite their own twisted continuities.
Now, think for a moment. Out of the top 40 books, only 12 of them are from DC. This is why DC is rebooting. Their sales are flagging. After being the company to originate modern superhero books, DC has found themselves flagging behind Marvel in a very bad way. Marvel is selling roughly 1.5 books for every book DC is selling.
This is why DC feels the only way to get back in the game is to relaunch 52 first issues. Why, you ask, is getting in the game dependent on it being a first issue?
Number one issues sell comics. The top three best selling issues of all time are X-Men #1, X-Force #1 and Spider-Man #1. Recently the first issue of Grant Morrisons Batman and Robin sold a 184,000 copies in a time when the most most mainstream books are lucky to crack 50,000 sales a month.
The reasoning for this is simple, as I mentioned a moment ago, readers are apt to purchase a first issue because there is a presumption, whether true or false, that there is no knowledge required when purchasing a first issue. By it's very nature, a first issue means that nothing has come before it, and if nothing else it's attractive because the average reader can be sure he's not jumping in in the middle of a storyline.
Now, there is an element of presumption on DC's part that releasing a fleet of number one comics that streamline continuity will bring on more readers than who depart, viewing the end of their beloved continuity as a convenient jumping off point in an age where you could either pay $12 for three comic books, which you'll have read in under 45 minutes, or you can spend that money to buy a movie ticket and be entertained for 2 hours. While DC has done a noble thing in "Holding the line at $2.99" with the flagging economy, readers are looking for ways to keep more money in their pockets.
The sad fact of the matter is that while relaunching at number one stands a good chance of bringing in new readers and giving DC a noticeable sales bump for at least a few months as readers decide what they do and don't like, the primary reason for flagging comic book sales is still not being addressed.
Since 1997, Diamond Comic Distributors has been the sole source of distribution for the comic books of the Big Two. Diamond has very strict rules for how it sells comics, not only on how much of the cover price they require on each issue, but on the number of issues that need to be ordered. Add to this the notion that Diamond must be ordered from directly and does not work with other distribution houses that supply magazines or other periodicals, and you find that not only does the mode of distribution place strains in small comic book shops and publishers, but it also makes it inconvenient for businesses that aren't solely comic book shops to sell comic books.
Long gone are the days of buying a Superman comic book at the local 7-11 because you went to buy a soda and the cover caught your eye. Gone are the days of children convincing their parents to buy them a comic book at the grocery store. Sure, stores like Barnes and Noble and Borders still stock a handful of comic books, but the selection is typically haphazard. Realistically the only way for someone to buy a comic book is for them to go looking for it.... which means that while the market occasionally grows by small margins, both publishers launch new books to the same pool of readers.
Granted, the one advantage DC hopes that it will have with it's impending relaunch is that seems to have become news. People who haven't been inside a comic book shop in years may have probably seen articles at online news sites discussing the slate of 52 first issues and the new continuity. This means that anyone with an interest in jumping on to the upcoming promotion knows that it exists and has the ability to hunt down their local comic book shop (not always easy as many small town comic shops go out of business each year). That sort of publicity is something that Marvel hasn't had on a company wise basis since it's Civil War arc, and even that was more focused on specific events and characters (like Spider-Man's unmasking and Captain America's death).
There is one problem with this presumption. It's not at all true.
While there was a bit of media attention back when DC announced it's reboot in June, that attention has vanished amidst real news like Washington's squabbles about the Debt Ceiling and Rupert Murdoch's phone hacking scandal. The only place people are still talking about the relaunch is on comic book websites, where non comic readers don't go. DC has said it is willing to split costs with local comic shops if they wish to advertise on television or at the movies, but for shops already struggling, that is simply not an option.
This all adds up to a general public who has either already forgotten about the relaunch, are confused by it (because details were slim at it's initial announcement) or who simply don't care. That is not what DC needs in order to have huge numbers in September.
So, lets look at the point for point:
PROS
-Creates new accessible and clear jumping on point for new readers.
-Number Ones always sell bigger
-"Streamlined" continuity allows lapsed readers to jump back on to old favorites
-"Streamlined" continuity allows writers to tell stories old continuity would make impossible.
CONS
-Early press wave has left it currently out of sight out of mind for non readers
-Fan confusion whether favorite stories (like old Teen Titans stories)are still canon or not
-Convenient jumping off point for readers frustrated by the relaunch.
-Does nothing to improve the limited access most people have to comics thanks to Diamond.
Where does that leave us....
Well, from an overview, it looks like the relaunch is creating as many problems it's solving. Fan reaction started off large and bitter but has dies down, with only a handful of fans still committed to dropping DC when the relaunch happens. The protect scheduled for SDCC which was supposed to have 5,000 participants drew less than a hundred people. Odds are that It will give DC a solid sales bump for 2-3 months before entropy takes over and they settle back down to normal levels. Granted, I think DC knows this and are simply betting that "normal levels" would constitute at least 20 books in the top 40 as opposed to 12, however only time will tell.
Personally, I welcome the reboot. DC comics deals more with archetypes than Marvel does. It's heroes are almost mythic, and as such are much less prone to change then Marvel. Superman will always be Superman, the big blue boyscout. The only way to alter not only Superman, but the public's perception of Superman is to proclaim loud and clear that your starting from the ground up.
One thing is for sure, you have to give DC points for having the balls to push forward with this. Despite all the uproar, they've chosen a path and stuck with it. We just have to wait for the dust to settle to find out whether the arrow points leans more toward good idea or bad idea when it settles, cause it looks like right now... it's a little bit of both.
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