Are Reboots worth the RISK? (Part 1 of 2)

Due to poor health, I spend a lot of time reading articles on comics, reading comics and going through reader responses to current trends in the comic industry. Along with writing comics, illustrating them and with a completed graphic novel before an international publishing house (my fingers are tired from crossing that I might get that much needed boost-to-my-ego and finally arrive upon the comic scene - you can cross your fingers as well. I need all the luck I can get. And also, I could do with a little less idiocy in my life), I am weary with how the Comic Industry is going to keep being relevant while rehashing the same characters in a new costume, only slightly changed, and  in a different team etc.

Now let me make myself very clear here before anyone starts to have a go at me for being an upstart, or if you're a little less polite, an idiot.

I LOVE COMIC BOOKS!

I do. Comics were my first love. They were an escape and several thousands of dollars were spent buying them as a collector and as a fan.
My early childhood was spent in Walt Disney and Archie Comics and later the UK, 2000AD Megazine. I will be 40 next May and my room is half filled with Independent Graphic Novels and large plastic lidded boxes of single comics.

Two weeks ago, I sold my copy of Batman #181, the very first appearance of Poison Ivy.  And it finally hit me, I am not loving comics anymore. I am still a fan but, what I used to enjoy reading I don't anymore. The mainstream comic market really isn't offering anything new and vibrant. You could say its just me getting older and tastes change etc. But, I am not the only one with these thoughts and feelings about the mainstream comic publishers.

The more attention I pay to what older readers, and these are the guys you want reading comics, because they don't just have pocket money. They HAVE MONEY. Their own money. And they spend that earned money on comics and related items.

So, if you as a comic book publisher and you readers, who have been loyal for nearly thirty years, are suddenly finding yourselves left on the sideline, your voices ignored, then be prepared to see a big shift in how these readers vocalise their thoughts in a different way. By this I mean, by venting on internet forums, on Twitter, FaceBook, etc. It takes one press of a send button to get your opinion out to the world. And that opinion is worth $$'s. Quite possibly millions.

Case in point: A FaceBook friend, Neil, went to see, Amazing Spider-Man (the new movie!) a month back. As far as I was concerned I wasn't going to see the same story retold with different actors. But, Neil, was adamant that I should. And after calling his geek creds into question he remained adamant that I would enjoy it. And with my brother-in-law, Les, in tow (Spidey just happens to be his favourite superhero and by the way he is over 40yrs, has an eight year-old who is a talented writer and illustrate - I am grooming her to be a writer of comics or books - and two younger boys), and my friend Kev we went to see the movie and were blown away by it. Now between the three of us we spent around US$50. Only because Neil suggested it from the other side of the world and is also a comic book writer. I forgot to say he lives in England and I live in New Zealand - you know where Hobbits live. The movie was very good.

I am digressing from a topic a bit here, but you can understand what I am getting at. For the past few years, Marvel as a comic industry giant has lost a large number of readers. Mostly due to Cross-Over events every 3-4 months. Which happens to be the reason why I stopped buying Marvel comics back in 2008. I stopped purchasing my 6-7 monthly titles along with current mini-series runs.

Cross-Overs work to a certain point. It allows a publisher to elevate books that are falling behind in sales by bringing them into the 'latest' game-changing big Cross-Over. Civil War for Marvel was a big Cross-Over at the time. It was about Superheroes working under government mandate and being registered VS simply being free to be themselves, so long as they were not "bad-guys". Establishment versus freedom and chaotic freedom - which if you really think about it, is somewhat the same as Avengers Vs. X-Men.
AvX is not really that different and therefore in another 2-3 years we will again have a similar Cross-Over that will be announced as the next big game-changer.

Now I'm just ragging on Marvel, but DC Comics is just the same. Last years, Flash Point as a Cross-Over storyline was very, and I mean very good. It had the potential to allow DC to move in a whole new direction. Changing the setting of their heroes, where they were suddenly having to deal with a world that had villains that had previously been heroes. But instead, DC decides to come out with their New 52. With all the momentum behind them with Flash Point they had to once again sell their customers a whole new set of books, rebranded with new costumes and new start off points. What a waste of effort when they already had everything going for them with Flash Point.

As a collector, whose dad read the original Action Comics #1; As child growing up in Manchester, England, for me to share the moment with him again was awesome and I felt a real connection with my dad. That and the fact that I was able to purchase some #1's which I could set aside for my niece and nephew was cool beyond words. But that was all that the New 52, I believe, had going for them. And from what I have read in interviews that Dan DiDio (CEO DC Comics) has given, is that DC didn't get the response that they were expecting from such a huge relaunch.

Now mid-way through 2012, they are trying to get back some of that momentum they were expecting by issuing #0's for their current run. Sadly, I don't believe they will. Sure some new readers will walk into the stores and get a couple. But depending on the strength of the story, I doubt many will be returning customers. Collectors of course will buy as much of the #0's as they can and not to mention try to get their hands on the copious amounts of variant covers. But this will only give a false perception of where the market is at and whether new customers are staying with the books or not.

DC Comics, according to Dan DiDio, had to put out Before Watchmen to save them from falling behind in the market. Sadly, they could have done better with possibly bringing out a series based in the Flask Point Universe with the way that world was left I believe a series of on-going titles would have been far more exciting than doing a prequel to Watchmen which every comic fan knows the creator of the original didn't want it done. Also, the media coverage around Before Watchmen was very bad for DC.

Which brings me to, Action Comics #1-8 (New 52). With Alan Moore as little guy against the big bad corporation that is DC Comics, trying to wrangle his Watchmen out of Dan DiDio's hands. You could be forgiven if you read what Superman stands for and continually advocates, and didn't see the underlying theme of the story and missed reading lines like;

"I'm here to stand up for people when they can't stand up for themselves, and I'm here to help out and make things better any way I can."

Yep, thats the Superman I know, sadly its not representative of what happens in the real world.

Part 2 next week!

(ARU), Aruneshwar has a Bachelors Degree in Digital Media -Digital Film-making. He took a semester of Multimedia earlier last year which kind of set him up for comictrade.co.nz, a New Zealand  online comic store. On the creative side, Aru is writing and illustrating a graphic novel about the 30yrs of Institutionalised Slavery of Indians in Fiji from 1885 -1915. He is a prolific script writer and writes in all comicbook genres which include several graphic novels for his own company,Rising Sun Comics. Aru also uploads a digital comic series on Facebook called, Zero as well as completing his first crime-noir graphic novel, The Circle. He is also trying to finishing off coloring and lettering a superhero comic book mini-series he co-created with Mike Burbeck called, Incredi-Girl.