DC to REBOOT???

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Two concerns about the digital side of this story:

1. A comic book page is a piece of art. It isn't a bunch of individual, unrelated frames stuck together on a page randomly. There is flow and composition to the entire page, as well as to the individual frame. I think that often gets lost when viewing digitally.

You can view a full page in its original print form with a tablet PC or if you have a monitor that can swivel upwards. Most current tablet PCs are slightly smaller in dimension than a comic book, but once the tablet market expands there should be bigger ones available at a decent price. Once that happens they'll be perfect for reading comics.

2. I don't know what format they're going to use, but in the past Marvel has released their archives in pdf format, which looks terrible. Why don't these companies embrace .cbr format, which looks so much better and is actually designed for the viewing of comic books online?

Comixology doesn't use pdf or cbr. Their format is a lot better than pdf, but not quite as good as a high quality cbr.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I like the disclaimer on today's article at CNN (a news site, you know):

SPOILER ALERT: If you don't want to know what DC Comics is doing in September, and if you didn't notice Tuesday's story in USA Today, be warned. There are images and information in this story that could educate you.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

Reading a full comic page on an iPad is a pleasure (I imagine it'll be as good on the comparable Android tablets coming out now). I especially like zooming in and just dragging the page around rather than 'guided' mode because it simulates the way your eye moves from panel to panel.

Mind you I'm referring to reading a CBR file in CloudReaders (a really solid iPad/iPhone app).

edit: Somehow I missed this in the original news flurry, but GRANT MORRISON is writing SUPERMAN (!!!!!!!!!!!!). The first real Superman he's written since the legendary ALL-STAR SUPERMAN! That's seriously exciting. I think I'm going to buy those issues in digital just to also support the new format.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Green Arrow still has his goatee. I thought they might ditch it and go back to the clean-shaven look. Hawkman is Carter Hall, archaeologist, again. That Cliff Chiang cover for Wonder Woman #1 is awesome.

The cover for Justice League International features what might be a black haired Black Canary...

That looks more like Donna Troy to me.

 

[davejames]

Really like some of the costume updates (especially on Supes and WW). And the idea of rebooting the entire universe is a welcome one too. I've always been a huge DC fan and would love to follow some of these characters again, but the continuity has gotten so ridiculously complex that I get lost the second I pick up a book nowadays.

Here's hoping they cut down on the endless crossovers and let the individual characters have some actual breathing room again.

Save the crossover and "Event" stuff for the JLU books.

 

[Professor Zoom]

After some pondering, I have to say that that maybe this reboot thing is actually a very positive event
While we do not yet know how drastic the changes will be(very minor in some cases) this will surely make it easier for new readers to jump in, when they do not have to stare issue numbers like 600 or 256..and buy tons previous issues.

When I was choosing of which comics to order, I came face to face with the fact that the whole DC universe is so massive that some titles are difficult to start following.
I mean one can imagine a conversation like this happening between a newbie and a comic books veteran:

Newbie: I was browsing this issue 509 of Gamma Man in the local store yesterday and it seems like a cool book to read, but I was wondering if its good for a newbie like me?

Veteran: Well, if you really want to read it, you should first buy the trades "Mission to Mars", "Gammas Revenge" and "Boom to Gloom"..plus definetely buy the issues 100-293 and 480-508 so you can get up to speed with the current storyline.
And also you should get issues 120-125 of Wonder Girl..and issues 36-39 of Mega Marvelous that concludes the Danger Zone-saga where Gamma Man was transported to the alternate universe of Zron..where he fought Gorz, lost part of his powers and was then transported back in time into his younger self..and gained new superpowers.

Newbie: Woah..that sounds like lot to buy. I am not sure if I want to get all that.

Veteran: Well, you can also read all that stuff from wikipedia or somewhere else, though I wont find from there the time when Mega Man teamed with Death Squad..

Newbie: Ah..thanks a lot. Maybe I rather buy the latest Mickey Mouse instead..will be easier to get into.

If this reboot is done well it will please bot the longtime and new fans..and get new people involved
I am planning to renew my subs and see what will happen. Maybe I also find new comics to read when this reboot starts in the fall

See... when I started.... Superman, Batman were all at high numbers. I read them for years. I generally started when a new storyline begun.

I had no problems. This was before wiki. I knew the gist: who Superman and Batman were. That's all I needed to know to start reading.

Numbers didn't STOP me from reading a book. the quality of the actual book.

Now, this was 15 years ago, when the stories were denser, weren't being written for the eventual trade paperback, so they didn't waste space on splash page after splash page. There was content.

Oh. Crap. I just sounded like one of those Old Fan Boys...

Anyway.

The point stands. I don't think numbers are the actual reason kids aren't reading... well, my opinion anyway... The direct market. Kids aren't seeing comics unless someone brings them to the store. They are out of the experience of being a kid. Now, it's the internet and the xbox.

Maybe being available on the internet will help, but, I think until the stories appeal to a younger audience, I don't think they'll care.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Here's a demonstration of the Comixology app on an iPad.

 

[Jetfire]

Here's a demonstration of the Comixology app on an iPad.

That is actually pretty cool.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Kids aren't seeing comics unless someone brings them to the store. They are out of the experience of being a kid. Now, it's the internet and the xbox.

Which is why moving to the Internet will make the difference.

If making superhero comics a part of the general entertainment landscape of the web doesn't cause kids to take more interest in them than hunting them down at comics stores, then superhero comics are failing as a genre because they deserve to fail.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Kids aren't seeing comics unless someone brings them to the store. They are out of the experience of being a kid. Now, it's the internet and the xbox.

Which is why moving to the Internet will make the difference.

Exactly, that's why I said that in the last line of my post.

If making superhero comics a part of the general entertainment landscape of the web doesn't cause kids to take more interest in them than hunting them down at comics stores, then superhero comics are failing as a genre because they deserve to fail.

Maybe. We'll see.

I'm not sure how, but, i would love it if comic book creators somehow take full advantage of what the internet can do. Something that printed comics can't do. If it's just transposing them, it's fine, but, not exciting. If there's something more... maybe it's the motion comic, I don't know.

I would like to see something out of the box. (Which means DC and Marvel will not be doing it.)

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Kids aren't seeing comics unless someone brings them to the store. They are out of the experience of being a kid. Now, it's the internet and the xbox.

Which is why moving to the Internet will make the difference.

Exactly, that's why I said that in the last line of my post.

If making superhero comics a part of the general entertainment landscape of the web doesn't cause kids to take more interest in them than hunting them down at comics stores, then superhero comics are failing as a genre because they deserve to fail.

Maybe. We'll see.

"Maybe" what? Maybe they deserve to fail?

 

[Professor Zoom]

Which is why moving to the Internet will make the difference.

Exactly, that's why I said that in the last line of my post.

If making superhero comics a part of the general entertainment landscape of the web doesn't cause kids to take more interest in them than hunting them down at comics stores, then superhero comics are failing as a genre because they deserve to fail.

Maybe. We'll see.

"Maybe" what? Maybe they deserve to fail?

I guess that's how it came off. No, I meant maybe it'll work, maybe it won't--moving to the internet to attract new readers.

Personally, I would like it to continue, because I like the genre, but, we parted ways years ago because it wasn't fun for me anymore.

But, maybe we are seeing the beginning of the end, like Western pulps, and pulps in general, used to be popular and now not so much.

I don't think anything deserves to fail. Sometimes the world moves on...

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Well, of course there's no way to know whether something will succeed until they try it.

I think a business "deserves to fail" when it doesn't provide a product or service that people are willing to pay for in sufficient numbers to support the cost of its continued operation. Sadly, this is coming to encompass a range of businesses that I quite like. Thirty years ago saw the beginnings of the decimation of the independent book retailer in metropolitan markets and now the same thing is happening to the national retailers that supplanted them. The same will probably happen to many comics direct sale outlets.

 

[Broccoli]

I'm happy to see that Francis Manapul is back on Flash with the reboot.

 

[JoeZhang]

I'm happy to see that Francis Manapul is back on Flash with the reboot.

As the writer I think rather than the artist.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

I'm happy to see that Francis Manapul is back on Flash with the reboot.

As the writer I think rather than the artist.

He's both writer and artist, along with Brian Buccellato.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

So, anyone knows if there are any comic apps for the nook color yet?

 

[Icemizer]

The Fury of Firestorm is back although I dont know how long I can deal with two teens full of agnst yelling at each other. I miss the old Firestorm already.

 

[Broccoli]

Wow are people really complaining because a web site reported this before DC got to make their big announcement to the press?

What's next? Complaining about CNN announcing someone is running for President before they hold an official press conference?

You make it sound like people are crying and puffing their chests in anger. I didn't realize we couldn't comment on something we felt as potentially shady and have a subsequent discussion on the pros and cons of it.

Lots of people don't appreciate news reporting when it's news that they don't want to hear for some reason or another. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with reporting news, and there's nothing wrong with what BleedingCool did.

This is news about a major change in the business practices of a corporation. It is not about "spoiling" some story for someone (and frankly I think people who are horrified by spoilers would do better to get off the Internet than expect the world to coddle them).

I didn't mean to suggest what they did was wrong from a journalistic point of view. It just seemed like a jerk move on how it was done.

And perhaps "spoilers" was a poor example. I guess a better one would be if a news site somehow got the sales figures of Pocket Book's Star Trek novels and reported them even though Pocket keeps those numbers very private and don't want them out.

Oh, well. It is all a moot point now. Also, I didn't realize my throwaway comment was going to lead to anything.

I'm happy to see that Francis Manapul is back on Flash with the reboot.

As the writer I think rather than the artist.

He's both writer and artist, along with Brian Buccellato.

Yeah. Both.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

And perhaps "spoilers" was a poor example. I guess a better one would be if a news site somehow got the sales figures of Pocket Book's Star Trek novels and reported them even though Pocket keeps those numbers very private and don't want them out.

What would be wrong with that?