DC's New 52: Reviews and Discussion (Spoilers welcolme and likely)

[the G-man]

Here is an interesting analysis about the sales of the New 52 centering around November...

From that analysyis:

• 
  One of the two notable things the “New 52″ hasn’t done, though, is to flush new audiences into the direct market — or if it has, it hasn’t been in the kind of quantity required to grow noticeably beyond the pre-existing comics audience. DC gave it their best shot, but the ceiling of the market, in terms of units, is still broadly the same as it was five years ago, when the big DC Comics publishing events of the year were called 52 and “One Year Later.” Given the unprecedented promotional push, large-scale returnability incentives and lip service paid to the idea of attracting new readers this time around, this failure to expand beyond the existing direct-market readership is well worth mentioning.
  
  
  The other thing the “New 52″ push lacks, to date, is the kind of sustainability needed to extend beyond the initial 52 relaunch titles.

Yeah, I figured this would happen. Beyond a few cosmetic changes, there was nothing there to bring in new readers (ie, kids or women).

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ Which is hilarious in my opinion because this is supposed to be exactly the reason behind the relaunch in the first place. DiDio countless times during the summer and at SDCC stated the main reason they were doing the relaunch was to draw in a "new" readership.

I really do think that their sales will start to wane as the months progress and Marvel continues to grow stronger with their offerings this year. DC will struggle to keep afloat what they have.

52 'Verse Captain Cold and others...

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/01/02/52/

 

[davejames]

Well to be fair, no matter how "fresh and new" they made this New 52, it was never going to bring in THAT many new readers. We're still talking about the rather dated medium of comic books, after all.

Even if they completely reinvented their way of telling stories, as some wanted, it wouldn't have been long before that simply became the "new normal", and people lost interest again.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Exactly. My point though is that their reason or justification behind the New 52 was flawed or just bullshit lol...sure maybe it helped bring a few hundred new readers into the fray or drew back some old fans but I don't think it drastically altered the market. As has been mentioned a number of times, the relaunch was just a large sales push to dominate the market. It has worked for the first few months for DC we'll see if it continues throughout the year.

 

[davejames]

Yeah obviously marketing was a big reason behind all this, but I still get the sense it came from a rather genuine place. Creatively they felt it was time to reinvent and reintroduce these characters to some degree, and the continuity really DID need to be cleaned up and simplified at some point. Otherwise they would have been stuck with the same aging readership forever.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah. I agree with it to a degree. I've kind of have had a hard time trying to express my disdain of their explanation of the genesis behind the New 52. I guess it comes right down to the fact I don't believe what they've told us. Maybe I would had they had a chance to make their announcement outright but because of how it happened and the immediate back tracking they had to do and the things they've said have left a bad taste in my mouth.

I've been mainly a DC guy for the past ten years or so...but I've found myself getting heavily into Marvel again...and despite a few problems...I've found myself really enjoying the Marvel U right now.

 

[shivkala]

Well, I doubted it would get that many new readers in, but as I've said before, my satisfaction level after a trip to the comic shop has definitely improved since September. After a month or so of trying out titles, I've found the ones that really appeal to me and I'm happier for it.

 

[Broccoli]

52 'Verse Captain Cold and others...

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/01/02/52/

Hey, BleedingCool. November called. They want their news back.

 

[Ayelbourne]

Is there any word about whether Cataclysm and No Man's Land are still canon?
I'm kinda confused about that because Batman investigates some very old buildings in the current arc about the Court of Owls.
Did these buildings all just happen to withstand the earthquake?

 

[Broccoli]

I'm sure they survived due to a Superboy punch.

Honestly, stuff like that you can't think about too much, because, reboot or not, there is a ton of stuff in comics that could never happen if there was a strict, reality based continuity.

 

[Admiral_Young]

That story was old? My bad.

 

[Broccoli]

That story was old? My bad.

No. The story was from today. The news it "reported" was old. I'm mocking Bleeding Cool, not you.

 

[Captain Craig]

I don't think even DC expected many, if any at all, new bodies in significant quantities coming into an LCS somewhere and diving into the hobby. At best a marginal amount of old readers might hear about it and get a few books for a few months at best. We know of only 2-3 that fit that bill in this thread. I think what would be interesting to know is how have the online sales started and been maintained through these first four months? The online push was the other big reason to do this, go same day digital. How do those numbers look a year into nu52? Anyone know about that data?

 

[nvek86]

Well, I doubted it would get that many new readers in, but as I've said before, my satisfaction level after a trip to the comic shop has definitely improved since September.

Isn't that still the main problem for comics? You have to go to special shops to buy them (which of course also means that one of them has to be close by).
Digital downloads probably help, but since they are not releasing the numbers of comics sold that way, we don't know how much.

 

[Mike Farley]

I think DC (all the companies really) are keeping the digital numbers to themselves.

 

[Captain Craig]

I think DC (all the companies really) are keeping the digital numbers to themselves.

Which would be the most telling numbers imo, did it work?
They said that new readers, aka youth under 20, are online. So are they buying? You "built it" so "did they come"?

 

[Admiral_Young]

Personally I think when we reach September DC will be doing the same numbers they were doing pre-relaunch. I just really don't see them continuing to dominate the sales charts with what Marvel has planned for this year. Maybe I'll be proven wrong. It is interesting that we don't really get the online figures. They probably still just care about physical book sales though.

 

[the G-man]

DiDio countless times during the summer and at SDCC stated the main reason they were doing the relaunch was to draw in a "new" readership.

DiDio's background, pre-DC, was largely in writing TV soap operas, ie, a genre featuring convoluted, often illogical, and continuity heavy storylines intended to service a small group of obsessive fans with little regard for accessibility to casual or new viewers.

Is anyone surprised he can't figure out how to crack this particular nut?

 

[JD]

I think DC (all the companies really) are keeping the digital numbers to themselves.

That surprises me. Everybody has been making such a big deal about the going digital you'd think they'd be just as open about their numbers.
As for my opinions about the New 52, while I've still only read JL#1 I have been following the solicits for both DC and Marvel, and honestly going by the solicits and news stories alone, I'm finding myself alot more interested in what Marvel has planned.
And to be honest, at this point I really don't think anybody who is interested in comics is going to be going for the physical books. First of all, given the way comics tend to be looked down on by alot of people, digital comics allow people who might be embarrassed a way to read comics without anyone knowing about it. Then there's the fact that pretty much the only place to get comics is comic shops, which honestly can a little hard to find at times. I don't about other cities, but at least in the Phoenix area, other than one or two big high profile stores, most of them are small, hard to find privately owned stores in less than ideal areas. Honestly, if they want to get bigger sales for the physical single issue, I really think the best way to do that would be to A) help set up more high profile shops in better neighborhoods, or B) star selling them in places like Wal-Mart, where you have a pretty good chance of getting alot of impulse buys. I know if they went with option B, and I was walking past them everyday at work, I would have probably given in and bought alot more comics by now.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I'm purely digital these days. The closest comic shop is an hour away from me, so it's really not practical to go there every Wednesday. The fact that I can sit down at my computer and get my comics there the same day every week is fantastic. My only gripe is I really wish they had the option to download and read later. It would seem like such a fundamental thing.