A little while ago I saw a tweet that said: "You are now in charge of DC Comics: What do you do?"
I was going to fire off a quick response, but then my brain caught fire with all of the different ways I would overhaul the company. Now, I am only a consumer and not a professional in the industry. I fully admit that I speak without the knowledge base of someone who has not worked in comic books. The following are based on my own insights and opinions simply as a fan of this medium:
1. Pitch to AT&T
AT&T now owns DC Comics and the first thing I would do is make sure that they understand that this is a good investment. One of the problems that people have made in comics lately is that they have backed projects that served their own creative or political tastes but that did not grow sales. As a famous commentator has stated several times, this is first and foremost a business.
I would explain to AT&T that this business can not only be profitable, but it has another incredibly important monetary benefit. The intellectual properties contained at DC are some of the most famous in the world. Not only do the merchandizing rights help, but the medium of comic books is an excellent and cost effective proving ground for characters and stories. For the cost of a few thousand dollars, you can test which storylines resonate with audiences as you look to adapt them to other mediums such as movies, TV, and video games.
My main goal would not so much to have AT&T subsidize DC, but to allow DC to continue functioning in making stories.
2. Market Research
Comic book readership has dropped. This is a problem in general, but one of the things that is causing this has been the pushing away of long-time customers. I do not know a single long-time customer who is happy about how DC has treated Wally West. DC cannot afford to have anyone tap out of their comics' lines.
I would fund intensive market research and hear back from the customers, not fans. "Fans" can be anyone who has an opinion about something in comics, but that doesn't mean that they are purchasing your product. I would reach out to local comic book shops and their customer base and find out what they want, specifically what would make them buy more comics. It does not good to cowtow to Twitter mobs, since I haven't seen that translate into good sales.
3. Editor in Chief Geoff Johns
My instinct would be to hand over most of the creative control of the entire DCU to Geoff Johns. I've heard some people complain about his stories being bland, and not edgy. But Johns understands the brand and the characters like no one else. He is able to take even the most obscure characters in the pantheon and make them iconic. His skills as a comic book writer are unparalleled, but his insights into the mythic nature of the universe and his understanding of world-building are top-notch.
The most important thing I see about Johns is that he actually loves the characters. I don't mean that in the way that someone loves a book or a brand. Johns treats the characters with the respect of persons. They are real to him in the way that they are to thousands of fans.
4. Big Name Comics
If we are going to rebuild, you need to start with your best known properties. DC relaunched in 2011 with 52 titles, not all of them were good. Here are the ones that they must start with:
-Justice League (with the big 7 again)
-Action Comics
-Superman
-Detective Comics
-Batman
-Wonder Woman
-Flash
-Green Lantern
-Aquaman
-Hawkman
-SHAZAM
-Catwoman
-Teen Titans
Most of the above sell at least 30,000 comics a month. We would need to then figure out how to relate the other comics in the lineup to the comics that already sell.
5. Smart Events.
One of the ways you can turn off consumers is by creating an event comic that has dozens of tie-ins that force you to spend lots of money on stories that ultimately have no bearing on the main event (e.g. House of M). This can create fatigue and cause customers to give up.
But if you limit the cross-overs, this will help. Customers are much more likely to take a chance one or two tie-in issues for a book that they don't normally read as opposed to one that covers a dozen. Take the top selling books and pair them with another lesser-selling book and expose the wider audience to a story they may like.
6. No More Politics
Politics and political correctness is a problem for comics not because they shouldn't make comment on the world around us, but because agenda seems to trump storytelling. This is much worse at Marvel than at DC, but we saw this even the Hanna-Barbera cross-overs. You cannot please everyone, but there is no need to actively turn away potential customers by crapping all over their political beliefs. Politics has even led to the loss of talent such as Orson Scott Card and Ethan Van Sciver. If someone can sell a book DC cannot afford to lose them.
7. Timeless Stories
My general editorial policy would be for writers would be "Write a story that people will still re-read 20 years from now." I cannot tell you how many times I have re-read Morrison's JLA, Robinson's Starman, Moore's Watchmen, or anything by Johns. They are not bound to a specific place and time. They don't feel like they are cutting edge of a bygone era. Take a look at Heroes in Crisis and Mr. Miracle. Both feel very much a product of Tom King's envelope-pushing style. But besides their audacity and their shock, there isn't much else there. Shock loses its luster after a while. No one will care about Heroes in Crisis in a few years. Novelty also loses its flavor. Will anyone really care about King's Mr. Miracle in a few decades? And yet people still buy reprints and hunt down the original issues of the stories that mattered to them. We still talk about "Knightfall," "Doomsday," "Blitz" "Sinestro Corps. War" "For the Man Who Has Everything," "Hush," "Rock of Ages," and the like. When I read a comic, I want to feel like I am a part of something fun and exciting that will be a part of me for years to come.
Thoughts?
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