DC whipping Marvel in Sales. Again.

I’m still loving how DC turned what ended up being a big misstep—the relaunch of its entire comics line—into a plus via this new storyline linking all that has happened with the WATCHMEN. Just as happened with the NEW 52 relaunch, the REBIRTH storyline has put DC on top of the sales list, surpassing Marvel for the first time since that aforementioned relaunch, before the blossom fell off the proverbial rose. Yes, DC is on top again. For now. How long will it last? Will they be able to maintain this lead over the long haul, or will fans again become disillusioned and stop buying their books, allowing Marvel to reclaim the top spot? If they can keep the quality of the stories as good as it is now, and if Marvel continues its insistence on turning every one of its most legendary heroes into teenage minority characters, they just might.

Marvel’s plan to get minorities and teenage girls reading its books by rebranding all of its characters, re-forging them into minority teenage girls, HAS been working. Minorities and teenage girls HAVE started reading Marvel’s books. Problem is, everybody ELSE is now reading DC. (Yes, this is a big overgeneralization, but there is truth to my hyperbole.) How will this play out in the long haul? Will Marvel get its alienated longtime fans back, or has DC won their hearts for keeps?

Lack of Cohesion Crippling DC

I’m talking about the DC Cinematic universe, here. The comics universe is WAY cohesive, even after their questionable decision (questionable to my mind) to reinstate the Multiverse, basically undoing everything the now-classic CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS fixed back in the 80s. (Hopefully they’ll be able to maintain it.) But I’ve said all along that DC’s lack of one cohesive live action universe was hamstringing them. When you’ve got a TV universe and then a big-screen universe, they must inevitably compete with each other. THE FLASH TV show is really popular with fans. Won’t that make it just that much harder for the upcoming FLASH movie to succeed? Not only will the movie have to live up to expectations of fans who revere the character from the comics, they must also live up to those of fans of the television series.

If it was just the Flash, that wouldn’t be so bad. Only one movie’s success would be on the line. But there’s now Henry Cavill’s Superman, and then there’s the Superman who’s going to be featured on the new season of the SUPERGIRL TV series. And the contained reality of the TV universe is now creeping into the cinematic universe, as word is that the upcoming BOOSTER GOLD flick will NOT be a part of the cinematic universe. This is gonna get confusing, even for the fanboys (and girls) who know what’s going on. DC trying to sell a multiverse in the comics is tough enough. How can they possible sell it in their movies and TV shows?

source: www.cheatsheet.com

Marvel is Crack. Or Maybe LSD.

LSD is the drug informally called “acid,” right? And supposedly if you “drop acid” seven times you qualify as legally insane? Or was it five times? I’ve heard both, and I’m pretty sure both are urban legends. You could always google it if you’re interested enough; I’m not; I’m just using it as a metaphor, here. Being a hardcore Marvelite sometimes makes me feel schizophrenic. Just last week, or the week before, or yesterday, I was lamenting how Marvel so shamelessly shills gimmickry. Cases in point: the “killing” of the Incredible Hulk, complete with mandatory miniseries, and the even more shameless pandering to the PC movement by forcing racial and other kinds of diversity down its fans’ throats, replacing Tony Stark as Iron Man with a teenage girl being the latest example. It’s enough to make a guy want to swear off comics for good.

Then I go and read the latest issue of CIVIL WAR 2, and it’s so damn GOOD. Even knowing it’s going to lead up to the removal of Tony Stark and the installation of Iron Teen as the newest flavor-of-the-month doesn’t keep me from enjoying it. Totally schizo, right? I love it, I hate it, I keep right on reading. I will NOT be reading the adventures of Iron Teen, though. Not even if they gave the books away. I may be tacitly supporting Marvel’s tokenism by reading CW2, but as Val Kilmer said in TOMBSTONE, my hypocrisy only goes so far.

Racism in Comics

Isn’t this movement today towards forced inclusiveness a form of racism itself? The focus is being put on the skin color. Isn’t that, by the broadest definition of the word, racism? There are many who laud this increased inclusiveness, this expansion in racial diversity in the field, and rightfully so, as there SHOULD be greater diversity. Not every superhero should be white, Christian, American, and male, as they largely have been since the beginnings of the comic book pop culture phenomenon. But are the companies going about it the right way? That’s the question. By forcing it to happen too quickly, are they in fact devaluing the steps they are taking, undermining those advancements? Again, those whose focus is on the unfairness of the world in which comic heroes were allowed, for so many decades, to be white Anglo-Saxon Protestant males, sans black characters, sans gay characters, sans strong female characters, then the fix can’t be forced too speedily. I don’t cotton to that way of thinking, however. Does that make ME somehow complicit in the disparity, which is really discrimination? Does that make ME racist? What’s the difference between me and the guy who just prefers having all white superheroes?

The difference, I think, is that I recognize that, historically, there has been a problem, that a lack of diversity remains a problem, and that the problem SHOULD be addressed. The debate is on the manner in which it would be best addressed. I disagree with the manner in which Marvel and DC and the rest are going about it, but I nevertheless applaud their efforts towards a desired end.