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Holy wardrobe change, Batman!
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Superman's new look
The cover for the first Superman comic -- June 1938.
Tess Vigeland: After years of declining sales, one comic book publisher is hoping to attract new fans by doing the equivalent of spinning-the-earth-in-reverse in the land of superheroes. DC Comics is remaking its 52 titles with entirely new looks and storylines. And tomorrow, it releases the first issue of the redesign.
Our very own Lois Lane, also known as Marketplace's Jennifer Collins, has the story.
Jennifer Collins: To get an idea of how dramatic this change is -- DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee says -- just check out Superman.
Jim Lee: The red briefs are gone.
After 70 years, someone finally told the Man of Steel they call it "underwear" for a reason. Batman, Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern -- every one of the characters in DC's lineup is getting a makeover as well, and issues will begin at No. 1.
Lee: We want to make this generation of readers feel this is is their version of DC Comics. These aren't the characters or storylines that my parents or grandparents collected.
Joe Field: This takes guts.
Joe Field is the president of a trade association for comic retailers.
Field: This is a hugely bold move that I haven't seen in my 25 years in the business.
Field says the industry could use a revival. Sales have fallen nearly 10 percent from peak revenue of more than $700 million. But, for loyal readers, he says the move could be kryptonite.
Field: DC Comics has a lot of fans that really would be put off by a total starting over.
And Field says while TV shows and movies based on superheroes have brought in billions for Hollywood...
Field: Unfortunately the studios don't have tags on the end of the movies that say the next step for you is for you to go into your local comic shop.
Dave Pifer runs a local comic shop in Los Angeles called Secret Headquarters. It's no secret most of his customers are in their late 30s or 40s, and sales of comic books at stores like his have been declining steadily.
Dave Pifer: I think there's been kind of a lack of excitement, which is really hard to put a finger on because a lot of the comics are still so good.
They may be page-turners for older fans, but Pifer says newer fans have trouble getting into often long and convoluted storylines.
John Jackson Miller, who tracks the comic book industry, says there's one way to change that.
John Jackson Miller: Whenever you put an issue No. 1 on a cover, sales do go up dramatically.
Miller says a small relaunch in the '90s helped another comics publisher, Marvel, boost sales and eventually Hollywood's interest in the Iron Man series. Marvel has relaunched a few other titles as well. DC's move is much bigger.
DC co-publisher Jim Lee hopes the top-to-bottom makeover will inject energy into some of his lesser-known characters.
Lee: Some of the ones I'm excited about personally are like Aquaman. You know, Aquaman has never had a great look -- you know orange and green, probably not the most iconic color scheme out there. We tried to make him more royal, powerful and epic I guess.
DC's also planning aggressive releases of its comics digitally. And Lee expects sales to climb at least 15 percent -- the trouble will be keeping those sales growing.
Lee: Ultimately we have to show them really awesome storylines. No costume change is going to make a bad story a good story.
Now, if only they could come up with answer for why no one recognizes Clark Kent without his glasses.
I'm Jennifer Collins for Marketplace.
See more pictures from DC Comics' relaunched characters and let us know what you think of the changes. Read the blog post.
Holy lazy reporting, Batman!
This report was certainly a nice p.r. puff piece for DC Comics, but there are numerous issues that, had they been touched upon, might have made this a much more substantive story, particularly for a business news show.
Most significantly, the offhand reference to an aggressive digital plan is in actuality a major development in the industry. For years, comics publishers have been dipping their toes in the digital water, while still depending to a large extent on their weekly new release sales in comics specialty shops. DC's new plan is to release ALL their material in digital format on the same date as their print versions, with the price point for each issue dropping significantly thereafter. This has the potential to have mammoth repercussions on the hundreds of small business owners who have been supporting the the current comics business model for decades. I was surprised Mr. Field and Mr. Pifer did not have a comment on that.
Secondly, this relaunch is the first major initiative to come after DC moved the bulk of their management staff out of the publishing office in New York to the movie merchandising capital of Los Angeles. DC and their competitor Marvel have long profited more from their characters as i.p. licensing properties than from printed publications; how does this relaunch reflect that? Is it an attempt to reassert the primacy of the printed comics, or to transform them into material that is more readily adaptable into more profitable media?
Finally, there is much speculation that these changes have much to do with the ongoing legal attempts of the estates of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of Superman, to regain control (and profit) of the copyright of that character, and that 'relaunching' these characters transforms them into derivative products that will not be able to be claimed by their original creators.
Each one of these topics could have made for a much more interesting and substantive discussion than talk about Superman's shorts. And I'm just a guy who casually follows comics blogs, not a business reporter investigating a story.
