Direct Current 2.0

Week of August 18, 2013

Something not so funny happened on the way to reading my comics.

By Jim Durdan

His is an opinion piece, and as such it is MY opinion, not Sean’s, not Jim’s, mine. Some of you are going to read this and probably not be happy with me, others are going to read and say who cares. Hopefully one of you will read this and say, your right.  If the hobby we are passionate about is to grow and survive deep into this century and the next, we NEED to re-evaluate why young readers aren’t attracted to comics. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Captain America, The Hulk and a whole encyclopedia of others are the modern equivalent to the tales of Homer; they are our Iliad and Beowulf.  If people 100 years from now still care about them as we do today, we need to make sure that others that come after us love them as we do. Right now that is doubtful………….

When I was a kid nothing would irk me as much as my Dad calling my comics, funny books. I was never sure if he was deriding my interest in them, or if he really called them funny books. It was only later in life, that I realized that when my dad was a young child, there were no “comic” books as we know them today, (Dad was born in 1917), but that era’s equivalent to our comics was indeed funny books. They were magazines that simply reprinted the “funny” pages of newspapers, therefore funny books. I am sure there are those today who cringe when we call them Comic Books, the new, stylish term is Graphic Novel.  But be they “Funny Books”. “Comic Books” or “Graphic Novels” they are a unique American art form that has survived for almost 100 years. However, unless things begin to change, at least somewhat, the longevity of Comics as a story telling form has to be in question.

In the mid to late 30’s the modern comic was born, featuring new materiel, which lead to the rise of the modern superhero books.  But somewhere since then, something has gone wrong, very wrong.  Comics of yore clear cut, with no grey. Right always won, and we always knew who was right. There was never a question as to if Superman or Batman were wrong. It just wasn’t going to happen.

Continue reading Direct Current 2.0 Week of August 18th, 2013 →

Direct Current 2.0

Week of August 10, 2013

Where the author comes back from the missing and talks about a Fox.

By Jim Durdan

So something funny happened on the way to the creation of this column, I got a new job. Sometimes things are just meant to happen and this was one of those times. I was called in for an interview on a Monday, and by 5 PM on that Tuesday I had a new job in an industry I have worked in and loved. I am currently an assistant director at a large publishing company that specializes in trade publications, indeed I am now working on the largest trade publication of its kind in the US.

Because of my suddenly found and renewed career I found myself with way too much to do this week and not enough time to do it. So, unfortunately, the column was pushed back till this weekend.  In the future Direct Currents 2.0 will be moving from a Tuesday publication date to a Saturday/Sunday date. This will also allow me to take a look at what was published during the week and comment on it. So, that you for the patience, and a huge thank you to Sean and Jim for understating about the lateness of the project.  Saluda to all of you!

One of the reasons I wanted to do a weekly gig involving DC Comics was that on occasion I wanted to take a look back at the past and help “flesh out” some of the creative genius that has gone before the modern era.  But, and this was very important to me, I didn’t want to do the usual articles that pop up all the time talking about Siegel and Shuster or Bob Kane, or Jack “The King” Kirby, I wanted to take a look at some of the creative forces that have so shaped the modern era, but have, by and large, been forgotten by modern fans.  This article is the first of those that will look back and throw a spotlight and forgotten genius.

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Direct Current 2.0

Week of July 31, 2013

DC Comics at 100, you are looking great for your age!

By Jim Durdan

OK, before anyone gets to irate and begins to protest that DC Comics is only 75 years old, I already know that. The 100 I mention is that this is the 100^th week for the New 52. 23 months ago DC launched its experiment in rebooting the whole line.

With the release this week of Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox I thought it would be a good time to take a look back over the last two years and see how things have shaped up, where they may be going, and where there might be some room for improvement.

I think most people agree that DC did this to bolster sales. While DC and Marvel constitute the big 2, DC is always the 2 in that statement.  For example in July 2011, the last month before the reboot Marvel had a market share of 39.43% as opposed to DC’s 30.55%. (http://www.newsarama.com/8145-no-dcnu-effect-in-july-2011-sales-spider-island-rules.html) Historically this is on par for the differences between the two companies over the last decade plus.

If you jump ahead to October 2011, a full month into the launch of the new 52, something remarkable happened.  DC had 42.47% of the market to Marvels 29.1%. That is a huge shift. Within 2 months DC collapsed Marvels share of the market by 5o%. (http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/11/04/dc-smashes-marvel-marketshare-in-october-taking-51-of-sales/) It would seem that the relaunch was a great success at least in the short term. But now we are two years down the road, what do the numbers look like now?

In June of this year, which is the latest numbers we have available, DC’s share of the market is 32.03% while Marvels is 38.09% So the effect of the New 52 revamp is still there, but it is much smaller than it used to be. DC is selling more books than it did pre 52, but nowhere near the numbers October 2011. Why? There are a myriad of reasons. The most important being that a lot of people bought into the hype of the 52 launch, people who hadn’t read comics in years came back and bought the first few issues, and then they lapsed, and walked away again.  Another reason, and one that is hard to determine the qualitative effect of, is the unevenness of some of the titles. There is no doubt that the creative teams on Action, Superman, Detective and Batman brought their “A” games. The same cannot be said for other titles. I have said in the past that I will not be a force of negativity on the internet, there is way to much of that as it is, but sometimes you just have to call it like you see it. Some of the relaunched titles were just not very well thought out.

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