The real problem is that DC is desperate.
Under Dan Dido leadership DC comics has been getting their butt handed to them for years. It's all been gimmicky storylines that cross over into multiple titles and have 'galactic import'... and has driven readers away.
I don't pretend to know what Marvel is doing 'right' because I haven't read Marvel comics in years. On the surface it seems like they were doing a lot of the same thing with cross over storylines and shake ups of the status quo, but their sales are much better.
DC, accurate or not, still has the reputation of producing 'your father's comic book'. Being an old fart, that's okay with me on a lot of levels, but DC is desperate to capture a bigger share of the more desirable demographic... younger adolescent to adult males. Basically, the 13 to 18 year olds.
In my mind it seems a bit foolish to alienate those folks who have continued to buy your books for 30 to 40 to 50 years in order to grab onto a demographic that I'm not even sure knows how to read unless it's part of an Xbox, or PS3 instructional.
I've been a part of comic book fandom for a lot of years. I've been a part of the biggest comic book conventions in Minnesota for 23 years. I'll admit that I'm a bit old fashioned, but I'll give the 'new look' a try.
For me it's always been about the characters in the DC Universe that I liked. I like who these characters are, and I'm interested in seeing how they react to situtations. If those situations are to become radically different... okay, lets see what they do. But if the characters become radically different... then I'm gone.
On a side note, I'm so tired of hearing about how marriage or a committed relationship always leads to the destruction of a good relationship show or book. In my mind it's always been about the lazyiness and incompetance of the writers who have no clue what to do with a committed relationship. It is just easier to blow everything up than to come up with interesting ways for two people in love to move through life together.
I have to admit that DC comics have done a pathetic job with the marriage of Lois and Clark. Lois is barely a supporting character in any of the Superman books. Her android double actually had a larger part in the recent Lex Luthor as the primary arc in Action. If the new relaunch gives me 'more' Lois than that could be good, but I'm not holding my breath.
It's more likely that I'll get more of a Lois that I probably won't like.
Tank (who says he's thankful that he always has L&C fandom to fall back on)
