DC Universe relaunch in September 2011

[spid]

I am down to one book set in the regular DC Universe, and I had given serious thought to dropping that book. I will see how the pitches go to see if I add to that number goes up anyway. So far this is pretty meh news on its own.

[JohnMayo]

First they rolled out holding the line at 2.99. I for one was hoping this would double the sales or triple the sales and so far it has not.

Double or triple sales? Really? I was hopeful that it might halt the standard attrition on sales but consider even that overly optimistic.

[JohnMayo]

I am down to one book set in the regular DC Universe, and I had given serious thought to dropping that book. I will see how the pitches go to see if I add to that number goes up anyway. So far this is pretty meh news on its own.

While this might not change your buying habits, I'm surprised you see a completely line-wide relaunch of the DC Universe and day-and-date digital release as "meh news".

The second largest publisher of comics deciding to risk the sales on the main product line which accounts for the majority of its comic book sales with a major shake ups in the origins, backstory and status quo for most of the characters complete with new #1s and using that as a the launching of line-wide day-and-date digital release is huge news.

This tactic isn't going to work with all readers. It has the possibility of losing long time readers. It also has the possibility of hurting a lot of retailers how will be taking this risk along with DC. That in and of itself makes this big news to me.

[Paul Nolan]

Its very interesting that a part of the USA Today article (that was an internal link inside USA Today) has changed.

It said that "some characters won't come back", and that bit of the article has now disappeared

With a younger Batman and Superman, is it possible to have the entire history of Robin's?

Its going to be interesting to see how this pans out...

[mguy1977]

I have worries & fears on a Morrison on Superman. It could be All Star Superman awesome or RIP Batman/Final Crisis/Return of Bruce Wayne wackiness that turns me off from Batman all together.

Time will tell.

I am no fan of Jim Lee collars on the male superheroes or Wonder Woman in pants (sorry I just dont like it).

I could go to trades only if it has the potential of being great for DC with Fables & a Fables spinoff mini maybe??? Look I got monthly issues since '83 & heaven knows I am not going digital because DC may say you can do this but not that w/ the content you just bought. I want to OWN what I buy.

I will get 20-25 DC titles + Fables from Vertigo in September to try out the "new" DC idea. After that scale back in Oct., Nov., & Dec. to a more reasonable level.

I will be very interested with the Previews news related to DC Comics on June 13th.

Issues vs trades it is a inner struggle within me.

Confused but optimistic DC Comics Fan here.

Matthew

[spid]

I am down to one book set in the regular DC Universe, and I had given serious thought to dropping that book. I will see how the pitches go to see if I add to that number goes up anyway. So far this is pretty meh news on its own.

While this might not change your buying habits, I'm surprised you see a completely line-wide relaunch of the DC Universe and day-and-date digital release as "meh news".

The second largest publisher of comics deciding to risk the sales on the main product line which accounts for the majority of its comic book sales with a major shake ups in the origins, backstory and status quo for most of the characters complete with new #1s and using that as a the launching of line-wide day-and-date digital release is huge news.

This tactic isn't going to work with all readers. It has the possibility of losing long time readers. It also has the possibility of hurting a lot of retailers how will be taking this risk along with DC. That in and of itself makes this big news to me.

It is "meh news" because we know nothing beyond there will be a bunch of number 1s and another relaunch. There is nothing I see to hang your hat on besides speculation. I like speculating, but I like to have a little something more concrete to talk about before I start to get too concerned.

So far the only difference between this news and the One Year Later stuff is the number of "1's" being launched. We do not know anything beyond that. Once we get something more than this I think it will move beyond the "meh" status.

[Wood]

The Day & Date Digital plan is bold, but it will only succeed if they stop charging print prices for digital comics. I, for one, refuse to pay $2.99 - $3.99 for a license to a digital file when I can pay the same price for something that I OWN. Heck, I refuse to pay $3.99 for a print comic.

Absolutely. The price point for the digital comics can serve as an IQ test for the DC Marketing Dept.

If it's $2.99, they are morons.

If it's $1.99 then they are of average intelligence

If it's 99 cents, then they are geniuses.

I don't agree with this at all Bob. I think they need to make day and date $2.99, same as the print cover price, so as not to completely undermine their direct market retailers at the outset. Over the course of a month or two after release, drop the price down to $1.99 or $0.99 and then we're off to the races.

[GABE!]

I think this is a great step for DC. Restarting the books at #1 will put all the readers on common ground. People can not start reading any DC book they want, since they're all #1's.

Then in a year people will start saying " I don't want to start reading a comic in the middle I want start from the beginning" again.

Personally, I'll choice the titles that have my favorite characters, and books with creative teams I enjoy. Just as I did with Flashpoint titles.

I know that Jonah Hex isn't DCU, but I hope that book survives the reboot.

[BobBretall]

I don't agree with this at all Bob. I think they need to make day and date $2.99, same as the print cover price, so as not to completely undermine their direct market retailers at the outset. Over the course of a month or two after release, drop the price down to $1.99 or $0.99 and then we're off to the races.

I think the amount that lower price on digital would undermine print sales is vastly over-rated.

Sure, there are some people that are just waiting to jump ship to digital. Guess what? They'll do it eventually anyway. Trying to delay the migration of people who WANT digital by keeping the digital price high to keep them on print? Just do it. Shake out the people who want digital from the comics shops. Get them onto digital.

Put extra sketches & production notes (like DVD extras) into the print comics to make them something special for those people. Let people who just want the story get the digital cheap.

The reason I think digital HAS to be cheap is that I think it's the only way to break out and grow the audience beyond the very small niche community buying comics today.

99 cents allows a digital comic to be an impulse purchase.

$2.99 allows a digital comic to be perceived as way too expensive for any new readers to give them a try.

--------------------
On the topic of digital getting cheaper over time:
Having $2.99 day&date, $1.99 2 weeks later, and 99 cents 1 month (or 2) after release would drive current comic shop readers who want digital to (mostly) shift their digital reading to just get it a month after release. Heck, I wait a week to get my physical comics to take advantage of the DCBS discount. If I could get them for 99 cents in a monthly box, I sure would.

I don't know how many people would pay a lot more to get them NOW if they knew for a certainty that they would be cheaper in a month.

I'd like to see something that removes the pricing barrier for new readers that digital gets you potential access to.

Use print comics (with some added DVD extras) as the engine to recoup production costs. Use 99 cent digital sales as a long-term revenue stream.

[Trev]

I am down to one book set in the regular DC Universe, and I had given serious thought to dropping that book. I will see how the pitches go to see if I add to that number goes up anyway. So far this is pretty meh news on its own.

While this might not change your buying habits, I'm surprised you see a completely line-wide relaunch of the DC Universe and day-and-date digital release as "meh news".

The second largest publisher of comics deciding to risk the sales on the main product line which accounts for the majority of its comic book sales with a major shake ups in the origins, backstory and status quo for most of the characters complete with new #1s and using that as a the launching of line-wide day-and-date digital release is huge news.

This tactic isn't going to work with all readers. It has the possibility of losing long time readers. It also has the possibility of hurting a lot of retailers how will be taking this risk along with DC. That in and of itself makes this big news to me.

I agree. Whether you follow DC or not, it's hard not to see this as a fairly big news item within comics -- for the digital announcement if nothing else.

[Frank]

I haven't bought any single issue comics since the 1950's, although after discovering this podcast and site a few years ago I have purchased some trades (and keep up by following the reviews)... I have seen photo's of peoples collections and they look terrific, but I just don't have the room (or a spouse that will let me make the room) for something like that... I have been waiting for digital... it makes a ton of sense for me. I live in the country and don't really have a close retailer.

I was wondering when the big publishers would realize that the comic book shops distribution was just not enough to grow readership enough to survive. I mean you need to go to a special store for comics, they aren't in every corner convience store... So you lose people seeing an issue trying it and maybe liking it enough to continue. With bookstores also in decline, I knew they had to do something it was only a matter of when. I will be interested in the details.

I will admit that the business model of the industry seems strange to me. The sales levels are modest, yet the number of titles per month is staggering. So much that even the most ardent fan of comics has to carefully pick and choose. I would have thought that when sales were down, the industry would try less titles and try to build volume that way.

I am sure that eventually the industry will end up with a business model that works for them, hopefully there will be few (or none) false steps along the way.

[Frank]

Why not have some sort of one-time use code in the paper comics that allows you to get the digital version since you own the paper copy anyway. You can access it for your account... or download it once ... something like that. (Like when you buy a DVD that has a digital version included)

[Wood]

I don't agree with this at all Bob. I think they need to make day and date $2.99, same as the print cover price, so as not to completely undermine their direct market retailers at the outset. Over the course of a month or two after release, drop the price down to $1.99 or $0.99 and then we're off to the races.

I think the amount that lower price on digital would undermine print sales is vastly over-rated.

Sure, there are some people that are just waiting to jump ship to digital. Guess what? They'll do it eventually anyway. Trying to delay the migration of people who WANT digital by keeping the digital price high to keep them on print? Just do it. Shake out the people who want digital from the comics shops. Get them onto digital.

Put extra sketches & production notes (like DVD extras) into the print comics to make them something special for those people. Let people who just want the story get the digital cheap.

The reason I think digital HAS to be cheap is that I think it's the only way to break out and grow the audience beyond the very small niche community buying comics today.

99 cents allows a digital comic to be an impulse purchase.

$2.99 allows a digital comic to be perceived as way too expensive for any new readers to give them a try.

--------------------
On the topic of digital getting cheaper over time:
Having $2.99 day&date, $1.99 2 weeks later, and 99 cents 1 month (or 2) after release would drive current comic shop readers who want digital to (mostly) shift their digital reading to just get it a month after release. Heck, I wait a week to get my physical comics to take advantage of the DCBS discount. If I could get them for 99 cents in a monthly box, I sure would.

I don't know how many people would pay a lot more to get them NOW if they knew for a certainty that they would be cheaper in a month.

I'd like to see something that removes the pricing barrier for new readers that digital gets you potential access to.

Use print comics (with some added DVD extras) as the engine to recoup production costs. Use 99 cent digital sales as a long-term revenue stream.

As you know, working for a big technology company, there are ways to facilitate change. The kind of thing we're talking about is disruptive no matter what, but DC knows that there's a difference between immediately destroying the DM, and setting themselves up to be OK when the DM eventually goes under. Take a pulse of the retailers today and you'll see a range of anger, uncertainty and fear. And that's with the likelihood that their hands are going to be held and told that digital will be "the same as" print, which DM owners will rationalize and say, "OK, well I would rather have a print copy if they cost the same, and so will my customers...this isn't as bad as I feared."

If DC charges significantly less for digital at the outset, they risk chaos. They don't want chaos.

[BobBretall]

As you know, working for a big technology company, there are ways to facilitate change. The kind of thing we're talking about is disruptive no matter what, but DC knows that there's a difference between immediately destroying the DM, and setting themselves up to be OK when the DM eventually goes under. Take a pulse of the retailers today and you'll see a range of anger, uncertainty and fear. And that's with the likelihood that their hands are going to be held and told that digital will be "the same as" print, which DM owners will rationalize and say, "OK, well I would rather have a print copy if they cost the same, and so will my customers...this isn't as bad as I feared."

If DC charges significantly less for digital at the outset, they risk chaos. They don't want chaos.

I can see your point (though I disagree with the concept that cheaper digital would "immediately destroy the direct market"). DC is 33% of the market & people in that 33% who would rush to Digital are in all likelihood less than 50% of that (maybe 10%, 15% of the market, tops).

Having $2.99 digital would facilitate moving existing customers who are "digital whiners" to digital but would do zero for growing market share.

If they ever want to leverage digital to grow their readership, prices will need to come down.

[HipHopHead]

This move MAY bring me back to the DC Universe, at least for the first issue of some titles. It may provide new readers of comics the opportunity to jump in without having to know ALL of the history (in some cases: convuluted).

As a long time reader of comics, I always wanted to be there in the beginning of a good comic universe (which is why I was fan of the early Valiant).

Will they be "holding the line" at 52? Is 52 titles streamling?

How will the same day digital release affect retailers? Will the consumers which will buy the digiital double dip and buy the printed material? I am guessing the customer will not and this will have an effect on the retailers.

Will Flashpoint be defined as the birth of "digital age", in similiar fashion to Showcase #4 being defined as the birth of "silver age".