Robin, Nightwing, and Birds of Prey to end in February

Fevernova · Post by **Fevernova** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 1:02 pm

Newsarama recently posted an article detailing the cancellation of these books:

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/110804- ... tions.html

I am very surprised at this turn of events as Robin and Nightwing are selling relatively well at around 50,000 copies. With Final Crisis and RIP coming to an end it looks like DC is keeping their promise to shake up the DC Universe. This news hits me hard as I just recently got back into comics and Nightwing and Robin were two of the first books I picked up. John I knew you had recently put Birds of Prey on your top 10 list, so I would be interested in your reactions to this news.

Post by **JohnMayo** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 1:09 pm

Yeah, Wood mentioned the cancellations yesterday on the Weekly Comics Spotlight #063 thread.

Basically, I think it is a bad move for DC to cancel long running titles like these. No doubt this is just the first part of a change in line up for the Batman family of titles and there is a plan in place here. there are so few titles around these days that have lasted for almost a decade that I hate to see any of them end.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 5:03 pm

Well, there are 3 DC books I was buying that I won't be buying any more.....

I may not be replacing them with 3 new DC books, so just from my own personal collection, DC may end up at a net loss of readership......

Fevernova · Post by **Fevernova** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:04 pm

The chance of new books coming in to fill the gap is high. But I wouldn't put it past DC just reboot the books back to #1 to pull in new readers. We have yet to see the fate of Batman so I guess anything is possible at this point.

HassanT · Post by **HassanT** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:15 pm

I saw this and was disappointed. First of all, Birds of Prey hasn't really been part of the Batman Family of titles for a long-time. Second, like others have mentioned, I like long-runs on titles. I think it gives the title some sense of history. I so very disappointed by this move. . I thought Robin has been average for a bit, but I really think this the best Nightwing run I ever read. Besides, sales on Nightwing and Robin have been pretty good for a DC title.

I feel that DC is pulling a "Marvel" type play with this. This won't prevent me from getting or trying the new titles since I am big Batman family fan.

Unknown Fanboy · Post by **Unknown Fanboy** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 8:01 am

Going to miss the titles.

Been reading Robin and Nightwing since the beginning. For awhile there I thougth Robin was going to be a short run but both titles exceded my expectations

BoP I have from about 80 to current with a few issues before for that, mainly the ones that crossed over with Bruce Wayne: Murderer and the Hunt for Oracle.

Hope they return in some fashion ...but if not less comics to buy

Post by **JohnMayo** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:13 am

Fevernova wrote:The chance of new books coming in to fill the gap is high. But I wouldn't put it past DC just reboot the books back to #1 to pull in new readers. We have yet to see the fate of Batman so I guess anything is possible at this point.

I hope they don't just reboot the books. That would annoy me. I'll still get them but DC will have burnt off a bit of my goodwill towards them. If they do that often enough, sooner or later I will stop buying things.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:21 am

johnmayo wrote: I hope they don't just reboot the books. That would annoy me. I'll still get them but DC will have burnt off a bit of my goodwill towards them. If they do that often enough, sooner or later I will stop buying things.

You just got to the core of DC's problem with me.

They totally exhausted their bank of Goodwill with me sometime during Countdown, and I am already in the "stop buying things from them" phase (as you have seen).

I'm waiting to see them do anything I could construe as building the goodwill account back up......

HassanT · Post by **HassanT** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 6:36 pm

JLAFan wrote:
johnmayo wrote: I hope they don't just reboot the books. That would annoy me. I'll still get them but DC will have burnt off a bit of my goodwill towards them. If they do that often enough, sooner or later I will stop buying things.
You just got to the core of DC's problem with me.

They totally exhausted their bank of Goodwill with me sometime during Countdown, and I am already in the "stop buying things from them" phase (as you have seen).

I'm waiting to see them do anything I could construe as building the goodwill account back up......

You have a good point Bob. If I have any problems with Marvel, it is more on the business side, but I really don't have any major problems with Marvel for awhile. However, with DC, I feel that they have major creative problems. Unless it is a book that is linked to Geoff Johns or Grant Morrison, it is average at best. The goodwill is pretty much gone with me and it isn't just because of Countdown. How about that Flash relaunch? How about that Wonder Woman relaunch? How about that Outsiders relaunch? DC really doesn't know how to relaunch or even launch a title anymore. I was not shocked about the low sales of the first issue of Secret Six. Marvel, on the other hand, knows how to launch and relaunch a title.

I am still getting quite a few DC titles, but some of them I am getting because of the history that I have with the characters and books. I think the stories are good (if they were bad, I wouldn't be getting them), but I am not excited about the books. Meanwhile with Marvel books, I am pretty much excited about the whole line.

Hassan

HassanT · Post by **HassanT** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 11:38 am

Here is a crazy theory. Do you think DC might go the Amazing Spider-man route for Batman and Family? I am trying to think why would DC cancel both Robin and Nightwing, just to relaunch them? Maybe they do a almost-weekly book which stars Batman and his partners.

Honestly, I think this would be a bad idea and this theory is not based on any facts.

Post by **JohnMayo** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 11:40 am

HassanT wrote:Here is a crazy theory. Do you think DC might go the Amazing Spider-man route for Batman and Family? I am trying to think why would DC cancel both Robin and Nightwing, just to relaunch them? Maybe they do a almost-weekly book which stars Batman and his partners.

Honestly, I think this would be a bad idea and this theory is not based on any facts.

Possibly for the second tier books but I can't imagine them doing it with any of the classic titles like Batman, Detective Comics, Superman, Action Comics, etc.

Terry · Post by **Terry** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 8:28 am

I haven't read any of those recently. I enjoyed Birds of Prey when Gail Simone was on the title. I like the idea of an all-female team, hopefully they can relaunch it succesfully. But the Wonder Woman debacle does not inspire faith does it?

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:42 am

Terry wrote:I haven't read any of those recently. I enjoyed Birds of Prey when Gail Simone was on the title. I like the idea of an all-female team, hopefully they can relaunch it succesfully. But the Wonder Woman debacle does not inspire faith does it?

I have definitely not been enjoying Gail's WW run as much as her BoP work...

Post by **JohnMayo** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:46 am

It is sounding like they are going to replace the titles with a Red Robin series, a Robin and Batman series and possibly a series featuring Catwoman and Harley according to Lying in the Gutters.

Koete · Post by **Koete** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:01 pm

DC has dropped the ax on Blue Beetle as well.

One of the books that I'm most disappointed about in that regard is a book like Blue Beetle, which we are cancelling. That's a book that we started with very high expectations, but it lost its audience along the way. Recently, we felt that it was standing on firmer ground, and was getting a more positive response. The problem is that the firmer ground and positive response is not enough to keep the book afloat. So unfortunately, we had to cancel that series.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/110812-Didio2.html