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DC's Dan DiDio Out as Co-Publisher
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105 posts in this topic

26 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

If were going down the rabbit hole anyway, there was this :foryou: 

https://cosmicbook.news/marvel-taking-over-dc-comics?fbclid=IwAR3j5uYqI08fAbPxnH2QekGWPgeWErHH3vAe80KM4qRx8vHqLWTrJNb53lw

Home » Comic Book NewsMARVEL RUMORED TO TAKE OVER DC COMICS
Matt McGloinPosted: 02/23/2020 - 21:5758 Comments
 

A big rumor has hit the net that in the wake of AT&T firing Dan DiDio, that Marvel and Kevin Feige may take over DC Comics.It's claimed that AT&T wasn't happy at all with Dan DiDio's latest attempt at rebooting DC Comics with the upcoming "5G" event, aka the "fifth generation" reboot of DC, which would have seen classic characters replaced with a "contemporary" take on the characters.It's said that Dan DiDio butted heads with Batman writer Scott Snyder over the 5G reboot, as Snyder didn't want his comics involved with the event, which caused problems at DC.So Friday saw DiDio called into the AT&T/Warner Bros. offices where he was fired and let go from DC Comics, which saw DiDio exit the grounds immediately.It's claimed that AT&T doesn't want to do the 5G reboot as they have too much as stake with the classic characters involved with the movies and television shows and the various merchandise products (divisions which do make money, as DC Comics sales have been rather poor).It's said AT&T is considering using Hollywood movie and TV writers on the DC comics - writers who already have a proven track record - instead of comic book writers. An example would be James Gunn writing a comic (directing The Suicide Squad), Greg Berlanti returning to write for comics (Arrowverse writer, producer) or now since J.J. Abrams is with WarnerMedia, Abrams could write comics, such as how Abrams recently wrote Spider-Man with his son for Marvel that was a big success.So having the new 5G comic book characters (such as a black Batman) wouldn't fit with a Robert Pattinson Batman on the big screen and all the marketing and promotion involved, toys, etc. (I'll also add that Marvel Comics tried a similar approach with their "Marvel Now" event that saw classic characters replaced which failed miserably.)

AT&T considering licensing DC Comics to Marvel It is claimed that what AT&T is also contemplating, is getting out of the publishing side of things altogether and farming DC Comics out, possibly to Marvel (note: Ethan Van Sciver said AT&T will close down DC Comics if 5G fails). It's said AT&T doesn't want to sell DC Comics because they see the value in the various intellectual properties (i.e. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman).The Lords of the Long Box YouTube channel does note that the rumor of Marvel taking over DC Comics might be just something thrown out there by AT&T and Warners in order to see the fan reaction, but at the same time notes that instead of having no DC comics published, wouldn't it be better to have Marvel take over and publish the DC comics and characters?The YouTubers even go so far and state that as part of the deal, it could mean that Kevin Feige (who recently became in charge of Marvel publishing) may develop some of the DC characters into movies, or even bring some of the characters into the MCU, such as through the Multiverse.While this all might sound like a stretch, Disney and Sony have come to a deal over using Spider-Man in the MCU, so why not AT&T licensing out their DC characters, especially if AT&T has no interest in publishing?Interestingly enough, just this December saw Geoff Johns tease a DC and Marvel crossover in the last issue of Doomsday Clock. Perhaps Johns' "Doomsday Clock" was also counting down to the doom of DC?

You see a fine girl sittin in your row, she's dressed in yellow, you say Hello! Come sit next to me you fine fellow, you know what comes next? Yo Bust a move!

Edited by ADAMANTIUM
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4 minutes ago, ygogolak said:

So this is all over Ethan's "speculation"?
AT&T / Warner Global won't close DC Entertainment, they will sell it. Why would you just abandoned something that has obvious value?

I agree someone will try to make DC profitable again but if DC can't do it them why would anyone else make it work.  I guess Marvel could come in and give DC a Marvel flavor but is Marvel doing that well at selling new comics right now? 

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Just now, 1Cool said:

I agree someone will try to make DC profitable again but if DC can't do it them why would anyone else make it work.  I guess Marvel could come in and give DC a Marvel flavor but is Marvel doing that well at selling new comics right now? 

Was it said somewhere from AT&T / Warner that it was not making money? They MAY try to get rid of it because it's not making enough profits. Look at all the companies under the AT&T umbrella now. It's crazy.

Look at a company like Smuckers that is close to us. Their biggest profits right now are on dog food, not jelly.

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No idea if these rumors are true (and don't trust EVS at all) but it's obvious that even if AT&T shutters DC publishing, they will license the characters out SOMEWHERE. As long as there are print comics being made in the world, there will be a Batman book on the stands. The money may not be worth it to AT&T, but it's definitely worth it to someone. Marvel? Eh, maybe. I'd like to see what IDW or Dark Horse could do with it.

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32 minutes ago, ygogolak said:

Was it said somewhere from AT&T / Warner that it was not making money? They MAY try to get rid of it because it's not making enough profits. Look at all the companies under the AT&T umbrella now. It's crazy.

Look at a company like Smuckers that is close to us. Their biggest profits right now are on dog food, not jelly.

I couldn't find a direct quote about the profits from DC comics but I guess I've heard it mentioned a few times over the last time here on the boards and elsewhere that ATT was losing money producing DC comics.  We know DC comics must not be that profitable for us to even be talking about it (nobody has seriously discussed Marvel closing down their comic selling so to me they must be making money). 

If DC as a comic book company goes belly up you don't see that as a negative (regardless if the characters get licensed out)?  Marvel was in the same boat and barely survived when they sold off Spidey and FF4 but I also think it was a different time in terms of printed publications back then.

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4 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

I couldn't find a direct quote about the profits from DC comics but I guess I've heard it mentioned a few times over the last time here on the boards and elsewhere that ATT was losing money producing DC comics.  We know DC comics must not be that profitable for us to even be talking about it (nobody has seriously discussed Marvel closing down their comic selling so to me they must be making money). 

If DC as a comic book company goes belly up you don't see that as a negative (regardless if the characters get licensed out)?  Marvel was in the same boat and barely survived when they sold off Spidey and FF4 but I also think it was a different time in terms of printed publications back then.

It's also said a lot that Marvel is losing money on comics. Yet there isn't proof of that. They both probably make more on merchandise of the characters.

Edited by ygogolak
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4 minutes ago, ygogolak said:

It's also said a lot that Marvel is losing money on comics. Yet there isn't proof of that.

True - there is a ton of speculation floating around with no hard facts.  But we do know a Exec at DC is saying DC will close down if the recent changes don't help sell books.  Was he joking?  I'm not sure but I do know when there is smoke coming from all directions then there is usually fire.

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22 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

If DC as a comic book company goes belly up you don't see that as a negative (regardless if the characters get licensed out)?  Marvel was in the same boat and barely survived when they sold off Spidey and FF4 but I also think it was a different time in terms of printed publications back then.

If they are losing money on their comics division that would mean very few people are buying the comics as it is right now.  Which hasn't seemed to affect the prices of back issue comics much. And, as I stated earlier, if the prices correct a bit on back issue comics it doesn't hurt me any since I'm all on the buying end of the equation and not at all on the selling end of the equation.  

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1 hour ago, ygogolak said:

It's also said a lot that Marvel is losing money on comics. Yet there isn't proof of that. They both probably make more on merchandise of the characters.

I think it has been forever that Marvel or DC have made money on the retail sale of comics. Merchandising/licensing is huge and cannot be overstated in my opinion. 

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49 minutes ago, thunsicker said:

If they are losing money on their comics division that would mean very few people are buying the comics as it is right now.  Which hasn't seemed to affect the prices of back issue comics much. And, as I stated earlier, if the prices correct a bit on back issue comics it doesn't hurt me any since I'm all on the buying end of the equation and not at all on the selling end of the equation.  

Comics, much like network television used to be paid for by advertising. When a single issue of Spider-Man had a distribution of 300k-1 million copies monthly they were able to command high advertising dollars. With the advent of direct market distribution model comics over time became even more niche and the distribution numbers have tanked to what they are now.. For DC if not having a parent company like Time/Warner would be defunct years ago in my opinion. Their overhead is crazy. Their offices used to overlook the Ed Sullivan theater (Last time I was there was 97) with marble floors in their reception area where the chairs were literally art pieces namely Shiro Kuramata's "How high the moon." Marvel is not much different with their Park Avenue south address. 

I only think they were kept around for creating IP but that isn't even as happening like it used to. Any of the top tier artists/writers would rather create their own characters and keep ownership. Image was formed on this basis. 

I don't know if the rumor is true or not but it would not surprise me if they go to a licensing model for their comics. 

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Imagine a golden aged sized, newsprint anthology DC book with 3 different character stories.  22 pages character and the rest ads.  Sold on newsstands everywhere for $1, maybe $2 per copy.  How much fun would that be?  And could they make up the money with volume at that point?

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5 minutes ago, SpeakUpSonny said:
5 hours ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

(note: Ethan Van Sciver said AT&T will close down DC Comics if 5G fails)

Why would anyone listen to a POS like Ethan Van Sciver? 

It's a rabbit hole indeed!

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2 minutes ago, SpeakUpSonny said:

Sounds like the mattress stores: "If we can't beat a competitor's price, you get it free!" Guess what, you're never going to get it for free. Why would they give it away for free when they can get at least the competitor's price for it?

What about the window guys running the year-round special "BOGO". That's awfully nice of them.

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"It's claimed that AT&T wasn't happy at all with Dan DiDio's latest attempt at rebooting DC Comics with the upcoming "5G" event, aka the "fifth generation" reboot of DC, which would have seen classic characters replaced with a "contemporary" take on the characters."

Because that worked really well when Marvel went the 'contemporary' route.  (:

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If this is true, I would think it means exec's think they can maintain the significance of the DC universe IP without the high-overhead comics publishing business. 

I don't think the characters go away from pop culture if the big 2 stop printing. 

An interesting related question: what would happen to Diamond? And could independents seize the opportunity to break the distribution stranglehold and find a viable means of widespread distribution? Could a new-book industry crash lead eventually to a renaissance? 

Edited by Readcomix
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8 hours ago, F For Fake said:

No idea if these rumors are true (and don't trust EVS at all) but it's obvious that even if AT&T shutters DC publishing, they will license the characters out SOMEWHERE. As long as there are print comics being made in the world, there will be a Batman book on the stands. The money may not be worth it to AT&T, but it's definitely worth it to someone. Marvel? Eh, maybe. I'd like to see what IDW or Dark Horse could do with it.

Dark Horse did well with Star Wars and Conan, I'm sure they would do justice to Bats.

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49 minutes ago, Mr Sneeze said:

Dark Horse did well with Star Wars and Conan, I'm sure they would do justice to Bats.

Yes, exactly! DH has a stellar history with licensed properties, I'd love to see what they could do. I don't think any of this is actually going to come to pass, but it's fun to think about.

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