5 Things The Comics Industry Needs To Do To Survive

[@SparrowAaron]

All right, Wes… you’ve convinced me. I’ll take over at Marvel and/or DC.

[@Improbi]

Marvel & DC is ruined. Unsalvageable. Time for the Sparrowverse to take over.

[@ComicBookMuscle]

You’re going to need help. Where do I apply?

[@nooctip]

Sorry you can only have one. The other is mine. Choose the one you want in second place my esteemed competion.

[@secretalias5996]

I think you're capable and willing to do the job --- the problem would come in when they proposed the salary, I would guess --- unless you're just going to do it 'for the good of the medium'... because neither company pays editors worth a shit!

[@SparrowAaron]

@@nooctip Let’s talk company crossovers

[@joshuaingobo1559]

0:00 Intro 2:04 1. Leadership and Editorial Overhaul 6:18 2. S**t or Get Off the Pot On Floppy Comic Books 9:32 3. Stop Treating Comics As Collectibles 12:15 4. Incentivize the Best Creators to Come to Your Company, and Once They’re There, You Actually Stay There For a While 16:32 5. Get Back to Canon and Continuity 19:27 Outro

[@originalkmiller]

I think you can blame the lack of continuity on Bendis, as well. He said that continuity tied the best writer to the lame stories of the worst writer. Don't like a story? Just retcon it or ignore it. Tell the story you want to. I think the editors should have stopped that attitude, but since none of them seem to know the continuity (or care) these days, it just gets broken.

[@DarthDread-oh2ne]

Stop hiring these weirdos who know nothing about these characters.

[@nomen-l7r]

There cultist not weirdos let's not mess label

[@rotimigbadebo9609]

preach!

[@georgev7982]

@@nomen-l7rone unbbbj bc. oo n

[@georgev7982]

@@nomen-l7r

[@georgev7982]

c😅 bc lof

[@mathewsydney8929]

Your analysis is spot-on. I've been an X-Men fan since I was a kid in the 1980s and I'm so disgusted with what they've done with the characters with the Krakoa mess that I decided to just right my own fanfic comic scripts... There's a way to respect the characters, respect the fans, respect the IP and tell great stories... I think the current crew of editors and writers A) aren't *really* die-hard fans of these properties and B) have forgotten that who their audience is... I feel like they're catering to demographics that don't buy or read comic books anyway. ...the good news as that, as a writer, my rage at Marvel has cured my post-pandemic writer's block! Now I'm on fire, LOL!

[@mikem3543]

Straight up. Hire editors with the balls to say no to stories that EVERYONE knows will fail. That’s it. Huge step. Lol, just heard Wes explain that the editors are the ones coming up with the story!! Oh, my, the rot runs DEEP.

[@christopherbyrdakaSuperman]

If youhad two choicesof who would you hire to write the nextX-men arc, which would you choose, Gail Simone, or Zeb Wells, just asking to see who's better, who's worse?

[@meldyer4718]

YES and more yes on my yes, please.

[@gojira5425]

1. Cut the monthly books down to 5-6 core characters or titles. 2. Hire writers based on ability not Diversity. 3. Create for the purpose to entertain your audience not collectibility. 4. Entertain the idea that great stories can come from unlikely sources such as non professional writers. 5. Stop changing writer/artist creative mid story.

[@Spongemonkey26]

I'd argue no female should be writing super hero action oriented comics. We want action between heroes and villains, not slice of life baloney.

[@davekolan862]

Stop watering down the characters with variations. Hell there's like 3 or 4 Moon Knights running around now

[@QuorkEx]

Where are the future generations of comic book fans coming from? I started reading superhero comics in 1971, at a very young age. Batman and superman comics, despite being in court, were very much affordable. I could buy them with my pocket money and I only had to travel 5 minutes to my local news agent to get a wealth of DC comics on the racks. If I were that age again, I would have to travel into town and play an absolute fortune, relatively speaking, for just one comic. Comic books need to be affordable, easily accessible to the customer and, most of all, fun.

[@MichaelBoogerd]

our jump on point in the 70s or 80s were the comics themselves... the jumping on point in the early 90s were the largely successful animated series' comic book adaptations - Xmen, Spiderman, Batman TAS... and serial TV (lois & clark) etc... watching those shows, you'd have a taste for more and get into collecting comics. For future generation I suppose the same could be said of the movie franchises... that's the new entry point, not the comic on the magazine rack in the supermarket... however any new readers coming from the movies to the comic books - i'd struggle to think they have anything to keep them invested (as completionists)

[@TheGuyInTheCheapSeats]

It's mystifying that Jim Lee is still in charge at DC. Anyone who remembers when he ran Wildstorm remembers just how aimless a lot of those comics were. Sure, good books did happen, but they seemed more like by accident than design.

[@RandomAccessDreams]

It genuinely seems like they made Jim Lee President of DC just so he would remain exclusive to them and couldn't do work for Marvel. He doesn't seem particularly interested making any kind of creative or executive decision about anything. Hell, James Gunn was the one that chose to go back to the classic "Bullet" DC logo, and Jim Lee just shrugged and said "Okay", when he was in the very position that COULD HAVE made that decision a decade ago.

[@nemostrangesonginthedirt8448]

1. Quality writing 2.Connecting with old and product buying readers 3. Have a standard that resonates with the higher quantity buyers. When was the last time we saw over a million copies for 5 issues each in a run? 4. Listen to the customers 5. Help each other become better. Remember when the top 2 competed to write the best stories for all?

[@davidfarrington4308]

The most important thing the comics industry needs to do to survive is publish stories that appeal to mainstream audiences that are appropriate for children. They must then distribute to gas stations and grocery stores for mass sales. This will impact many "local" comic book shops, and they will need to close.

[@AL-ws5yi]

Harsh but fair.

[@mr.dccomics9018]

Yep

[@ascorvinus]

Dang Professor Wes, you read my mind with this entire list

[@madbug1965]

In the old days writers and artists had to work their way up to earn working on a flagship title. Creators had to learn their craft and prove themselves. The editors also gave constructive criticism of creators. This is why comics used to be better because of this in-house farm league system.

[@rftaitague]

Great perspective Wes. Thanks for sharing your thoughts

[@egonnn244]

I basically agree with all the points. But with the last one, I agree wholeheartedly. When continuity/canon starts going out of whack it gets rather difficult to maintain high levels of excitement and interest. And if the problem persists, apathy is right around the corner.

[@CMKarm]

Always solid takes. With the probably hundreds of hours that I've spent chonologically organizing my comic collection, you'd hope the creators would care as much about continuity as a fan. It kills the suspension of disbelief when you know more than the current editors.

[@starquack]

Excellent list, Wes. The industry needs to take this feedback seriously.

[@derekbattle596]

Stop reconing heroes that to me is a slap in the face to all the great writers before them and readers that they just come and change their ideas.books from the 60s,70s,80s,and 90s was the best era for comics.

[@Vendetta419]

Agree. I'm still upset with the destruction of Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Franklin Richard not being mutants!

[@madbug1965]

I concur. What they did to Cap and the Punisher was just criminal.

[@christopherbyrdakaSuperman]

Or if you must retcon them, keep the origins, but add good retcons like Dragonball does, power boosts, upgrades, better stories, make theheroes better!

[@ricardotavares524]

Krakoa's Moira is a slap in my face every time I read Claremont's X-men issues.

[@kerry-j4m]

596,I'd like to hear your opinion on Eric July's Rippaverse characters and his great success at selling his books. Then,do you think either of the big 2 should hire Jim Shooter to run their comic companies ???

[@johnevans4867]

This is brilliant. All of this. I have been enjoying superhero comic books for almost sixty years. About a year ago, I stopped buying anything from Marvel or DC. I had zero interest. The only new "superhero" comics I buy are MY HERO, ONE PUNCH MAN, or CHAINSAW MAN. Do the people at Marvel and DC have any clue how much incompetence, arrogance, and hostility it takes to drive off an almost 60 year customer? It's truly a shame. Great commentary.

[@Wes_From_TC]

Thanks John!

[@Dion1605x]

I speak as a Batman fan, the canon got destroyed during Hush and then in Morrison's run. Damian's whole origin is based on retconning 30 years of Batman history and is technically not even chronically possible, because Talia wasn't even in the League Of Assassins since the end of the 90s. Just retcon Damian and accept that he was the biggest mistake in Batman comics.

[@Vader_25]

I think that you right on this. If I remember correctly, Talia worked for Lexcorps in the Batman Hush comic. So yeah, the whole Damian orgin couldn't happen without a retcon and breaking the continuity.

[@christophertaylor9100]

How was it not obvious that Damian was a bad idea, from the beginning??

[@Dion1605x]

​@@christophertaylor9100 Grant Morrison used him as a self-insert. Here is the proof: "Talia brought him up to be a world conqueror, an Alexander the Great of the 21st century, and take over the world - trained him with world-class assassins and groomed him to rule. But instead he wants to be a superhero and wants to be more like his father. So Talia basically says, ok, if you want to be like your father, I'll destroy everything that your father represents. And some people have said she seems really petty to use all of her resources just to mess with one man, and honestly, I just thought of my mother. If she had had those resources in 1972, she'd have messed up my dad just the same way. So it's about the hate that grows between lovers and the horror of being a little kid trapped in between that - and wondering why your parents don't just get on, and why everything isn't ok." ~ Grant Morrison (2013)

[@locusmortis]

@@Dion1605x True dat. This is why bringing your own "trauma" into comics can ruin them, like Joe Quesada got divorced so Peter and MJ couldn't be married or Quesada's father got cancer and so Wolverine couldn't smoke anymore despite the fact he had a healing factor.

[@PureMaddnessOne]

I would say the breakup of Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown and than pushing Tim Drake with a dude for NO REASON is still worse.

[@doctorogre1777]

I've been reading a lot of Conan the Barbarian tabletop rpg rulebooks. A common thing they always flex with is that they closely consult with Robert E. Howard "historians". Could you IMAGINE comicbook continuity taking itself so seriously and with self respect that third party companies proudly advertise that they hire comic HISTORIANS?

[@mohammadbashammakh]

The most important things that comics should do in order to survive is to get the SJWs out of the industry

[@meldyer4718]

Or force them to tell some stories that we actually WANT to read and celebrate...instead of force-feeding us a pile of political claptrap.

[@Jorge-cf6xk]

Character Continuity and the development is the KEY..... If you cannot build on the myth then they have devalued the product.

[@salmack8842]

You are correct Wes! I collected comics for years and sold my first collection back in 1978. But those books were well written and had a following. The only book I am reading now is Conan from Titan comics. I just ordered the graphic novel.

[@snakeoilkassett9198]

Try Rook:Exodus from Ghost Machine also🎉

[@BrianRidgway-u5g]

Thanks!

[@Wes_From_TC]

Thanks Brian!

[@ellesse3862]

Completely agree. Proper leadership and proper editorial chiefs are needed to right the ships, older generation of creators should be the inheritors of power, people who know their craft. Nurture and guide the talent below them. Quality would not have slipped like it has, the infrastructure that stood for decades has been dismantled, broken. Fix this and all other problems will begin to be dealt with, canon, continuity, art, writing, staff, quality, including a return to serialised storytelling over writing for trades. Incentivize is a good thing for a company. Stop wasting cash on so many variants, invest it in the comics, the only true collectibles are great comics. A return to a style of comics that are widely appealing again, genres returning to what theyre meant to be, characters are who they are again, things are how they should be, gone are the wasted pages of coffee shop crap and meandering rubbish, gone the constant string of reboots and the nonscene with meaningless back to back events.

[@stevenlelito1013]

The group editor idea is genius. This 100% needs to happen and your suggestions for who they should be are spot on

[@Fattbank]

Fire all the activists, cease and desist flipping legacy characters race, sexuality and motivations, get rid of the variant cover hype, stop hiring hack writers who sold 10 books yet are award-winners as deemed by the access media, and have a 10-yr plan for titles.

[@PSYCHOxDADxCOMIX]

At bare minimum Marvel and DC need to do a Cosmic Cube level retcon and wipeout the last 20 years of stories. And then respect the history going forward.

[@michaelwilson2497]

I think that's a bit far back. There were some good stories in the 2000's. I think it started momentum in 2010. The soy writing. 2015 it hit stride with Trump. And went haywire from there.

[@jwabeasley9877]

Agreed. When I go comic shopping, I put all my attention on indie and foreign comics. The big 2 are too low quality and unsatisfying to be worth it.

[@brianjong8945]

The one point I would like to add to the Floppies vs Collected editions point is that it you can marry the two writing styles together, you just have to be Chris Claremont in order to do it. On X-Men he always had an A story that would complete it's arc within the issue, but he would then have a dozen plus subplot threads that he may or may not push forward in that issue as well, which is why reading the Phoenix Saga as the Phoenix Saga and not just the end in the Dark Phoenix Saga is so powerful, because it's 37 issues worth of build up done incrementally while other stories are going on, and it rewards you for going on the ride.

[@jasonhbush]

I worry for the LCS. If the customer walks away or digital takes off finally it’s gonna be a barren landscape.

[@destro47]

The next thing they need to do is cut the line in half, or maybe even 2/3s. There are way too many titles out there with characters that aren't popular enough to support their own series.

[@stevendelavega9957]

I pretty much have nothing to add here. Well done!

[@aceofspades1001]

Bring back other genres - western, sci-fi, romance etc, market and distribute wider. The dc minis for example seems to be working ala manga thick book for cheap so kids and adults can take on a plane

[@christophertaylor9100]

I agree, diversify the storytelling. NOT JUST CAPES.

[@TheGuyInTheCheapSeats]

An industry can't exist on just one product. You can't have car companies just make minivans.

[@christophertaylor9100]

@@TheGuyInTheCheapSeats I agree completely. Manga has hundreds of different genres. There are so many different ideas they could examine other than superheroes.

[@Doodle1678]

@@christophertaylor9100I think that’s why manga is more popular it has stories for everyone. Comics have always been seen as just superhero stories but they could tell all kinds of stories.

[@christopherlacher3544]

I agree with all this!! I use to enjoy getting a story in one issue. It never happens anymore. I have to buy multiple issues to get a complete story and it sucks!!

[@raiderbear1]

Awesome work guys

[@lecturelad]

Couldn't agree more on all your points. After over 30 years of weekly comic buying, I quit entirely just over a year ago. My one exception : Fantastic Four, where Ryan North has been writing intelligent, thought provoking done-in-one stories every month for about 18 months. Yes, there have been underlying long-tail threads underneath but you don't need to know about them to enjoy individual issues. It's what the comic industry needs a ton more of right now.

[@fredp5781]

I can’t recognize many of the characters I grew up with in the 70s. And I don’t know if my intelligence is decreasing over time, but I’m finding the modern stories difficult to follow and they don’t hold my interest the way they did in the bronze or copper age. And the barrier of entry into the hobby keeps rising for younger readers who have to dole out $10 just to read two books! I could take a few bucks in the 70s and walk out with 15 books! Now $3 can only get you one Spawn comic!

[@AgentDeCamp4]

Another great video Wes! You said everything that I’ve been saying for the last few years. I wish that I had been able to do a video like this on my channel, but I’m not comfortable doing comic analysis yet. I just show the new things that I pick up. Keep up the great work and let’s hope that the big two take your advice! Also, keep reading those comics!

[@mr.dccomics9018]

In my opinion. 5 things Marvel and DC need to win. 1. Hire writers and editors that actually know how to tell good stories. 2. Comic Book Battles: Let the top artist cut loose with epic fights and battles in the book. Not two pages but whole issues of grand battles to settle the conclusion of a story. 3. Enough of the Multiverse. Relax on the multiverse for a while because Marvel and especially DC has done it to death. Focus on the main universe. 4. Use different characters. Too much in DC, they only focus on the main seven of the Justice League. Use other characters. Black Lightning, Vixen, Mr. Terrific etc. Mix it up. 5. Get back to the dynamic of hero's vs villains. Stop making the hero's evil. Use the villains for the events. Mix up the rouges for different hero's. Let Batman go against Lex Luthor for a story. Mix it up.

[@djchrisg1124yt]

100% percent behind everything you said Wes…awesome video

[@marineboy1964]

Get Mark Millar involved, incharge of anything to do with your comic Just pay the money to get him and watch it flourish with ,comics ,films , merchandise

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

floppies should be written as serials in paper format.

[@RandomAccessDreams]

One of your best videos in a while, at this point it seems futile to complain about specific writers like Zeb Wells or the X-Men revolving door of writers after Hickman, because until the huge problem at the top in the form of people like Cebulski and Jim Lee are gone and replaced by actual professionals from the publishing business, "new" writers aren't going to change anything. This should have been obvious when even a name like J. Michael Straczinsky got strong-armed into doing 'One More Day', only for ASM to never recover from that for nearly TWO DECADES now. Also your point about Marvel and DC not paying creators what they're worth reminded me of Alex Ross's 'Fantastic Four: Full Circle' graphic novel had to be published by Abrams Books because Marvel straight-up can't (or won't) pay Ross's standard page rate, and that book turned into a best-seller, because of course it did. Marvel's (and DC's) editorial and publications teams used to be made of professionals from the book business, now it's made up of fanboys who worked their way up the food chain.

[@xkx072671]

The only problem with what you're saying is when they were doing those things the original fanbase still GOT BORED or outgrew the content. They made changes for a reason. But primarily the changes made were only cosmetic in nature. How many times do I need to read about Batman's parents being shot???

[@jemhoare2105]

Spot on!

[@FCSchaefer]

Couldn't agree more on every point.

[@giantproof]

I think the solution is obvious: copy the Rebirth strategy. Offer a variety of titles, telling different (yet sometimes intersecting) stories, set in their own respective corners, AND at a $2.99 price point. Let's also limit the minis and incorporate those stories into the main run.

[@timavers]

Good points, Wes. Will they do it? Probably not. 🤷‍♂️ Nobody has a long-term vision or much business sense anymore.

[@HermieMunster]

As an extension of the last point I would add stop alienating your core audience when chasing a new audience. This applies to a lot of other mediums as well.

[@shengcer]

Very true - I think right now the editorials at big 2 by and large care about only vibes, or rhetorics, but not the stories. When sales tank, their only reaction is to create an event out of thin air. People just don’t buy that approach anymore, especially for DC.

[@WTSD850]

Distribution is biggest problem for comics in general

[@resistancepublishing]

These American publishing companies should be ashamed of the failure of American comics.

[@TheMongoNetwork]

Jim Lee has proven he’s just an artist, that’s it. He shouldn’t be in charge of any managerial decisions.

[@ComicBookMuscle]

The floppy dilemma and the continuity crisis go hand in hand. You have to decide on one format before going forward with the other. You can do continuity or you can do “takes” at Marvel and DC. But don’t bother doing both in the same title/series it hurts the brand recognition overall. Everything else stated and seen others in majority put forth I am in agreement with.

[@GeminiDragon187]

Geoff Johns should have been the leader at DC

[@leiferikson2105]

Agree a 1000%

[@EylonBelkin]

Wes i just read absolute batman and it was 10 out of 10 i absolutely loved it the art was sick the writing was great i loved alfred a lot and bruce is epic as hell first issue was a banger maybe there is hope

[@drawrobot]

There are some classic characters you would have to revise a little to make them work in present day. Like Superman and Spider-Man for example. They would both have to have different day jobs. But if you keep some characters frozen in time to when it still mostly worked (the 80’s) then it wouldn’t be so awkward. The compensation would have to change for creators for sure to be fairly compensated for new characters.

[@plumlogan]

Here from the Zack referral Couldn't be more disappointed that Jim Lee hasn't had creators' backs

[@markhowd7117]

What do they need to do, nothing that they are willing to do.

[@VaughnEsper]

Great video, I made a list when I saw the title, before i watched the video so I could see if we had the some ideas. Most of it was the same. 1) Editorial and leadership. Same as you, I think people who have proved themselves as authorities on the character should be editors. JM DeMatteis on Spider-Man would be great. At the moment, it seems like the inmates are running the asylum. Nick Lowe shouldn't be an editor on Spider-Man, especially with his ideas so much in conflict on how fans view the character. 2) Creators. The best creators in the industry should be on the flagship titles. Justina Ireland should be nowhere near Amazing Spider-Man. Neither really should Zeb Wells. Marvel would benefit from having less titles and paying the creators more for the titles they do keep. Lesser creators can be on less important titles until they prove themselves. 3) The number of comics. There are too many comics, a lot of them bad. If they had fewer but better titles, consumers might be more likely to want to collect all of that families titles. For example, for Spider-Man - have Amazing Spider-Man with the top creative team, and then the only other Spider titles should be Miles Morales, Ghost Spider and Venom (because all 3 are in the public sphere from kids programs and movies). If these titles get really popular, release one or two more but not too many, and make them relevant with characters who people are excited about. 4) Make it easier for new readers. Each comic should have a story even if its part of a bigger story. It should also let the reader know what's happened so that any issue could be their first issue without a problem. 5) Make events meaningful. Once a year maximum, and don't flood it with bad titles just so it can fill an omnibus. Bonus number 6) Stop rebooting at #1. If people are unhappy with the title, rebooting it will make people jump off. New collectors can also feel less incentive to get previous comics because they can have their collection start at the new #1. It can also be confusing if you try to explain the numbering to someone who wants to collect a title from the beginning.

[@glarepherson]

Upper deck comics now with a piece of the editors shirt on the variant cover ..signed..

[@albundy2609]

I agree with everything you said Wes. I'd also ad stop using the DEI checklist as a hiring guide. Also stop publishing books they know aren't going to sell at all to please people at CBR such as Psylock. Hell the list of things they need to do is massive.

[@BatFan1]

Writing for the trade has probably been the most damaging. When every story arc is promoted as "changing the status quo" or some earth-shattering event then you're basically saying the previous story sucked so here's something better. Now, i have to admit that the 90s abundance of summer blockbuster events also didnt help, but at least it used to be contained to one per year, not back to back to back to back....One major piece of advice Joe Quesada would give to aspiring artists was dont make every panel on your page a big explosion, because what are you gonna do when the script finally calls for a big explosion? Its the same principle, if every story is a grandiose, world saving event, then what else is there to write about?

[@Spongemonkey26]

Stop writers from self-inserting their own personal therapy sessions and passing it off as stories.

[@mattusher2916]

Preach!!!

[@CRUCIFi777]

When there’s plenty of manure around take heart, all that means is that eventually the fruit gets so ripe and ready that it hangs low enough that almost anyone can grab it.

[@obi_dean]

Get the activist out of positions of power. They just continually fail and ruin comics just like every other job force they get placed into with no experience. I totally agree with you wes

[@psychodeviant8903]

I agree with all the points you made but none of them matter because Marvel and DC simply don't care. If the companies themselves don't care about improving, then they're not going to make changes. As you said, Marvel and DC are both owned by huge billion dollar corporations and both comic companies are chump change in the grand scheme of things for their parent company. I have no doubt Marvel and DC are both told the same thing: make content. Not "make GOOD content" but just "make content." Put out a product but do it as cheaply and easily as possible. As long as both companies are staffed from top to bottom with people just there to collect a paycheck, gain experience and move into other areas of entertainment, with no love or regard or affection for the industry they work in and the characters they write, we are always going to get the absolute bottom of the barrel in terms of quality.

[@odinson99m]

Agreed 100% on all points. Get out of my head! Or at least stop eavesdropping on my conversations. lol. If Marvel really wanted to drop a nuclear bomb they'd empty the wallet and bring Claremont and Byrne back for one last ride! I'm talking a minimum 12-issue run on the main Uncanny X-Men title, not a limited series, alternate reality, or retconned/retro tale. Bring in Simonson for a Thor run. Miller and Mazzucchelli for DD run. Roger Stern for an Avengers run. And the Holy Grail - Michelinie and McFarlane for a Spidey run! AND, bring them ALL back at the same time! I know it will never happen, but that would give the industry the best sales it has seen in decades. But what do I know? P.S.> Jim Shooter for Marvel EIC!!!!!

[@locusmortis]

I'd be happy with Defalco and Frenz to do an Amazing Spiderman run tbh!

[@michaelgerard2]

If dc can get jim shooter to lead them, they might be able to save themselves.

[@michaelwatson9089]

Copy the success of Japan. Create a 10-12 cartoon episodes promoting the comic book. The manga I read, came from anime because I didn't want to wait. Hire better writers to do stories of the other characters. In my opinion I like all the top tier notable superheroes, but if you get a good writer you could turn the less notable or never heard superheroes into something. Put superheroes in popular genres like Isekai. Haven't watched the one with the Suicide Squad, but would cool seeing Wolverine ripping through a dragon or Superman taking down a Demon Lord or Batman outsmarting an evil demon race and taking it over.

[@ampersand085]

More Comic KZbinrs should be focused on promoting comics for the stories and creators rather than as collectibles. Publishers should get on with time and engage readers with interviews or streams with the talent than articles. There should be more synergy between the publishers and established comic KZbinrs.

[@SolidGoldCEO]

I legit think these big parent companies don't give enough of a shit to make the investment to get good writers back on these books regularly. It might have started with people getting their inexperienced friends jobs they hadn't earned, but now they've dropped the page rates so badly you're never going to get actual talent to commit.

[@snoo333]

thanks

[@dongleason9878]

Getting younger readers is near impossible so they need to get back old readers and have them and current readers spend more by buying more books not spending more per book. I think the best way to do it would be for both Marvel and DC to have an EVENT. Not some lame, means nothing event, I mean a five year, change the status quo event. Have a character swap, both hero and villain. Some cosmic, or magic event that causes various characters to jump universes for an extended period of time but it has to be tit for tat. Batman for Moon Knight, imagine Moon Knight VS The Joker and Batman VS Kingpin. Doomsday in Marvel and Thanos in DC. And the characters know they're in the wrong universe so those smart enough are also trying to find a way back.

[@inviiinciiible]

Just put the best creators on the best characters and let them do their thing (with some supervision of course.) Main continuity books, no mini series,no c list characters. The batman ongoing next year is going to be big because its Jim lee on BATMAN thats what the people want. Not online fans who are begging for these d list characters to get a book they pirate

[@pay7232]

Marvel and DC needs to do what Quesada did in the 2000s. Clear the deck and reset. Quesada got rid of everyone and brought on Millar, Bendis, all his image artist buddies. I’m excited for absolute DC and Millar coming back to temporarily take over Marvel with a Civil war esque event

[@vileconsumption7547]

I don't think its a very big leap to think WBD could go bankrupt. 40 billion in debt isn't going anywhere

[@nooctip]

I hadn't been to the comic store in a while. Naturally I go to buy a Spiderman to see whats up. There are seven different titles with numbers all over the place. Confused I start opening them. Every one was part 3 or 4 of some story. I didn't buy any.

[@jonnjones8263]

It doesn't matter. Because they won't. Comics are finished. We need to move on.

[@genreartwithjb5095]

To be fair a lot the reasons for the industries ills are way bigger then Jim Lee or CB ( who is a super cool guy btw, say what you want about him as a manager but he’s a stand up guy in real life ) A lot this is inertia where highly addictive technology like smart phones and video games is concerned. Mobile games is what comics used to be for many people. We are moving overall from a print based to image based society in the West. Another thing to bear in mind is that comics as an industry has never been run particularly well - Wade and labor protections have always been a joke with the possible exception in the wage front being the 80s and 90s. There has always been a lot of politicking behind the scenes at these companies and nepotism. The industry was able to thrive DESPITE this for a time in the mid to late 20th century bc of the confluence of strong economy with a large baby boom and then again another baby boom in the 80s. As a society America has also been taught and conditioned to devalue art, and the printed word and instead everyone is now glued to a screen including me as I type this. In other countries with a more collectivist mentality like Japan there is less of stigma on individuals for reading periodicals with pictures and the genre in Japan didn’t define the medium. In Japan you don’t just have superheroes but all different genres. Politics aren’t as heavy handed but I think more then that on Japanese comics the stories are fun and they are written for a young audience with young characters. Comics are cheaply produced and there is a low barrier to entry - you can buy them at vending machines etc. page rates are lower but the art is simpler with Les of an emphasis on backgrounds. The reality is in the West this sort of bare bones production pipeline isn’t possible bc the cost of living in he US is so astronomical even compared to Japan which is not cheap. Plus guys in the states aren’t going to break their back doing three manga issues a week for a Japanese page rate if they are expected to have the level of detail in the backgrounds that they currently have. The best guys in the industry have indeed left and moved on to movies comics video games. The solution - and people don’t want to hear this - the govt needs to step in and give people healthcare so it’s less expensive for corporations to do so on the management side. We also need to move on from Gen z and millennials readership bc these people have less disposable income then you think - they make more money then Zoomers but they also have real bills- college for the kids, car payments, in the case of Gen x they might have a cheaper mortgage but a mortgage is still a mortgage. Zoomers and teens don’t have these problems. Thirdly you need to move away from superheroes. Do Jules Verne, and Edgar rice Burroughs type pulp stories, so fantasg, Sci fi, romance, comedy. You log people don’t care about superheroes

[@markskrzyniarz3074]

Hey Wes! Rippaverse Comics has already checked each of your boxes: 1. Eric July is Editor-in-Chief, and Caanan White is Art Director. 2. No floppies aside from magazines that primarily preview books and beta-test new characters. Predominantly sells graphic novels. 3. Variant covers capped at 4 per book. Limited A & B, very limited foil-cover C, and a mass-print D. 4. Writers and artists are paid as soon as they turn in their work, and they get bonuses if their books sell very well. Proof: The Rippaverse has brought in Chuck Dixon, Joe Bennett and Mike Baron to make comics, and they've sold tens of thousands of books between just their titles. 5. Literally Rule #2 of the Rippaverse Code of Ethics (behind Rule #1: Respect the Customer); meaning no multiverses or time travel, and all adaptations must remain faithful to the comics. Enforced at the top by Rippaverse Lore Masters Jen & Sylvia Soska. Image is probably the only mainstream comic company that checks each of your boxes, and the only other I can think of is probably Iconic Comics.

[@edwardhipkiss281]

Problem is, I thought things would improve at Marvel when they fired Axel Alonso. Instead, they got even worse under Tubbs Cebulski. At this point, whatever the problem is at Marvel, it is baked into the culture, not coming from the EIC.

[@rbname7318]

Your argument about canon is #1 for me

[@JO-iv7tl]

Its the same thing at comicons. Its not about the comics anymore.

[@EylonBelkin]

I remember arkham war Ioved it never stopped to surprise me and the concept was great

[@BrianRidgway-u5g]

Take the kid gloves off on Jim Lee. "A bit inept"? As far as l can tell, Lee has been anonymous since he arrived at DC. What DOES he do? As far as Marvel is concerned, strip it all down to a dozen titles. Man it with three solid editors. Anyone notice that marvel pretty much went to hell once they got rid of the Bullpen page? Anonymity has allowed the current staff to get away with murder!

[@daishikaze3986]

Biggest one of all: Make stories that are accessible to younger readers. If they keep writing just for the 18 to 35 market, things are never going to get better. You can tell magnificent, exciting, adventure stories for young people that anyone can get into, they were very good at that in the 80s, and they were still able to tackle more grown up subjects without locking out what should be the biggest demographic, the kids. The fucked up big by not capitalizing on that with the MCU, they would be in great shape if they had, they muffed it and now look where they are. This point is the biggest point of all because if they don't get more young readers through a quality product, they might as well shut it all down.

[@jpasan]

well, episodis with arcs, is a good mid-term. But the individual issue should be more rewarding to read

[@withoutlimits16]

The maker would make a good villain. New x men stuff has been excellent. A lot of more recent material has been used for movies like civil war. / spiderverse I think it's fine. May not sell well, but it isn't just about quanitity of stories, it's about recency - that is, the movies / shows need stories that sell well, and are current. It's cheap mean-testing. I'd say it'a fine

[@ComicPower]

Printed comics are a testing ground for the live action movies. That simple

[@franklee6746]

I don't think the Big 2 will continue to exist as they are much longer, I think being owned by major companies is falsely keeping them alive right now during this weird money boom in investments, but that is an abnormality that won't last. In what other decades do you remember businesses routinely failing to make a profit with their products, staying in business? We're living in an economic fantasy time right now.

[@ComicFan98]

Also One of the things That DC Needs to do is Bring Back The New Earth Continuity under new writers and Retcon The Changes of other characters sexualities in DC and Marvel

[@sergioacosta9712]

Marvel got approximately 2.5 billion a little more from box office. The cost to making the Teo movies was a little more than over a billion. So they got around 1.5 billion dollars in profit. The. The merchandising is basically almost that amount if not way more.

[@davekolan862]

Dynamite and Zenescope have gone beyond all reason with the variant covers

[@jlcarid]

Regarding the Collectible aspect of comics, they were collectible because there were fewer of them not more of them. People had re-prints and such and you could read the story, but there was something about touching the history, forcing a collectible market just causes something to exist that will eventually crash and become worthless. I wonder if these days this is an old man’s hobby? Kids don’t seem to have an attention span nowadays maybe that’s the problem? Along with the fact that I don’t know about anyone else here but I picked up comics when I was learning how to read because my dad read comics when he was a kid and that was something we could share. Nowadays considering the crap that’s out there and the weird things that they’re writing into their stories It’s just not something I would ever share with my kids and I wonder if that’s another reason for drops in sales and quality.

[@InfamyOrDeath-__-]

Everyone at the tops of the big 2 have to go, it’s the only way to save the companies, the entire way they operate needs to change. And in order to do that you’ll need to replace everyone.