Tag: DC

DC has finally pulled the trigger on their long-gestating original digital comics line, USA Today tells us. Several new projects are going to launch in addition to today's launch for SMALLVILLE SEASON 11, by Bryan Q. Miller and the ongoing BATMAN BEYOND and BATMAN: ARKHAM UNHINGED webcomics. Here's what's new:

DC is having a special focus group to show off a binder full of BEFORE WATCHMEN pages at the Diamond Retailer Summit.

“Not all of our fans have access to comic book retail locations, so by expanding our website to offer the entire product line, we’re adding an element of convenience and the ability for fans to collect every single product they’re interested in,” stated Hank Kanalz, senior vice president of digital, DC Entertainment. For fans attending C2E2 in Chicago this weekend (April 13-15) Geoff Johns will moderate a DC Collectibles panel that will showcase the new website and brand logo, and offer an exclusive sneak peak of never announced DC Collectibles products coming later in 2012.

If you're a student of comics history the phrase "National Comics" conjures an image of Jack Liebowitz chomping on a cigar while urging teenaged creators to sign contracts...but if you're not, it means a new edgy anthology from DC Comics which will launch in July and run "pilot stories" based on some of the DCU's more "off beat" characters, like Kid Eternity, Madame X, and so on. First up, Eternity, above. Creative teams below:

We're getting word this afternoon that a little shake-up at the DCU editorial staff has taken place. Senior Editor Bobbie Chase has been promoted to Editorial Director and current Executive Editor Eddie Berganza has been moved to a different position.

Although DC's "New 52" relaunch was well past its prime in February, sales were still good enough for the publisher to take the Top 10 slots on the Diamond Top 300 chart again, for the second month in a row. The average "New 52" title dropped by 7.6% in February, which is in line with January's 7.4% drop and suggests that, while the bigger drops seem behind us, the numbers haven't quite found their level yet, either. The average DC Universe title now sells fewer copies again than it did two years ago (34,456 vs. 35,895), but then again, the company's main imprint had 20 more titles on sale this time around: In February 2010, it was 47; in February 2012, it's 67. On balance, consequently, DC is still selling a lot more superhero comics than it has in most months in the last 10 years. In the 108 months since March 2003 we have comparable data on, February 2012 is only No. 71 in terms of average DC Universe sales, but it's still No. 17 in total DC Universe unit sales (2.3 million) and No. 20 in total DC Universe dollar sales ($7.3 million). Looking at the individual "New 52" books, meanwhile, we're once again getting a mixed picture. The top-selling books mostly continue to be very stable, but the farther down the chart you go, the steeper the decline. There were 14 "New 52" books selling below 20K in February (up from 10 in January) and 21 selling below 25K (up from 19).

If you watch the cable newsers these days, you know that instant analysis and punditocracy of the kind once confined to sports is now the only way to analyze anything of import. Sound bites, gotchas, double backs, keeping em honest...analyzing what people are saying about what people are saying is way more productive than actually identifying and solving problems...so everyone does it. And while it isn't quite as entertaining as 2011's Republican primary debate analysis, say, comics have developed their own "Counterpoint Arena" in the last few months, as executives from DC and Marvel come out and give their play-by-play on the just released sales charts.

MAD Magazine now has its own iPad app; the laffer launched yesterday on Alfred E. Neuman's birthday. The app is free to download but you can purchase individual issues through it for $4.99, or back issues for $1.99, or subscribe for $1.99 per issue or just pay an annual fee of $9.99 upfront. If you're a print subscriber you get the digital sub for free. All in all, there's bound to be a good deal there. The e-mag will include all the print material with added interactive elements.

Gone to Amerikay, the new Vertigo original graphic novel by Derek McCulloch and Colleen Doran, will have a book launch party, benefiting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. McCulloch and Doran will both be at Harbor Lights Restaurant in New York City on March 30 from 6 to 8 pm, celebrating the release of their new book and demonstrating their support of the CBLDF’s mission. All are welcome to join the celebration; admission will be free, though donations to the CBLDF are suggested. There will be complimentary hors d’oeurves, and special guests from the comics community will be on hand to inaugurate Gone to Amerikay. Copies of the book will be on sale, courtesy of Midtown Comics.

To mark the first ten years of his stint as Executive Editor at DC, Dan DiDio ran down the top ten highlights of his years there on his Facebook page. It's an interesting list that tells you everything you need to know about the last decade in superhero comics publishing.

Yeah.

Some old art on Kyle Baker's hard drive, probably for licensing.