Tag: DC

by Marc-Oliver Frisch The countdown to DC's big relaunch continued in June with a whole lot of Flashpoint tie-in books -- few of which seem to have stood out in any way to retailers, if the sales figures are any indication. Given that the upcoming relaunch titles are drawing on the same pool of creators, characters and concepts, that's not ideal for DC. If it's asking too much of readers and retailers to pick and choose among 16 titles of a certain mold, putting out 52 of them at once seems ill-advised. Over at the publisher's Vertigo imprint, meanwhile, almost half the current ongoing series are about to end within the next year. There's still plenty of time for Vertigo to announce replacements, certainly. But in combination with the recent WildStorm shutdown and the re-absorption of a number of key Vertigo properties into the DC Universe line, there seems to be a lot less patience than there used to be at DC for material that's not expected to immediately do well in the direct market.

DC has been promising a HUGE marketing campaign for the New 52 launching in just a few trembling weeks. And now the first ad is online, but not embeddable yet. (Drat.) HEro Complex is showing a 30-second version which will be shown in movie theaters as part of National CineMedia’s “FirstLook” ad block -- you know, in between the ads for Fanta and something starring Ashton Kitcher.

My last post explored how continuities between the cover image of Action Comics #1 and subsequent material could give DC a substantial part of the copyright in the original Superman.  One question left unaddressed, however, was the issue of Clark Kent, not to mention other key elements of Superman’s character and mythos appearing in that historic first issue. In this post, let’s take a quick look at that question and the role it could play in bringing this case to an end.

Yesterday marked the first day at the official offices for DC Entertainment West, in Burbank, at a swanky new building called The Pointe. How swanky? It's got an extra "e"on the end for super-swank. DC's SVP Hank Kanalz was very excited about the day:

I cannot describe the excitement we all have on day one. Positively electric!

And well he should be. After looking at a series of pictures he tweeted, you can see that the DC west coast office, complete with archives and bullpen, is now the new and shiny HQ for all things DC. Let's take a tour, shall we?

Mostly the work of Tom Kenny (Spongebob), Andy Suriano (Clone Wars) and Stephen DeStefano (Venture Bros.), the PLASTIC MAN cartoon pilot was created in 2006 for Cartoon Network but didn't get picked up, alas. It seems to have been much inspired by Kyle Baker's take on the character. And it turns out that more is on the way!

You have to take "anonymous spy reports" with a grain of salt, but this write up on the recent DC retailer roadshow in London had some interesting candid comments from DC's SVP of sales Bob Wayne. new formets -- OGNs, digital -- seem to be inevitable:

As The Big Day approaches, DC is putting out more information on its massive reboot. Newsarama has an addendum to the retailer FAQ that went out some weeks ago.

Well now. A new day, a new action-oriented reveal for a WB movie character, in this case, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle in next year's THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Textured catsuit? Check. Goggles? Check. Red lipstick? Check. Big-ass motorcycle? Check check check.

Warner Bros. has released the first picture of Henry Cavill as Superman, and as opposed to previous reveals, they have decided against a standing poser and gone for something way more action-filled and dramatic. And it works. While the trunks are in shadow, this does seem to be the traditional, red-pantied Superman look. Gone, however is the spit curl. The look of the photo is more than a little "Jim Lee-esque" with its heavy grading and dramatic lighting. In our opinion, not a bad update -- but what do you guys think?

It's a week of changes for DC. The last remnants of those who are moving West have packed up shop, and the WildStorm offices in La Jolla are closing for good, ending nearly 20 years of history, innovation and comics. To mark the event, an alumni lunch was held. Apparently the turnout was insane. The final group shot awaits, but above is a sampling, with Hank Kanalz, John Nee, and Carla and Jim Lee. Jim Lee tweeted:

August 31st will be quite a day for DC. On that day they will offer only two comics for sale -- Flashpoint #5 and JLA #1. And stores will be able to sell them at midnight:

While given everything that went on, having another go at Green Lantern seems like a surprising move, Warners really has no choice. They've made a huge investment in their superhero franchises, and with Harry Potter gone, they need another tentpole franchise. Batman gets rebooted after next year and Superman is a big question mark at this point, so throwing money and marketing partnerships at it until the Happy Meals stick seems to be the only way to go.