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Topic: DC’s Single Biggest Mistake? (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post ReplyPost New Topic
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David Barker
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Posted: 20 May 2007 at 11:34pm | IP Logged | 1  

Dan Didio, or Bill Jemas-Lite as I call him.
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Paul Greer
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Posted: 20 May 2007 at 11:39pm | IP Logged | 2  

I agree with Matt about the exclusive deals in both Marvel and DC threads. I was a small retailer at the time and it really made it hard for me get good discounts trying to order through three exclusive distributors. Then when Diamond took over the direct market completely, they unfairly used that fact to their advantage over the retailers. If Marvel and DC didn't panic after the speculator crash, comic distibution wouldn't be limited by the monopoly that is in effect now.  

Edited by Paul Greer on 20 May 2007 at 11:39pm
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John Webb
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Posted: 21 May 2007 at 3:54am | IP Logged | 3  

The biggest mistake they make from a non creative point of view is in how they sell their collections (trades etc). Marvel are leagues ahead of them on that score. Most of the stuff I buy these days are Essentials and hardcovers and the Mavel stuff outnumbers the DC stuff 5 to one. DC don't seem to have a handle on this end of the market at all. When they do, do something they follow and never lead and even when they do follow they follow in an inferior way.
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Jason Kirk
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Posted: 21 May 2007 at 8:05am | IP Logged | 4  

That's actually quiet a hard question to answer as many of their mistakes are ones that every company in the industry has made and are not unqiue to DC alone (distribution, editorial driven plots, stunt evens, ineffective capitalisation on cross media events, etc).

Personally I think their biggest mistake was destroying the Multiverse - it was one of the coolest things that made DC unique and since then almost everybody has had their own go at it except for DC.

Crisis could have been avoided and we could have still got Batman Year One and Superman Man of Steel if they'd just switched to telling us stories from Earth-1986.
rather than Earth-One.
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Michael Connell
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Posted: 21 May 2007 at 8:11am | IP Logged | 5  

But DC does sell it's trades cheaper than Marvel for some reason.
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Matthew Hansel
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Posted: 21 May 2007 at 9:47am | IP Logged | 6  

One of DC's recent decisions (well...not actually THAT recent, I guess) is that Dark Knight Returns somehow became the future that BATMAN was moving towards.

The Batman still has NOT recovered from this...

MPH

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Kurt Anderson
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Posted: 21 May 2007 at 9:51am | IP Logged | 7  


 QUOTE:
Most of the stuff I buy these days are Essentials and hardcovers and the Mavel stuff outnumbers the DC stuff 5 to one. DC don't seem to have a handle on this end of the market at all. When they do, do something they follow and never lead and even when they do follow they follow in an inferior way

I find that the Showcases are superior to the Essentials, and are being released in a pretty quick pace.  The printing seems clearer, the paper appears to be of a better stock, and I've yet to see a Showcase volume on the bargain table (as Essentials occasionally are.. due to the binding problems).

The only problem that I see with the DC Archives is that they started deeper into the Golden Age than most of the Marvel books, resulting in fewer Silver Age volumes.

 



Edited by Kurt Anderson on 21 May 2007 at 9:52am
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Aric Shapiro
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Posted: 21 May 2007 at 9:52am | IP Logged | 8  

Screwing up a viable property like Captain Marvel
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Kurt Anderson
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Posted: 21 May 2007 at 10:15am | IP Logged | 9  

Ari, that was a tough assignment that has just gotten tougher.  When done correctly, Captain Marvel is just pure fun.  Attempting to make that fly during a time when comics were hitting social consciousness was bad enough, but trying that in the 80's and 90's... sheesh.  I think that we're just getting to the point were fun Captain Marvel stories might have an audience, but it'll still be us old guys.
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Aric Shapiro
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Posted: 21 May 2007 at 10:17am | IP Logged | 10  

Kurt, DC has owned Captain Marvel for much longer than that if I'm not mistaken. They have missed the boat on so many occasions with a character that if marketed correctly could have resulted in an icon
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Juan Jose Colin Arciniega
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Posted: 21 May 2007 at 11:51am | IP Logged | 11  

Watchmen and Zero Hour!
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Kevin Brown
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Posted: 21 May 2007 at 11:53am | IP Logged | 12  

To take it a step further:  Crisis on Infinite Earths and DC NOT following through with re-booting everything when it was done.  Giving them a completely clean slate.

By keeping the numberings, etc., they really made CoIE a cluster**** when it was all said and done.

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