Continuity does present its share of problems.  Without repeating what's been said, I'm like to add another point that maybe contributes to the problem.  This started when Dr. Doom fell out of a spaceship when fighting the FF and the Sub-mariner back in Fantastic Four Vol 1, #6 (in the early 60's).  He returned to plague the FF in issue #10.  Stan and Jack asked him how he survived (I don't remember how).  We were told and then the lastest plan sprang into action.

As such, a timeline gets established.  However, the backstory was provided in I think 2 or 3 panels, and then we got on with things.

If today's writers and artists would bother to do this, then there's no problem with anyone picking up a book.  Those people who hadn't read the previous (separate) story could seek it out if they wanted to, but it wasn't necessary to enjoy the current story.

The other problem with today's books is the multi-part stories that are being created specifically to put out trades.  I've stated in the past that many of these stories could have actually been told in maybe a two parter at most.  Jumping into a story in the middle for a new reader is like walking into a movie midway through and trying to figure out what was going on.  I remember as a kid going to movies with my parents and walking into the theatre in the middle of the show... drove me nuts (and in those ancient days, you could go into the theatre at any point in the movie, not just prior to it starting).  Well, this could be a problem for new readers.

There were some epic stories done in the early "Marvel age of comics" that were worthy of the multi-part story... the first Galactus is a prime example of one that worked.

So go back to doing good storytelling and your fanbase will build.

_______

Greg W. is exactly right. DC needs to see themselves as a startup, legacy
readers be damned (although, let's face it, a lot of them will follow). They
need to leverage the audience for their movies, animated shows and video
games, and they need to stop worrying about what fandom wants, thinks
it wants or complains about. Even if that means losing money in the short
term. Even if that means losing current readers, local comic shops and
speculators. DC is in critical condition WITH those people.

The current generation of regular comicbook readers is the last
generation of regular comic book readers, with no one behind them in
line. Trying to appease them is like Microsoft trying to appease users of
Windows 95. At some point, you need to let go and figure out a way to
appeal to new readers. (Lots of people complain that their original iPhone
is now obsolete five years later. You know who don't complain? People
with Apple stock. People who work at Apple. People who like innovation.)

The approach I'm advocating is not going to appeal to the "they need
more distribution in drugstores" crowd. Times have changed. That sucks,
but they have. I like that old picture of the kid at the newsstand with the
huge rack of comics next to him, but that era is long gone. That kid
doesn't exit. That newsstand doesn't exist. That time where kids could
wander off and shop by themselves doesn't even exist. The film on which
that picture was taken doesn't exist. You can wish that it did. If wishes
were horses...

You don't run a business by wishing that people still behaved the way the
used to behave, instead of understanding why they behave the way they
actually do. Stan Lee knew that. His 1960s Marvel was a comicbook
company for a new age. Stan thought DC comics of that era were corny
and out of touch, so he did something new. Sometimes that meant putting
a Beatles wig on The Thing. Unfortunate choice, but emblematic of what's
going on now. (You can imagine a WWII veteran, who got free Superman
comics in the war, thinking, "Ugh. Beatles wig. I'm out." Right. Exactly.
That's what Stan wanted. New blood. You don't like it, you need a new
hobby.)

Anyway, whatever. Time will tell. Me? I'm interested. Not interested
enough to go to my LCS, maybe. But interested enough to drop $40 to
download a few titles that interest me. They may not. They may (like
Marvel's Ultimate line) be sophomoric to my 40 year old eyes.

But DC shouldn't be concerned with a guy like me.

Edited by Sean Blythe on 16 June 2011 at 12:05pm

No offense taken, John Bodin. Like I said, I'd prefer a return to Earth-1, etc., and I forgot to say (as I intended to) that I'd prefer a reboot by simple editorial fiat, just like the Silver Age's Flash, Green Lantern, Atom and Hawkman reboots, only company-wide. Then, the only eventual nod to continuity (if someone wants to go there in the farflung future of 2017) would be to have the new universe cross over with the old one in the pages of JLA in, oh, five or six years or so. And then the cycle starts all over again...

Cheers, Jon

Greg W:  "For better or worse, they gotta stop making decisions based on the few old timers hanging around, and focus on new readers!"

I'd agree with that, but it seems like they feel the way to do it is roll back the clock to varying degrees and I just don't see that as the ideal way to go to attract "new readers." 

it seems like they feel the way to do it is roll back the clock to varying degrees

I agree. The fact that their reboots are hand-cuffed by recent stories that are still part of continuity is a mistake, IMO. If DC really wanted to start from square one, that might have been more interesting than what they've ended up choosing to do.