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DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:31 pm
by fudd71
DC announced the September event month this year as "villains month" as well as the first line-wide crossover "Forever Evil"

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2013 ... s/2381849/

While I have been on board for most things in the New 52, This one I'm not particularly excited for, and will most likely skip the 3 tie-in mini series personally.

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 2:08 pm
by fudd71
A little additional information and some covers.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/dan-di ... lain-month

I got to say I hate the idea of the .1 numbering. We did however finally learn where the Creeper #1 referenced in Katana last month will be. Looks like it will be Justice League Dark 23.1

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 2:48 pm
by JohnMayo
fudd71 wrote:A little additional information and some covers.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/dan-di ... lain-month

I got to say I hate the idea of the .1 numbering. We did however finally learn where the Creeper #1 referenced in Katana last month will be. Looks like it will be Justice League Dark 23.1
Wow. That is a bit confusing. People looking through an order form for Creeper #1 won't expect it to be listed as Justice League Dark #23.1.

I'm not a fan of .1 issues. Every issue should be a viable jumping on point and explicitly marking only some as such might be accurate but it is also counter-productive.

While I want to give DC credit for doing the animated cover images, I found them a bit nauseating.

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 5:44 pm
by stardog
I wasn't excited about this to begin with, and now that I see the plans... FOUR Batman .1 issues (just the series titled BATMAN) at 3.99 an issue, only one of them written by Snyder? Same for Detective Comics. Same for Dark Knight, which has been a 2.99 book and now will be 3.99 for each of the FOUR issues. I think Marvel would even be embarrassed to try this stunt although I'm sure they will at some point. Seriously, DC has been highly questionable creatively for a long time now, but at least they haven't really tried to bleed their readership dry. But it looks like they're desperate, and even as a DC guy I have to admit that Marvel is putting out the better books now.

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 6:24 pm
by fudd71
stardog wrote:I wasn't excited about this to begin with, and now that I see the plans... FOUR Batman .1 issues (just the series titled BATMAN) at 3.99 an issue, only one of them written by Snyder? Same for Detective Comics. Same for Dark Knight, which has been a 2.99 book and now will be 3.99 for each of the FOUR issues.
I saw the advance solicits for the four Batman 0.1-0.4 issues

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=45829

Also the Bleeding Cool story about the Detective and Dark Knight solicits

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/06/03/ ... cs-23-1-4/

However in the Dido and Lee interview they clearly stated there would still only be 52 titles total, and that some books my not get a villain month issue. Just because these books seem to have an increase in the titles I don't think the total issues will increase. Based on just this information it seems the Batman and... title won't have an issue that month. Plus with Harley Quinn being one of these will there be a Suicide squad that month? With the Ventriloquist being in these solicits, will Batgirl have an issue this month? With Poison Ivey in this list will Birds of Prey have an issue this month? Who is left to be the Nightwing issue villain? These 12 issues may represent the told solicits for the Bat Family office for the month. Again while there my be an increase in these particular names, there doesn't seem to be reason to believe those increase won't be countered by cuts elsewhere.

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 6:55 pm
by Mavey
fudd71 wrote:However in the Dido and Lee interview they clearly stated there would still only be 52 titles total, and that some books my not get a villain month issue. Just because these books seem to have an increase in the titles I don't think the total issues will increase. Based on just this information it seems the Batman and... title won't have an issue that month. Plus with Harley Quinn being one of these will there be a Suicide squad that month? With the Ventriloquist being in these solicits, will Batgirl have an issue this month? With Poison Ivey in this list will Birds of Prey have an issue this month? Who is left to be the Nightwing issue villain? These 12 issues may represent the told solicits for the Bat Family office for the month. Again while there my be an increase in these particular names, there doesn't seem to be reason to believe those increase won't be countered by cuts elsewhere.
Remember that books haven't been replacing cancelled titles so there are fewer than 52 titles ongoing as of September. Not all of the solicits are out, but Batman and Robin has been announced as Two Face #1.

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:49 am
by stardog
fudd71 wrote:
stardog wrote:I wasn't excited about this to begin with, and now that I see the plans... FOUR Batman .1 issues (just the series titled BATMAN) at 3.99 an issue, only one of them written by Snyder? Same for Detective Comics. Same for Dark Knight, which has been a 2.99 book and now will be 3.99 for each of the FOUR issues.
I saw the advance solicits for the four Batman 0.1-0.4 issues

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=45829

Also the Bleeding Cool story about the Detective and Dark Knight solicits

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/06/03/ ... cs-23-1-4/

However in the Dido and Lee interview they clearly stated there would still only be 52 titles total, and that some books my not get a villain month issue. Just because these books seem to have an increase in the titles I don't think the total issues will increase. Based on just this information it seems the Batman and... title won't have an issue that month. Plus with Harley Quinn being one of these will there be a Suicide squad that month? With the Ventriloquist being in these solicits, will Batgirl have an issue this month? With Poison Ivey in this list will Birds of Prey have an issue this month? Who is left to be the Nightwing issue villain? These 12 issues may represent the told solicits for the Bat Family office for the month. Again while there my be an increase in these particular names, there doesn't seem to be reason to believe those increase won't be countered by cuts elsewhere.
Are you saying that I'm a comic book fan overreacting on an internet message board? :lol: But seriously, that is a fair explanation. I guess I'm just not excited about this to begin with, and then there's the gimmick covers which I could do without and the price increase on some titles. And what does this do to the titles that don't have issues that month? Maybe it helps as an issue of Batman leads right into Birds of Prey the following month, but who knows? I just find that my goodwill with DC is wearing thin lately. James Robinson leaving Earth 2 pushed me over the edge.

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 4:44 pm
by fudd71
stardog wrote:
fudd71 wrote:
stardog wrote:I wasn't excited about this to begin with, and now that I see the plans... FOUR Batman .1 issues (just the series titled BATMAN) at 3.99 an issue, only one of them written by Snyder? Same for Detective Comics. Same for Dark Knight, which has been a 2.99 book and now will be 3.99 for each of the FOUR issues.
I saw the advance solicits for the four Batman 0.1-0.4 issues

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=45829

Also the Bleeding Cool story about the Detective and Dark Knight solicits

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/06/03/ ... cs-23-1-4/

However in the Dido and Lee interview they clearly stated there would still only be 52 titles total, and that some books my not get a villain month issue. Just because these books seem to have an increase in the titles I don't think the total issues will increase. Based on just this information it seems the Batman and... title won't have an issue that month. Plus with Harley Quinn being one of these will there be a Suicide squad that month? With the Ventriloquist being in these solicits, will Batgirl have an issue this month? With Poison Ivey in this list will Birds of Prey have an issue this month? Who is left to be the Nightwing issue villain? These 12 issues may represent the told solicits for the Bat Family office for the month. Again while there my be an increase in these particular names, there doesn't seem to be reason to believe those increase won't be countered by cuts elsewhere.
Are you saying that I'm a comic book fan overreacting on an internet message board? :lol: But seriously, that is a fair explanation. I guess I'm just not excited about this to begin with, and then there's the gimmick covers which I could do without and the price increase on some titles. And what does this do to the titles that don't have issues that month? Maybe it helps as an issue of Batman leads right into Birds of Prey the following month, but who knows? I just find that my goodwill with DC is wearing thin lately. James Robinson leaving Earth 2 pushed me over the edge.
I take back everything I said previously with the announcement of four Batman and Robin books today.

http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/gamerepor ... z2VGQh6JAL

This is feeling more and more like a giant cash grab.

This is now 16 32page books announced at $3.99 each out of just 4 titles. It is getting ridiculous.

The question now becomes will September also mark the end of $2.99 comics?

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 4:49 pm
by JohnMayo
What concerns me is that the solicitation cycle for the August releases is far from over. That Previews was only released last Wednesday. By announcing this information this early, DC is undercutting the interest in the August releases. Normally the solicitations are released online about two weeks later than this. I'm wondering if it is a sign of a lack of faith in the August material.

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:06 pm
by fudd71
JohnMayo wrote:What concerns me is that the solicitation cycle for the August releases is far from over. That Previews was only released last Wednesday. By announcing this information this early, DC is undercutting the interest in the August releases. Normally the solicitations are released online about two weeks later than this. I'm wondering if it is a sign of a lack of faith in the August material.
Very true, DC spent over a year teasing and leading up to Trinity War but it seems to be old news now before the first issue has even shipped.

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:16 pm
by JohnMayo
fudd71 wrote:Very true, DC spent over a year teasing and leading up to Trinity War but it seems to be old news now before the first issue has even shipped.
Two years if you count Pandora's appearance at the end of Flashpoint and in all of the original #1 issues.

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 12:42 pm
by ctowner1
wow..this all looks so unappealing to me!

e
L nny

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 4:42 pm
by SpideySavestheDay
Quick recap from what I've been following in the DC Universe.
> The promise of Trinity War for a few years
> The endless GL crossovers
> Villain's month
> Titles dropped left and right with replacements not yet ready

It feels like too much is going on. The timeline for all these events just seems off.

I like the idea of a villain's month. It's a nice little pseudo-annual to the birth of the New 52 (zero issue last year). The point-one numbering comes off as odd.

Will it accomplish its primary function of enticing me to buy a few more issues? Maybe. I'm interested in a few of the Superman titles, but on the other hand, I'm not too keen about another three Batman issues.

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 7:11 pm
by the1captain
Here's my question. The books are jumping a dollar due to the 3D covers. But how does that effect the digital sales? Will they remain at their regular price due to no gimmick cover? Or will they charge the same due to concerns over retailers getting mad with the competitive price difference? Therefore basically screwing over digital readers as they won't get the gimmick cover even though they are paying the same price.

These desperate gimmicks with little excitement are one of the reasons after close to 25 years I've more or less left DC.

Re: DC announces plans for September and more

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 6:23 pm
by fudd71
the1captain wrote:Here's my question. The books are jumping a dollar due to the 3D covers. But how does that effect the digital sales? Will they remain at their regular price due to no gimmick cover? Or will they charge the same due to concerns over retailers getting mad with the competitive price difference? Therefore basically screwing over digital readers as they won't get the gimmick cover even though they are paying the same price.
It is not exactly the same thing, but DC is slowed down the discounting of digital comics.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=45929

So it does seem that in general DC is making a move to increase the price of their products. There is a part of me that is frustrated with this, but there is also a part of me that understands. DC has kept prices lower than their competition for several years now and not been rewarded with better sales. Comic fans say they want lower prices but $3.99 books dominate the top of the sales charts on an ongoing basis.